Glossary for Geospatial Science

bit:The smallest unit of computer data having a single value of either �1� or �0�.� A contraction of the two words �Binary� and �digit�.� Binary data is 1-bit data.� Computers normally manipulate bits at least 8 at time.� A group of 8 bits is called a byte.� A computer�s processing power is often measured by the number of bits it handles at once.� The earliest PC�s were 8-bit machines.� More recently processors and data structures for 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit data have become common.