What is a "Spatial Join" in GIS context?

A "Spatial Join" in the context of GIS refers specifically to the operation that combines attributes from two datasets based on their spatial relationship. This process allows users to analyze how different geographic features intersect or relate to one another within a defined space. For example, when conducting a spatial join, one might merge information from a point dataset that represents schools with a polygon dataset that represents neighborhoods, thereby augmenting each neighborhood's record with relevant school attributes based on their locations.

This type of operation typically involves defining the criteria for the join—such as whether features must be within a certain distance of each other or whether they directly overlap. By leveraging spatial relationships, GIS professionals can derive new insights from the data, which might not be apparent when examining each dataset independently.

The other options describe different GIS operations but do not encapsulate the essence of a spatial join. While calculating areas, measuring distances, or executing database queries are valuable functions in GIS, they serve different purposes and do not focus on the spatial relationship aspect that is integral to a spatial join.