CLAIMS
1. A computer-implemented map data structure for use in obtaining geographic information at a computing device, the map data structure comprising a grid of elements representing spatial coordinates of a geographical area, each of the grid elements comprising a bit array of fixed bit-length, wherein each bit of at least a portion of the bit-array is associated with at least one respective geographic attribute, by assigning a bit value of "1" if the respective geographic attribute is present at the respective location of the grid element, and assigning a bit value of "0" if the respective geographic attribute is absent at the respective location of the grid element, such that the binary value of the bit-array provides an indication of the geographic attributes at the respective location of the grid element.
2. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 1, wherein each respective geographic attribute is encoded as an attribute layer comprising a line pattern and a line width.
3. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 2, wherein the attribute layer further comprises a color value for displaying the respective geographic attribute.

4. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 2, wherein the attribute layer further comprises a priority value designating an order for decoding the attribute layers of the grid element.
5. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 2, wherein at least one sequence of bits of the bit-array is associated with a respective attribute layer, such that the binary value of one bit in the sequence indicates the existence of the respective geographic attribute at the respective location, and the binary value of at least another bit in the sequence provides further information relating to the respective geographic attribute at the respective location.
6. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the bit-array of the grid element indicates a transition to an adjacent grid element for the respective geographic attribute associated with the bit-array portion.
7. The computer-implemented map data structure of claim 2, wherein the collection of attribute layers is represented as a set of files comprising a partitioning of the geographical area at a selected map scale.

8. A method for obtaining geographic information, the method comprising the procedure of retrieving geographic information relating to a selected location of a geographical area, by extracting at least one geographic attribute at the selected location from a map data structure comprising a grid of elements representing spatial coordinates of the geographical area, each of the grid elements comprising a bit array of fixed bit-length, wherein each bit of at least a portion of the bit array is associated with at least one respective geographic attribute, by assigning a bit value of "1" if the respective geographic attribute is present at the respective location of the grid element, and assigning a bit value of "0" if the respective geographic attribute is absent at the respective location of the grid element, such that the binary value of the bit array provides an indication of the geographic attributes at the respective location of the grid element.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the preliminary procedure of converting a map data representation of the geographic area into the map data structure, by generating an attribute layer for each geographic attribute according to a defined line pattern and line width, and defining a bit-array for each element of the grid.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating an attribute layer further comprises assigning a color value for displaying the respective geographic attribute of the attribute layer.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein generating an attribute layer further comprises assigning a priority value designating an order for decoding the attribute layers of the grid element.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the procedure of generating and displaying a map image depicting selected geographic attributes at the selected location, by sequentially scanning each bit in the bit-array of a grid element in descending order of priority, for each grid element of the selected location, and if the bit value of the scanned bit is "1" and the geographic attribute associated with the bit is selected, then displaying the associated geographic attribute layer according to the assigned color.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the map image is displayed in alignment with a designated line-of-sight vector.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the selected location of a geographical area comprises the real-time location of a moving platform.

15. A computing device comprising a processor executing a map data application, configured to retrieve geographic information relating to a selected location of a geographical area, by extracting at least one geographic attribute at the selected location from a map data structure comprising a grid of elements representing spatial coordinates of the geographical area, each of the grid elements comprising a bit array of fixed bit-length, wherein each bit of at least a portion of the bit array is associated with at least one respective geographic attribute, by assigning a bit value of "1" if the respective geographic attribute is present at the respective location of the grid element, and assigning a bit value of "0" if the respective geographic attribute is absent at the respective location of the grid element, such that the binary value of the bit array provides an indication of the geographic attributes at the respective location of the grid element.
16. The computing device of claim 15, further comprising a display, configured to display a map image depicting selected geographic attributes at the selected location, wherein the map data application is configured to generate the map image by sequentially scanning each bit in the bit-array of a grid element in descending order of priority, for each grid element of the selected location, and if the bit value of the scanned bit is "1" and the geographic attribute

associated with the bit is selected, then the associated geographic attribute layer is displayed according to the assigned color.
17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the map image is displayed in alignment with a designated line-of-sight vector.
18. The computing device of claim 15, further comprising a location indicator, configured to determine the real-time location of the computing device, wherein the selected location of a geographical area comprises the determined real-time location of the computing device.
19. The computing device of claim 15, further comprising a user interface, configured to receive user instructions, wherein the map data application updates the map image in accordance with the user instructions.
20. A system for obtaining geographic information over a network, the system comprising:
a database, comprising a map data structure comprising a grid of elements representing spatial coordinates of a geographical area, each of the grid elements comprising a bit array of fixed bit-length, wherein each bit of at least a portion of the bit array is associated

with at least one respective geographic attribute, by assigning a bit value of "1" if the respective geographic attribute is present at the respective location of the grid element, and assigning a bit value of "0" if the respective geographic attribute is absent at the respective location of the grid element, such that the binary value of the bit array provides an indication of the geographic attributes at the respective location of the grid element; and
a map data application, operating on a client computing device communicatively coupled with the database over a network, the map data application configured to retrieve geographic information relating to a selected location of the geographical area, by extracting at least one geographic attribute at the selected location from the map data structure.
21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a map data encoder, operating on a server computing device communicatively coupled with the database over a network, the map data encoder configured to convert a map data representation of the geographic area into the map data structure, by generating an attribute layer for each geographic attribute according to a defined line pattern and line width, and defining a bit-array for each element of the grid.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the map data encoder is configured to assign a color value to the generated attribute layer, for displaying the respective geographic attribute of the attribute layer.
23. The system of claim 21, wherein the map data encoder is configured to assign a priority value to the generated attribute layer, designating an order for decoding the attribute layers of the grid element.
24. The system of claim 20, wherein the map data application is configured to generate and display a map image depicting selected geographic attributes at the selected location, by sequentially scanning each bit in the bit-array of a grid element in descending order of priority, for each grid element of the selected location, and if the bit value of the scanned bit is "1" and the geographic attribute associated with the bit is selected, then the associated geographic attribute layer is displayed according to the assigned color.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the map image is displayed in alignment with a designated line-of-sight vector.
26. The system of claim 20, wherein the selected location of a geographical area comprises the real-time location of the client computing device determined by a location indicator.