1) Spatial filters operate on pixels in a neighborhood region of an image to either smooth or sharpen the image. Smoothing filters reduce noise and detail, while sharpening filters highlight edges and details.
2) There are two main types of spatial filters - linear filters that perform an averaging operation on pixel values, and non-linear filters like median filters that choose the median pixel value.
3) Common smoothing linear filters include averaging filters that reduce noise by taking the mean of pixel values. Sharpening filters use derivatives to enhance edges by increasing differences between pixel values.