PostGIS ( ) is an open source software program that adds support for geographic objects to the

PostgreSQL PostgreSQL ( ) also known as Postgres, is a free and open-source software, free and open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance. PostgreSQL features transaction processing, transactions ...

object-relational database. PostGIS follows the

Simple Features Simple Features (officially Simple Feature Access) is a set of standards that specify a common storage and access model of geographic features made of mostly two-dimensional geometries (point, line, polygon, multi-point, multi-line, etc.) used by ...

for SQL specification from the

Open Geospatial Consortium The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international voluntary consensus standards organization that develops and maintains international standards for geospatial content and location-based services, sensor web, Internet of Things, Geographi ...

(OGC). PostGIS is implemented as a ''PostgreSQL external extension''.

Features

* Geometry types for Points, LineStrings, Polygons, MultiPoints, MultiLineStrings, MultiPolygons, GeometryCollections, 3D types TINS and polyhedral surfaces, including solids. * Spheroidal types under the geography datatype Points, LineStrings, Polygons, MultiPoints, MultiLineStrings, MultiPolygons and GeometryCollections. * raster type - supports various pixel types and more than 1000 bands per raster. Since PostGIS 3, is a separate PostgreSQL extension called postgis_raster. * SQL/MM Topology support - via PostgreSQL extension postgis_topology. * Spatial predicates for determining the interactions of geometries using the 3x3

DE-9IM The Dimensionally Extended 9-Intersection Model (DE-9IM) is a topological Interpretation (logic), model and a Specification (technical standard), standard used to describe the spatial relations of two regions (two 2D geometric model, geometries ...

(provided by the GEOS software library). * Spatial operators for determining geospatial measurements like area, distance, length and perimeter. * Spatial operators for determining geospatial set operations, like union, difference, symmetric difference and buffers (provided by GEOS). *

R-tree R-trees are tree data structures used for spatial access methods, i.e., for indexing multi-dimensional information such as geographical coordinates, rectangles or polygons. The R-tree was proposed by Antonin Guttman in 1984 and has found s ...

-over-

GiST In computing, GiST or Generalized Search Tree, is a data structure and API that can be used to build a variety of disk-based search trees. GiST is a generalization of the B+ tree, providing a concurrent and recoverable height-balanced search tree ...

(Generalized Search Tree) spatial indexes for high speed spatial querying. * Index selectivity support, to provide high performance

query plan A query plan (or query execution plan) is a sequence of steps used to access data in a SQL relational database management system. This is a specific case of the relational model concept of access plans. Since SQL is declarative, there are typical ...

s for mixed spatial/non-spatial queries. The PostGIS implementation is based on "light-weight" geometries and indexes optimized to reduce disk and

memory footprint Memory footprint refers to the amount of main memory that a program uses or references while running. The word footprint generally refers to the extent of physical dimensions that an object occupies, giving a sense of its size. In computing, t ...

. Using light-weight geometries helps servers increase the amount of data migrated up from physical disk storage into RAM, improving query performance substantially. PostGIS is registered as "implements the specified standard" for "Simple Features for SQL" by the OGC.OGC Implementing Product Details
Open Geospatial Consortium PostGIS has not been certified as compliant by the OGC.

History

Refractions Research released the first version of PostGIS in 2001 under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

. After six

release candidate The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

s, a stable "1.0" version followed on 19 April 2005. In 2006 the OGC registered PostGIS as "implement ngthe specified standard" for "Simple Features for SQL".PostGIS History
/ref>

Users

Many software products can use PostGIS as a database backend, including: *

ArcGIS ArcGIS is a family of client, server and online geographic information system (GIS) software developed and maintained by Esri. ArcGIS was first released in 1982 as ARC/INFO, a command line-based GIS. ARC/INFO was later merged into ArcGIS De ...

(via GISquirrel, ST-Links SpatialKit, ZigGIS, ArcSDE and other third-party connectors) * Cadcorp SIS * Carto *

CockroachDB CockroachDB is a source-available distributed SQL database management system developed by Cockroach Labs. The relational functionality is built on top of a distributed, transactional, consistent key-value store that can survive a variety of d ...

* GeoMedia (via third-party connectors) *

GeoServer In computing, GeoServer is an open-source server written in Java that allows users to share, process and edit geospatial data. Designed for interoperability, it publishes data from any major spatial data source using open standards. GeoServer h ...

(GPL) * GeoNetwork (GPL) *

GRASS GIS ''Geographic Resources Analysis Support System'' (commonly termed ''GRASS GIS'') is a geographic information system (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, producing graphics and maps, spatial and ...

(GPL) *

gvSIG gvSIG, geographic information system (GIS), is a desktop application designed for capturing, storing, handling, analyzing and deploying any kind of referenced geographic information in order to solve complex management and planning problems. gv ...

(GPL) * Kosmo (GPL) *

Manifold System Manifold System is a geographic information system (GIS) software package developed by Manifold Software Limited that runs on Microsoft Windows. Manifold System handles both vector and raster data, includes spatial SQL, a built-in Internet Map Se ...

MapInfo Professional MapInfo Pro is a desktop geographic information system (GIS) software developed by Precisely, used for mapping and location analysis. It was formerly developed by Pitney Bowes Software and the MapInfo Corporation. History Version 4 of the p ...

Mapnik Mapnik is an open-source mapping toolkit for desktop and server based map rendering, written in C++. Artem Pavlenko, the original developer of Mapnik, set out with the explicit goal of creating beautiful maps by employing the sub-pixel anti-al ...

(LGPL) *

MapServer MapServer is an open-source development environment for building spatially enabled internet applications, built in the C language, and is widely known as one of the fastest Web mapping engines available. It can run as a CGI program or via MapSc ...

(

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), also known as Berkeley Unix or BSD Unix, is a discontinued Unix operating system developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley, beginni ...

) * Maptitude * MapGuide (

LGPL The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the LGPL into their own ...

) * OpenJUMP (GPL) *

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (abbreviated OSM) is a free, Open Database License, open geographic database, map database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveying, surveys, trace from Ae ...

QGIS QGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) software that is free and open-source. QGIS supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. It supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data in a range of data formats. Its name comes from ...

(GPL) *

SAGA GIS System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA GIS) is a geographic information system (GIS) computer program, used to edit spatial data. It is free and open-source software, developed originally by a small team at the Department of Physical Ge ...

(GPL) * TerraLib (LGPL) * TerraView (GPL) * uDig (LGPL)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Postgis Free GIS software PostgreSQL Spatial database management systems

Features

History

Users

See also

References

External links