Geospatial Analysis with SQL

Leverage the power of SQL to perform geospatial analysis and increase your speed and efficiency working with a variety of spatial applications such as PostGIS and QGIS

Key FeaturesFollow along with actionable instructions with this practical guideBecome well-versed in advanced spatial modeling and machine learning techniquesLearn best practices for performing spatial analysis from an expert spatial data analystBook DescriptionGeospatial analysis is industry agnostic and a powerful tool for answering location questions. Combined with the power of SQL, developers and analysts worldwide rely on database integration to solve real-world spatial problems. This book introduces skills to help you detect and quantify patterns in datasets through data exploration, visualization, data engineering, and the application of analysis and spatial techniques.You will begin by exploring the fundamentals of geospatial analysis where you’ll learn about the importance of geospatial analysis and how location information enhances data exploration. Walter Tobler’s second law of geography states, “the phenomenon external to a geographic area of interest affects what goes on inside.” This quote will be the framework of the geospatial questions we will explore. You’ll then observe the framework of geospatial analysis using SQL while learning to create spatial databases and SQL queries and functions.By the end of this book, you will have an expanded toolbox of analytic skills such as PostGIS and QGIS to explore data questions and analysis of spatial information.What you will learnUnderstand geospatial fundamentals as a basis for learning spatial SQLGenerate point, line, and polygon data with SQLUse spatial data types to abstract and encapsulate spatial structuresWork with open source GIS combined with plug-insVisualize spatial data and expand QGIS functionality with PostgresApply location data to leverage spatial analyticsPerform single-layer and multiple-layer spatial analysesWho this book is forThis book is for anyone looking to leverage their SQL knowledge to perform geospatial analysis. GIS analysts, data analysts, and data scientists with a basic understanding of both geospatial analysis and SQL will find this book useful.