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 relational database management system (RDBMS) emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance. It was originally named POSTGRES, referring to its origins as a successor to the In ...

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 feature made of mostly two-dimensional geometries (point, line, polygon, multi-point, multi-line, etc.) used by g ...

for SQL specification from the

Open Geospatial Consortium The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), an international voluntary consensus standards organization for geospatial content and location-based services, sensor web and Internet of Things, GIS data processing and data sharing. It originated in 199 ...

(OGC). Technically PostGIS was 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 model and a standard used to describe the spatial relations of two regions (two geometries in two-dimensions, R2), in geometry, point-set topology, geospatial topology, ...

(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 sign ...

-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 tr ...

(Generalized Search Tree) spatial indexes for high speed spatial querying. * Index selectivity support, to provide high performance query plans for mixed spatial/non-spatial queries. The PostGIS implementation is based on "light-weight" geometries and indexes optimized to reduce disk and memory footprint. 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 License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the Four Freedoms (Free software), four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was th ...

. After six

release candidate A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

s, a stable "1.0" version followed on April 19, 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 1999 and originally was released as ARC/INFO, a command line based GIS system for manipul ...

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

Cadcorp Computer Aided Development Corporation Ltd. (Cadcorp) is a British owned and run company established in 1991. Cadcorp has its headquarters in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, U.K. Cadcorp has a network of distributors and value added resellers (VARs) a ...

SIS *

CartoDB CARTO (formerly CartoDB) is a software as a service (SaaS) cloud computing platform that provides GIS, web mapping, and spatial data science tools. The company is positioned as a Location Intelligence platform due to tools with an aptitude for da ...

CockroachDB CockroachDB is a commercial distributed SQL database management system, developed by Cockroach Labs. History Cockroach Labs was founded in 2015 by ex-Google employees Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis, and Ben Darnell. Cockroach Labs founders Kim ...

GeoMedia Hexagon Geospatial's (a division of Intergraph Corporation) GeoMedia Professional is a geographic information system (GIS) management solution for map generation and the analysis of geographic information with smart tools that capture and edit ...

(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 Kosmo is a desktop geographic information system (GIS) with advanced functions. It is the first of a series of developments that are being made available to the community. Kosmo was implemented using the Java programming language and is being ...

(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 Ser ...

MapInfo Professional MapInfo Pro is a desktop geographic information system (GIS) software product produced by Precisely (formerly: Pitney Bowes Software and MapInfo Corporation) and used for mapping and location analysis. MapInfo Pro allows users to visualize, a ...

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-ali ...

(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 or Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) is a discontinued operating system based on Research Unix, developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berk ...

) * Maptitude *

MapGuide MapGuide Open Source is a web-based Cartography, map-making platform that enables users to quickly develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services. The application was introduced as open-source software, open-source by Auto ...

(

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 Java Unified Mapping Program (JUMP) is a Java based vector and raster GIS and programming framework. Current development continues under the 'OpenJUMP'' name. Features As featured on the project's website: * Platform independent (Windows, Lin ...

(GPL) *

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

QGIS QGIS is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop geographic information system (GIS) application that supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data. Functionality QGIS functions as geographic information system (GIS ...

(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 G ...

(GPL) *

TerraLib TerraLib is an open-source GIS software library that extends object-relational DBMS technology to handle spatiotemporal data types. The library supports different DBMS, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. Its vector data model is upwar ...

(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