Spatial Databases

Spatial Databases

Brent Wride

Keller Graduate School of Management

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………..……….……..………………….3

Characteristics of a spatial database…………………………………..……….……….……………..4

Spatial data types………………………………………………………………..………….…………………..5

Spatial data collection………………………………………………………..…….…………………………6

Spatial database performance…………………………………………..….…………………………….8

Spatial analysis…………………………………………………………….…….……………………………….9

Representing spatial data…………………………………………….….…………………………........10

Spatial databases in business……………………………………….….…………………………….…10

Conclusion……………………………………………..…………………….….…………………………….....11

Works Cited………………………………………………………………….……….…………………..…...…13

Spatial databases

Introduction

Spatial databases share the characteristics and benefits of a traditional relational database management system (RDBMS), while also including additional data types and capabilities. The spatial data types generally include points, lines, and polygons (regions). These additional spatial data types can be analyzed, alone or together with traditional data, using processing tools specific to these types. Location base tools can be used to join data or perform other location based analysis. Since spatial data has a more visual nature, specialized applications are available to view, process, analyze, and present the data in a map format. These applications are known as geographic information systems (GIS) and are available in many varieties. This paper will look at the differences between traditional databases and spatial databases. It will review the unique data types, and address issues and considerations for using spatial data. It will also cover data sources, distinctive analysis tools that are available for using spatial data and the tools that are available for producing map documents to visually represent the information.

Spatial information can be viewed as having “four functional aspects…namely database systems,...