Spatial Query
A function that allows users to find, display, or isolate features based on their spatial relationships or locations within a defined area.
How does a Spatial Query work in GIS?
In GIS, a spatial query is a way to extract features from a spatial dataset according to how those features relate to one another geographically. Spatial queries filter based on location as opposed to attribute queries, which filter based on data values.
A spatial query asks questions such as these to choose features:
"Which features touch, intersect, are inside, or are close to others?"
How It Operates:
Layers of Input: You offer one or more spatial layers, such as flood zones and schools.
Select a spatial condition (such as inside, intersects, contains, or near) to define the spatial relationship.
Execute the Query: The GIS engine locates and returns the features that match using geometry computations and spatial indexing.
Related Keywords
In GIS, a spatial query helps address location-based queries by retrieving data based on position and spatial connections such as within, near, contains, or intersects.
A spatial database query uses geographic attributes, such as points, lines, and polygons, to access and analyse data. It is employed in GIS for spatial analysis and mapping.
GIS users can examine the connections between geographic features by using spatial queries. For instance, you can locate all schools within two kilometers of a river, locate land parcels that span a flood zone, or pick highways that go across a particular administrative boundary. These inquiries use the geographical linkages of data to aid in planning, resource management, and decision-making.
Geographic or geometric data contained in spatial databases can be retrieved and analysed using a spatial query in SQL. Spatial inquiries use spatial relationships like intersects, contains, overlaps, within, and distance to locate characteristics based on their location, shape, or proximity, in contrast to ordinary queries that operate with text or numbers. In GIS applications, they are frequently used to provide answers to location-based queries, such as locating every school within five kilometers of a hospital.