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    • Home
        • Overview
        • Install on Debian and Ubuntu
        • Install on RHEL and derivatives
        • Enable Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL extensions
        • Repositories overview
      • Migrate from PostgreSQL to Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL
      • Upgrading Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL from 12 to 13
      • Minor Upgrade of Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL
      • pg_stat_monitor
        • High availability
        • Deploying on Debian or Ubuntu
        • Deploying on RHEL or derivatives
        • pgBackRest setup
        • Testing the Patroni PostgreSQL Cluster
        • Backup and disaster recovery
        • Deploying backup and disaster recovery solution in Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL
        • Overview
          • When to use PostGIS
          • When not to use PostGIS
          • Next steps:
        • Deployment
        • Query spatial data
        • Upgrade spatial database
      • LDAP authentication
    • Uninstall
      • Release notes index
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.12 (2023-08-30)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.11 (2023-06-29)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.10 Update (2023-05-22)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.10 (2023-03-27)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.9 (2022-11-24)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.8 (2022-09-06)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.7 (2022-06-02)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.6 Second Update (2022-05-05)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.6 Update (2022-04-14)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.6 (2022-03-22)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.5 Second Update (2021-12-07)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.5 Update (2021-02-12)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.5 (2021-11-23)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.4 Update (2021-09-30)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.4 (2021-09-09)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.3 Third Update (2021-07-15)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.3 Second Update (2021-07-01)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.3 Update (2021-06-10)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.3 (2021-05-20)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.2 Fourth Update (2021-06-10)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.2 Third Update (2021-05-10)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.2 Second Update (2021-04-27)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.2 Update (2021-04-12)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.2 (2021-03-04)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.1 (2020-12-02)
      • Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 13.0 (2020-10-16)
    • Licensing
    • Trademark policy

    • When to use PostGIS
    • When not to use PostGIS
    • Next steps:

    Spatial data manipulation¶

    Version added: 13.11

    Organizations dealing with spatial data need to store it somewhere and manipulate it. PostGIS is the open-source extension for PostgreSQL that allows doing just that. It adds support for storing the spatial data types such as:

    • Geographical data like points, lines, polygons, GPS coordinates that can be mapped on a sphere.
    • Geometrical data. This is also points, lines and polygons but they apply to a 2D surface.

    To operate with spatial data inside SQL queries, PostGIS supports spatial functions like distance, area, union, intersection. It uses the spatial indexes like R-Tree and Quadtree for efficient processing of database operations. Read more about supported spatial functions and indexes in PostGIS documentation.

    By deploying PostGIS with Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL, you receive the open source spatial database that you can use in various areas without vendor lock-in.

    When to use PostGIS¶

    You can use PostGIS in the following cases:

    • To store and manage spatial data, create and store spatial shapes, calculate areas and distances
    • To build the software that visualizes spatial data on a map,
    • To work with raster data, such as satellite imagery or digital elevation models.
    • To integrate spatial and non-spatial data such as demographic or economic data in a database

    When not to use PostGIS¶

    Despite its power and flexibility, PostGIS may not suit your needs if:

    • You need to store only a couple of map locations. Consider using the built-in geometric functions and operations of PostgreSQL
    • You need real-time data analysis. While PostGIS can handle real-time spatial data, it may not be the best option for real-time data analysis on large volumes of data.
    • You need complex 3D analysis or visualization.
    • You need to acquire spatial data. Use other tools for this purpose and import spatial data into PostGIS to manipulate it.

    Next steps:¶

    Deployment

    Contact Us

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    Last update: June 30, 2023
    Created: June 29, 2023
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