Geospatial 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.
Understand geospatial fundamentals as a basis for learning spatial SQL
Generate point, line, and polygon data with SQL
Use spatial data types to abstract and encapsulate spatial structures
Work with open source GIS combined with plug-ins
Visualize spatial data and expand QGIS functionality with Postgres
Apply location data to leverage spatial analytics
Perform single-layer and multiple-layer spatial analyses