Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Spatial Data
3.
PostGIS/OpenGEO Suite
4.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024
Easy

PostGIS/OpenGEO Suite

Career growth poll
Do you think IIT Guwahati certified course can help you in your career?

Introduction

Everybody has once used Maps for navigation and searched for the distance between two places or shops near us. Everyone must have also seen the maps on food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. All types of maps that we interact with depend upon spatial data. Spatial Data describes data related to geographic information about a particular location on Earth. Longitude and Latitude coordinates, Elevation, etc., are considered spatial data.

Spatial Data

Spatial Data is standardized by the Open Geospatial Consortium, which has established OpenGIS or Open Geographic Information System as a standard for spatial data. Spatial databases store data of 2D, 2.5D, and 3D objects. 2D objects have length and width. 3D objects have length, width, and height. 2.5D is a particular type of spatial data. They are 2D objects, with the other half dimension being the Elevation. So they can be considered as objects with length, width, and Elevation. 2.5D spatial data contains mapping information and is often referred to as the GISs or the Geographic Information Systems. The spatial data comprise lines, points, and polygons. Spatial data is one of the most complex types of data and storing them successfully serves as the biggest challenge.
The Developers and the Designers create index mechanisms (spatial indices) to deal with all the necessary queries and visual representations of the data stored in spatial databases. The indexing mechanisms help deal with queries like “Distance between Point A and Point B?” etc.
Spatial data also have applications such as precise 3D modeling of human anatomy, buildings, and atmosphere, gathering data from sensor networks, and integrating historical data to test 3D space and objects.

PostGIS/OpenGEO Suite

PostGIS is an open-source database project and is supplied as a part of the OpenGeo Suite community edition. PostGIS is a unique type of database that runs over the RDBMS PostgreSQL and is specialized and has layered implementation. This offers the best of both worlds, i.e., benefits of RDBMS SQL, and supports specialized operations like reprojection, geodetic support, and geometry conversion needed for spatial applications.

PostGIS provides processing and analyzing functions for vector and raster data(matrix of cells or pixels organized into rows and columns) for slicing, dicing, morphing, reclassifying, and collecting the power of SQL. The PostGIS is a part of the OpenGEO suite and, along with other components, addresses the spatial queries. 

OpenGEO Suite is a powerful open-source web mapping software. It offers web mapping tools, documentation, sample applications, etc. It also provides editing and publishing capabilities. It provides support to Google Maps and Google Earth. OpenGEO Suite supports Open Geospatial Consortium services like:

● WMS: Web Map Service

● WFS: Web Feature Service

● WFS-T: Web Feature Service Transactional (ability to edit)

● WCS: Web coverage service

● WPS: Web Processing service

● WMTS: Web Map Tile Service

 

The OpenGEO suite comprises the following pieces of technology:

●      OpenLayers: JavaScript Library used to display maps and other visual representations of spatial data.

●      GeoExt: It provides web developers with map information from OpenLayers.

●      GeoServer: It is used to publish spatial information from other sources.

●      GeoWebCache: GeoWebCache displays the spatial data stored in a server on the browser by accelerating the process, caches the image data, and makes them available.

PostGIS is bundled within the OpenGEO Suite. To Download the OpenGEO Suite Application, visit the OpenGEO Suite website or click on the following link: OpenGEO Suite website.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is OpenGeo suite?
    OpenGeo Suite is a full geospatial software stack that helps you compose, style, publish, and manage maps and data with ease. You can get PostGIS/PostgreSQL and other web GIS utilities in a single and fast installation using the OpenGeo Suite package installer.
     
  2. What can I do with PostGIS?
    PostGIS can enable you to adopt a new way of working. This new way can be more easily reproducible, you can start using version control more easily and it can enable multi-user workflows. Files often require special software to read and write.

Conclusion

In this article, we have extensively discussed PostGIS/OpenGEO Suite. We hope that this blog has helped you enhance your knowledge, and if you wish to learn more, check out our Coding Ninjas Blog site and visit our Library. Do upvote our blog to help other ninjas grow.

Happy Learning! 

Live masterclass