Geospatial Analytics
The Db2® for IBM® i database provides support for geospatial data and functions. The geospatial functions, with IBM Watson, adds industry-leading technology in the form of Geospatial Analytics in Db2 for i. Geospatial Analytics is integrated into Db2 for i. These analytic functions include projection-free ellipsoidal support and native geohashes, allowing you to use SQL to leverage Watson Geospatial technology.
- An object, such as a river, forest, or mountain range.
- A space such as a safety zone around a hazardous site or the marketing area serviced by a particular business.
- The location of an event, for example, an auto accident that occurred at a particular intersection, or a sales transaction at a specific store.
- Locations of geographic features on a map, for example, the longitude and latitude of a city.
- The location of geographic features with respect to one another, for example, the location of all hospitals and clinics within a city or the proximity of city residents to a particular earthquake zone.
- Ways in which geographic features are related to each other, for example, information that a certain watershed or bridge is contained within a specific region.
- Measurements that apply to one or more geographic features, for example, the distance between an office building and its lot line, or the length of the perimeter of a wildlife preserve.
Geospatial information, either by itself or in combination with traditional relational data, can help institutions and businesses make decisions on things like choosing areas to provide services or determining the locations of possible markets. For example, suppose the owner of a restaurant chain wants to open new restaurants in nearby cities, and needs to answer to such questions as: Where in these cities are concentrations of the types of people who typically frequent restaurants like mine? Where are the major highways? Where are competing restaurants located? The analysis of geospatial data can help to answer these questions.