Chapter 6. Spatial Databases
In this chapter, we will look at how you can use a PostGIS database to store and work with spatial data. In particular, we will cover:
- The concept of a spatially enabled database
- Spatial indexes and how they work
- How PostGIS acts as an extension to the PostgreSQL relational database
- How to install PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and the
psycopg2Python database adapter onto your computer - How to set up and configure a spatial database using PostGIS
- How to use the
psycopg2database adapter to access a spatial database from your Python code - How to create, import, and query against spatial data using Python
- Recommended best practices for storing spatial data in a database
This chapter is intended to be an introduction to using databases in a geospatial application. Chapter 8, Working with Spatial Data, will build on this to perform powerful spatial queries not possible using shapefiles and other geospatial data files.
