Preface

This book is for learners interested in using SQL and open source platforms for detecting and quantifying patterns in datasets through data exploration, visualization, data engineering, and the application of analysis and spatial techniques.

At its core, geospatial technology provides an opportunity to explore location intelligence and how it informs the data we collect. First, the reader will see the relevance of geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial analytics, revealing the fundamental foundation and capabilities of spatial SQL.

Information and instruction will be formatted as case studies that highlight open source data and analysis across big ideas that you can distill into workable solutions. These vignettes will correlate with an examination of publicly available datasets selected to demonstrate the power of storytelling with geospatial insights.

Open source GIS, combined with PostgreSQL database access and plugins that expand QGIS functionality, have made QGIS integration an important tool for analyzing spatial information.