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Process, analyze, and visualize geospatial data at scale. Handles drone imagery, GPS tracks, GeoJSON optimization, coordinate transformations, and tile generation. Use for mapping apps, drone data processing, location-based services. Activate on "geospatial", "GIS", "PostGIS", "GeoJSON", "map tiles", "coordinate systems". NOT for simple address validation, basic distance calculations, or static map embeds.
npx skill4agent add erichowens/some_claude_skills geospatial-data-pipeline| Feature | PostGIS | MongoDB |
|---|---|---|
| Spatial indexes | GiST, SP-GiST | 2dsphere |
| Query language | SQL + spatial functions | Aggregation pipeline |
| Geometry types | 20+ (full OGC support) | Basic (Point, Line, Polygon) |
| Coordinate systems | 6000+ via EPSG | WGS84 only |
| Performance (10M points) | <100ms | <200ms |
| Best for | Complex spatial analysis | Document-centric apps |
// ❌ String storage, no spatial features
interface Location {
id: string;
name: string;
latitude: string; // "37.7749"
longitude: string; // "-122.4194"
}
// Linear scan for "nearby" queries
async function findNearby(lat: string, lon: string): Promise<Location[]> {
const all = await db.locations.findAll();
return all.filter(loc => {
const distance = calculateDistance(
parseFloat(lat),
parseFloat(lon),
parseFloat(loc.latitude),
parseFloat(loc.longitude)
);
return distance < 5000; // 5km
});
}// ✅ PostGIS GEOGRAPHY type with spatial index
CREATE TABLE locations (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(255),
location GEOGRAPHY(POINT, 4326) -- WGS84 coordinates
);
-- Spatial index (GiST)
CREATE INDEX idx_locations_geography ON locations USING GIST(location);
-- TypeScript query
async function findNearby(lat: number, lon: number, radiusMeters: number): Promise<Location[]> {
const query = `
SELECT id, name, ST_AsGeoJSON(location) as geojson
FROM locations
WHERE ST_DWithin(
location,
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint($1, $2), 4326)::geography,
$3
)
ORDER BY location <-> ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint($1, $2), 4326)::geography
LIMIT 100
`;
return db.query(query, [lon, lat, radiusMeters]); // <10ms with index
}GEOGRAPHY-- ❌ No index, sequential scan
CREATE TABLE drone_images (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
image_url VARCHAR(255),
location GEOGRAPHY(POINT, 4326)
);
-- This query scans ALL rows
SELECT * FROM drone_images
WHERE ST_DWithin(
location,
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-122.4194, 37.7749), 4326)::geography,
1000 -- 1km
);Seq Scan on drone_images (cost=0.00..1234.56 rows=1 width=123)-- ✅ GiST index for spatial queries
CREATE INDEX idx_drone_images_location ON drone_images USING GIST(location);
-- Same query, now uses index
SELECT * FROM drone_images
WHERE ST_DWithin(
location,
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-122.4194, 37.7749), 4326)::geography,
1000
);Bitmap Index Scan on idx_drone_images_location (cost=4.30..78.30 rows=50 width=123)// ❌ Mixing EPSG:4326 (WGS84) and EPSG:3857 (Web Mercator)
const userLocation = {
lat: 37.7749, // WGS84
lon: -122.4194
};
const droneImage = {
x: -13634876, // Web Mercator (EPSG:3857)
y: 4545684
};
// Comparing apples to oranges!
const distance = Math.sqrt(
Math.pow(userLocation.lon - droneImage.x, 2) +
Math.pow(userLocation.lat - droneImage.y, 2)
);-- ✅ Transform to common coordinate system
SELECT ST_Distance(
ST_Transform(
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-122.4194, 37.7749), 4326), -- WGS84
3857 -- Transform to Web Mercator
),
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-13634876, 4545684), 3857) -- Already Web Mercator
) AS distance_meters;// ❌ Load entire file into memory
const geoJson = await fetch('/drone-survey-data.geojson').then(r => r.json());
// 50MB of GeoJSON = browser freeze
map.addSource('drone-data', {
type: 'geojson',
data: geoJson // All 10,000 polygons loaded at once
});// ✅ Serve as vector tiles (MBTiles or PMTiles)
map.addSource('drone-data', {
type: 'vector',
tiles: ['https://api.example.com/tiles/{z}/{x}/{y}.pbf'],
minzoom: 10,
maxzoom: 18
});
// Browser only loads visible tiles# Simplify geometry (reduce points)
npm install -g @mapbox/geojson-precision
geojson-precision -p 5 input.geojson output.geojson
# Split into tiles
npm install -g geojson-vt
# Generate tiles programmatically (see scripts/tile_generator.ts)// ✅ Only fetch visible bounds
async function fetchVisibleFeatures(bounds: Bounds): Promise<GeoJSON> {
const response = await fetch(
`/api/features?bbox=${bounds.west},${bounds.south},${bounds.east},${bounds.north}`
);
return response.json();
}
map.on('moveend', async () => {
const bounds = map.getBounds();
const geojson = await fetchVisibleFeatures(bounds);
map.getSource('dynamic-data').setData(geojson);
});// ❌ Flat Earth distance (wrong!)
function distanceKm(lat1: number, lon1: number, lat2: number, lon2: number): number {
const dx = lon2 - lon1;
const dy = lat2 - lat1;
return Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy) * 111.32; // 111.32 km/degree (WRONG)
}
// Example: San Francisco to New York
const distance = distanceKm(37.7749, -122.4194, 40.7128, -74.0060);
// Returns: ~55 km (WRONG! Actual: ~4,130 km)// ✅ Haversine formula (spherical Earth)
function haversineKm(lat1: number, lon1: number, lat2: number, lon2: number): number {
const R = 6371; // Earth radius in km
const dLat = toRadians(lat2 - lat1);
const dLon = toRadians(lon2 - lon1);
const a =
Math.sin(dLat / 2) * Math.sin(dLat / 2) +
Math.cos(toRadians(lat1)) * Math.cos(toRadians(lat2)) *
Math.sin(dLon / 2) * Math.sin(dLon / 2);
const c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
return R * c;
}
// San Francisco to New York
const distance = haversineKm(37.7749, -122.4194, 40.7128, -74.0060);
// Returns: ~4,130 km ✅-- ✅ PostGIS ST_Distance with GEOGRAPHY
SELECT ST_Distance(
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-122.4194, 37.7749), 4326)::geography,
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-74.0060, 40.7128), 4326)::geography
) / 1000 AS distance_km;
-- Returns: 4130.137 km ✅| Method | SF to NYC | Error |
|---|---|---|
| Euclidean (flat) | 55 km | 98.7% wrong |
| Haversine (sphere) | 4,130 km | ✅ Correct |
| PostGIS (ellipsoid) | 4,135 km | Most accurate |
□ PostGIS extension installed and spatial indexes created
□ All coordinates stored in consistent SRID (recommend: 4326)
□ GeoJSON files optimized (<1MB) or served as vector tiles
□ Coordinate transformations use ST_Transform, not manual math
□ Distance calculations use ST_Distance with GEOGRAPHY type
□ Bounding box queries use ST_MakeEnvelope + ST_Intersects
□ Large geometries chunked (not >100KB per feature)
□ Map tiles pre-generated for common zoom levels
□ CORS configured for tile servers
□ Rate limiting on geocoding/reverse geocoding endpoints| Scenario | Appropriate? |
|---|---|
| Drone imagery annotation and search | ✅ Yes - process survey data |
| GPS track visualization | ✅ Yes - optimize paths |
| Find nearest coffee shops | ✅ Yes - spatial queries |
| Jurisdiction boundary lookups | ✅ Yes - point-in-polygon |
| Simple address autocomplete | ❌ No - use Mapbox/Google |
| Embed static map on page | ❌ No - use Static API |
| Geocode single address | ❌ No - use geocoding API |
/references/coordinate-systems.md/references/postgis-guide.md/references/geojson-optimization.mdscripts/geospatial_processor.tsscripts/tile_generator.ts