Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Structuring
spatial
data
with
table
inheritance
AnunusualandusefulpropertyofPostgreSQLdatabasesisthattheyallowforobject
inheritancemodelsastheyapplytotables.Thismeansthatwecanhaveparent/child
relationships between tables and leverage that to structure out data in meaningful
ways. In our example, we will apply this to hydrology data. This data can be points,
lines, polygons, or more complex structures, but they have one commonality; they
are explicitly linked in a physical sense and inherently related and are all about wa-
ter.Water/hydrologyisanexcellentnaturalsystemtomodelthisway,asourwaysof
modelingitspatiallycanbequitemixeddependingonscales,details,thedatacollec-
tion process, and a host of other factors.
Getting ready
Thedatawewillbeusingishydrologydatathathasbeenmodifiedfromengineering
"bluelines"(seethefollowingscreenshot),thatis,hydrologicdatathatisverydetailed
andmeanttobeusedatscalesapproaching1:600.Thedataintheiroriginalapplica-
tion aided in detailed digital terrain modeling.
