2007/01/26 by Jim Gray, Gray, Jim, M. A. Nieto‐Santisteban +3 · 3 citations
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Advanced Database Systems and Queries #Data Management and Algorithms #Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS) #Databases (cs.DB) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Geographic Information Systems Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cs/0701171
openalex publication_date 2007/01/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Zones index an N-dimensional Euclidian or metric space to efficiently support points-near-a-point queries either within a dataset or between two datasets. The approach uses relational algebra and the B-Tree mechanism found in almost all relational database systems. Hence, the Zones Algorithm gives a portable-relational implementation of points-near-point, spatial cross-match, and self-match queries. This article corrects some mistakes in an earlier article we wrote on the Zones Algorithm and describes some algorithmic improvements. The Appendix includes an implementation of point-near-point, self-match, and cross-match using the USGS city and stream gauge database.