Glossary

Here we have collected all the key terms you need to deepen your understanding of spatial data science and location intelligence.

G

Generative AI

Generative AI uses deep learning models to create new content — text, images, code, and data — by learning patterns from training data. In spatial analytics, it enables synthetic data generation, scenario simulation, and natural language interfaces.

Geocoding

Geocoding is the process of converting addresses or place names into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for use in mapping and spatial analysis.

Geographic Coordinates

Geographic coordinates use latitude and longitude to specify a location on the Earth’s curved surface. Geographic coordinates provide a global reference system.

Geographically Weighted Regression GWR

Geographically Weighted Regression GWR quantifies the strength of relationships across space between a target and correlation variables.

GeoJSON

GeoJSON is a type of JSON format designed for encoding geographic data structures. It supports various geometry types such as points, lines, and polygons.

GeoParquet

GeoParquet is a project aimed at extending the Parquet file format to directly support geometry data. A benefit of GeoParquet is its cloud data interoperability

Geospatial Foundation Models

Geospatial foundation models are AI models trained on vast datasets like satellite imagery to understand the physical and human world, adapting to diverse tasks.

Geospatial Reasoning

Geospatial Reasoning is the ability of an AI system to understand a complex spatial problem, independently devise a multi-step analytical plan, execute it, and interpret the results to provide an actionable solution.

Google Cloud's BigQuery

Google Cloud's BigQuery is the serverless, cost-effective, and multi-cloud data warehouse offered by Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

GPKG

Geopackage GPKG is an open standard vector file format developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium. Designed to be platform-independent and self-contained.