Use of Tessellation for Spatial Indexing and how Uber H3 works
Jun 17, 2024
This post is a continuation of Spatial Index: Grid Systems where we will set the foundation for tessellation and head into the details of Uber H3
Tessellation or tiling is the process of covering/dividing a space into smaller, non-overlapping shapes that fit together perfectly without gaps or overlaps. In spatial indexing, tessellation is used to break down the Earth’s surface into manageable units for efficient data storage, querying, and analysis.
The rationale behind why a geographical grid system (Tessellation system) is necessary: The real world is cluttered with various geographical elements, both natural and man-made, none of which follow any consistent structure. To perform geographic algorithms or analyses on it, we need a more abstract form.
Maps are a good start and are the most common abstraction, with which most people are familiar. However, maps still contain all sorts of inconsistencies. This calls for a grid system, which takes the cluttered geographic space and provides a more clean and structured mathematical space, making it much easier to perform computations and queries.
