Spatial Data (SQL Server)

Spatial data represents information about the physical ___location and shape of geometric objects. These objects can be point locations or more complex objects such as countries, roads, or lakes.

SQL Server supports two spatial data types: the geometry data type and the geography data type.

• The geometry type represents data in a Euclidean (flat) coordinate system.

• The geography type represents data in a round-earth coordinate system.

Both data types are implemented as .NET common language runtime (CLR) data types in SQL Server.

Related Tasks

• Create, Construct, and Query geometry Instances
  Describes the methods that you can use with instances of the geometry data type.

• Create, Construct, and Query geography Instances
  Describes the methods that you can use with instances of the geography data type.

• Query Spatial Data for Nearest Neighbor
  Describes the common query pattern that is used to find the closest spatial objects to a specific spatial object.

• Create, Modify, and Drop Spatial Indexes
  Provides information about creating, altering, and dropping a spatial index.

Related Content

• Spatial Data Types Overview
  Introduces the spatial data types.

  • Point

  • LineString

  • CircularString

  • CompoundCurve

  • Polygon

  • CurvePolygon

  • MultiPoint

  • MultiLineString

  • MultiPolygon

  • GeometryCollection

• Spatial Indexes Overview
  Introduces spatial indexes and describes tessellation and tessellation schemes.