Geocoding technology assigns a latitude/longitude coordinate to an
address. Once a specific geographical coordinate is assigned, the data can be
used for Location Based Services (LBS), which offers businesses/individuals
goods and services based on their geographic location. In addition, the
technology is used for distance mapping, spatial searches, and for Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) where geographic data is stored and analyzed, helping
management gain a more complete view of their customers and prospects.
GIS and Enterprise Location
Intelligence Systems are used for spatial analysis. Address Interpolation is
one way; this is where the street network is already mapped to the geographic
co-ordinate space. The process takes an address and matches it to the street
segment. The position of the address is then interpolated within the range
specified along the segment.
Another technique is known as Point
Level Geocoding. This is more accurate and indicates the location of any point
at the centroid of the building or land parcel. It is useful for applications
like flood determination, insurance underwriting, etc. You also have other
techniques like GPS and mile markers. There is also a process called reverse
geocoding, which is the reverse process of Geocoding.
It refers to the process whereby a description of a location, like the place
name or postal address, enriches the geographic co-ordinates.
Geocoder
is a software suite or web service that helps you implement the process of
geocoding. Geocoder can be used for cartography, GIS analysis, transaction mash
up, and decision making workflow. On the Web, it can help with local search and
routing. When you use GPS along with geocoding, it provides you location data
for geo-tagging different pieces of media like RSS items or photographs.
As technology advances, this
process will only become more effective and accurate. Moreover, the knowledge
and control aspects of geocoding are also under study and new algorithms and
techniques are being developed.