R-tree

<p>R-trees are <a href="/facts/Tree_data_structure/RcXz9noF">tree data structures</a> used for <a href="/facts/Spatial_index/wzPAetLd">spatial access methods</a>, i.e., for indexing multi-dimensional information such as <a href="/facts/Geographic_coordinate_system/RkjfcY6k">geographical coordinates</a>, <a href="/facts/Rectangle/mdLfIGKA">rectangles</a> or <a href="/facts/Polygon/xvkmYhvG">polygons</a>. The R-tree was proposed by Antonin Guttman in 1984 and has found significant use in both theoretical and applied contexts. A common real-world usage for an R-tree might be to store spatial objects such as restaurant locations or the polygons that typical maps are made of: streets, buildings, outlines of lakes, coastlines, etc. and then find answers quickly to queries such as "Find all museums within 2 km of my current location", "retrieve all road segments within 2 km of my location" (to display them in a <a href="/facts/Navigation_system/mdhUrqFM">navigation system</a>) or "find the nearest gas station" (although not taking roads into account). The R-tree can also accelerate <a href="/facts/Nearest_neighbor_search/R6QTyAph">nearest neighbor search</a> for various distance metrics, including <a href="/facts/Great-circle_distance/s6HNWn8e">great-circle distance</a>.
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R-tree open-in-new

R-tree