Projecting geographic data from a spherical surface to two-dimensional cartesian space

摘要

A method for projecting geographic data (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates) from a spherical surface onto a two-dimensional Cartesian space is provided. Such a capability can employ a coordinate testing and transformation method to map the projected geographic data within the two-dimensional Cartesian space so that distances measured on the spherical surface remain relatively consistent with distances measured in the two-dimensional Cartesian space. Further, this capability allows for the use of efficient search algorithms to find projected geographic points within a particular geographic search area.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for projecting geographic data from a spherical surface to a two-dimensional Cartesian space, comprising:
projecting the geographic data from the spherical surface onto faces of a three-dimensional polyhedron; arranging the faces of the three-dimensional polyhedron within the two-dimensional Cartesian space according to a cutout pattern corresponding to a shape of the three-dimensional polyhedron, wherein geographic data points associated with the spherical surface are mapped to a first set of Cartesian coordinates associated with the arranged faces within two-dimensional Cartesian space; and mapping one or more data points in the geographic data points to a second set of Cartesian coordinates outside of the cutout pattern and within the two-dimensional Cartesian space based on the arranging so that relative distances among the geographic data points remain consistent between the spherical surface and the two-dimensional Cartesian space.