Geobloki

Geobloki is a term used in geospatial contexts to describe modular blocks of geospatial data that partition the Earth's surface to support storage, processing, and distribution. Similar in purpose to tiling schemes, geobloki are designed to enable scalable workflows and efficient data exchange. There is no single, universally accepted specification; the term is used in multiple communities to refer to grid-based data blocks, sometimes informally.

Typically, geobloki are arranged in a global grid and identified by a hierarchical index indicating location and resolution. Block sizes range from coarse continental-scale tiles to fine local tiles, and many implementations support multiple levels of detail. Indices are often based on spatial trees or grid tiling concepts that allow quick lookup and streaming of blocks as needed by a client or processor.

Applications include offline mapping, distributed processing, and incremental data updates. By encapsulating data in discrete blocks, geobloki support caching, parallel processing, and reproducible analyses. They are commonly used in conjunction with geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and environmental data archives.

History and status: The term geobloki has circulated in regional GIS discussions and some open-source projects. It is not tied to a formal international standard, and implementations vary in block size, indexing method, and compatibility with existing tiling schemes such as Web Mercator or quadtrees. Critics note that lack of standardization can hinder interoperability.

See also: tiling, geospatial data, GIS, map tiling, Web Mercator, quadtrees.