geokoding

Geocoding is the process of converting human-readable location descriptions, such as addresses or place names, into geographic coordinates, typically latitude and longitude, that can be used in mapping, analysis, and geographic information systems. Forward geocoding refers to taking an address or place description and returning coordinates, while reverse geocoding uses coordinates to estimate the nearest address or place name.

Geocoding relies on reference datasets, often called gazetteers or street networks, that associate spatial coordinates with addresses and place names. The process generally involves parsing and normalizing the input, searching the reference data for candidate matches, scoring those candidates, and selecting the best fit. Quality metrics include positional accuracy, match rate, and confidence scores. Geocoding can be performed in batch for large datasets or in real time for interactive applications.

Data sources range from open datasets, such as OpenStreetMap-derived gazetteers and government address databases, to commercial geocoding services that may offer broader coverage or higher accuracy but carry licensing considerations.

Applications of geocoding include logistics and routing, emergency response, market and demographic analysis, urban planning, and various location-based services. Challenges include incomplete or inconsistent addressing, multilingual or locale-specific formats, address ambiguity, and privacy or licensing constraints. The effectiveness of geocoding depends on data quality, coverage, update frequency, and the effectiveness of the parsing and matching algorithms used.