Exercise 23: Spatial Packages Prep

ESS 330 - Quantitative Reasoning

Author

Zachary Cramton 

library(sf)
Warning: package 'sf' was built under R version 4.4.3
Linking to GEOS 3.13.0, GDAL 3.10.1, PROJ 9.5.1; sf_use_s2() is TRUE
library(terra)
Warning: package 'terra' was built under R version 4.4.3
terra 1.8.42
sf::sf_extSoftVersion()
          GEOS           GDAL         proj.4 GDAL_with_GEOS     USE_PROJ_H 
      "3.13.0"       "3.10.1"        "9.5.1"         "true"         "true" 
          PROJ 
       "9.5.1" 
terra::gdal()
[1] "3.10.1"

GDAL: Geospatial Data Abstraction Library

GDAL is an open-source library/software for reading, writing, and transforming geospatial data formats. It drives anything and everything spatial and enables interoperability across platforms by standardizing access to many data formats.

GEOS: Geometry Engine - Open Source

GEOS is a C++ library for performing geometric operations on planar geometry objects. It was ported from the Java library Java Topology Suite (JTS). It handles topological operations like buffering, intersections, unions, and differences.

PROJ: PROJ used to be PROJ.4

PROJ is a library for performing coordinate transformations. It enables conversion between geographic and projection coordinate systems. It is responsible for the mathematics behind map projections and datum shifts, ensuring that data aligns with map resources correctly.

Direct access to the command line (CLI) in a functional language like R enables reproducibility with version control, automation, compute efficiency, and the ability to pass R variables through CLI tools.