16

I'm trying to use ST_difference and ST_intersection with two layers of multipolygons.

I want something like:

enter image description here

With the input on the left and the result on the right.

MY DATA:

t1.geom contains 1000 differents polygons.

t2.geom contains 1000 differents polygons.

THE QUERIES:

I try to create (in a naive way) two queries to perform these operations

st_intersection(t1.geom, t2.geom)
from t1,t2
where st_intersects(t1.geom,t2.geom);

Unfortunately it doesn't work, or takes forever to run.

I would like a query similar to the tools erase and intersect from ArcGIS.

QUESTION:

How to perform those operations efficiently ?

16
  • You should change only one thing at a time. How long does it take to run st_difference(t1.geom, t2.geom) from t1,t2 where st_intersects(t1.geom,t2.geom);
    – user30184
    Mar 31, 2016 at 9:17
  • @user30184 I have already try this option, but the result doesn't make sense, that don't give me t1.geom - t2.geom, in fact i don't understand the result, i just want to erase t2.geom that overlaps t1.geom
    – obchardon
    Mar 31, 2016 at 9:29
  • I agree with what user30184 says, but would add that ST_Overlaps is a more complete test than ST_Intersects, as it is false in the case of containment. ST_Intersects will return true as soon as any two line segment from geom1 and geom2 intersect, whereas ST_Overlaps may have to test for containment, which depending on the complexity of the polygons, may take longer. Mar 31, 2016 at 9:31
  • st_difference(t1.geom, t2.geom) will give you the part of t1.geom that is not shared with t2.geom. It will not erase t2.geom, if I have understood you correctly. Mar 31, 2016 at 9:37
  • 1
    Would be nice to show EXPLAIN results of theses 2 queries....
    – WKT
    Mar 31, 2016 at 12:22

1 Answer 1

20

I finally found an answer by myself.

For st_difference():

with temp as 
(
  select   b.gid, st_union(a.geom) as geom
  from     t1 b join t2 a on st_intersects(a.geom, b.geom)
  group by b.gid
) 
select st_difference(b.geom,coalesce(t.geom, 'GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY'::geometry)) as newgeom
from t1 b left join temp t on b.gid = t.gid

It works like a charm and runs fast. The query is similar for st_intersection().

In addition, some of my polygons weren't valid so I corrected the geometry with

update t1
set geom = ST_Multi(ST_CollectionExtract(ST_MakeValid(geom), 3));
update t2
set geom = ST_Multi(ST_CollectionExtract(ST_MakeValid(geom), 3));
2
  • in the coalesce function what is the purpose of 'GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY'::geometry? I am assuming you have it there in case the t.geom is null, but how could you turn a 'GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY'::geometry into a real geometry?
    – ziggy
    Aug 2, 2017 at 13:36
  • It appears that ST_Difference(geom, 'GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY'::geometry) is just the object itself, i..e, geom. I think the purpose of the COALESCE statement is therefore to make sure that the query returns a result even in cases when a and b don't intersect.
    – John
    Sep 22, 2018 at 21:12

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