How can I find a point inside a polygon in PostGIS?

Question

How can I find a point that is guaranteed to be within a given polygon in PostGIS?

I am aware of the ST_Centroid function. However, the centroid is not always within a polygon, see below:

Furthermore, I would like to avoid using a point that is on the polygon boundary, but rather want one that is inside the boundary (and not inside a hole in donut shaped polygons).

Answer 1

If you're looking for a PostGIS function that will tell you a point that's inside your polygon then the ST_PointOnSurface function may give you what you need.

SELECT 
   ST_AsText(ST_PointOnSurface('POLYGON((0 0, 0 5, 5 5, 5 0, 0 0))'::geometry));

   st_astext
----------------
 POINT(2.5 2.5)
(1 row)

Answer 2

Found this function on the PostGIS mailinglist. I guess it is what you require:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION point_inside_geometry(param_geom geometry)
  RETURNS geometry AS
$$
  DECLARE
     var_cent geometry := ST_Centroid(param_geom);
     var_result geometry := var_cent;
  BEGIN
  -- If the centroid is outside the geometry then 
  -- calculate a box around centroid that is guaranteed to intersect the geometry
  -- take the intersection of that and find point on surface of intersection
 IF NOT ST_Intersects(param_geom, var_cent) THEN
  var_result := ST_PointOnSurface(ST_Intersection(param_geom, ST_Expand(var_cent, ST_Distance(var_cent,param_geom)*2) ));
 END IF;
 RETURN var_result;
  END;
  $$
  LANGUAGE plpgsql IMMUTABLE STRICT
  COST 100;