Ningchuan Xiao is Associate Professor of Geography at the Ohio State University. He has taught a wide ranges of courses in GIS, spatial analysis, and cartography. His research focuses on the development of effective computational methods in spatial and temporal data handling.

Introduction
Part I. Geometric Algorithms
Basic Geometric Operations
Polygon Overlay
Part II. Spatial Indexing
Indexing
k-D Trees
Quadtrees
Indexing Lines and Polygons
Part III. Spatial Analysis and Modeling
Interpolation
Spatial Pattern and Analysis
Network Analysis
Spatial Optimization
Heuristic Search Algorithms

Geographic information systems (GIS) have become increasingly important in helping us understand complex social, economic, and natural dynamics where spatial components play a key role. The critical algorithms used in GIS, however, are notoriously difficult to both teach and understand, in part due to the lack of a coherent representation. GIS Algorithms attempts to address this problem by combining rigorous formal language with example case studies and student exercises.
Using Python code throughout, Xiao breaks the subject down into three fundamental areas:

• Geometric Algorithms


• Spatial Indexing


• Spatial Analysis and Modelling