Entity-Based Geocomputation
The Wolfram Language introduces a full Geographic Information System (GIS). It integrates the powerful new GeoGraphics function for map construction, the new Entity framework to access the large corpus of information in Wolfram|Alpha, and improved functionality for geodetic computations. This allows construction of a very large variety of maps—in any cartographic projection and including the representation of results of arbitrary computations—with any type of geographic data.
- Support for a large variety of geographical Entity types, from "Country", "City", or "AdministrativeDivision" to "Park", "BroadcastStation", or "Airport".
- Access to hundreds of properties for those entities, related to their geography, demographics, economics, and more.
- Highly precise geodetic computations on the Earth's surface, including computations of distances and angles, geodesics and loxodromes, and much more, with full integration of Entity objects. Support for standard ellipsoidal datums, like "ITRF00", "WGS84", or "NAD27".
- Unified approach to general maps through the use of GeoGraphics, which provides full automation and freedom in the choice of ranges, projections, zoom levels, map styling, geo primitives, and more.
- Support for the standard cartographic projection methods, with freedom to modify their parameters. Support for the standard coordinate systems on Earth, such as the UTM/UPS zones or the American SPCS83 collection.
- Full integration of the use of Quantity objects with units to specify distances, areas, angles, times, etc.
- Support for positional properties of moving Entity objects, like satellites, or time-dependent geographic primitives, like the day-night terminator line.
- GeoGraphics support for maps of bodies other than the Earth.
- Powerful geographical lookup algorithms, using proximity tests, inclusion tests, and more, natively handling both extended areas and point-like specifications, both built in and user defined.
- Access to complete elevation data of the Earth, allowing easy topographic map generation.