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Plane Sweep Algorithm

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Encyclopedia of GIS

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Synonyms

Sweep line algorithm; Spatial join

Definition

The plane sweep (or sweep line) algorithm is a basic computational geometry algorithm for finding intersecting line segments. The algorithm can run in O(n lg n) time, where n is the number of line segments. This algorithm can be altered to solve many related computational‐geometry problems, such as finding intersecting polygons. In spatial databases, we are generally looking at the special case of finding the intersections of minimum bounding rectangles (MBR, see definitional entry).

Historical Background

The plane sweep algorithm, or sweep line algorithm, originated from line segment intersection problem in computational geometry field. The paper and thesis written by Michael Shamos in the middle of 1970 first addressed the computational geometry problems. Later the book [1] written by Preparata and Shamos in 1985 contributed to making people widely aware of the problems. The plane sweep algorithm is one of the main topics in the...

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Recommended Reading

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  12. Preparata, F.P., Shamos, M.I.: Computational Geometry – An Introduction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany (1985)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jordan Wood

  2. ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA

    Sangho Kim

Authors
  1. Jordan Wood
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  2. Sangho Kim
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Shashi Shekhar (McKnight Distinguished University Professor) (McKnight Distinguished University Professor)

  2. Management Science and Information Systems Department, Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Hui Xiong (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Wood, J., Kim, S. (2008). Plane Sweep Algorithm. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_989

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