ST_DistanceSphere
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## Name

ST_DistanceSphere — Returns minimum distance in meters between two lon/lat geometries using a spherical earth model.

## Synopsis

`float ST_DistanceSphere(`geometry geomlonlatA, geometry geomlonlatB, float8 radius=6371008`)`;

## Description

Returns minimum distance in meters between two lon/lat points. Uses a spherical earth and radius derived from the spheroid defined by the SRID. Faster than ST_DistanceSpheroid, but less accurate. PostGIS Versions prior to 1.5 only implemented for points.

Availability: 1.5 - support for other geometry types besides points was introduced. Prior versions only work with points.

Changed: 2.2.0 In prior versions this used to be called ST_Distance_Sphere

## Examples

    SELECT round(CAST(ST_DistanceSphere(ST_Centroid(geom), ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-118 38)',4326)) As numeric),2) As dist_meters,
    round(CAST(ST_Distance(ST_Transform(ST_Centroid(geom),32611),
    		ST_Transform(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-118 38)', 4326),32611)) As numeric),2) As dist_utm11_meters,
    round(CAST(ST_Distance(ST_Centroid(geom), ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-118 38)', 4326)) As numeric),5) As dist_degrees,
    round(CAST(ST_Distance(ST_Transform(geom,32611),
    		ST_Transform(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-118 38)', 4326),32611)) As numeric),2) As min_dist_line_point_meters
    FROM
    	(SELECT ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(-118.584 38.374,-118.583 38.5)', 4326) As geom) as foo;
    	 dist_meters | dist_utm11_meters | dist_degrees | min_dist_line_point_meters
    	-------------+-------------------+--------------+----------------------------
    		70424.47 |          70438.00 |      0.72900 |                   65871.18

## See Also

ST_Distance, ST_DistanceSpheroid

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