Name

ST_ClusterKMeans — Window function that returns a cluster id for each input geometry using the K-means algorithm.

Synopsis

integer ST_ClusterKMeans( geometry winset geom , integer k , float8 max_radius );

Description

Returns K-means cluster number for each input geometry. The distance used for clustering is the distance between the centroids for 2D geometries, and distance between bounding box centers for 3D geometries. For POINT inputs, M coordinate will be treated as weight of input and has to be larger than 0.

max_radius, if set, will cause ST_ClusterKMeans to generate more clusters than k ensuring that no cluster in output has radius larger than max_radius. This is useful in reachability analysis.

Enhanced: 3.2.0 Support for max_radius

Enhanced: 3.1.0 Support for 3D geometries and weights

Availability: 2.3.0

Examples

Define the parcel geometries once in a CTE and reuse them across the executable examples.

Parcels color-coded by cluster number (cid).

Code
WITH parcels(parcel_id, geom) AS (
  VALUES
    ('A1', ST_MakeEnvelope(0, 0, 10, 10)),
    ('A2', ST_MakeEnvelope(10, 0, 20, 10)),
    ('B1', ST_MakeEnvelope(100, 0, 110, 10)),
    ('B2', ST_MakeEnvelope(110, 0, 120, 10)),
    ('C1', ST_MakeEnvelope(200, 0, 210, 10)),
    ('C2', ST_MakeEnvelope(210, 0, 220, 10))
), clustered AS (
  SELECT parcel_id,
         geom,
         ST_ClusterKMeans(geom, 3) OVER (ORDER BY parcel_id) AS cid
  FROM parcels
)
SELECT cid,
       string_agg(parcel_id, ',' ORDER BY parcel_id) AS parcels,
       ST_Union(geom) AS cluster_geom
FROM clustered
GROUP BY cid
ORDER BY cid;
Output
0 | C1,C2 | POLYGON((200 10,210 10,220 10,220 0,210 0,200 0,200 10))
1 | A1,A2 | POLYGON((0 10,10 10,20 10,20 0,10 0,0 0,0 10))
2 | B1,B2 | POLYGON((100 10,110 10,120 10,120 0,110 0,100 0,100 10))
Figure
Geometry figure for visual-st-clusterkmeans-01

Partitioning parcel clusters by type:

Code
WITH parcel_geoms AS (
  SELECT geom
  FROM ST_Subdivide(
    ST_Buffer('SRID=3857;LINESTRING(40 100,98 100,100 150,60 90)'::geometry,
              40, 'endcap=square'),
    12) AS geom
), parcels AS (
  SELECT lpad(row_number() OVER (ORDER BY ST_YMin(geom), ST_XMin(geom))::text, 3, '0') AS parcel_id,
         geom,
         ('{residential,commercial}'::text[])[1 + mod(row_number() OVER (ORDER BY ST_YMin(geom), ST_XMin(geom)), 2)] AS type
  FROM parcel_geoms
)
SELECT ST_ClusterKMeans(geom, 3) over (PARTITION BY type) AS cid,
       parcel_id,
       type,
       ST_SnapToGrid(geom, 1) AS parcel_geom
FROM parcels
ORDER BY type, parcel_id;
Output
 cid | parcel_id |    type     | parcel_geom
-----+-----------+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------------
   0 | 001       | commercial  | POLYGON((33 60,0 60,0 98,71 98,71 35,33 60))
   2 | 003       | commercial  | POLYGON((106 98,138 98,137 91,134 84,131 77,126 71,120 66,113 63,106 61,106 98))
   2 | 005       | commercial  | POLYGON((140 148,138 98,72 98,72 148,140 148))
   1 | 007       | commercial  | POLYGON((109 189,116 187,123 183,129 178,134 171,137 164,139 156,140 148,109 148,109 189))
   0 | 002       | residential | POLYGON((71 98,106 98,106 61,98 60,88 60,71 35,71 98))
   2 | 004       | residential | POLYGON((0 98,0 140,45 140,67 172,72 178,72 98,0 98))
   1 | 006       | residential | POLYGON((72 178,78 183,85 187,93 189,101 190,109 189,109 148,72 148,72 178))
Figure
Geometry figure for visual-st-clusterkmeans-02

Example: Clustering a preaggregated planetary-scale data population dataset using 3D clustering and weighting. Identify at least 20 regions based on Kontur Population Data that do not span more than 3000 km from their center:

Code
CREATE TABLE kontur_population_3000km_clusters AS
SELECT
    geom,
    ST_ClusterKMeans(
        ST_Force4D(
            ST_Transform(ST_Force3D(geom), 4978),
            mvalue => population
        ),
        20,
        max_radius => 3000000
    ) OVER () AS cid
FROM kontur_population;

The clustering produces 46 regions. Clusters are centered at well-populated regions such as New York and Moscow. Greenland forms one cluster, several island clusters span the antimeridian, and cluster edges follow the Earth's curvature.

Kontur population clustered with 3000 km maximum radius.

Cluster weighted city populations on the Earth in geocentric coordinates. The maximum radius is specified in meters, while the returned geometries stay in WGS 84 for display.

Code
WITH population(place, population, geom) AS (
  VALUES
    ('Boston', 5.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(-71.06, 42.36), 4326)),
    ('New York', 20.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(-74.01, 40.71), 4326)),
    ('London', 15.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(-0.13, 51.51), 4326)),
    ('Paris', 11.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(2.35, 48.86), 4326)),
    ('Osaka', 19.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(135.50, 34.69), 4326)),
    ('Tokyo', 37.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(139.69, 35.68), 4326)),
    ('Melbourne', 5.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(144.96, -37.81), 4326)),
    ('Sydney', 5.0, ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(151.21, -33.87), 4326))
), clustered AS (
  SELECT place,
         geom,
         ST_ClusterKMeans(
           ST_Force4D(
             ST_Transform(ST_Force3D(geom), 4978),
             mvalue => population
           ),
           4,
           max_radius => 3000000
         ) OVER (ORDER BY place) AS cid
  FROM population
)
SELECT cid,
       string_agg(place, ', ' ORDER BY place) AS places,
       ST_Collect(geom ORDER BY place) AS cluster_geom
FROM clustered
GROUP BY cid
ORDER BY cid;
Output
0 | Melbourne, Sydney | MULTIPOINT((144.96 -37.81),(151.21 -33.87))
1 | Boston, New York | MULTIPOINT((-71.06 42.36),(-74.01 40.71))
2 | Osaka, Tokyo | MULTIPOINT((135.5 34.69),(139.69 35.68))
3 | London, Paris | MULTIPOINT((-0.13 51.51),(2.35 48.86))
Figure
Geometry figure for visual-st-clusterkmeans-03