Geocoding Best Practices: Review of Eight Commonly Used Geocoding Systems
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Geocoding Best Practices: Review of Eight Commonly Used Geocoding Systems Jennifer N. Swift Daniel W. Goldberg John P. Wilson Prepared for: Division of Cancer Prevention and Control National Center For Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Center for Disease Control and Prevention Swift, Goldberg and Wilson Cover Photos: Google Maps Street View, geocoded data in ArcGIS and USC Geocode Correction Service examples, by D. Goldberg and J. Swift (2008). Preferred Citation: Swift JN, Goldberg DW, and Wilson JP 2008 Geocoding Best Practices: Review of Eight Commonly Used Geocoding Systems. Los Angeles, CA, University of Southern California GIS Research Laboratory Technical Report No 10. All material in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission. However, citation as to source is requested. ii Geocoding Best Practices: Review of Eight Commonly Used Geocoding Systems Table of Contents List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Geocoders Evaluated................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 PC-Based Applications......................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Web-Based Applications...................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Licensing and Cost Comparison....................................................................................................... 12 3 Evaluation Results ...................................................................................................................................... 12 4 Summary and Conclusions........................................................................................................................ 37 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... 39 6 References.................................................................................................................................................... 40 7 List of Terms............................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix 1 List of Currently Available Geocoders ................................................................................... 44 Appendix 2 Summary of Geocoded Addresses .......................................................................................... 48 iii Swift, Goldberg and Wilson List of Figures 1 View of “true” locations for reference dataset used as listed in Table 2 ............................................... 4 2 Generalized workflow of the geocoding process (Goldberg 2008a)...................................................... 6 3 Specification of style (a) and reference dataset and attributes (b) in building an ESRI address locator (geocoder) ..................................................................................................................................... 7 4. Geocode addresses dialog boxes for setting geocoding options............................................................ 7 5 Geolytics GeocodeCD user interface (from Geolytics 2008).................................................................. 9 6 Partial view of Centrus geocoding test results and the corresponding reference dataset locations. 21 7 Partial view of Centrus geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location........... 22 8 Summary of ESRI geocoding process (ESRI 2003)................................................................................ 23 9 ESRI geocode test results summary........................................................................................................... 24 10 Partial view of ESRI address locator geocoding test results and the corresponding reference dataset locations ...................................................................................................................................... 25 11 Partial view of ESRI geocoding test result and the corresponding reference dataset location...... 25 12 Partial view of Geolytics geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations .. 26 13 Partial view of Geolytics geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location...... 27 14 Partial view of Geocoder.us geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations .................................................................................................................................................................... 28 15 Partial view of Geocoder.us geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location 28 16 Partial view of Google Earth geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations .................................................................................................................................................................... 29 17 Partial view of Google Earth geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 18 Partial view of Google Maps geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations .................................................................................................................................................................... 31 19 Partial view of Google Maps geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location .................................................................................................................................................................... 31 20 Partial view of USC Geocoding Platform geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations ...................................................................................................................................... 32 21 Partial view of USC Geocoding Platform geocoding test result and corresponding reference dataset location........................................................................................................................................ 33 22 Partial view of Yahoo Maps geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset locations .................................................................................................................................................................... 34 23 Partial view of Yahoo Maps geocoding test results and corresponding reference dataset location .................................................................................................................................................................... 34 24 Summary of number of points within 5, 10 and 1 km distance from the reference data locations, as listed in Table 6................................................................................................................................... 36 25 Partial view of all software tested utilizing geocoding software listed in Table 1............................. 36 iv Geocoding Best Practices: Review of Eight Commonly Used Geocoding Systems List of Tables 1 Geocoding systems evaluated as part of this study, in alphabetical order............................................. 2 2 Geocoded addresses utilized as the reference dataset in this study........................................................ 3 3 Licensing and costs of geocoding systems evaluated as part of this study.......................................... 13 4 Summary of accuracy and corrections performed in geocoding processing using software listed in Table 1. ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 5 Summary of match rates of geocoding systems evaluated as part of this study. Best overall match rates are highlighted in red..................................................................................................................... 21 6 Accuracies of geocoded data in terms of linear distance (meters) from reference dataset positions .................................................................................................................................................................... 35 v Swift, Goldberg and Wilson Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed account of current geocoding software to the Division of Cancer and Prevention and Control (DCPC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based on a review of eight different commonly used proprietary and open source geocoding software packages available today. The packages tested consist of Centrus, Geolytics,