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Knowledge BaseCollections, DGGRS & Zones

Collections, DGGRS & Zones

Three resource types show up throughout the API. Every data-bearing URL is built by nesting them in this order.

  • Collection — one dataset (e.g. a satellite product, a vector layer, a table you’ve onboarded). /collections/{collection_id}.
  • DGGRS — a Discrete Global Grid Reference System: the grid a collection’s cells are addressed on. GeoInsight’s default is isea3h (ISEA3H); other grids exist in the registry. /dggs/{dggrs_id}.
  • Zone — one cell of a DGGRS, at a given resolution (zone-level). /zones/{zone_id}.

How they nest

Every zone/data route exists in two forms:

/collections/{collection_id}/dggs/{dggrs_id}/zones/{zone_id}/data   — scoped to one collection's data
/dggs/{dggrs_id}/zones/{zone_id}/data                                — grid-only: geometry, or an ad-hoc cog-url query

The collection-scoped form reads that collection’s values for the zone. The bare form has no data of its own to return unless you either pass cog-url (query an arbitrary raster directly) or POST a body naming collections to join — see Zone Data.

Zone geometry, hierarchy (parent/children/neighbors), and identity are properties of the DGGRS, not of any collection — that’s why /dggs/{dggrs_id}/zones/{zone_id} works with no collection at all. A collection only adds values on top of zones that already exist.

Picking resolution

zone-level controls how fine the grid is (higher = smaller zones). There’s no single right value — it depends on the collection’s native resolution and how much detail you need. See the DGGRS & Zones reference for exact parameters.

ItemsDGGS