postgis_sfcgal

PostGIS SFCGAL functions

https://git.osgeo.org/gitea/postgis/postgis

Overview

Package	Version	Category	License	Language
`postgis`	`3.6.2`	GIS	GPL-2.0	C

ID	Extension	Bin	Lib	Load	Create	Trust	Reloc	Schema
1500	`postgis`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	-
1501	`postgis_topology`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	`topology`
1502	`postgis_raster`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	-
1503	`postgis_sfcgal`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	-
1504	`postgis_tiger_geocoder`	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	`tiger`
1505	`address_standardizer`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	-
1506	`address_standardizer_data_us`	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	-

Related	`postgis` `pgrouting` `pointcloud` `pointcloud_postgis` `h3` `h3_postgis` `q3c` `ogr_fdw` `geoip`

Version

Type	Repo	Version	PG Ver	Package	Deps
EXT	PGDG	`3.6.2`	1817161514	`postgis`	`postgis`
RPM	PGDG	`3.6.2`	1817161514	`postgis36_$v`	-
DEB	PGDG	`3.6.2`	1817161514	`postgresql-$v-postgis-3`	-

OS / PG	PG18	PG17	PG16	PG15	PG14
el8.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1
el8.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1
el9.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el9.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el10.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el10.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d12.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d12.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d13.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d13.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u22.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u22.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u24.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u24.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2

Install

You can install postgis directly. First, make sure the PGDG repository is added and enabled:

pig repo add pgdg -u          # Add PGDG repo and update cache

Install the extension using pig or apt/yum/dnf:

pig install postgis;          # Install for current active PG version

pig ext install -y postgis -v 18  # PG 18
pig ext install -y postgis -v 17  # PG 17
pig ext install -y postgis -v 16  # PG 16
pig ext install -y postgis -v 15  # PG 15
pig ext install -y postgis -v 14  # PG 14

dnf install -y postgis36_18       # PG 18
dnf install -y postgis36_17       # PG 17
dnf install -y postgis36_16       # PG 16
dnf install -y postgis36_15       # PG 15
dnf install -y postgis36_14       # PG 14

apt install -y postgresql-18-postgis-3   # PG 18
apt install -y postgresql-17-postgis-3   # PG 17
apt install -y postgresql-16-postgis-3   # PG 16
apt install -y postgresql-15-postgis-3   # PG 15
apt install -y postgresql-14-postgis-3   # PG 14

Create Extension:

CREATE EXTENSION postgis_sfcgal CASCADE;  -- requires: postgis

Usage

PostGIS SFCGAL: 3D geometry and advanced operations powered by SFCGAL

PostGIS SFCGAL provides advanced 2D and 3D spatial operations by wrapping the SFCGAL library. It adds support for 3D geometry operations, volume calculations, extrusion, tesselation, and other functions not available in the core PostGIS GEOS backend.

SFCGAL Function Reference

Setup

CREATE EXTENSION postgis_sfcgal;

3D Operations

3D Intersection and Difference

-- 3D intersection of two solids
SELECT ST_3DIntersection(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYHEDRALSURFACE Z(((0 0 0,1 0 0,1 1 0,0 1 0,0 0 0)),((0 0 1,1 0 1,1 1 1,0 1 1,0 0 1)),((0 0 0,0 1 0,0 1 1,0 0 1,0 0 0)),((1 0 0,1 1 0,1 1 1,1 0 1,1 0 0)),((0 0 0,1 0 0,1 0 1,0 0 1,0 0 0)),((0 1 0,1 1 0,1 1 1,0 1 1,0 1 0)))'),
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYHEDRALSURFACE Z(((0.5 0.5 0.5,1.5 0.5 0.5,1.5 1.5 0.5,0.5 1.5 0.5,0.5 0.5 0.5)),((0.5 0.5 1.5,1.5 0.5 1.5,1.5 1.5 1.5,0.5 1.5 1.5,0.5 0.5 1.5)),((0.5 0.5 0.5,0.5 1.5 0.5,0.5 1.5 1.5,0.5 0.5 1.5,0.5 0.5 0.5)),((1.5 0.5 0.5,1.5 1.5 0.5,1.5 1.5 1.5,1.5 0.5 1.5,1.5 0.5 0.5)),((0.5 0.5 0.5,1.5 0.5 0.5,1.5 0.5 1.5,0.5 0.5 1.5,0.5 0.5 0.5)),((0.5 1.5 0.5,1.5 1.5 0.5,1.5 1.5 1.5,0.5 1.5 1.5,0.5 1.5 0.5)))')
);

-- 3D difference
SELECT ST_3DDifference(solid_a, solid_b) FROM solids;

-- 3D union
SELECT ST_3DUnion(solid_a, solid_b) FROM solids;

3D Measurements

-- 3D area of a surface
SELECT ST_3DArea(geom) FROM surfaces;

-- Volume of a solid
SELECT ST_Volume(geom) FROM solids;

Extrusion

-- Extrude a 2D polygon into a 3D solid
SELECT ST_Extrude(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))'),
    0, 0, 10  -- dx, dy, dz
);

Tesselation and Triangulation

-- Tesselate a polygon into triangles
SELECT ST_Tesselate(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))')
);

-- Constrained Delaunay triangulation
SELECT ST_ConstrainedDelaunayTriangles(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))')
);

Other Functions

-- Straight skeleton of a polygon
SELECT ST_StraightSkeleton(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))')
);

-- Approximate medial axis
SELECT ST_ApproximateMedialAxis(
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))')
);

-- Minkowski sum
SELECT ST_MinkowskiSum(
    ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(0 0, 4 0)'),
    ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))')
);

-- Check planarity of a surface
SELECT ST_IsPlanar(geom) FROM surfaces;

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Last Modified 2026-03-12: add pg extension catalog (95749bf)