#sharding Uber's H3 algorithm is a hierarchical grid system used for sharding and indexing locations on a map. It was developed by Uber Technologies and is designed to efficiently divide the Earth's surface into hexagonal cells of varying sizes. The H3 algorithm provides a hexagonal grid with 15 resolution levels, ranging from global-scale cells to extremely small local cells. Each cell is identified by a unique index, which encodes both the size and location of the cell. The key features of the H3 algorithm are: 1. Hierarchical Structure: The grid is organized in a hierarchical manner, allowing for efficient spatial indexing and querying at different levels of detail. 2. Uniform Grid: The hexagons in the grid are uniformly sized, ensuring consistent spatial representation across different regions of the Earth's surface. 3. Resolution Levels: The algorithm provides 15 resolution levels, allowing for cells of different sizes. Higher resolution levels represent smaller cells, providing finer-grained spatial representation. 4. Local Refinement: At higher resolution levels, cells can be further divided into smaller cells within them. This allows for more precise representation and analysis of spatial data. 5. Contiguity: Adjacent hexagons in the grid share edges, ensuring that neighboring locations are easily identifiable and connected in terms of spatial relationships. The H3 algorithm finds applications in various domains such as ride-sharing, logistics optimization, geospatial analysis, urban planning, and more. It enables efficient indexing and querying of location-based data, facilitating tasks like route planning, service allocation, geospatial analytics, and visualization. # Why is Uber's H3 called H3 Uber's H3 is called H3 because it stands for "[[H3|Hexagonal Hierarchical Spatial Indexing library]]." The name [[H3]] might be inspired by another mapping technology: [[S2|S2Geometry]]. # References [[@H3H3]] ![[@H3HexagonalHierarchical2023]] [[@fmechannelHexagonifyWorldTheory2021]]