Name
ST_ClosestPointOfApproach — Returns the measure at which points interpolated along two lines are closest.
Synopsis
float8 ST_ClosestPointOfApproach(geometry track1, geometry track2);
Description
Returns the smallest measure at which point interpolated along the given lines are at the smallest distance. Inputs must be valid trajectories as checked by ST_IsValidTrajectory. Null is returned if the trajectories do not overlap on the M range.
See ST_LocateAlong for getting the actual points at the given measure.
Availability: 2.2.0
This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.
Examples
-- Return the time in which two objects moving between 10:00 and 11:00
-- are closest to each other and their distance at that point
WITH inp AS ( SELECT
ST_AddMeasure('LINESTRING Z (0 0 0, 10 0 5)'::geometry,
extract(epoch from '2015-05-26 10:00'::timestamptz),
extract(epoch from '2015-05-26 11:00'::timestamptz)
) a,
ST_AddMeasure('LINESTRING Z (0 2 10, 12 1 2)'::geometry,
extract(epoch from '2015-05-26 10:00'::timestamptz),
extract(epoch from '2015-05-26 11:00'::timestamptz)
) b
), cpa AS (
SELECT ST_ClosestPointOfApproach(a,b) m FROM inp
), points AS (
SELECT ST_Force3DZ(ST_GeometryN(ST_LocateAlong(a,m),1)) pa,
ST_Force3DZ(ST_GeometryN(ST_LocateAlong(b,m),1)) pb
FROM inp, cpa
)
SELECT to_timestamp(m) t,
ST_Distance(pa,pb) distance
FROM points, cpa;
t | distance
-------------------------------+------------------
2015-05-26 10:45:31.034483+02 | 1.96036833151395