Three-dimensional volumetric geo-spatial querying

A geographic information system for modeling real world locations comprising:

• a database of geo-spatial data derived from imagery of a real-world location, said database configured to store said geo-spatial data using three-dimensional coordinates, including an altitude coordinate;
• at least one database operation configured to process a database query against geo-spatial data stored in said database, said at least one database operation accepting three-dimensional coordinates as part of said database query, said at least one database operation being further configured to return a three-dimensional query result based upon said database query, and wherein said three dimensional query result includes an identification of at least one of a point, a line and an object that intersects a predetermined geo-spatial volume at any altitude within the geo-spatial volume;
• and,
• a geo-spatial data encoder configured to encode said geo-spatial data prior to said storing of said geo-spatial data in said database, said encoder comprising an oct-tree encoder.