Overview

Geocoding is the process of enriching a location exposure with geolocation data that precisely identifies the global coordinates of a site.

Geocoding is a prerequisite for all catastrophe modelling processes. A location must be enriched with precise geolocation data before it can be modelled. The global coordinates define a spatial reference system that can be recognized by a model.

A geocode layer is a geographic database that contains location data: street addresses, counties, postal codes, and global coordinates. During geocoding, a geocoding engine uses the available location data to "look up" information about a location exposure in the geocode layer. The geocoding engine assigns a latitude-longitude coordinate pair to the location, validates or standardizes address elements (e.g. postal codes, cities), and appends or "backfills" missing location information.

Data layer versions

The Geohaz API and Bulk Geohaz API expose operations that enable client applications to geocode locations. These operations require that the request specifies the data layer name, version, and the engine used.

The table identifies geocoding layers supported by the Geohaz API and Bulk Geohaz API:

Version	Layer	`name`	`engineType`	`version`
18.0	Geocode (DLM)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`18.0`
18.1	Geocode (HD)	`geocode`	`HD` / `1`	`18.1`
18.1	Geocode (DLM)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`18.1`
21.0	Geocode (HD)	`geocode`	`HD` / `1`	`21.0`
21.0	Geocode (DLM)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`21.0`
22.0	Geocode (HD)	`geocode`	`HD` / `1`	`22.0`
22.0	Geocode (DLM)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`22.0`
23.0	Geocode (DLM & HD)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`23.0`
24.0	Geocode (DLM & HD)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`24.0`
25.0	Geocode (DLM & HD)	`geocode`	`RL` / `0`	`25.0`

The name, engineType, and version must be specified in every request.

The engineType is identified differently in the Geohaz and the Bulk Geohaz APIs. In the Bulk Geohaz API, the integer 0 is used to identify the RL engine type and the integer 1 to identify the HD engine type.

Beginning with Geocode 23.0, the same layer is used to geocode locations in both DLM and HD cat modeling workflows. These versions of the Geocode layer (versions 23.0, 24.0, and 25.0) all use the Moody's geocoding engine, which is identified as RL in the Geohaz API.

Prior versions of the Geocode layer are available in distinct DLM and HD versions. These versions of the Geocode layer require distinct geocoding engines:

DLM Geocode layers: Versions 18.0, 18.1, 21.0, and 22.0 of the DLM Geocode layer use the RiskLink (RL) geocoding engine.
HD Geocode layers: Versions 18.1, 21.0, and 22.0 of the HD of the HD Geocode layer use the Location Intelligence (HD) geocoding engine.