Geocoding with country and city data

For certain countries and cities, Verisk Synergy Studio can geocode locations that were imported with only country and city data.

In these cases, Verisk Synergy Studio matches the locations at a city or postal centroid geocode match level.

Note: Verisk recommends supplying as much geographic information as possible that is as precise as possible for each location. However, you can use this method if you do not have enough information on the exposures to use the supported country-specific location schemes.

The TblAreaCity table within the Verisk Synergy Studio Geography database includes the cities for which you can import location data using only country and city information. Upon obtaining a unique city name match result from TblAreaCity, Verisk Synergy Studio back fills the supported area information (CRESTA, area, etc., as applicable) and, in many cases, forward fills a postal code. Verisk Synergy Studio performs this back filling and forward filling of geographical information to meet model requirements for the country in which the imported exposure is located.

Verisk Synergy Studio can geocode this way for any country for which city level geocoding is supported, subject to the following considerations:

  • The city name must exist in the TblAreaCity table of the Geography database.
  • The city name must be unique within its country or Verisk Synergy Studio cannot identify a unique match in the TblAreaCity table.
  • The city can contain only one post code.Whenever possible, Verisk Synergy Studio matches imported country and city data at a Postal Code centroid level. (This is why you will often get a postal code match even though you have entered only city and country data.) However, when a city contains multiple postal codes, Verisk Synergy Studio cannot identify a unique match in the TblAreaCity table using just country and city information.
    Note:

    Where the city name is not unique with its country or the city contains multiple post codes, you can:

    • Add more location information, if available (e.g., postal code).
    • Query the TblAreaCity table for additional area, subarea, and postal information to add to the exposure.
    • Add the city centroid from the TblAreaCity table to the exposure as a user-supplied geocode and reimport the data.
  • You cannot use only country and city data for U.S. cities. You must provide at least a state name in the Area field in addition to the country and city data, and the city name must exist in the TblAreaCity table of the Geography database. When Verisk Synergy Studio finds the unique match, it provides the city/postal centroid and forward fills a ZIP code to meet model requirements. However, if multiple ZIP (postal) codes exist within the city, Verisk Synergy Studio cannot make a unique city name match on the TblAreaCity table. In these cases, you can query the tUSCity table for additional postal information needed to geocode the exposure.