diff --git a/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt b/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
index c18c814cf536b887bf2345cec4220294a1367453..41dbff92bf6e1cb405241110acc2d25bf25f3766 100644
--- a/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
install(FILES
boundingboxtree.hh
diameter.hh
+distance.hh
geometricentityset.hh
geometryintersection.hh
grahamconvexhull.hh
diff --git a/dumux/common/geometry/distance.hh b/dumux/common/geometry/distance.hh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..33966290d457e52921a56ec4272b14c6e6f2568f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dumux/common/geometry/distance.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+/*****************************************************************************
+ * See the file COPYING for full copying permissions. *
+ * *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify *
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by *
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or *
+ * (at your option) any later version. *
+ * *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the *
+ * GNU General Public License for more details. *
+ * *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+/*!
+ * \file
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Helper functions for distance queries
+ */
+#ifndef DUMUX_GEOMETRY_DISTANCE_HH
+#define DUMUX_GEOMETRY_DISTANCE_HH
+
+#include <dune/common/fvector.hh>
+#include <dune/geometry/quadraturerules.hh>
+
+namespace Dumux {
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the average distance from a point to a geometry by integration
+ */
+template<class Geometry>
+inline typename Geometry::ctype
+averageDistancePointGeometry(const typename Geometry::GlobalCoordinate& p,
+ const Geometry& geometry,
+ std::size_t integrationOrder = 2)
+{
+ typename Geometry::ctype avgDist = 0.0;
+ const auto& quad = Dune::QuadratureRules<typename Geometry::ctype, Geometry::mydimension>::rule(geometry.type(), integrationOrder);
+ for (const auto& qp : quad)
+ avgDist += (geometry.global(qp.position())-p).two_norm()*qp.weight()*geometry.integrationElement(qp.position());
+ return avgDist/geometry.volume();
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the distance from a point to a line through the points a and b
+ */
+template<class Point>
+inline typename Point::value_type
+distancePointLine(const Point& p, const Point& a, const Point& b)
+{
+ const auto ab = b - a;
+ const auto t = (p - a)*ab/ab.two_norm2();
+ auto proj = a;
+ proj.axpy(t, ab);
+ return (proj - p).two_norm();
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the distance from a point to a line given by a geometry with two corners
+ * \note We currently lack the a representation of a line geometry. This convenience function
+ * assumes a segment geometry (with two corners) is passed which represents a line geometry.
+ */
+template<class Geometry>
+inline typename Geometry::ctype
+distancePointLine(const typename Geometry::GlobalCoordinate& p, const Geometry& geometry)
+{
+ static_assert(Geometry::mydimension == 1, "Geometry has to be a line");
+ const auto& a = geometry.corner(0);
+ const auto& b = geometry.corner(1);
+ return distancePointLine(p, a, b);
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the distance from a point to the segment connecting the points a and b
+ */
+template<class Point>
+inline typename Point::value_type
+distancePointSegment(const Point& p, const Point& a, const Point& b)
+{
+ const auto ab = b - a;
+ auto t = (p - a)*ab;
+
+ if (t <= 0.0)
+ return (a - p).two_norm();
+
+ const auto lengthSq = ab.two_norm2();
+ if (t >= lengthSq)
+ return (b - p).two_norm();
+
+ auto proj = a;
+ proj.axpy(t/lengthSq, ab);
+ return (proj - p).two_norm();
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the distance from a point to a given segment geometry
+ */
+template<class Geometry>
+inline typename Geometry::ctype
+distancePointSegment(const typename Geometry::GlobalCoordinate& p, const Geometry& geometry)
+{
+ static_assert(Geometry::mydimension == 1, "Geometry has to be a segment");
+ const auto& a = geometry.corner(0);
+ const auto& b = geometry.corner(1);
+ return distancePointSegment(p, a, b);
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the shortest distance between two points
+ */
+template<class ctype, int dimWorld>
+inline ctype distance(const Dune::FieldVector<ctype, dimWorld>& a,
+ const Dune::FieldVector<ctype, dimWorld>& b)
+{ return (a-b).two_norm(); }
+
+
+
+namespace Detail {
+
+// helper struct to compute distance between two geometries, specialized below
+template<class Geo1, class Geo2,
+ int dimworld = Geo1::coorddimension,
+ int dim1 = Geo1::mydimension, int dim2 = Geo2::mydimension>
+struct GeometryDistance
+{
+ static_assert(Geo1::coorddimension == Geo2::coorddimension, "Geometries have to have the same coordinate dimensions");
+ static auto distance(const Geo1& geo1, const Geo2& geo2)
+ {
+ DUNE_THROW(Dune::NotImplemented, "Geometry distance computation not implemented for dimworld = "
+ << dimWorld << ", dim1 = " << dim1 << ", dim2 = " << dim2);
+ }
+};
+
+// distance point-point
+template<class Geo1, class Geo2, int dimworld>
+struct GeometryDistance<Geo1, Geo2, dimworld, 0, 0>
+{
+ static_assert(Geo1::coorddimension == Geo2::coorddimension, "Geometries have to have the same coordinate dimensions");
+ static auto distance(const Geo1& geo1, const Geo2& geo2)
+ { return distance(geo1.corner(0), geo2.corner(0)); }
+}
+
+} // end namespace Detail
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Compute the shortest distance between two geometries
+ */
+template<class Geo1, class Geo2>
+inline auto distance(const Geo1& geo1, const Geo2& geo2)
+{ return Detail::GeometryDistance<Geo1, Geo2>::distance(geo1, geo2); }
+
+} // end namespace Dumux
+
+#endif