Abstract
In recent years, 3D virtual indoor/outdoor urban modelling becomes a key spatial information framework for many civil and engineering applications such as evacuation planning, emergency and facility management. For accomplishing such sophisticate decision tasks, there is a large demands for building multi-scale and multi-sourced 3D urban models. Currently, Building Information Model (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are broadly used as the modelling sources. However, data sharing and exchanging information between two modelling domains is still a huge challenge; while the syntactic or semantic approaches do not fully provide exchanging of rich semantic and geometric information of BIM into GIS or vice-versa. This paper proposes a novel approach for integrating BIM and GIS using semantic web technologies and Resources Description Framework (RDF) graphs. The novelty of the proposed solution comes from the benefits of integrating BIM and GIS technologies into one unified model, so-called Integrated Geospatial Information Model (IGIM). The proposed approach consists of three main modules: BIM-RDF and GIS-RDF graphs construction, integrating of two RDF graphs, and query of information through IGIM-RDF graph using SPARQL. The IGIM generates queries from both the BIM and GIS RDF graphs resulting a semantically integrated model with entities representing both BIM classes and GIS feature objects with respect to the target-client application. The linkage between BIM-RDF and GIS-RDF is achieved through SPARQL endpoints and defined by a query using set of datasets and entity classes with complementary properties, relationships and geometries. To validate the proposed approach and its performance, a case study was also tested using IGIM system design.
Highlights
The proposed integration approach is based on the semantic web technology, where the integrated model is achieved by merging Resource Description Framework (RDF) graphs generated from respective Building Information Model (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
This paper presented a highest level of interoperability between BIM and GIS data by introducing a new way of formatting and processing data using semantic web technologies and Resources Description Framework (RDF) graphs
Using the Graph Matching for Ontologies (GMO) mapping algorithm with well-established classification rules, the Integrated Geospatial Information Model (IGIM) offers the flexibility to access and process datasets from GIS and BIM through RDF directed graph, while there is no need to establish direct links between various terminologies that are represented in objects and classes only by cruising between them
Summary
Given that semantic web technologies are internet based and supports HTTP protocols and honour the Service Oriented Application (SOA) architectures the RDF graph-based integration is a web-wide scalable Such integration can be used as-is or merged with property data to increase the value of the in-house data stores. The proposed integration approach is based on the semantic web technology, where the integrated model is achieved by merging Resource Description Framework (RDF) graphs generated from respective BIM and GIS. This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the semantic web technologies and RDF graphs and their ability to facilitate geometrical and geospatial information selection and integration. The proposed approach in this paper is based on three crucial concepts: 1) Semantic web ontologies represented by RDF graphs, 2) BIM and 3) GIS. A brief description of each of these key concepts is provided hereafter
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