Abstract
Over the past 50 years or so the representation of spatial information within computerized systems has been widely addressed and developed in order to provide suitable data manipulation, analysis, and visualisation mechanisms. The range of applications is unlimited and nowadays impacts almost all sciences and practices. However, current conceptualisations and numerical representations of geospatial information still require the development of richer abstract models that match the complexity of spatial and temporal information. Geospatial ontologies are promising modelling alternatives that might favour the implementation and sharing of geographical information. The objective of this vision paper is to provide a short introduction to the principles behind semantic ontologies and how they can be applied to complex geospatial information, by evaluating their potential and limitations.
Highlights
While geographical information systems (GIS) have successfully developed over the past 50 years, it is nowadays recognized that this has been the case without a so far complete formal theoretical support that might encompass the full complexity of many space and time phenomena
The old cartographical paradigm had a strong influence on the development of computational GIS frameworks, as illustrated by the ‘layer’ concept often implemented in GIS software solutions
A geospatial ontology should provide a taxonomy, a formal vocabulary that can be computerized at the software engineering level
Summary
While geographical information systems (GIS) have successfully developed over the past 50 years, it is nowadays recognized that this has been the case without a so far complete formal theoretical support that might encompass the full complexity of many space and time phenomena. The old cartographical paradigm had a strong influence on the development of computational GIS frameworks, as illustrated by the ‘layer’ concept often implemented in GIS software solutions. This led to the development of software-oriented GIS solutions oriented towards either raster or object-based representations. In order to understand how people perceive the world, cognitive conceptualizations of geographic features and appropriate abstraction paradigms should be developed to support computerized representations [5]. While early GIS data models were not really successful in establishing a close link between reality and data representations, ontologies should abstract the world as it is, using formal and primitive entities, and with much more attention to the underlying properties of geographical phenomenon. A geospatial ontology should provide a taxonomy, a formal vocabulary that can be computerized at the software engineering level
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
