Modelling of time in geographical information systems

摘要

At first sight time seems to be a perfectly natural concept. A further look shows that the notion of time is ambiguous and representation of time in a geographical information system is far from straightforward. Much research has been done in the last years, and there are important overlappings with database theory (temporal databases) and artificial intelligence (temporal logic, knowledge representation, qualitative reasoning). As with space, several aspects of time are specific for GIS. The lecture will review some recent trends in database theory and artificial intelligence and discuss in more detail those aspects of time which are specific for GIS. The focus will be on topological relations of spatio-temporal objects.