A Classification of Spatio-temporal Entities Based on Their Location in Space-Time

摘要

We present an axiomatic theory of spatio-temporal entities based on the primitives spatial-region, part-of, and is-an-instance-of. We provide a classification of spatio-temporal entities according to the number and kinds of regions at which they are located in spacetime and according to whether they instantiate or are instantiated at those regions. The focus on location and instantiation at a location as the central notions of this theory makes it particularly appropriate for serving as a foundational ontology for geography and geographic information science.