Topological relations from metric refinements

Naive Geography’s premise “Topology matters, metric refines” calls for metric properties that provide opportunities for finergrained distinctions than the purely qualitative topological relations. This paper defines a comprehensive set of eleven metric refinements that apply to the eight coarse topological relations between two regions that the 9-intersection and the Region-Connection Calculus identify and develops the applicable value ranges for each metric refinement. It is shown that any topological relation between two regions can be derived uniquely from the conjunction of at most three such refinement specifications (i.e., pairs of metric refinements and applicable value ranges). The smallest set of refinement specifications that determine uniquely all eight relations resorts to six of the eleven metric refinements. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.2.8 [Database Applications]: Spatial databases and GIS General Terms Management, Design. Keywords Spatial reasoning, metri...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: GIS
• Authors: Max J. Egenhofer, Matthew P. Dube
• Keywords: Eleven Metric Refinements, GIS, GIS 2009, Metric Refinements, Topological Relation