Multi-Resolution Spatial Databases: Consistency Among Networks

Heterogeneous geographic databases contain multiple views of the same geographic objects at different levels of spatial resolution which must be consistent with each other. This paper develops a formal method of assessing consistency of topological relations in R at a high level of abstraction, over complexly structured spatial objects that form networks. Networks are a frequently used data type in geographic applications where, for instance, a river with its tributaries and lakes is considered a single spatial object. The relationships between such a network and another spatial object are often used as criteria for describing the consistency in multi-scale geographic applications. The proposed model includes computational methods to determine when two networks are the same or not. The model is further extended to cover the relationships between a network and another spatial object, such as a region or a line. These methods will play an important role in the assessment of spatial similarity of scenes with complex configurations including roads and urban areas, paths, and other linear geographic features.