SNAP and SPAN: Prolegomenon to Geodynamic Ontology

Current approaches to the formal representation of geographical reality are characterized by their static character. GIS representations are representations of the world at a given time, reflecting the fact that geographic information systems have their roots in printed maps. Yet, geographical reality, like all other domains of reality, is essentially dynamic. We here outline a theory that is designed to preserve what is of value in current representation schemas while addressing the need for dynamics. Our position is that a good ontology must be capable of accounting for reality both synchronically (as it exists at a time) and diachronically (as it unfolds through time), but that these are two quite different tasks. Our approach is capable of accomplishing this via what might be described as a joint venture between the so-called three-dimensionalist and four-dimensionalist perspectives current in contemporary philosophical ontology. Briefly, we shall propose a modular formal ontology with two components, one for geographic objects and one for geographic processes.