A GIS spatiotemporal data model and its query based on linear constraint database in astronautics
Ping Chen · Journal of Astronautics · 2004
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for mapping and analyzing geographic phenomenon that exist and events that happen on earth.GIS are widely used in the areas of aeronautics and military.Database is the heart of the GIS,and the storage and query of spatiotemporal data are two important problems of GIS databases.A novel data model based on linear constraint database was proposed to overcome the shortcoming of commonly used data models,such as TQuel、K-Spaghetti and Worboys models.Then the relationship between this model and the other models was discussed.Furthermore,the syntax and semantics of standard Datalog query language was extended to facilitate data query of this model.Finally,a case study was presented to illustrate the application of this data model to a system of rescuing landing capsules.By the use of this data model in practical systems,following conclusions can be drawn:(1) The proposed data model can substitute for the data models available,and has the advantages of expressing infinite spatiotemporal data and describing the relationship between spatial and temporal coordinates;(2) The extended Datalog has more powerful expressiveness than SQL,and can describe more complicated semantics,such as looping and transition closure etc.