Cell tuple based spatio-temporal data model: an object oriented approach

Research on TGIS has been addressing various aspects of time in a GIS. A number of issues and barriers have been identified in the design and implementation of a TGIS. Some of the issues are application-dependent while others are more fundamental and are relevant for any generic TGIS. One of the fundamental enigmas and impediments in designing a generic TGIS is the spatiotemporal data model. Application specific modelling will be more efficient if it is based on a generic model. Incorporating time in object-based data models increases the complexity of the data structure and has been a challenging task for many designers. Complexity may be reduced by employing object-oriented concepts and relying on a solid mathematical basis. This paper discusses some of the limitations of the earlier object-based models and presents a novel approach for spatio-temporal data modelling by extending the approach proposed by Worboys and the cell tuple structure for cell complexes introduced by Brisson. The approach presented in this paper is based on cell complexes for representing space.