Design of a Lineage-Based Meta-Data Base for GIS

A conceptual design is presented for a lineage meta-data base system that documents data sources and geographic information system (GIS) transformations applied to derive cartographic products. Artificial intelligence techniques of semantic networks are used to organize input-output relationships between map layers, and frames are used for storing lineage attributes characterizing source, intermediate, and product layers. An example indicates that a lineage meta-data base enables GIS users to determine the fitness for use of spatial data sets.