Representations of Geographic Space: Toward a Conceptual Synthesis

Abstract The need for a conceptually high-level, unifying representational scheme for geographic phenomena was recognized long ago. A number of attempts to address this issue have been made in the past, and each has usually been centered around a specific theoretical point of view (Bartels 1982). This topic has reappeared recently within the context of geographical information systems (GIS). Recognizing that the representational scheme employed in large part determines the efficiency and ease of use within a given application context, there has been much activity in developing better methods for representing geographic data in digital form. Nevertheless, progress has been slow, with such activity usually focused on narrowly viewed implementational issues with no clear answers or overall insights toward solving the overall problem. This vacuum suggests the need for a more unified approach to both research in methods of representing geographic data and practical geographic database design based on a common ...

[1]  Geoffrey E. Hinton,et al.  The appeal of parallel distributed processing , 1986 .

[2]  Herbert Freeman,et al.  Computer Processing of Line-Drawing Images , 1974, CSUR.

[3]  U. Neisser.  Concepts and Conceptual Development: Ecological and Intellectual Factors in Categorization , 1989 .

[4]  F. K. Schaefer.  Exceptionalism in Geography: A Methodological Examination , 1953 .

[5]  Jan van Roessel,et al.  Design of a spatial data structure using the relational normal forms , 1987, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[6]  Ray Jackendoff.  Semantics and Cognition , 1983 .

[7]  Brian J. L. Berry,et al.  APPROACHES TO REGIONAL ANALYSIS: A SYNTHESIS , 1964 .

[8]  W. Tobler,et al.  Map transformations of geographic space , 1961 .

[9]  André Frank,et al.  MAPQUERY: Data base query language for retrieval of geometric data and their graphical representation , 1982, SIGGRAPH.

[10]  E. Rosch.  ON THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PERCEPTUAL AND SEMANTIC CATEGORIES1 , 1973 .

[11]  Donna Peuquet,et al.  An algorithm to determine the directional relationship between arbitrarily-shaped polygons in the plane , 1987, Pattern Recognit..

[12]  Donna J. Peuquet,et al.  Raster Processing: An Alternative Approach to Automated Cartographic Data Handling , 1979 .

[13]  Jeffrey D. Ullman,et al.  Principles of Database Systems , 1980 .

[14]  Graham Chapman,et al.  The structure of television , 1984 .

[15]  Donna Peuquet.  A hybrid structure for the storage and manipulation of very large spatial data sets , 1983, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[16]  E. F. Codd,et al.  Extending the database relational model to capture more meaning , 1979, ACM Trans. Database Syst..

[17]  Andreas Meier,et al.  Consistent Operations on a Spatial Data Structure , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[18]  J. Gibson.  The Senses Considered As Perceptual Systems , 1967 .

[19]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes , 1968, Psychology of Learning and Motivation.

[20]  Mark Blades,et al.  The implications of psychological theory and methodology for cognitive cartography , 1986 .

[21]  S. H. Gould,et al.  Fundamentals of mathematics , 1974 .

[22]  Robert M. Haralick,et al.  A Spatial Data Structure , 1979 .

[23]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  A fuzzy-algorithmic approach to the definition of complex or imprecise concepts , 1976 .

[24]  Albert C. Stevens,et al.  Distortions in judged spatial relations , 1978, Cognitive Psychology.

[25]  Marvin S. White,et al.  Technical Requirements and Standards for a Multipurpose Geographic Data System , 1984 .

[26]  T. McNamara.  Mental representations of spatial relations , 1986, Cognitive Psychology.

[27]  Wayne D. Gray,et al.  Basic objects in natural categories , 1976, Cognitive Psychology.

[28]  Anthony C. Gatrell,et al.  Distance and Space: A Geographical Perspective , 1983 .

[29]  Dana H. Ballard,et al.  Computer Vision , 1982 .