A practical Example of Semantic Interoperability of Large-Scale Topographic Databases Using Semantic Web Technologies

SUMMARY This paper describes the development of an Ontology-Driven Geographic Information System for the integration of vector-based, large-scale topographic data, within the scope of the WalkOnWeb project. This research focuses on solving semantic heterogeneity of topographic feature classes. The use of new semantic web technologies, such as the Web Ontology Language, is investigated and demonstrated in a practical example of road networks in topographic databases. The proposed methodology is based on a Formal Concept Analysis to extract classifying properties from topographic feature classes. In the next step ontologies are developed describing the topographic feature classes and their classifying properties in terms of an upper ontology. The ontologies enable automatic reasoning about topographic feature classes based on their semantic meaning. The ability to derive super/sub class relationships and equivalences between topographic feature classes is an important development in order to achieve semantic interoperability.