Representing Complex Geographic Phenomena in GIS

Abstract Conventionally, spatial data models have been designed according to object- or field-based conceptualizations of reality. Conceptualization of complex geographic phenomena that have both object- and field-like properties, such as wildfire and precipitation, has not yet been incorporated into GIS data models. To this end, a new conceptual framework is proposed in this research for organizing data about such complex geographic phenomena in a GIS as a hierarchy of events, processes, and states. In this framework, discrete objects are used to show how events and processes progress in space and time, and fields are used to model how states of geographic themes vary in a space-time frame. Precipitation is used to demonstrate the construction and application of the proposed framework with digital precipitation data from April 15 to May 22, 1998, for the state of Oklahoma, U.S.A. With the proposed framework, two sets of algorithms have been developed. One set automatically assembles precipitation events and processes from the data and stores the precipitation data in the hierarchy of events, processes, and states, so that attributes about events, processes, and states are readily available for information query. The other set of algorithms computes information about the spatio-temporal behavior and interaction of events and processes. The proposed approach greatly enhances support for complex spatio-temporal queries on the behavior and relationships of events and processes.