Complex Coastline Generalization

A combination of procedural algorithms and predicate logic formalisms is proposed to generalize complex coastlines. The advantage of this combined strategy is to cover both the geometric and conceptual aspects of the generalization process. The geometric part is dedicated to simplification and displacement operations for graphical presentation. The conceptual part handles the problem of river selection based on geometrical and semantic criteria. The derivation of a hierarchical model reflecting the hierarchical structure of the bay/river network of the coastline is a requirement for river selection. A case study was carried out, and results show an improvement over more conventional procedural approaches. The idea of building a hierarchical model to prepare the ground for feature selection can be applied to other hierarchically structured objects such as road networks or nested buildings in urban areas.