SPATIAL DATABASES

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT

SPATIAL DATABASES

A spatial database is a database that is enhanced to store

and access spatial data or data that defines a geometric
space.

These data are often associated with geographic

locations and features, or constructed features like cities.

Data on spatial databases are stored as coordinates,

points, lines, polygons and topology

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 2

SPATIAL DATABASES

Représentation Modes
• Tessellation
• Vector Mode
• Half-Plane Représentation

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 3

SPATIAL DATABASES

Half-Plane Représentation
All spatial objects are defined with a single primitive;
namely, half-planes
A half-space H in the d -dimensional space Rd can be
defined as the set of points P(x1, x2,... xd ) that satisfy an
inequation of the form
a1x1 + a2x2 +···+ ad xd + ad+1 ≤ 0

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Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT
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Representing the Geometry of a

Collection of Objects
Spaghetti Model
Network Model
Topological Model

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 SPATIAL DATABASES

REPRESENTING THE GEOMETRY OF A COLLECTION

OF OBJECTS
There are three commonly used representations of collections of

spatial objects, respectively called

• Spaghetti models.

• Network models.

• Topological models.

They mainly differ in the expression of topological relationships among the

component object

Topological relationships include adjacency, overlapping, disjointness, and

inclusion, and constitute therefore an important class of spatial relationships 6
SPATIAL DATABASES

Spaghetti Model
In this model, the geometry of any spatial object of the
collection is described independently of other objects.

No topology is stored in such a model, and all topological

relationships must be computed on demand.

This structure also implies representation redundancy.

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 7

SPATIAL DATABASES

Network Model
The network spatial model was first designed for
representing networks in network (graph)-based
applications such as transportation services or utility
management (electricity, telephone, and so on).

In this model, topological relationships among points and

polylines are stored.

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 8

SPATIAL DATABASES

Network Model
We need to introduce two new
concepts: nodes and arcs.
A node is a distinguished point
that connects a list of arcs.
An arc is a polyline that starts
at a node and ends at a node

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SPATIAL DATABASES

To summarize, in the network model, the objects of interest

are

point: [x: real, y: real]

node: [point, < arc >]
arc: [node-start, node-end, <point>]
polygon: <point>
region: {polygon}
Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 10
SPATIAL DATABASES

Topological Model
The topological model is similar to the network model, except that the
network is planar.
The objects of interest in this model are the following:
point: [x: real, y: real]
node: [point, < arc >]
arc: [node-start, node-end, left-poly, right-poly, < point >]
polygon: < arc >
region: {polygon}
As in the network model, a node is represented by a point and the list of
arcs starting (or ending) at this node

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Topological Model
A polygon is represented by a list
of arcs, each arc being shared
with a neighbor polygon.
A representation of polygons P1
and P2 of Figure 2.12 is shown
in Figure 2.14. One can extract
the following objects:
◆ P1 :< a, b, f >
◆ P2 :< c, d ,e,f >
◆ f : [N1, N2, P1, P2, <>]
◆ N1 : [[3, 0], < a,f,e >]
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Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT
SPATIAL DATABASES

Spatial Data Formats and Exchange

Standards
Overview of Current Spatial Data Formats
The TIGER/Line Data Format
Recent Standardization Initiatives

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 13

SPATIAL DATABASES
SPATIAL DATA FORMATS & EXCHANGE STANDARDS
Spatial data is any data with a direct or indirect reference to a specific
location or geographical area.

Spatial data is often referred to as geospatial data or geographic

information.

Example : Base maps, elevation data, and satellite imagery, demographic

census and health surveys

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) represent spatial data as vector

data (characterized by geometry) or as raster data(characterized by pixel
values)

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Overview of Current Spatial Data Formats

National institutions of standards
American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
The Association Franc¸aise de Normalisation (AFNOR), and the
British Standard Institution (BSI)
ISO and the
Digital Geographic Information Working Group (DCWIG),
De facto standards include DXF, DIGEST, TIGER, NTF, and SDTS.

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Overview of Current Spatial Data Formats

Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) is a standard for CAD/CAM
applications that was influenced by the software AutoCAD.
The Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) was
developed for military applications by the DCWIG. DIGEST is used in
military applications within many NATO countries.
Finally, the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) was introduced by
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is used by many U.S. national
agencies.
The American National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) encompasses
policies, standards, and procedures for organizations to cooperatively
produce and share geographic data.

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SPATIAL DATABASES

Overview of Current Spatial Data Formats

Many countries also have their own data format officially in use by
public institutions as well as by GIS software companies.

Example, In the United Kingdom, the National Transfer Format

(NTF) is the standard adopted since 1987.

For images, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) is the most widely
used due to the fact that it is based on tags and that various
compression methods can be applied on its objects.

Computer Graphic Metafile (CGM) is another common raster format

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 17

SPATIAL DATABASES

The TIGER/Line Data Format

TIGER is an acronym for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding
and Referencing, a system and digital database developed at the U.S.
Census Bureau in order to support its mapping needs.
In regard to information stored in the census TIGER database, the
Census Bureau releases periodic extracts of the database to the public.
These include TIGER/Line files that are a database of geographic
entities such as roads, railroads, rivers, lakes, political boundaries, and
census statistical boundaries covering the entire United States.
In TIGER, these objects are referred to as features.
The database contains information about these features, such as their
location in latitude and longitude, the name, the type of feature.
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Use of TIGER database

Creation and maintenance of the geographic database that includes
complete coverage of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands, among others

Production of maps from the TIGER database for all Census Bureau
enumeration and publication programs

Ability to assign individual addresses to geographic entities and

census blocks based on polygons formed by features such as roads
and streams

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In TIGER terminology, the spatial object

types are:
Node: A zero-dimensional object that is a topological junction

Entity point: A point used for identifying the location of point

features such as towers, buildings, or places.

Chain: A simple polyline described by a start node, an end node,

and a list of intermediate points called shape points.

GT-polygon: An area described by the list of complete chains that

form its boundary. GT-polygons are mutually exclusive, and their
union forms a partition of the space.
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TIGER objects

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Recent Standardization Initiatives

With the objective of improving interoperability between GISs, many
institutional bodies have been working in the past few years on the
standardization of exchange formats and spatial data models.

In the following, we briefly present three recent initiatives.

1. OpenGIS Consortium

The OGC’s technical activities fall into three categories:

the development of an abstract specification,

the development of an implementation specification, and

the specification revision process.

Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT 22
The technical goals of OGC are

A universal spatio-temporal data and process model that will cover all

existing and potential spatio-temporal applications, called the OGC

data model

A specification for each of the major database languages to

implement the OGC data model

A specification for each of the major distributed computing

environments (DCEs) to implement the OGC process model

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2. ISO Technical Committee 211
ISO Technical Committee 211 (TC/211), Geographic
Information/Geomatics, is at the forefront of global standardization issues
related to GIS.
TC/211 is currently preparing a family of geographic information standards
in cooperation with other ISO technical committees working on related
standards such as IT standards.
The TC/211 committee is divided into several groups:
◆ Working group 1: Framework and reference model
◆ Working group 2: Geospatial data models and operators
◆ Working group 3: Geospatial data administration
◆ Working group 4: Geospatial services
◆ Working group 5: Profiles and functional standards
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Dr.M.Sujithra/AP - Dept of Computing-Data Science , CIT
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3. Open Geospatial Datastore Interface (OGDI)

The Open Geospatial Datastore Interface (OGDI) is meant to offer a

solution that leverages and accelerates standardization efforts.

OGDI is an application programming interface (API) that resides

between an application and various geodata products in order to

provide standardized geospatial access methods.

It is a client/server architecture for delivering spatial data over the

Internet.
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OGDI is the result of a research and-development partnership between

the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND) and Global

Geomatics, Inc.,

whose goal is to implement a simple feature interface for Java in OGDI

as soon as OpenGIS issues the specifications.

The Geographic Library Transfer Protocol (GLTP) is a new Internet

protocol for the transfer of geospatial data.

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OGDI handles important geodata integration needs, such as

1. The distribution of geodata products via the Internet/intranet. This
reduces the space needed to store geographic data, and ensures that all
users have access to the same, up-to-date data.

2. Access to data in native format. There is no need to keep multiple

versions of geographic data in order to accommodate different GIS
software packages.

3. The adjustment of coordinate systems and cartographic projections,

done on the fly such that original data is unaltered.

4. The retrieval of geometric and alphanumeric data.

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