Abstract
Geographical variation is infinitely complex, so the information coded in a spatial database can only approximate reality. The information will always be inadequate, in spatial resolution, thematic or geographical coverage. "Large" can be usefully defined as exceeding our current capacity to deliver. We provide examples of large geographical databases. Traditional stores partition geographical data by theme and geographically. We assume that digital geographical databases will be largely archival, and will be similarly partitioned. A general model of a large archival store is presented. We analyze the properties of a generalized Morton key as a means of indexing tiles, and illustrate its role in traditional systems of tile indexing. For global databases, we propose a tiling based on recursive subdivisions of the triangular faces of an octahedron using a rule of four.
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Goodchild, M.F. (1990). Tiling large geographical databases. In: Buchmann, A.P., Günther, O., Smith, T.R., Wang, YF. (eds) Design and Implementation of Large Spatial Databases. SSD 1989. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 409. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52208-5_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52208-5_25
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