Abstract
The paper describes an algebraic framework for representing and reasoning about 2D spatial regions. The formalism is based on a Closure Algebra (CA) of half-plaries -i.e., a Boolean Algebra augmented with a closure operator. The CA provides a flexible representation for polygonal regions and for expressing topological constraints among such regions. The paper relates these constraints to relations defined in the 1st-order Region Connection Calculus (RCC). This theory allows the definition of a set of eight topological relations (RCC-8) which forms a partition of all possible relations between two regions. We describe an implemented algorithm for determining which of the RCC-8 relations holds between any two regions representable in the CA. One application of such a system is in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), where often the data is represented quantitatively, but it would be desirable for queries to be expressed qualitatively in a high level language such as that of the RCC theory.
This work was supported by the EPSRC under grant GR/K65041.
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Bennett, B., Isli, A., Cohn, A.G. (1998). A system handling RCC-8 queries on 2D regions representable in the closure algebra of half-planes. In: Mira, J., del Pobil, A.P., Ali, M. (eds) Methodology and Tools in Knowledge-Based Systems. IEA/AIE 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1415. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-64582-9_758
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-64582-9_758
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