A Semantic Heterogeneity Oriented Approach to Updating GIS Client Database

Data updating is a significant stage in the life of a geographical information system (GIS). When geodata producers have finished updating their own database, the problem of how to use the updates in new version of MDB to update the users' database has become a research focus. Due to differences in some ways such as subject background, design methodology, application purpose, there may be much semantic heterogeneities between these two databases although they are abstraction of the same geographic phenomena. Because of these heterogeneities, GIS client database updating will be a complex and time-taking process. To improve its efficiency, we propose an implementing framework based on schema matching, and give some automated solutions to the operations within this framework, such as schema matching, entity identification, updates extraction and integration.

I. Introduction

Simply speaking, GIS client database updating is to use updating information (updates) from the new version of MDB to revise, improve and correct the content of the CDB for ensuring that it also has a current representation of the terrain. Here, MDB (master database) refers to the fundamental geographical database constructed by the surveying agents, CDB (Client Database) refers to the database of application departments derived from the copy of MDB by reengineering on it.