The identification of spatial change processes based on set-oriented space and topological space

The identification of spatial change processes is one of the most important topics in spatio-temporal data modeling as a basis for spatio-temporal query and analysis. The paper proposes an approach that applies the spaces where the spatio-temporal objects are embedded to identify the change processes. The primitive relations in change processes in two spaces – set-oriented space and topological space are generated. By combination of these relations with set-oriented tools, many change processes can be identified. Furthermore it can help in understanding the different semantics of ‘common-sense’ change processes. The identification approach can be used for query operations and spatial reasoning. As an example, a spatio-temporal query operation is designed in principal, and a query example is implemented as an illustration in the end.