A Taxonomy of Spatial Data Integrity Constraints

  • Authors:
  • Sophie Cockcroft

  • Affiliations:
  • Department of Information Science, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Email: Scockcroft@commerce.otago.ac.nz

  • Venue:
  • Geoinformatica
  • Year:
  • 1997

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Abstract

Spatial data quality has become an issue of increasing concern toresearchers and practitioners in the field of Spatial Information Systems(SIS). Clearly the results of any spatial analysis are only as good as thedata on which it is based. There are a number of significant areas for dataquality research in SIS. These include topological consistency; consistencybetween spatial and attribute data; and consistency between spatialobjects’ representation and their true representation on the ground.The last category may be subdivided into spatial accuracy and attributeaccuracy. One approach to improving data quality is the imposition ofconstraints upon data entered into the database. This paper presents ataxonomy of integrity constraints as they apply to spatial database systems.Taking a cross disciplinary approach it aims to clarify some of the termsused in the database and SIS fields for data integrity management. Anoverview of spatial data quality concerns is given and each type ofconstraint is assessed regarding its approach to addressing these concerns.Some indication of an implementation method is also given for each.