Propagating Updates of Residential Areas in Multi-Representation Databases Using Constrained Delaunay Triangulations

Abstract

Updating topographic maps in multi-representation databases is crucial to a number of applications. An efficient way to update topographic maps is to propagate the updates from large-scale maps to small-scale maps. Because objects are often portrayed differently in maps of different scales, it is a complicated process to produce multi-scale topographic maps that meet specific cartographical criteria. In this study, we propose a new approach to update small-scale maps based on updated large-scale maps. We first group spatially-related objects in multi-scale maps and decompose the large-scale objects into triangles based on constrained Delaunay triangulation. We then operate the triangles and construct small-scale objects by accounting for cartographical generalization rules. In addition, we apply the Tabu Search algorithm to search for the optimal sequences when constructing small-scale objects. A case study was conducted by applying the developed method to update residential areas at varied scales. We found the proposed method could effectively update small-scale maps while maintaining the shapes and positions of large-scale objects. Our developed method allows for parallel processing of update propagation because it operates grouped objects together, thus possesses computational advantages over the sequential updating method in areas with high building densities. Although the method proposed in this study requires further tests, it shows promise with respect to automatic updates of polygon data in the multi-representation databases.

A map‐algebra‐based method for automatic change detection and spatial data updating across multiple scales

“…To improve efficiency and produce better results, some studies have pursued the design of new update methods. One interesting strategy is incremental updating, in which cartographers need to update only the largest‐scale dataset and the updates can then be automatically propagated to other less detailed datasets (Harrie & Hellström, ; Haunert & Sester, ; Kilpeläinen & Sarjakoski, ; Zhang, Guo, Huang, & Xin, ). To facilitate this method, it is necessary to organize datasets at different scales into a multiple representation database (MRDB).…”

Progressive Amalgamation of Building Clusters for Map Generalization Based on Scaling Subgroups

“…Map generalization is an important means of modelling and understanding geographical phenomena [2]. When updating multi-representation databases, we often implement map generalization in order to propagate updates from the source scale to high-level scales [3,4]. The process of map generalization can be decomposed into model generalization and cartographic generalization [5,6].…”

“…In this paper we explore the last of these strategies, which uses the triangles connecting objects as connectors to merge objects, which is by far the most commonly used methodology [22]. Triangles from the Delaunay triangulation can provide explicit spatial relationships between features, and can used be to guide the amalgamation process [3,[7][8][9]23]. When applying the Delaunay triangulation to aggregate buildings within clusters, it is critical to determine which triangle is to be removed or maintained.…”

A Multi-Scale Residential Areas Matching Method Using Relevance Vector Machine and Active Learning

“…The x-axis direction of the area histogram after smoothing has h units, and the y-axis direction of the area histogram has j units. (2) Compare the average values of the histograms and each unit value, excluding the histogram that has the smallest unit value difference. The histogram represents a rectangle that does not need to be compared.…”

“…Therefore, an important issue that needs to be resolved in geographical information systems (GIS) is the immediate updating and integration of geographical spatial data [1,2]. The purpose of multi-scale data updating is to ensure that the different scales of spatial data reflect the latest situation.…”