Topological Relations

Abstract

Topological relations are binary spatial relations like Disjoint, Inside, and Overlap that are preserved under affine transformations. They are considered to be fundamental qualitative descriptions of geographic scenes. This entry reviews topological relations focusing on the formalization and definition of topological relations, the use of topological relations in query languages and for information retrieval, reasoning about topological relations, and connection between formal models and natural‐language topological terms.