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International Conference on Spatial Information Theory

COSIT 2003: Spatial Information Theory. Foundations of Geographic Information Science pp 46–60Cite as

Layers: A New Approach to Locating Objects in Space

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2825))

Abstract

Standard theories in mereotopology focus on relations of parthood and connection among spatial or spatio-temporal regions. Objects or processes which might be located in such regions are not normally directly treated in such theories. At best, they are simulated via appeal to distributions of attributes across the regions occupied or by functions from times to regions. The present paper offers a richer framework, in which it is possible to represent directly the relations between entities of various types at different levels, including both objects and the regions they occupy. What results is a layered mereotopology, a theory which can handle multiple layers (analogous to the layers of a lasagna) of spatially or spatiotemporally coincident but mereologically non-overlapping entities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science, University of Leipzig,  

    Maureen Donnelly & Barry Smith

  2. Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, NY

    Barry Smith

Authors
  1. Maureen Donnelly
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  2. Barry Smith
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Austrian Research Centers Department of Information Technology and Telematics,  

    Walter Kuhn

  2. Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering, University of Maine, 04473, Orono, ME, USA

    Michael F. Worboys

  3. Department of Geography, University of Zürich,  

    Sabine Timpf

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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Donnelly, M., Smith, B. (2003). Layers: A New Approach to Locating Objects in Space. In: Kuhn, W., Worboys, M.F., Timpf, S. (eds) Spatial Information Theory. Foundations of Geographic Information Science. COSIT 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2825. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-39923-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-39923-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-20148-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-39923-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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