An algebraic approach to automated geospatial information fusion英文清晰版.pdf

International Journal of Geographical Information Science Vol. 19, No. 5, May 2005, 537–557 Research Article An algebraic approach to automated geospatial information fusion M. DUCKHAM*{ and M. WORBOYS{ {Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia {NCGIA, Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA (Received 10 April 2004; in final form 28 September 2004 ) This paper presents a new technique for information fusion. Unlike most previous work on information fusion, this paper explores the use of instance-level (extensional) information within the fusion process. This paper proposes an algorithm that can be used automatically to infer the schema-level structure necessary for information fusion from instance-level information. The approach is illustrated using the example of geospatial land-cover data. The method is then extended to operate under uncertainty, such as in cases where the data are inaccurate or imprecise. The paper describes the implementation of the fusion method within a software prototype. Finally, the paper discusses several key topics for future research, including applications of this work to spatial-data mining and the semantic web. Keywords: Interoperability; Qualitative spatial reasoning; Geospatial ontology; Uncertainty; Knowledge representation 1. Introduction Information fusion is the process of integrating information from diverse sources to produce new information with added value, reliability, or utility (cf. Wald, 1999). Information fusion is a basic function of any information system. The key problem in achieving information fusion is matching the diverse