Spatial Reasoning

Max J. Egenhofer, NCGIA, University of Maine

Research in this area is concerned with formal models of common-sense geographic worlds ("Naive Geography"). It includes the development of models for the semantics of natural-language terms, spatio-temporal reasoning, and the intelligent inference of information about spatial relations within the setting of the Spatial Semantic Web.

Graduate Research Assistants and Graduate Students:

• Jim Farrugia, doctoral student
• Yohei Kurata, doctoral student
• Kostas Nedas, M.S. student
• Markus Wuersch, M.S. student

Collaborators:

• Kathleen Hornsby, University of Maine
• David Mark, University at Buffalo
• Andrea Rodriguez

Currently funded research projects:

• Toward the Semantic Geospatial Web, funded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
• Intelligent Spatial Technologies, funded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
• University of Maine Research Infrastructure to Enhance Maine's High-Technology Industries, funded by the National Science Foundation.
• Spatio-Temporal Panning and Zooming, funded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
• Spatio-Temporal GIS Analysis for Environmental Health, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH.

Theses completed:

• Modeling Multiple Granularities of Spatial Objects, Chitra Ramalingam, M.S. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 2002.
• Modeling Intersections of Geospatial Lifelines, Ramaswamy Hariharan, M.S. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 2001.
• Assessing Semantic Similarity Among Spatial Entity Classes, Andrea Rodriguez, Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 2000.
• Similarity Assessment for Cardinal Directions between Extended Spatial Objects, Roop Goyal, Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 2000.
• Reasoning about Spatio-Temporal Change: An Identity-Based Approach, Kathleen Hornsby, Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 1999.
• Structuring Wayfinding Tasks with Image Schemata, Martin Raubal, M.S. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 1997.
• Image-Schemata-based Spatial Inferences: The Container-Surface Algebra for Solid Objects, Andrea Rodríguez, M.S. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 1997.
• Natural-Language Spatial Relations: Metric Refinements of Topological Properties, Rashid Shariff, Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 1996.
• Integrated Spatial Reasoning in Geographic Information Systems: Combining Topology and Direction, Jayant Sharma, Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, 1996.
• Qualitative Distance and Direction Reasoning in Geographic Space, Jung-Hong Hong, Ph.D. in Surveying Engineering, 1994.
• Topological Relations in Raster and Vector Space, Jayant Sharma, M.S. in Computer Science, 1993.
• Conceptual Modeling of Highway Navigation, Sabine Timpf, M.S. in Surveying Engineering, 1992.

Last updated on November 22, 2002.

[ Spatial Database Research Group | NCGIA UMaine ]