Ontology-driven Conceptual Modeling for Spatiotemporal Database Applications

Many applications have shown urgent requirements on the management of spatiotemporal data. But different applications have different requirements on describing spatiotemporal objects and spatiotemporal changes, and there is no systematic foundation for the modeling of spatiotemporal data. In this paper, we first study the ontological characteristics of spatiotemporal changes, and then propose an ontology-driven conceptual modeling approach to spatiotemporal database applications, which is called STXER. The STXER approach enhances the traditional ER model with spatiotemporal characteristics, and it also supports non-spatiotemporal applications. The diagram notations, modeling procedures and transforming method to logical model of STXER are discussed in detail.