A model for Web spatial data integration

One of the requirements which are poorly supported by spatial data models is the consistent management of different representations of the same spatial phenomena under different viewpoints or at different resolutions. This need is well-known by users and designers. Cooperative modelling of applications, where users share the same database in very different contexts, cartographic applications and the design of a database by integration of existing data sets, such as data for the Web, are examples of environments where such a need arises. In this paper, we propose a generic and complete solution to extend existing data models with the viewpoint and the resolution dimensions. Our proposition is built around two complementary approaches: an integrated approach that leads to the definition of customised database items, and an inter-representation approach, where the representations are linked through inter-representation links