Management of multiply represented geographic entities

Multiple representation of geographic information occurs when a real-world entity is represented more than once in the same or different databases. In this paper we propose a new approach to the modeling of multiply represented entities and the relationships among the entities and their representations. A multiple representation management system is outlined that can manage multiple representations consistently over a number of autonomous databases. Central to our approach is the multiple representation schema language that is used to configure the system. It provides an intuitive and declarative means of modeling multiple representations and specifying rules that are used to maintain consistency, match objects representing the same entity, and restore consistency if necessary.