Modelling spatial relations and operations with partially ordered sets

Abstract
Formal methods for the description of spatial relations can be based on mathematical theories of order. Subdivisions of land are represented as partially ordered sets (posets), a model that is general enough to answer spatial queries about inclusion and containment of spatial areas. After a brief introduction to the basic concepts of posets and lattices, their applications to modelling spatial relations and operations for spatial regions in terms of containment and overlay are presented. An interpretation is given for new geographical elements that are created by the completion from a poset to a lattice. It is shown that a novel approach to characterize certain topological relations based on a lattice of a simplicial complex is a model for spatial regions that combines both topological and order relations and allows spatial queries to be answered in a unified way.

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