Abstract
Although the map algebra framework is very popular within the GIS community for modelling fields, the fact that it is solely based on raster structures has been severely criticised. Instead of representing fields with a regular tessellation, we propose in this paper using the Voronoi diagram (VD), and argue that it has many advantages over other tessellations. We also present a variant of map algebra where all the operations are performed directly on VDs. Our solution is valid in two and three dimensions, and permits us to circumvent the gridding and resampling processes that must be performed with map algebra.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Akima H (1978) A method of bivariate interpolation and smooth surface fitting for irregularly distributed data points. ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 4(2):148–159.
Berry JK (1993) Cartographic Modeling: The Analytical Capabilities of GIS. In M Goodchild, B Parks, and L Steyaert, editors, Environmental Modeling with GIS, chapter 7, pages 58–74. Oxford University Press, New York.
Boudriault G (1987) Topology in the TIGER File. In Proceedings 8th International Symposium on Computer Assisted Cartography. Baltimore, USA.
Bruns HT and Egenhofer M (1997) Use Interfaces for Map Algebra. Journal of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, 9(1):44–54.
Caldwell DR (2000) Extending Map Algebra with Flag Operators. In Proceedings 5th International Conference on GeoComputation. University of Greenwich, UK.
Couclelis H (1992) People Manipulate Objects (but Cultivate Fields): Beyond the Raster-Vector Debate in GIS. In A Frank, I Campari, and U Formentini, editors, Theories and Methods of Spatio-Temporal Reasoning in Geographic Space, volume 639 of LNCS, pages 65–77. Springer-Verlag.
Devillers O (2002) On Deletion in Delaunay Triangulations. International Journal of Computational Geometry and Applications, 12(3):193–205.
Eastman J, Jin W, Kyem A, and Toledano J (1995) Raster procedures for multicriteria/multi-objective decisions. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 61(5):539–547.
Edelsbrunner H and Shah NR (1996) Incremental Topological Flipping Works for Regular Triangulations. Algorithmica, 15:223–241.
Fisher PF (1997) The Pixel: A Snare and a Delusion. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 18(3):679–685.
Fortune S (1987) A Sweepline algorithm for Voronoi diagrams. Algorithmica, 2:153–174.
Gold CM (1989) Surface Interpolation, spatial adjacency and GIS. In J Raper, editor, Three Dimensional Applications in Geographic Information Systems, chapter 3, pages 21–35. Taylor & Francis.
Gold CM and Edwards G (1992) The Voronoi spatial model: two-and threedimensional applications in image analysis. ITC Journal, 1:11–19.
Gold CM, Nantel J, and Yang W (1996) Outside-in: An Alternative Approach to Forest Map Digitizing. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 10(3):291–310.
Goodchild MF (1992) Geographical Data Modeling. Computers & Geosciences, 18(4):401–408.
Guibas LJ and Stolfi J (1985) Primitives for the Manipulation of General Subdivisions and the Computation of Voronoi Diagrams. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 4:74–123.
Haklay M (2004) Map Calculus in GIS: A Proposal and Demonstration. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 18(2):107–125.
Kemp KK (1993) Environmental Modeling with GIS: A Strategy for Dealing with Spatial Continuity. Technical Report 93-3, National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Kemp KK and Vckovski A (1998) Towards an ontology of fields. In Proceedings 3rd International Conference on GeoComputation. Bristol, UK.
Ledoux H and Gold CM (2004) An Efficient Natural Neighbour Interpolation Algorithm for Geoscientific Modelling. In P Fisher, editor, Developments in Spatial Data Handling — 11th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, pages 97–108. Springer.
Ledoux H, Gold CM, and Baciu G (2005) Flipping to Robustly Delete a Vertex in a Delaunay Tetrahedralization. In Proceedings International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications — ICCSA 2005, LNCS 3480, pages 737–747. Springer-Verlag, Singapore.
Mennis J, Viger R, and Tomlin CD (2005) Cubic Map Algebra Functions for Spatio-Temporal Analysis. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 32(1):17–32.
Morehouse S (1985) ARC/INFO: A Geo-Relational Model for Spatial Information. In Proceedings 7th International Symposium on Computer Assisted Cartography. Washington DC, USA.
Mücke EP, Saias I, and Zhu B (1999) Fast randomized point location without preprocessing in two-and three-dimensional Delaunay triangulations. Computational Geometry-Theory and Applications, 12:63–83.
Peuquet DJ (1984) A Conceptual Framework and Comparison of Spatial Data Models. Cartographica, 21(4):66–113.
Pullar D (2001) MapScript: A Map Algebra Programming Language Incorporating Neighborhood Analysis. GeoInformatica, 5(2):145–163.
Ritter G, Wilson J, and Davidson J (1990) Image Algebra: An Overview. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 49(3):297–331.
Sambridge M, Braun J, and McQueen H (1995) Geophysical parameterization and interpolation of irregular data using natural neighbours. Geophysical Journal International, 122:837–857.
Sibson R (1981) A brief description of natural neighbour interpolation. In V Barnett, editor, Interpreting Multivariate Data, pages 21–36. Wiley, New York, USA.
Stevens S (1946) On the Theory of Scales and Measurement. Science, 103:677–680.
Suzuki A and Iri M (1986) Approximation of a tesselation of the plane by a Voronoi diagram. Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan, 29:69–96.
Takeyama M (1996) Geo-Algebra: A Mathematical Approach to Integrating Spatial Modeling and GIS. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Geography, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA.
Theobald DM (2001) Topology revisited: Representing spatial relations. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 15(8):689–705.
Tomlin CD (1983) A Map Algebra. In Proceedings of the 1983 Harvard Computer Graphics Conference, pages 127–150. Cambridge, MA, USA.
Watson DF (1981) Computing the n-dimensional Delaunay tessellation with application to Voronoi polytopes. Computer Journal, 24(2):167–172.
Watson DF (1992) Contouring: A Guide to the Analysis and Display of Spatial Data. Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK.
Worboys MF and Duckham M (2004) GIS: A Computing Perspective. CRC Press, second edition.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ledoux, H., Gold, C. (2006). A Voronoi-Based Map Algebra. In: Riedl, A., Kainz, W., Elmes, G.A. (eds) Progress in Spatial Data Handling. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-35589-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-35589-8_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-35588-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-35589-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)