What is the Region Occupied by a Set of Points?
Antony Galton
and
Matt Duckham
In M. Raubal, H. Miller, A. Frank, and M. Goodchild (editors),
Geographic Information Science: Fourth International Conference, GIScience 2006, Münster, Germany, September 2006. Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4197, pages 81-98.
Abstract
There are many situations in GIScience where it would be useful to be
able to assign a region to characterize the space occupied by a set of
points. Such a region should represent the location or configuration
of the points as an aggregate, abstracting away from the individual
points themselves. In this paper, we call such a region a 'footprint'
for the points. We investigate and compare a number of methods for
producing such footprints, with respect to nine general criteria. The
discussion identifies a number of potential choices and avenues for
further research. Finally, we contrast the related research already
conducted in this area, highlighting differences between these
existing constructs and our 'footprints'.
Antony Galton
Last modified: Tue Apr 22 12:42:07 BST 2008