Classification of topological relations between spatial objects in two-dimensional space within the dimensionally extended 9-intersection model

Abstract

As an important topological relation model, the dimensionally extended 9-intersection model (DE-9IM) has been widely used as a basis for standards of queries in spatial databases. However, the negative conditions for the specification of the topological relations within the DE-9IM have not been studied. The specification of the topological relations is closely related to the definition of the spatial objects and the topological relation models. The interior, boundary, and exterior of the spatial objects, including the point, line, and region, are defined. Within the framework of the DE-9IM, 43 negative conditions are proposed to eliminate impossible topological relations. Configurations of region/region, region/line, line/line, region/point, line/point, and point/point relations are drawn. The mutual exclusion of the negative conditions is discussed, and the topological relations within the framework of 9IM and DE-9IM are compared. The results show that: (1) impossible topological relations between spatial objects can be eliminated by the application of 43 negative conditions; and (2) 12 relations between two regions, 31 relations between a region and a line, 47 relations between two lines, three relations between a region and a point, three relations between a line and a point, and two relations between two points can be distinguished by the DE-9IM.