Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
2
From Empirical Questioning to Spatio-
temporal Modeling
The common point of the empirical questions addressed in this topic is their
double anchoring in time and space. The themes addressed in the examples are by
contrast varied. They have been chosen on the basis of the interest caused by the
construction of the objects relevant for the question posed, and the properties,
relationships and processes at stake to answer this question. Another criterion was to
show the variety of modeling forms associated with the questioning. From a
thematic point of view, this will lead us to examine the evolution of the
differentiations between places, to reflect on the representation of mobile objects'
paths, to model the dynamics of cities or to represent the temporal frequency of
change in an archaeological site. Regardless of the questioning, the aim is to
produce new knowledge from observation, processing and analysis of empirical
observations related to the topic of study. Chapter 1 was concerned about the
conceptualization of objects of interest, with the objective of a coherent construction
of these objects during time. This chapter is dedicated to the different stages of
scientific or operational work that follows this phase of conceptual construction. The
first stage relates to the construction of
empirical entities
corresponding to the
conceptual
entities
previously designed. This requires selecting the relevant
information and conceiving the adapted data models to achieve the first queries on
the data [PEU 02, AND 05]. It then requires choosing and developing the methods
that will enable extracting knowledge relative to the targeted subject and answering
the questions posed. The objective of this chapter is to explain the nature of the
models that intervene in these different stages and the shape of the round-trips that
are operated in practice along with this approach. The different steps between the
conception of the objects to their analysis will be considered.
