Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2
Packages of the NBN
EN ISO 19108:2005 temporal
schema (NBN
2005
)
because it only shows the temporality of the production and not the duration or
temporality of the creation or the use (Lucas
2005
, pp. 39-40).
One of the most recent studies on archaeological temporal GIS is the research of
Green (
2011
). The aim of his research is the creation of a fuzzy, temporal GIS (TGIS)
which is specifically tailored to archaeological data (Green
2011
). Green (
2011
) made
the condition to the system “to be flexible and powerful”, and to “remain within the
software horizons of GIS-literate archaeologists” (p. 2). The emphasis was laid on
handling the temporal uncertainty; input data consists of the minimum and maximum
possible time (Green
2011
). Green (
2011
) uses different methods for the calcula-
tion of probabilities (standard percentage, normal distribution,
terminus post quem
and oxCal) in order to analyze uncertainties. The resulting fuzzy TGIS is an ArcGIS
implementation, where the temporal dimension is stored as an attribute, thus result-
ing in a 2.5D solution (Green
2011
). Both elements, the choice for ArcGIS and 2.5D,
cause some limitations of the system, such as the inability to deal with stratigraphy
and duration, and the lack of an animation tool (Green
2011
, pp. 142-144).
3 NBN EN ISO 19108:2005 Standard
The ISO 19100 series of standards is developed by the ISO/TC211 and deals with
geographic information and geomatics (Kresse and Fadaie
2010
, p. 1). ISO 19108
dates back to 2002, with a technical corrigendum of 2008. This international
norm is registered as a Belgian norm by the Belgian Bureau for Standardization
(
www.nbn.be
) as NBN EN ISO 19108:2005 without any modifications. This
standard “defines concepts needed to describe the temporal characteristics of geo-
graphic information” (NBN
2005
, p. vi). However, the standard mentions to be
(partly) applicable in other fields (NBN
2005
). The scope of the standard indicates
the preference of valid time over transaction time (NBN
2005
).
The NBN EN ISO 19108:2005 temporal conceptual schema consists of two
packages: Temporal Objects and Temporal Reference System (Fig.
2
).
3.1 Temporal Objects
Temporal objects will be used to describe temporal characteristics. A distinction is
made between temporal geometric and topological objects, TM_GeometricPrimitve
and TM_TopologicalPrimitve respectively (NBN
2005
). The structure of the
