ALGEBRAIC MODELS FOR THE AGGREGATION OF AREA FEATURES BASED UPON MORPHOLOGICAL OPERATORS

Generalization is a fundamental function in GIS. It has been an import ant research theme for many years in cartography and GIS. A number of generalization operations have been identified, however most of them, especially those rule-based operations, remain at the conceptual level . This paper describes a set of mathematical (algebraic) models for ar ea aggregation based on the operators developed in mathematical morpho logy. In this paper, the process of area aggregation is decomposed int o two components, viz., combination and shape refinement, and algebrai c models for both components are developed. These are demonstrated usi ng various examples. The models provide a mathematical basis for area aggregation in digital generalization of map and other spatial data. T he results show that these algebraic models have the potential for suc cessful application.