A spatiotemporal database model and query language

Conventional spatial databases support efficiently a spatial management for objects. However, they manage only those that are valid at current time. O wing to this property, whenever a new value is inserted into databases, the old one should be deleted. So, it is very difficult for time varying spati al information to manage efficient historical information. To solve this pr oblem, there is a rapid increase of interest for spatiotemporal databases. Spatiotemporal databases support historical information as well as spatial management at the same time, so that they can be used in various applicatio n areas such as geographic information system, urban plan system, and car n avigation system, and so on. In this paper, we suggest a spatiotemporal dat a model that supports a bitemporal concept for spatial objects, and design a spatiotemporal database query language, entitled as STQL as well. When it is compared with the results of previous researches, it is the first spati otemporal query language that supports temporal concept and spatial express ion as well. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.