An Extensible Framework for Spatio-Temporal Database Applications

There is a wide range of scientific application domains requiring sophisticated management of spatio-temporal data. However, existing database management systems offer very limited (if any at all) support for managing such data. Thus, it is left to the researchers themselves to repeatedly code this management into each application. Besides being a time consuming task, this process is bound to introduce errors and increase the complexity of application management and data evolution. This paper addresses this very point. We present an extensible framework, based on extending an object-oriented database system, with kernel spatio-temporal classes, data structures and functions, to provide support for the development of spatio-temporal applications. Even though the paper’s arguments are centered on geographic applications, the proposed framework can be used in other application domains where spatial and temporal data evolution must be considered (e.g., Biology).