A GEOGRAPHIC OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS SPATIAL DATA MANAGEMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

A PHASE 1, SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH EFFORT TO IDENTIFY THE CAPABILITIES THAT ARE NEEDED TO DEVELOP A VIABLE SYSTEM UTILIZING AN OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE (OODB) TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CENTRAL REPOSITORY FOR DEFINING, CLASSIFYING, AND ORGANIZING TERRAIN FEATURE. THISCAPABILITY WOULD PROVIDE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)USERS WITH A COMMON SET OF TERRAIN FEATURES AND CHARACTERIZATIONS WITH WHICH TO BUILD THEIR APPLICATIONS. INITIALLY, THE RESEARCH WILL IDENTIFY KEY OBJECTS AND DETERMINE HOW THEY CHARACTERIZED AND MANIPULATED, HOW AND WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD FLOW BETWEEN OBJECTS AND HOW THE OBJECTS SHOULD BE ABSTRACTED INTO CLASSES. THE EFFORT WILL PRODUCE A PROTOTYPE WHICH INTEGRATES THE RESULTING GEOGRAPHICAL OBJECT-ORIENTATED DATABASE WITH A GIS. THE PROTOTYPE WILL BUILD ON THE NEW OBJECT-ORIENTED DATA STRUCTURES AND PERMIT THE EVALUATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE CONCEPT AND ITS SUITABILITY FOR THE PROBLEM DOMAIN. THE PROTOTYPE WILL ALSOSERVE AS A MAJOR TOOL IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE MODULE INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS.