A spatiotemporal database is a database that manages both space and time information. Common examples include:
* Tracking of moving objects, which typically can occupy only a single position at a given time.
* A database of wireless communication networks, which may exist only for a short timespan within a geographic region.
* An index of species in a given geographic region, where over time additional species may be introduced or existing species migrate or die out.
* Historical tracking of plate tectonic activity.
Spatiotemporal databases are an extension of
spatial databases and
temporal databases. A spatiotemporal database embodies spatial,
temporal, and spatiotemporal database concepts, and captures spatial and temporal aspects of data and deals with:
* geometry changing over time and/or
* location of objects moving over invariant geometry (known variously as ''moving objects databases''
or
real-time locating system
Real-time locating systems (RTLS), also known as real-time tracking systems, are used to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people in real time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are ...
s).
Implementations
Although there exist numerous
relational database
A relational database is a (most commonly digital) database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system (RDBMS). Many relatio ...
s with spatial extensions, spatiotemporal databases are not based on the
relational model
The relational model (RM) is an approach to managing data using a Structure (mathematical logic), structure and language consistent with first-order logic, first-order predicate logic, first described in 1969 by English computer scientist Edgar F. ...
for practical reasons, chiefly among them that the data is multi-dimensional, capturing complex structures and behaviours.
As of 2008, there are no
RDBMS
A relational database is a (most commonly digital) database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system (RDBMS). Many relation ...
products with spatiotemporal extensions. There are some products such as the open-source
TerraLib
TerraLib is an open-source GIS software library that extends object-relational DBMS technology to handle spatiotemporal data types. The library supports different DBMS, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. Its vector data model is upwar ...
which use a
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...
approach storing their data in a relational database. Unlike in the pure spatial domain, there are however no official or ''de facto'' standards for spatio-temporal data models and their querying. In general, the theory of this area is also less well-developed.
Another approach is the constraint database system such as MLPQ (Management of Linear Programming Queries).
GeoMesa
GeoMesa is an open-source, distributed, spatio-temporal index built on top of Bigtable-style databases using an implementation of the Geohash algorithm.
Description
Written in Scala, GeoMesa is capable of ingesting, indexing, and querying bill ...
is an
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
distributed spatiotemporal index built on top of
Bigtable-style databases using an implementation of the
Z-order_curve
In mathematical analysis and computer science, functions which are Z-order, Lebesgue curve, Morton space-filling curve, Morton order or Morton code map multidimensional data to one dimension while preserving locality of the data points. It i ...
to create a multi-dimensional index combining space and time.
SpaceTimeis a commercial spatiotemporal database built on top of the proprietary multidimensional index similar to the
kd-tree family, but created using the bottom-up approach and adapted to particular space-time distribution of data.
See also
*
*
Historical geographic information system
A historical geographic information system (also written as historical GIS or HGIS) is a geographic information system that may display, store and analyze data of past geographies and track changes in time. It can be regarded as a tool for histori ...
*
Locating engine
Real-time locating systems (RTLS), also known as real-time tracking systems, are used to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people in real time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are ...
*
Multimedia database A Multimedia database (MMDB) is a collection of related for multimedia data. The multimedia data include one or more primary media data types such as text, images, graphic objects (including drawings, sketches and illustrations) animation sequen ...
*
Structure mining
Structure mining or structured data mining is the process of finding and extracting useful information from semi-structured data sets. Graph mining, sequential pattern mining and molecule mining are special cases of structured data mining.
Descrip ...
*
Time geography
References
External links
Organizations
* http://vldb.org (Very Large Databases)
* http://www.dexa.org (Database and Expert Systems Applications)
Implementations
* https://secondo-database.github.io/ (Secondo)
Database management systems
Geographic data and information
Spatial databases
*
Space and time
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