The theme of this position paper accentuates representing geographic processes compatible with human cognition to enable GIS support for information query about process dynamics. Data stored in a GIS will be of little use if important information cannot be extracted from the data. In a GIS, extracting useful information is commonly initiated by user queries. The position paper stresses that the compatibility of cognitive models and GIS representations is the fundamental issue to all three determinants. Geographic representation needs to account for how users conceptualize geographic worlds and what forms of information they use to develop and address their understanding of the worlds.
Representation is the conceptual core of an information system.
A representation scheme determines data elements and their associations which an information system can use to hold data and depict reality. Obviously, an information system cannot support the kinds of information that its representation schemes cannot incorporate. Because of a strong cartographic tradition, GIS representation has followed the map metaphor to protray reality as a 2D static world. A GIS based on these 2D static representations provides sufficient support for location information query and computing, such as geometry manipulation, spatial search, overlay, and buffering. Processes consistently evolve and interact with other environment factors in space and time.