Although spatial objects of our world have an intrinsic threedimensional (3D) nature, 3D data modeling and 3D data management have so far been neglected in spatial database systems and Geographical Information Systems, which map geometric data mainly to two-dimensional abstractions. But increasingly the third dimension becomes more and more relevant for application domains like pollution control, water supply, soil engineering, urban planning, and aviation. Large volumes of 3D data require a treatment in a database context for representing, querying, and manipulating them efficiently. This paper aims at investigating the complex inherent features of 3D data and presents an abstract, formal data model called SPAL3D (Spatial Algebra 3D). The data model comprises a set of three-dimensional spatial data types together with a collection of geometric set operations.
The authors' work in REF provides a comprehensive and rigorous definition of 3D data types.
An abstract model of three-dimensional spatial data types
GIS '04
Computer Science