A fuzzy formal concept analysis-based approach to uncovering spatial hierarchies among vague places extracted from user-generated data. Issue 5 (4th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Xiaoyu; Wang, Jianying; Shi, Li; Gao, Yong; Liu, Yu
• Is Part Of: International journal of geographical information science. Volume 33:Issue 5(2019)
• Page Start: 991
• Page End: 1016
• Publication Date: 2019-05-04
• Subjects: Place -- vagueness -- spatial hierarchy -- fuzzy formal concept analysis -- user-generated content; Geography -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Information storage and retrieval systems -- Periodicals; Géomatique -- Périodiques; Systèmes d'information -- Périodiques; 910.285
• DOI: 10.1080/13658816.2019.1566550
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1365-8816

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The spatial hierarchy of part-whole relationships is an essential characteristic of the platial world. Constructing spatial hierarchies of places is valuable in association analysis and qualitative spatial reasoning. The emergence of large amounts of geotagged user-generated content provides strong support for modelling places. However, the vague nature of places and the complex spatial relationships among places make it intractable to understand and represent the hierarchies among places. In this paper, we introduce a fuzzy formal concept analysis-based approach to uncovering the spatial hierarchies among vague places. Each place is represented as a concept that consists of its extent and its intent. Based on the place concepts, the spatial hierarchies are generated and expressed as a graph that is easy to comprehend and contains abundant information on spatial relations. We also demonstrate the rationality of our result by comparing it with the result of a questionnaire survey.