ACASIAN GIS Spatial Data for China, South-East Asia, and the Soviet Union

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THE SIIASA SPATIO-TEMPORAL DATABASE DESIGN


Paul M. Yates and Dr. Lawrence W. Crissman
The Australian Centre of ASIAN
Faculty of Asian and International Studies
Griffith University
The China GIS Project databases were designed from the outset to incorporate an historical dimension, as the analysis of longitudinal datasets such as sequential census returns was a high priority. However, as is well known to anyone familiar with China's administrative system, a significant percentage of the 2,600 (or so) county-level units change in one way or another annually, and it is not sufficient to merely compare 1882 with 1990, for instance, as there is abundant data for the intervening years as well. Therefore, means had to be devised to efficiently store and retrieve temporal changes in the boundaries and organisation of China's administrative system on a continuous, rather than 'slices in time' basis.

The Design and Implementation of Historical Dimensions In the SIIASA/CHINA GIS Project Databases paper describes the preliminary method developed to implement the storage and retrieval of alternative spatial objects from an inclusive GIS database. It may be demonstrated on a portable computer containing a 1982-1990 boundary file for the PRC. As this means can be adapted to a variety of different GIS software products, including MapInfo and ARC/INFO in addition to Intergraph's MGE, it will be adopted by SIIASA participants throughout Australia who are also working on historical as well as contemporary materials.

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This page last updated April 18, 1999.