Requirements and principles for the implementation and construction of large-scale geographic information systems

Abstract This paper provides a brief survey of the history, structure and functions of 'traditional' geographic information systems (GIS), and then suggests a set of requirements that large-scale GIS should satisfy, together with a set of principles for their satisfaction. These principles, which include the systematic application of techniques from several sub-fields of computer science to the design and implementation of GIS and the integration of techniques from computer vision and image processing into standard GIS technology, are discussed in some detail. In particular, the paper provides a detailed discussion of questions relating to appropriate data models, data structures and computational procedures for the efficient storage, retrieval and analysis of spatially-indexed data.