Knowledge representation and reasoning for qualitative spatial change

Spatial change is an important phenomenon in many domains. The previous spatial change models can not support qualitative reasoning, so they are not suitable for knowledge based systems. We propose a knowledge representation and reasoning method for identity based spatial change. A change process is presented by a multistage graph. The binary relation model BC for identity change is defined. Then the qualitative reasoning for BC is investigated. The qualitative reasoning algorithms are applied in cadastral data to improve the complex spatio-temporal queries and analyze the incomplete information. The previous spatial change data models can not do the same jobs. Finally some first results are given on combining BC and topological relations.