Dempster–Shafer Theory in geographic information systems: A survey

Since the information used in a Geographic Information System has a certain degree of uncertainly, in general classical mathematics models should not be applied to solve geographical problems computationally. Therefore, probabilistic or fuzzy-related methods should be considered, in order to model the behaviour of real problems that have to be solved by or with a Geographic Information System.In this paper, a review of the application of Dempster–Shafer Theory of Evidence—also called “belief functions”—in relation to Geographic Information System is given. The review will focus on classification as a way of fusing information in a Geographic Information System. Information fusion, for classification, represents the first step in the abstraction of information and a means of data mining, and both the advantages and limitations of the technique of the Theory of Evidence in comparison to other techniques are analysed.