V.V. Popovich – Dr.Sc.(Eng.), Professor, Main Designer, 

CJSC «SPIIRAS-Scientific and Technical Bureau of High Technology» (Saint Petersburg)

E-mail: popovich@oogis.ru

L.A. Vedeshin – Dr.Sc.(Eng.), Research Scientist, 

Space Research Institute of RAS (Moscow)

E-mail: vedeshin40@mail.ru

19 November 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the World GIS Day. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon that combines two such concept as «geographic information system» (GIS) and «space» from a computer science point of view. Research subject and object in this domain have their own part in human history. The article reviews such philosophical concepts as space and time and how they interact in geographic information systems (GIS). The problems of detecting objects in different environments are considered. The concept of a point in the multidimensional feature space is not an abstraction in case of hyperspectral remote sensing data processing. Each dimension is represented by a point in the specified space. Points can be clustered, characterizing the object of research. Sets and measures (for example, the Euclidean distance) additionally characterize these objects. Based on the above, recognition of objects using their spectral and textural characteristics is build.

As is well known, each abstraction has its interpretation and can be presented in different dimensions such as 1D, 2D, 3D and nD. From basic linear algebra we are familiar with such concepts as space and subspace. In this paper we discuss the connection between algebraic notion of space and the notion of point at its generalization.

For GIS applications, certain properties and physical parameters of basic concepts such as point and space, their dynamical transformation and variability are important. The factor of computability of the given characteristics by various methods for the benefit of the end-user is even more important.

Since this discussion is difficult to set up within some well-known paradigm such as linear algebra, philosophy and computer sciences, in this paper we consider only the important issue related to definition of the notion of space in geoinformatics.

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