ABSTRACT
Lineage metadata are an abstract representation of maps and logic used within a spatial analytic application of a geographic information system (CIS). This chapter details the structure of such metadata and presents a series of comparison tests useful for identifying commonalities in logic applied within GIS applications to explicate spatial relationships between cartographic features encoded within a set of source maps. Comparative analysis of lineage metadata across different GIS applications offers the possibility of automatically detecting and isolating patterns of spatial reasoning applied within GIS-based environmental models.
