ABSTRACT
Object orientation in modelling spatio-temporal data has been widely recognised as a powerful tool that captures far more of the meaning of concepts within a problem domain. Representing spatial data in a geographic information systems (GIS) has been achieved by defining entities in geometric space in an explicit manner (vector representation) or an implicit manner. The primary objective for most of the spatio-temporal representations is summed up in the idea organising space over time. Physical and chemical models have been integrated into the GIS-based model so it can identify serious threats to the quality and quantity of groundwater resources in the European Union. The integration of the CLUE model with a GIS is an example of a dynamic, multi-scale, land use change model developed to explore the complexity of the interactions between socio-economic and biophysical factors in land use changes. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
