Instituto de Informática- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) SYNONYMS

UML-GeoFrame model, Geographic database conceptual model DEFINITION A Spatial Database Management System (SDBMS) provides storage structures and basic operations for spatial data manipulation, whereas a Geographic Information System (GIS) provides the mechanisms for analysis and visualization of geographic data [16]. Geographic datum is a spatial datum whose basic reference is the earth's surface. Geographic phenomenon applies to any element of the real world having geospatial characteristics. Therefore, a geographic datum describes the spatial characteristic of a geographic phenomenon, in the same way that a descriptive datum describes its qualitative and quantitative characteristics. In this way, Geographic Databases (GeoDB) are collections of geo-referenced spatial data, stored by SDBMS and manipulated by GIS. GeoDB, as any database, must be designed following the traditional database design methodology that includes the conceptual, logical and physical design phases [8]. To draw up a data schema during conceptual phase, a conceptual data model must be used. A strong tendency exists in Computer Science to adopt the Unified Modeling Languag