Real-time space-time integration in GIscience and geography

Abstract

Time is a multi-faceted concept, with deeply personal and subjective meanings as well as formally constructed but still arbitrary meanings, and ontologies for time in GIScience can be as complex as they are for space in Geography. However, at its simplest and in the practice of Geographic Information Science research, it is still useful to think about space–time research challenges in three basic temporal domains: (1) past time – documenting and interpreting historical events, places, and processes; (2) future time – modeling, simulating, or projecting future spatial scenarios; and (3) real–time –understanding and interacting with events, people, places, and spatial processes as they are emerging and mutually evolving in a dynamic and mobile world.