Process Modelling, Web Services and Geoprocessing

Regnauld, N, Touya, G, Gould, N, Foerster, T and Mackaness, W (2014) Process Modelling, Web Services and Geoprocessing. In: Abstracting geographic information in a data rich world: methodologies and applications of map generalisation. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-00202-6

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Abstract

Process modelling has always been an important part of research in generalisation. In the early days this would take the form of a static sequence of generalisation actions, but currently the focus is on modelling much more complex processes, capable of generalising geographic data into various maps according to specific user requirements. To channel the growing complexity of the processes required, better process models had to be developed. This chapter discusses several aspects of the problem of building such systems. As the system gets more complex, it becomes important to be able to reuse components which already exist. Web services have been used to encapsulate generalisation processes in a way that maximises their interoperability and therefore reusability. However, for a system to discover and trigger such a service, it needs to be formalised and described in a machine understandable way, and the system needs to have the knowledge about where and when to use such tools. This chapter therefore explores the requirements and potential approaches to the design and building of such systems.