Bitmap based structures for the modeling of fuzzy entities

Abstract

Bitmap models are a known technique to model field based geographic information. Commonly, geographic information is modelled in a crisp sense, even though in reality it most likely is an approximation. In this article, we present the use of bitmap based structures to model imprecise or uncertain locations and ditto regions; these structures should be considered to be extensions of respectively a point and a polygon. The imprecission or uncertainty is modelled using fuzzy set theory. Apart from presenting the struc- tures, appropriate operators are defined and explained.