A Web-Based Tool for Spatio-Multidimensional Analysis of Geographic and Complex Data

Abstract

Spatial OLAP (SOLAP) integrates spatial data into OLAP systems, and SOLAP models define spatial dimensions while measuring spatio-multidimensional operators. In this paper, the author presents the concepts of geographic and complex measures that allow integrating geographic and complex information as subjects of analysis in spatial data warehouses. The concept of geographic measure extends the concept of spatial measure to the semantic component of geographic information. The concept of complex measure allows introducing complex data as subjects of multidimensional analysis. To reduce the gap in flexibility between spatial and multidimensional analysis, this paper proposes a symmetrical representation of measures and dimensions. Additionally, the author presents a Web-based SOLAP prototype, GeWOlap, that enriches existing SOLAP tools by effectively and easily supporting symmetrical geographic/complex measures and dimensions for modeling and visualization. To validate this approach, the simulated environmental data concerning the pollution of the Venice lagoon is used.