Visualisation Of Entity Distribution In Very Large Scale Spatial And Geographic Information Systems

The aim of this paper is to summarise entity distribution visualisation

problems in very large-scale spatial and geographic information systems. The

motivation for this theme arises from the challenge of visualising the

geographic and logical distribution of many tens of thousands of

distance-learning students at the UK's Open University. At the beginning,

the paper describes the algorithms and data structures used by current

geographic and spatial information systems. These include visualisation and

mapping techniques, user interface problems, clustering analysis, and the

approach to existing data structures and network services. Several existing

systems are mentioned as examples. In the second part of the paper,

suggested approaches and improvements are discussed. These should provide

new possibilities, particularly with respect to the scalability of the

system when working with very large numbers of entities.