Concepts for a service-based 3D/4D geo-database supporting the analysis and early warning of landslides

Managing large sets of heterogeneous geo-data is supposed to become one of the key issues in early warning scenarios. However, the integrated use of different data sources still is a research issue in the geo-database field. Especially bringing in geometric and topological 3D geo-data leads to new problems in early warning and emergency applications. Different dimensions and scales of the data are well known problems. This paper focuses on the first studies describing the concepts, development and adaptation of a service-based 3D geo-database management system to support the analysis and early warning of geological events, for instance landslides. The concepts presented in the paper include the system architecture, 3D data model, 3D geometric and topological database operations and the management of spatio-temporal data. The way of adapting the geo-database using internet-based service architecture is described in detail. A client test application for landslides along the Isar, a river in South Germany, demonstrates first usage of the geo-database. 3D data sets of the test area are handled by the geo-database. Finally, an outlook is given on the interactive usage of spatio-temporal database queries on changing objects presented by a visual client interface. ... mehrThe role of the geo-database in a distributed software environment of early warning geo-tools is discussed.