Transferring Segmented Properties in the Conflation of Transportation Networks

In Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) one of the layers that require particular attention in the integration process is the one describing the transport network. Different models can be adopted to represent and manage transport networks data, however, in most cases we have to handle properties that change their value along the road paths, for instance the road width or the number of lanes. This kind of data, usually called “segmented properties” can be represented in different ways, although at conceptual level they can be described as a function from the geometry to a specific domain of values.In this paper we define a conceptual data model for representing “seg-mented properties” and map it into two implementation approaches: the structural implementation, with explicit geometry representation for each homogeneous segment, and the dynamic implementation, with the implicit representation of the segments by means of a measure (abscissa) on the route path. Then, we propose a method for transferring data from one implementation to the other one and to manage the problems arising from the integration of networks with different geometry and different implementations of segmented properties. Finally, we illustrate the application of the proposed approach to a practical case involving data of the Lombardy Region (Italy).