虚拟地理环境知识工程初探

地理知识在虚拟地理环境（Virtual Geographic Environments,VGE）的科研与应用中发挥着极为重要的作用。现有地理知识工程研究整体处于初步探索阶段,且尚未在虚拟地理环境中展开。作为新一代GIS研究的科学方法和技术,虚拟地理环境具有典型的多领域、多协同、多交互、多模型及多感知的特点,但还亟需系统深入地了解VGE地理知识工程的特点、机理及关键技术。本文首先综述了国内外现有知识工程及地理知识工程研究现状,进而提出了VGE地理知识及VGE知识工程的概念和定义。在此基础上,本文分析了VGE地理知识有别于通用知识的特点,并提出了VGE地理知识的分类。最后,针对VGE地理知识工程的构建阐述了需解决的关键问题。本文基于VGE知识工程的初步探索,尝试为智能虚拟地理环境系统的构建提供理论基础,以促进虚拟地理环境中地理知识的快速转换和融合,为解决地理科学“数据丰富但知识贫乏”的问题提供一个可行的研究方向。

A Tentative Study on Knowledge Engineering for Virtual Geographic Environments

Geographic knowledge plays an important role in the researches and applications of Virtual Geographic Environments (VGE). Most researches about geographic knowledge engineering are still in the exploring stage. Geographic knowledge engineering for VGE is now a novel subject that has so far not been completely studied. As one component of the new generation of geographic information analysis, VGE has the typical features of multi-discipline, multi-collaboration, multi-interaction, multi-models and multi-sensing. It is urgent to systematically understand the features, mechanisms and key technologies in VGE knowledge engineering. This paper firstly reviewed the research status in knowledge engineering and geographic knowledge engineering from the domestic and abroad perspectives. Then, concepts are proposed regarding the geographic knowledge for VGE and VGE knowledge engineering. Furthermore, the typical features of geographic knowledge in VGE that differ from the common knowledge are discussed in depth. Focusing on the research direction and construction of VGE knowledge engineering in the near future, the key problems within four dimensions that must be resolved have been proposed and discussed. The tentative study of VGE knowledge engineering in this paper may provide a theoretical basis and reference for building the intelligent VGE system, which helps to promote the rapid transformation from the geodata to the geographic knowledge in VGE.