A virtual globe-based vector data model: quaternary quadrangle vector tile model

This study proposes a virtual globe-based vector data model named the quaternary quadrangle vector tile model (QQVTM) in order to better manage, visualize, and analyze massive amounts of global multi-scale vector data. The model integrates the quaternary quadrangle mesh (a discrete global grid system) and global image, terrain, and vector data. A QQVTM-based organization method is presented to organize global multi-scale vector data, including linear and polygonal vector data. In addition, tile-based reconstruction algorithms are designed to search and stitch the vector fragments scattered in tiles to reconstruct and store the entire vector geometries to support vector query and 3D analysis of global datasets. These organized vector data are in turn visualized and queried using a geometry-based approach. Our experimental results demonstrate that the QQVTM can satisfy the requirements for global vector data organization, visualization, and querying. Moreover, the QQVTM performs better than unorganized 2D vectors regarding rendering efficiency and better than the latitude–longitude-based approach regarding data redundancy.