Introduction: This chapter describes the process of abstracting the real world from the perspective of spatial cognition. Spatial cognition belongs to the category of behavioral geography. It studies how individuals perceive the real world and encode them in consciousness. The first five layers of the nine-tier abstract model of OpenGIS describe the content of abstracting gradually on the basis of knowledge and finally obtaining digital spatial data. Finally, the spatial database model further emphasizes the abstraction process.
The content of this chapter helps to deepen the understanding of spatial data and spatial information.
From the real world to the conceptual world of people, then to the digital world, and finally to the real world through the user’s transformation of natural activities feedback, the middle three stages correspond to the three research fields of Geo-information science, namely, the study of geo-cognitive model, the study of geo-conceptual calculation methods, and the study of geo-information and society. As shown in Figure 2-1.
Figure 2-1: Geographic Information Flow and Geographic Information Science
