| This research examines the strategies and mechanisms of the object-oriented approach to modeling geographic reality for integrating spatial data. A multidisciplinary and multinational research team, led by the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Center at Carleton University, is devoted to creating innovative approaches for combining geospatially referenced data. An object-oriented approach has been adopted to enable spatial information to be managed, interpreted, manipulated, and understood in a more efficient and more understandable way.; In order to explore and test the strengths and weaknesses of the new approach, a case study on modeling the impacts of climate variability on southern ocean ecological dynamics was developed. Diverse data were obtained from a variety of governmental agencies and academic organizations.; This thesis discusses the potential application of the object-oriented approach to geographic data modeling for spatial data integration. |
