Review of Spatio-temporal Data Modeling Methods

[Objective] This paper aims to summarize spatio-temporal data modeling methods to provide a theoretical basis for the study of the organization and management of space-time knowledge. [Coverage] Literature search was conducted using the “spatial-temporal data model” and “spatio-temporal data model”, respectively, within a limited time frame and journal type, in Baidu Academic, Google Scholar, CNKI, and Engineering Village. Some relevant documents were obtained and screened according to the degree of relevance of the research topic. Finally we chose 64 related documents to review. [Methods] The spatio-temporal data model is classified according to the level of abstraction of the modeled objects, and the related researches on the spatio-temporal data model are summarized from three levels of the physical layer, logic layer and application layer. [Results] In recent years, the studies of the spatio-temporal data model in the physical layer mainly focused on the revision of the previous model. The spatio-temporal data models of the application layer focused on satisfying the specific needs of various fields. However, the researches on the logic layer need to be improved in terms of expression ability. [Limitations] There are few horizontal comparison studies of spatial-temporal data models at different levels. [Conclusions] Large-scale space-time information management and utilization will provide broad space for development of space-time data modeling in the future. © 2019 The Author(s).