67
DATA PROCESSING VERSUS GEOMATICS
T.Bellone*, L. Mussio **, C. Nardinocchi***
*DIGET, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
**DIIAR, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
***DITS, Università La Sapienza, Roma, Italy
Commission VI, Workiing Group 3
KEY WORDS: Geomatics, Mathematical Logic, Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence
ABSTRACT:
Some present procedures of Geomatics may be referred to symbolic and logical structures proper for Mathematical
Logic and even of Linguistics.
This paper is mainly a review and a historical-logical excursus of possible questions common to the said disciplines, in
principle so far from each other.
1. Historical background
Pattern Recognition is a procedure of Artificial
Intelligence that is based upon matching of parts of maps
and/or images or 3D models with archetypes or objects
(parsers).
In order to find out some representative elements (e.g.,
edges), a binary value matrix is generated, starting from
an early scene: an edge is the limit between two zones
having distinct characteristics (e.g., grey levels: edge
detection).
The relational matching is performed by three steps:
■ transformation from raster space to entity space
■ transformation from entity space to relational
space
■ matching strategy which takes place in the
relational space (research tree).
The research tree is made with knots and arcs linking
them: every knot means one possible linkage between
one character of the acquired data (e.g., an edge in an
image) and one character of an object.
Ample overviews upon the world of GIS and Image
Processing are possible now: at present, problems of
different source data fusion into a unique GIS,
transformation in scale dimension {generalization),
temporal aspects, etc., are widely debated.
Many Natural Sciences are based upon the idea of
structure {Structural Analysis), whilst in the Information
Technologies the idea of pattern {Pattern Recognition)
is often ?A number of sciences are in an intermediate
position (e.g., Linguistics).
The human thought is able to reassemble (intercept)
objects in classes: the scope of Logic is to establish
relations between classes (Boole).
According to Boole, human thought works by opposite
concepts; the language is characterized by phonemes,
which are opposite, related and negative entities (De
Saussure).
According to Boole, the thought is based upon a number
of constitutive elements; the thought has a meaningful
network underlying (Chomsky).
Every expression of language may bear some
transformation, although keeping firm a deep meaningful
structure which allows for matching to be made.
Geomatics deals with both reality (description of
structures) and models (patterns) to compare with
(recognize).
The Latin of Middle Age faded together with the Middle
Age. Galileo, Newton, Leibniz, Lomonosov wrote their
works in their mother language. A number of scholars
kept about a language which possibly could be
substituted to Latin. In the XVIII century, a universal
language was first imagined, also as a rational mean for
communications of thought.
Logic is the philosophy of the whole though which is
expressed by signs: the very natural language is taken to a
set of symbols and combinatory rules among them.
Raimondo Lullo (1235-1315) firstly tried to reduce
logical though to computing, but easily attempts to
conceive an artificial rational language were due to
Descartes. Leibniz (1646-1716) painted at the means to
organize such a language: it should be became the
alphabet of human thought. Words were to pass ideas and
also show their relationship.
Reasoning should have been replaced with computation:
the language was to become some sort of algebra of
thought, with all complex ideas resulting from merger of
simpler ones. As all numbers may be obtained from
prime integers, also all complex concepts were to be
derived from elementary atoms of meaning and logical
truth may be obtained with the help of mathematical
assumptions. Leibniz built this way the foundations of
mathematical logic (Mathematische Schriften).
However the true founders of mathematical logic were
Boole (1847, The Mathematical Analysis of Logic; 1854,
