Scale-based spatial data model for GIS

Being the primary media of geographical information and the elementary objects manipulated, almost all of maps adopt the layer-based model to represent geographic information in the existent GIS. However, it is difficult to extend the map represented in layer-based model. Furthermore, in Web-Based GIS, It is slow to transmit the spatial data for map viewing. In this paper, for solving the questions above, we have proposed a new method for representing the spatial data. That is scale-based model. In this model we represent maps in three levels: scale-view, block, and spatial object, and organize the maps in a set of map layers, named Scale-View, which associates some given scales.Lastly, a prototype Web-Based GIS using the proposed spatial data representation is described briefly.