A UML-based representation of fuzzy spatiotemporal relations

Many applications require the use of spatiotemporal data, which imposes increasing requirements on spatiotemporal data modeling. Fuzziness widely exists in spatiotemporal data and the existing studies consider only fuzzy temporal and spatial topological relations. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate fuzzy temporal relations and fuzzy spatial relations based on representation of conceptual data. This paper proposes an UML class diagram model to represent fuzzy spatiotemporal objects and relations. We review traditional direction, metric and topological relations. On the basis, we explore fuzzy temporal relations and fuzzy spatial relations as combinations of these three classic relations. Furthermore, we provide a representation of fuzzy temporal relations and fuzzy spatial relations in UML class diagrams. Finally, we apply our observations to analyze meteorological phenomena.