Spatiotemporal database

A spatiotemporal database is a database that manages both space and time information. Common examples include:

  • Tracking of moving objects, which typically can occupy only a single position at a given time.
  • A database of wireless communication networks, which may exist only for a short timespan within a geographic region.
  • An index of species in a given geographic region, where over time additional species may be introduced or existing species migrate or die out.
  • Historical tracking of plate tectonic activity.

Spatiotemporal databases are an extension of spatial databases and temporal databases. A spatiotemporal database embodies spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal database concepts, and captures spatial and temporal aspects of data and deals with:

  • Geometry changing over time and/or
  • Location of objects moving over invariant geometry (known variously as moving objects databases or real-time locating systems).
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