In general, Geographical Information System (GIS) has four main components, namely data input, data model, data analysis and manipulation, and data presentation. These components are vital in order to make GIS fully functional. This paper is centred upon the research activities of selecting, synthesis, designing and implementing the data model components. The primary research issue is to develop a data model that encompasses the capability of storing and managing changes in geographic features. A new perspective approach on the current data modelling is proposed in order to alleviate the current issue plaguing the GIS data management. In developing this new perspective, the feature based approach system cube method is synthesized to produce a new data model. Consequently, the combination of these approaches resulted in the design of double cube data model, which integrates temporal information of geographic features. The double cube data model has been implemented using relational database system. After extensive testing, the double cube data model performed admirably in managing the dynamic changes of geographic features. In conclusion, temporal information is the prime importance in managing geographic data. In this paper, the author has proved that temporal information can be integrated into a single GIS data model.

[1] Bellamy S. P., “MHIS Development, Database/ArcInfo Link-Height Level Design,” Technical Report, Issue V1.R1.M0 (24/7), Ministry of Agriculture, Malaysia, 1996.

[2] Environmental System Research Institute, Understanding GIS: The ARC/INFO Method, 1995.

[3] Feng W., Shuqiang Y., Huowang C., and Jichang S., “Spatial Data Model for Feature-Based GIS,” in Proceedings of Workshop on Computer Science and Information Technologies (CSIT'99), Russia, pp. 107-111, 1999.

[4] Hogeweg M., “Spatio-Temporal Visualization and Analysis,” Master Thesis, University of Salford, 2000.

[5] Langran G. “A Review of Temporal Database Research and its Use in GIS Applications,” International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, vol. 3, pp. 215-232, 1989.

[6] Langran G., Time in Geographic Information Systems: Technical Issues in GIS, Taylor and Francis, London, UK, 1992.

[7] Murillo A., “A GIS Data Model Prototype,” International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 332-343, 1995.

[8] Narsico F. E., “A Spatiotemporal Data Model for Incorporating Time in Geographic Information System,” PhD Thesis, College of Engineering, University of South Florida, 1999. 1998 1996 220 The International Arab Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 1, No. 2, July 2004

[9] Rahim S., “Geographical Information System: Databases for Selection of New Catchments Area in Johor, Malaysai,” Degree Thesis, University of Technology Malaysia, 1999.

[10] Samet H. and Aref W. G., Spatial Data Models and Query Processing in Modern Database Systems, the Object Model, Interoperability, and beyond, in Kim W. (Ed), Addison-Wesley, ACM Press, pp. 338-360, 1995.

[11] Shekar S., Chawla S., Ravada S., Fetterer A., Liu X., and Liu C. T., “Spatial Databases: Accomplishments and Research Needs,” IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 1999.

[12] Shekar S., Coyle M., Goyal B., Liu D. R., and Sarkar S. S., “Data Models in Geographic Information Systems,” Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no. 4, 1997.

[13] Shekar S., Liu X., and Chawla S. “An Object Model of Direction and its Implications,” GeoInformatica, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 357-379, 1999.

[14] SMHB ITP, “Establishment of Hydrological Information System for Water Resources Planning, Development and Management,” Technical report, Ministry of Agriculture, Malaysia, 1999.

[15] The Standards Committee of the Association of Geographic Information, AGI GIS Dictionary, University of Edinburgh, 1991.

[16] Thomas O., Time Integrative Geographic Information Systems, Management and Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Data, Springer-Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany, 2001.

[17] Twumasi B. O., “Modelling Spatial Object Behaviours in Object-Relational Geodatabase,” Master Thesis, International Institute for Geo- Information Science and Earth Observation, Enschede, The Netherlands, 2002.

[18] Usery E. L., “A Feature-Based Geographic Information System Model,” Journal of Photogram Metric Engineering and Remote Sensing, vol. 62, no. 7, pp. 833-838, 1996.

[19] Wachowicz M., “Object-Oriented Design for Temporal GIS,” Research Monograph, Taylor and Francis, London, UK, 1999.

[20] Wang D., “An Event Based Data Model for Transportation Information Systems,” Master Thesis, Florida Atlantic University, 1998 Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim received his Diploma in computer science in 1997, BSc in computer science in 1999 from University of Technology Malaysia and MSc in GIS and visualization in 2002 from University of Technology Malaysia. He is currently a lecturer in Department of Computer Graphic and Multimedia, Faculty of Computer Science and Information System at University of Technology Malaysia. He has over 5 years of experience in the field of computer graphics & visualization and GIS data model. He has also been actively involved in many research projects related to GIS and visualization, GIS data management and has published more than 20 publications. Daut Daman received his BSc form Universiti Sains Malaysia and MSc from University of Cranfield, United Kingdom. He is currently an associate professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Information System at University of Technology Malaysia. He has over 24 years of experience in the field of computer graphics and visualization. He taught subjects in the area of computer graphics, scientific visualization and software technologies. He has also been actively involved in many research projects related to computer graphics and visualization and has published more than 50 publications. Harihodin Selamat received his MSc from University of Cranfield, and his PhD from University of Bradford, United Kingdom. He is currently an associate professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Information System at University of Technology Malaysia. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of information systems and has also taught in the areas of system analysis and design, and database systems. He has also been actively involved in many consultancy and contract research projects as project leader with various public and private sectors in the areas of information strategic planning, information system development, and enterprise resource planning. He has also published more than 70 publications. His research interest includes database design and modeling, and enterprise resource planning. He is heading a group of more than 20 researchers working on various consultancy and research projects.