Geospatial object property assessment apparatus, assessment system, editor apparatus and method of assessing property of a geospatial object

1. A geospatial object property assessment apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a geospatial object property processor, the geospatial object property processor including:

a subject data source input capable of receiving a first metadata associated with quality of current source information content used to define a property of a geospatial object;

a resource data source input capable of receiving a second metadata associated with quality of candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the property of the geospatial object;

an assessment processor operably coupled to the subject data source input and the resource data source input, the assessment processor being arranged to use the first metadata and the second metadata in accordance with a predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content,

wherein the assessment processor is arranged to calculate a first score using the first metadata and calculate a second score using the second metadata, and

wherein the assessment processor is further arranged use the first score and the second score in accordance with the predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes the qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content; and

an alert generator, the alert generator being arranged to generate a first alert in response to the determination by the assessment processor that the candidate resource information constitutes the qualitatively better resource to use to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first metadata comprises an indicator of quality of the current source information content associated with the property of a geospatial object and a first resource identifier for identifying a source dataset comprising the current source information content currently employed; and

the second metadata comprises an indicator of quality of the candidate resource information content associated with the property of the geospatial object and a second resource identifier for identifying a resource dataset comprising the candidate resource information content to be assessed.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the property of the geospatial object is a geometry of the geospatial object.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the geospatial object property processor further comprises:

a data retrieval controller operably coupled to the subject data source input and the resource data source input, the data retrieval controller being arranged to request retrieval via the subject data source input of the first metadata and retrieval via the resource data source input of the second metadata;

wherein the data retrieval controller is arranged to request the retrieval in response to identification of the property of the geospatial object by received property identifying data.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the geospatial object property processor further comprises:

a property identity input arranged to receive the property identifying data to identify the property of the geospatial object to be assessed.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first score and second scores are assessed using a tolerance factor applied in accordance with the predetermined ruleset.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the assessment processor is arranged to include use of a first degradation factor to calculate the first score.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rule set comprises the following equation for performance of an evaluation:

s =(( vc+vd )* m )− fd

where:

s is the score;

Vc is a confidence value;

Vd is a deviation value; and

fd is a degradation factor; and

m is multiplier in months used to support degradation by a percentage point for m months.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the assessment processor is capable of receiving a further metadata associated with another candidate resource information content, the assessment processor being arranged to employ a different criterion to assess the further metadata than a criterion employed by the predetermined ruleset to assess the second metadata.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the data retrieval controller is arranged to identify third metadata associated with quality of another current source information content used to define another property of the geospatial object in response to the determination that the qualitatively better resource is available to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein another candidate resource information content has a fourth metadata associated with quality of another candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the another property of the geospatial object, the assessment processor being arranged to use the third metadata and the fourth metadata in order to determine whether the another candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the another property of the geospatial object than the another current source information content.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising: a data editor arranged to update the property of the geospatial object by replacing the current source information content used to define the property of the geospatial object with the candidate resource information content.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the current source information content associated with the geospatial object is updated in response to evaluation of an expression using the first and second scores in accordance with the predetermined ruleset.

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the geospatial object property processor is arranged to update the current source information content in response to a plurality of determinations by the assessment processor that a resource dataset comprising the candidate resource information constitutes a qualitatively better dataset resource to define respectively a plurality of geospatial object properties than a source dataset comprising the current source information content.

15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

a third metadata associated with quality of another candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the property of the geospatial object;

wherein the assessment processor is arranged to use the first metadata and the third metadata in accordance with the predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the another candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content, the assessment processor being arranged to select one of the candidate information content and the another candidate information content in response to respective evaluations of the predetermined ruleset, the selected one of the candidate information content and the another candidate information content having a superior evaluation result and being used to update the current source information content.

16. A geospatial object property assessment system comprising:

a geospatial object property processor, the geospatial object property processor including:

a subject data source input capable of receiving a first metadata associated with quality of current source information content used to define a property of a geospatial object;

a resource data source input capable of receiving a second metadata associated with quality of candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the property of the geospatial object;

an assessment processor operably coupled to the subject data source input and the resource data source input, the assessment processor being arranged to use the first metadata and the second metadata in accordance with a predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content;

wherein the assessment processor is arranged to calculate a first score using the first metadata and calculate a second score using the second metadata, and

wherein the assessment processor is further arranged use the first score and the second score in accordance with the predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes the qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content; and

an alert generator, the alert generator being arranged to generate a first alert in response to the determination by the assessment processor that the candidate resource information constitutes the qualitatively better resource to use to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content;

a database of currently used geospatial data to be analysed, the database of geospatial data comprising the current source information content associated with the definition of the property of the geospatial object; and

a database of candidate geospatial data comprising the candidate resource information content associated with the geospatial object;

wherein the first metadata is associated with the database of currently used geospatial data and the second metadata is associated with the database of candidate geospatial data.

17. A computer-implemented method of assessing a property of a geospatial object, the method comprising:

receiving a first metadata associated with quality of current source information content used to define a property of a geospatial object;

receiving a second metadata associated with quality of candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the property of the geospatial object;

assessing, by a processor, the first metadata and the second metadata in accordance with a predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content, wherein the assessment to calculates a first score using the first metadata and calculate a second score using the second metadata, and

wherein the assessment uses the first score and the second score in accordance with the predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes the qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content; and

generating, by a processor, a first alert in response to the determination by the assessment processor that the candidate resource information constitutes the qualitatively better resource to use to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method of assessing a property of a geospatial object, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

receiving a first metadata associated with quality of current source information content used to define a property of a geospatial object;

receiving a second metadata associated with quality of candidate resource information content for updating the definition of the property of the geospatial object;

assessing the first metadata and the second metadata in accordance with a predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes a qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content, wherein the assessment to calculates a first score using the first metadata and calculate a second score using the second metadata, and

wherein the assessment uses the first score and the second score in accordance with the predetermined ruleset in order to determine whether the candidate resource information content constitutes the qualitatively better resource to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content; and

generating a first alert in response to the determination by the assessment processor that the candidate resource information constitutes the qualitatively better resource to use to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the alert generator is arranged to generate a second alert in response to the determination by the assessment processor that the candidate resource information does not constitute a qualitatively better resource to use to define the property of the geospatial object than the current source information content.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first alert identifies candidate information content for review.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20 further comprising requesting further instructions as to whether to replace the current source information with the candidate resource information.