Determination of semantic information for resolving ontological heterogeneity

Abstract

The identification and resolution of heterogeneities between different ontologies is a critical process during semantic integration. The need to develop methods for the extraction andformalization of semantics, as well as for the resolution of heterogeneities between similar concepts is a requisite for the complex semantics of geographic ontologies. The present research relies on the assumption that definitions of geographic categories include a wealth of semantic information which can be extracted and formalized into a set of semantic properties and relations. To this end, an approach is developed which is based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) in order to provide a clear and objective way for: (a) the extraction of semantic information from definitions of geographic categories and (b) the identification and resolution of heterogeneities between similar geographic categories.