An elimination method for isolated meshes in a road network considering stroke edge feature

Area of Science:

• Geographic Information Science
• Cartography
• Computer Science

Background:

• Road networks are fundamental to topographic maps, forming meshes in urban areas.
• Mesh elimination is crucial for road network management and multiscale representation.
• Existing methods can compromise road connectivity and integrity by eliminating central road segments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel mesh elimination method for road networks that considers stroke edge features.
• To improve the preservation of road connectivity and integrity compared to existing mesh-based methods.
• To enhance the management and multiscale representation of road network data.

Main Methods:

• Identifying small meshes using density thresholds and classifying them as stroke edge or non-edge meshes.
• Prioritizing stroke edge meshes with the highest density for segment elimination.
• Iteratively eliminating the least important edge segments within selected stroke edge meshes.

Main Results:

• The proposed method better preserves road stroke connectivity and integrity for non-edge meshes and 23% of edge meshes.
• 77% of edge mesh elimination results were consistent with the mesh-based method.
• The method successfully identified and processed isolated meshes based on stroke edge features.

Conclusions:

• The novel mesh elimination method effectively preserves road network integrity, especially along stroke edges.
• This approach offers an improvement over traditional mesh-based methods for road data management.
• The findings contribute to more robust and accurate continuous multiscale spatial representation of road networks.