SIST EN ISO 19109:2025

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2025
Nadomešča:
SIST EN ISO 19109:2016
Geografske informacije - Osnovni podatkovni model in pravila za aplikacijsko
shemo (ISO 19109:2025)
Geographic information - General feature model and rules for application schema (ISO
19109:2025)
Geoinformationen - Grundlegendes Datenmodell und Regeln zur Erstellung von
Anwendungsschemata (ISO 19109:2025)
Information géographique - Modèle général des entités et règles relatives au schéma
d'application (ISO 19109:2025)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 19109:2025
ICS:
07.040 Astronomija. Geodezija. Astronomy. Geodesy.
Geografija Geography
35.240.70 Uporabniške rešitve IT v IT applications in science
znanosti
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN ISO 19109
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
July 2025
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 35.240.70 Supersedes EN ISO 19109:2015
English Version
Geographic information - General feature model and rules
for application schema (ISO 19109:2025)
Information géographique - Modèle général des entités Geoinformation - Grundlegendes Datenmodell und
et règles relatives au schéma d'application (ISO Regeln zur Erstellung von Anwendungsschemata (ISO
19109:2025) 19109:2025)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 20 June 2025.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 19109:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
This document (EN ISO 19109:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 211
"Geographic information/Geomatics " in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 287
“Geographic Information” the secretariat of which is held by BSI.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2026, and conflicting national standards shall
be withdrawn at the latest by January 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN ISO 19109:2015.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards
body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the
United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 19109:2025 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 19109:2025 without any modification.

International
Standard
ISO 19109
Third edition
Geographic information — General
2025-07
feature model and rules for
application schema
Information géographique — Modèle général des entités et règles
relatives au schéma d'application
Reference number
ISO 19109:2025(en) © ISO 2025
ISO 19109:2025(en)
© ISO 2025
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 749 01 11
Email: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
ISO 19109:2025(en)
Contents Page
Foreword .vi
Introduction .vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms . 1
3.1 Terms and definitions .1
3.2 Abbreviated terms .4
4 Conformance . 4
4.1 General .4
4.2 Meta-Model .4
4.3 Spatial .4
4.4 Temporal .4
4.5 Quality .5
4.6 Spatial referencing by identifiers.5
4.7 Coverages .5
4.8 UML application schema .5
4.9 Profile existing conceptual schema .5
5 Presentation and abbreviations . 6
5.1 Presentation .6
5.1.1 General .6
5.1.2 Conformance class .6
5.1.3 Requirements class .6
5.1.4 Provisions .6
5.1.5 Identifiers .7
5.1.6 Conceptual schemas .7
5.1.7 Descriptions of concepts .7
5.2 Package abbreviations .7
6 Context . 8
6.1 Purpose of an application schema .8
6.2 Rationale for defining the rules for application schemas .8
6.3 Application schemas supporting data interchange .9
7 General feature model . 10
7.1 Principle for defining features .10
7.1.1 Features, coverages and properties .10
7.1.2 Essential properties of features .11
7.2 The Concept of the General Feature Model . 12
7.2.1 Introduction . 12
7.2.2 The purpose of the GFM . 12
7.3 Conceptual Schema of the General Feature Model . 13
7.3.1 The structure of the GFM. 13
7.3.2 The main part of the GFM .14
7.3.3 Metaclass IdentifiedType . 15
7.3.4 Metaclass FeatureType .16
7.3.5 Metaclass PropertyType .16
7.3.6 Metaclass AttributeType .16
7.3.7 Metaclass FeatureAssociationRole .17
7.3.8 Metaclass ValueAssignment .17
7.3.9 Metaclass FeatureAssociationType .18
7.3.10 Metaclass InheritanceRelation .18
7.4 Attributes of feature types .18
7.4.1 Introduction .18
7.4.2 Metaclass SpatialAttributeType.19

iii
ISO 19109:2025(en)
7.4.3 Metaclass TemporalAttributeType .19
7.4.4 Metaclass QualityAttributeType .19
7.4.5 Metaclass LocationAttributeType .19
7.4.6 Metaclass MetadataAttributeType . 20
7.4.7 Metaclass ThematicAttributeType . 20
7.4.8 Metaclass CoverageFunctionAttributeType . 20
7.5 Relationships between feature types . 20
7.5.1 Introduction . 20
7.5.2 Metaclass InheritanceRelation . 20
7.5.3 Metaclass FeatureAssociationType .21
7.6 Constraints.21
8 Rules for application schemas .22
8.1 The application modelling process . 22
8.1.1 Introduction . 22
8.1.2 Features and the application schema. 22
8.2 General rules for application schemas . 23
8.2.1 Rule for using CSLs .24
8.2.2 Rule for integration .24
8.2.3 Rules for modelling features .24
8.2.4 Rule for property names . 25
8.2.5 Rule for attributes . 25
8.2.6 Rule for association roles . . 25
8.2.7 Rule for value assignments . 26
8.2.8 Rule for feature associations . 26
8.2.9 Rule for inheritance relations . 26
8.3 Rules for use of spatial schemas . 26
8.3.1 Rules for modelling applications with spatial properties . 26
8.3.2 Use of standard spatial schemas . 26
8.3.3 Rule for spatial attributes .27
8.3.4 Use of geometric collections and spatial complexes to represent the values of
spatial attributes of features . 28
8.3.5 Spatial associations between features . 28
8.3.6 Features sharing geometry . 29
8.3.7 Point features, line features and area features . 30
8.3.8 Defining interpolation methods . 30
8.3.9 Independent spatial complexes .31
8.4 Rules for use of temporal schemas . 33
8.4.1 Rules for modelling applications with temporal properties . 33
8.4.2 Use of temporal conceptual schema . 34
8.4.3 Rule for temporal attributes . 34
8.4.4 Temporal associations between features. 34
8.5 Rules for use of quality schemas. 35
8.5.1 Introduction . 35
8.5.2 Data quality rules . 35
8.6 Rule for use of geographic identifiers .37
8.7 Use of metadata . 39
8.8 Rule for use of coverage functions . 39
8.9 Use of observations .41
8.10 Rules for application schemas in UML . 44
8.10.1 General . 44
8.10.2 Rules for conceptual schema language for application schemas . 44
8.10.3 Rule for packaging and identification of an application schema .47
8.10.4 Documentation of an application schema . 48
8.10.5 Rules for integration of application schemas and abstract schemas . 48
8.10.6 Rules for modelling structures in UML . 50
8.10.7 Linguistic adaptation .52
8.11 Rules for domain profiles of existing conceptual schemas in UML . 53
8.11.1 Introduction . 53

iv
ISO 19109:2025(en)
8.11.2 Rule for adding information to an existing conceptual schema . 54
8.11.3 Rule for tailored use of an existing conceptual schema . 55
Annex A (normative) Abstract test suite .57
Annex B (informative) The modelling approach and the General Feature Model .63
Annex C (informative) Application schema examples .66
Annex D (informative) Backward compatibility .71
Bibliography . 76

v
ISO 19109:2025(en)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee
has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely
with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 211, Geographic information/Geomatics, in
collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 287,
Geographic Information, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN
(Vienna Agreement).
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO 19109:2015), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— changes in the title and scope;
— new sub-clauses discussing the concept of the General Feature Model;
— re-organization of Clause 7 to include only concepts of the General Feature Model and moving the general
rules for application schema to Clause 8;
— updating the references to other ISO/TC 211 standards in applicable cases to reflect classes in respective
latest versions;
— removing the dependencies to other ISO/TC 211 standards related to attributes of features.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

vi
ISO 19109:2025(en)
Introduction
Any description of reality is always an abstraction, always partial, and always just one of many possible
“views”, depending on the application field.
The widespread application of computers and geographic information systems (GIS) has led to an increased
use of geographic data within multiple disciplines. With current technology as an enabler, society’s reliance
on such data is growing. Geographic datasets are increasingly being shared and exchanged. They are also
used for purposes other than those for which they were produced.
To ensure that data will be understood by both computer systems and users, it is necessary to fully document
the data structures for data access and exchange. The interfaces between systems, therefore, need to be
defined with respect to data and operations, using the methods standardized in this document. For the
construction of internal software and data storage within proprietary systems, any method is acceptable
provided it supports the standardized interfaces.
An application schema provides the formal description of the data structure and content required by one
or more applications. An application schema contains the descriptions of both geographic data and other
related data. A fundamental concept of geographic data is the feature.
This document aims to express the importance of continuing the modelling of geospatial information
according to the concepts contained in this document. The name and contact information of the maintenance
agency for this document can be found at www.iso.org/maintenance_agencies.

vii
International Standard ISO 19109:2025(en)
Geographic information — General feature model and rules
for application schema
1 Scope
This document defines the General Feature Model (GFM) as the metamodel for creating application schemas
in the context of geo-information modelling. The GFM is explained and implemented as rules for creating
and documenting application schemas, including principles for the definition of features.
This document is applicable to:
— conceptual modelling of features and their properties from a universe of discourse;
— definition of application schemas;
— general rules for using a conceptual schema language for application schemas;
— rules for application schemas using UML as the conceptual schema language;
— transition from the concepts in the conceptual model to the data types in the application schema;
— integration of standardized schemas from other ISO geographic information standards with the
application schema.
This document does not apply to:
— choice of one particular conceptual schema language for application schemas;
— definition of any particular application schemas;
— representation of feature types and their properties in a feature catalogue;
— representation of metadata;
— rules for mapping one application schema to another;
— implementation of the application schema in a computer environment;
— computer system and application software design;
— programming.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp

ISO 19109:2025(en)
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1.1
application
manipulation and processing of data in support of user requirements
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.1]
3.1.2
application schema
conceptual schema (3.1.5) for data required by one or more applications (3.1.1)
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.2]
3.1.3
complex feature
feature (3.1.9) composed of other features
3.1.4
conceptual model
model (3.1.15) that defines concepts of a universe of discourse (3.1.19)
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.5]
3.1.5
conceptual schema
formal description of a conceptual model (3.1.4)
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.6]
3.1.6
coverage
function which returns values from its range for any direct position within its domain (3.1.8)
[SOURCE: ISO 19123-1:2023, 3.1.9]
3.1.7
dataset
identifiable collection of data
[SOURCE: ISO 19115-1:2014, 4.3]
3.1.8
domain
well-defined set
Note 1 to entry: Well-defined means that the definition is both necessary and sufficient, as everything that satisfies
the definition is in the set and everything that does not satisfy the definition is necessarily outside the set.
3.1.9
feature
abstraction of real-world phenomena
Note 1 to entry: A feature can occur as a type or an instance. Feature type or feature instance will be used when only
one is meant.
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.11]
3.1.10
feature association
relationship that links instances of one feature (3.1.9) type with instances of the same or a different feature type
[SOURCE: ISO 19110:2016, 3.3]
ISO 19109:2025(en)
3.1.11
feature attribute
characteristic of a feature (3.1.9)
Note 1 to entry: A feature attribute can occur as a type or an instance. Feature attribute type or feature attribute
instance will be used when only one is meant.
Note 2 to entry: A feature attribute type has a name, a data type and a domain associated with it. A feature attribute
instance has an attribute value taken from the domain of the feature attribute type.
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.12, modified — EXAMPLES and Notes have been removed and two new
Notes to entry have been added.]
3.1.12
geographic data
data with implicit or explicit reference to a location relative to the Earth
Note 1 to entry: Geographic information is also used as a term for information concerning phenomena implicitly or
explicitly associated with a location relative to the Earth.
3.1.13
general feature model
metamodel that classifies real-world phenomena and defines their respective attributes and relationships
3.1.14
metadata
information about a resource
[SOURCE: ISO 19115-1:2014, 4.10]
3.1.15
model
abstraction of some aspects of reality
3.1.16
observation
act carried out by an observer to determine the value of an observable property (3.1.17) of an object (feature-
of-interest) by using a procedure, with the value provided as the result
[SOURCE: ISO 19156:2023, 3.13]
3.1.17
property
facet or attribute of an object referenced by a name
[SOURCE: ISO 19143:2010, 4.21]
3.1.18
quality
degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfils requirements
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.6.2, modified — Note 1 and Note 2 to entry have been removed.]
3.1.19
universe of discourse
view of the real or hypothetical world that includes everything of interest
[SOURCE: ISO 19101-1:2014, 4.1.38]

ISO 19109:2025(en)
3.2 Abbreviated terms
CSL Conceptual Schema Language
GFM General Feature Model
MOF Meta-Object Facility
OCL Object Constraint Language
OWL Web Ontology Language
UML Unified Modeling Language
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
4 Conformance
4.1 General
This document defines 8 conformance classes shown in Tables 1 to 8, matching the 8 requirements classes
described in Clause 8. Any application schema claiming conformance to any requirements class in this
document shall pass all of the tests listed in the corresponding conformance class, which are described in
detail in the abstract test suites in Annex A. Each test relates to one or more specific requirements, which
are explicitly indicated in the description of the test.
4.2 Meta-Model
Table 1 — Meta-model conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general
Requirements class /req/general (8.2, Table 11)
Tests All tests in Clause A.2
4.3 Spatial
Table 2 — Spatial conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general-spatial
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/general-spatial (8.3, Table 12)
Tests All tests in Clause A.3
4.4 Temporal
Table 3 — Temporal conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general-temporal
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/general-temporal (8.4, Table 14)
Tests All tests in Clause A.4
ISO 19109:2025(en)
4.5 Quality
Table 4 — Quality conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general-quality
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/general-quality (8.5, Table 16)
Tests All tests in Clause A.5
4.6 Spatial referencing by identifiers
Table 5 — Spatial referencing by identifiers conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general-identifier
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/general-identifier (8.6, Table 17)
Tests All tests in Clause A.6
4.7 Coverages
Table 6 — Coverages conformance class
Conformance class /conf/general-coverage
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/general-coverage (8.8, Table 18)
Tests All tests in Clause A.7
4.8 UML application schema
Table 7 — UML application schema conformance class
Conformance class /conf/uml
Dependency /conf/general (4.2)
Requirements class /req/uml (8.10.1, Table 20)
Tests All tests in Clause A.8
4.9 Profile existing conceptual schema
Table 8 — Profile existing conceptual schema conformance class
Conformance class /conf/uml-profile
Dependency /conf/uml (4.8)
Requirements class /req/uml-profile (8.11, Table 22)
Tests All tests in Clause A.9
ISO 19109:2025(en)
5 Presentation and abbreviations
5.1 Presentation
5.1.1 General
This document describes how to create an application schema that integrates conceptual schemas defined in
the ISO geographic information standards. In addition to stating the rules for creating application schemas,
this document provides guidance through examples.
5.1.2 Conformance class
Conformance to this document is possible at a number of levels, specified by conformance classes (Clause 4).
Each conformance class is summarized using the template shown as Table 9.
Table 9 — Conformance class template
Conformance class /conf/{classM}
Dependency [identifier for another conformance class]
Requirements class /req/{classA}
Tests [reference to clause(s) containing tests]
All tests in a class shall be passed, so dependencies are recorded with respect to other conformance classes
rather than individual tests. Each conformance class tests conformance to a set of requirements packaged in
a requirements class (Clause 8).
5.1.3 Requirements class
Each requirement or recommendation in this document is a member of a requirements class. In this
document each requirements class is described in a discrete clause or subclause and summarized using the
template shown as Table 10.
Table 10 — Requirements class template
Requirements class /req/{classM}
Target type [artefact or technology type]
Dependency [identifier for another requirements class]
Requirement /req/{classM}/{reqN}
Recommendation /rec/{classM}/{recO}
Requirement/Recommendation [repeat as necessary]
All requirements in a class shall be satisfied, so the requirements class is the unit of re-use and
dependency, rather than individual requirements. Hence, the value of a dependency requirement is another
requirements class.
5.1.4 Provisions
All requirements are normative, while recommendations convey a possible course of action deemed suitable
without necessarily prohibiting others. Each provision is presented using the following template:
Name #                /re(c|q)/[classM]/[re(c|q)(N|O)]
[Normative statement]
ISO 19109:2025(en)
where /req/[classM]/[reqN] identifies the requirement and /rec/[classM]/[recO] identifies the
recommendation. The use of this layout convention allows the provisions of this document to be easily
located by implementers.
5.1.5 Identifiers
Each requirements class, requirement, and recommendation has an identifier in the form of a path or partial
URI. The identifier supports cross-referencing of class membership, dependencies, and links from each
conformance test to requirements tested. The identifier can be appended to a URI that identifies the standard
as a whole in order to construct an absolute URI which identifies the requirements class, requirement or
[27]
recommendation. For example, a URI scheme following the approach described in 4.6 of IETF RFC 5141
would result in:
— https:// standards .isotc211 .org/
...