Challenge 12 - Topology-Safe Geometry Simplification #7
Description
Stream 1 - Data Visualization
Mentors
- Oisín Morrison
- Dimitar Tasev
- Juan Pereira Colonese
Skill Required
- Algorithms
- Programming
Goal
The goal of this project is to develop a tool to simplify geometries while preserving topological constraints.
Description of the Challenge
Modern vector tile pipelines rely on geometry simplification to reduce data size and improve rendering performance at lower zoom levels. However, commonly used simplification algorithms operate independently on each feature. For topologically constrained datasets, this leads to broken shared boundaries, overlaps, gaps, and inconsistent connectivity after simplification.
These issues are particularly problematic for hydrological data such as river catchments and river networks. Catchments form partitions that must remain non-overlapping and gap-free, while river networks rely on correct connectivity and hierarchy. Existing vector tile workflows do not provide topology-aware simplification methods that preserve these relationships across multiple zoom levels.
The challenge is to develop a topology-safe geometry simplification approach that is compatible with vector tile generation workflows. The final result should be a tool that has a Python interface.
Evaluation criteria
- Feasibility
- Easy to maintain / Future-proof approach
- Transferability
- Comprehensibility
- Matching requirements