The international Symposium on Spatial Data Handling is the premier research forum for Geographic Information Science. It is the primary event organised by the International Geographical Union s study group on Geographical Information Science. The symposium places particular emphasis on identifying significant headway in GIS. The papers published are carefully refereed by an international programme committee composed of experts in various areas of GIS who are especially renowned for their scientific innovation. The proceedings of this series have become an important reference for researchers and students in the field of geography, cartography and geoinformation.