dynamic segmentation

(Data West Research Agency definition: see GIS glossary.) A GIS function for modeling linear features in highway applications such as accident analysis and pavement management. The process has the ability to compute locations of events on linear features at run time (or dynamically) in linear measure (e.g. milepost). Event features, the segmentation points, are not stored in the geometry of the coverage but are derived as needed. Route-system features and event handling commands provide the dynamic segmentation capability within GIS systems to dynamically locate events on linear features that are obtained from attribute tables of events for which distance measures are available. Both point and linear events can be located on routes; lane closure is an example of a linear event and the accident location is an example of a point event.