/*
* OSGeom -- Geometry Collab
*
* (C) 2009, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
* (C) 2001-2009 Department of Geography, University of Bonn
* (C) 2001-2009 lat/lon GmbH
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
* version 2.1 of the License.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*/
package org.osgeo.geometry.primitive.patches;
/**
* The <code>Sphere</code> class represents (according to GML-3.1 spec) a gridded surface given as a family of circles
* whose positions vary linearly along the axis of the sphere, and whose radius varies in proportions to the cosine
* function of the central angle. The horizontal circles resemble lines of constant latitude, and the vertical arcs
* resemble lines of constant longitude.
*
* @author <a href="mailto:ionita@lat-lon.de">Andrei Ionita</a>
*
* @author last edited by: $Author$
*
* @version $Revision$, $Date$
*
*/
public interface Sphere extends GriddedSurfacePatch {
// nothing new here, this interface is only necessary for a type-based differentiation
/**
* Must always return {@link GriddedSurfacePatch.GriddedSurfaceType#SPHERE}.
*
* @return {@link GriddedSurfacePatch.GriddedSurfaceType#SPHERE}
*/
public GriddedSurfaceType getGriddedSurfaceType();
}