空间关系在空间查询语言、基于内容的数据检索及空间分析中有重要作用。不确定性是空间关系的固有特性，但至今没有受到研究人员的足够重视。为了使人们对该理论有个概略了解，首先给出了空间关系不确定性的定义、内涵及其对空间关系应用的影响；然后从数据的不确定性、认知的不确定性以及空间关系分析处理的不确定性等3个方面详细地分析了空间关系不确定性的来源，同时提出了空间关系不确定性的处理方式，并以空间关系不确定性的3个来源为标准，评价并指出了定性空间关系表达方法的不足之处；最后，给出了用模糊集方法研究模糊空间关系的框架和主要内容，以便为不确定性空间关系的研究奠定基础。

Spatial relations are extensively used in spatial database query language, content-based spatial data retrieval and spatial data analysis. The uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of spatial relations, but little attention was paid to it. In this article, firstly, the definition, the implication of uncertainty of spatial relations and their influences on application of spatial relations are presented. Secondly, the sources of uncertainty spatial relations from the uncertainty of spatial data, spatial recognition and processing of spatial relation are analyzed, and the framework of processing uncertainty is proposed. Thirdly, the qualitative methods of describing spatial relations are evaluated and their shortcomings are pointed out. Finally, the fuzzy set theory is introduced to describing the fuzziness of spatial relations. The fuzzy methods can describe the partly membership between a geometry spatial relation and a concept. The fuzziness of spatial objects, people's cognition to spatial relations and similarity between two spatial relations can be described in a unified method, and spatial relations between two crisp objects, between two fuzzy objects and between crisp objects and fuzzy objects can also be expressed in a unified method. The fuzzy method lays a foundation for researching uncertain spatial relations.