Abstract: To maintain data consistency and eliminate the spatial conflicts brought by spatial database updating, this paper purposes an adaptive method for incremental vector data updating. Based on the matching of correspondent objects, a change-object detection and incremental updating method is discussed. Considering the constraint of spatial distance, semantic similarity and topology consistency, we propose a calculated method for edge matching evaluation. An adaptive edge matching strategy is also designed to maintain the consistency of spatial data. We also discuss the rule-based detection and manipulation of spatial conflicts. Topographical data are used to verify the practicality and efficiency of the method. The result shows that this method can achieve high computing speed and maintain the consistency and integrity of spatial data. This paper provides a new idea for incremental updating and consistency maintenance of GIS spatial database.