Geographic Information Visualization Research Articles

From Physical Campus Space to a Full-view Figure: University Atlas Compiling Based on ‘Information Design’ Concept

Abstract. Traditional university maps, taking campus as the principal body, mainly realize the abilities of space localization and navigation. They don’t take full advantage of map, such as multi-scale representations and thematic geo-graphical information visualization. And their inherent propaganda functions have not been entirely developed. Therefore, we tried to take East China Normal University (ECNU) located in Shanghai as an example, and integrated various information related to university propaganda need (like spatial patterns, history and culture, landscape ecology, disciplinary constructions, cooperation, social services, development plans and so on). We adopted the frontier knowledge of ‘information design’ as well as kinds of information graphics and visualization solutions. As a result, we designed and compiled a prototype atlas of ‘ECNU Impression’ to provide a series of views of ECNU, which practiced a new model of ‘narrative campus map’. This innovative propaganda product serves as a supplement to typical shows with official authority, data maturity, scientificity, dimension diversity, and timing integrity. The university atlas will become a usable media for university overall figure shaping.

Application of WebGIS Technology in Information Management of Agricultural Science and Technology Park

WebGIS has many advantages such as widely recognition, abundant users, platform crossing, low average cost and easy to use for the final users. Now, it has been widely used in all walks of life. This paper introduced the WebGIS technology first, and then introduced the functions of the "Kunming Shilin Taiwan farmers entrepreneurial park" information platform and the way to realize these functions. Finally we use WebGIS technology to develop the geographic information visualization platform based on ArcGIS and realize the visual management function of the park-based infrastructure (including enterprises, roads, pumping stations, water storage Pool, water supply pipes, video monitoring points and other geo-features) based on map. For now, the platform has been in operation for the management of "Kunming Shilin Taiwan Farmer Pioneering Park".

Getting to Inclusion: People With Developmental Disabilities and the Americans With Disabilities Act Participatory Action Research Consortium

Abstract Despite the major advances achieved following the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, people with disabilities face persistent inequality and disparities in community living, community participation, and work and economic participation. Work in other areas is advancing frameworks that emphasize environmental determinants of key outcomes and using geographic information and data visualization to induce change. The Americans With Disabilities Act Participatory Action Research Consortium draws from these approaches to study trends in community living, community participation, and work and economic participation using participatory action research, and to help ADA centers and community stakeholders target disparities and increase full participation of people with disabilities, including those with developmental disabilities, in their communities.

Developing Implicit Uncertainty Visualization Methods Motivated by Theories in Decision Science

Agreement between public policy decision makers and geographic information systems and visualization researchers about the importance of uncertainty in decision support sits in contrast to a disconnect in approaches to incorporating uncertainty into decision support tools. This disconnect does not arise from how these two groups define uncertainty but instead occurs because they approach uncertainty from different problem perspectives (Miller et al. 2008; Pohl 2011). Public policy decision makers regularly contend with uncertainty based on how proposed policies will affect the future, resulting in a solutions-oriented approach that relates uncertainty of future conditions to policy outcomes. For researchers, uncertainty more often reflects unknowns in data values or modeling processes, such as the difference between a measured or predicted value and the actual value, resulting in a knowledge-production approach that relates uncertainty to the validity and legitimacy of methods, models, and data to produce knowledge. The research presented here contends that this gap between research and practice (Brown and Vari 1992; von Winterfeldt 2013) stems from these differing perspectives. To bridge this gap, we examine decision science theories to explain decision makers’ solutions-oriented approach to uncertainty. Decision science is concerned with understanding and improving how individuals or groups identify problems, make decisions, and learn from the outcomes. We then present a new methodology, implicit uncertainty visualization, that reflects how decision makers contend with uncertainty. Bridging this gap opens up opportunities to develop visualization methods and tools that help decision makers better deal with uncertainty in practice.

GeoVisual analytics, time to focus on time

This issue of Information Visualization showcases research activities related to dealing with time in geovisual analytics. It represents a selection of the contributions made to a dedicated scientific workshop coordinated by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) Commission on Geovisualization. Theoretical and methodological approaches to exploring and analyzing large complex datasets with spatial and temporal components were presented, discussed, and developed at the meeting entitled ‘‘GeoVisual analytics, time to focus on time’’ in Columbus, Ohio, which was held on 18 September 2012, one day before the GIScience 2012 conference. The high levels of interest raised by the workshop indicate that this theme is very important and that many scientists and research teams are occupied with the challenges that it raises. This corresponds to the growing interest in time-referenced data in information visualization and visual analytics research. It also indicates that spatiotemporal data pose plenty of research problems. Most of these are complex and addressing them effectively requires cross-disciplinary approaches. This has been reflected not only in the contents of the submissions but also in the composition of the workshop attendees, including participants with backgrounds in geography, geographic information science, information visualization, and knowledge discovery. Geospatial visual analytics has a tendency to emphasize the spatial components of geographic information. At this workshop, we encouraged approaches that integrate visualization with data mining, database processing, optimization, and other computational methods for utilizing and emphasizing the temporal characteristics of geographic information in rich, novel, and useful ways—‘‘it’s time to focus on time.’’ The workshop was continued in a series of successful Commission workshops on

Efficient modeling of height datum based on GIS

Abstract. Since the proposal of Digital Earth, its research and applications are continuing to be deepened, and now Smart City is more indepth implementation of the Digital Earth. The unification of global or regional vertical datums has always been one of the main geodesy studies to achieve Smart City, as Smart City must first realize the seamless integration of multi-source geo-dataset. This paper introduces spatio-temporal data management and interactive visualization into the entire process of vertical datum modelling. We demonstrate that the efficiency of modelling is greatly improved. In this paper GIS database is used to manage all dataset such as tidal station data, gravity field model data, GPS leveling data, and vertical datum data for evaluation and analysis. We use geographic information visualization technique to graphically display the results, together with the interactive browsing, to convert tedious digital information to easy-to-understand images. Consequently, researchers can quickly and comprehensively grasp the macro and micro information. Finally, an efficient and interactive prototype operating platforms for vertical datum modeling is constructed based on GIS.

Interactive three-dimensional geovisualization of space–time access to food

A majority of literature about food deserts is focused on geographic access to food retailers by a buffered distance differentiating high and low access. An overlooked facet in this representation is that food acquisition is not only geographically dictated, but it is also temporally constrained. Food retailers invariably have limited opening hours that create a temporal restriction for shoppers. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) construct was proposed to delineate the limited food access to a retailer location across space and over its time of operation. Food retailer data in Columbus, OH, USA were collected for examining the variation of food access on both spatial and temporal scales. This study also employed the technique of interactive 3D modeling in a geographic information system (GIS) to visualize the food environment to delimit where and when food is accessible on a daily basis. The interactive 3D geovisualization (visualization of geographic information) of space–time access contributed to improving the representation of food environment and exploring the inequity of food access across space and over time. The development of this geovisualization context for food science studies could assist public health professionals and government stakeholders in understanding the effect of temporal access and improving food access for regions with limited operation hours in policy formulation.

Complex adaptive systems modeling with Repast Simphony

AbstractPurposeThis paper is to describe development of the features and functions of Repast Simphony, the widely used, free, and open source agent-based modeling environment that builds on the Repast 3 library. Repast Simphony was designed from the ground up with a focus on well-factored abstractions. The resulting code has a modular architecture that allows individual components such as networks, logging, and time scheduling to be replaced as needed. The Repast family of agent-based modeling software has collectively been under continuous development for more than 10 years.MethodIncludes reviewing other free and open-source modeling libraries and environments as well as describing the architecture of Repast Simphony. The architectural description includes a discussion of the Simphony application framework, the core module, ReLogo, data collection, the geographical information system, visualization, freeze drying, and third party application integration.ResultsInclude a review of several Repast Simphony applications and brief tutorial on how to use Repast Simphony to model a simple complex adaptive system.ConclusionsWe discuss opportunities for future work, including plans to provide support for increasingly large-scale modeling efforts.

MarineMap: A web-based platform for collaborative marine protected area planning

The creation of a spatial decision support system that enabled stakeholder participation in designing marine protected areas (MPAs) was a necessary component of the planning process for California's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Implementation of the MLPA required stakeholders to understand and use a complicated set of spatial and scientific guidelines for MPA design that relied heavily on geographic information. Tools for the delivery and visualization of geographic information have changed radically in the seven years of planning during the MLPA Initiative. We collaborated to create a state-of-the-art spatial decision support system called MarineMap to facilitate the design and evaluation of MPA proposals. MarineMap provided an intuitive user experience that simplified complicated spatial concepts, delivered critical information immediately to allow users to iterate through scenarios rapidly. This tool provided transparency in the process, and moved spatial analysis away from the domain of GIS experts to a broader group of stakeholders. We think the lessons from this experience can contribute to the further development of tools and approaches for coastal and marine spatial planning more broadly.

Effectiveness and Efficiency of Map Symbols for Dynamic Geographic Information Visualization

The quality of dynamic map symbols plays an important role in the representation of spatial-temporal changes. This paper reports an investigation into the quality of dynamic symbols. To assess the quality of such symbols, a set of traffic flow data is used for the production of different kinds of dynamic maps, with focus on four variables, i.e. size, color, frame rate and display format. Two quantitative measures are used for analysis, i.e. deviation and response time. A set of traffic data is used for the production of dynamic maps for evaluation. The experimental results show that the size is more efficient and more effective than color for dynamic maps with the same frame rate and display format. The most efficient and effective color class number is 10 on the large format display such as 1024 × 768 pixels. And the most efficient and effective size class number is 15 on large format display such as 1024 × 768 pixels. The effective frame rate for dynamic map animation is smaller than that of the general animation on the Internet or Quick Time and AVI format video. The most efficient and most effective frame rate is 3 frames per second in the color expression and 6 frames per second in the size expression. In sum, the effective and efficient value of color, size and frame rate on large format display is less than the value on the small format display. These results suggest the frame rate should be reduced on the small format display. It is hoped that the results from this study will be of help in the design of effective and efficient dynamic map symbols for geographical information visualization.

Spatial OLAP and Map Generalization

Map generalization can be used as a central component of Spatial Decision Support Systems to provide a simplified and more readable cartographic visualization of geographic information. Indeed, it supports the user mental process for discovering important and unknown geospatial relations, trends and patterns. Spatial OLAP (SOLAP) integrates spatial data into OLAP and data warehouse systems. SOLAP models and tools are based on the concepts of spatial dimensions and measures that represent the axes and the subjects of the spatio-multidimensional analysis. Although powerful under some respect, current SOLAP models cannot support map generalization capabilities. This paper provides the first effort to integrate Map Generalization and OLAP. Firstly the authors define all modeling and querying requirements to do this integration, and then present a SOLAP model and algebra that support map generalization concepts. The approach extends SOLAP spatial hierarchies introducing multi-association relationships, supports imprecise measures, and it takes into account spatial dimensions constraints generated by multiple map generalization hierarchies.

(P2-27) Simulation of Transport During a Major Incident

Transportation capacities belong to the key factors of the response to a major incident. Available resources, both in terms of personnel and equipment, must be transported, usually by ambulances, to the incident location. In the other direction, casualties must be transported to hospitals and other health care facilities for further treatment. For this reason, the efficiency of the response is greatly determined by ambulance travel times and the ability of health care facilities to absorb large numbers of patients. We propose methods to compute the travel times to and from the incident location based on a classified road network. The methods take into account different attributes that depend on ambulance type and capacity, road quality, time of day, weather or actual traffic density. Correctly computed travel times are crucial not only for optimal deployment of all resources within the analyzed region, but also for the evaluation of the readiness of the emergency health care system for a major incident. We have included the methods in an agent-based simulation of transport during the response. From the simulation outputs and with the help of geographical information systems and information visualization methods we have synthesized maps that represent the capability of a region to absorb a major incident defined by a scenario. When combined with risk maps and maps of population density the synthesized maps allow emergency management authorities to find critical points and gaps in the emergency health care service.

About the International Master‘s Program in Cartography

In this paper we present objectives, structure and contents of an international master‘s program in Cartography established in 2011. Based on the cooperation of three technical universities, Technical University of Munich, Germany (TUM), Technical University of Dresden, Germany (TU Dresden) and Technical University of Vienna, Austria (TU Vienna), the program holds unique expertise and reflects the ongoing technological developments as well as interactions between the individual disciplines in cartography, geoinformatics and other neighboring disciplines. The new international master‘s program is rooted in the traditional German and Austrian Diploma -Geodesy and Geoinformation □, but has been progressively specified as an interdisciplinary and stand-alone program. The curriculum of -Cartography □ incorporates and highlights methods and applications in spatial data modeling, analysis and visualization of geographic information that we regard as core areas for education within this master program.

Expectations for Presentation of Engineering and Scientific Mobile Platform Information within a Virtual Globe Geographic Information Systems

Layered information systems like Google Earth have revolutionized public access to and visualization of geographic information through virtual globes. Separately, geo-specific technical information has been advanced in mobile platforms, both handheld and embedded devices, for the engineering and scientific communities. However, engineering and scientific information has had limited penetration into virtual globe Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This article explores unmet expectations which may be at the root of the issue. These expectations include design of the architecture within the originating mobile platform as well as expression of the level of accuracy and precision necessary for validity of the simulation displayed through the virtual globe GIS. The article below discusses architecture and validity research that advances real-time generation of simulated electro-magnetic coverage maps as composed layers within a mobile platform. Further, the research also enables real-time visualization of the simulated coverage maps by a global team through a virtual globe. Finally, for communication assurance purposes, the level of validity of the generated simulated coverage maps are analyzed from the perspective of an analog celestial body exploration mission by a mobile rover and its supporting organization analysis needs.

Software for studying and enhancing educational uses of geospatial semantics and data

Geographically related queries form nearly one-fifth of all queries submitted to the Excite search engine and the most frequently occurring terms are names of places. This paper focuses on digital libraries and extends the basic services of existing library management systems to include new ones that are dedicated to geographic information extraction, retrieval and visualization. We report on some experimentation with these services in order to manage geospatial data within tourist and educational software.

A Network-Based Radiometric Equalization Approach for Digital Aerial Orthoimages

Digital aerial orthoimages have been widely used in surveying, mapping, geographic information systems, visualization, and other applications. However, when producing digital aerial orthoimages, radiometric equalization over large areas is often a most time-consuming and costly process and has become a bottleneck. This letter presents a network-based radiometric equalization approach to eliminate the radiometric differences between images. The network is constructed using the area Voronoi diagrams with overlap and is based on the topological relationship of the constructed network; transferring paths between images are determined, and a global-to-local strategy is used to improve the algorithm, both in its global and local performance. Digital aerial orthoimages from both film-based and digital cameras are used to evaluate the performance of the presented algorithm.

Here Comes the SSuN: Early Experiences with the STD Surveillance Network

In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the STD Surveillance Network (SSuN), a sentinel surveillance system comprising local, enhanced sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance systems that follow common protocols. The purpose of SSuN is to improve the capacity of national, state, and local STD programs to detect, monitor, and respond rapidly to trends in STDs through enhanced collection, reporting, analysis, visualization, and interpretation of clinical, behavioral, and geographic information obtained from a geographically diverse sample of individuals diagnosed with STDs. To demonstrate the utility of a national sentinel surveillance network, this article reviews the lessons learned from the first three years of SSuN, which, through its enhanced gonorrhea and genital warts sentinel surveillance projects, has proved to be a useful adjunct to routine STD surveillance in the U.S. that can be expanded into other areas of STD public health interest.

Trends in forestry modelling.

Abstract Different types of models have been developed and applied to address various problems and issues in forestry. This paper reviews modelling trends in four areas, namely, forest management planning and decision-making, forest dynamics and growth projection, forest landscape and spatial models and participatory forest management models. The first type includes decision models generally structured as optimization models applied to forest planning. These models evolved from single objective to multiple objectives with spatial dimensions, including visualization. The second type includes forest dynamics models designed to examine the growth response of trees using process-based empirical or conceptual models. Demands for 'close to nature' forest management created new challenges for modellers to provide models with expanded capabilities to deal with tree growth, succession, and competition in stands with many species and wide range of tree sizes. The third type takes advantage of increased computational and graphic capabilities to model landscapes and display them as 'virtual' realities. These models combine spatial models such as geographical information systems (GIS), visualization tools and analytical models to form an integrated decision support system. The fourth type includes participatory models designed to accommodate multiple stakeholders in addressing collaborative forest management. These models are particularly adaptable to community-based forest management. Finally, the uses of models as 'learning' tools and as 'problem structuring' tools are also described.

The Development of a Visualization Methodology for Integrated Coastal Management

Coastal management information is frequently communicated to stakeholders and the public through complicated management documents and engineering plans. With the recognition that public involvement in coastal decision-making processes should be widened have come calls to develop new techniques to communicate complicated coastal information. Using Virtual Reality Geographical Information Systems and visualization packages, such information may be presented using formats more suitable for public consultation and information dissemination exercises than those currently employed. Using a site on the north Norfolk coast of England, an integrated Geographical Information Systems based methodology is presented that allows the visualization of proposed coastal management interventions. Visualizations have been produced that can be published in traditional paper-based management documents, or electronically. The different visualizations are compared and the technical issues surrounding their use discussed. It is argued that the methodology has clear advantages over traditional communication methods, although further research is necessary to determine how it may be practically employed by coastal managers.

A107 GISによる淀川流域環境情報の可視化

Visualization of geographic information with GIS (Geophysical Information System) which manages the information with position coordinates is an effective tool also in regional environment study. In local environmental research, the approach from a macroscopic viewpoint which looks down at the whole field using GIS together with precise approach from the spot of the field study is required, in considering a long range and whole field environmental policy in a region. In this paper, the usefulness of visualization of the environmental information using GIS in regional environment study is verified by introducing the example of the approach from such a viewpoint in the Yodo-River Basin which Osaka University is carrying out. The example of rain outflow analysis, water quality analysis, forest book data analysis, and a forestry management plan is introduced.