Geo Information Research Articles

A Review of Pakistan’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure Using Multiple Assessment Frameworks

Efforts to establish Pakistan’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) have been underway for the past 15 years, and therefore it is necessary to gauge the current progress to channelize efforts into areas that need improvement. This article assessed Pakistan’s NSDI implementation efforts through well-established approaches, including the SDI readiness model, organizational aspects, and state of play. The data were collected from Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and Geographic Information System (GIS) experts. The findings underscored challenges related to human resources, SDI education/culture, long-term vision, lack of awareness of geoinformation (GI), sustainable funding, metadata availability, online geospatial services, and geospatial standards hindering NSDI development in Pakistan. However, certain factors exhibit favorable standings, such as the legal framework for NSDI establishment, web connectivity, geospatial software availability, the unavailability of core spatial datasets, and institutional leadership. Thus, to enhance the development of NSDI in Pakistan, recommendations include bolstering financial and human resources, improving online geospatial presence, and fostering a long-term vision for NSDI.

Identifying managed aquifer recharge and rain water harvesting sites and structures for storing non-conventional water using GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach

In arid climates, conventional water resources are severely limited and stressed in the face of rapid population growth and future climate change. So, it is necessary to find alternative non-conventional water resources for use in drought situations. Additionally, the non-conventional water resources in these areas are not sufficient to meet future water demand. Therefore, non-conventional water resources can be adopted as a strategic reserve to bridge the gap between water supply and demand in case of emergency and drought events. These resources might include rainwater harvesting, treated wastewater, and desalinated seawater. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can be applied to store these resources in the hydrogeological system using Geo information System—Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (GIS-MCDA) approach for determining the suitable MAR location for storage. North-west Kingdom of Saudi Arabia area was chosen for this study because it is extremely arid, has high potential for social and economic development, and it has newly constructed non-conventional water infrastructures distributed throughout the area including water desalination plants, Tertiary Sewage Effluent (TSE) waste water plants, and flash-flood storage dams. To identify the suitable MAR site location and structure, different data related to aquifer hydrogeology, surface hydrology, hydrometeorology, and water quality were applied. Then, GIS-MCDA holistic approach was applied with aid of ordered weighting average (OWA) technique. Finally, two maps were created to show the MAR location and structure type. Potential map indicates that ~ 18.85% of the area is suitable for MAR installations. About 0.17% of the total area exhibited very high potential, where infiltration ponds can be applied, 1.86% had high potential for construction of check dams with diversion channels, and 16.82% had moderate potential for installation of recharge wells. Additionally, 56 MAR structures were proposed and a map showing their locations has been created. Thus, results indicated that the study area is promising for MAR installation. These maps could aid the decision makers to propose a sustainable development plan for the future water resources of the area.

Overview of Circular Structures of Various Origins and Sizes in Egypt as a Contribution to Natural Hazard Data Mining Based on Remote Sensing Data and Geoinformation Systems (GIS) Analysis

This study is focused on the detection and typification of circular features with different sizes, origins, and states of erosion as well as on their surrounding tectonic setting, as well as on their impact on the environment and on the occurrence of natural hazards based on different satellite data of Egypt. Sentinel 2, Landsat and ASTER images and Sentinel 1- and ALOS L-band Phased Array Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR)-radar data make it possible to identify larger ring structures as well as smaller circular features like maars or sinkholes in karst areas. Evaluations of the various satellite data contribute to the systematic and standardized inventory ring structures, most of which are related to magmatic intrusions. Such an inventory is a prerequisite for hazard preparedness and should be part of natural hazard data mining integrated into a Geo Information System (GIS). Mapping traces of volcanic activities (craters, maars, cones) is essential as a contribution to land use planning. By gathering the data and integrating the knowledge of the different ring structures in standardized GIS data base one of the many steps towards hazard preparedness and adapted land use planning can be achieved. Circular features are often buried by aeolian and fluvial sediments and become only visible on radar images or on Landsat or ASTER RGB images combining thermal bands. Larger ring structures have not only an influence on groundwater flow but also on geodynamic activity (earthquakes and related secondary effects).

Inventory of dykes and their tectonic environment in S-Algeria, N-Mali and N-Niger based on a GIS embedded comparative analysis of remote sensing data

Although dykes are a predominant and widely distributed phenomenon in S-Algeria, N-Mali and N-Niger, a system-atic, standardized inventory of dykes covering these areas has not been published so far. Remote sensing and geo infor-mation system (GIS) tools offer an opportunity for such an inventory. This inventory is not only of interest for the mining industry as many dykes are related to mineral occurrence of economic value, but also for hydrogeologic investigations (dykes can form barriers for groundwater flow). Surface-near dykes, major fault zones, volcanic and structural features were digitized based on Landsat 8 and 9, Sentinel 2, Sentinel 1 and ALOS PALSAR data. High resolution images of World Imagery files/ESRI and Bing Maps Aerial/Microsoft were included into the evaluations. More than 14,000 dykes were digitized and analyzed. The evaluations of satellite images allow a geomorphologic differentiation of types of dykes and the description of their characteristics such as dyke swarms or ring dykes. Dykes are tracing zones of weakness like faults and zones with higher geomechanically strain. Dyke density calculations were carried out in ArcGIS to support the detection of dyke concentrations as stress indicator. Thus, when occurring concentrated, they might indicate stressed areas where further magmatic and earthquake activity might potentially happen in future.

Identifying potential sites for rainwater harvesting ponds (embung) in Indonesia's semi-arid region using GIS-based MCA techniques and satellite rainfall data.

People have used rainwater harvesting (RWH) technology for generations to a considerable extent in semi-arid and arid regions. In addition to meeting domestic needs, this technology can be utilized for agricultural purposes as well as soil and water conservation measures. Modeling the identification of the appropriate pond's location therefore becomes crucial. This study employs a Geo Information System (GIS) based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) approach and satellite rainfall data, Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) to determine the suitable locations for the ponds in a semi-arid area of Indonesia, Liliba watershed, Timor. The criteria for determining the location of the reservoir refer to the FAO and Indonesia's small ponds guideline. The watershed's biophysical characteristics and the socioeconomic situation were taken into consideration when selecting the site. According our statistical analysis, the correlation coefficient results of satellite daily precipitation were weak and moderate, but the results were strong and extremely strong for longer time scales (monthly). Our analysis shows that about 13% of the entire stream system is not suitable for ponds, whereas areas that are both good suitability and excellent suitability for ponds make up 24% and 3% of the total stream system. 61% of the locations are partially suited. The results are then verified against simple field observations. Our analysis suggests that there are 13 locations suitable for pond construction. The combination of geospatial data, GIS, a multi-criteria analysis, and a field survey proved effective for the RWH site selection in a semi-arid region with limited data, especially on the first and second order streams.

Modeling the support factor (P) as a function of socio-economic factors for improved erosion prediction on the hillslopes of Lake Victoria Basin of Uganda

A major challenge to erosion prediction using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is the uncertainty in parametrizing the support factor (P). This P factor is usually regarded as 1 in areas with no structural management practices. However, in agrarian landscapes which are dominated with agronomic management practices, the P factor is difficult to parameterize. Moreover, the agronomic practices are usually the most simplest and affordable soil and water conservation technologies for mitigating runoff and soil losses in many developing countries. Our objective was to model the support factor (P) as a function of socio-economic factors for adoption of management practices in order to improve erosion prediction. Our methodology involved four (4) steps; namely, (a) estimating potential erosion using RUSLE; (b) establishing the socio-economic for adoption of management practices using Probit regression analysis; (c) integrating socio-economic factors with biophysical parameters to form a Systems Dynamic (SD) model for soil erosion; and (d) validating the Systems Dynamic (SD) model at watershed level using empirical data and RUSLE as the baseline model. Validation results showed that on Acric Ferralsols at slope gradient 10-15% the potential erosion as predicted by RUSLE model ranged between 120-140 t ha -1 yr -1 . On the other hand, soil loss as predicted from the Systems Dynamic (SD) model, based on the same slope gradient and soil condition as the case in RUSLE, ranged between 11-50 t ha -1 yr -1 . This accounted for about 67-90% decrease in soil loss. Model outputs were calibrated and validated by field data measured using Un-bound runoff plots ( Gerlach Troughs ). The results showed that in sole banana soil loss increased step-wise with increasing gradient in the measured and predicted data (P < 0.05); while in sole coffee contradicting results were achieved. We concluded that modelling the support factor (P) as a function of socio-economic factors provides a pragmatic solution to the uncertainty in its parameterization. Generalizing the support factor (P) as one (1) even in areas with agronomic management technology tends to over-estimate the risk of soil erosion. Thus, it can potentially stand out as a dis-incentive that undermines farmers’ efforts to mitigate runoff and soil loss in degraded watersheds. Key words: 1. Erosion, 2. Geo information science, 3. System Dynamics, 4. Support factor, 5. Uganda Funding was by SIDA SAREC Project 377 under Makerere University for the period 2016-2022. DOI: 10.7176/JEES/13-3-06 Publication date: May 30 th 2023

Impact of Factors That Predict Adoption of Geomonitoring Systems for Landslide Management

Monitoring hazardous phenomena is a fundamental requirement of disaster risk management. Using new geomatic technologies integrated into complex geo information systems represents an innovative method of strengthening collaboration between stakeholder groups that aim at reducing the risk of disasters. This paper aimed to investigate the factors of adapting a geomonitoring information system for landslides in the cross-border area of Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania; the analysis was carried out in the case of the cross-border project, GeoSES. This study developed and empirically tested a novel UTAUT model based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. PL-SEM (partial least-squares structural equation modeling) was used to test the model’s hypotheses. The data were collected by employing an online questionnaire on a target group of beneficiaries of the GeoSES project, in which the geomonitoring information system was proposed as an innovative solution to landslide management and disaster risk reduction. This study’s importance and added value reside in the theoretical and practical implications of the proposed model for predicting the beneficiaries’ adaptation of the landslide monitoring system. The results have shown that the GeoSES project beneficiaries coming from four neighboring nations are willing to utilize the integrated monitoring systems, which is one of the strengths of the collaborative efforts focused on mitigating risks and managing disasters in this region.

Comprehensive Database Creation for Potential Fish Zones Using IoT and ML with Assimilation of Geospatial Techniques

The framework for aqua farming database collection and the real-time monitoring of different working functions of aqua farming are essential to enhance and digitalize aqua farming. Data collection and real-time monitoring are attained using cutting-edge technologies, and these cutting-edge technologies are useful for the conservation and advancement of traditional aquatic farming, particularly in hilly areas with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Geo-tagging and geo-mapping of the aqua resources will play an important role in monitoring the species in the aquatic environment and can track the real-time health status, movement, and location, and monitor the foraging behaviors, of aquatic species. This study proposed an architecture with the IoT to manage the aqua resource for eco-sustainability with geospatial data. This study also discussed the geo information systems (GIS)- and geo positioning system (GPS)-based web-based framework for the fisheries sector and the creation of a database for aqua resource management. In the study, the results of database generation for the aqua resource management and the results of the fishpond in the cloud server are presented in detail. Machine learning (ML) is integrated with the framework to analyze the sensor data and geo-spatial data for the identification of any degradation in the water quality. This will provide real-time information to the policymakers for their critical decisions for the further development of aquatic species for enhancing the economy of the state as well as aqua farmers.

Towards strategy of geoinformation systems and technologies use for territory management

GeoInformation (GI) Systems (GIS) and GI Technologies (GIT, together GIST) have been used for almost half a century, since the creation of Canada's first GIS in the 60s of the last century, to solve territory management problems. Over the past years, GISTs have reached their maturity, but still continue to develop, covering ever wider areas of use. Even the science of geoinformatics has emerged, in which GIST is used mainly as a toolkit or technology. As an example, geoinformatics in the same Canada is called geomatics and is a technology and/or technological science. At the same time, the expansion of the field of GIST use poses to researchers the question of methods and methodology. They are followed by issues of methods and methodology of geoinformatics not only as a technology, but also as a science. Moreover, these issues become more complicated with the expansion of the field of use. In the information industry, together with the field of use, the term "domain" or "context" is used. Thus, modern GIST usage manipulate a large number of interrelated terms and concepts that are often not clearly defined. The work is devoted to the classification of the main ones, which are influenced by the strategy selected. Spatial models of territory are used in the work. They are used in the study of both territorial systems of reality and individual spatial entities and phenomena of reality. Among spatial models, the main attention is paid to information spatial models, the most famous of which are GeoInformation Systems (GIS). GIS are inseparable from GIS tools - GeoInformation Technologies (GIT). The main results of the article were obtained using the so-called method of Conceptual Frameworks (CoFr) of Spatial Information Systems (SpIS). The CoFr method is applied to a special class of GIS - Atlas Geo-Information Systems (AGIS) of large territories (LT). The AGIS class includes Electronic Atlases (EA), Atlas Information Systems (AtIS), Cartographic Information Systems (CIS) and, in fact, GIS, if we are talking about LT. AGIS-LT is a hierarchical echeloned SpIS, for which the main terms and concepts of the article are applicable. These are such terms and concepts as "strategy" and "methodology" of GIS usage. GIS, in turn, use GIT, which are also classified using CoFr SpIS.

Flooding Hazard Assessment of Built-Up Lands Using Modern Geographic Information Systems

Introduction. The construction and operation of buildings and structures on the banks of rivers and other water reservoirs with rapidly changing water level are associated with the hazard of territories flooding and underflooding, which can lead to major material damage and even endanger the life and health of people. It’s very important to make a reliable forecast of floodable and underfloodable zones and to develop possible engineering protection measures for such territories, as well as evacuation or rescue plans for cases of emergency. In this article by the example of 2 allocated for construction potentially flooded plots in the Tuapse district of the Krasnodar region, the quantitative flooding hazard assessment is carried out based on the use of the geographic information system QGIS.Materials and methods. In the study there were used: the analysis of existing methods for assessing underflooding and flooding of territories; the long-term observation materials of the water level in rivers and of the largest floods on the studied plots; the analysis of methods of engineering protection of territories from underflooding and flooding; the hydrogeological and hydrological processes modeling using the modern geo information system QGIS; the development of recommendations for engineering protection of the built-up lands and for design of buildings’ and structures’ bases and foundations.Results. As a result of modeling of the underflooding and flooding processes of 2 plots of the prospective built-up lands of the Tuapse district of Krasnodar region in the geo information system QGIS, the boundaries of potential flooding zones and varying probability water rise levels have been identified. Graphical results of modeling in the QGIS system have been presented and graphs of flooding and underflooding levels have been plotted in given sections and along plot’s outline.Discussion and Conclusions. The boundaries of the most hazardous built-up lands have been identified and the engineering protection measures have been reasoned for them. Recommendations have been developed on design and construction of buildings and structures on the plots taking into account the forecasted hazards of underflooding and flooding.

Интеллектуальный анализ привлекательности муниципальных образований республики Башкортостан на основе сценарного прогнозирования и геоинформационных технологий

Socio-economic development of territories depends on many factors, one of which is the region population. Therefore, managing the migration flows is an important tool for solving various demographic, socio-economic and other problems. In recent years, the Republic of Bashkortostan has seen a continuous migration population outflow both to different regions of the Russian Federation and to other countries, which indicates that for the effective development of the territories it is necessary to regulate the region migration flows. To do this, it seems appropriate to increase the attractiveness level of the region municipalities. In this regard, this article is devoted to the intellectual analysis of the attractiveness of the Bashkortostan Republic municipalities based on scenario forecasting and geo information technologies, which will improve the decision-making efficiency in forming the Republic of Bashkortostan migration policy. In the study course, an analysis of existing approaches used in this subject area is carried out, a methodology for determining the attractiveness coefficient of municipalities is considered, and the results of predictive calculations of the region territory attractiveness are presented.

Information Technology in Disaster Management

In the present era of technology it has been simpler to deal with the disaster both natural and man made. Disaster Management activities rely upon substantial volumes of precise, applicable, on-time geo information that different organization systematically make and maintain. Information Technology is changing each part of human life. Disaster management desires forceful enhancements in its sources to decrease injury and save the lifetime of individuals. The advanced methods of information technology such as web, remote sensing, satellite communication, GIS, etc. can facilitate in coming up with and implementation of disaster management. Web provides a useful platform for disaster mitigation communications. On GIS is basic as effective preparedness, communication and training tool for disaster management on the other hand Remote Sensing as a tool can very effectively contribute towards identification of hazards areas. Communication satellite have become vital for providing emergency communication and timely help into natural disaster monitoring and mitigation mechanisms is critical for hazards reduction. There should be more emphasis on development of new technologies in disaster mitigation. The disaster preparedness and awareness is the only effective method of mitigating the impact of future disaster. In this paper an attempt has been made to highlight the role of information technology in management of natural disaster in Nepal.

Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Driving Mechanisms of Land–Use Transition from the Perspective of Urban–Rural Transformation Development: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

Urban–rural transformation development is the key to resolving the imbalance in the dual structure of urban and rural areas. However, the transformation of the urban–rural relationship will also affect the structure and spatial distribution of land use. This paper measured the spatial–temporal characteristics of land–use transition in the Yangtze River Delta from 1990 to 2018 by using a geo–information Tupu method and explored the driving mechanism of land–use transition under the background of urban–rural transformation development by using a spatial regression analysis method. The results showed the following: (1) The transition from cultivated land to urban construction land, from rural residential land to cultivated land, and from rural residential land to urban construction land were the three main types of land–use transition in the Yangtze River Delta during urban–rural transformation development. (2) The transition from cultivated land to urban construction land was always the most important type of land–use transition. It expanded from the central area to the surrounding cities. The transition of rural residential land to cultivated land and urban construction land began to increase significantly after the year 2010, which was the urban–rural integration development period. (3) The urban–rural land–use transition was driven by government policies, industrial restructuring, population urbanization and migration. During the urban–rural integration development period, secondary industry and tertiary industry were the main driving factors of the transition from cultivated land to urban construction land. The number of policies, the primary industry, the total population, and the urbanization rate were the main driving factors of the transition from rural residential land to cultivated land. Primary industry, secondary industry, and tertiary industry were the main driving factors of the transition from rural residential land to urban construction land. Finally, the study provided some suggestions for policy, industry, and population driving forces.

Efficient processing of continuous spatial-textual queries over geo-textual data stream

<p>Due to the extensive use of social media and mobile devices, unbounded and massive data is generated continuously. The need to process this big data is increasing day by day. The traditional data processing algorithms fail to cater to the need of processing data generated by various applications such as digital geo-based advertising, and recommendation systems. There has been a high demand to process continuous spatial fuzzy textual queries over data stream of spatial-textual objects with high density by present locationbased and social network-based service applications. For the spatialkeyword data stream, the performance plays a vital role as the geo information and keyword description matching is needed for every incoming streaming object. The various continuous geo-keyword query processing methods normally lack the support for fuzzy keyword matching when processing the objects from the geo-textual data stream. The edit distancebased approach with the adaptive partitioning tree index for the queries is used for fuzzy string matching and it outperforms than the existing approaches in storage cost and query performance cost.</p>

The use of Geo Information System in the Establishment of Land Balance

At a time of radical reconstruction of land relations in the country, it is important to restructure the land balance. It is advisable to use a geo-information system to create a clear and effective land balance.

Application of geographic information systems in effective management of the land resources of Syrdarya region, Uzbekistan

The article analyzes the opportunities of effective land management using geographical information systems. The perspectives of the using of geo information systems in the efficient use of agricultural lands especially in the development of recommendations for improving the reclamation of saline soils are given. The development of algorithms for the provision of relevant regulatory recommendations on the state of the lands in the studied area and the creating of salt washing norm maps based on GIS technologies have been studied.

A WEBGIS FRAMEWORK FOR SEMI-AUTOMATED GEODATABASE UPDATING ASSISTED BY DEEP LEARNING

Abstract. The automation of geoinformation (GI) collection and interpretation has been a fundamental goal for many researchers. The developments in various sensors, platforms, and algorithms have been contributing to the achievement of this goal. In addition, the contributions of citizen science (CitSci) and volunteered geographical information (VGI) concepts have become evident and extensive for the geodata collection and interpretation in the era where information has the utmost importance to solve societal and environmental problems. The web- and mobile-based Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have facilitated the broad and frequent use of GI by people from any background, thanks to the accessibility and the simplicity of the platforms. On the other hand, the increased use of GI also yielded a great increment in the demand for GI in different application areas. Thus, new algorithms and platforms allowing human intervention are immensely required for semi-automatic GI extraction to increase the accuracy. By integrating the novel artificial intelligence (AI) methods including deep learning (DL) algorithms on WebGIS interfaces, this task can be achieved. Thus, volunteers with limited knowledge on GIS software can be supported to perform accurate processing and to make guided decisions. In this study, a web-based geospatial AI (GeoAI) platform was developed for map updating by using the image processing results obtained from a DL algorithm to assist volunteers. The platform includes vector drawing and editing capabilities and employs a spatial database management system to store the final maps. The system is flexible and can utilise various DL methods in the image segmentation.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS RELATED TO ACTIVE OPTICAL SENSORS IN THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION (EO4GEO BOK)

Abstract. The field of Earth Observation (EO) and Geoinformation (GI) is gaining more and more importance due to the increasing number of data and data processing algorithms to respond even more accurately to a variety of challenges in many application areas. In order to follow recent activities and align the exponential evolution of datasets and recent processing trends with market and academic training requirements, the EO*GI sector needs an updated and new definition of knowledge and skills. To this goal, a specific body of knowledge for Earth Observation and Geoinformation (EO4GEO BoK) is currently being implemented with the aim of providing interconnected concepts and job-oriented skills. One novelty of the BoK is to include topics related to Earth Observation, in particular to introduce the different sensors used in this field. Active optical sensors are at the crossroad between Earth Observation and close-range photogrammetry and have not been described in any other existing BoK. This paper introduces therefore the part of the EO4GEO BoK that is dedicated to active optical sensors. Such systems are used in various job-oriented applications such as archeology, mobile mapping, indoor or outdoor, or for surveying purposes, just to name a few. The structure of this part of the BoK is explained and specific descriptions and relationships between the identified concepts are given. Finally, the skills acquired by completing these BoK concepts are presented and discussed in terms of how they can be used in a professional context or in the definition of job-oriented learning paths.

Usability Problems in GI Web Applications: A lesson from Literature

Abstract. Organizations and individuals are becoming more aware of the benefits of geoinformation (GI) in supporting decision making. That being the case, there is a growing need to develop methods and technologies that make GI easily accessible, retrievable and usable to users. However, usability problems in GI web applications reportedly hinder users from effectively carrying out their intended operations. This paper contributes to a better understanding of GI-specific usability problems in GI web applications by: 1) Extracting usability problems from previous studies, 2) Classifying the problems, and 3) Identifying critical components of GI web applications. A systematic literature review approach is adopted to provide usability evaluation studies. 201 Usability problems were extracted from 12 studies, classified and qualitatively analysed. The results indicate a significant need for a GI specific usability framework, to provide support for GI specific usability evaluation and to provide generic solutions to reoccurring problems.

Assessment of the Gross Potential of Local Waste Based on Geoinformation Systems for Bioenergy Production

This article analyzes the gross potential of local hydrocarbon waste and biomass using the example of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the aim of producing bioenergy. To calculate the raw material potential, we used official and reference data on the production and consumption of fuel, fertilizers and the formation of organic waste, the accumulation of municipal solid waste (MSW), the amount of saline land where halophytic plantations can be created, which can be considered as biomass. Based on the collected data, mathematical operations and calculations of the potential of biogas technology were performed. A block diagram has been developed that describes the steps of a Geo Information Systems (GIS) map. GIS maps have been created that give a visual representation of the spatial distribution of the gross potential of various types of waste in the regions of the republic and can serve as a tool in planning the distribution of biogas technology.