GIS-based Technology Research Articles

Using cluster analysis to identify communities of interest for purposes of legislative redistricting: A case study of parishes in Louisiana

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has been found to limit the kinds of communities that can in principle achieve political representation through redistricting because the process excludes “communities of interest” (COIs) that cannot be mapped. We argue that these limits can be overcome using empirically based variables to define a COI in conjunction with an empirically based classification system, cluster analysis. Our argument is based on a case study of a legislative redistricting case in which we examined the cultural, economic, demographic, historic, and social characteristics upon which a COI would be defined. We employed an empirically and scientifically based classification system called “cluster analysis” to determine if these two geographically-separated groups of parishes form a single COI, which, in turn, would serve as a justification for them being placed together into reorganized congressional District 5. We find that East Carroll Parish and its six neighboring parishes (Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Richland, Tensas, and West Carroll) are in a different COI grouping than East Baton Rouge Parish. Moreover, from the COI perspective, East Baton Rouge Parish should not be included in proposed plans involving a proposed RCD5 that include East Carroll Parish and its six neighboring parishes. This finding also applies to Lafayette Parish, both in whole and in part. This finding is not only relevant because COIs are important in redistricting, but it demonstrates that the limits identified in regard to the use of GIS-based technology in identifying COIs can be surmounted.

The Use of Information Technology in Empowering of Tourism Resources and MSMEs in Tanggetada Sub-district, Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi

The community-based tourism concept which encompasses community participation in the tourism planning process is advocated as a way of implementing sustainable tourism. Tanggetada sub-district has Tourism and MSME potential the value is quite interesting and unique compared to the others. The lack of use of information technology in managing tourist attractions and MSMEs has resulted in the dissemination of confusing information from visitors. Therefore it is necessary to develop the use of GIS-Based technology as a promote tourist attractions and MSMEs in the Tanggetada Sub-district. This community service takes the form of socialization and training in the use of GIS-Based Tourist attraction websites and MSMEs because the number of visitors will increase.

GIS-Based Interactive Technology in Demographic Record Management and Mapping Towards Sustainable Community

Management of demographic records plays a vital role in understanding and planning for the needs of community living. However, managing conventional records requires more time, cost, and energy without accurate assurance. As there are raising concerns in assessing community information for charity purposes, safety coordination, and crime prevention, especially during emergencies; integrating demographic data with spatial information is becoming significantly important. This paper aims to establish an accessible and visible digital platform of demographic information for respective sectors, namely, the KRT, Qariah group, NGOs, and representatives of CSR projects. The objective is to digitize interactive demographic record management and mapping through GIS-based technology. This study adopts a Geographical Information System (GIS) to digitize information using web GIS integrating with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology for data acquisition in the community sampling areas; Puncak Iskandar. The proposed system which leverages the power of spatial analysis and visualization, utilizes GIS technology to store, analyse, and visualize demographic records in a geographical context. It incorporates various demographic data sources, such as census data, health records, and administrative data in managing more efficient and effective data with lower cost, energy, time, and resources. Furthermore, the GIS-based system enables the identification of spatial disparities, inequalities, and interventions in demographic characteristics. Therefore, the integration of this system into community demographic management has provided a powerful platform for accessing and coordinating population dynamics, problem-solving, and sustainable development. The implementation in Puncak Iskandar enhances the accessibility, and visualization of demographic data, enabling policy-makers, researchers, and planners to make informed decisions based on a geographical perspective. The findings demonstrate the reliability of GIS-based demographic record management in a community living towards supporting evidence-based planning, resource allocation, and policy formulation for a wide range of applications, including urban planning, public health, and social services towards a sustainable future.

A GIS-based technology response to an avian influenza outbreak in South Africa

A GIS-based technology response to an avian influenza outbreak in South Africa

An agile heating and cooling energy demand model for residential buildings. Case study in a mediterranean city residential sector

Climate change will affect people's health, especially in cities. Hence, energy planning will play a key role in the development of sustainable and resilient cities. Urban building energy models facilitate energy planning as heating and cooling demand becomes known, and the consequences of different planning actions can be modelled. This research presents an agile heating and cooling demand model. It combines a European standard's methodology, geometric information of buildings collected from cadastral and altimetric datasets using GIS-based technologies, solar irradiation analysis and the degree-days method. The model is validated with various case studies and then applied to several buildings in different environments.The model shows the strong influence of the building's age (design and materials), the building surface-to-volume ratio on the energy demand and the importance of the solar irradiation analysis. Furthermore, the model can predict the effects of the temperature rise on energy demand and prioritise the buildings to be retrofitted. Indeed, one of the conclusions obtained from the model is that advanced retrofitting of 17% of the most energy demanding buildings would obtain a 50% decrease in thermal demand; if the percentage was 50%, an 85% reduction could be reached. In conclusion, the energy planning tool hereby presented is a useful tool to viably foresee the energy demand of residential buildings and districts and the effects of climate change on their energy demand, as well as the consequences of countermeasures like retrofitting.

Multi-criteria land use suitability analysis for the spatial distribution of cattle farming under land use change modeling scenarios in Thrace Region, Turkey

Land use suitability for cattle farming is critical in sustainable land use planning and minimizing the environmental problems arising from farms. This study contributes to bridging the gap between classical application formulations that support livestock policies and rapid spatial analysis practices based on GIS-based technologies. In this regard, first, we determined land use suitability in the hot spot area of the Thrace Region/Turkey for cattle farms in 2019 with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) using four main factors related to environmental and topographical conditions, land use and road data. Next, we overlapped land use suitability map for 2019 with CLUE-S land use change model scenarios maps namely Business as Usual (BaU), Economic Development (ED) and Ecosystem Services Protection (ES) to find the land use suitability areas and conversion of these areas for 2050. The results indicated that while 52.38% of the study area was unsuitable in 2019, this ratio will increase to 60.43%, 63.84% and 57.07% due to urbanization in BaU, ED and ES, respectively for 2050. However, highly suitable areas will decrease from 4.82% to 3.86% (BaU), 3.57% (ED) and 4.20% (ES) during 2019 and 2050. The areas close to pastures have high suitability while the areas in the fringe of urban–rural settlements, streams and intercity roads have low suitability. To minimize the negative impacts of urbanization and industrialization on suitable lands and ensure the development of the cattle farming sector in the study area, multi-criteria decision-making rules should be included in the spatial layout planning for the future.

Assessment of Seismogeodynamic Activity of Mining Areas on the Basis of 3D Geoinformation Modeling

The article deals with the creation of an information and analytical platform for assessing external causes of technogenic (man-made) accidents and for improving methods of their predication and prevention on the territories of long-term geological, mining, and engineering activities on the Southeastern (SE) Transbaikal region example — one of the key areas for mining and extraction of the strategic raw minerals in Russia. 3D modeling of active geological structures and hazardous seismogeodynamic processes on GIS-based technologies is a key instrument for forecasting dangerous natural and technogenic events and risk reduction of their occurrence. A matter of minimizing consequences of natural and technogenic disasters for such facilities of increased technological and environmental hazards as minefields, radiochemical facilities, sites for spent nuclear material disposal, dams, gas and oil pipelines, etc. has become essential. It is necessary to assess modern geodynamic territory’s activity on a unified geoinformation platform applying the newest integrated geological-geophysical researches’ methods for these objects, to select seismically active fault-fracture zones, to determine the rate and direction of surface displacement, to establish patterns of subsoil stressed-strained state natural component influence on behavior of local technogenic processes. Taking into account the specificities of geotectonic structure of mining territories, the structure of monitoring seismogeodynamic processes network on multifunctional geodynamic test sites should be developed. Observations made on test sites form the information basis for forecasting of lithosphere condition, taking decisions on rational subsurface management and providing ecological safety of the territory.

The Sustainable Development of Railway System in Vietnam by GIS-based Technologies

This study aims to explore the applications of Geographical Information System (GIS) technology in managing and analysing the railway networks in Vietnam in a scientific and rational manner, developing the railway industry in a sustainable manner to keep pace with the development speed in the region and in the world. A process of building a GIS project and designing a geodatabase for a GIS project was proposed. From that point, it is suggested to build an experimental database for the railway networks of Vietnam through ArcGIS software 10.2. After that, the authors explored some typical applications of GIS technology for railway network management such as management, safety and security, and selecting optimum routes. The results showed that GIS application in managing railway system brings lots of benefit to not only in the railway sector but also in the transportation field.

Introduction: advances in geospatial analysis for health research

In the past decade, studies and practices of applying geospatial analysis and GIS-based technology to epidemiology and public health studies have flourished. This special issue intends to sample so...

Research and Design of Field and Office Work Integration System for Historical Buildings Conservation: Case Study on Guangzhou

In recent years, GIS-based technologies has been applied in multiple fields of study, including historical building conservation. In the field of historic building conservation, GIS technology is mainly used for the spatial information display and spatial analysis of buildings. In terms of traditional methods of historical buildings information collection, GIS technology is mainly applied in the functions of data warehousing and statistical analysis, but barely in the early stage of data acquisition. This article introduces the technology of historical building information acquisition based on mobile GIS device, as well as the integrated data acquisition system, which changes the pattern that separates field and office work. The field collected data is directly imported into the data processing system on the basis of unified data standard, which shortens the intermediate link and integrates the field and office work. As a result of the improved pattern, the efficiency of historical building conservation will be significantly increased.

A new method for predicting the shale distribution of the Wufeng Formation in the Upper Yangtze Region, China

Taking the Late Ordovician Wufeng Formation (WFF) shale in the Upper Yangtze region as an example, we conducted a lithofacies distribution, thickness quantification, and paleo-topographic reconstruction of the Late Ordovician graptolite zones. Specifically, we focused on the Late Katian Dicellograptus complexus and the Early Hirnantian Metabolograptus extraordinarius within a chronostratigraphic framework, using the Geographic Information System (GIS) and 310 stratigraphic sections (incl. drilling) obtained from the Geobiodiversity Database (GBDB). Reconstruction of the geographic distribution indicates that the WFF and the synchronous sediments in the Upper Yangtze region contain 8 litho-stratigraphic units, which are geographically distributed across 7 provinces/municipalities and do not exhibit significant variations in lithofacies. The black graptolite shale extends in a broad swath from east to west within the basin, while the other lithofacies deposited during the same period are present on the periphery of the basin. All these strata were deposited in a normal neritic epicontinental sea environment, except for the flysch sediments in the southern Hunan area. The thickness reconstruction involves a comparison of three spatial interpolation methods, including Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Kriging, and the Radial Basis Function (RBF). Based on a general verification, IDW is considered to be the optimal method since it has the minimum standard deviation and variance. Based on the contours obtained from the IDW model, the WFF black shale is estimated to have an overall area of 0.67 × 106 km2, an average thickness of 6.2 m, and a total volume of 3902 km3. This shale was deposited over a 2.83 Ma period. Therefore, the volume of shale deposited per million years is estimated to be 1379 km3/my and the average thickness of shale deposited per million years is 2.37 m/my. The Hirnantian paleo-water-depth values obtained using 275 sections were used to infer the Late Katian paleo-topography. These results suggest that the Yangtze platform was surrounded by ancient highlands to the west, south, and north, exhibiting a paleo-geographic framework characterized by one uplift and four depressions. This setting blocked water circulation, causing the water to be contained and forming a closed and restricted marine environment, which was one of the major factors controlling the deposition of the organic-rich WFF shale. With the advent of the big data era of geology, the methodology of GIS-based technology is readily exportable to any resource play having spatial distribution pattern. Results can be provided rapidly and efficiently generated from geological data.

SHRIMPDB: a new geoanalytical database for U-Th-Pb geochronological data from SHRIMP measurements

This paper introduces a novel web-based database, SHRIMPDB, to support the efficient reutilization of U-Th-Pb geochronological data from sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) measurements. In order to provide complete data content that can be reutilized by Earth scientists, a new data model containing analytical data and relevant sample metadata is proposed according to analyses of measurement procedures and the data characteristics of SHRIMP. Vivid data visualization, real-time data query interfaces (including a novel and intuitive polygonal region search), and a pragmatic data management module are designed and implemented using web-based and cloud GIS-based technologies, which provide a platform for Earth scientists to efficiently curate and share SHRIMP data on the internet. An incentive that encourages geochronologists to contribute data is suggested through cooperation between SHRIMPDB and the Beijing SHRIMP center. The database is currently under evaluation at the Beijing SHRIMP center. SHRIMPDB is globally available online at http://202.198.17.27/shrimpdb/home .

Orthopedic workforce planning in Germany - an analysis of orthopedic accessibility.

In Germany, orthopedic workforce planning relies on population-to-provider-ratios represented by the ‘official degree of care provision’. However, with geographic information systems (GIS), more sophisticated measurements are available. By utilizing GIS-based technologies we analyzed the current state of demand and supply of the orthopedic workforce in Germany (orthopedic accessibility) with the integrated Floating Catchment Area method. The analysis of n = 153,352,220 distances revealed significant geographical variations on national scale: 5,617,595 people (6.9% of total population) lived in an area with significant low orthopedic accessibility (average z-score = -4.0), whereas 31,748,161 people (39.0% of total population) lived in an area with significant high orthopedic accessibility (average z-score = 8.0). Accessibility was positively correlated with the degree of urbanization (r = 0.49; p<0.001) and the official degree of care provision (r = 0.33; p<0.001) and negatively correlated with regional social deprivation (r = -0.47; p<0.001). Despite advantages of simpler measures regarding implementation and acceptance in health policy, more sophisticated measures of accessibility have the potential to reduce costs as well as improve health care. With this study, significant geographical variations were revealed that show the need to reduce oversupply in less deprived urban areas in order to enable adequate care in more deprived rural areas.

Understanding the Acceptance of Local Public Officers on Computer-based Urban Spatial Information System

Information technology is developed to assist people in minimizing processing time, reducing errors, increasing the accuracy and simplifying the overall process. The process of recording, retrieving and displaying data and information can thus be easily and accurately undertaken. Information technology in its initial development, however, tends to be too costly and complicated to make a real particularly for people in developing countries. Fortunately, universities as the centers of innovation, can be a game changer for the adoption of the innovative processes, for the benefits of the community at large. In all Indonesian universities, this role is associated with a, so called Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi (Three Devotions of Higher Education, TDHE). This paper examines the acceptance of the collaborating officials and the obstacles i.e. internal and environmental factors. We proposed the use of GIS-based technology to coordinate the administrative units of local government at all levels, particularly the Kelurahan as the lowest hierarchy of the administrative unit in local government system. The Kelurahan will then be the spearhead in a local government system in Indonesia in promoting administrative services to all Citizens. We undertook an integrated training and tutorial for select official staff of the Kelurahan on the system. Evaluation of shows that the information system can be used to simplify the collaborators’ activities. The evaluation was done through in-depth interview to the collaborating officials. The collaborators interested in learning more about the system as an innovative way in providing service to the community as well as spatial data input to support urban planning and management.

The Geoecological Modelling of Small Water Reservoirs and River Catchment Areas as a Procedure in Urban Development

The paper describes a problem of surface water resource availability and a problem of its water quality in connection with urban development. The authors research catchment areas in the Ural cities and find a dependence between catchment area functional zoning and the geoecological conditions of surface hydrographic objects. The objects of research are small surface water reservoirs typical of the Ural industrial centers. To satisfy the demands of a concentrated urban population, a sufficient volume of suitable water resources should be provided. In this article the authors analyze the possibility of obstruction the ecological approach into the procedure of the territory urban development. The authors worked out a GIS-based technology of the catchment area analysis and revealed the dependence between the structure of land use and the geoecological conditions in hydrographic objects. Urban planning in this case is presented as an instrument of the geoecological management.

Landslide susceptibility of volcanic landforms in the Río El Estado watershed, Pico de Orizaba volcano, Mexico

The combination of high-quality landslide inventories and geomorphic attributes that can be derived and analyzed by geographic information systems can provide powerful and straightforward input into mapping landscape-wide landslide susceptibility. A methodology for generating landslide susceptibility maps can assist land managers in reducing risk to populations and economic land use from landslide hazards, particularly in areas prone to landslide disasters, such as tropical mountain ranges. Pico de Orizaba is the highest stratovolcano in Mexico, and throughout its geologic history, it has had large landslides triggered by flank collapse as well as small landslides triggered by high seasonal rainfall on terrains covered by poorly consolidated materials. The present work analyzes the distribution of small landslides embedded in volcanic landforms to characterize slope instability. The Rio El Estado watershed on the southwestern flank of Pico de Orizaba volcano has been selected as a study area. In the area, landforms are ascertained through aerial photographs, field investigations, and an adaptation of the Landslide Hazard Zonation Protocol of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Forest Practices Division in a GIS-based technology. For each landform, a semi-quantitative overall susceptibility rating is derived by using the landslide area rate and the landslide frequency rate. This analysis divides the watershed into seven mass-wasting landforms that are assigned slope stability susceptibility ratings from low to very high. The overall susceptibility rating for this watershed is very high. The technique and its implementation are presented and discussed.

Spatial characterization of riparian buffer effects on sediment loads from watershed systems.

Understanding all watershed systems and their interactions is a complex, but critical, undertaking when developing practices designed to reduce topsoil loss and chemical/nutrient transport from agricultural fields. The presence of riparian buffer vegetation in agricultural landscapes can modify the characteristics of overland flow, promoting sediment deposition and nutrient filtering. Watershed simulation tools, such as the USDA-Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source (AnnAGNPS) pollution model, typically require detailed information for each riparian buffer zone throughout the watershed describing the location, width, vegetation type, topography, and possible presence of concentrated flow paths through the riparian buffer zone. Research was conducted to develop GIS-based technology designed to spatially characterize riparian buffers and to estimate buffer efficiency in reducing sediment loads in a semiautomated fashion at watershed scale. The methodology combines modeling technology at different scales, at individual concentrated flow paths passing through the riparian zone, and at watershed scales. At the concentrated flow path scale, vegetative filter strip models are applied to estimate the sediment-trapping efficiency for each individual flow path, which are aggregated based on the watershed subdivision and used in the determination of the overall impact of the riparian vegetation at the watershed scale. This GIS-based technology is combined with AnnAGNPS to demonstrate the effect of riparian vegetation on sediment loadings from sheet and rill and ephemeral gully sources. The effects of variability in basic input parameters used to characterize riparian buffers, onto generated outputs at field scale (sediment trapping efficiency) and at watershed scale (sediment loadings from different sources) were evaluated and quantified. The AnnAGNPS riparian buffer component represents an important step in understanding and accounting for the effect of riparian vegetation, existing and/or managed, in reducing sediment loads at the watershed scale.

GIS-Based Tools for the Management and Dissemination of Heritage Information in Historical Towns. The Case of Santiago De Compostela (Spain)

Historical towns are among the most complex cases of heritage data management. As it may be the case in any other type of heritage site, knowing the spatial distribution of heritage elements is reason enough to support the development of GIS-based tools for information management. But, besides that, two factors add up to further encourage the adoption of GIS-based technologies in those contexts. Firstly, historical towns are especially complex heritage sites, where a wide variety of interrelated material elements coexist (buildings, open spaces, buried features,…), quite often in close relationship with a significant body of documents describing them. Secondly, they are places subject to an intense daily activity and pressure that force to take frequent informed decisions on what to do with heritage elements, decisions that must be based on an accurate and updated knowledge of the evidence available. In this paper we will present the case of the SIP-Sistema de Información Patrimonial (Heritage Information System) developed for the historical town of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Designed and developed between 2006 and 2008 for the Consorcio de Santiago, the SIP is a web-based GIS tool that integrates spatial and documentary information ( http://sip.consorciodesantiago.org/ ). It was aimed at two parallel objectives. First, to assist the management needs of the Consorcio. Second, and considering the role of the town as an important cultural tourism destination, to disseminate the information produced by the numerous heritage projects developed in the town among both the general public and the specialists.

Assessing noise impacts on wildlife under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, authors must address environmental impacts of various anthropogenic actions on wildlife. One such impact of increasing awareness and concern is effect noise on wildlife, both during construction and operation of the project. However, biologists often have difficulty in understanding the fundamentals of acoustics and noise analysts often have difficulty in understanding the biological implications of increased noise on wildlife. As a result, inappropriate weighting metrics (such as A-weighted decibel) or time descriptors (e.g., community noise equivalent level) are often used erroneously to assess noise impacts on wildlife. Noise exposure thresholds on wildlife exist for marine mammals and fish, as mandated by the National Marine Fisheries Service. However, no such thresholds exist for terrestrial wildlife. This talk provides specific examples of how noise impacts on wildlife have been assessed using GIS-based technology, industry-accepted noise propagation models, and peer-reviewed literature in the absence of management guidelines. Examples include assessing construction noise impacts on the California coastal gnatcatcher in southern California, aircraft noise impacts on sage grouse in central California, and helicopter disturbance on caribou in Alaska.

Gis-based technologies and their application in agriculture

Geographical information systems are in use in business application for a long time, but their usage in agriculture is well known, too. This article shows the main structure of geographical information systems for decision support (spatial decision support systems) as advanced GIS technologies made for solving complex, semistructured or nonstructured problems and their application in the agriculture sector. GIS-based technologies has been reviewed through several examples of their use in agriculture and special respect has been given to the precision farming concept, giving short insight into SSToolbox software (SST). The last part of the article is dedicate to the possible usage of GIS-based technologies in the Serbian agriculture.