GIS Infrastructure Research Articles

Automation of the Rational Formula using GIS infrastructure – Case study Siret River Basin - Romania

Automation of the Rational Formula using GIS infrastructure – Case study Siret River Basin - Romania

A traceability-support system to control safety and sustainability indicators in food distribution

Whilst policymakers encourage companies to control food distribution and ensure products' safety and compliance with regulations, the fragmentation of food supply chains, made of multiple stages and companies, affects synergies and the supervision of such operations. Nonetheless the level of maturity of traceability technologies, several issues still prevent their adoption, diffusion, and integration. To address such a lack, this article illustrates a traceability-support tool that integrates and aligns data from heterogeneous sources and quantifies the impact of the operations on food products aiding data-driven decision-making. This tool builds upon a GIS infrastructure and manipulates heterogeneous traceability records gathered along the processes of the food supply chain to calculate a dashboard of multidisciplinary indicators related to three pillars of food systems: safety, cost, and environmental sustainability. A real-world distribution process regarding three batches of fresh fruits handled and shipped by a logistic provider located in North Italy is used as a testbed. The tool estimates the time fence where products experienced unsafe conservation temperatures (i.e. 8% of distribution time) together with the impact on the product's shelf life decay and the carbon emissions from transportation. Therefore, this tool contributes to shedding light on the impacts that occur throughout food distribution and aids decision-making by logistic managers and quality managers, as well as improving consumers' awareness products' shelf life and footprint.

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN MOZAMBIQUE THROUGH TEACHING PUBLIC PARTICIPATORY GIS AND SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

Abstract. Mozambique is highly vulnerable to clime change induced hazards. The extreme weather impacts are directly related to the temperature and precipitation variations leading to more frequent and devastating events as floods, droughts and cyclones. Even though Mozambique has committed to international policies and has adopted mitigation measures, still it is lacking of sufficient capacity on various levels to lower the country’s vulnerability level. A consortium of eight partner countries, along with Mozambique, commenced a Climate Change Induced Disaster Management in Africa (CIDMA) project which aims at building education capacity through implementing geospatial information technology for improved disaster management in Mozambique. The core of the project is in developing three 10 ECTS courses that will implement state-of-the-art techniques and methodologies for dealing with climate change induced hazards. The courses are intended from one hand to university students and staff, but on the other to local authorities, organisations and companies occupied with disaster management, and local communities. As one of course, “Public Participatory GIS and Spatial Data Infrastructure in Disaster Management” is designed to prepare students to be able to produce thematic maps through GIS and crowdsourced data, as well as various EO data. With the presented course it is expected for the students to gain valuable theoretical and practical knowledge of GIS, VGI and SDI for exploiting, managing and processing geospatial data for risk mitigation and hazard mapping. Moreover, they will be skilled in using free and open-source GIS software, desktop and mobile mapping techniques, and free web-based dissemination and processing services. In addition, it is expected for the students to develop critical judgement for analysing data with the correct tools in case of climate induced disasters. This paper describes the design, structure and topics of the “Public Participatory GIS and Spatial Data Infrastructure in Disaster Management”.

A Rainfall-Runoff model for highly urbanized areas: A case study at Istanbul Technical University main campus

Rapid urbanization and increasing impervious surfaces at the urban areas leads to serious reduction in infiltration rate of the surface and this causes several environmental problems and critical challenges in stormwater management. This research work dedicated to develop a Rainfall-Runoff and inundation model for a highly urbanized area using EPA SWMM (Storm Water Management Model). For this purpose, Istanbul Technical University main campus selected to model development and simulations under a rain storm event with 25-year return period and duration of 2 hours. This model developed based on the GIS data and infrastructure map of the study area. The peak runoff value and its occurring time have calculated through the model. Also, the number and location of flooded nodes of the study area’s drainage system at the peak runoff moment have determined in this study. According to the model results at the peak runoff moment there will be several flooded nodes in the study area. For reducing the number of flooded nodes and peak runoff value it is proposed to use LID (Low Impact Development) strategies at the university campus.

Reconstructing historical rural addresses with VGI and digitized aerial photography

This paper describes an attempt to develop a historical GIS of farms with metadata from digitized aerial photography. With the current effort of mass digitization, wide ranges of new data sources are becoming available to historical scholars. However, for these digital sources to be included in new scholarship, a prerequisite is the research infrastructure necessary to process them. Our project has examined how metadata on digitized aerial photography, generated by volunteers in the Royal Danish Library’s crowdsourcing effort, might provide a short cut to historical GIS infrastructure, which would otherwise require significant resources to build. As part of the digitization of thousands of aerial photographs of rural properties, the library had the help of volunteers to geolocate each photograph. As each photograph often represented a single property, the data points and their metadata are representative of a certain address. This paper outlines the steps we took to develop the raw material into a dataset containing locations of historical rural addresses. Based on a pilot study of a limited area, we discuss the quality and accuracy of the data resulting from our approach. We found that the overall quality of data extracted is acceptable compared with the traditional approach of manually plotting in farm-localities by hand.

BUILDING A COMPLETE FREE AND OPEN SOURCE GIS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HYDROLOGICAL COMPUTING AND DATA PUBLICATION USING GIS.LAB AND GISQUICK PLATFORMS

Abstract. Building a complete free and open source GIS computing and data publication platform can be a relatively easy task. This paper describes an automated deployment of such platform using two open source software projects – GIS.lab and Gisquick. GIS.lab (http: //web.gislab.io) is a project for rapid deployment of a complete, centrally managed and horizontally scalable GIS infrastructure in the local area network, data center or cloud. It provides a comprehensive set of free geospatial software seamlessly integrated into one, easy-to-use system. A platform for GIS computing (in our case demonstrated on hydrological data processing) requires core components as a geoprocessing server, map server, and a computation engine as eg. GRASS GIS, SAGA, or other similar GIS software. All these components can be rapidly, and automatically deployed by GIS.lab platform. In our demonstrated solution PyWPS is used for serving WPS processes built on the top of GRASS GIS computation platform. GIS.lab can be easily extended by other components running in Docker containers. This approach is shown on Gisquick seamless integration. Gisquick (http://gisquick.org) is an open source platform for publishing geospatial data in the sense of rapid sharing of QGIS projects on the web. The platform consists of QGIS plugin, Django-based server application, QGIS server, and web/mobile clients. In this paper is shown how to easily deploy complete open source GIS infrastructure allowing all required operations as data preparation on desktop, data sharing, and geospatial computation as the service. It also includes data publication in the sense of OGC Web Services and importantly also as interactive web mapping applications.

Research Progress of Array Analytics towards Big Data

The development of Internet of Things and Earth Observation brings big observation array data and big array analytics. This paradigm shift challenges the development of current GIS infrastructure which needs innovative proof and design. Array Analytics is considered as one of potential solutions to address today's data tsunami challenge. Formal definitions, such as array domain, range, the mapping function between domain and range, operators, the corresponding input and output are basic building blocks of Array Analytics theory. This paper focuses on the world-wide research progress of Array Analytics towards Big Data. Main Array Analytics models are reviewed and discussed by considering different array definition, operation functions, input and output, making it possible to explore character differentiation and summarize model expressiveness. Then, main array analytics technologies and implementations are discussed and compared by considering different models. Accordingly, array analytics modeling patterns, principle issues and directions for future research are concluded as guidance for further exploration on array analytics theory research, technology improvement and domain applications. National Digital Information Infrastructure Initiatives need effective array storage and analytics platforms.The research is conducted as input of further enhancement on Information Application Infrastructure, which is key backbone of GIS analytics services in terms of earth science system monitoring and forecasting, existing digital construction consolidation, and GIS infrastructure improvement, so as to provide effective support to digital region construction.

Information systems and evidence-based policy in multi-agency networks: The micro-politics of situated innovation

The global prevalence of public sector reform, generically dubbed the New Public Management, offers wide-ranging research challenges for the IS field. This paper addresses two important, though neglected, strands of the modernisation agenda, evidence-based policy and partnership work. The development of a Geographical Information System (known as MADE) to support multi-agency collaboration is described in the domain of crime reduction. The application of MADE to support policy work is contrasted in two local partnership contexts: the statutorily constituted Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, and an ad hoc forum instigated by the police to address the specific issue of licensing reform and its impact on alcohol-related violence. Although the GIS infrastructure is the same, the manifestation of EBP was markedly different. This is interpreted in terms of differences in the situated micro-politics of the two settings. In the former, strong regulation by central government has “translated” MADE into a tool for generating performance targets and indicators. The second setting comes much closer to the true spirit of EBP, reflecting the greater autonomy of the network and the strong commitment both to evidence and partnership of its main player. In general, the findings demonstrate the importance of GIS to the policy process, particularly in the domain of multi-agency partnerships. There are a broad range of opportunities for IS research within the modernisation project. The need for ethnographic studies of change at a local level is highlighted, and for the adoption of a more critical stance than has been characteristic of mainstream eGovernment research to date.

Assessing the worldwide comparison of cadastral systems

There is growing interest internationally in land administration and cadastral systems and especially in their role as part of a national Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). The important role the cadastre plays in supporting sustainable development is also well recognised. Both developed and developing countries accept the need to evaluate cadastral systems to help identify areas of improvement and whether their systems are capable of addressing future needs. Countries are continually re-engineering and implementing various aspects of the cadastre, comparing systems and trying to identify best practice within nations of the same socio-economic standing. In order to address this need, members of a team from the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration at the Department of Geomatics, the University of Melbourne, with the support of the United Nations Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) and the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), have developed a cadastral template. The template aims to assist the evaluation and benchmarking of cadastral systems and the role they play in SDIs. This paper aims to outline the concept and theory behind the cadastral template as well as analysing the results from 34 completed country templates. Several indicators have been used to analyse and benchmark countries cadastral systems, results of which will contribute to an improved understanding of the complex relationship between cadastral, land administration system and National SDI initiatives. This will also enable a worldwide comparison of cadastral systems, forming the basis for best practice and a tool to improve national cadastral systems.

Governance Issues in GIS Infrastructure in India

This article illustrates the role of GIS in development planning and the management of resources. The major Indian initiatives of GIS infrastructure development such as the NRIS, NRDMS and GISNIC have been discussed in detail. It gives recent initiatives like large-scale mapping, VRC, and NSDI. The article borrows the theoretical concepts from the literature on general information infrastructure and applies them to spatial infrastructure. Governance issues in NSDI are analysed on such theoretical concepts. The article also discusses governance issues in implementation of GIS-enabled planning in India. Finally, the article concludes by spelling out the insights gained from the study. The article is based on the review of literature, the author's experience in the development and implementation of spatial infrastructure, and limited unstructured interviews of various stakeholders. This study will be equally useful for planners, practitioners and academicians involved in planning and implementation of both the information infrastructure and spatial information infrastructure.

Using the internet to maximise your GIS investment

Many statistical organisations have made significant long-term investments in creating a GIS infrastructure required for census purposes. These investments include the purchasing of computer hardware, GIS software and the human resources to create the spatial databases. Usually, this GIS infrastructure is only accessible and used by a small group of GIS professionals. This paper reviews Statistics Canada’s experience in creating a Corporate Geographic Infrastructure and in developing Internetbased GIS tools and applications to maximise the access and use of the Spatial Data Infrastructure.

GIS Education and Infrastructure Challenges and Problems in Emerging Countries

GIS Education and Infrastructure Challenges and Problems in Emerging Countries

Development of a University Training Center for Environmental GIS Applications in Poland

A training center for environmental GIS applications was established at the Warsaw Agricultural University (WAU) in a cooperative effort of nine Polish and nine western European universities, as well as public authorities and private consulting companies. The project was part of the “Structural Joint European Project” entitled “Joint Curricula Development for Sil and WAter Resources Protection (SWARP)”, and funded under the framework of the TEMPUS program. In compliance with TEMPUS guidelines and national Polish priorities, promotion of GIS technology for environmental management was assigned a high priority, reflected in the specific objectives for the GIS training center: (1) to become a center of competence for environmental GIS applications, with up‐to‐date resources of hardware, software, staff and expertise; and (2) to promote the integration of GIS technology for environmental management into the educational programs of the partner institutions. This paper describes how support for hardware and software equipment, curricula development, transfer of expertise through intensive short courses and a staff mobility program was used to increase GIS infrastructure in Poland.

Combination of high precision space geodetic techniques: The Asia and Pacific Regional Geodetic Project 1997

The Asia Pacific Regional Geodetic Project 1997 (APRGP97) was undertaken under the auspices of the Working Group on Asia and the Pacific Regional Geodetic Networks, Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific, UN Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific. The planned major outcomes of the project, which includes the establishment (densification) of a high accuracy terrestrial reference frame with all space geodetic techniques fully integrated, and thus the infrastructure to consolidate all the national datums, are presented. During October 1997, a first set of observations comprising a week of GPS observations, two 24-hour VLBI experiments and a month of SLR, DORIS and PRARE were undertaken. A geodetic solution, estimating satellite orbits, earth orientation parameters and station coordinates, using this comprehensive data set has been computed. Individual computations for each of the techniques were combined both at the observation and normal equation level aiming to provide a consistent multi-technique space geodetic solution. This substantive regional data set which was observed through cooperating national agencies in the region for each technique, the computation procedure and standards employed at AUSLIG for the individual and combined solutions and the current results are presented. Further work, which will comprise of establishing a weighting regime for the different space geodetic observations in the combination solution, and a comparison of the combined solution to the ITRF96 set of station coordinates is noted.

TOWARDS A GLOBAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE: The Contribution of the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific

The current interest in the concept of a Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) is a direct response to the growing need to share spatial data and experience, between nations, in order to confront global issues such as sustainable development. The work being undertaken by the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific is contributing to the achievement of a GSDI by developing, firstly, a spatial data infrastructure for the Asia and Pacific region. This regional infrastructure provides a fundamental building block in the global infrastructure solution. This paper proposes that the regional approach being taken by the Permanent Committee is a model that can be applied in other regions of the world. Furthermore, this regional approach has the potential to resolve many of the barriers to global cooperation.