GIS Services Research Articles

A geoinformatikai módszerek kiaknázatlan lehetőségei a földrajzi kutatásokban a Modern Geográfia c. folyóirat példáján = Underutilized Potentials of GIS in Geographical Research: A Case Study of the Journal ‘Modern Geográfia’

Tésits, R., Tóth, E. Z., & Halmai, Á. (2024). Underutilized Potentials of GIS in Geographical Research: A Case Study of the Journal ‘Modern Geográfia’. Modern Geográfia, 19(4), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.15170/MG.2024.19.04.06 The study aims to analyze articles published in the scholarly journal ‘Modern Geográfia’, founded in Hungary but internationally indexed, with a focus on GIS usage. Authors used the journal’s website as a secondary source for content analysis. Primary data evaluation involved a summary table outlining relevant features of GIS-related articles. Through a questionnaire survey with previous authors, the study aimed to uncover reasons for limited GIS tool and service utilization. Additionally, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the staff of the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics (University of Pécs), gathering examples of untapped opportunities based on decades of teaching experience. It is observed that the diffusion of geoinformatics as an innovation appears to lose momentum among geographers. The continually expanding services are often unfamiliar to users, and in many cases, refreshing or supplementing existing knowledge could lead to significant progress.

An open web-based GIS service for biomass data in Finland

Reliable, up-to-date biomass data are needed for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency. Therefore, a calculation and reporting tool with thematic maps and data was developed. A free web-tool, Biomass Atlas, collects the spatial distribution of biomasses in Finland. Over 300 data layers present land use, cultivation, residual biomasses from forest, crop production, animal husbandry, municipalities, and industry at 1 km2 spatial resolution. The service enables calculations of biomass amount in a defined geographical area of interest and examining the opportunities and restrictions to utilise biomasses. The service was evaluated with six test-users in laboratory tests and 20 voluntary pilot test-users. Biomass Atlas shows the regional potential of biomaterials, fertilizer products, and renewable energy, as well as potential targets for utilized, recyclable biomass. Other possible uses include monitoring plant cover on fields and assessing land use diversity. Application enables users with no experience in GIS or biomass assessments to analyse biomass resources, produce maps and data summaries for decision making.

The Innovation of GIS Service Mode Based on “Grid Integration” and “Elastic Cloud”

Abstract This paper firstly investigates the theory and method of geospatial information services and grid integration model in the geographic information grid, intending to locate the parameter coordinates of the grid integration model into the GeoSOT-3D profiling framework. Secondly, the framework of the consumption structure between its services and cloud resources is established by the elastic cloud model based on the computation and storage capabilities provided by the shared grid infrastructure. And use the steady-state theoretical foundation for analysis to assess the service quality of each type of service and reflect the service quality of the GIS service model as a whole. Finally, a GIS service platform based on the grid integration model and elastic cloud model is constructed based on the existing open geographic information standards, service technology system, and grid technology. The research results show that the operation speed of the GIS service platform proposed in this paper is increased by 16.3%, the estimated cost has been reduced by 23.3%, and the service evaluation of the platform is improved by 43.6%. The GIS service platform based on the grid integration model and elastic cloud model has the advantages of global uniformity, multi-scale and spatial 2-3D consistency, which provides a new model with high economy and rapid response time for geographic information processing.

Characterizing Spatial Accessibility of COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Sites using Dasymetric Mapping and GIS

Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic accentuated existing health disparities in the U.S., inflicting staggeringly disproportionate rates of exposure, infection and death among racial and ethnic minority populations. Early evidence in 2020 had suggested that testing locations were not equitably accessible to racial/ethnic minority populations, and thus, increased the likelihood of unnoticed virus spread in minority communities. Additionally, racial/ethnic minority populations have been less likely to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as of February 2021, when vaccination had just started rolling out. In this study, we use Intelligent Dasymetric Mapping (IDM) and GIS Service Area analysis to examine spatial access to testing and vaccination sites in the Denver metropolitan area in January 2021, when testing and vaccination access was limited and competitive. Our results indicate that the racial/ethnic composition in total service areas with short walking- or driving-travel times was similar to the expected racial/ethnic composition of the Denver metro area, with minority populations slightly overrepresented in the total service areas. To ensure equitable vaccination and testing in minority communities in the future, in addition to ensuring spatial access, policymakers and health officials should increase community outreach, establish trust, and lower potential costs. Our study demonstrates the value of IDM in studying public health access.

Web GIS of Tourism: Voyage and Forecast

Web GIS is a kind of distributed information system, which consists of a client and a server, where the server is the GIS server and the client is a web application, desktop application, or mobile application. With the rapid development of technology, increasingly mature GIS technology has been applied in various fields, one of which is tourism. By using a web GIS, reviews related to a tourism object, and tourist locations in a particular area can be easily presented on a website. By utilizing this geographic information system, the potential of tourist attractions and public facilities can be mapped to the maximum, so that tourists can find a place more efficiently and not take long. This study aims to find out the further study the tourism GIS web research over the last 3 years. This study uses the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method where the search for the required papers comes from an electronic database obtained using the Vos Viewer and Publish or Perish software

GIS 서비스 권역 분석을 활용한 인천광역시 응급의료 취약지 분석

The purpose of this study was to identify underserved emergency medical service regions in Incheon Metropolitan City using service area analysis, an expansion module of the GIS network analysis technique, for emergency medical facilities and regional districts in Incheon Metropolitan City and to determine the policy implications of these findings. The results of the analysis confirmed that, in most areas in Incheon Metropolitan City, medical facilities could be accessed within 10 minutes. Second, to overcome the limitations of previous spatial analysis studies, the service beyond Incheon Metropolitan City was analyzed, including emergency medical facilities in surrounding service areas such as Bucheon and Siheung. It can be concluded that policies for establishing medical services and public service facilities in areas connecting to neighboring cities, such as Incheon, should consider not only Incheon Metropolitan City but also the surrounding areas.

Wind Waves Web Atlas of the Russian Seas

The main parameters of wind waves in the World Ocean are connected with global climate change. Renewable energy technologies, intensive shipping, fishery, marine infrastructure, and many different human marine activities in the coastal zone and open sea need knowledge about the wind-wave climate. The main motivation of this research is to share various wind wave parameters with high spatial resolution in the coastal zone via a modern cartographic web atlas. The developed atlas contains information on 13 Russian Seas, including the Azov, Black, Baltic, Caspian, White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, Bering Seas, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The analysis of wave climate was based on the results of wave modeling by WAVEWATCH III with input NCEP/CFSR wind and ice data. The web atlas was organized using the classic three-tier architecture, which includes a data storage subsystem (database server), a data analysis and publishing subsystem (GIS server), and a web application subsystem that provides a user interface for interacting with data and map services (webserver). The web atlas provides access to the following parameters: mean and maximum significant wave height, wave length and period, wave energy flux, wind speed, and wind power. The developed atlas allows changing the map scale (zoom) for detailed analysis of wave parameters in the coastal zones where the wave model spatial resolution is 300–1000 m.

Wavelet transforms based ARIMA-XGBoost hybrid method for layer actions response time prediction of cloud GIS services

Layer actions response time is a critical indicator of cloud geographical information services (cloud GIS Services), which is of great significance to resource allocation and schedule optimization. However, since cloud GIS services are highly dynamic, uncertain, and uncontrollable, the response time of layer actions is influenced by spatiotemporal intensity and concurrent access intensity, posing significant challenges in predicting layer action response time.To predict the response time of layer actions more accurately, we analyzed the data association of cloud GIS services. Furthermore, based on the characteristics of long-term stable trends and short-term random fluctuations in layer actions response time series, a wavelet transforms-based ARIMA-XGBoost hybrid method for cloud GIS services is proposed to improve the one-step and multi-step prediction results of layer actions response time.We generate a multivariate time series feature matrix using the historical value of the layer actions response time, the predicted value of the linear component, and the historical value of the non-linear component. There is no need to meet the traditional assumption that the linear and nonlinear components of the time series are additive, which minimizes the model’s time series requirements and enhances its flexibility. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our approach over previous models in the prediction of layer actions response time of cloud GIS services.

Study of changes in the boundaries of the «Rosha» micro-district of Chernivtsi

The study of the planning structure of settlements is quite relevant at the current stage. After all, this type of research makes it possible to ensure the most comfortable living conditions for the population and prospects for the development of the settlement. However, this type of research mainly concerns urban settlements in general or their administrative districts. As for the micro-districts of these same cities, several problematic moments hold scientists back. Chief among them is the limitation in primary statistical information that provides quantitative perception. Therefore, we conducted a study of the micro-district with the help of open Internet resources. With their help from the «OPENROUTSERVICE» internet resource, we calculated the estimated population of the micro-district. In this way, we calculated that about 10 % of the city’s entire population lives in the studied micro-district. We investigated changes in the built-up area of the micro-district in 1985, 2005, 2010, and 2020 using archival satellite images of the «Google Earth Pro» GIS service. In this application, we were able to calculate the total area of the neighborhood and separately the area of the built-up area. This information came in handy when calculating population density and building density. The results showed that the area of built-up areas increased almost three times in 35 years. So, according to the results of the research, the approximate population is 25 000 people with an average population density of 22.5 people/hectarе. The population density is slightly higher only in built-up areas and amounts to 32.5 people/hectarе. The built-up density of the territory of the micro-district is 69.2 %. Operating with actual indicators, we analyzed problematic and promising directions in the development of this part of the city.

NATIONAL LAND COVER MAPPING USING VARIOUS REMOTE SENSING DATASETS IN GEE

National land-cover maps are essential for the development of the countries as land-use patterns have shifted dramatically throughout the world in the previous decades. With the latest development in the remote sensing community, the power and ease of web-mapping and web-based map and GIS services have increased. This work investigates several datasets for land cover categorization on a national scale across North Macedonia (25,713 km2) using Sentinel images within Google Earth Engine (GEE), a cloud computing platform designed to store and process huge data sets for analysis and ultimate decision making. Both single and synergetic use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite images have been investigated. The basic land-cover components are generated, upon which the more detailed final land-cover/land-use data were derived and defined. Comparing the results of the datasets indicate the influence of the radar data over the optical data in land cover classification. Also, the influence of the investigated data over every class is calculated. The results showed that the various datasets lead to different overall accuracy. Also, the different datasets performed differently over single classes, even though their overall accuracy was the same. As a result, a high accuracy national-level land cover classification has been created. The results have been compared to the latest Corine data. The results can be critical to making informed policy, development, planning, and resource management decisions. This provided the standardized references from which landscape changes could be determined and quantified.

Development of New Performance Measures Based on Data Mining Weights for Hotspot Identification

In this study, new performance measures are proposed for hotspot identification in urban intersections. These measures reflect severity factor weights, which are determined based on data mining. To estimate the severity factor weights of crashes at urban intersections, the study utilizes tree-based random forest (RF) and extreme gradient boosting (XGB) methods. The importance of variables in the severity classification model is standardized and utilized for calculating the score of each crash, which is aggregated into intersections. The aggregated score is used as a dependent variable for the safety performance functions (SPFs) in the network screening process. To illustrate the under-dispersed severity score aggregation data, SPFs that follow the COM-Poisson distribution as well as the negative binomial (NB) are developed. Independent variables in SPFs set up intersection geometry elements that can be collected from online GIS services. Four additional performance measures are proposed, each reflecting a severity weight. Data about a total of 42,513 intersection crashes from 2017 to 2018 in South Korea were collected for crash injury severity analysis. Hotspot identification was performed on 81 intersections, and three consistency tests were conducted to validate the four measures. Tests show that the RF-based weighted [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] have the best consistency. Since the severity factor weights of each crash are reflected, intersections vulnerable to dangerous crashes can be analyzed in more detail. Using this method, it is expected that effective safety improvement project plans can be established with the input of safety managers in the future.

Using UX Personas to Improve Library GIS and Data Services

This study describes the process of persona-creation in a liberal-arts university well-integrated within a global network of Geographic Information System researchers. We introduce the concept of personas as an effective user experience research methodology with potential applications to academic library services. We detail the collection of data from high-level researchers as a way to inform the library’s strategic planning and programming. We present the results of the study in the form of three personas: Rachel the Novice, A.J. the Professor, and Jean-Paul the Big-Thinker. These results are specific to our institution, but the method itself can transfer to other contexts. We note the study’s limitations in the final analysis, and make suggestions for maintaining and refining the personas to accurately represent the community of users.

An interactive Web-GIS fluvial flood forecast and alert system in operation in Portugal

Floods are one of the natural disasters not preventable, affecting people and causing significant damage to economic activities and infrastructures. Thus, it is of foremost importance to, within a disaster risk-reduction strategy, develop a useful flood forecast and alert system to prevent people from suffering flood disasters and mitigate its consequences. This article presents the Flood Forecast and Alert System in operational mode since 2019 for the Águeda river basin located in Portugal’s centre region. This system is technologically advanced, differing from others since it uses a coupled real-time hydrologic and 2D hydrodynamic modelling supported on numerical weather prediction and a high-resolution digital terrain surface model. The system components are automatically activated and linked: i) a rainfall forecasting model (WRF), ii) a hydrological model (HEC-HMS), iii) a hydraulic model (HEC-RAS 2D), and a iv) Web-GIS platform. The hydrological model is forced with forecast precipitation for the next three days and updated every 6 h, which is crucial to generate pre-flood hazard maps. It also includes a Web GIS service for flood hazard dissemination available for civil authorities and citizens. A flood forecast and alert system is highly relevant to the community since, by enhancing knowledge, it provides the authorities responsible for assessing and managing the flood risk, responsiveness to disasters and timely decision-making, which is even more evident in the context of climate change.

GIS-monitoring of Regional Transport Network Traffic as a Method to Study Commuting: Moscow Region Case

The paper is aimed to analyse the labour mobility in the region using GIS services. Within the framework of the project, a methodology for continuous automatic collection and accumulation of information on the state of the transport network and weather conditions was developed, tested and implemented. Based on this information, it is possible to analyse the important factors of the regional economy: temporary and financial losses of residents of the Moscow Region on the home-to-work paths, as well as identify patterns of traffic congestion from various factors. The first results of the analysis of the accumulated data are presented, which demonstrate the commuting effects in the regional transport network.

Transdisciplinary consolidation of information invironments

The paper discusses an ontological approach to solving the problem of integrated use of Big Data through transdisciplinary semantic consolidation of information resources. The category of taxonomy is considered as a constructive for the formation of consolidated information, taking into account its semantics. The formation of a hyperset of taxonomies — taxonomic diversity — implements the consolidation of information resources, defined as a verbal-active function of interpreting a set of binary relations between all contexts reflecting the meanings of concepts that form the content of subject areas, whose information resources are involved in network interaction. The category of information consolidation, as a taxonomic diversity of information resources, is characterized by the existence of verbally active reflection and recursion. The concept of discourse is defined as the inter-contextual connectivity of network information resources, which is represented by verbal-active reflection, on the basis of which taxonomic diversity is realized. For consolidated network information, the format of narrative discourse is determined. The concept of an arbitrary taxonomy is defined as a term, which makes it possible to implement the process of forming taxonomies based on the use of sets of λ-terms. The topology of interaction of taxonomy concepts sets is represented as a set of marked Böhm trees. An example of the formation of the information resources consolidation in the study of historical and cultural heritage with the display of museum expositions in the format of 3D panoramas is given. An algorithm for the consolidation of 3D models of heritage conservation objects with network GIS services and network information resources is given.

Application of satellite data and GIS services for studying air pollutants in Lithuania (case study: Kaunas city)

Satellite remote sensing, with its relatively short history, is going to play a major role in the fields that encompass topics related to place and space. Through this innovation in technology, real-time monitoring and mapping of changing phenomena on the surface of the earth has been possible. The purpose of this study was to investigate and evaluate the Kaunas city air pollutants between 14 and 25 October 2019 using environmental station data and satellite data (Terra, Aqua, OMI, and Sentinel-5P). The data obtained from satellite and the pollutant data gathered from air quality monitoring stations located in different parts of Kaunas were used. The data was downloaded for days mentioned above for the geographical bound of Kaunas city. Each data file covered an area of the size of Lithuania; hence, we should have extracted data for the area of interest, which was Kaunas city. The overall results of this study confirmed the capability of Sentinel-5P data to be used in monitoring the air quality and air pollution over the Kaunas local area. The existence of strong and acceptable correlations between satellite data and in situ measurements was indicative of the ability of satellite images to monitor air pollution, particularly over Kaunas urban areas during the fire incident in the city of Alytus.

ERS-1/2 and Sentinel-1 SAR Data Mining for Flood Hazard and Risk Assessment in Lima, Peru

The coastline environment and urban areas of Peru overlooking the Pacific Ocean are among the most affected by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and its cascading hazards such as floods, landslides and avalanches. In this work, the complete archives of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s European Remote-Sensing (ERS-1/2) missions and European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 constellation were screened to select synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images covering the most severe and recent ENSO-related flooding events that affected Lima, the capital and largest city of Peru, in 1997–1998 and 2017–2018. Based on SAR backscatter color composites and ratio maps retrieved from a series of pre-, cross- and post-event SAR pairs, flooded areas were delineated within the Rímac River watershed. These are mostly concentrated along the riverbanks and plain, where low-lying topography and gentle slopes (≤5°), together with the presence of alluvial deposits, also indicate greater susceptibility to flooding. A total of 409 areas (58.50 km2) revealing change were mapped, including 197 changes (32.10 km2) due to flooding-related backscatter variations (flooded areas, increased water flow in the riverbed, and riverbank collapses and damage), and 212 (26.40 km2) due to other processes (e.g., new urban developments, construction of river embankments, other engineering works, vegetation changes). Urban and landscape changes potentially contributing, either detrimentally or beneficially, to flooding susceptibility were identified and considered in the overall assessment of risk. The extent of built-up areas within the basin was mapped by combining information from the 2011 Global Urban Footprint (GUF) produced by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Open Street Map (OSM) accessed from the Quantum GIS (QGIS) service, and 2011–2019 very high-resolution optical imagery from Google Earth. The resulting flooding risk map highlights the sectors of potential concern along the Rímac River, should flooding events of equal severity as those captured by SAR images occur in the future.

Use of a progressive web application for working with Earth remote sensing, topographic and cadastral data layers

This article proposes the use of the progressive web applications (PWA) for the geographic information systems’ (GIS) web user interfaces. The main advantages of this approach for GIS: use of arbitrary mobile and stationary devices; work in conditions of unstable connection to GIS server with fault-tolerant user input data delivery to the server, when the connection is restored; work offline with the information stored on client device, when the server is disconnected, and automatic synchronization of changed data, when the server connection is active; network traffic savings during data transfer. The above mentioned advantages are important for a number of practical applications in cadastral accounting and construction.

AN ELECTIVE COURSE, “GEOINFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN BUSINESS”: TEN-YEARS OF EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AT THE LOMONOSOV MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

Abstract. The author has been conducting an elective course on geoinformation technologies in business since 2011 at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School. More than 250 people became students of the course in the period from 2011 to 2020. The course offers seven basic thematic modules based on training cases in which GIS tools and services are widely used. An education ecosystem was formed to spread knowledge about geoinformation technologies and geodata in business.

An Analysis of the Preservation of Burial Mounds: A Case Study of the Steppe and Forest-Steppe Areas of the Belgorod Region and the Crimean Peninsula Using GIS Technology

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the capabilities of GIS technology to explore the spatial features of burial mounds within testing areas located in the Crimean Peninsula and the Belgorod region. A brief overview of information about the mounds and their distribution in the territory of Russia is given. Examples of GIS projects aimed at preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the mounds are presented. The possibilities for multidisciplinary research of the mounds are shown. The experience of holding events related to the protection of mounds in the Belgorod region was considered. The following data groups were used to conduct the study: the database of mounds, archival cartographic materials covering data on the research area since the 19th century; digital elevation models, and layers of land plots from the GIS server. The rate of loss of the mounds within the testing areas was determined using multi-temporal maps.