Interactive Digital Maps Research Articles

An Experience of Presenting Cultural Attractions and Tourism Services Using Google Maps Technology in Matrouh Governorate, Egypt

This study explores the experience of implementing digital maps through utilizing Google Maps and Geodatabase Technologies to create for the first time an Interactive Digital Tourist Map for one of Egypt's interesting destinations, Matrouh Governorate. This digital map, as expected, will give more visitors the ability to explore deeply the area and make their visit more enjoyable. Data was collected through official documents and reports about the area of study, then it was digitized using mapping technology. The results are presented through a main digital map that illustrates the natural and cultural attractions as well as other tourism sites and services across the Governorate as an initiative from the researchers to promote tourism in Matrouh within national and global scale.

Geographic Information System for Mapping New Entrepreneurs in West Java

The purpose of this study is to build interactive digital maps as a system to add data to new entrepreneurs in West Java Province. The research method used was descriptive analysis method. This method describes how researchers are trying to find facts and information in situations or present events systematically, factually and accurately. This research has two stages, namely the stage of data collection and the software development stage. The results of the study indicate that: (1) Availability of an integrated database for new entrepreneurial members, and (2) Availability of digital maps as a media for monitoring the spread of new entrepreneurs in West Java. Data collection on new entrepreneurial members who still use manual methods, where entrepreneurs who will register as training members are required to write personal data on a piece of the form provided by the committee at the training center and cooperative. Moreover, now a digital map has been created as a media for monitoring the spread of new entrepreneurs in West Java. The impact of this research is that it can facilitate top-level management in monitoring the distribution of new entrepreneurial information in each city/district and providing an integrated data collection system in West Java.

INTERACTIVE SYSTEM FOR DIGITAL PRESENTATION OF CULTURAL ROUTES AND SPECIALIZED COLLECTIONS

: This article discusses issues related to the design of interactive applications which aim to demonstrate human interaction with computer systems in areas including creative industries, cultural tourism and education. Investigations related to the digitization of special collections of cultural property in the Veliko Turnovo region are going to be presented. Various processes are described for the documentation and digitization of specialized archives. Ways and methods are discussed for generation and digital presentation of thematic collections and routes of cultural history in the Veliko Turnovo region. A specific module with interactive digital resource maps is created which are stored in North+ Digital Center repositories. It presents a model for creating an interactive system in need for visually impaired people. This model also ensures the usability of the interactive system for people with disabilities. Digitized objects in archives, thematic cultural routes and collections can be used for educational purposes in studying the cultural heritage of the North+ region.

Water use spatio-temporal mapping linked to hydraulic fracturing across the Eagle Ford Play, Texas (USA)

Massive development of unconventional resources using hydraulic fracturing (HF) procedures, has been carried out since the last three decades, with focus on Texas, USA, including the Eagle Ford (EF) play. International concerns have been raised regarding water and environmental impacts closely related to shale production. The aim of this paper is to map spatio-temporal trends of HF development (water use and well density) examining the entire production period in the EF. We used FracFocus as the main source of HF information, from 2009 to 2017. Our database managed in Python, SAGA GIS and QGIS, comprised 15,013 oil and gas well records. Statistical results show that median HF water use has been progressively increasing over time, from ~18,000 m3/well (2010) to ~38,000 m3/well (2017). Mapping results illustrate that both well density and HF water use peaked in 2014, whereas the area required for HF encompassed ~16,800 km2 or ~70% of the play surface area. We summarize our results in a public domain interactive GIS-based digital map.

USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATIONAL SYSTEM (GIS) TECHNOLOGY TO ANALYZE AND MAP THE HUMAN LIFE COURSE

This purpose of this study was to demonstrate use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for narrative case analysis and digital mapping of the human life course. Data for this examination originated from the Oklahoma 100 Year Life Project, a collection of N = 111 oral history accounts gathered from centenarians residing in the state of Oklahoma. Using a single-case analysis approach, GIS software technology was used to analyze storytelling content within a transcribed oral history narrative. Narrative content analysis was transformed into an interactive digital story map which combined the use of text, images, maps, and multimedia content into a display of a 100-year life course. This story map resulted in the emergence of several key themes which highlighted the interconnection between child and family development, collective social experiences, human migration patterns, occupational mobility, and dying, death, and bereavement across historical time, place, and space. The resulting story map further captured the contributing role of human agency relative to shaping generative concern and personal legacy within family, community, and society. Implications for educators, researchers, and clinical practitioners who seek to use GIS technology as an analytical approach, translational method, or instructional tool for the exploration, analysis, and dissemination of human aging will be highlighted.

Digital geologic map and geochronologic, geochemical and geothermal database of the south-eastern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico


 
 
 We present a first interactive digital geological map of the southeastern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental at its borders with the Mesa Central. The area of the geological cartography covers approximately 120,000 km2 that includes part of the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Durango. The geology has been compiled in ArcGIS through an interpretation of all the information available in the literature, integrated with our own geological mapping. Published maps were georeferenced and, as far as possible, the traces of the geologic limits and structures with a clear morphological expression were refined using digital elevation models and satellite images available in Google Earth. The map includes 15 geological units and the main tectonic structures. The informal geological units used in the map are chronostratigraphic and lithological and are designed to highlight the main magmatic episodes that shaped the region. The age assignment for each unit has been compared with a geochronological database that includes 304 ages. The lithological classification of each polygon has been compared for consistency with a geochemical database compiled from the literature that includes 313 samples. We also added a layer of information with the main hot springs of the region and their temperature. 
 
 

Silent Maps as Professional Communication: Intersections of Sociospatial Considerations and Information Accessibility

Using interactive digital maps is now common practice for most universities. Increasingly, more users are introduced to their academic workplaces through online content such as Google Street View and virtual tours. Students with disabilities depend on environmental information to navigate the barriers they face on campus. While most webmasters for postsecondary institutions in the United States know their legal obligations for accommodation in the delivery of web content, legal conformance does not necessarily reflect awareness for social or spatial considerations in the design of campus digital maps. This study discusses an accessibility audit and content analysis of these interactive maps.

Digital Geologic Cartography and Geochronologic Database of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and Adjoining Areas

We present the first interactive digital geologic map of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). The area covered by the cartography span 10° of Longitude (106°- 96° W) and 2°45’ of Latitude (19°-21°45’ N). The geology has been compiled in ArcGIS through an interpretation of all the information available in the literature and integrated with our own geologic mapping. Published maps were digitized from printed copies; when possible, the location of features with clear morphological expression was corrected using digital elevation models within the GIS. The map includes 36 geologic units, faults, volcanic vents, and calderas. The informal geologic units used in the compilation are chronostratigraphic and lithologic and were designed to emphasize the main volcanic episodes that make up this volcanic province. The age assignment for each unit has been cross-checked with a geochronologic database that includes 2009 ages, which can be displayed on the map with access to their attributes. Lithology of each polygon has been also checked against a large geochemical database compiled from the literature.

Encountering Place: Mapping and Location-Based Games in Interdisciplinary Education

ABSTRACTIn this paper we propose the use of ‘Encountering’ a location-based game (LBG) based on the Wherigo platform to facilitate interdisciplinary student learning about places on field courses. Deploying a mobile, digital map-based platform addresses significant challenges – such as the sacrifice of context specificity and methodological applicability and depth. It also runs the danger of ‘gamifying’ the fieldwork, blinding the participant to their own agency and emergent encounters. Interactive and layered digital map interfaces have affordances that can potentially overcome such challenges. We claim that one such affordance is the ability to play through the map. In other words, maps – and digital maps in particular – offer the possibility of decoupling results-orientated actions from free-form serendipitous engagement with the field. Our argument is two-fold. First, that LBG toolsets such as Wherigo can provide a ‘common ground’ for students engaging in place-based interdisciplinary research, by providing a material, cartographic basis for playful investigation. Second, that they can facilitate the production of ‘spaces of epistemological failure’, allowing students to challenge taken-for-granted conceptual and methodological axioms within and across disciplines.

La Carta geoturistica della Provincia di Avellino (Campania): un esempio di interazione virtuosa tra SIT e Geoturismo

This paper illustrates a project, developed in a Geographic Information System (GIS), about the promotion and dissemination of geo-sites and geomorphosites identified in the Avellino Province territory (Campania). The aim of the project is the realization of a training/educational/cognitive route about the geo-environmental assets of the Hirpinian territory so that different users will use and managed it by Hi-Tech devices and similar products. The geo-tourist resources could complete a local tourist offer that is still not fully exploited. This has already happened in other protected areas in Italy and foreign countries. The update of tourist offer would also contribute to the economic development of local communities and, at the same time, it would be an upgrade to the advanced technological knowledge and the dissemination of attractive resources of the Hirpinian territory.Various GIS databases designed to achieve thematic maps that could potentially be exploited as online geo-tourist maps or as tools for spatial planning. About sixty geosites and geomorphosites, some partially known and others completely new, were counted in the study area and then information/cognitive file-cards were created in Access and imported into GIS (QGIS 2.6 v. open source). Thanks to the development and overlap of acquired metadata, new and more complete interactive digital maps were obtained. They can be used as informational support and easily managed in Hi-Tech service systems platforms.

Covering the Last Kilometer: Using GIS to Scale-Up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Services in Iringa and Njombe Regions, Tanzania.

Based on the established protective effect of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in reducing female-to-male HIV transmission, Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) embarked on the scale-up of VMMC services in 2009. The Maternal and Child Health Integrated Project (MCHIP) supported the MOHSW to roll out VMMC services in Iringa and Njombe, 2 regions of Tanzania with among the highest HIV and lowest circumcision prevalence. With ambitious targets of reaching 264,990 males aged 10-34 years with VMMC in 5 years, efficient and innovative program approaches were necessary. Outreach campaigns, in which mobile teams set up temporary services in facilities or non-facility settings, are used to reach lesser-served areas with VMMC. In 2012, MCHIP began using geographic information systems (GIS) to strategically plan the location of outreach campaigns. MCHIP gathered geocoded data on variables such as roads, road conditions, catchment population, staffing, and infrastructure for every health facility in Iringa and Njombe. These data were uploaded to a central database and overlaid with various demographic and service delivery data in order to identify the VMMC needs of the 2 regions. MCHIP used the interactive digital maps as decision-making tools to extend mobile VMMC outreach to "the last kilometer." As of September 2014, the MOHSW with MCHIP support provided VMMC to 267,917 men, 259,144 of whom were men were aged 10-34 years, an achievement of 98% of the target of eligible males in Iringa and Njombe. The project reached substantially more men through rural dispensaries and non-health care facilities each successive year after GIS was introduced in 2012, jumping from 48% of VMMCs performed in rural areas in fiscal year 2011 to 88% in fiscal year 2012 and to 93% by the end of the project in 2014. GIS was an effective tool for making strategic decisions about where to prioritize VMMC service delivery, particularly for mobile and outreach services. Donors may want to consider funding mapping initiatives that support numerous interventions across implementing partners to spread initial start-up costs.

Un Sistema Informativo Territoriale per la valorizzazione delle risorse geoturistiche del Parco Naturale Regionale del Taburno-Camposauro (Campania)

This paper illustrates a project, developed in a Geographic Information System (GIS), about the promotion and dissemination of geo-sites and geo-morpho-sites identified in the Regional Natural Park of Taburno-Camposauro in the province of Benevento in Campania. The aim of the project is the realization of a possible training/educational/cognitive route about the goods and the environmental resources of the Park so that different users will use and managed it by Hi-Tech devices and similar products. The geo-tourist resources could complete a local tourist offer that is still not fully exploited. This has already happened in other protected areas in Italy and foreign countries. The update of tourist offer would also contribute to the economic development of local communities and, at the same time, it would be an upgrade to the advanced technological knowledge and the dissemination of attractive resources of the area of the Park.Various GIS databases designed to achieve thematic maps that could potentially be exploited as online geo-tourist maps or as tools for spatial planning. Forty-six geosites and geomorphosites, some partially known and others completely new, were counted in the Park and then information/cognitive file-cards were created in Access and imported into GIS (QGIS 1.8 v. open source) Thanks to the development and overlap of acquired metadata, new and more complete interactive digital maps were obtained. They can be used as informational support and easily managed in Hi-Tech service systems platforms.

The Stz’uminus Storied Places Project: A Community-Based Digital Mapping Project to Mobilize Indigenous Place Names and Place-based Stories

Many layers of knowledge are embedded within Indigenous-language place names, including, but not limited to, the physical appearance of the environment, resource procurement, cultural identity, history and place-based stories. In the face of the increasingly prevalent reality that Elders are passing away and taking with them a wealth of knowledge, it is crucial that Indigenous place names and the stories associated with them are documented and passed to younger generations. The Stz’uminus Storied Places Project aims to mobilize place-based knowledge about Stz’uminus traditional territory through a community-based research process, where youth meet with Elders and film their place-based stories, as well as a video-embedded digital map. The interactive digital map, with its ability to embed layers of multi-media, attempts to document and communicate an integrated representation Indigenous perspectives of named places.

A neural network based intelligent system for tile prefetching in web map services

Web mapping has become a popular way of distributing interactive digital maps over the internet. Instead of dynamically generating map images on the fly, those can be pre-generated and served from a server-side cache for faster retrieval. However, these caches can grow unmanageably in size when the cartography covers mid to large areas for multiple rendering scales. This forces modest organizations to use partial caches containing just a subset of the total tiles, and makes their services less attractive than other mapping services like Google Maps or Microsoft Bing Maps. This work proposes a neural-network-based intelligent system that predicts which areas are likely to be requested in the future from a catalog of geographic features and a short history of past requests. These priority regions can be used by a tile prefetching policy to achieve an optimal population of the cache. Neural networks are trained and validated using supervised learning with real data-sets from a public nation-wide web map service. Trace-driven simulations demonstrate that accurate long-term predictions, up to 90% in terms of cache-hit ratio, can be obtained with the proposed model by prefetching a low fraction, only the 20% of the total tiles, and with a short training period.

MapScholar: A Web Tool for Publishing Interactive Cartographic Collections

MapScholar is an open-source Web tool that encourages humanities researchers to gather, analyze, and share images of historical maps. It is designed to open access to map images, visualize maps as collections within rich geospatial contexts, and enhance traditional publishing by making it easy to produce interactive, high-resolution map displays. Despite its enormous potential, map history has always been limited by the challenges of reproducing dense images printed and drawn on fragile paper artifacts. MapScholar capitalizes on the increasing availability of digital images to foster breakthroughs in map analysis and interpretation. By enabling any scholar to create an interactive digital map collection that can be “published” to illustrate a book or article, this new digital humanities tool seeks to put maps at the center of the new spatial turn in the humanities.

Evaluating Changes in Regional Tissue Perfusion Following Percutaneous Lower Extremity Revascularization Procedures With a Hyperspectral Image-Based Tissue Oxygenation Mapping System

This study established the feasibility of using applied imaging spectroscopy to replace or supplement existing adjuncts in the evaluation and follow-up of patients with chronic limb ischemia undergoing percutaneous revascularizations. This is an ongoing prospective investigation studying the use of a commercially available hyperspectral-imaging camera in patients undergoing endovascular procedures for chronic limb ischemia. Images of the dorsal surface of the foot were obtained across various wavelengths of light before and after intervention. Spectroscopic measures were used to assess capillary oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and oxygen saturation values at each pixel in the image. The data are displayed as interactive digital color maps, demonstrating heterogeneous perfusion throughout the entire foot and allowing morphologic and quantitative analysis. Periprocedural changes were compared against existing noninvasive tests, such as ankle-brachial indices and the Rutherford classification. Revascularized patients were reimaged after the procedure and at 6 weeks, and 3, 6, and 12 months. Of 46 enrolled patients having lower extremity limbs amenable to endovascular treatment (Rutherford grades 1-3), 17 completed all preprocedure and postprocedure visits. For deoxyhemoglobin there was statistically significant overall decrease from visits 1-6 (P = .04), and between visit 6 and baseline (P = .02). For oxyhemoglobin and oxygen saturation, there was a clinically suggestive increase from visits 1-6, but neither the overall trend nor the difference between visit 6 and baseline were statistically significant. ABI did not prove to be a sensitive enough indicator to detect a change over the 1-year period (P = .97). Although our results lack adequate statistical power, they suggest that hyperspectral imaging may be a useful, noninvasive imaging modality to aid in the assessment of peripheral perfusion after percutaneous lower extremity revascularization procedures. We will continue to accrue patients to examine whether hyperspectral imaging can demonstrate clinically important and statistically significant findings of improved tissue oxygenation and decreased deoxygenation, and reliably replace ankle-brachial index to assess the success of lower extremity intervention for chronic limb ischemia.

Evaluating Changes in Regional Tissue Perfusion Following Percutaneous Lower Extremity Revascularization Procedures with a Hyperspectral Image-based Tissue Oxygenation Mapping System

To establish the feasibility of using applied imaging spectroscopy to replace or supplement existing adjuncts in the evaluation of patients with chronic limb ischemia undergoing percutaneous revascularizations. This is an ongoing prospective study of a commercially available hyperspectral imaging (HSI) camera, enrolling patients undergoing endovascular procedures for chronic limb ischemia. Images of the dorsal surface of the foot are obtained across various wavelengths of light before and after intervention. Spectroscopic data are used to measure capillary oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and oxygen saturation (StO2) values. These data are displayed as interactive digital color maps, demonstrating heterogeneous perfusion throughout the entire foot and allowing morphologic and quantitative analysis. Periprocedural changes are compared against existing noninvasive tests. Revascularized patients are re-imaged at regular intervals for up to one year post-procedure. Of 25 enrolled patients having lower extremity limbs amenable to endovascular treatment (Rutherford grades 1-4), 15 subjects (17 limbs) completed their pre- and post-procedure visits. Of these, 11 subjects (13 limbs) also completed their six week and three month visits. All limbs demonstrated a post-procedural change in their HSI profile. There was a statistically significant increase in StO2 following revascularization that persists at three months (from 32% ± 2% to 41% ± 9%, P = .01). The increase corresponds with an increase in the ankle-brachial index (ABI), which also persists at three months (0.75 ± 0.06 to 0.94 ± 0.05, P = .02). The increase in StO2 predominantly resulted from 32% average decrease in Hb-Deoxy (60 ± 4 to 41 ± 4, P = .004). Total hemoglobin in tissue also decreased following treatment (90 ± 7 to 70 ± 6, P = .04). HSI is an effective noninvasive imaging modality in the assessment of peripheral perfusion after percutaneous lower extremity revascularization procedures. The ease of use, precision of regionally discrete data, and strong correlation with widely-accepted noninvasive measures such as ABI suggests that HSI will be a valuable addition to the vascular lab.

Virtual maps–virtual worlds: Testing the usability of a greek virtual cultural map

AbstractThe authors report on the findings of a usability test conducted to evaluate the usability of the VeriaGrid online system. The VeriaGrid (www.theveriagrid.org) is a prototype virtual map that focuses on the provision of information related to the cultural heritage of the city of Veria (Greece). It has been developed under the Light Project by the Central Public Library of Veria (www.libver.gr). It is an interactive application that includes various functional or thematic areas such as an interactive digital map of Veria, image gallery, videoclips, panoramic site photos, and general information about the city of Veria. The findings of the usability test revealed that users had some difficulties in using novel features of the digital map (such as the Recommended Points and the Routes functions) and finding textual information about cultural heritage of the city of Veria. Users, however, were satisfied with the overall usability of the system. In light of these findings, some recommendations for improving the usability of the system are made.

Ontology-based search for interactive digital maps

Our main objective is to develop user-centric services to support better governance, democratic processes, and a sustainable and balanced development of rural and urban areas around the North Sea. A bike trip example offers a detailed look at the GeoShare Network's technologies, including ontologies for describing vocabularies and catalogs. We also discuss about the spatial data infrastructure consisting of a spatial reasoner, a Web catalog service, distributed Web map services, and a generic Web map client and about the ontology-based search for interactive digital maps.

Security from space

Satellites have gained a prominent role in the US's toughened homeland protection plan and many companies are set to benefit. Satellites have an important role in monitoring and protecting infrastructure and many companies are planning to capitalise on America's emergent homeland security market. According to an October 2002 study by the Electronics and IT Association, they could be competing for up to ÷n-worth of business, which could grow to $12bn by 2008. Of course, only a small percentage of this would go to satellite companies, but this has not stemmed the flow of new ideas. As part of the Homeland Security initiative, NASA and the Department of Transportation are considering how commercial satellite imagery could be applied to other potential terrorist targets such as airports. By developing interactive digital maps, they hope to illustrate their use not only in planning airport security improvements, but also in guiding rescuers through the devastation following an incident. Eventually, it is envisaged that real-time ground radar data could be incorporated to help detect suspicious aircraft or vehicle movements.