Traditional Geographic Information System Research Articles

A new geospatial overlay method for the analysis and visualization of spatial change patterns using object-oriented data modeling concepts

Traditional geographic information system (GIS)-overlay routines usually build on relatively simple data models. Topology is – if at all – calculated on the fly for very specific tasks only. If, for example, a change comparison is conducted between two or more polygon layers, the result leads mostly to a complete and also very complex from–to class intersection. A lot of additional processing steps need to be performed to arrive at aggregated and meaningful results. To overcome this problem a new, automated geospatial overlay method in a topologically enabled (multi-scale) framework is presented. The implementation works with polygon and raster layers and uses a multi-scale vector/raster data model developed in the object-based image analysis software eCognition (Trimble Geospatial Imaging, Munich, Germany). Advantages are the use of the software inherent topological relationships in an object-by-object comparison, addressing some of the basic concepts of object-oriented data modeling such as classification, generalization, and aggregation. Results can easily be aggregated to a change-detection layer; change dependencies and the definition of different change classes are interactively possible through the use of a class hierarchy and its inheritance (parent–child class relationships). Implementation is exemplarily shown for a change comparison of CORINE Land Cover data sets. The result is a flexible and transferable solution which is – if parameterized once – fully automated.

THE USING OF ENTERPRISE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) IN THE MANAGEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL IN EGYPT (THE STATE OF QATAR’S EXPERIENCE AS A PILOT MODEL)

This paper shows the importance of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques’ in their potentials to support decision making in the areas of planning, which managements, institutions and working organizations, especially future regional and habitable development field strategies seek; GIS and RS technologies with their special potentials to analyze, observe, register and unravel, besides many other features which the nature of those fields of study requires and which depends on a lot of spatial and descriptive information. GIS practices vary in the field of comprehensive and sustainable development. It is used in the management of the natural resources and environmental protection; as well as in the analysis of recurring functions and recurring activities during the management of cities; the controlling of habitant areas, and management of crisis and disasters; which is totally dependent on the adequacy and efficiency of information technology, which has become one of the most important industries that costs billions of dollars and accommodates thousands of employers all over the world; it is even taught in schools and universities worldwide Many organizations and institutions that rely on Geographic information System technology lay stress on its great role and view it from a new perspective different from the traditional Personal GIS one. The new perspective Enterprise GIS uses specialdatabases, which cure and analyze groups of different cases and studies in many fields. The most wide spread prominent Enterprise systems is the National Enterprise GIS which is executed by many governments around the world. Qatar’s experience is the first andmost important worldwide overall experiment in National Enterprise GIS. It has become a unique model which many countries seek imitate such as Panama, Kuwait and many Arabic Gulf countries. This paper will study Qatar’s experience and take it as a role model guide to see how far it can be applied in the development of Egypt. Keywords: Geographic Information System, GIS, Enterprise GIS, Comprehensive Development

Addressing Semantic Geographic Information Systems

The progressive consolidation of information technologies on a large scale has been facilitating and progressively increasing the production, collection, and diffusion of geographic data, as well as facilitating the integration of a large amount of external information into geographic information systems (GIS). Traditional GIS is transforming into a consolidated information infrastructure. This consolidated infrastructure is affecting more and more aspects of internet computing and services. Most popular systems (such as social networks, GPS, and decision support systems) involve complex GIS and significant amounts of information. As a web service, GIS is affected by exactly the same problems that affect the web as a whole. Therefore, next generation GIS solutions have to address further methodological and data engineering challenges in order to accommodate new applications’ extended requirements (in terms of scale, interoperability, and complexity). The conceptual and semantic modeling of GIS, as well as the integration of semantics into current GIS, provide highly expressive environments that are capable of meeting the needs and requirements of a wide range of applications. [...]

Challenges in developing and implementing a decision support systems (ETÇAP) in forest management planning: a case study in Honaz and Ibradı, Turkey

Decision support systems (DSSs) are indispensable tools in preparing a forest management plan for a better combination of multiple forest values. This study attempted to develop and explain a stand-based forest management DSS (Ecosystem-based multiple-use forest planning [ETÇAP]) comprising a traditional simulation, linear programming (LP), metaheuristics and geographic information system. The model consists of five submodels; traditional management approach to handle inventory data, an empirical growth and yield model, a simulation to conceptualize management actions, a LP technique to optimize resource allocation and a simulated annealing approach to directly create a spatially feasible harvest schedule. The ETÇAP model has been implemented in a comparative two case study areas; Denizli–Honaz and Akseki–Ibradı. Both simulation and optimization models outperformed to the traditional management plan. The periodical change of growing stock, allowable cuts, carbon sequestration and water production are used as performance indicators. The results showed that more amount of wood could be harvested over time compared to traditional level of harvesting. It could be concluded that various management strategies allowed managers to stimulate more decision options for better outputs through intertemporal trade-offs of management interventions as the model provided tools to quantify forest dynamics over time and space. Challenges exist to establish the functional relationships between forest structure and values for better quantification and integration into the management plans.

Underground pipe network spatial analysis in large plant with ArcGIS

To resolve the problem that underground pipe network of plant is large,complex and difficult to manage,the C/S+B/S mixed development model based on the ArcGIS platform was used.This paper aimed to transfer the spatial analysis of the traditional Geographic Information System(GIS) from C/S to B/S.Collision detection algorithm and efficient linear interpolation method were used in B/S client,and moreover an optimized relational database management model was proposed.The system running results show that the system could make spatial analysis of the invisible underground pipe network better and more effective,and achieve the digital management of underground pipe network in large plant.

Application of Virtual Visualization in Smart Power Distribution System

With the increasing development of the power system, particularly, with the proposing of smart grid and the applying of distributed generation technology, the traditional geographic information system (GIS) which relies on the tables, graphs, has become more and more difficult to meet the needs of power system equipment management, and planning. Three-dimensional (3D) GIS has developed to meet the requirement appropriately. In this paper, we choose ArcGIS as the development platform, ESRI CityEngine 2011 and Google SketchUp as the 3D modeling software. By combining the virtual reality(VR) technology and image synthesis technology, a 3D power distribution system is established, which realizes the 3D physical simulation of the transmission lines, electrical equipment, power distribution stations, and distributed generators. This methodology provides a new vision for the modernization of the power distribution system management.

AN AUTOMATED END-TO-END MULTI-AGENT QOS BASED ARCHITECTURE FOR SELECTION OF GEOSPATIAL WEB SERVICES

Abstract. Over the past decade, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web services have gained wide popularity and acceptance from researchers and industries all over the world. SOA makes it easy to build business applications with common services, and it provides like: reduced integration expense, better asset reuse, higher business agility, and reduction of business risk. Building of framework for acquiring useful geospatial information for potential users is a crucial problem faced by the GIS domain. Geospatial Web services solve this problem. With the help of web service technology, geospatial web services can provide useful geospatial information to potential users in a better way than traditional geographic information system (GIS). A geospatial Web service is a modular application designed to enable the discovery, access, and chaining of geospatial information and services across the web that are often both computation and data-intensive that involve diverse sources of data and complex processing functions. With the proliferation of web services published over the internet, multiple web services may provide similar functionality, but with different non-functional properties. Thus, Quality of Service (QoS) offers a metric to differentiate the services and their service providers. In a quality-driven selection of web services, it is important to consider non-functional properties of the web service so as to satisfy the constraints or requirements of the end users. The main intent of this paper is to build an automated end-to-end multi-agent based solution to provide the best-fit web service to service requester based on QoS.

Interactive analysis of time intervals in a two-dimensional space

Time intervals are conventionally represented as linear segments in a one-dimensional space. An alternative representation of time intervals is the triangular model (TM), which represents time intervals as points in a two-dimensional space. In this paper, the use of TM in visualising and analysing time intervals is investigated. Not only does this model offer a compact visualisation of the distribution of intervals, it also supports an innovative temporal query mechanism that relies on geometries in the two-dimensional space. This query mechanism has the potential to simplify queries that are difficult to specify using traditional linear temporal query devices. Moreover, a software prototype that implements TM in a geographical information system (GIS) is introduced. This prototype has been applied in a real scenario to analyse time intervals that were detected by a Bluetooth tracking system. This application shows that TM has the potential to support a traditional GIS to analyse interval-based geographical data.

Inclusão da variável tempo em sistemas de informação geográfica

To incorporate the temporal element in traditional geographic information systems (GIS) is a challenge that has been researched for many years and has had several proposed solutions. In order to insert time in GIS, several issues must be taken into consideration, and this study addresses some of them. Firstly, we present the stages in the development of space-time GIS. Then, we discuss the issue of data representation in GIS and present the concepts related to the temporal dimension in the context of GIS. Next, the semantics of spatio-temporal data is discussed. We then define the functions that a GIS with spatial and temporal characteristics must meet and address the issue of supporting queries. Finally, we present some of the main models developed for the representation of spatio-temporal GIS.

High-performance computing tools for the integrated assessment and modelling of social–ecological systems

Integrated spatio-temporal assessment and modelling of complex social–ecological systems is required to address global environmental challenges. However, the computational demands of this modelling are unlikely to be met by traditional Geographic Information System (GIS) tools anytime soon. I evaluated the potential of a range of high-performance computing (HPC) hardware and software tools to overcome these computational barriers. Performance advantages were quantified using a synthetic model. Four tests were compared, using: a) an Arc Macro Language (AML) GIS script on a single central processing unit (CPU); b) Python/NumPy on 1–256 CPU cores; c) Python/NumPy on 1–64 graphics processing units (GPUs) with high-level PyCUDA abstraction (GPUArray); and d) Python/NumPy on 1–64 GPUs with low-level PyCUDA abstraction (ElementwiseKernel). The GIS implementation effectively took 15.5 weeks to run. Python/NumPy on a single CPU core led to a speed-up of 59× compared to the GIS. On a single GPU, speed-ups of 1473× were achieved using GPUArray and 4881× using ElementwiseKernel. Parallel processing led to further performance enhancements. At best, the ElementwiseKernel module in parallel over 64 GPUs achieved a speed-up of 63,643×. Open source tools such as Python applied across a spectrum of HPC resources offer transformational and accessible performance improvements for integrated assessment and modelling. By reducing the computational barrier, HPC can lead to a step change in modelling sophistication, including the better representation of uncertainty, and perhaps even new modelling paradigms. However, migration to new hardware and software environments also has significant costs. Costs and benefits of HPC are discussed and code tools are provided to help others migrate to HPC and transform our ability to address global challenges through integrated assessment and modelling.

Google Earth as a virtual globe tool for Earth science applications at the global scale: progress and perspectives

Research on global environmental change requires new data processing and analysis tools that can integrate heterogeneous geospatial data from real-time in situ measurement, remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GISs) at the global scale. The rapid growth of virtual globes for global geospatial information management and display holds promise to meet such a requirement. Virtual globes, Google Earth in particular, enable scientists around the world to communicate their data and research findings in an intuitive three-dimensional (3D) global perspective. Different from traditional GIS, virtual globes are low cost and easy to use in data collection, exploration and visualization. Since 2005, a considerable number of papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings from a variety of disciplines. In this review, we examine the development and applications of Google Earth and highlight its merits and limitations for Earth science studies at the global scale. Most limitations are not unique to Google Earth, but to all virtual globe products. Several recent efforts to increase the functionalities in virtual globes for studies at the global scale are introduced. The power of virtual globes in their current generations is mostly restricted to functions as a ‘geobrowser’; a better virtual globe tool for Earth science and global environmental change studies is described.

Platforms and viability of mobile GIS in real‐time hydrological models

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the practicality of an application called the mobile geographic information system (GIS). The authors' purpose was to focus specifically on the mobile GIS application in a prototype, mobile‐based model that is utilized for detecting flood warnings and issuing forecasts. At the end of this research project, a usability study was carried out in a test‐lab environment.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, research is presented regarding the architecture of a structure that has been built on practicality. Readers will learn about a system that is applicable within a vast array of turning‐point situations where rainfall data are communicated to the system in real time.FindingsIt has been revealed that traditional GIS and remote sensing software packages are not as cost‐effective as GIS services that are mobile. Mobile GIS systems have the capability to combine GIS, global positioning system, and remote sensing abilities for retrieving geospatial data sets at costs that are not as pricey as the traditional systems. As time moves on, the need for reliable real‐time data sets is increasing. Additionally, flood management examination provides a valid debate for the combining of mobile GISs within the realm of hydrology. Empirical evidence insinuates and illustrates reliability of GIS and the enhancement in the utilization and creation of devices that are offer mobile capabilities. The usability study revealed that the slope, aspect, watershed, and flow direction functions were not easy to comprehend. It was also discovered during the usability study that the word arrangement, radio button arrangement, and dropdown list caused confusion amongst users. The issue that was deemed as most severe, that was discovered during the usability study, was the blurred comprehension that users experienced regarding the digital elevation model.Research limitations/implicationsBefore the wisest solution can be pinpointed, all of the associated constraints of mobile GIS mapping application need to be identified; however, enough constraints have already been identified to bring to a close that a basic mobile GIS mapping application could created and triumphantly used. There are many platforms to choose from in regards to providing a solution to a feasible incorporation of the mobile GISs into the playing field. It should be decided which browser‐based strategy would serve as the highest of benefit based on characteristics that are important to consumers, such as affordability, ease‐of‐use, user‐friendly coding, and acceptability by users.Originality/valueThis research is highly indicative that mobile GIS would be of great benefit for future studies within the realm of disaster monitoring management. The research presented in this paper can be deemed as original due to the fact that it is a study about the utilization of mobile technologically‐advanced gadgets that provide data analysis for flooding in real time. Moreover, these highly technologically‐advanced devices are cost‐effective compared to those in the past.

Temporal-spatial variability and fractal characteristics of soil nitrogen and phosphorus in Xinji District, Hebei Province, China

Traditional statistics, geostatistics, fractal dimensions, and geographic information systems (GIS) were employed to study the temporal-spatial variability of soil total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) levels in Xinji District, Hebei Province area of the North China Plain from 1980 to 2007. The results indicate that nutrient levels follow normal or lognormal distributions. The TN content was 0.59 ± 0.155 g kg( -1) in 2007, an increase of 0.44 g kg( -1) compared with that of 1980. In 2007, the TP content was 1.21 ± 0.227 g kg( -1), an increase of 0.01 g kg( -1) from 1980. The geostatistical analysis showed that the distribution of these soil nutrients in the study area exhibits a trend and anisotropy. The range and [C (0)/(C (0) +C)] of TN and TP in 1980 were all less than in 2007. The ordinary kriging interpolation method was used to analyze the nutrient contents differences between 1980 and 2007. The results indicate that soil TN levels have increased over the 27-year period, and the area where the TN level had increased by at least 0.4 g kg( -1) was about 61.7% of the district. The area where the TP content increased covered about 58.4% of the district. The variance analysis indicated that land-use type had a clear influence on the distribution and change in TN and TP content. Using the 3-D box-counting dimension method combined with GIS, the fractal dimension of soil nutrient spatial distribution over the two periods showed that in 27 years, the fractal dimension of TN increased from 1.95 to 2.02, and the fractal dimension of TP increased from 1.89 to 2.01, indicating that the complexity of the spatial distribution of all nutrient contents had increased. This study can provide a basis for accurate fertilizing and to enhance the conversion of soil characteristics under different spatial scales.

The Geospatial Web and local geographical education

Recent innovations in the Geospatial Web represent a paradigm shift in Web mapping by enabling educators to explore geography in the classroom by dynamically using a rapidly growing suite of impressive online geospatial tools. Coupled with access to spatial data repositories and User-Generated Content, the Geospatial Web provides a powerful environment for incorporating geographical analysis into mainstream education. While traditional expert-driven Geographic Information Systems are endowed with powerful tools and techniques to analyze and solve spatial problems, the Geospatial Web allows all levels of users to perform spatial analysis and generate customized maps more easily than ever before. The Geospatial Web promises to revolutionize the ways in which students explore concepts of space and place at geographical scales from the local to the global.

A common sense geographic knowledge base for GIR

As background knowledge of geographic information retrieval (GIR), the gazetteers have their limitations. In this paper we propose to develop and implement a common sense geographic knowledge base (CSGKB) instead of the gazetteers. We define that CSGKB is concerned with the representation of geographic knowledge in human brain and the simulation of geographic reasoning in daily life. Traditional geographic information system (GIS) is based on the model of map with its data based on geographic coordinates and its computation based on geometry. However, CSGKB, which is made up of geographic features and relationships and is based on qualitative spatio-temporal reasoning, can be viewed as the direct model of geographic world. This paper also discusses the characters of CSGKB and presents its structure which is composed of knowledge base, inference engine, geographic ontology and learner. The applications using CSGKB include geographic information retrieval (GIR), natural language processing (NLP), named entity recognition (NER), Semantic Web, etc. At present, our work focuses on the design of geographic ontology and the implementation of the CSGKB knowledge base. In this paper we describe the CSGKB ontology structure, top ontology, geographic location ontology, spatial relationship ontology, and domain ontologies. Finally, we introduce the current state of implementation of CSGKB and give an outlook on our future researches.

Temporal and spatial variability of soil organic matter in a county scale agricultural ecosystem

In agricultural ecosystems, soil organic matter (SOM) is a major determinant and indicator of soil fertility and quality, and is closely related to crop productivity. This paper examines the temporal and spatial variation of SOM in Pinggu district at a county scale using data for 1980 and 2005 and traditional statistics, geostatistics, and geographic information system (GIS) analyses. Pinggu district, Beijing, China is an area characterised by changing farming practices and land uses. A lognormal distribution feature was observed for both datasets, and the difference between them was significant (t‐test). The geostatistical characteristics were analysed using a GIS platform. The distributions of SOM content in 1980 and 2005 both exhibited a linear trend and anisotropy. Spherical semivariogram models and relative parameters were developed. The spatial distribution maps for 1980 and 2005 were generally similar, with the SOM content increasing gradually from south‐west to north‐east. The difference between the two maps was determined using map algebraic functions and was found to show considerable spatial change. Changes in farming practices and land use are thought to be the main reason for the temporal change. Therefore, a combination of geostatistics and GIS map algebra provides a useful tool for examining spatiotemporal changes in the environmental sciences and may detect features that are not discernible when only conventional statistics are used.

A multigranular object‐oriented framework supporting spatio‐temporal granularity conversions

Several application domains require handling spatio‐temporal data. However, traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and database models do not adequately support temporal aspects of spatial data. A crucial issue relates to the choice of the appropriate granularity. Unfortunately, while a formalisation of the concept of temporal granularity has been proposed and widely adopted, no consensus exists on the notion of spatial granularity. In this paper, we address these open problems, by proposing a formal definition of spatial granularity and by designing a spatio‐temporal framework for the management of spatial and temporal information at different granularities. We present a spatio‐temporal extension of the ODMG type system with specific types for defining multigranular spatio‐temporal properties. Granularity conversion functions are introduced to obtain attributes values at different spatial and temporal granularities.

A New Model of Geographic Information Librarianship: Description, Curriculum and Program Proposal

Traditional map librarianship has evolved and now takes in many digital resources, including GIS (geographic information systems) data. Historically, ALA-accredited schools of library/information science have not provided comprehensive programs to support traditional print map librarianship nor more recently GIS librarianship professions, as compared to other specializations, such as music librarianship, archives management and others which have been established for many years. Currently, we are experiencing a merging and expansion of the map and GIS librarianship specialties into the field of Geographic Information Librarianship. This paper defines this new area of specialization, describes the need for this expertise in the profession and outlines a proposed curriculum and student recruitment in an interdisciplinary setting. Introduction A new area of librarianship, rooted in traditional map and GIS librarianship, is emerging. Geographic Information Librarianship (GIL) can be broadly defined as the profession of providing geographic information resources and services in a library setting. This new definition of GIL is intentionally broad and has three areas of expertise; (1) cartographic materials cataloging; (2) print map librarianship; and (3) GIS librarianship. While each area of expertise requires unique skills sets, each compliments and builds on the other two. GIL builds upon traditional library skills along with geographic information science and technology, where in the best possible setting, the librarian knows the community and serves the clientele with appropriate as well as appropriate technologies.1 Geographic Information Librarianship supports all media (paper to digital) that contain geographic information. This new specialization embraces the larger library community's move toward a bricks and clicks service model, specifically for cartographic data, often described as a geospatial information center. How can we build upon the current offerings at ALA accredited schools of information and library science to both promote and train for this new specialization? The academic journey to prepare the Geographic Information Librarians (GILs) with the necessary skills sets requires an enhancement to the traditional library curriculum track to ensure the librarians acquire an appropriate understanding of the organizational methods associated with cartographic resources (classification and metadata), cartographic principles, and a proficient GIS knowledge base. The purpose of this article is to define the scope of GIL as a profession and explore potential curriculum models within LIS programs to implement a GIL specialization. Background of Map and GIS Librarianship Cartographic information, traditionally stored in print maps, atlases, and aerial photos has evolved and merged into various digital formats. Many standard map reference resources are no longer offered in print and are only available digitally in the form of an interactive web interface. Two such examples are the USGS National Atlas, published in 1970, available online since 1997, and the US Census Bureau who released TIGER/Line files in 1989, and now hosts an interactive website entitled, American FactFinder. This shift from print to digital format has resulted in new ways that society views, understands, and employs maps. Maps are now incorporated into processes where geographic and topical data can be transformed into information that addresses real world issues and research questions. MacEachren's, How Maps Work, makes the point that are moving away from a form of representation and end-product to a larger role as part of an information infrastructure, a means of communication, and as a tool to facilitate analysis and decision making.2 The impact of this shift associated with the medium change of geographic information (paper to digital) and the application of maps to facilitate decision-making processes has had a ripple effect on map libraries. …

Spatial Analysis and Modeling Tool (SAMT): 1. Structure and possibilities

This paper presents an overview of the integrated Spatial Analysis and Modeling Tool (SAMT). SAMT has been designed to integrate models from different sciences such as economics and ecology. This is necessary for the evaluation of sustain ability of landscapes. Traditional geographic information systems and modeling systems have specific limitations. To overcome such limitations, the new tool has been developed with the emphasis on interactive spatial simulation. Major advances are inclusions of methods of expert knowledge (fuzzy models) and extract models from examples (such as neural networks).

Architecture design of grid GIS and its applications on image processing based on LAN

Computer technology and its relative subjects developed at very high speed in recent years, so is geo-information science, including Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and global position system (GPS). But with the increase of data, many data cannot be used efficiently because of the tremendous amount of data and information and the difficulty of process and transfer through network. So how to develop internet technology to solve these problems becomes a difficult problem for current computer experts and geo-science experts. Fortunately, grid computing provides us the method to solve this problem effectively. Grid computing is a resources sharing model presented by computer experts to solve current network resources imbalance problem. Basing on the application of grid computing on geographical information system (GIS), this paper analyzes the weakness and problems of traditional GIS, and then gives the method to solve these problems with the technology provided by grid computing and web services. After analyzing the characteristic of grid computing this paper expatiates on current application status of grid computing on GIS and the problems it faces, with the technology of middleware, this paper presents the architecture of grid GIS and lists the techniques it needs. In conclusion, this paper concludes that the distributing middleware architecture based on grid geographic markup language (GridGML) and web services technique is a good solution to current problems, this architecture can also solve those problems such as effective resources sharing through internet and advancing international application's efficiency, at last we discuss its implementation process based on LAN.