The GeoCitizen-approach: community-based spatial planning – an Ecuadorian case study

Over the last years, geospatial web platforms, social media, and volunteered geographic information (VGI) have opened a window of opportunity for traditional Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) to usher in a new era. Taking advantage of these technological achievements, this paper presents a new approach for a citizen-orientated framework of spatial planning that aims at integrating participatory community work into existing decision-making structures. One major cornerstone of the presented approach is the application of a social geoweb platform (the GeoCitizen platform) that combines geo-web technologies and social media in one single tool allowing citizens to collaboratively report observations, discuss ideas, solve, and monitor problems in their living environment at a local level. This paper gives an account of an ongoing participatory land-zoning process in the Capital District of Quito, Ecuador, where the GeoCitizen platform is applied in a long-term study.     

Integrating Web-based GIS and image processing tools for environmental monitoring and natural resource management

The combined powers of Web-based geographic information systems (GIS) and on-line remote sensing tools can significantly reduce the high cost and labor associated with environmental monitoring and natural resource management. This paper introduces an integrated Web-based GIS architecture by combining three levels of geographic information services (GIServices): data archive, information display, and spatial analysis. A prototype Web site, WGAT (Web-based GIS and Analytic Tools), has been developed to provide easy access of geospatial information and to facilitate Web-based image analysis and change detection capabilities for natural resource managers and regional park rangers. The Web-based integration framework emphasizes user-oriented services, distributed network environments, metadata standards, communication protocols, client/server computation, and ubiquitous access.This paper forms a portion of the Integrated Mobile GIS and Wireless Image Web Services for Environmental Monitoring and Management project supported by NASAs Affiliated Research Center (ARC) at San Diego State University. Funding by the NASA ARC program and matching funds from the San Diego State University Foundation are acknowledged and greatly appreciated. The author wishes to thank John Kaiser, the ARC program coordinator, and Dr. Douglas Stow, the ARC program Principle Investigator, for their coordination efforts on this project. Java programming was provided by Liang Guo, a geography graduate student at San Diego State University.     

An Evaluation of Internet Versus Paper‐based Methods for Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS)

Public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) are an increasingly important tool for collecting spatial information about the social attributes of place. The availability of Internet‐based options for implementing PPGIS presents new opportunities for increased efficiency and new modes of access. Here we used a mixed‐mode approach to evaluate paper versus Internet mapping methods for the same PPGIS survey in Wyoming. We compared participant characteristics, mapping participation, and the spatial distribution of mapped attributes between participants who responded to the paper versus Internet option. The response rate for those who completed the paper version of the survey was nearly 2.5 times the response rate of the Internet version. Paper participants also mapped significantly more places than did Internet participants (43 vs. 18). Internet participants tended to be younger, more likely to have a college degree, and had lived in the region for less time than paper participants. For all but one attribute there was no difference in the spatial distribution of places mapped between Internet and paper methods. Using a paper‐based PPGIS survey resulted in a higher response rate, reduced participant bias, and greater mapping participation. However, survey mode did not influence the spatial distribution of the PPGIS data.     

Improving geospatial query performance of an interoperable geographic situation‐awareness system for disaster response

Disaster response operations require fast and coordinated actions based on real‐time disaster situation information. Although crowdsourced geospatial data applications have been demonstrated to be valuable tools for gathering real‐time disaster situation information, they only provide limited utility for disaster response coordination because of the lack of semantic compatibility and interoperability. To help overcome the semantic incompatibility and heterogeneity problems, we use Geospatial Semantic Web (GSW) technologies. We then combine GSW technologies with Web Feature Service requests to access multiple servers. However, a GSW‐based geographic information system often has poor performance due to the complex geometric computations required. The objective of this research is to explore how to use optimization techniques to improve the performance of an interoperable geographic situation‐awareness system (IGSAS) based on GSW technologies for disaster response. We conducted experiments to evaluate various client‐side optimization techniques for improving the performance of an IGSAS prototype for flood disaster response in New Haven, Connecticut. Our experimental results show that the developed prototype can greatly reduce the runtime costs of geospatial semantic queries through on‐the‐fly spatial indexing, tile‐based rendering, efficient algorithms for spatial join, and caching, especially for those spatial‐join geospatial queries that involve a large number of spatial features and heavy geometric computation.     

Adopting cloud computing to optimize spatial web portals for better performance to support Digital Earth and other global geospatial initiatives

A spatial web portal (SWP) provides a web-based gateway to discover, access, manage, and integrate worldwide geospatial resources through the Internet and has the access characteristics of regional to global interest and spiking. Although various technologies have been adopted to improve SWP performance, enabling high-speed resource access for global users to better support Digital Earth remains challenging because of the computing and communication intensities in the SWP operation and the dynamic distribution of end users. This paper proposes a cloud-enabled framework for high-speed SWP access by leveraging elastic resource pooling, dynamic workload balancing, and global deployment. Experimental results demonstrate that the new SWP framework outperforms the traditional computing infrastructure and better supports users of a global system such as Digital Earth. Reported methodologies and framework can be adopted to support operational geospatial systems, such as monitoring national geographic state and spanning across regional and global geographic extent.     

Geospatial web services pave new ways for server-based on-demand access and processing of Big Earth Data

ABSTRACT

Big Earth Data has experienced a considerable increase in volume in recent years due to improved sensing technologies and improvement of numerical-weather prediction models. The traditional geospatial data analysis workflow hinders the use of large volumes of geospatial data due to limited disc space and computing capacity. Geospatial web service technologies bring new opportunities to access large volumes of Big Earth Data via the Internet and to process them at server-side. Four practical examples are presented from the marine, climate, planetary and earth observation science communities to show how the standard interface Web Coverage Service and its processing extension can be integrated into the traditional geospatial data workflow. Web service technologies offer a time- and cost-effective way to access multi-dimensional data in a user-tailored format and allow for rapid application development or time-series extraction. Data transport is minimised and enhanced processing capabilities are offered. More research is required to investigate web service implementations in an operational mode and large data centres have to become more progressive towards the adoption of geo-data standard interfaces. At the same time, data users have to become aware of the advantages of web services and be trained how to benefit from them most.     

Cartography and geographic information science at Penn State

Current research in the Cartographic and Geographic Information Sciences at Penn State emphasizes map design, geovisual analytics, spatiotemporal pattern detection, spatial cognition, CyberGIS, geographic information retrieval, image analysis, and novel methods for geospatial education. Cartography and GIScience research and education at Penn State is organized through groups such as the GeoVISTA Center and the Peter R. Gould Center in the Department of Geography, the Institute for CyberScience, and the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute. Recent achievements in these units have included advances in extracting geographic information from social media, novel methods for pattern analysis from event data, and the development of the first massive open online course in geography.     

A framework for connecting two interoperability universes: OGC Web Feature Services and Linked Data

Diverse studies have shown that about 80% of all available data are related to a spatial location. Most of these geospatial data are available as structured and semi‐structured datasets, and often use distinct data models, are encoded using ad‐hoc vocabularies, and sometimes are being published in non‐standard formats. Hence, these data are isolated within silos and cannot be shared and integrated across organizations and communities. Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) have emerged and contributed to significantly enhance data discovery and accessibility based on OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) Web services. However, finding, accessing, and using data disseminated through SDIs are still difficult for non‐expert users. Overcoming the current geospatial data challenges involves adopting the best practices to expose, share, and integrate data on the Web, that is, Linked Data. In this article, we have developed a framework for generating, enriching, and exploiting geospatial Linked Data from multiple and heterogeneous geospatial data sources. This proposal allows connecting two interoperability universes (SDIs, more specifically Web Feature Services, WFS, and Semantic Web technologies), which is evaluated through a study case in the (geo)biodiversity domain.     

Gottfried Konecny:the ambassador of photogrammetry and remote sensing for 75 years

A 90th birthday would be a milestone celebration for any person,but exceptionally rare if the person is still active after 75 years of working and serving the photogrammetric and remote sensing communities worldwide.This unprecedented career is the motivation to reflect on the technological developments of the past 75 years in the light of Gottfried Konecny's lifetime achievements.I started to get to know Gottfried not long before he officially retired from the Institute for Photogrammetry and Engineering Surveys in 1998.Furthermore,I was not even born when he,as a young and talented scholar supported by the Fulbright Scholarship from the US Government,arrived at the Ohio State University(OSU),which has been my professional home for three decades.In the second half of Gottfried's 75-year career,the technological changes have been phenomenal,and,furthermore,shown an accelerating trend in the past few years.It is absolutely remarkable how Gottfried has been able to keep up with these rapid changes and advancing technologies and exploits them for mapping and,in general,for all the users of the geospatial field at large.Additionally,his open-minded and kind personality has been always a major plus to his technical skills and experiences,and ultimately helped him assist many colleagues to advance their careers,and along the way developed and increased the use of geospatial data and systems in support of many countries worldwide.     

地理空间数据访问控制威胁模型及应对策略

针对由于缺少对地理空间数据访问控制安全威胁因素的详细分析使得现有的地理空间访问控制模型不够完善的问题,该文提出了地理空间数据访问控制安全威胁模型——STALE模型。该模型结合空间关系、多尺度、属性等地理空间数据特征,详细描述了地理空间数据文件与数据库在访问控制中存在的安全威胁。在此基础上,针对模型中各类威胁因素,提出了应对策略,并进行了实验验证,证明了STALE模型的实用性。     

多源地理空间矢量数据集成与融合方法探讨

针对人们对地理空间数据迫切需求,介绍了多源地理空间矢量数据产生的管理与技术原因及其5种表现形式,提出了多源地理空间矢量数据集成与融合的概念及其相互关系。论述了地理数据模型的融合、地理要素语义的融合和地理数据投影和坐标系的统一是多源地理空间矢量数据集成与融合基本理论与方法。给出了实现多源数据集成的数据格式转换、数据互操作和直接数据访问方法。最后,讨论了地理要素几何位置的融合,以及通过地理要素语义融合消除地理要素数据描述和属性差异的矢量数据融合方法。     

A Review of Sampling Effects and Response Bias in Internet Participatory Mapping (PPGIS/PGIS/VGI)

Global interest in participatory mapping described as public participation GIS (PPGIS), participatory GIS (PGIS), and volunteered geographic information (VGI) continues to grow, but systematic study of spatial data quality and sampling effects is limited. This article provides a review and meta‐analysis of Internet‐based PPGIS studies conducted during the period 2006–2015 (n=26) to answer the following research questions: (1) How does mapping effort, as a proxy measure for spatial data quality, differ by sampling group? (2) Does the purpose and context of PPGIS influence mapping results? (3) What is the potential for mapping bias through sampling design? (4) Given the results, what should be the focus of future PPGIS research? Mapping effort was highest in sampling groups whose livelihoods were closely related to the purpose of the study, there was greater mapping effort in household sampling groups compared to volunteer groups, and participant domicile had strong effects on mapped results through spatial discounting. The use of online Internet panels provides higher response rates but lower spatial data quality. Future research should focus on increasing sampling response rates, assessing social trade‐offs using alternative spatial weighting schemes, and examining the capacity of the public to select land use alternatives as a complement to traditional expert‐driven planning systems.     

智慧城市快速建设背景下的老旧社区智慧化改造探讨

我国城镇化在持续高速发展数十年后,城市系统慢慢形成了规模庞大的老旧社区。老旧社区总体智慧化水平较低,与居民智慧便捷的生活需求相矛盾。因此亟须一些合理的方案提升老旧社区的智慧化水平,从而更好地服务于社区居民,进一步推动城市的智慧化建设与发展。本文以广州市三眼井社区为例,介绍了老旧社区智慧化改造的关键技术,如CIM、5G、云计算、人工智能技术等,提出了切实可行的老旧社区改造建设方案,包括社区服务、智慧安防、智能基础设施、公共信息安全、智能居家养老等,为智慧城市建设中的老旧社区智慧化改造提供了有价值的参考。     

The Roles of Web Feature and Web Map Services in Real-time Geospatial Data Sharing for Time-critical Applications

Many time-critical applications such as emergency response, location-based services, and real time traffic management need instant access to diverse data to make quick decisions and take instantaneous actions. However, two issues block time-critical applications to quickly acquire and integrate spatial data over the web: (1) the heterogeneity of existing GIS systems, and (2) the file-level data sharing systems over the web. This research examines current open standards, protocols, and technologies capable of solving the two issues for real-time spatial data sharing over the web. Focusing on investigating the role of Web Feature Services (WFS) and Web Map Services (WMS), this research has developed a solution for real-time geospatial data sharing at the feature level over the web. A prototype has been implemented to query, extract, create, delete, update, and map geographic features stored in web-accessible OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) simple feature datastores for transportation emergency applications. The prototype results show that the OGC WFS and WMS play important roles in real-time geospatial data sharing and exchange from heterogeneous sources at the feature level for time-critical applications. The WFS and WMS eliminate time-consuming data translation and facilitate reuse of existing geospatial data over the web. Several issues related to the solution are also discussed in the paper.     

3-D Geovisualization of satellite images on smart devices by the integration of spatial DBMS,RESTful API and WebGL

Recent technological advancements in web-based geographic information systems have enabled access to satellite images on smart devices. The Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture overcomes difficulties that are associated with conventional data communications on the web, and the Web Graphics Library (WebGL) can be used as an alternative to web-based three-dimensional geographic visualization (3-D geovisualization) due to its efficient image processing capabilities. This paper describes a 3-D geovisualization system that was developed for satellite images on smart devices by integrating a spatial database management system (DBMS), a RESTful application programming interface (API), and WebGL. Spatiotemporal objects were constructed for time-series satellite images within a DBMS and a RESTful API was built for spatiotemporal queries to the time-series database so that the requested satellite data could be represented in 3-D on smart devices using WebGL. Satellite images that are represented in WebGL give a more realistic 3-D experience when they are combined with terrain data and provide for intuitive observations of the relationships between pixel values and associated geospatial conditions. This paper shows that a creative combination of existing technologies can be used to enhance and display satellite images on smart devices for 3-D geovisualization.     

Fundamental aspects of access control for geospatial data

Abstract

In recent years, geographical information systems have been employed in a wide variety of application domains, and as a result many research efforts are being devoted to those upcoming problems. Geospatial data security, especially access control, has attracted increased research interests within the academic community. The tendency towards sharing and interoperability of geospatial data and applications makes it common to acquire and integrate geospatial data from multiple organisations to accomplish a complex task. Meanwhile, many organisations have the requirement for securing access to possessed sensitive or proprietary geospatial data. In this heterogeneous and distributed environment, consistent access control functionality is crucial to promote controlled accessibility. As an extension of general access control mechanisms in the IT domain, the mechanism for geospatial data access control has its own requirements and characteristics of granularity and geospatial logic. In this paper, we address several fundamental aspects concerning the design and implementation of an access control system for geospatial data, including the classification, requirements, authorisation models, storage structures and management approaches for authorisation rules, matching and decision-making algorithms between authorisation rules and access requests, and its policy enforcement mechanisms. This paper also presents a system framework for realising access control functionality for geospatial data, and explain access control procedures in detail.     

基于CORBA的开放式GIS构建

现代信息技术的变革使网络技术与GIS的结合日益紧密 ,从而促进了开放GIS技术的研究。开放式GIS研究的目的是提供一套具有开放界面规范的通用组件 ,开发者根据这些规范开发出交互式组件 ,从而实现不同种类地理数据和地理处理方法间的透明访问。文中主要讨论了基于CORBA的开放式GIS的网络系统构建技术 ,使用户能在分布式的多服务器且存在异构的网络环境中共享地理空间数据。     

Spatial Annotation Technology for Public Deliberation

Many public policies and decisions deal with geospatially expressed problems that are complex and controversial in nature. Broad participation of all interested parties in the form of deliberative dialogues is crucial to making trustworthy decisions. However, supporting deliberative dialogues on spatial problems places unique requirements for technology mediation that go beyond the current state of research on public participation geographical information systems (PPGIS) and related technologies. In this article, we analyze the challenges of facilitating effective deliberation processes and highlight the progress needed to support spatially-enabled public deliberation technologies. Then, we present our GeoDeliberative Annotation Technology (GeoDAT) as a framework for addressing the above challenges. GeoDAT uses spatial annotation objects as models for deliberative artifacts, and manages annotations by a spatial data model that reflects the ecological relationships among annotations, visual contexts, discussion threads, spatial referents, and the cognitive states of their holders. As a proof of the concept, we have implemented GeoDeliberator based on the GeoDAT framework. GeoDeliberator is based on Web 2.0 technology and implemented in AJAX technology, and it offers some unique spatial annotation capture, retrieval and visualization capabilities, such as context memory, reference to multiple geo-objects in one annotation, inferring and visualizing new relations using spatial-temporal and thread-based reasoning, and user-controlled annotation sharing. We demonstrate the utility of GeoDeliberator through a simulated scenario where a community in a university campus deliberates on the alternative courses of actions available for building a smoke-free campus.     

“You know you can do this,right?”: developing geospatial technological pedagogical content knowledge and enhancing teachers’ cartographic practices with socio-environmental science investigations

Many barriers exist to K–12 classroom teachers’ adoption and implementation of geospatial technologies with their students. To address this circumstance, we have developed and implemented a geospatial curriculum approach to promote teachers’ professional growth with curriculum-linked professional development (PD) to support the adoption of socio-environmental science investigations (SESI) in an urban school environment that includes reluctant learners. SESI focus on social issues related to environmental science. The pedagogy is inquiry-driven, with students engaged in map-based mobile data collection and subsequent analysis with Web-based dynamic mapping software to answer open-ended questions. Working with four science and social studies teachers, we designed and implemented a sequence of three locally oriented, geospatial inquiry projects that were implemented with 140 9th grade students. We investigated how the geospatial curriculum approach impacted the teachers’ geospatial pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), their cartographic practices, and promoted geospatial thinking and analysis skills with their students. Findings revealed strong growth in teachers’ geospatial PCK, increased map use by teachers, use of maps as media for inquiry and not didactic instruction, and modeling to guide students’ geospatial analysis using GIS. Implications for PD to promote teachers’ geospatial PCK and in-class cartographic practices are discussed.     

Choosing GIS graduate programs from afar: Chinese students' perspectives

With the increasing demands for geospatial analytics in industry and academia, the need for Geographic Information Systems/Science (GIS) education is on the rise. A growing number of departments in geography have launched or expanded their GIS graduate programs. However, the factors influencing students choosing GIS programs have not been examined yet. In this study, we looked at Chinese students applying for overseas GIS programs and examined factors influencing their decision-making. We distributed the survey in GISphere, one of the largest GIS international student communities, and 84 valid questionnaires were returned. We analyzed the spatial and demographic patterns of Chinese students applying for overseas GIS programs. We identify five main factors that affect their choices of GIS programs: (1) education quality and awareness, (2) physical, social, and political environments, (3) improved employment prospects, (4) personal recommendations, and (5) the application process. Our study offers implications for the development of GIS graduate programs. We anticipate that the conclusions drawn from this research will benefit and advance geography and GIS education globally.