从Google Maps看我国全球化地理信息服务面临的挑战和对策

以Google Maps为代表的地图服务的推出预示着全球化地理信息服务的开始。IT领域竞争市场的形成、高分辨率卫星影像的应用及Web地理信息服务开发平台的实现是全球化地理信息服务的主要趋势。面对全球化地理信息服务发展机遇,我国面临地理数据库建设、地理信息市场社会化与地理信息区域均衡发展的严峻挑战。在分析我国地理信息服务面临挑战的基础上,从数字化建设、地理信息服务市场培育、卫星遥感技术商业化发展3方面提出我国地理信息服务发展的对策与建议。     

Predicting demand for 311 non-emergency municipal services: An adaptive space-time kernel approach

Many cities in the United States and Canada offer a 311 helpline to their residents for submitting requests for non-emergency municipal services. By dialing 311, urban residents can report a range of public issues that require governmental attention, including potholes, graffito, sanitation complaints, and tree debris. The demand for these municipal services fluctuates greatly with time and location, which poses multiple challenges to effective deployment of limited resources. To address these challenges, this study uses a locally adaptive space-time kernel approach to model 311 requests as an inhomogeneous Poisson process and presents an analytical framework to generate predictions of 311 demand in space and time. The predictions can be used to optimally allocate resources and staff, reduce response time, and allow long-term dynamic planning. We use a bivariate spatial kernel to identify the spatial structure and weigh each kernel by corresponding past observations to capture the temporal dynamics. Short-term serial dependency and weekly temporality are modeled through the temporal weights, which are adaptive to local community areas. We also transform the computation-intensive parameter estimation procedure to a low dimensional optimization problem by fitting to the autocorrelation function of historical requests. The presented method is demonstrated and validated with sanitation service requests in Chicago. The results indicate that it performs better than common industry practice and conventional spatial models with a comparable computational cost.     

The World's Import Trade and the United States' Share Therein

Abstract

Many student geography organizations or clubs associated with colleges and universities undertake community service projects each year to meet local needs and to gain recognition within the community. A uniquely geographical project of playground map painting provides a great community service and goes one step further by incorporating elements of quality service-learning for the geography club members. Painting projects for large school playground maps of the world, United States, or home state are student-planned and student-run. The final painted map can be used for geographic education in elementary schools by conveying basic spatial and geographic relationships. This article will detail a proven method of producing a colorful, useful playground map that can be employed by geography clubs as a service-learning activity and used by educators in elementary schools.     

国内外生产性服务业空间集聚的研究进展

20世纪90年代以来,作为服务业中重要一支的生产性服务业正成为推动我国大城市经济增长的重要力量和体现城市经济职能的主要方面。本文在对产业集聚和服务业区位等相关理论回顾的基础上,对目前国内外生产性服务业空间集聚的主要研究内容和研究方法进行了详尽梳理。总体来看,围绕着区域和大都市内两个尺度,生产性服务业空间集聚的研究取得了明显进展,但同时尚存在一些不足:①偏重于空间集聚的格局研究,对其演变过程研究相对薄弱;②空间集聚的机理研究稍显不足,缺乏规律的总结;③研究方法上大多将制造业集聚的测度模型移植到生产性服务业,其适用性和针对性尚需进一步探讨。今后应围绕"测度辨识—格局过程—作用机理",运用定性、定量与空间分析综合集成的方法,继续深化和完善生产性服务业集聚的地理学研究。     

Estimating spatial efficiency using cyber search,GIS, and spatial optimization: a case study of fire service deployment in Los Angeles County

ABSTRACT

The efficiency of public investments and services has been of interest to geographic researchers for several decades. While in the private sector inefficiency often leads to higher prices, loss of competitiveness, and loss of business, in the public sector inefficiency in service provision does not necessarily lead to immediate changes. In many cases, it is not an entirely easy task to analyze a particular service as appropriate data may be difficult to obtain and hidden in detailed budgets. In this paper, we develop an integrative approach that uses cyber search, Geographic Information System (GIS), and spatial optimization to estimate the spatial efficiency of fire protection services in Los Angeles (LA) County. We develop a cyber-search process to identify current deployment patterns of fire stations across the major urban region of LA County. We compare the results of our search to existing databases. Using spatial optimization, we estimate the level of deployment that is needed to meet desired coverage levels based upon the location of an ideal fire station pattern, and then compare this ideal level of deployment to the existing system as a means of estimating spatial efficiency. GIS is adopted throughout the paper to simulate the demand locations, to conduct location-based spatial analysis, to visualize fire station data, and to map model simulation results. Finally, we show that the existing system in LA County has considerable room for improvement. The methodology presented in this paper is both novel and groundbreaking, and the automated assessments are readily transferable to other counties and jurisdictions.     

基于地理格网分级法提取的中国传统村落空间分布

中国传统村落真实地记录了建筑、民俗民风和较原始的民居空间形态,是千百年来人类与自然和谐共存的生活基础。随着城市化进程加快,传统村落的存续受到了很大的挑战,为了更好地保护利用传统村落,对其进行多视角的研究尤为重要,除了微观层面的具体保护措施外,还应加强宏观层面的空间分布研究。地理格网是表达复杂地理现象、综合分析自然与人文数据、模拟地理系统功能与行为的基本方法。本文从百度影像地图提取村落坐标,并截取遥感影像作为村落点数据的判断补充,在此基础上,运用地理格网的分级法,对国家公布的三批中国传统村落(2555个)数据进行空间格局分析,结果表明：这些村落主要分布在中国东南部,如落在一级格网Ⅰ18、Ⅰ19就分别有586、781个村落,占三批传统村落总数的96.6%。通过对二级和三级格网的村落分布离散性进行分析,使传统村落的空间分布数据结构更加系统和清晰有序,为合理构建其数据库提供了框架基础。     

Location approximation for local search services using natural language hints

Local search services allow a user to search for businesses that satisfy a given geographical constraint. In contrast to traditional web search engines, current local search services rely heavily on static, structured data. Although this yields very accurate systems, it also implies a limited coverage, and limited support for using landmarks and neighborhood names in queries. To overcome these limitations, we propose to augment the structured information available to a local search service, based on the vast amount of unstructured and semi‐structured data available on the web. This requires a computational framework to represent vague natural language information about the nearness of places, as well as the spatial extent of vague neighborhoods. In this paper, we propose such a framework based on fuzzy set theory, and show how natural language information can be translated into this framework. We provide experimental results that show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques, and demonstrate that local search based on natural language hints about the location of places with an unknown address, is feasible.     

LOST-Tree: a spatio-temporal structure for efficient sensor data loading in a sensor web browser

We present LOST-Tree, a new spatio-temporal structure to manage sensor data loading and caching in a sensor web browser. In the same way that the World Wide Web needs a web browser to load and display web pages, the World-Wide Sensor Web needs a sensor web browser to access distributed and heterogeneous sensor networks. However, most existing sensor web browsers are just mashups of sensor locations and base maps that do not consider the scalability issues regarding transmitting large amounts of sensor readings over the Internet. While caching is an effective solution for alleviating the latency and bandwidth problems, a method for efficiently loading sensor data¹ from sensor web servers is currently missing. Therefore, we present LOST-Tree as a sensor data loading component that also manages the client-side cache on a sensor web browser. By applying LOST-Tree, redundant transmissions are avoided, enabling efficient loading with cached sensor data. We demonstrate that LOST-Tree is lightweight and scalable, in terms of sensor data volume. We implemented LOST-Tree in the GeoCENS sensor web browser for evaluation with a real sensor web dataset.     

Analysis of spatial patterns of public attention on housing prices in Chinese cities: A web search engine approach

Housing price has become one of the most pressing issues facing urban residents in China in recent years and received considerable attention. However, detailed housing price data are often ill-documented or unavailable for the public, thus posing a grand challenge for the study of housing prices in China. Because individuals' Internet search activities can be recorded by web search engines, the analysis of these web search activities in cyber-space may provide a means of better understanding public attention and associated concerns in real geographic space. In this study, we focus on exploring the spatial patterns of public attention on housing price through the analysis of web query activities based on Baidu Index, a Chinese keyword analysis tool from Baidu web search engine. We propose a new index based on keyword query outcome from Baidu search database to analyze spatially heterogeneous patterns of housing price attention from 19 large and medium-sized cities in China. We evaluate the spatial network structure of housing price attention, and develop a new index to measure the intensity of interaction relationships among cities of interest. Our results show that spatial interactions of housing price attention between cities evaluated using the new method are consistent with those from a gravity model. Meanwhile, as revealed from Baidu Index-based indicators, strong spatial association patterns exist among cities that form urban agglomerations. Further, our results demonstrate that the web search engine approach, based on the coupling of cyber-space and geographic space, provides solid support for the study of housing price attention and its spatially explicit patterns in China.     

Ensemble adaptive tile prefetching using fuzzy logic

Prefetching is a process in which the necessary portion of data is predicted and loaded into memory beforehand. The increasing usage of geographic data in different types of applications has motivated the development of different prefetching techniques. Each prefetching technique serves a specific type of application, such as two-dimensional geographic information systems or three-dimensional visualization, and each one is crafted for the corresponding navigation patterns. However, as the boundary between these application types blurs, these techniques become insufficient for hybrid applications (such as digital moving maps), which embody various capabilities and navigation patterns. Therefore, a set of techniques should be used in combination to handle different prefetching requirements. In this study, a priority-based tile prefetching approach is proposed, which enables the ensemble usage of various techniques at the same time. The proposed approach manages these techniques dynamically through a fuzzy-logic-based inference engine to increase prefetching performance and to adapt to various exhibited behaviours. This engine performs adaptive decisions about the advantages of each technique according to their individual accuracy and activity level using fuzzy logic to determine how each prefetching technique performs. The results obtained from the experiments showed that up to a 25% increase in prefetching performance is achieved with the proposed ensemble usage over individual usage. A generic model for prefetching techniques was also developed and used to describe the given approach. Finally, a cross-platform software framework with four different prefetching techniques was developed to let other users utilize the proposed approach.     

Same space – different perspectives: comparative analysis of geographic context through sketch maps and spatial video geonarratives

ABSTRACT

The importance of including a contextual underpinning to the spatial analysis of social data is gaining traction in the spatial science community. The challenge, though, is how to capture these data in a rigorous manner that is translational. One method that has shown promise in achieving this aim is the spatial video geonarrative (SVG), and in this paper we pose questions that advance the science of geonarratives through a case study of criminal ex-offenders. Eleven ex-offenders provided sketch maps and SVGs identifying high-crime areas of their community. Wordmapper software was used to map and classify the SVG content; its spatial filter extension was used for hot spot mapping with statistical significance tested using Monte Carlo simulations. Then, each subject’s sketch map and SVG were compared. Results reveal that SVGs consistently produce finer spatial-scale data and more locations of relevance than the sketch maps. SVGs also provide explanation of spatial-temporal processes and causal mechanisms linked to specific places, which are not evident in the sketch maps. SVG can be a rigorous translational method for collecting data on the geographic context of many phenomena. Therefore, this paper makes an important advance in understanding how environmentally immersive methods contribute to the understanding of geographic context.     

A Commentary on the Use of Touch for Accessing On‐Screen Spatial Representations: The Process of Experiencing Haptic Maps and Graphics

The growth of the Internet and the digital revolution have meant increased reliance on electronic representations of information. Geospatial information has been readily adapted to the world of cyberspace, and most Web pages incorporate graphics, images, or maps to represent spatial and spatialized data. But flat computer screens do not facilitate a map or graph experience by those who are visually impaired. The traditional method for compensating for nonvisual access to maps and graphics has been to construct hard‐copy tactile maps. In this article, we examine an electronic accommodation for nonvisual users—the haptic map. Using new and off‐the‐shelf hardware—force feedback and vibrotactile mice—we explore how touch can be combined with virtual representations of shapes and patterns to enable nonvisual access to onscreen map or graphic material.     

信息技术对服务业创新影响的空间计量分析

信息技术成为服务业创新的关键因素,并受到国内外学术界的普遍关注,但鲜有从省域及市域层面探索信息技术对服务业创新影响的研究成果。以广东省地级市(域) 为例,运用因子分析、探索性空间数据分析、空间计量模型等实证研究方法,深入分析信息技术和服务业创新的空间分布特征和两者之间的关系。结果表明,服务业创新和信息技术均存在空间正相关性,形成全域空间的核心—边缘模式和局域空间的"俱乐部"模式。高值簇集聚区(珠三角) 的扩散效应只局限在局域"俱乐部"里面,而低值簇亦形成集聚区(粤北、粤东和粤西),体现出珠三角同东西两翼与粤北山区之间巨大的差距。在空间差异和扩散效应的影响下,信息技术和服务业创新在空间上均出现"俱乐部"内趋同、"俱乐部"间趋异的现象。空间计量回归表明,服务业创新在市域空间上具有相互促进作用,信息技术对服务业创新具有明显的促进作用,当信息技术水平每提高1%,服务业创新水平就将提高0.7158%,证明了信息技术是影响服务业创新的重要因素。     

The Trade and Industries of Western South America

Abstract

This research was based on an instructional module developed and used to investigate whether GIS can be used to enhance fourth grade students' geographic knowledge and map skills. Another goal was to identify challenges the teachers and the students face using GIS.

Findings from the study suggest that using GIS in the classroom helps students improve their geographic knowledge and maps skills. In addition, this study found that the students' geographic content knowledge tended to improve gradually and the knowledge transferred to the subsequent lessons, while certain map skills tended to develop in a more specific manner.     

Automatic alignment of contemporary vector data and georeferenced historical maps using reinforcement learning

ABSTRACT

With large amounts of digital map archives becoming available, automatically extracting information from scanned historical maps is needed for many domains that require long-term historical geographic data. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are powerful techniques that can be used for extracting locations of geographic features from scanned maps if sufficient representative training data are available. Existing spatial data can provide the approximate locations of corresponding geographic features in historical maps and thus be useful to annotate training data automatically. However, the feature representations, publication date, production scales, and spatial reference systems of contemporary vector data are typically very different from those of historical maps. Hence, such auxiliary data cannot be directly used for annotation of the precise locations of the features of interest in the scanned historical maps. This research introduces an automatic vector-to-raster alignment algorithm based on reinforcement learning to annotate precise locations of geographic features on scanned maps. This paper models the alignment problem using the reinforcement learning framework, which enables informed, efficient searches for matching features without pre-processing steps, such as extracting specific feature signatures (e.g. road intersections). The experimental results show that our algorithm can be applied to various features (roads, water lines, and railroads) and achieve high accuracy.     

广州市制造业与生产性服务业协同集聚与空间相似性

基于企业微观大数据,从空间相似性的视角,运用核密度法、双变量空间自相关法和地理探测器等分析方法,对广州市6个制造行业和5个生产性服务行业的空间协同关系展开分析,在街镇尺度下从行业层面探讨生产性服务业与制造业在城市内部的协同集聚。研究发现：行业集聚中心的空间布局形态显示,广州的制造业与生产性服务业布局具有空间相似性。制造业与生产性服务业空间相似性最高的区域集中在城市的近郊区与远郊区,在城市中心城区两大产业的空间相似性较低。科技服务业与制造业的空间相似性最强,金融业与制造业的空间相似性最低。产业发展历史、行业的服务功能特性、民营企业的布局弹性等,是影响生产性服务业与制造业空间相似性的重要因素。     

数字城市框架下地理信息服务语义分析

构建数字城市服务公共平台,能够有效地解决异源异构数据共享的问题,实现地理信息互操作。该文以数字城市服务公共平台下的地理信息服务为例,基于本体论,利用属性枚举的语义表达方法构建地理信息服务本体,以明确且形式化的方法描述服务语义,力图解决地理信息服务语义共享的问题。最后给出数字城市公共平台部分地理信息服务的形式化语义描述,在Protégé软件中完成地理信息服务本体的构建,同时结合HermiT1.3.4实现推理过程,并以地理编码服务为例构建了一组本体结构。     

Road network simplification with knowledge-based spatial analysis

A typical requirement in digital society is the rapid distribution and effective application of digital products. Geographical data bases are far more complex than other ones in that both attribute and spatial data have to be stored and handled under the same framework. On the other hand, the number of end users of digital cartographic data is explosively increasing, ranging from professional map makers to vehicle drivers and individual tourists. Thus arises a question: how can a data supplier give the “best” service to each user? In nature it involves such difficult problems as cartographic generalization and map simplification. In this paper, the author argues that the visual knowledge or perception experience can be effectively exploited and used to guide the process of data simplification. We have developed a prototype system with a subset of the vector road database covering Munich city.

     

The Growth and Location of High Order Services in the Canadian Urban System, 1971–1991

In spite of the considerable economic importance of high order (intermediate demand) services, research on the growth and location of these activities has remained at a fairly aggregate level. The behavior of the individual elements of this group has rarely been documented in detail. In this paper, we seek to determine if individual high order service activities are becoming spatially more concentrated or dispersed across the Canadian urban system, and to determine if differential rates of growth may be observed by region and by urban size category. These issues are of considerable importance in the ongoing debate concerning the impact of the tertiarization of the economy on uneven spatial development. We examine the performance and location of 17 individual high order service activities over a set of 152 Canadian urban areas with populations greater than 10,000 inhabitants. Most of these activities are highly concentrated in a small number of very large urban areas, and their level of concentration declined only very slightly over the period 1971–1991. We conclude with an examination of the factors underlying the geographic concentration of high order services at the upper end of the urban hierarchy.