Automatic interpretation of digital maps

In the past, the availability and/or the acquisition of spatial data were often the main problems of the realization of spatial applications. Meanwhile this situation has changed: on one hand, comprehensive spatial datasets already exist and on the other hand, new sensor technologies have the ability to capture fast and with high quality large amounts of spatial data. More and more responsible for the increasing accessibility of spatial data are also collaborative mapping techniques which enable users to create maps by themselves and to make them available in the internet. However, the potential of this diversity of spatial data can only hardly be utilized. Especially maps in the internet are represented very often only with graphical elements and no explicit information about the map’s scale, extension and content is available. Nevertheless, humans are able to extract this information and to interpret maps. For example, it is possible for a human to distinguish between rural and industrial areas only by looking at the objects’ geometries. Furthermore, a human can easily identify and group map objects that belong together. Also the type, scale and extension of a map can be identified under certain conditions only by looking at the objects’ geometries. All these examples can be subsumed under the term “map interpretation”. In this paper it is discussed how map interpretation can be automated and how automatic map interpretation can be used in order to support other processes. The different kinds of automatic map interpretation are discussed and two approaches are shown in detail.     

Reconstructing palaeotemperatures for the Early and Middle Pleistocene using the mutual climatic range method based on plant fossils

A new approach is proposed to obtain quantitative temperature reconstructions from Early and Middle Pleistocene pollen and megafloral records. Utilizing the indicator species concept pioneered by Iversen (1944, Geologiska Föreningen Förhandlingar Stockholm 66, 463–483), the new methodology overcomes the problem of non-analogue plant communities by only taking into account the presence/absence of taxa rather than their relative abundances. Based on the present day thermal tolerances of the taxa from a fossil assemblage, the temperature interval in which all taxa from this assemblage can coexist is determined. A databank containing the climate tolerances of 85 taxa from European pollen records was established. To increase the temperature resolution of the method, procedures were developed to assess the most likely intervals for the actual temperatures within the calculated common thermospheres and the routine evaluation of the mean temperatures of the warmest and coldest months (MTW and MTC). After calibrating the approach on modern assemblages, it was applied to Tiglian and Holsteinian pollen sequences from Lieth (northern Germany) and Lac du Bourget (northern French Alps). For both records the method yields detailed temperature reconstructions of temperate and cold episodes. During the coldest episode of the Lieth section, the MTC may have been as low as −16°C. Corresponding MTW values range from 14.5 to 21°C, thus testifying to a strong continentality at that time. During the warmest period reconstructed for the Lieth section, the MTC was similar to the value as measured in the area today (1.5°C), whereas the MTW was probably higher than at present (20.1°C). For the coldest interval from the Lac du Bourget pollen sequence, the reconstructed MTC values reach a minimum of −15°C. Corresponding MTW values range from 15 to 22°C, again implying a strong continentality. For the warmest period our approach yields MTC values between −2 and 2°C and MTW values between 16.5 and 22°C. For both records, the resolution for the MTW and MTC reaches 1.5 and 2.5°C, respectively.     

Coastal erosion vs riverine sediment discharge in the Arctic Shelf seas

This article presents a comparison of sediment input by rivers and by coastal erosion into both the Laptev Sea and the Canadian Beaufort Sea (CBS). New data on coastal erosion in the Laptev Sea, which are based on field measurements and remote sensing information, and existing data on coastal erosion in the CBS as well as riverine sediment discharge into both the Laptev Sea and the CBS are included. Strong regional differences in the percentages of coastal erosion and riverine sediment supply are observed. The CBS is dominated by the riverine sediment discharge (64.45᎒⁶ t a^-1) mainly of the Mackenzie River, which is the largest single source of sediments in the Arctic. Riverine sediment discharge into the Laptev Sea amounts to 24.10᎒⁶ t a^-1, more than 70% of which are related to the Lena River. In comparison with the CBS, the Laptev Sea coast on average delivers approximately twice as much sediment mass per kilometer, a result of higher erosion rates due to higher cliffs and seasonal ice melting. In the Laptev Sea sediment input by coastal erosion (58.4᎒⁶ t a^-1) is therefore more important than in the CBS and the ratio between riverine and coastal sediment input amounts to 0.4. Coastal erosion supplying 5.6᎒⁶ t a^-1 is less significant for the sediment budget of the CBS where riverine sediment discharge exceeds coastal sediment input by a factor of ca. 10.     

Augmented paper maps: Exploring the design space of a mixed reality system

Paper maps and mobile electronic devices have complementary strengths and shortcomings in outdoor use. In many scenarios, like small craft sailing or cross-country trekking, a complete replacement of maps is neither useful nor desirable. Paper maps are fail-safe, relatively cheap, offer superior resolution and provide large scale overview. In uses like open-water sailing it is therefore mandatory to carry adequate maps/charts. GPS based mobile devices, on the other hand, offer useful features like automatic positioning and plotting, real-time information update and dynamic adaptation to user requirements. While paper maps are now commonly used in combination with mobile GPS devices, there is no meaningful integration between the two, and the combined use leads to a number of interaction problems and potential safety issues. In this paper we explore the design space of augmented paper maps in which maps are augmented with additional functionality through a mobile device to achieve a meaningful integration between device and map that combines their respective strengths.     

Vegetation and climate during the penultimate interglacial of the northeastern Russian Arctic: the Lake El'gygytgyn pollen record

We present a high‐resolution reconstruction of the vegetation and climate dynamics during the penultimate interglacial, corresponding with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7, based on detailed palynological analyses of lacustrine sediments from Lake El'gygytgyn, northeastern Siberia. The analysed sediments were deposited between 246 and 181 ka ago (late MIS 8 to early MIS 6.6). The interglacial vegetation was characterized by herb and shrub (mainly alder and birch) dominated plant communities. Pollen‐based biome reconstruction shows a dominance of the tundra (TUND) biome, thus indicating rather open vegetation. Warmer intervals (MIS 7.5, 7.3 and 7.1) were marked by an increase in the cold deciduous forest (CLDE) biome scores and a synchronous decrease in the cold steppe (STEP) biome scores. The thermal maximum occurred during MIS 7.1, as indicated by the highest CLDE biome scores occurring in this period, and lasted ~10 ka, possibly favoured by the high precession‐related summer insolation and the legacy of the preceding mild and dry stadial (MIS 7.2). In contrast, MIS 7.3 and 7.5 were characterized by shorter durations (~4 ka) and lower summer temperatures. The preceding cold glacial and stadial (MIS 8 and 7.4, respectively) might have led to an extensive distribution of permafrost that hindered vegetation development during the subsequent warm intervals. MIS 7.4 and 6.6 were cold and wet, probably triggered by low obliquity values and coevally low precession‐related summer insolation. As a result, these periods were marked by significantly reduced summer temperatures and an enhanced snow‐ice albedo feedback. The obtained reconstructions provide potential scenarios for future climate changes and allow a better understanding of the relationship between vegetation, climate and external/internal forcings in the high latitudes.     

Field significance of performance measures in the context of regional climate model evaluation. Part 1: temperature

A new approach for rigorous spatial analysis of the downscaling performance of regional climate model (RCM) simulations is introduced. It is based on a multiple comparison of the local tests at the grid cells and is also known as “field” or “global” significance. New performance measures for estimating the added value of downscaled data relative to the large-scale forcing fields are developed. The methodology is exemplarily applied to a standard EURO-CORDEX hindcast simulation with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the land surface model NOAH at 0.11 ^° grid resolution. Monthly temperature climatology for the 1990–2009 period is analysed for Germany for winter and summer in comparison with high-resolution gridded observations from the German Weather Service. The field significance test controls the proportion of falsely rejected local tests in a meaningful way and is robust to spatial dependence. Hence, the spatial patterns of the statistically significant local tests are also meaningful. We interpret them from a process-oriented perspective. In winter and in most regions in summer, the downscaled distributions are statistically indistinguishable from the observed ones. A systematic cold summer bias occurs in deep river valleys due to overestimated elevations, in coastal areas due probably to enhanced sea breeze circulation, and over large lakes due to the interpolation of water temperatures. Urban areas in concave topography forms have a warm summer bias due to the strong heat islands, not reflected in the observations. WRF-NOAH generates appropriate fine-scale features in the monthly temperature field over regions of complex topography, but over spatially homogeneous areas even small biases can lead to significant deteriorations relative to the driving reanalysis. As the added value of global climate model (GCM)-driven simulations cannot be smaller than this perfect-boundary estimate, this work demonstrates in a rigorous manner the clear additional value of dynamical downscaling over global climate simulations. The evaluation methodology has a broad spectrum of applicability as it is distribution-free, robust to spatial dependence, and accounts for time series structure.     

A new approach to simulating disorder in crystals

The technique of calculating lattice dissociation energies using static, minimum lattice energy, ionic models has been extended to allow for multiple occupancy of the ionic sites. A particular lattice site can have a fraction x of an ionic species A and a fraction y of an ionic species B, where the position of each can be relaxed separately along with the unit cell dimensions until an equilibrium is reached. Various degrees of long and short range order can be modelled. This technique has been applied to the mineral sillimanite, Al₂SiO₅, to calculate the effect on the lattice energy of (Al, Si) ordering over the tetrahedral sites. It is found using this method that (Al, Si) ordering with space group Pbmn stabilizes the material by 29.25 kcal/mol (Al^iv-O-Al^iv), with respect to the completely disordered material.