Cartographic Design and the Space–Time Cube

This paper reports on the results of an empirical evaluation that aimed to define the effectiveness and efficiency of different visual variables in depicting the Space–Time Cube’s (STC) content. Existing STC applications demonstrate that the most used visual variables are size and colour hue. Less is known, however, about their usability metrics. The research sets design criteria for STC contents, such as space–time paths, based on the cartographic design theory. The visual variables colour hue, colour value, colour saturation, size and orientation have been applied in two different use case studies. Besides, to support the three-dimensional visual environment, depth cues such as shading and transparency were considered too. User tests have been executed based on real-world problems with particular attention for the visualization strategy and data complexity. The outcomes revealed the most efficient and effective visual variables to represent data of various complexities in the STC.     

Cartographic Industry Profiles

Abstract

Analysis of eye movements has been used for decades as a method for assessing the performance of visual stimuli. Until recently, this has mainly been applied to static and non-cartographic stimuli, but due to technological developments and reduced cost of equipment, interactive and cartographic applications are now feasible. suggest a new analysis method which applies Hägerstrand’s Space-Time-Cube (STC; ) to eye movement data. However, in an interactive three-dimensional STC, identifying and exploring key behaviours can be difficult. In order to ameliorate these difficulties, we propose a variation of the STC method, which uses two-dimensional projections of the STC onto the XT and YT planes. These two-dimensional projections are found to facilitate rapid identification of significant patterns in the data set. A prototype implementing this and other dynamical methods has been developed, and is presented with examples illustrating the benefits of working with two-dimensional projections of the STC.     

How many samples are needed? An investigation of binary logistic regression for selective omission in a road network

ABSTRACT

Selective omission in a road network (or road selection) means to retain more important roads, and it is a necessary operator to transform a road network at a large scale to that at a smaller scale. This study discusses the use of the supervised learning approach to road selection, and investigates how many samples are needed for a good performance of road selection. More precisely, the binary logistic regression is employed and three road network data with different sizes and different target scales are involved for testing. The different percentages and numbers of strokes are randomly chosen for training a logistic regression model, which is further applied into the untrained strokes for validation. The performances of using the different sample sizes are mainly evaluated by an error rate estimate. Significance tests are also employed to investigate whether the use of different sample sizes shows statistically significant differences. The experimental results show that in most cases, the error rate estimate is around 0.1–0.2; more importantly, only a small number (e.g., 50–100) of training samples is needed, which indicates the usability of binary logistic regression for road selection.     

多源空间矢量数据可用性评估方法设计

随着空间数据获取手段的进步和数据质量研究的深化,考虑用户需求、辅助数据使用决策的空间数据可用性评估研究开始受到关注。在阐述空间数据可用性概念和介绍代表性研究方法的基础上,考虑不同的因素对现有方法进行了比较分析。针对现有方法的缺陷,设计了多源空间矢量数据可用性评估的方法,并阐述了其中的关键环节和解决方案。     

The role of GIS in Digital Earth education

Abstract

A growing number of educators worldwide have become convinced that geotechnologies – including geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and remote sensing – are key technologies to prepare students to be tomorrow's decision makers. Grappling with local, regional, and global issues of the 21^st century requires people who think spatially and who can use geotechnologies. Some educators teach geotechnologies as a discipline, emphasising skills. Other educators use geotechnologies as a tool to teach content, such as geography, history, environmental studies, Earth Science, biology, mathematics, economics and other disciplines. Issues such as traffic, population growth, urban sprawl, energy, water, crime, human health, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture are growing in complexity, exist at every scale and increasingly affect people's everyday lives. Each of these issues has a spatial component. Drivers for geotechnology education include educational content standards, constructivism, the school-to-career movement, active learning, citizenship education, authentic practice and assessment, interdisciplinary education, community connections and a sustained, increasing demand for GIS professionals. Digital Earth is an ideal framework for contextualising domains of inquiry. The Digital Earth community can have a significant impact on the growth of geotechnologies in education, and conversely, the growth of geotechnologies in education and society can foster the forward movement of Earth systems concepts.     

Engaging indigenous people as geo-crowdsourcing sensors for ecotourism mapping via mobile data collection: a case study of the Royal Belum State Park

ABSTRACT

Web 2.0 and the proliferation of built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) on smartphones have influenced the increase of geo-crowdsourcing activities in a number of different contexts. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of indigenous people’s use of mobile collection applications that are embedded in a smartphone to facilitate ecotourism asset mapping. In order to achieve this, field usability testing was conducted where structured observational method was used to assess the performance. The findings indicate majority of them can complete the data entry tasks using mobile data collection. The performance of data entries using radio button, icons, camera and audio methods were identified as better than free text and drop-down list methods. There was a correlation between the level of education with the ability of using radio button, drop-down list and image icon as data entry methods. The paper also discusses the extent of local knowledge relating to ecotourism within the community. The findings should be useful in the understanding of the design of mobile geo-crowdsourcing tools for use within other contexts that focus on data collection by semiliterate and indigenous groups.     

An open-source web service for creating quadrilateral grids based on the rHEALPix Discrete Global Grid System

ABSTRACT

The foundation of modern Digital Earth frameworks is the Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS). To standardize the DGGS model, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) recently created the DGGS Abstract Specification, which also aims to increase usability and interoperability between DGGSs. To support these demands and aid future research, open implementations are necessary. However, several OGC conformant DGGSs are not available for researchers to use. This has motivated us to develop an open-source web service that allows users to create quadrilateral grids based on the rHEALPix DGGS. In this paper, we describe the implementation of the web service, including issues and limitations, and demonstrate how discrete global grids and regional grids can be created. Lastly, we present examples that show how vector data sets can be modeled and integrated at different levels of resolution – a key benefit of the DGGS model.     

Mapping in the cloud

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the development of a crowdsourced indoor navigation system named SoleWay. Because the input of volunteers is crucial, special attention was paid to the usability of the system at different stages throughout its development. Besides a user-friendly system, this has resulted in a number of important insights that can facilitate the development of future systems: the importance social motivation of potential users, integration of a stepwise approach (with a gradual release and subsequent user evaluations), and adaptation to user requirements. These elements combined are also crucial to be able to obtain a critical crowd that can sustain a viable content.     

A framework for user-generated geographic content acquisition in an age of crowdsourcing

ABSTRACT

Obtaining useful geographic information from the flood of user-generated geographic content (UGGC) data is of significant interest, but comes with challenges in an age of crowdsourcing. To address this issue, we adopt Maslow’s model of human needs to frame UGGC. Synthesizing across literature about volunteered geographic information and participatory GIS, we present a conceptual framework for characterizing collection of UGGC. The framework is composed of multiple dimensions and levels that include perspectives about motivations, participatory methods, and participants. We also articulate four levels of participants (stakeholders, core-engaged participants, semi-core-engaged participants, and engaged citizens) together with four work principles (communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration). Finally, a case study describes an example we use to evaluate the conceptual framework for its suitability in design of a UGGC system. We conclude by reflecting on how and why this framework offers a valuable perspective for deriving useful geographic information and offer future research directions.     

Further Thoughts on the Representation of Vegetation on Topographic and Planimetric Maps

Abstract

The content of topographic and planimetric maps in relation to vegetation is examined with reference to the evaluation of contouring, the degree to which vegetation impedes movement, forestry, recreation, the planning of development projects, route planning, vegetation as base map information, and land use. This is an extension of the paper published in the Cartographic Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, and refers in particular to Africa South of the Sahara.     

VGIS-AntiJitter: an effective framework for solving jitter problems in virtual geographic information systems

Abstract

With the proposition of the Digital Earth (DE) concept, Virtual Geographic Information System (VGIS) has started to play the role of a Digital Earth prototype system. Many core problems involved in VGIS, such as out-of-core management and interactive rendering of very large scale terrain and image data, have been well studied in the past decades. However, the jitter problem, a common problem in VGIS that often causes annoying visual artefacts and deteriorates the output image quality, draws little attention. In this paper, after an intensive analysis of the jitter problem, a comprehensive framework is proposed to address such a problem while accounting for the characteristics of different data types in VGIS, such as terrain or ocean mesh data, vector data and 3-D model data. Specifically, this framework provides an improved dynamic local coordinate system (DLCS) method for terrain or ocean mesh data. For vector data, the framework provides a simple and effective multiple local coordinate systems (MLCS) method. The framework provides a MLCS method for 3-D model data making full use of the existing local coordinate system of the model. The advantages of the proposed methods over current approaches are analysed and highlighted through case studies involving large GIS datasets.     

Towards a framework for geospatial tangible user interfaces in collaborative urban planning

The increasing complexity of urban planning projects today requires new approaches to better integrate stakeholders with different professional backgrounds throughout a city. Traditional tools used in urban planning are designed for experts and offer little opportunity for participation and collaborative design. This paper introduces the concept of geospatial tangible user interfaces (GTUI) and reports on the design and implementation as well as the usability of such a GTUI to support stakeholder participation in collaborative urban planning. The proposed system uses physical objects to interact with large digital maps and geospatial data projected onto a tabletop. It is implemented using a PostGIS database, a web map server providing OGC web services, the computer vision framework reacTIVision, a Java-based TUIO client, and GeoTools. We describe how a GTUI has be instantiated and evaluated within the scope of two case studies related to real world collaborative urban planning scenarios. Our results confirm the feasibility of our proposed GTUI solutions to (a) instantiate different urban planning scenarios, (b) support collaboration, and (c) ensure an acceptable usability.     

Towards a National Atlas of the Netherlands as part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure

Abstract

This paper is about different worlds, and how we try to unite them. One of these worlds is the world of National Atlases: collections of complex, high-quality maps presenting a nation to the geographically interested. The second is the world of National Spatial Infrastructures: highly organized, standardized and institutionalized large collections of spatial data and services. In the paper, we describe the two worlds and their fundamental differences and we present the theoretical framework in which these worlds could be united. We introduce a test bed we are using to try out the theoretical framework in a real-life use case. In the architecture of that test bed, we introduce a National Atlas Services layer and describe how we have created an Atlas Map Viewer component, using the Open Web Platform. We conclude by commenting on the results thus far and taking a look into future developments.     

Geo-questionnaires in urban planning: recruitment methods,participant engagement,and data quality

ABSTRACT

Recent focus on sustainable urban development and livability has increased the demand for new data sourcing techniques to capture experiences and preferences of urban dwellers. At the same time, developments of geospatial technologies and social media have enabled new types of user-generated geographic information and spatially explicit online communication. As a result, new public participation GIS methods for engaging large groups of individuals have emerged. One such method is geo-questionnaire, an online questionnaire with mapping capabilities, which has been used to elicit geographic data in variety of topics and geographical contexts. This article presents two recent cases, in which geo-questionnaires have been used in Polish cities to obtain public input on quality of life and development preferences in local land use planning. The article evaluates participant recruitment methods focusing on sample representativeness, participant engagement, and data quality. Recruitment via social media was found to increase bias towards younger population. Paper questionnaires used along the online version provided for better representation of target population’s age structure, but did not reduce bias related to educational attainment. We discuss how these issues relate to data usability and generalizability in the context of digital divide, and suggest directions for future research.     

Towards personalised public warnings: harnessing technological advancements to promote better individual decision-making in the face of disasters

ABSTRACT

Official warnings are essential for informing the public of impending hazards and promoting their responses before a disaster occurs. However, research has identified that traditional public warnings, such as generic text messages based on large geographic regions, often fail to promote appropriate responses by at-risk residents. Recently, there has been an increased focus on using map-based approaches for communicating public warnings. However, a systematic framework to guide the design of effective mapping instruments for this purpose is lacking. The researchers sought to fill this gap by merging the scholarly understanding of factors influencing warning effectiveness with the contemporary spatial capacities of the emergency management sector. The current paper presents the conceptual framework resulting from this merger, which can be used to direct the design and implementation of map-based warnings that offer personalised risk visualisation and provide personalised decision support to motivate appropriate responses. An example is then provided to illustrate how this framework can be applied for the development of personalised bushfire warnings in an Australian context. Underpinned by webGIS technologies, the proposed framework shows a potentially ground-breaking approach to improve public warning communication by fostering more efficient and effective risk personalisation and response related decision-making by individuals.     

Legend Layouts for Thematic Maps: A Case Study Integrating Usability Metrics with the Thinking Aloud Method

Abstract

The legend is a critical tool in reading and interpreting a thematic map. The goal of the study reported here is to understand how the legend works as a map is read. The methodology combined usability performance metrics with the thinking aloud method. Subjects were asked to perform two sets of tasks using two thematic maps with different legend layouts. While latency and accuracy of answers for the first set of tasks did not differ significantly between users of the different layouts, users clearly preferred legends that were simple or familiar. The thinking aloud protocols from the second part of the study revealed different patterns of legend comprehension for each legend design. In addition, the study identified four problem-solving strategies that were adopted by the subjects. Finally, some principles for designing legends were developed from the results of the study.     

A multistage collaborative 3D GIS to support public participation

This paper presents a collaborative 3D GIS to support public participation. Realizing that public-involved decision-making is often a multistage process, the proposed system is designed to provide coherent support for collaborations in the different stages. We differentiate ubiquitous participation and intensive participation and identify their suitable application stages. The proposed system, then, supports both of the two types of participation by providing synchronous and asynchronous collaboration functionalities. Applying the concept of Digital Earth, the proposed system also features a virtual globe-based user interface. Such an interface integrates a variety of data, functions, and services into a unified virtual environment which is delivered to both experts and public participants through the Internet. The system has been designed as a general software framework and can be tailored for specific projects. In this study, we demonstrate it using a scene modeling case and provide a preliminary evaluation toward its usability.     

Harmonisation requirements and capabilities towards a European spatial data infrastructure (ESDI): the HUMBOLDT protected areas scenario

Abstract

The HUMBOLDT project has the aim of implementing a Framework for harmonisation of data and services in the geoinformation domain, under the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Directive and in the context of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Initiative. The two-pronged approach of HUMBOLDT comprises a technical side of software framework development and an application side of scenario testing and validation. Among the HUMBOLDT Application Scenarios designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Framework there is the one covering Protected Areas themes and use cases. It aims to transform geoinformation, managed by park authorities, into a seamless flow that combines multiple information sources from different governance levels (European, national, regional), and exploits this newly combined information for the purposes of planning, management and tourism promotion. The Scenario constitutes a step further towards the integration of monitoring systems envisaged in the view of Digital Earth. Protected Areas Scenario creates an examples of the use of the HUMBOLDT tools in Desktop and Web GIS environment, together with setting up a server environment exploiting HUMBOLDT harmonisation framework as taking into account user requirements and needs and providing benefits for making the road to ESDI establishment easier.     

The concept,key technologies and applications of temporal-spatial information infrastructure

Abstract

Smart city is the development of digital city; as its main supporting technology, the digital city geo-spatial framework has to be upgraded to the temporal-spatial information infrastructure (TSII). First, this paper proposes the concept and basic framework of smart city and defines the concept of TSII – processes, integration, mining analysis, and share time-stamps geographic data – and the related policy, regulations and standards, technology, facilities, mechanism, and human resources. The framework has four components: the benchmark of time and space, temporal-spatial big data, the cloud service platform and the related supporting environment. Second, the temporal-spatial big data and cloud service platform are elaborated. Finally, an application of TSII constructed by the Xicheng District Planning Bureau in Beijing is introduced, which provides a useful reference for the construction of smart city.