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.     

应用于PPGIS的一种图形参与技术

IDM是一种新的决策支持技术,首次把它作为PPGIS中公众参与支撑技术进行探讨.介绍了PPGIS的概念,在分析PPGIS中公众参与方法的基础上提出一种基于图形的参与技术--IDM技术,阐述了基于图形的参与技术的数学原理--convex hull理论,构建了IDM技术在PPGIS中的应用模式,并通过资源规划决策地图分析了IDM技术应用于PPGIS的灵活性及优势.     

The Development of the Chagas' Online Data Entry System (CODES-GIS)

This article describes a web‐based data entry and GIS‐driven mapping system designed for an ethnographic and entomological survey of Chagas’ disease, an emerging zoonotic disease, and Triatoma dimidiata, a primary vector, in the Los Tuxtlas region of Veracruz, Mexico. To better understand this disease in the region, a collaborative, multi‐disciplinary study was initiated to conduct a spatial investigation of T. dimidiata and a community‐by‐community survey of local perceptions of the disease. In order to facilitate such a collaborative effort the CODES‐GIS was developed. This system allows for (near) real‐time mapping, analyses, disease reporting, and results sharing. CODES‐GIS provides a framework for a research team working in a remote area with limited technology, software, or GIS expertise to benefit from (near) real‐time spatial analyses performed at collaborating institutions. The system is bi‐directional, where field personnel can upload data to the system for field‐based map production. Likewise, laboratory personnel can upload diagnostics data for viewing by field personnel. In this way, the system provides a virtual link between the field and the laboratory to increase the speed at which results are returned to the local community. The CODES‐GIS is described along with a selection of study results.     

A Web GIS for Sea Ice Information and an Ice Service Archive

Sea ice data has significant scientific value for climate, environmental impact and engineering studies leading to the construction of facilities in Arctic waters, as well as to support tourism and fishing planning. Large collections of such data are acquired, compiled, produced and maintained by national and international agencies such as the Canadian Ice Service (CIS). Some of these data collections have been made available online. However, current Internet‐based sea ice data dissemination practices do not foster easy access to and use of the data, especially given the amount of the archived sea ice data and the nature of their spatial changes and high temporal variations. This article reports a research effort in developing a web‐based geographical information system (GIS) that facilitates the access and use of the historical sea ice data. The system provides online access, exploration, visualization, and analysis of the archived data, mostly in the form of ice charts, within a web‐based GIS. The results from a prototype development indicate that web GIS, developed using Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies, provides added values in serving sea ice data and suggests that such a system can better accommodate more advanced sea ice data access and analysis tools.     

PPGIS在无障碍公共设施选址中的应用研究

分析了无障碍公共设施建设的现状,提出PPGIS在无障碍公共设施选址中的思路,详细描述了基于PPGIS的无障碍公共服务设施参与系统的建立,并介绍基于此系统采集的数据与区位配置模型结合用于无障碍公共服务设施选址的技术路线,最后总结了本文的研究意义。     

Usability Issues in Applying Participatory Mapping for Neighborhood Infrastructure Planning

Public participation is required in neighborhood infrastructure planning and problem‐solving. Although Participatory GIS methods are considered important to help urban community groups identify problems and express their needs and concerns, usable means to help groups produce their maps remain difficult to be realised. Further, an effective means to facilitate the integration of government spatial plans and participatory maps also remains unclear. This article addresses usability issues in participatory mapping activities by exploring group collaboration mechanics and accomplishing use assessments. The study aims at testing the usefulness and the impact of participatory mapping for community development. User studies including questionnaire surveys, interviews, group usability testing, scenario assessments, and the scaling‐up activity were executed. Transparent photomaps, Mobile GIS, and a Web map were implemented and assessed in the study area. A use scenario for community and official spatial data integration was also developed. The results of user studies show that the use of transparent photomaps is more effective to complete group tasks to discuss, draw, and annotate their infrastructure problems. For group participants, the transparent maps are more engaging, easy to learn, and more error tolerant than the use of Mobile GIS. A combination use of simple and advanced PGIS methods is necessary to be implemented to reach informed priority‐decision making.     

Integrated Mobile GIS and Wireless Internet Map Servers for Environmental Monitoring and Management

With the progress of mobile GIS technology there is a great potential for adopting wireless communications and Internet mapping services for regional environmental management programs and natural habitat conservation. This paper provides an overview of a NASA-funded research project that focuses on the development of mobile GIS tools and wireless Internet Map Server (IMS) services to facilitate environmental monitoring and management tasks. By developing and testing wireless web-based map/image servers, mobile GIS applications, and global positional systems (GPS), this research created an integrated software/hardware infrastructure for a prototype mobile GIS application. The mobile GIS prototype allows multiple resource managers and park rangers to access large-size, remotely sensed images and GIS layers from a portable web server mounted in a vehicle. Users can conduct real-time spatial data updates and/or submit changes back to the web server over the wireless local area network (WLAN). This paper discusses in general the major components of mobile GIS, their current technological limitations, and potential problems during implementation. Key research agenda for mobile GIS are identified with suggestions for future research and development.     

Public Participation GIS: a FOSS architecture enabling field-data collection

Driven by the rise of Web 2.0 and the non-stop spread of mobile device sensors, the concept of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) is knowing a revolutionary era which perfectly fits the new vision of Digital Earth (DE). This research investigates the opportunity to build up a PPGIS prototype with completely Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) architecture, in which data directly come from field surveys carried out by users. A sample application related to urban monitoring is addressed, which concentrates on user field-collected data concerning reports of road pavement damages. Open Data Kit suite allows users to collect geotagged multimedia information using mobile devices with onboard location sensors (e.g. a Global Positioning System receiver). On field-captured data are sent to a server and stored into a PostgreSQL database with PostGIS spatial extension. GeoServer then disseminates data on the Web. On the client-side, different solutions allow data visualization on both desktop computers and mobile devices. The designed architecture provided support for FOSS usage in the process of gathering, uploading, and Web publishing information collected in situ. The implementation of the developed PPGIS could thus substantially increase public active participation in data creation and sharing, besides enlarging DE knowledge up to the local level.     

Community Geography: Addressing Barriers in Public Participation GIS

Early advocates of Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) envisioned a future in which members of the public (broadly) and members of marginalized communities (specifically) would utilize geographic information and spatial technologies to affect positive change within their communities. Yet in spite of the emergence and success of PPGIS, open source geospatial tools, and the geoweb, access barriers recognized by proponents of PPGIS in the mid-1990s persist. As a result, PPGIS facilitators continue to be instrumental in addressing access barriers to geospatial technologies among resource poor organizations and marginalized groups. ‘Community geography’, is a growing area of academic geography that leverages university community partnerships to facilitate access to spatial technology, data, and analysis. Experiences from community geography programmes at three universities (Chicago State University, Syracuse University, and Columbus State University) demonstrate the benefits and challenges of a facilitated model of PPGIS.     

PPGIS实现的难点探讨

大众参与地理信息系统(PPGIS)属于GIS技术应用之一,主要强调普通民众的群体参与,以帮助政府、规划等职能部门更好地进行决策和计划。本文着重从技术、公众权利保障性、数据三个方面论述了实现PPGIS项目中主要的难点和核心问题。     

The Potential of Maps APIs for Internet GIS Applications

Since the launching of Maps Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in 2005, many web developers, including geographers and non‐geographers, applauded the freely adaptable tools and used them to spawn numerous Internet applications. The success of the Maps APIs is largely attributable to its no‐cost policy, the availability of global data coverage, dynamic navigation, query capability, and ease of implementation. Despite its versatility in dynamic exploration of geographic data online, the existing Maps APIs lack Geographic Information System (GIS) functionalities compared to other Internet Mapping Services. The goal of this research was to review the potential of the Maps APIs for Internet GIS applications. This research employed the Google Maps API and developed a web prototype that disseminates spatial information of urban sprawl in Mundy Township, Michigan. The results revealed that both vector and raster data could be effectively represented by using the Maps API. Moreover, the Geographic Markup Language (GML) approach illustrated great potential for developing Internet GIS solutions around open specifications. This research suggested several potential solutions to expand the spectrum of GIS operations of the Maps APIs by incorporating the XML‐related technology and extending the JavaScript library.     

Critical Issues in Participatory GIS: Deconstructions, Reconstructions, and New Research Directions

In the mid‐1990s, several critical texts raised concerns about the social, political, and epistemological implications of GIS. Subsequent responses to these critiques have fundamentally altered the technological, political, and intellectual practices of GIScience. Participatory GIS, for instance, has intervened in multiple ways to try to ameliorate uneven access to GIS and digital spatial data and diversify the forms of spatial knowledge and spatial logic that may be incorporated in a GIS. While directly addressing core elements of the ‘GIS & Society’ critique, these reconstructions of a critical GIScience introduce their own ambiguities with respect to access, equity, digital representation of spatial knowledge, and epistemologies of new GIS research practices. In this paper, I examine some of the new and persistent ambiguities of participatory GIS that bear inclusion in future critical GIScience research.     

An Application of a Choice Heuristic Algorithm for Managing Land Resource Allocation Problems Involving Multiple Parties and Conflicting Interests

Competition among individuals and communities for the use of resources has made resource management activity very contentious and complex. Conflicts over the allocation of resources are forcing resource managers worldwide, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, to widen the range of interests they consider and embrace environmental factors before they make and implement resource policies. In tandem with the recent extension of GIS applications into the region therefore is the expectation that the technology would create opportunities for public participation and for resolving conflicts that result from competition for resources. However, creating a supportive environment for people in the communities to actively participate in resource policy decisions requires simple, but efficient, participatory decision support procedures that are lacking in many of today's GIS. This paper describes the application of a decision support algorithm for managing resource allocation problems involving competing interests. A case involving multiple claims to resources in the Aboma Forest Reserve located at Kofiase in Southern Ghana is used to illustrate the Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) methodology.     

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.     

Index to Cartography and Geographic Information Science,Volume 27

A number of decision support systems (DSS) were evaluated prior to commencing public participatory geographic information systems (PPGIS) workshops within a small rural town undergoing rapid development. A paucity of existing information regarding the capabilities of these tools and their utility in supporting various PPGIS applications was noted. In order to improve this situation and to better understand the strengths and limitations of the selected DSS CommunityViz, we monitored and measured its utility in supporting community-based spatial decision-making processes from both a technologist and citizen's perspective. Results indicate that CommunityViz has several strengths; however, the software exhibits some weaknesses in the context of our study. In assessing these results we realized that the utility of such findings could be much enhanced if contained within a structure that enables comparison between various DSS. Thus, a major objective was to develop and apply a DSS Evaluation Matrix (DSSEM) that can be used by PPGIS practitioners and participants to evaluate DSS in various project settings. The application of DSSEM will help formalize evaluations of DSS and encourage dissemination of results. Furthermore, it will assist practitioners, citizens, and agencies to make better choices when selecting DSS for PPGIS applications and provide DSS developers with the appropriate information to improve tool design.     

Spatially Clustered Associations in Health Related Geospatial Data

Overlaying maps using a desktop GIS is often the first step of a multivariate spatial analysis. The potential of this operation has increased considerably as data sources and Web services to manipulate them are becoming widely available via the Internet. Standards from the OGC enable such geospatial ‘mashups’ to be seamless and user driven, involving discovery of thematic data. The user is naturally inclined to look for spatial clusters and ‘correlation’ of outcomes. Using classical cluster detection scan methods to identify multivariate associations can be problematic in this context, because of a lack of control on or knowledge about background populations. For public health and epidemiological mapping, this limiting factor can be critical but often the focus is on spatial identification of risk factors associated with health or clinical status. In this article we point out that this association itself can ensure some control on underlying populations, and develop an exploratory scan statistic framework for multivariate associations. Inference using statistical map methodologies can be used to test the clustered associations. The approach is illustrated with a hypothetical data example and an epidemiological study on community MRSA. Scenarios of potential use for online mashups are introduced but full implementation is left for further research.     

SQL Server Spatial应用开发研究

空间数据库是近年来GIS研究领域的热点之一,SQL Server 2005及其后续版本提供了空间数据扩展模块,能管理海量的矢量数据,基于OGC的标准,将矢量数据的存储、分析等功能与其内核结合,并且支持T-SQL,极大地简化了GIS的程序开发.本文简单研究了SQL Server Spatial的基本功能,并且基于它开发了简单的GIS应用系统.     

面向公开地图表示的地名数据集及地名服务系统的设计与实现

随着网络的普及以及新型地图载体的出现,公众使用地理信息的需求越来越迫切。在公众版地图成果基础上叠加从不同尺度数据中提取的公开要素,形成系列公开地图产品的技术思路也已成熟。作为联系空间与非空间信息之间"桥梁"的地名,在地图中是必不可少的,在编制公开地图产品时迫切需要准确、便捷的地名服务系统。本文主要介绍了面向公开地图表示的地名数据集及地名服务系统的设计思路和功能实现,并对其关键技术及创新点进行分析。     

Investigating New Wireless Technologies and Their Potential Impact on Children's Spatiality: A Role for GIS

This paper outlines exploratory research undertaken by the “A New Sense of Place?” Project in Bristol, UK, into the potential new, location sensitive, computing technologies may have for enhancing urban children's socio‐spatial practices. The paper describes a series of workshops held with children in which mapping activities and use of the technologies are supported by the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). The paper suggests that sound‐enabled GIS could play a major role in the management of such technologies.     

多源空间数据间不一致性研究现状及其进展

空间数据质量已成为国际地理信息系统领域的研究热点,近年来G IS空间数据质量的研究已由侧重于位置精度和属性精度转向对空间不一致性的关注和重视。本文在对多源空间数据间不一致性研究已有成果回顾的基础上,就空间数据间不一致性的特征、表达方法、度量方法以及处理方法等几个方面进行了较为详细的分析,提出了一种新的空间线目标间不一致性的度量方法——几何接近度面积度量法,并给出了度量公式及详细的推导过程;最后对多源空间数据间不一致性检测、度量和处理的智能化趋势进行了展望。