ECOLOGICAL-GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING: CONCEPTS,METHODS, AND TECHNOLOGY

Another paper in a series of articles on ecological-geographic mapping (see for example, Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. 31, No. 3, July-September 1994, pp. 185-220) focuses on outlining a concise typology of such maps and providing a brief history of their emergence during the 1970s and 1980s. A subsequent section is devoted to methods and technology used in the compilation of ecological-geographic maps, particularly the multiple variants of data organization, processing, and cartographic representation that can be factored into research design. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1995, No. 4, pp. 10-18.     

Open source, spatial analysis, and activity-travel behaviour research: capabilities of the aspace package

This paper reports on recent experience with the development of aspace, an Open Source (OS) library for the geographic visualization and analysis of activity-travel behaviour. The paper begins with an overview of recent progress with respect to the convergence of Open Source technology, spatial analysis, and travel behaviour research. The remainder of the paper focuses on aspace; a collection of functions that, when combined with data describing the geographical location of daily activities, can be used to visualize and describe spatial properties of individual and household activity spaces. These properties include: size, orientation, shape, and the geographical dispersion of activity locations contained within the activity space. Several planar geometries are used to transform measurable spatial properties into intuitive objects for visualizing spatial patterns of activity participation. Experiments are conducted, using data from the first wave of the 2003 Toronto Travel Activity Panel Survey, to demonstrate the potential application of aspace for basic and applied policy-based research into activity-travel behaviour. The toolkit is distributed as a downloadable ‘package’ from the Open Source R Project for Statistical Computing.      

Location Based Social Networks – Definition,Current State of the Art and Research Agenda

The growing penetration of GPS equipped smartphones allowing users to constantly share geographic information on their current whereabouts has led the way to an augmentation of existing Social Network Sites with location‐based features or the creation of new ones exclusively around geographic information. Within these Location Based Social Networks vast amounts of geographic information are allocated, which attracted the attention of researchers with various scientific backgrounds. This article presents a comprehensive definition of this special type of Social Network Site and an overview of research activities, which are currently conducted using the data. Finally, a research agenda for GIScience is drawn from existing research directions.     

The Landscape of GIScience Publications 1997–2007: An Empirical Investigation with Latent Semantic Analysis

This article reports on an empirical study of the trends and patterns of research activities in Geographic Information Science (GIScience) during the years 1997–2007. The GIScience research priorities identified by the University Consortium of Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) were used as guidelines to examine the 985 research articles published in six well‐recognized academic journals. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) was employed to investigate the association among the different GIScience research themes. The spatial and temporal patterns of the association between the publications and the different GIScience themes were examined to show the development of GIScience research during the study period. Furthermore, correlation analyses between the publications were conducted following the LSA results to reveal GIScience research networks, including the networks of the published articles and those formed by the research places. In this article, we applied an approach that was developed within information science to depict what GIS research activities were conducted when and where and how they connect to each other through sharing common research themes. The related findings pave the way for future efforts to describe the paradigm of GIScience as well as the pattern of GIScience research.     

National height datum,the Gauss–Listing geoid level value w0 and its time variation 0 (Baltic Sea Level Project: epochs 1990.8, 1993.8, 1997.4)

 A methodology for precise determination of the fundamental geodetic parameter w ₀, the potential value of the Gauss–Listing geoid, as well as its time derivative ₀, is presented. The method is based on: (1) ellipsoidal harmonic expansion of the external gravitational field of the Earth to degree/order 360/360 (130 321 coefficients; http://www.uni-stuttgard.de/gi/research/ index.html projects) with respect to the International Reference Ellipsoid WGD2000, at the GPS positioned stations; and (2) ellipsoidal free-air gravity reduction of degree/order 360/360, based on orthometric heights of the GPS-positioned stations. The method has been numerically tested for the data of three GPS campaigns of the Baltic Sea Level project (epochs 1990.8,1993.4 and 1997.4). New w ₀ and ₀ values (w ₀=62 636 855.75 ± 0.21 m²/s², ₀=−0.0099±0.00079 m²/s² per year, w ₀/&γmacr;=6 379 781.502 m,₀/&γmacr;=1.0 mm/year, and &γmacr;= −9.81802523 m²/s²) for the test region (Baltic Sea) were obtained. As by-products of the main study, the following were also determined: (1) the high-resolution sea surface topography map for the Baltic Sea; (2) the most accurate regional geoid amongst four different regional Gauss–Listing geoids currently proposed for the Baltic Sea; and (3) the difference between the national height datums of countries around the Baltic Sea. Received: 14 August 2000 / Accepted: 19 June 2001     

Categories are in flux,but their computational representations are fixed: That's a problem

As research advances, our conceptual understanding also changes. Computational approaches do little to recognize the evolution that occurs at the conceptual level during the research process. This can result in misunderstanding between knowledge producers and consumers and so inhibit the reusability of outcomes. In this article, we describe how changes at the conceptual level can be represented, along with related changes to data and methods, and how appropriate connections between these various artefacts can be maintained. To demonstrate these ideas, we show how categories used in remote sensing and land cover analysis change over time and how these changes are linked to various research activities. We present a new system (called AdvoCate) that augments typical GIS and remote sensing functionality with a conceptual model of categories that can undergo change, and that also captures the cause of conceptual change and its extent. We argue that concepts and categories should be represented explicitly and richly within GIS, because without this, we have a poor idea of what our modeled entities really mean, and by implication how they should be used appropriately. We demonstrate the usefulness of this deeper representation using examples of category evolution from a land cover mapping exercise.     

A CENTER FOR IMAGE PROCESSING IN SIBERIAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The authors describe the structure and operations of a special Center for Geographic Information [digital image] Processing, now being established in support of the “Sibir” “program—a comprehensive research project on applications of remote sensing in Siberian resource development undertaken by the Siberian section of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Translations of related papers on technical aspects of image processing, also products of the program's research, will appear in subsequent installments of Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing. Translated from: Metody kompleksnykh aerokosmicheskikh issledovaniy Sibiri, edited by L. K. Zyat'kova. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1985, pp. 57-60.     

Re-presenting the past: archaeology through text and image

Cognitive map-design research has the goal of understanding human cognition in order to improve the design and use of maps. As a systematic sub-discipline of cartography, cognitive map-design research is a phenomenon of the twentieth century, specifically the latter half. Robinson's The Look of Maps, published in 1952, played a seminal role in the genesis of cognitive map-design research in several countries, but it had interesting precursors. Empirical work that followed from The Look of Maps included psychophysical studies of graduated circles and studies of eye movements during map reading. Theoretical work that followed included a variety of cognitive theories but especially the development of the communication model as a comprehensive framework foi˙ scientific cartography. I chart the changing fortunes of cognitive map-design research after The Look of Maps and offer explanations for these changes. I also consider the legacy of cognitive map-design research—ways in which it has or has not mattered. I conclude with a list of questions suggested, but not decisively answered, by this exploratory essay.     

Orientation of the Earth by numerical integration

Recent research in the department has involved determining the value of lunar observations in the determination of geodetic and selenodetic control. A fundamental consideration in the research is the determination of the orientation of the Earth in the celestial coordinate system. Classical reductions for precession and nutation can be expected to be consistent with the present day observations, however, corrections to the classical theory are difficult to model due to the large number of coefficients involved. Consequently, a portion of the research has been devoted to numerically integrating the Eulerian equations of motion for a rigid Earth and considering the six initial conditions of the integration as unknowns. Comparison of the three adjusted Eulerian angles from the numerical integration over 1000 daysindicates agreement with classical theory to within 0.003 seconds ofarc. This work was performed under NASA Contract No. NAS 9-13093. Presented at the International Symposium on Computational Methods in Geometrical Geodesy, Oxford, September 2–8, 1973.     

城市交通网络分形维数的不确定性估计、控制与分析

长度-半径维数模型作为描述城市交通网络复杂不确定性现象的一种分形分维方法,其自身存在的不确定性往往被忽视,且相关研究更是鲜见报道。故针对该模型在分形维数测算全过程中存在的不确定性问题,本文率先开展了系统剖析、定量估计和质量控制研究。首先对数据源、矢量化处理、测算中心、尺度选择、以及分维数模型估计等一系列环节进行了不确定性估计与分析,其中首次给出了分形维数在一定置信水平下的不确定性度量区间,并依据误差传播理论对误差的传递和累积进行了描述;然后着重提出了基于LMed S(Least Median of Squares)的质量控制方法。最后通过对拉萨市的算例实验表明:道路的矢量化过程、测算中心和测算尺度的选择都会导致分维的不确定性;并在对数据质量进行控制的基础上,通过置信区间对长度-半径维数模型的不确定性进行了在一定概率水平下的首次度量;同时结合区域现状对研究结果给出了合乎实际的解释。本文在描述表征不确定性问题的分形几何和分形维数的基础上,系统地揭示了其自身不确定性的本质,不仅进一步丰富了分形分维理论,为控制其质量奠定理论基础,而且可为城市交通网络分形维数的地学应用提供可靠的科学依据。     

User Assessment as Input for Useful Geospatial Representations within Mobile Location-Based Services

Mobile Location‐Based Services (mLBS) are an increasingly consumer‐based concept borne from, and continually driven by, technology‐centred development; as opposed to the needs of end users. Where users have been made a focus, the research generally concerns issues of overall system appearance, functionality, information content and interaction methods, with little emphasis on the component geospatial representations. This paper describes the initial stages of a research project aimed at filling this void through the application of a qualitative User‐Centred Design (UCD) methodology for optimising geospatial representations within mLBS applications, in order to support a selected user group: Australian ‘leisure‐based travellers’. Presented in this paper is an account of two UCD activities adopted for the research. The first, user profiling, served to define the target user population in terms of their technological, geospatial and travel experiences, using an online questionnaire. The second, user task analysis, involved in‐depth interviews with a subset of users in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the geospatial goals, tasks, needs and preferences within the population, as well as the range of user differences and variability in tasks present. An overall user assessment, through combined analysis of the two result sets, highlighted considerations for the ongoing research, including a set of specific implications for the design of alternative models for geospatial services, representations and interactions. The themes described in this paper represent an initial and necessary component of UCD, which has been largely overlooked in research relating to mLBS. Whilst the focus here is on a specific user group and context of use, it is envisaged that many of the concepts tested and ratified by the resulting models will be relevant to mLBS applications in general.     

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES AND PRESENT RESEARCH OBJECTS IN THE FIELD OF ANALYTICAL BLOCK TRIANGULATION WITH THE BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT METHOD IN FINLAND

The Photogrammetric Society was honoured to be addressed by the Congress Director of the International Society for Photogrammetry during March 1974. Professor Halonen's lecture covered several aspects of current photogrammetric research in Finland. The following account contains contributions by two of his colleagues, J. Hakkarainen and H. Salmenperä, on specific aspects of lens distortion and block adjustment.     

Remote perceiving: A step toward a unified science of remote sensing

In a previous article (Hoffman & Conway, 1989), we reviewed some of the available psychological research that pertains to remote sensing. We focused on two major problem areas: Research on the knowledge of expert interpreters of remotely‐sensed imagery, and research on the use of color in graphic displays. Here, we pursue one of the broad implications of the research ‐ that the field of remote sensing can benefit by incorporating research methods and ideas from experimental psychology. From the experimental psychology viewpoint, “remote sensing”; is actually a misnomer when used to denote a field or area of scientific inquiry. Remote perceiving, as a total process, depends not only on the technology of remote sensing, but also depends critically on the ability of humans to interpret remote sensing displays. This perspective is contrasted with traditional approaches to remote sensing. The discussion involves some ideas about the theoretical and methodological foundations of remote sensing as a unified science.     

(re)Considering Bertin in the age of big data and visual analytics

ABSTRACT

This paper highlights a selection of core ideas articulated by Bertin and leveraged by many researchers over time, with particular attention to how the ideas relate to developments in cartography, big data, and visual analytics. A primary contribution is a bibliometric analysis of the impact of Bertin’s Semiology of Graphics at its 50th anniversary. A briefer bibliometric assessment of Graphics and Graphic Information Processing impacts is also provided. The bibliometric analysis includes exploration of citations to Semiology of Graphics over the entire time span (in both English and French editions) as well as more focused analysis by topic and outlet since the advent of visual analytics as a research domain. Then, very recent research related to cartography, visual analytics, and big data is examined in detail to determine if and how Bertin’s ideas continue to be leveraged and extended for current data representation and analysis challenges. After outlining some limitations of the bibliometric analysis, discussion reflects on the current relevance of Bertin’s ideas, potential applications in visual analytics, and the need for a complement to Sémiologie Graphique focused on interactive visual interfaces to an increasingly diverse array of display forms. The paper concludes with thoughts on next steps.     

In-depth examination of spatiotemporal figures in open reproducible research

ABSTRACT

Figures such as maps and time series are essential means to visualize spatiotemporal results in scientific papers. Being able to recompute them using the underlying source code and data is thus a core aspect in reproducible research. However, many scientists see the preparation of code and data for publication as an additional burden without immediate benefits. In this work, we investigate advantages and new capabilities of reproducible research papers. Our key contributions are (i) the extension of a geoscientist’s workflow while examining papers including reproducible figures such as maps and (ii) the prototypical implementation of the workflow as a web application. The workflow is based on current practices of geoscientists and encapsulates benefits of reproducible figures. It is informed by ideas and needs identified by geoscientists in a survey, interviews, and a focus group. Based on their statements, we first extend the traditional workflow steps Discovery and Inspection by additional capabilities and propose two new steps: Manipulation of the content of a spatiotemporal figure and Substitution of the underlying code and data. The extended workflow and its implementation might facilitate in-depth examination and reusability of geoscientific results.     

Revisiting Web Cartography in the United States: the Rise of User-Centered Design

This paper reviews the recent development of web cartography based on Plewe's 2007 short paper in the U.S. National Report to the ICA, titled Web Cartography in the United States. By identifying major changes and recent research trends in web cartography, this paper provides an overview about what the web means to cartography, and suggests two major research directions for web cartography in the future: 1) the rise of user-centered design, including design of user interfaces, dynamic map content and mapping functions; 2) the release of the power of map-making to the public and amateur cartographers. I also present web cartography concepts in this paper to challenge the traditional research agenda in cartography.     

Instantaneous global spatial interaction? Exploring the Gaussian inequality, distance and Internet pings in a global network

The Internet has been publicly portrayed as a new technological horizon yielding instantaneous interaction to a point where geography no longer matters. This research aims to dispel this impression by applying a dynamic form of trip modelling to investigate pings in a global computer network compiled by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC) from 1998 to 2004. Internet flows have been predicted to have the same mathematical operators as trips to a supermarket, since they are both periodic and constrained by a distance metric. Both actual and virtual trips are part of a spectrum of origin–destination pairs in the time–space convergence of trip time-lines. Internet interaction is very near to the convergence of these time-lines (at a very small time scale in milliseconds, but with interactions over thousands of kilometres). There is a lag effect and this is formalised by the derivation of Gaussian and gravity inequalities between the time taken (Δt) and the partitioning of distance (Δx). This inequality seems to be robust for a regression of Δt to Δx in the SLAC data set for each year (1998 to 2004). There is a constant ‘forbidden zone’ in the interaction, underpinned by the fact that pings do not travel faster than the speed of light. Superimposed upon this zone is the network capacity where a linear regression of Δt to Δx is a proxy summarising global Internet connectivity for that year. The results suggest that there has been a substantial improvement in connectivity over the period with R ² increasing steadily from 0.39 to 0.65 from less Gaussian spreading of the ping latencies. Further, the regression line shifts towards the inequality boundary from 1998 to 2004, where the increased slope shows a greater proportional rise in local connectivity over global connectivity. A conclusion is that national geography still does matter in spatial interaction modelling of the Internet.     

Malaria incidence in Nairobi,Kenya and dekadal trends in NDVI and climatic variables

The primary objective of this research was to determine if the remotely-sensed metric, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and ground-collected dekadal climatological variables were useful predictors of future malaria outbreaks in an epidemic-prone area of Nairobi, Kenya. Data collected consisted of 36 dekadal (10-day) periods for the variables rainfall, temperature and NDVI along with yearly documented malaria admissions in 2003 for Nairobi, Kenya. Linear regression models were built for malaria cases reported in Nairobi, Kenya, as the dependent variable and various time-based groupings of temperature, rainfall and NDVI data from the dekads in both the current and the previous month as the independent variables. Data from 2003 show that malaria incidence in any given month is best predicted (R²  = 0.881, p < 0.001) by the average NDVI for the 30 days including the final two dekads of the previous month and first dekad of the current month, and by the average rainfall for the 30 days including the three dekads of rainfall data from the prior month. Forecasting an outbreak in an epidemic zone would allow public health entities to plan for and disseminate resources to the general public such as antimalarials and insecticide impregnated bed nets. In addition, vector control measures could be implemented to slow the rate of transmission in the impacted population.     

Potential fish habitat mapping using MODIS-derived sea surface salinity,temperature and chlorophyll-a data: South China Sea Coastal areas,Malaysia

This paper demonstrates the use of moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer (MODIS) data for fish forecasting mapping of seasonal spatial distribution of sea surface salinity (SSS), temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a in the ocean waters off the coast of Semporna, Malaysia. Multi-linear regression analysis was performed to estimate SSS and the Brown and Minnet algorithm was used for the SST. The extracted parameters were validated using in situ measurement taken with Hydro-Lab equipment. The extracted parameters from MODIS images reveal the signature values which establish the relationships between these parameters, and thus delineating the potential fish zonation (PFZ) map. These developed models will help for accurate monitoring of large coverage areas at low cost and within short period of time. Furthermore, such models will allow the prediction of the total fish catch in different seasons, thus contributing to fish industry management and marketing. This research recommends the use of PFZ map for mass scale fish harvesting in short time for larger areas. Finally, the research has developed a potential fish zone model amalgamating all the above parameters. The PFZ mapping was carried out off the coast of Semporna, Sabah as there were sufficient fish catch data for accuracy assessment. The R was computed as 0.93 and the higher fish catch areas have coincided very well with the higher PFZ values, meaning the tool is ready for use for operational near real-time fish forecasting.     

A cross-analysis framework for multi-source volunteered,crowdsourced, and authoritative geographic information: The case study of volunteered personal traces analysis against transport network data

Abstract

The paper discusses the need of a high-level query language to allow analysts, geographers and, in general, non-programmers to easily cross-analyze multi-source VGI created by means of apps, crowd-sourced data from social networks and authoritative geo-referenced data, usually represented as JSON data sets (nowadays, the de facto standard for data exported by social networks). Since an easy to use high-level language for querying and manipulating collections of possibly geo-tagged JSON objects is still unavailable, we propose a truly declarative language, named J-CO-QL, that is based on a well-defined execution model. A plug-in for a GIS permits to visualize geo-tagged data sets stored in a NoSQL database such as MongoDB; furthermore, the same plug-in can be used to write and execute J-CO-QL queries on those databases. The paper introduces the language by exemplifying its operators within a real study case, the aim of which is to understand the mobility of people in the neighborhood of Bergamo city. Cross-analysis of data about transportation networks and VGI from travelers is performed, by means of J-CO-QL language, capable to manipulate and transform, combine and join possibly geo-tagged JSON objects, in order to produce new possibly geo-tagged JSON objects satisfying users’ needs.