Enabling collaborative GeoVisual analytics: Systems,techniques, and research challenges

Collaboration across disciplines is recognized as one of the great challenges for research in visual analysis of geographic information (GeoVisual Analytics, GVA). Considering the increasing availability of geodata and the complexity of analytical problems, the need to advance the support for collaborative work is becoming more pressing and prominent. This article contributes to this objective by reviewing the state‐of‐the‐art of the support for collaborative work in GVA systems and by identifying research challenges and proposing strategies to address them. We conducted a systematic review, resulting in the identification of 13 collaborative systems, 6 distinct collaborative techniques, and 3 research challenges. We conclude that GVA is moving toward more effective support of multidisciplinary and cross‐domain collaborative analysis. However, to materialize this potential, research is needed to improve the support for hybrid collaborative scenarios, cross‐device collaboration, and support for time‐critical and long‐term analysis.     

Geovisualization illustrated

In recent years, the visualization of geospatial data has undergone dramatic and important developments. Next to static maps, nowadays, immersive and highly interactive virtual environments can be used to explore and present dynamic geospatial data. Additionally, the World Wide Web has developed into a prominent medium to disseminate geospatial data and maps. In visualizing geospatial data, methods and techniques from fields, such as scientific visualization and information visualization, are applied because of the large volumes of data at hand. This has accumulated in what is known as geovisualization—the use of visual geospatial displays to explore data and through that exploration to generate hypotheses, develop problem solutions and construct knowledge. Maps and other linked graphics play a key role in this process. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of geovisualization and, in particular, how alternative graphic representations can stimulate the visual thought process. This is demonstrated by applying geovisualization techniques to Minard's well-known map of Napoleon's 1812 campaign into Russia, the “Carte figurative des pertes successives en hommes de l'Armee Française dans la campagne de Russie 1812–1813” (http://www.itc.nl/personal/kraak/1812/).