New measures for analysis and comparison of shape distortion in world map projections

ABSTRACT

World maps can have quite different depictions of reality depending on the projection adopted, and this can influence our perception of the world. In this respect, shape is a significant property that needs to be considered, especially when representing large regions in general-purpose world maps. A map projection distorts most geometric properties (area, distance, direction/angle, shape, and specific curves) and usually preserves a single property or provides a compromise between different properties when transforming terrestrial features from globe to plane. The distortions are mainly classified based on area, distance and direction/angle and analyzed with Tissot’s theorem. However, this theorem offers a local (pointwise) solution, so the distortion assessment is valid at infinitesimal scale (i.e. for very small regions). For this reason, different approaches are required to analyze the distortions at finite scale (i.e. for larger regions). However, there are very few attempts at analyzing and comparing shape distortion of landmasses in world map projections owing to the fact that shape measurement is difficult and usually involves measuring different characteristics. Seeking to fill this gap, in this study, compactness and elongation distortion measures are introduced. In this regard, 16 world map projections are analyzed and compared with these distortion measures in a GIS environment, based on map datasets of continents and countries. An analysis of the effect of the levels of detail of the datasets is also presented.     

栅格数据等差分纬线多圆锥投影变换研究与实现

用户制作世界地图时,需要把拍摄的全球栅格数据投影转换到等差分纬线多圆锥投影坐标参考系下,用来和矢量数据叠加。文中导出了投影的正反解变换公式,并对变换公式的参数建立求解模型、采集参考点、纠偏参考点,然后采用3次多项式拟合求解出变换参数。栅格数据经过导入、配准、设置参考系信息后,采用投影正反解变换方法逐个像素进行投影变换,最终产生了一个等差分纬线多圆锥投影坐标参考系下的栅格数据。把拍摄的全球高清影像投影变换后作底图,并和矢量数据叠加制作地图,在我国地图出版、打印、展示方面有很多应用。     

地磁场时空差异对磁测精度影响

通过对辽宁地区流动地磁的观测资料进行对比分析,研究探讨了影响磁测精度的各测点与通化台之间的通化距离、经度方向距离等因素对磁测精度的影响情况。为提高流动地磁观测的磁测精度提供了参考。     

GEOGRAPHY IN THREE WORLDS: HOW POPPER'S SYSTEM CAN HELP ELUCIDATE DICHOTOMIES AND CHANGES IN THE DISCIPLINE∗

Popper's concept of Worlds 1. 2, and 3 is discussed briefly in the light of idealism and materialism and to illustrate the debate about reification and reductionism. Then six types of change in geography are classified as changes in the phenomenal environment (World 1) and in that part of the behavioral environment that constitutes World 3. These changes involve those comparisons within or between “Worlds” that identify future research problems.     

City generics: external urban relations in ancient-Mesopotamian and modern-global city networks

City generics is a research choice to explore continuities of urban process across time and space. Central flow theory is interpreted as generic and is operationalized using the interlocking network model. A nuanced generic approach is developed that respects differences in inter-city relations found in dissimilar social worlds, defined as world-systems. This is illustrated through the application of the interlocking network model to extremely different world-systems – the contemporary world-economy and the ancient Mesopotamian world-empire. In both cases data is collected and analysed to reveal a city network at the centre of societal reproduction; advanced producer services are enabling of corporate globalization through cities; advanced divine services are enabling of spiritual-political change through cities. Both analyses produce credible geographical results so that similarities and differences in results can be discussed as generic inter-city relations.     

商业化大潮中丽江古城的文化特质分析

丽江旅游开发30年呈现表象的商业化与内在的文化自觉两条线索.基于访谈样本,认为丽江古城独特的地方智慧是吸引游客的主要原因,这使其呈现世界休闲古都的文化意象.最后进行两点学术讨论：（1）丽江古城遗产保护,应该兼顾物质文化遗产和非物质文化遗产.（2）丽江古城作为茶马古道的重镇,其未来的发展不应该摒弃纳西族文化、马帮文化、人-水-城-大环境四合一的中庸文化等特质,高品质的深度旅游和文化传承才是符合世界遗产旅游的潮流和可持续的.     

Expeditious management plan towards digital earth

The breakthrough developments in geospatial technologies and the increasing availability of spatial data make geoinformation a business and a decisional element to the management. Hence, it is important to have a management plan to factor in practical and feasible data sources, in building geo applications. The authors of this paper are motivated by the fact that right data sources could outclass in-house resources in various application scenarios. This paper outlines pragmatic cases for the tangible benefits of the existing potential data and expeditious patterns for digital earth. This work also proposes ‘good-enough’ solutions based on the pragmatic cases, available literature, and the 3D city model developed that could be sufficient in contriving the objectives of the common public usage and open business models. To demonstrate this approach, the paper encapsulated the low-cost development of virtual 3D city model using publicly available cadastral data and web services.     

A framework design for the Chinese National Disaster Reduction System of Systems (CNDRSS)

China is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Currently, the disaster prevention and relief mechanism in China is mainly based on single disaster types and is implemented by different ministries and divisions in single administrative regions. Subsequently, the available resources, including data, services, materials, and human resources, cannot be shared and used effectively. Based on the idea of an observation system of systems and a business system of systems, this paper presents an integrated framework for a Chinese National Disaster Reduction System of Systems (CNDRSS) to address this issue. The CNDRSS framework aims to achieve data sharing and collaboration among different disaster-related ministries/institutions by providing one-stop services for all phases of disaster management and linking together existing and planned disaster-related business systems and observation systems. The key technologies use federated databases and a web service to integrate multiple disaster management systems among different ministries/institutions and a sensor web to integrate airborne, space-borne, and in-situ observations through the web service. These event-driven focused-services connecting the various observations, processing, and mapping processes can meet the requirements for complex disaster-chain systems.     

The framework of a geospatial semantic web-based spatial decision support system for Digital Earth

Abstract

While significant progress has been made to implement the Digital Earth vision, current implementation only makes it easy to integrate and share spatial data from distributed sources and has limited capabilities to integrate data and models for simulating social and physical processes. To achieve effectiveness of decision-making using Digital Earth for understanding the Earth and its systems, new infrastructures that provide capabilities of computational simulation are needed. This paper proposed a framework of geospatial semantic web-based interoperable spatial decision support systems (SDSSs) to expand capabilities of the currently implemented infrastructure of Digital Earth. Main technologies applied in the framework such as heterogeneous ontology integration, ontology-based catalog service, and web service composition were introduced. We proposed a partition-refinement algorithm for ontology matching and integration, and an algorithm for web service discovery and composition. The proposed interoperable SDSS enables decision-makers to reuse and integrate geospatial data and geoprocessing resources from heterogeneous sources across the Internet. Based on the proposed framework, a prototype to assist in protective boundary delimitation for Lunan Stone Forest conservation was implemented to demonstrate how ontology-based web services and the services-oriented architecture can contribute to the development of interoperable SDSSs in support of Digital Earth for decision-making.     

计算机辅助评价与网络考试系统

计算机辅助评价作为一种新的评价方式出现,已经逐渐为人们所接受,目前越来越多的考试采用了计算机辅助评价方式即网络考试系统.结合在实际设计网络考试系统中所遇到的问题,探讨了网络考试系统的设计方案及应具备的功能.