Using Web Maps to Analyze the Construction of Global Scale Cognitive Maps

Game-based Web sites and applications are changing the ways in which students learn the world map. In this study, a Web map-based digital learning tool was used as a study aid for a university-level geography course in order to examine the way in which global scale cognitive maps are constructed. A network analysis revealed that clicks were negatively correlated with familiarity, but were positively correlated with area. More significantly, well-known countries did not act as central nodes within network-based mental models, but served a more complex mediating role in structuring the space between subregions.     

Groupers on the Edge: Shelf Edge Spawning Habitat in and Around Marine Reserves of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

The northeastern Gulf of Mexico contains some of the most diverse and productive marine habitat in the United States. Much of this habitat, located on the shelf edge in depths of 50 to 120 m, supports spawning for many economically important species, including groupers. Here, we couple acoustic surveys with georeferenced videography to describe the primary spatial and geologic features of spawning aggregation sites for four economically important species: gag (Mycteroperca microlepis), scamp (M. phenax), red grouper (Epinephelus morio), and red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), with notes on fish distribution and abundance and spawning activities. We provide information on movement patterns of reef fish determined using acoustic telemetry. Finally, we discuss the possible coupling of geomorphology with hydrographic features to influence the overall productivity of the region and the importance of spatial fishery management in sustaining that productivity.     

网络地图集成于 GIS桌面系统的方法及试验

网络地图可以快捷地提供海量空间数据,用户可通过其提供的API方便地将其嵌入到定制的网络应用中,同样,将其集成到功能丰富的GIS桌面系统中是必要的、有益的.但目前主流的网络地图如Google地图、Bing地图等,与主流GIS桌面系统所支持的OGC的WFS、WMS、WCS等空间数据服务发布规范不兼容,因而不能被GIS桌面系...     

Forest Fire Alert System: a Geo Web GIS prioritization model considering land susceptibility and hotspots – a case study in the Carajás National Forest,Brazilian Amazon

To increase the monitoring potential of forest fires, an alert classification methodology using satellite-mapped hotspots has been established to help forest managers in the prioritization of which hotspot to be verified in the field, thus potentially improving the distribution of fire-fighting resources. A computer application was developed based on web-distributed geographical information technology whose main function is to interact automatically generated satellite hotspots and risk areas indicated in fire-susceptibility maps and classify them into five alert levels. The location of the hotspots is available continuously every 4 h, and a susceptibility map is produced daily through map algebra algorithm, which uses static (topography, vegetation and land use) and dynamic (weather) variables. Every process runs through automated geoprocessing routines. The methodology was tested during the dry period of 2007 in the Carajás National Forest, in the Brazilian Amazon, within an area of 400,000 ha. It is a critical area constantly threatened by fires caused by invasions and deforestation owing to intense agribusiness advances and mining activities in its surroundings. This situation results in observations of many hotspots inside the study area for the same day and almost the same time period, in places of extreme opposites, demanding complex rapid analysis and hindering the decision of the displacement of fire-fighting teams. Further, a major mining company operates within the National Forest area, maintaining actions of protection as part of its environmental mining license. Results are presented under three aspects: (i) the credibility of the daily susceptibility map (algorithm), which showed strong correlation between areas of greatest risks and the confirmed forest fires; (ii) the reliability of hotspots (alert levels), confirming 71% of fires; (iii) accuracy in the decision of which hotspot to be checked, which revealed the same number of verifications at different alert levels, 82% confirmed alert 5 hotspots (maximum) and only 50% from alert 1 (minimum), resulting in faster fire-fighting actions, minimizing burned areas and, in some cases, allowing fire control before its spreading. Therefore, the methodology demonstrated that GIS routines are able to determine the relationship between a reality-based, interpreted susceptibility map of the area and satellite-generated hotspots, highlighting the ones of highest hazard level through the alert classification, becoming an important tool to help decisions from the fire-control center, especially for high-risk regions. The methodology may be extrapolated to other forested areas.     

Defining Appalachia: Public Policy and Regional Dynamics in Appalachia's Low-income Counties, 1965-2000

Abstract

The extant literature on place location learning resolves in varying degrees that place location knowledge (PLK) is deficient in the United States and abroad. This is particularly true for younger school-attending age groups. This study has three main aims: to investigate the validity of that claim in regard to secondary-level students in Dublin by testing their PLK; to assess what characteristics of tested place locations render some sites more visible in students' eyes than others; and to investigate statistically what traits of the respondents shape their PLK. The implications of these findings on geographic education and future research are also discussed.     

Seismicity and seismic hazard mapping of northern Algeria: Map of Maximum Calculated Intensities (MCI)

An earthquake catalogue covering the period1716–2000, comprising 2430 events, has beencompiled for the region lying between3°W-9°E and 31°N-38°N. It results fromraw data of IGN, ISC, USGS and Algeriansources, enabling an input consisting oforigin time H, geographical coordinates(longitude and latitude) and at least one of thefollowing parameters: surface wavemagnitude Ms, body wave magnitude Mb,epicentral intensities Io. Empiricalrelations permit transformations of Mb andMs into Io. The output consists in H,, , Ms, Mb, Io, and focal depth h whichis fixed to 10 km. The number ofevents falls to 1458 characterised by Ms 3.3 and Mb 3.6, or Io III. The fixed depth is suggested by thebest documented Algerian macroseismic mapsthat also lead to an empirical intensityattenuation law. A first application ofthis catalogue allows the drawing up of anupdated Seismicity and a MaximalCalculated Intensities (MCI) Maps ofAlgeria. The MCI map is obtained by usingthe empirical attenuation law: theintensities inferred by the whole eventsconstituting the catalogue are computed atnodes of a 5×5-km grid covering the area ofstudy. The corresponding maximum value isassigned to each node. The MCI map producedthat way gives precise spatial informationin comparison with Maximum ObservedIntensities (MOI) maps obtained in previousmacroseismic studies. This document may beuseful in mapping the seismic hazard inNorthern Algeria, without attachingprobabilities to ground-motionparameters.     

湖南省传统聚落景观基因组图谱的空间形态与结构特征

传统聚落保有显著的价值,深入开展相关研究有利于促进经济社会的可持续发展和新型城镇化战略的实施。结合传统聚落景观基因组图谱,本文探讨了湖南省传统聚落景观的空间形态与结构特征。首先,根据传统聚落景观基因组的空间排列特征将湖南省传统聚落的空间形态归结为向心圆环式、扇形扩张式、多向扩张式、条带式、离散式和组团式等5种基本类型,并进一步归纳了各种形态类型的特征。其次,运用空间句法理论,通过构建传统聚落景观基因组的空间轴线模型,系统地剖析了湖南省传统聚落景观的空间结构特征,发现湖南省传统聚落的空间结构具有对称和平行等鲜明的几何特征,存在着“界域”和“街—巷—码头”等典型结构,还具有典型的风水意象特征。因此,结合传统聚落景观基因组图谱从地理学的视角揭示传统聚落的地学特征,有利于完善传统聚落景观基因理论,深化对传统聚落的认识,促进相关保护工作。     

心象地图在制图传输中的作用

制图传输是制图学的重要研究领域。本文从认知制图的角度,探讨了心象地图在制图传输中的作用;着重分析了心象地图和地图之间的内在联系,指出了人的认知制图能力的客观存在是制图传输得以进行的真正原因;在此基础上,提出了制图传输的扩展模式,增加了从读图者到次读图者之间的传输过程,并从内容和形式等方面分析了它的特殊性,以期完善制图传输模式。     

内力线定性描绘应力场方法及其在地质构造研究中的应用

为了简化地质构造力学分析，本文探讨了用内力线来描绘应力场的方法，仿照用磁力线描绘磁场的做法，约定以从外力作用点，支承点等处发出的一族主应力迹线为代表内力传递路径的“内力线”，根据弹性理论绘制了部分简单应力场的内力线图，阐述了以简单应力场内力线图为基础绘制复杂应力场内力线图并对之进行分析的方法，同时，文中还对这一方法在山字型构造体系和断裂等板内构造应力场分析，隐伏或未知构及地质的推测，地震预报等方面的应用做了尝试。