Measured and perceived visual complexity: a comparative study among three online map providers

We present a study on human perception of map complexity, with the objective of better understanding design decisions that may lead to undesirable levels of complexity in web maps. We compare three complexity metrics to human ratings of complexity obtained through a user survey. Specifically, we use two algorithmic approaches published by others, which measure feature congestion (FC) and subband entropy (SE), as well as our own approach of counting object types rather than individual objects. We compare these metrics with each other as well as with human complexity ratings for three maps of the same area from map providers Google Maps, Bing Maps, and OpenStreetMap. Each map design is assessed at three different scales (levels of detail). We find that (1) the FC and SE metrics appear to be adequate predictors of what humans consider complex; (2) object-type counts are slightly less successful at predicting human-rated complexity, implying that clutter is more important in perceived complexity than diversity of symbology; and (3) generalization choices do impact human complexity ratings. These findings contribute to our understanding of what makes a map complex, with implications for designing maps that are easy to use.     

Design principles for origin-destination flow maps

Origin-destination flow maps are often difficult to read due to overlapping flows. Cartographers have developed design principles in manual cartography for origin-destination flow maps to reduce overlaps and increase readability. These design principles are identified and documented using a quantitative content analysis of 97 geographic origin-destination flow maps without branching or merging flows. The effectiveness of selected design principles is verified in a user study with 215 participants. Findings show that (a) curved flows are more effective than straight flows, (b) arrows indicate direction more effectively than tapered line widths, and (c) flows between nodes are more effective than flows between areas. These findings, combined with results from user studies in graph drawing, conclude that effective and efficient origin-destination flow maps should be designed according to the following design principles: overlaps between flows are minimized; symmetric flows are preferred to asymmetric flows; longer flows are curved more than shorter or peripheral flows; acute angles between crossing flows are avoided; sharp bends in flow lines are avoided; flows do not pass under unconnected nodes; flows are radially distributed around nodes; flow direction is indicated with arrowheads; and flow width is scaled with represented quantity.     

华北构造区强震短期水氡异常空间图像演化及其前兆判别标志的研究

开展了水氡前兆异常参数提取方法的研究, 并以其提取的结果为输入, 对1985～2002年华北水氡异常参数分布做了全时空扫描, 继而将全部图像与华北地区构造活动性评估的数字化图像进行了叠加, 实现了水氡异常动态扫描与区域构造活动性背景的结合。 在此基础上, 1985年以来华北地区5级以上地震前的水氡短期图像演化情况做了全面分析, 提取出判别异常区的指标以及地震短期异常演化特征, 并提出了华北地区强震前水氡短期前兆的判别标志。     

林甸M S 5.1地震前地震活动图像分析和综合预报方法

通过对黑龙江亚板块及其临近区域的不同时段地震活动图像研究分析,发现了中强震前地震活动图像的一些特点,再回归到地震动力学环境中去,建立了理论解释模型和两条判据假说。以此为基础并结合近年来地震活动图像综合分析后,我们在2005年下半年黑龙江省地震趋势会商意见中提出:松嫩盆地是5级以上中强震的主要孕震区。2005年7月25日林甸Ms 5．1地震对此给予了验证。本文对此过程阐述并作进一步分析,希望这种综合预报方法对地震预报工作有所帮助。     

Long baroclinic Rossby waves with periods of about 500d near 20°N in the northwest Pacific Ocean

On the basis of maps of sea level anomalies data set from October 1992 to January 2004, pronounced low frequency variations with periods of about 500 d are detected in the area near 20°N from 160°W to 130°E. A linear two-layer model is employed to explain the mechanism. It is found that the first-mode long baroclinic Rossby waves at 20°N in the northwest Pacific propagate westward in the form of free waves at a speed of about 10.3 cm/s. This confirms that the observed low frequency variabilities appear as baroclinic Rossby waves. It further shows that these low frequency variabilities around 20°N in the northwest Pacific can potentially be predicted with a lead up to 900 d.     

多源地理空间矢量数据关联分析

针对多源地理空间矢量数据多来源、难以集成综合利用这一现状,本文提出了多源地理空间矢量数据关联方法,并以此为基础构建了多源地理空间矢量数据关联的可视与计算查询系统。首先,对多源地理空间矢量数据关联的概念及分类进行了定义。然后,以此为基础,提出了关联关系构建技术：自适应四叉树编码技术、扫描线技术、几何匹配及语义匹配技术。最后,为实现关联关系的直观展示,设计了原型系统。关联技术的提出可建立起多源地理空间矢量数据之间的关联关系,原型系统的构建也为用户综合利用多源地理空间矢量数据提供了平台,提高了数据的利用率及数据查询的效能。     

北极冰下水声通信中改进的最小均方/四次方直接自适应均衡器

本文提出了一种适用于北极冰下水声通信的最小均方/四次方直接自适应均衡器（LMS/F-DAE）。它能处理基带复信号,与LMS相比,具有更好的均衡效果。考虑到均衡器的稀疏特性,在其代价函数中加入自适应范数（AN）作为约束。它能根据均衡器系数的大小自适应变化：对于小系数,此约束项存在以加快收敛速度;对于大系数,此约束项不存在以减小均衡误差。利用第九次中国北极科学考察得到的实验数据验证AN-LMS/F-DAE的性能。结果表明,与传统的LMS/F-DAE相比,AN-LMS/F-DAE能提升均衡器的稀疏性且均衡性能更优。     

数字技术背景下地图产品的变革

电子地图一边吸收传统地图学理论的精髓,同时引进新的技术和方法,摆脱了传统地图制图的局限和束缚,成为一种地理学研究与应用的新的语言形式。通过对传统地图同电子地图产品的比较来阐述地图产品在数字技术背景下产品模式、制图技术及应用领域等方面的变革。     

社会-生态系统适应性治理研究进展与展望

社会—生态系统（SES）由社会子系统、生态子系统及两者的交互作用构成,具有不同于社会系统或生态系统单独具有的结构、功能和复杂特征。社会—生态系统适应性治理旨在通过适应性的社会权利分配与行为决策机制,使社会—生态系统能够在动态条件下可持续地保障人类福祉。适应性治理理论的形成受到“公共池塘资源管理”“韧性”和“治理”3方面理论的影响,并为“转型治理”与“协作治理”提供了建构基础。该理论具有以下3个主要目的：① 理解和应对社会—生态系统多稳态、非线性、不确定性、整体性以及复杂性;② 建立非对抗性的社会结构、权利分配制度以及行为决策体系,匹配社会子系统与自然子系统;③ 通过综合方法管理生态系统,使其可持续提供生态系统服务。因此,面对人类行为主导地表过程的“人类世”,实现适应性治理有助于应对社会—生态系统的复杂性与不确定性。鉴于中国的生态环境正处于迅速变化时期,且中国与世界各国间的相互影响日益复杂,未来研究可重点关注以下3个方面：① 理解耦合系统的多元互动过程,增强适应能力;② 强调社会—生态系统的整体性研究;③ 提高环境变化背景下理解和预测系统动态的能力。     

顾及有色噪声的自适应粒子滤波UWB定位算法

传统卡尔曼滤波算法要求噪声模型符合高斯分布,在UWB室内定位中,由于载体本身的机制等干扰,观测噪声不仅仅是白噪声,也存在有色噪声的情况,而粒子滤波可以处理有色噪声的问题。本文通过增加似然分布自适应调整来改进粒子滤波用于目标跟踪的精度,同时研究在白噪声、有色噪声下似然分布自适应调整粒子滤波和拓展卡尔曼滤波在UWB中的优势与不同。试验结果表明：观测噪声为白噪声时,拓展卡尔曼滤波和粒子滤波均可以较好地实现对行人的定位跟踪;观测噪声为有色噪声时,自适应粒子滤波定位效果优于粒子滤波、拓展卡尔曼滤波。