GIScience

Open source GIS Tools to Map Earthquake Damage Scenarios and to Support Emergency

by Maurizio Pollino

Authors: Maurizio Pollino, Antonio Bruno Della Rocca, Grazia Fattoruso, Luigi La Porta, Sergio Lo Curzio, Agnese Arolchi, Valentina James, Carmine Pascale.
Published in: GEOProcessing 2012 Conference Proceedings. Valencia, Spain,
January 30 - February 4, 2012, pp. 152-157. Copyright (c) IARIA, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61208-178-6

The latest improvements in geo-informatics offer new opportunities in a wide range of territorial and environmental... more The latest improvements in geo-informatics offer new opportunities in a wide range of territorial and environmental applications. In this general framework, a relevant issue is represented by earthquake early warning and emergency management. In the recent years, the scientific community has recognized the added value of a geo-analytic approach in order to support complex decision making processes for critical situations, due to disastrous natural events like earthquakes. This paper describes the research activities concerning a GIS-based solution, which is aimed at the development of seismic Early Warning Systems (EWSs). In this context, an innovative open source GIS has been studied, implemented and integrated as component of the seismic EWS. Its architecture consists in: a geospatial database system; a local GIS application for analyzing and modelling the seismic event and its impacts and supporting post-event emergency management; a WEB-GIS module for sharing the geo-information among the public and private stakeholders and emergency managers involved in disaster impact assessment and response management.

Collaborative Open Source Geospatial Tools and Maps Supporting the Response Planning to Disastrous Earthquake Events

by Maurizio Pollino

Authors: Maurizio Pollino, Grazia Fattoruso, Luigi La Porta, Antonio Bruno Della Rocca and Valentina James
Published in: Future Internet 2012, 4(2), 451-468; doi:10.3390/fi4020451

Future Internet (ISSN 1999-5903), an open access journal on Internet technologies and the information society, is published by MDPI online quarterly.

The latest improvements in geo-informatics offer new opportunities in a wide range of territorial and environmental... more The latest improvements in geo-informatics offer new opportunities in a wide range of territorial and environmental applications. In this general framework, a relevant issue is represented by earthquake early warning and emergency management. This research work presents the investigation and development of a simple and innovative geospatial methodology and related collaborative open source geospatial tools for predicting and mapping the vulnerability to seismic hazard in order to support the response planning to disastrous events. The proposed geospatial methodology and tools have been integrated into an open source collaborative GIS system, designed and developed as an integrated component of an earthquake early warning and emergency management system.
Keywords: GIS; VGI; geospatial open source technology; early warning systems; emergency managemen

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) For Spatial Planning and Environmental Management in India: Critical Considerations

by Martin Bunch

Bunch, M.J., T. Vasanthakumaran, and R. Joseph (2012) Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for spatial planning and environmental management in India: Critical Considerations. International Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 2(2):40-54.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display... more Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial planning and environmental management. Because the process of GIS production, from software development to visualization of GIS output, is characterized by political, economic and social motivations, it is important that GIS practitioners are aware of issues such as access to data and the political economy of information, and the nature of GIS epistemologies vis-à-vis multiple coexisting perceptions of reality. Lack of such appreciation can lead to social and spatial marginalization of communities. Use of GIS in a research program for environmental management of the Cooum River in Chennai, and in support of participatory processes for managing environment and health in slums are used to demonstrate appropriate applications of GIS in India. Internet-distributed GIS as a potential avenue to address issues of public access to data is also considered.

A GIS Comparative Analysis of Bronze Age Settlement Patterns and the Contemporary Physical Landscape in the Jazira Region of Syria

by Tony Mathys

Most of the datasets presented in this thesis are available for free in ArcGIS shapefile format on the ShareGeo Open data repository at http://www.sharegeo.ac.uk/.

These datasets are available for everyone to use as it is important to encourage data sharing in support of research activities.

There are also some CORONA satellite images available on ShareGeo for the Syrian Jazira region. The plan is to eventually provide complete CORONA coverage for this region, though geo-referencing will not be precise as it's intended to be more for user orientation.

Acknowledgement should go to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which makes CORONA imagery available via its EarthExplorer online data service at http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/NewEarthExplorer/
Many CORONA images are available to download for free from this service, though require processing and geo-referencing for use in a GIS or a software package for processing remotely sensed imagery.

Relevant to this, and the thesis, is the following paper presented which first introduced how CORONA satellite imagery could be applied to archaeological work in the Near East. Martin Fowler also wrote about the potential of CORONA in the Aerial Archaeology Research Group (AARG) news.

Mathys, Tony. “The Use of Declassified Intelligence Satellite Photographs in a GIS (IDRISI) to Map Archaeological Sites and the Surrounding Landscape in the Northeastern Region of the Syrian Jazirah. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute, NASA and St. Cloud State University Remote Sensing Applications in Archaeology Conference. St. Cloud, Minnesota, May 29-31, 1997.

Unfortunately, papers presented at this conference were not published.

My gratitude and thanks to Dr Sarah Parcak for citing this unpublished conference paper in her book (Satellite Remote Sensing in Archaeology), and to Dr Aled Rowlands and Dr Apostolos Sarris for citing it in their Journal of Archaeological Science article 34 (2007).

Dwelling in the Web: Towards a Googlization of Space

by Florian Fischer

Laser Scanner Applications in Forest and Environmental Sciences

by Paolo Tarolli

Published in European Journal of Remote Sensing, 2012. Co-authored with Francesco Pirotti, Stefano Grigolato, Emanuele Lingua, Tommaso Sitzia.

Potential forest-related information can be obtained from processing data obtained from laser scanning sensors making... more Potential forest-related information can be obtained from processing data obtained from laser scanning sensors making this technology extremely useful for forest management and
environmental assessment. It is thoroughly documented in recent literature how specific forest characteristics can be estimated at stand, plot and single tree level using laser scanner surveys at corresponding scales. The high resolution models of the canopy surface and of the bare earth (terrain), as well as the information obtained related to the structure of the volume between these two surfaces, concur at offering a more complete source of information not only for direct forestry-related applications, but also for connected disciplines such as hydrology, engineering, forest disturbances analysis and ecological assessment.
Having accurate and spatially distributed information over the above mentioned aspects give land assessment and management added value data to work with. Correct utilization
of laser scanner data can lead to the assessment of many characteristics usually obtained by ground surveys. Ground-plots require significant expenditure in terms of human effort,
economical investment and can be distributed on large areas only in limited number. The following paper shows the efforts which are being undertaken by scientific research towards testing laser scanner applications for forest and environmental sciences.

Using the Newly‐created ILE DBMS to Better Represent Temporal and Historical GIS Data

by J. B. (Jack) Owens

* Kantabutra, V., Owens, J. B., Ames, D. P., Burns, C. N., and Stephenson, B. (2010). “Using the Newly-created ILE DBMS to Better Represent Temporal and Historical GIS Data.” Transactions in GIS 14, s1: 39-58; doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9671.2010.01222.x.

This article introduces a type of DBMS called the Intentionally-Linked Entities (ILE) DBMS for use as the basis for... more This article introduces a type of DBMS called the Intentionally-Linked Entities (ILE) DBMS for use as the basis for temporal and historical Geographical Information Systems. ILE represents each entity in a database only once, thereby mostly eliminating
redundancy and fragmentation, two major problems in Relational and other database systems. These advantages of ILE are realized by using relationship objects and pointers to implement all of the relationships among data entities in a native fashion using dynamically-allocated linked data structures. ILE can be considered to be a modern and extended implementation of the E/R data model. ILE also facilitates storage of things that are more faithful to the historical records, such as gazetteer entries of places with imprecisely known or unknown locations. This is difficult in Relational database systems but is a routine task using ILE because ILE is implemented using modern memory allocation techniques. We use the China Historical GIS (CHGIS) and other databases to illustrate the advantages of ILE. This is accomplished by modeling these databases in ILE and comparing them to the existing Relational implementations.

The Contribution of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Geography Education and Secondary School Students’ Attitudes Related to GIS

by Halil Eksi

Eyüp ARTVİNLİ
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
10 (3) • Summer 2010 • 1277-1292

The purpose of this study is to determine the place of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in teaching geography, the... more The purpose of this study is to determine the place of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in teaching geography, the general level of secondary school students’ attitudes towards Geography Information Systems and whether this changes according to different variables. The population of the research consists of the students studying in Istanbul, Ankara, Mersin, Manisa, Gaziantep, Samsun, Çorum, Kütahya, and Erzurum province in 2008-2009 academic year. The sample consists of 665 students who study at 15 academic high schools and were chosen by using the triple stratified cluster sampling method according to geographical regions and socio-economic structures (upper-middle-lower) in the population chosen from the city centre. The data were gathered by using the scale which was developed by Al-Kamali (2007) in order to determine the attitudes of students related to GIS and adapted to Turkish culture (linguistic) under the current investigation. The data obtained were analyzed by using means, standard deviations, t-tests, and Pearson correlation coefficients. According to the findings, the students’ attitudes towards GIS are positive, but new and widespread applications are needed for students to learn their lessons with GIS in a more motivated way.

Actor-networks and implementation: examples from conservation GIS in Ecuador

by Eugene Martin

int. j. geographical information science, 2000, vol. 14, no. 8, 715-738

Recommendations for implementation and evaluation of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can benefit from a broader... more Recommendations for implementation and evaluation of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can benefit from a broader theoretical foundation to support investigation, understanding and improvement. This paper discusses Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a framework to delineate and evaluate the social and technical interactions involved in GIS implementation. The proposed process traces actor-network interactions through texts, technical objects, people, money and control. Actor alignment, actor-network stability and obligatory points of passage are evaluated to compare actor-networks. Case study research on conservation GIS implementation in Ecuador illustrates these methods. The strength of these actor-networks is examined through analysis of actors’ interactions and the presence and function of an obligatory point of passage. Stronger actor-networks exhibit alignment among actors, co-location of an obligatory point of passage with the center of calculation and credit sharing.

Aquisição de Informação Pontual via PDA

by Jacinto Estima

2006, Proceedings of IX meeting of users of geographic information, Tagus Park - Oeiras, Portugal, 15-17 de November 2006. Co-authored with António Silva, Ana Ramos, Miguel Tavares and Ana Rita Calvão.

The Web Feature Service – Transaction standard: an example of prototype implementation

by Jacinto Estima

2010, MSc. Thesis. ISEGI - New University of Lisbon

With the Internet growth, the production and amount of available geographic data also increased. There are, at the... more With the Internet growth, the production and amount of available geographic data also increased. There are, at the moment, many servers around the world providing spatial information to several users, and many of them are accessing this information through different Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. Therefore, it becomes necessary to develop standards in order to solve the interoperability problem inherent to this heterogeneous and distributed data. This work aims at showing the significance of standards, particularly the Web Feature Service - Transaction (WFS-T) standard in the Geographic Information (GI) domain. A prototype that provides GI according with this standard is also implemented, based on PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GeoServer, uDig, Apache and MapFish.

Concepts, methodologies, and tools of an integrated geographical simulation and optimization system

by Yimin Chen

Authors: Li Xia, Chen Yimin, Liu Xiaoping, Li Dan and He Jinqiang. Published in International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 2011

Although being increasingly powerful in handling spatial data, geographical information systems (GIS) still lack the... more Although being increasingly powerful in handling spatial data, geographical information systems (GIS) still lack the powerful functionality for process modeling in terms of simulation and optimization. This article discusses the concepts and methodologies of a geographical simulation and optimization system (GeoSOS). GeoSOS integrates cellular automata (CA), agent-based models (ABMs), and swarm intelligence models (SIMs) for solving process simulation and optimization problems. A general form of the so-called interaction rules is proposed for implementing this integrated system. The GeoSOS software is developed to provide these complementary functions that are unavailable in the current GIS. Experiments have demonstrated that GeoSOS is able to model the reciprocal relationships between urban simulation and spatial optimization (e.g., facility sitting, transport development, and natural protection) in fast-growing regions. Better modeling performances have been achieved using the coupling strategies of GeoSOS.

Social Network Analysis of the Academic GIScience Community

by Shipeng Sun

Fuzzy Set Theory (or Fuzzy Logic) to Represent the Messy Data of Complex Human (and other) Systems

by J. B. (Jack) Owens

Co-authored with Emery A. Coppola, Jr.

Historians and Human Geographers deal with human systems or subsystems of considerable complexity. This situation... more Historians and Human Geographers deal with human systems or subsystems of considerable complexity. This situation presents a dilemma to those who use computational technologies, which demand a high level of precision to organize, analyze, and visualize information: the more complex the system is, the greater the imprecision of the available data. Historians and geographers often feel that their imprecise, ambiguous, contradictory, messy, largely qualitative information does not “fit” well in the available software categories, and they have trouble discussing the results produced when they work within computational environments because category assignment seems so arbitrary. This dilemma appears dramatically with the use of Geographically-Integrated History (GIH) as a research strategy. In this paper, we introduce fuzzy set theory (or fuzzy logic) as a proven solution for dealing with imprecision in complex systems.

Recycling pulp mill sludge to improve soil fertility using GIS tools

by Antonio Albuquerque

P. Ribeiro, A. Albuquerque, L. Quinta-Nova, V. Cavaleiro
Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2010, V. 54, 12, 1303–1311.

Pulp mill sludge produced in the Cova da Beira region (Portugal) contains organic matter (11–47%), nitrogen (38–2560mg... more Pulp mill sludge produced in the Cova da Beira region (Portugal) contains organic matter (11–47%), nitrogen (38–2560mg N/kg) and phosphorus (167–370mg P/kg), which may be valuable for increasing soil productivity. The levels of heavy metals are below the limits recommended by legislation and the
amount of nitrogen and phosphorous to be introduced in soils does not present a risk for nutrient leaching.
After identifying the environmental and technical restrictions on its application, an area of 1650 ha was identified where the sludge can be applied in forage crops, fruit trees, olive groves and vineyards. A suitable area was also found for a biosolids storage centre. The use of GIS allowed to define a sludge
application index and to produce land-use suitability maps, which can be useful for sludge management.

Application of GIS-based multi-criteria analysis for site selection of aquifer recharge with reclaimed water

by Antonio Albuquerque

F. Pedrero, A. Albuquerque, H. Marecos do Monte, V. Cavaleiro, J. Alarcón
Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2011, V. 56, 105– 116.

Reclaimed water from small wastewater treatment facilities in the rural areas of the Beira Interior region (Portugal)... more Reclaimed water from small wastewater treatment facilities in the rural areas of the Beira Interior region (Portugal) may constitute an alternative water source for aquifer recharge. A 21-month monitoring period in a constructed wetland treatment system has shown that 21,500 m3 year−1 of treated wastewater
(reclaimed water) could be used for aquifer recharge. A GIS-based multi-criteria analysis was performed, combining ten thematic maps and economic, environmental and technical criteria, in order to produce a suitability map for the location of sites for reclaimed water infiltration. The areas chosen for aquifer
recharge with infiltration basins are mainly composed of anthrosol with more than 1 m deep and fine sand texture, which allows an average infiltration velocity of up to 1 m d−1. These characteristics will provide a final polishing treatment of the reclaimed water after infiltration (soil aquifer treatment (SAT)),
suitable for the removal of the residual load (trace organics, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens).
The risk of groundwater contamination is low since the water table in the anthrosol areas ranges from 10 m to 50 m. On the other hand, these depths allow a guaranteed unsaturated area suitable for SAT. An area of 13,944 ha was selected for study, but only 1607 ha are suitable for reclaimed water infiltration.
Approximately 1280 m2 were considered enough to set up 4 infiltration basins to work in flooding and
drying cycles.

Visualising London's suburbs

by Laura Vaughan

Quantifying the Aspect Effect: An Application of Solar Radiation Modeling for Soil Survey

by Dylan Beaudette

Morse-smale decompositions for modeling terrain knowledge

by Laura Papaleo

SPATIAL INFORMATION THEORY
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2005, Volume 3693/2005, 426-444

In this paper, we describe, analyze and compare techniques for extracting spatial knowledge from a terrain model.... more In this paper, we describe, analyze and compare techniques for extracting spatial knowledge from a terrain model. Specifically, we investigate techniques for extracting a morphological representation from a terrain model based on an approximation of a Morse-Smale complex. A Morse-Smale complex defines a decomposition of a topographic surface into regions with vertices at the critical points and bounded by integral lines which connect passes to pits and peaks. This provides a terrain representation which encompasses the knowledge on the salient characteristics of the terrain. We classify the various techniques for computing a Morse-Smale complexe based on the underlying terrain model, a Regular Square Grid (RSG) or a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN), and based on the algorithmic approach they apply. Finally, we discuss hierarchical terrain representations based on a Morse-Smale decomposition

A less-is-more approach to geovisualization–: enhancing knowledge construction across multidisciplinary teams

by Laura Vaughan