This study investigated the integration of geospatial technologies within smart city frameworks to achieve the European Union’s climate neutrality goals by 2050. Focusing on rapid urbanization and escalating climate ...This study investigated the integration of geospatial technologies within smart city frameworks to achieve the European Union’s climate neutrality goals by 2050. Focusing on rapid urbanization and escalating climate challenges, the research analyzed how smart city frameworks, aligned with climate neutrality objectives, leverage geospatial technologies for urban planning and climate action. The study included case studies from three leading European cities, extracting lessons and best practices in implementing Climate City Contracts across sectors like energy, transport, and waste management. These insights highlighted the essential role of EU and national authorities in providing technical, regulatory, and financial support. Additionally, the paper presented the application of a WEBGIS platform in Limassol Municipality, Cyprus, demonstrating citizen engagement and acceptance of the proposed geospatial framework. Concluding with recommendations for future research, the study contributed significant insights into the advancement of urban sustainability and the effectiveness of geospatial technologies in smart city initiatives for combating climate change.展开更多
To achieve sustainable development goals,georeferenced data and geographic information systems play a crucial role.Yet,the way in which these data and systems are summoned upon rests on positivist assumptions which ov...To achieve sustainable development goals,georeferenced data and geographic information systems play a crucial role.Yet,the way in which these data and systems are summoned upon rests on positivist assumptions which overlook both epistemological and ethical concerns.This is epitomized by the integrated geospatial information framework(IGIF)of the United Nations,which,from the perspective of sustainable development,aims to provide guidance for the management of geoinformation and related tools,considering these as mirrors of the physical world.In this respect,the article has three main goals.First,it delivers an epistemological and ethical critique of the IGIF,by highlighting its internal tensions.Second,it suggests how the IGIF and similar geoinformation initiatives can benefit from an ethical reflection that allows to conduct georeferenced practices in a fair(er)way.Third,it designs an ethics assessment list for self-evaluating the ethical robustness of geoinformation initiatives as ecosystems.展开更多
This study discusses a geographical information system(GIS)for operating a local government’s landscape and urban planning activities via a website.Implementing this web-GIS system will help build a more realistic la...This study discusses a geographical information system(GIS)for operating a local government’s landscape and urban planning activities via a website.Implementing this web-GIS system will help build a more realistic landscape and urban planning model that includes citizen participation and city marketing.The approach is applicable to ubiquitous city(u-city)development based on geospatial web and its related systems.The approach presented is built on six selected elements of a u-city system.The outcome of the study includes sustainable analysis,environmental planning,urban planning,and city marketing.The outcome is applicable to cities that are planning to adopt the u-city system or advanced telecommunication or planning tools into their urban frameworks.展开更多
The discovery of spatio-temporal clusters in complex spatio-temporal data-sets has been a challenging issue in the domain of spatio-temporal data mining and knowledge discovery.In this paper,a novel spatio-temporal cl...The discovery of spatio-temporal clusters in complex spatio-temporal data-sets has been a challenging issue in the domain of spatio-temporal data mining and knowledge discovery.In this paper,a novel spatio-temporal clustering method based on spatio-temporal shared nearest neighbors(STSNN)is proposed to detect spatio-temporal clusters of different sizes,shapes,and densities in spatiotemporal databases with a large amount of noise.The concepts of windowed distance and shared nearest neighbor are utilized to define a novel spatiotemporal density for a spatio-temporal entity with definite mathematical meanings.Then,the density-based clustering strategy is employed to uncover spatio-temporal clusters.The spatio-temporal clustering algorithm developed in this paper is easily implemented and less sensitive to density variation among spatio-temporal entities.Experiments are undertaken on several simulated datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantage of the STSNN algorithm.Also,the real-world applications on two seismic databases show that the STSNN algorithm has the ability to uncover foreshocks and aftershocks effectively.展开更多
We can adequately study broad global issues and policies only by taking geosciences into account.Our research and decision-making must share and make effective use of interdisciplinary data sources,models,and processe...We can adequately study broad global issues and policies only by taking geosciences into account.Our research and decision-making must share and make effective use of interdisciplinary data sources,models,and processes.Noninteroperability impedes sharing of data and computing resources.Standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC)and other organizations are the basis for successfully deploying a seamless,distributed information infrastructure for the geosciences.Several specifications now adopted by the OGC consensus process are the result of OGC interoperability initiatives.The OGC standards,deployment architectures,and interoperability initiatives are described showing how the OGC standards baseline has been developed and applies to the geosciences.展开更多
Spatial prediction of any geographic phenomenon can be an intractable problem.Predicting sparse and uncertain spatial events related to many influencing factors necessitates the integration of multiple data sources.We...Spatial prediction of any geographic phenomenon can be an intractable problem.Predicting sparse and uncertain spatial events related to many influencing factors necessitates the integration of multiple data sources.We present an innovative approach that combines data in a Discrete Global Grid System(DGGS)and uses machine learning for analysis.A DGGS provides a structured input for multiple types of spatial data,consistent over multiple scales.This data framework facilitates the training of an Artificial Neural Network(ANN)to map and predict a phenomenon.Spatial lag regression models(SLRM)are used to evaluate and rank the outputs of the ANN.In our case study,we predict hate crimes in the USA.Hate crimes get attention from mass media and the scientific community,but data on such events is sparse.We trained the ANN with data ingested in the DGGS based on a 50%sample of hate crimes as identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC).Our spatial prediction is up to 78%accurate and verified at the state level against the independent FBI hate crime statistics with a fit of 80%.The derived risk maps are a guide to action for policy makers and law enforcement.展开更多
Where a virtual representation of the Earth must contain data values observed within the physical Earth system,data models are required that allow the integration of data across the silos of various Earth and environm...Where a virtual representation of the Earth must contain data values observed within the physical Earth system,data models are required that allow the integration of data across the silos of various Earth and environmental sciences domains.Creating a mapping between the well-defined terminologies of these silos is a stubborn problem.This paper presents a generalised ontology for use within Web 3.0 services,which builds on European Commission spatial data infrastructure models.The presented ontology acknowledges that there are many complexities to the description of environmental properties which can be observed within the physical Earth system.The ontology is shown to be flexible and robust enough to describe concepts drawn from a range of Earth science disciplines,including ecology,geochemistry,hydrology and oceanography.This paper also demonstrates the alignment and compatibility of the ontology with existing systems and shows applications in which the ontology may be deployed.展开更多
Abundant sensor data are now available online from a wealth of sources,which greatly enhance research efforts on the Digital Earth.The combination of distributed sensor networks and expanding citizen-sensing capabilit...Abundant sensor data are now available online from a wealth of sources,which greatly enhance research efforts on the Digital Earth.The combination of distributed sensor networks and expanding citizen-sensing capabilities provides a more synchronized image of earth’s social and physical landscapes.However,it remains difficult for researchers to use such heterogeneous Sensor Webs for scientific applications since data are published by following different standards and protocols and are in arbitrary formats.In this paper,we investigate the core challenges faced when consuming multiple sources for environmental applications using the Linked Data approach.We design and implement a system to achieve better data interoperability and integration by republishing real-world data into linked geo-sensor data.Our contributions include presenting:(1)best practices of re-using and matching the W3C Semantic Sensor Network(SSN)ontology and other popular ontologies for heterogeneous data modeling in the water resources application domain,(2)a newly developed spatial analysis tool for creating links,and(3)a set of RESTful OGC Sensor Observation Service(SOS)like Linked Data APIs.Our results show how a Linked Sensor Web can be built and used within the integrated water resource decision support application domain.展开更多
Spatial online analytical processing(OLAP)and spatial data warehouse(SDW)systems are geo-business intelligence technologies that enable the analysis of huge volumes of geographic data.In the last decade,the conceptual...Spatial online analytical processing(OLAP)and spatial data warehouse(SDW)systems are geo-business intelligence technologies that enable the analysis of huge volumes of geographic data.In the last decade,the conceptual design and implementation of SDWs that integrate spatial data,which are represented using the vector model,have been extensively investigated.However,the integration of field data(a continuous representation of spatial data)in SDWs is a recent unresolved research issue.Enhancing SDWs with field data improves the spatio-multidimensional analysis capabilities with continuity and multiresolutions.Motivated by the need for a conceptual design tool and relational online analytical processing(ROLAP)implementation,we propose a UML profile for SDWs that integrates a regular grid of points and supports continuity and multiresolutions.We also propose an efficient implementation of a ROLAP architecture.展开更多
The open service network for marine environmental data(NETMAR)project uses semantic web technologies in its pilot system which aims to allow users to search,download and integrate satellite,in situ and model data from...The open service network for marine environmental data(NETMAR)project uses semantic web technologies in its pilot system which aims to allow users to search,download and integrate satellite,in situ and model data from open ocean and coastal areas.The semantic web is an extension of the fundamental ideas of the World Wide Web,building aweb of datathrough annotation of metadata and data with hyperlinked resources.Within the framework of the NETMAR project,an interconnected semantic web resourcewasdeveloped to aid in dataandweb service discovery and to validate Open Geospatial Consortium Web Processing Service orchestration.A second semantic resource was developed to support interoper-ability of coastal web atlases across jurisdictional boundaries.This paper outlines the approach taken to producing the resource registry used within the NETMAR project and demonstrates the use of these semantic resources to support user interactions with systems.Such interconnected semantic resources allow the increased ability to share and disseminate data through the facilitation of interoperability between data providers.The formal representation of geospatial knowledge to advance geospatial interoperability is a growing research area.Tools and methods such as those outlined in this paper have the potential to support these efforts.展开更多
High-resolution images availableonGoogle Earth are increasingly beingconsulted in geographic studies.However,most studies limit themselves to visualizations or on-screen measurements.Google Earth allows users to creat...High-resolution images availableonGoogle Earth are increasingly beingconsulted in geographic studies.However,most studies limit themselves to visualizations or on-screen measurements.Google Earth allows users to create points,lines,and polygons on-screen,which can be saved as Keyhole Markup Language(KML)files.Here,the use of R statistics freeware is proposed to easilyconvertthese files to the shapefile format[or‘.shp file format’],which can be loaded into Geographic Information System(GIS)software(ESRI ArcGIS 9 in our example).The geospatial data integration in GIS strongly increases the analysis possibilities.展开更多
To improve the understanding of local and regional effects of climate change,the UK government supported the development of new climate projections.The Met Office Hadley Centre produced a sophisticated set of probabil...To improve the understanding of local and regional effects of climate change,the UK government supported the development of new climate projections.The Met Office Hadley Centre produced a sophisticated set of probabilistic projections for future climate.This paper discusses the design and implementation of an interactive website to deliver those projections to a broad user community.The interface presents complex data sets,generates on-the-fly products and schedules jobs to an offline weather generator capable of outputting gigabytes of data in response to a single request.A robust and scalable physical architecture was delivered through significant use of open source technologies and open standards.展开更多
In this paper,we present the service-oriented infrastructure within the Wide Area Grid project that was carried out within the Working Group on Information Systems and Services of the Committee on Earth Observation Sa...In this paper,we present the service-oriented infrastructure within the Wide Area Grid project that was carried out within the Working Group on Information Systems and Services of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites.The developed infrastructure integrates services and computational resources of several regional and national Grid systems:Ukrainian Academician Grid(with satellite data processing Grid segment,UASpaceGrid)and Grid system at the Center on Earth Observation and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences.The study focuses on integrating geo-information services on flood mapping provided by Ukrainian and Chinese entities to benefit from information acquired from multiple sources.We also describe services for workflow automation and management in Grid environment and provide an example of workflow automation for generating flood maps from optical and synthetic-aperture radar satellite imagery.We also discuss issues of enabling trust for the infrastructure using certificates and reputation-based model.Applications of utilizing the developed infrastructure for operational flood mapping in Ukraine and China are given as well.展开更多
The vision of a Digital Earth calls for more dynamic information systems,new sources of information,and stronger capabilities for their integration.Sensor networks have been identified as a major information source fo...The vision of a Digital Earth calls for more dynamic information systems,new sources of information,and stronger capabilities for their integration.Sensor networks have been identified as a major information source for the Digital Earth,while Semantic Web technologies have been proposed to facilitate integration.So far,sensor data are stored and published using the Observations&Measurements standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC)as data model.With the advent of Volunteered Geographic Information and the Semantic Sensor Web,work on an ontological model gained importance within Sensor Web Enablement(SWE).In contrast to data models,an ontological approach abstracts from implementation details by focusing on modeling the physical world from the perspective of a particular domain.Ontologies restrict the interpretation of vocabularies toward their intended meaning.The ongoing paradigm shift to Linked Sensor Data complements this attempt.Two questions have to be addressed:(1)how to refer to changing and frequently updated data sets using Uniform Resource Identifiers,and(2)how to establish meaningful links between those data sets,that is,observations,sensors,features of interest,and observed properties?In this paper,we present a Linked Data model and a RESTful proxy for OGC’s Sensor Observation Service to improve integration and inter-linkage of observation data for the Digital Earth.展开更多
This study proposes an automatic procedure for individual fruit tree identification using GeoEye-1 sensor data.Depending on site-specific pruning practices,the morphologic characteristics of tree crowns may generate o...This study proposes an automatic procedure for individual fruit tree identification using GeoEye-1 sensor data.Depending on site-specific pruning practices,the morphologic characteristics of tree crowns may generate one or more brightness peaks(tree top)on the imagery.To optimize tree counting and to minimize typical background noises from orchards(i.e.bare soil,weeds,and man-made objects),a four-step algorithm was implemented with spatial transforms and functions suitable for spaced stands(asymmetrical smoothing filter,local minimum filter,mask layer,and spatial aggregation operator).System perfor-mance was evaluated through objective criteria,showing consistent results in fast capturing tree position for precision agriculture tasks.展开更多
There has been a worldwide revolution in geoscientific data availability and access.An effectively infinite and instantaneous free access to geoscientific data from the World Wide System of Geoscience Data Centers and...There has been a worldwide revolution in geoscientific data availability and access.An effectively infinite and instantaneous free access to geoscientific data from the World Wide System of Geoscience Data Centers and Virtual Observatories is available.In addition,national databanks and commercially available large exploration data-sets also exist.These distributed data resources impose challenges for the future to move toward their objective integration and visualization to discover new knowledge.Such advancements can facilitate meaningful interpretations and decision-making for the benefit of society at global and local scales.This article presents the Digital Earth initiative at a national level to address multiple domains,such as effective management of natural resources,interactive planning of exploration activities and monitoring,mapping and mitigation of natural hazards.It discusses a distributed geospatial data infrastructure and its importance in geoscientific data integration for efficient and interactive data retrieval,analysis and visualization.Some examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of integrated visualization in geoscientific analysis.展开更多
In this opinion paper,we,a group of scientists from environmental-,geo-,ocean-and information science,argue visual data exploration should become a common analytics approach in Earth system science due to its potentia...In this opinion paper,we,a group of scientists from environmental-,geo-,ocean-and information science,argue visual data exploration should become a common analytics approach in Earth system science due to its potential for analysis and interpretation of large and complex spatio-temporal data.We discuss the challenges that appear such as synthesis of heterogeneous data from various sources,reducing the amount of information and facilitating multidisciplinary,collaborative research.We argue that to fully exploit the potential of visual data exploration,several bottlenecks and challenges have to be addressed:providing an efficient data management and an integrated modular workflow,developing and applying suitable visual exploration concepts and methods with the help of effective and tailored tools as well as generating and raising the awareness of visual data exploration and education.We are convinced visual data exploration is worth the effort since it significantly facilitates insight into environmental data and derivation of knowledge from it.展开更多
Integration of data across multiple independently developed data sources can be challenging due to a variety of heterogeneities that exist across such systems.Data mediation technologies provide approaches for overcom...Integration of data across multiple independently developed data sources can be challenging due to a variety of heterogeneities that exist across such systems.Data mediation technologies provide approaches for overcoming these heterogeneities.Standards such as Geoscience Markup Language can address some of the heterogeneity issues by providing schema standards which sources can adhere to.This article addresses the issue of semantic heterogeneity across information resources by using domain ontologies and registering schema elements and data values to such ontologies.Registering data to ontologies provides a powerful search and data integration capability across disparate geoscience information resources.展开更多
文摘This study investigated the integration of geospatial technologies within smart city frameworks to achieve the European Union’s climate neutrality goals by 2050. Focusing on rapid urbanization and escalating climate challenges, the research analyzed how smart city frameworks, aligned with climate neutrality objectives, leverage geospatial technologies for urban planning and climate action. The study included case studies from three leading European cities, extracting lessons and best practices in implementing Climate City Contracts across sectors like energy, transport, and waste management. These insights highlighted the essential role of EU and national authorities in providing technical, regulatory, and financial support. Additionally, the paper presented the application of a WEBGIS platform in Limassol Municipality, Cyprus, demonstrating citizen engagement and acceptance of the proposed geospatial framework. Concluding with recommendations for future research, the study contributed significant insights into the advancement of urban sustainability and the effectiveness of geospatial technologies in smart city initiatives for combating climate change.
文摘To achieve sustainable development goals,georeferenced data and geographic information systems play a crucial role.Yet,the way in which these data and systems are summoned upon rests on positivist assumptions which overlook both epistemological and ethical concerns.This is epitomized by the integrated geospatial information framework(IGIF)of the United Nations,which,from the perspective of sustainable development,aims to provide guidance for the management of geoinformation and related tools,considering these as mirrors of the physical world.In this respect,the article has three main goals.First,it delivers an epistemological and ethical critique of the IGIF,by highlighting its internal tensions.Second,it suggests how the IGIF and similar geoinformation initiatives can benefit from an ethical reflection that allows to conduct georeferenced practices in a fair(er)way.Third,it designs an ethics assessment list for self-evaluating the ethical robustness of geoinformation initiatives as ecosystems.
基金This work was supported by 2007 Research Fund of Myongji University。
文摘This study discusses a geographical information system(GIS)for operating a local government’s landscape and urban planning activities via a website.Implementing this web-GIS system will help build a more realistic landscape and urban planning model that includes citizen participation and city marketing.The approach is applicable to ubiquitous city(u-city)development based on geospatial web and its related systems.The approach presented is built on six selected elements of a u-city system.The outcome of the study includes sustainable analysis,environmental planning,urban planning,and city marketing.The outcome is applicable to cities that are planning to adopt the u-city system or advanced telecommunication or planning tools into their urban frameworks.
基金The work described was supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China(973 Program),No.2012CB719906Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University(NCET),No.NCET-10-0831National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC),No.40871180.
文摘The discovery of spatio-temporal clusters in complex spatio-temporal data-sets has been a challenging issue in the domain of spatio-temporal data mining and knowledge discovery.In this paper,a novel spatio-temporal clustering method based on spatio-temporal shared nearest neighbors(STSNN)is proposed to detect spatio-temporal clusters of different sizes,shapes,and densities in spatiotemporal databases with a large amount of noise.The concepts of windowed distance and shared nearest neighbor are utilized to define a novel spatiotemporal density for a spatio-temporal entity with definite mathematical meanings.Then,the density-based clustering strategy is employed to uncover spatio-temporal clusters.The spatio-temporal clustering algorithm developed in this paper is easily implemented and less sensitive to density variation among spatio-temporal entities.Experiments are undertaken on several simulated datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantage of the STSNN algorithm.Also,the real-world applications on two seismic databases show that the STSNN algorithm has the ability to uncover foreshocks and aftershocks effectively.
文摘We can adequately study broad global issues and policies only by taking geosciences into account.Our research and decision-making must share and make effective use of interdisciplinary data sources,models,and processes.Noninteroperability impedes sharing of data and computing resources.Standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC)and other organizations are the basis for successfully deploying a seamless,distributed information infrastructure for the geosciences.Several specifications now adopted by the OGC consensus process are the result of OGC interoperability initiatives.The OGC standards,deployment architectures,and interoperability initiatives are described showing how the OGC standards baseline has been developed and applies to the geosciences.
文摘Spatial prediction of any geographic phenomenon can be an intractable problem.Predicting sparse and uncertain spatial events related to many influencing factors necessitates the integration of multiple data sources.We present an innovative approach that combines data in a Discrete Global Grid System(DGGS)and uses machine learning for analysis.A DGGS provides a structured input for multiple types of spatial data,consistent over multiple scales.This data framework facilitates the training of an Artificial Neural Network(ANN)to map and predict a phenomenon.Spatial lag regression models(SLRM)are used to evaluate and rank the outputs of the ANN.In our case study,we predict hate crimes in the USA.Hate crimes get attention from mass media and the scientific community,but data on such events is sparse.We trained the ANN with data ingested in the DGGS based on a 50%sample of hate crimes as identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC).Our spatial prediction is up to 78%accurate and verified at the state level against the independent FBI hate crime statistics with a fit of 80%.The derived risk maps are a guide to action for policy makers and law enforcement.
文摘Where a virtual representation of the Earth must contain data values observed within the physical Earth system,data models are required that allow the integration of data across the silos of various Earth and environmental sciences domains.Creating a mapping between the well-defined terminologies of these silos is a stubborn problem.This paper presents a generalised ontology for use within Web 3.0 services,which builds on European Commission spatial data infrastructure models.The presented ontology acknowledges that there are many complexities to the description of environmental properties which can be observed within the physical Earth system.The ontology is shown to be flexible and robust enough to describe concepts drawn from a range of Earth science disciplines,including ecology,geochemistry,hydrology and oceanography.This paper also demonstrates the alignment and compatibility of the ontology with existing systems and shows applications in which the ontology may be deployed.
文摘Abundant sensor data are now available online from a wealth of sources,which greatly enhance research efforts on the Digital Earth.The combination of distributed sensor networks and expanding citizen-sensing capabilities provides a more synchronized image of earth’s social and physical landscapes.However,it remains difficult for researchers to use such heterogeneous Sensor Webs for scientific applications since data are published by following different standards and protocols and are in arbitrary formats.In this paper,we investigate the core challenges faced when consuming multiple sources for environmental applications using the Linked Data approach.We design and implement a system to achieve better data interoperability and integration by republishing real-world data into linked geo-sensor data.Our contributions include presenting:(1)best practices of re-using and matching the W3C Semantic Sensor Network(SSN)ontology and other popular ontologies for heterogeneous data modeling in the water resources application domain,(2)a newly developed spatial analysis tool for creating links,and(3)a set of RESTful OGC Sensor Observation Service(SOS)like Linked Data APIs.Our results show how a Linked Sensor Web can be built and used within the integrated water resource decision support application domain.
文摘Spatial online analytical processing(OLAP)and spatial data warehouse(SDW)systems are geo-business intelligence technologies that enable the analysis of huge volumes of geographic data.In the last decade,the conceptual design and implementation of SDWs that integrate spatial data,which are represented using the vector model,have been extensively investigated.However,the integration of field data(a continuous representation of spatial data)in SDWs is a recent unresolved research issue.Enhancing SDWs with field data improves the spatio-multidimensional analysis capabilities with continuity and multiresolutions.Motivated by the need for a conceptual design tool and relational online analytical processing(ROLAP)implementation,we propose a UML profile for SDWs that integrates a regular grid of points and supports continuity and multiresolutions.We also propose an efficient implementation of a ROLAP architecture.
基金The NETMAR project is supported by the European Union Framework Programme 7,under grant agreement no.249024.
文摘The open service network for marine environmental data(NETMAR)project uses semantic web technologies in its pilot system which aims to allow users to search,download and integrate satellite,in situ and model data from open ocean and coastal areas.The semantic web is an extension of the fundamental ideas of the World Wide Web,building aweb of datathrough annotation of metadata and data with hyperlinked resources.Within the framework of the NETMAR project,an interconnected semantic web resourcewasdeveloped to aid in dataandweb service discovery and to validate Open Geospatial Consortium Web Processing Service orchestration.A second semantic resource was developed to support interoper-ability of coastal web atlases across jurisdictional boundaries.This paper outlines the approach taken to producing the resource registry used within the NETMAR project and demonstrates the use of these semantic resources to support user interactions with systems.Such interconnected semantic resources allow the increased ability to share and disseminate data through the facilitation of interoperability between data providers.The formal representation of geospatial knowledge to advance geospatial interoperability is a growing research area.Tools and methods such as those outlined in this paper have the potential to support these efforts.
基金Coudere´bvba(Monnikenwerve 43,B-8000 Brugge,Belgium)for the use of the Trimble GEO XH(2005 series)GPS.
文摘High-resolution images availableonGoogle Earth are increasingly beingconsulted in geographic studies.However,most studies limit themselves to visualizations or on-screen measurements.Google Earth allows users to create points,lines,and polygons on-screen,which can be saved as Keyhole Markup Language(KML)files.Here,the use of R statistics freeware is proposed to easilyconvertthese files to the shapefile format[or‘.shp file format’],which can be loaded into Geographic Information System(GIS)software(ESRI ArcGIS 9 in our example).The geospatial data integration in GIS strongly increases the analysis possibilities.
文摘To improve the understanding of local and regional effects of climate change,the UK government supported the development of new climate projections.The Met Office Hadley Centre produced a sophisticated set of probabilistic projections for future climate.This paper discusses the design and implementation of an interactive website to deliver those projections to a broad user community.The interface presents complex data sets,generates on-the-fly products and schedules jobs to an offline weather generator capable of outputting gigabytes of data in response to a single request.A robust and scalable physical architecture was delivered through significant use of open source technologies and open standards.
文摘In this paper,we present the service-oriented infrastructure within the Wide Area Grid project that was carried out within the Working Group on Information Systems and Services of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites.The developed infrastructure integrates services and computational resources of several regional and national Grid systems:Ukrainian Academician Grid(with satellite data processing Grid segment,UASpaceGrid)and Grid system at the Center on Earth Observation and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences.The study focuses on integrating geo-information services on flood mapping provided by Ukrainian and Chinese entities to benefit from information acquired from multiple sources.We also describe services for workflow automation and management in Grid environment and provide an example of workflow automation for generating flood maps from optical and synthetic-aperture radar satellite imagery.We also discuss issues of enabling trust for the infrastructure using certificates and reputation-based model.Applications of utilizing the developed infrastructure for operational flood mapping in Ukraine and China are given as well.
基金The presented work is developed within the 528 North semantics community,and partly funded by the European projects UncertWeb(FP7-248488)ENVISION(FP7-249170)the GENESIS project(an Integrated Project,contract number 223996).
文摘The vision of a Digital Earth calls for more dynamic information systems,new sources of information,and stronger capabilities for their integration.Sensor networks have been identified as a major information source for the Digital Earth,while Semantic Web technologies have been proposed to facilitate integration.So far,sensor data are stored and published using the Observations&Measurements standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC)as data model.With the advent of Volunteered Geographic Information and the Semantic Sensor Web,work on an ontological model gained importance within Sensor Web Enablement(SWE).In contrast to data models,an ontological approach abstracts from implementation details by focusing on modeling the physical world from the perspective of a particular domain.Ontologies restrict the interpretation of vocabularies toward their intended meaning.The ongoing paradigm shift to Linked Sensor Data complements this attempt.Two questions have to be addressed:(1)how to refer to changing and frequently updated data sets using Uniform Resource Identifiers,and(2)how to establish meaningful links between those data sets,that is,observations,sensors,features of interest,and observed properties?In this paper,we present a Linked Data model and a RESTful proxy for OGC’s Sensor Observation Service to improve integration and inter-linkage of observation data for the Digital Earth.
文摘This study proposes an automatic procedure for individual fruit tree identification using GeoEye-1 sensor data.Depending on site-specific pruning practices,the morphologic characteristics of tree crowns may generate one or more brightness peaks(tree top)on the imagery.To optimize tree counting and to minimize typical background noises from orchards(i.e.bare soil,weeds,and man-made objects),a four-step algorithm was implemented with spatial transforms and functions suitable for spaced stands(asymmetrical smoothing filter,local minimum filter,mask layer,and spatial aggregation operator).System perfor-mance was evaluated through objective criteria,showing consistent results in fast capturing tree position for precision agriculture tasks.
文摘There has been a worldwide revolution in geoscientific data availability and access.An effectively infinite and instantaneous free access to geoscientific data from the World Wide System of Geoscience Data Centers and Virtual Observatories is available.In addition,national databanks and commercially available large exploration data-sets also exist.These distributed data resources impose challenges for the future to move toward their objective integration and visualization to discover new knowledge.Such advancements can facilitate meaningful interpretations and decision-making for the benefit of society at global and local scales.This article presents the Digital Earth initiative at a national level to address multiple domains,such as effective management of natural resources,interactive planning of exploration activities and monitoring,mapping and mitigation of natural hazards.It discusses a distributed geospatial data infrastructure and its importance in geoscientific data integration for efficient and interactive data retrieval,analysis and visualization.Some examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of integrated visualization in geoscientific analysis.
文摘In this opinion paper,we,a group of scientists from environmental-,geo-,ocean-and information science,argue visual data exploration should become a common analytics approach in Earth system science due to its potential for analysis and interpretation of large and complex spatio-temporal data.We discuss the challenges that appear such as synthesis of heterogeneous data from various sources,reducing the amount of information and facilitating multidisciplinary,collaborative research.We argue that to fully exploit the potential of visual data exploration,several bottlenecks and challenges have to be addressed:providing an efficient data management and an integrated modular workflow,developing and applying suitable visual exploration concepts and methods with the help of effective and tailored tools as well as generating and raising the awareness of visual data exploration and education.We are convinced visual data exploration is worth the effort since it significantly facilitates insight into environmental data and derivation of knowledge from it.
基金This research has been funded by the US National Science Foundation via grants 0225673 and 0744229.
文摘Integration of data across multiple independently developed data sources can be challenging due to a variety of heterogeneities that exist across such systems.Data mediation technologies provide approaches for overcoming these heterogeneities.Standards such as Geoscience Markup Language can address some of the heterogeneity issues by providing schema standards which sources can adhere to.This article addresses the issue of semantic heterogeneity across information resources by using domain ontologies and registering schema elements and data values to such ontologies.Registering data to ontologies provides a powerful search and data integration capability across disparate geoscience information resources.
