A Spatial Analysis of the Potentials for Offshore Wind Farm Locations in the North Sea Region:Challenges and Opportunities

Over the last decade, the accelerated transition towards cleaner means of producing energy has been clearly prioritised by the European Union through large-scale planned deployment of wind farms in the North Sea. From a spatial planning perspective, this has not been a straight-forward process, due to substantial spatial conflicts with the traditional users of the sea, especially with fisheries and protected areas. In this article, we examine the availability of offshore space for wind farm deployment, from a transnational perspective, while taking into account different options for the management of the maritime area through four scenarios. We applied a mixed-method approach, combining expert knowledge and document analysis with the spatial visualisation of existing and future maritime spatial claims. Our calculations clearly indicate a low availability of suitable locations for offshore wind in the proximity of the shore and in shallow waters, even when considering its multi-use with fisheries and protected areas. However, the areas within 100 km from shore and with a water depth above -120 m attract greater opportunities for both single use (only offshore wind farms) and multi-use (mainly with fisheries), from an integrated planning perspective. On the other hand, the decrease of energy targets combined with sectoral planning result in clear limitations to suitable areas for offshore wind farms, indicating the necessity to consider areas with a water depth below -120 m and further than 100 km from shore. Therefore, despite the increased costs of maintenance and design adaptation, the multi-use of space can be a solution for more sustainable, stakeholder-engaged and cost-effective options in the energy deployment process. This paper identifies potential pathways, as well as challenges and opportunities for future offshore space management with the aim of achieving the 2050 renewable energy targets

Privacy and Geospatial Technologies

This research examines the role of geospatial and ancillary technologies in the erosion of privacy in contemporary society. The development of Remote Sensing, GIS, and GPS technologies are explored as a means of understanding both their current and predicted uses and capabilities. Examination is also made of the legal basis and current status of privacy rights in the United States. Finally, current and predicted uses and capabilities of geospatial and ancillary technologies are critically examined in light of existing privacy protections as a means of determining the ways in which these technologies are impacting privacy currently and what their effects may be in the future

Attempting to Close the Digital Frontier: A Mixed-Methods Approach to the Study of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

A mixed-methods approach was taken to study the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), recent legislation that would have considerable effects on the digital landscape. The combined methods help to define the problems underlying the legislation by defining stakeholders and isolating views from various media sources. The theoretical examinations of landscape studies, communications geography and Panopticism combined with methodology in political geography, and media analysis helps to develop a multi-angled view of the current perspective on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Landscape studies, with roots in Sauer\u27s seminal work, The Morphology of Landscape, contributed to the narrative of the research by helping to construct a sense of place. Communications geography and critical GIS help to ground the digital landscape in the field of geography. Political geography and the choropleth map illustrate the spatial patterns of politics surrounding the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, concluding that widespread approval of the legislation in the House of Representatives spans mostly rural Republican areas, while lack of support comes from more Democratic areas. Discourse analysis and term frequency analysis assist in the utilization of the internet as text, evaluating media responses to the legislation. Overall, the three media type nodes analyzed included mainstream media, personal blogs, and tech blogs. These nodes had a homogeneous view against the proposed legislation with subtle differences in word frequency around one percent of the corpus. The media corpus was then analyzed against the legislation\u27s word frequency, showing remarkable differences. For example, the word privacy occurred close to thirty percent in CISPA compared to the one percent in the media corpus. Reading through the documents, a consensus was made that though the legislation mentions protecting the privacy of internet users, it lacks methods to ensure it, which was one of the defining problems that has prevented the legislation\u27s passage in the Senate

Метод защиты авторских прав на векторные картографические данные

The paper proposes a method of copyright protection for vector maps, based on the embedding of raster digital watermarks. The method combines original ideas, namely, a vector data watermarking approach that does not distort the coordinate information of vector objects and embedding of noise-like images that encode a binary sequence. The use of noise-like carrier allows to simplify the verification procedure, and also to ensure the resistance of the hidden bit sequence to distortions, including interpolation errors. In comparison with previous investigations made by the authors when solving problems of vector data protection, the robustness of the embedded noise-like digital watermarks has been significantly increased by developing a new algorithm for detection of the binary sequence hidden in the spectrum of a noise-like image. The purpose of the experimental studies was to assess the attainable probability of correct sequence extraction for various parameters and embedding conditions. The study of information capacity showed that the potential amount of information embedded in each polygon without distorting the watermark sequence depends on the type of a map, namely on the number of vertices that make up each polygon. An experimental study on robustness against potentially possible transformations aimed at maliciously deleting the digital watermark from the vector map is performed. The developed method demonstrates resistance to affine transformations, cropping, addition, removal and reordering of vertices / objects, and, thus, seems to be the optimal solution to the problem of copyright protection for vector data. The analysis of the method quality according to the criteria of accuracy, durability, information capacity, and computational complexity is performed. The results of all conducted studies confirm the efficiency and the effectiveness of the proposed method for vector map protection, as well as its distinct advantage over the prior art.данные на основе встраивания растровых цифровых водяных знаков. Метод сочетает оригинальные авторские идеи, а именно: подход к встраиванию скрытой защитной информации в графические данные, не искажающей координатную информацию векторных объектов, и синтез шумоподобных изображений, выступающих в качестве контейнера для битовой последовательности цифровых водяных знаков. Шумоподобный сигнал кодирует биты цифровых водяных знаков в виде синусоидальных функций и таким образом отображает бинарную последовательность в растровое изображение, непосредственно встраиваемое в защищаемые данные. Применение шумоподобных сигналов в качестве цифровых водяных знаков значительно упрощает процедуру верификации, а также позволяет обеспечить устойчивость скрытой битовой последовательности при различных искажениях изображения цифровых водяных знаков, в том числе при интерполяции. Целью экспериментальных исследований являлась оценка достижимой вероятности правильного извлечения двоичной последовательности цифровых водяных знаков при различных параметрах и условиях встраивания. Исследование информационной емкости показало, что потенциальный объем информации, встраиваемый в каждый полигон без искажения битовой последовательности цифровых водяных знаков, зависит от типа карты, а именно от количества вершин, составляющих каждый полигон. Проведено экспериментальное исследование стойкости полученного метода к потенциально возможным преобразованиям, направленным на злоумышленное удаление цифровых водяных знаков из векторной карты. Разработанный метод демонстрирует стойкость к аффинным преобразованиям, кадрированию, добавлению, удалению и переупорядочиванию вершин/объектов, и может применяться в качестве решения задачи защиты авторских прав на векторные данные. Проведен анализ качества метода по критериям точности, стойкости, информационной емкости, вычислительной сложности. Результаты всех проведенных исследований подтверждают возможность использования и эффективность предложенного метода защиты векторных картографических данных, а также его преимущества перед существующими методами встраивания цифровых водяных знаков

Метод защиты авторских прав на векторные картографические данные

данные на основе встраивания растровых цифровых водяных знаков. Метод сочетает оригинальные авторские идеи, а именно: подход к встраиванию скрытой защитной информации в графические данные, не искажающей координатную информацию векторных объектов, и синтез шумоподобных изображений, выступающих в качестве контейнера для битовой последовательности цифровых водяных знаков. Шумоподобный сигнал кодирует биты цифровых водяных знаков в виде синусоидальных функций и таким образом отображает бинарную последовательность в растровое изображение, непосредственно встраиваемое в защищаемые данные. Применение шумоподобных сигналов в качестве цифровых водяных знаков значительно упрощает процедуру верификации, а также позволяет обеспечить устойчивость скрытой битовой последовательности при различных искажениях изображения цифровых водяных знаков, в том числе при интерполяции. Целью экспериментальных исследований являлась оценка достижимой вероятности правильного извлечения двоичной последовательности цифровых водяных знаков при различных параметрах и условиях встраивания. Исследование информационной емкости показало, что потенциальный объем информации, встраиваемый в каждый полигон без искажения битовой последовательности цифровых водяных знаков, зависит от типа карты, а именно от количества вершин, составляющих каждый полигон. Проведено экспериментальное исследование стойкости полученного метода к потенциально возможным преобразованиям, направленным на злоумышленное удаление цифровых водяных знаков из векторной карты. Разработанный метод демонстрирует стойкость к аффинным преобразованиям, кадрированию, добавлению, удалению и переупорядочиванию вершин/объектов, и может применяться в качестве решения задачи защиты авторских прав на векторные данные. Проведен анализ качества метода по критериям точности, стойкости, информационной емкости, вычислительной сложности. Результаты всех проведенных исследований подтверждают возможность использования и эффективность предложенного метода защиты векторных картографических данных, а также его преимущества перед существующими методами встраивания цифровых водяных знаков

Reef Cover, a coral reef classification for global habitat mapping from remote sensing

Coral reef management and conservation stand to benefit from improved high-resolution global mapping. Yet classifications underpinning large-scale reef mapping to date are typically poorly defined, not shared or region-specific, limiting end-users’ ability to interpret outputs. Here we present Reef Cover, a coral reef geomorphic zone classification, developed to support both producers and end-users of global-scale coral reef habitat maps, in a transparent and version-based framework. Scalable classes were created by focusing on attributes that can be observed remotely, but whose membership rules also reflect deep knowledge of reef form and functioning. Bridging the divide between earth observation data and geo-ecological knowledge of reefs, Reef Cover maximises the trade-off between applicability at global scales, and relevance and accuracy at local scales. Two case studies demonstrate application of the Reef Cover classification scheme and its scientific and conservation benefits: 1) detailed mapping of the Cairns Management Region of the Great Barrier Reef to support management and 2) mapping of the Caroline and Mariana Island chains in the Pacific for conservation purposes

The use of a geographic information system to investigate the effect of land-use change on wattled crane Bugeranus carunculatus breeding productivity in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.The Wattled Crane, Bugeranus carunculatus Gmelin, is presently classified as being 'Critically Endangered' within South Africa according to the Eskom Red Data book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, with a population of a meagre 235 individuals. Of this, 85% occur within KwaZulu-Natal and live predominantly on privately owned agricultural land. As a result thereof, Wattled Cranes and agriculture compete for the same resources. Up until now, the loss of viable habitat, as a result of agricultural development and afforestation, has been mooted as being the primary reason for the decline in numbers of the species. The advancements in the Geographical Information Systems field have enabled conservationists to acquire data, especially pertaining to habitat requirements, which were previously unattainable. This improved data acquisition is enabling for more informed decision making and better allocation of resources. The study therefore attempts to make use of a Geographical Information System to determine whether or not differences exist within the home ranges of active and historical Wattled Crane nesting sites, utilising the National Land cover database. The updated Land cover data for South Africa, although not completed at the time the present study took place, allowed for the interrogation of the various Land cover classes within an estimated home range. Natural Grassland was the predominant Land cover type within both active and historical home ranges, whilst both active and historical home ranges were subject to some degree of transformation. The potential impact of management practices in and around nesting sites warrants further investigation because this could not be determined through the analysis of land cover

Imagery to the Crowd, MapGive, and the CyberGIS: Open Source Innovation in the Geographic and Humanitarian Domains

The MapGive initiative is a State Department project designed to increase the amount of free and open geographic data in areas either experiencing, or at risk of, a humanitarian emergency. To accomplish this, MapGive seeks to link the cognitive surplus and good will of volunteer mappers who freely contribute their time and effort to map areas at risk, with the purchasing power of the United States Government (USG), who can act as a catalyzing force by making updated high resolution commercial satellite imagery available for volunteer mapping. Leveraging the CyberGIS, a geographic computing infrastructure built from open source software, MapGive publishes updated satellite imagery as web services that can be quickly and easily accessed via the internet, allowing volunteer mappers to trace the imagery to extract visible features like roads and buildings without having to process the imagery themselves. The resulting baseline geographic data, critical to addressing humanitarian data gaps, is stored in the OpenStreetMap (OSM) database, a free, editable geographic database for the world under a license that ensures the data will remain open in perpetuity, ensuring equal access to all. MapGive is built upon a legal, policy, and technological framework developed during the Imagery to the Crowd phase of the project. Philosophically, these projects are grounded in the open source software movement and the application of commons-based peer production models to geographic data. These concepts are reviewed, as is a reconception of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) called GIS 2.0