Strata: A Geophotographic Fiction

What if any relevance does Robert Smithson’s conceptual writing have in provoking an ontological discussion to expand conceptual thinking on artistic representations in contemporary art? I hope to open up creative geopolitical imaginaries to expand on processes of understanding, through the creation of a recent archival history of materiality. I would propose an elaboration of Smithson’s idea of ‘speculative geology’ referred to in his project, ‘Strata: a Geophotographic Fiction, (1970), as setting the parameter for my archive. ‘Strata’ is described as a homage to the artistic imagination of geological time and the inevitable accumulation of entropy and decay. I was struck by the artist’s statement that his materials were of the earth but his subject was the immensity of geologic time. Additionally, the paradigmatic potential of art to provide shorthand access to the subject of representation of the Anthropocene is discussed by K. Robertson in her article titled, ‘Plastiglomerate’. The on-going archive which I am in the process of compiling will situate itself in ‘Land Art’ pieces such as the work of Robert Smithson, to ‘Plastiglomerates’, as well as create a methodology for adding to the archive through the analysis of materiality, using Kent International airport as a prototype. Through my research vehicle ARCA I recorded the now decommissioned Kent International Airport, specifically the 2749m runway built during the Second World War; too costly to dig up, sitting on a substrate of a depth of 3 to 5 metres. As proposals for its future are debated, the question arises as to how the nature of the materiality of the site and a consideration for its place in a geological time span, might influence a proposal for its future use? My own methodology, which would add to the documentation, draws on forensic mapping techniques, thereby creating an empirical build-up of knowledge through methods used in archaeological digs, computational photography & Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). These techniques are more commonly used in the field of forensic science, for example in imaging footprint and tyre mark. I will build up a taxonomy of objects which are read and analysed as relational to their environment, thereby situated in the material, but relational to a more expanded field thereby addressing the transcalar

Checklist of South Carolina state publications, July 1, 1976--June 30, 1977

This document records the state documents published by state agencies and the legislature that were received annually by the State Library. Publications are listed by the call number in the state document classification system and each listing includes the title, author, volume and number, date of publication, and number of pages. The document includes a subject index

Reprezentacja nauki o geoinformacji w wybranych językach informacyjno-wyszukiwawczych

Geoinformation science deals with problems related to acquisition, collection, storage, analysis, interpretation, processing, dissemination, transmission, practical application, and use of geoinformation, i.e. the information obtained by means of interpreting spatial data on spatial objects connected with the Earth’s surface. The aim of the dissertation is to propose an update on vocabulary representing the science of geoinformation in selected information retrieval languages applying an original authorial method for updating dictionaries. This method, embedded in the theoretical framework of the science of geoinformation, has been developed to update vocabulary used in different disciplines and areas of expertise because the dynamic development of science, which has been observed for many years now, contributes to coining many new terms which – after being accepted by the user community who employ them – begin to appear in scientific and professional publications. To improve the quality of descriptions in the aforementioned publications in catalogues and bibliographic databases, it is necessary to introduce an effective method for updating the vocabulary used in information retrieval languages and applied to indexing. An analysis of dictionaries of selected information retrieval languages has been carried out to determine whether the existing representation of the area of knowledge in question (the science of geoinformation) is sufficient in relation to the body of knowledge. The research covered selected languages of three types: languages of subject headings – KABA, the language of subject headings; languages of descriptor headings – the GEMET thesaurus; and languages of keywords – the language of SYNABA system. In the dissertation, the proposal of updating dictionaries of information retrieval language in the field of geoinformation has been implemented in three stages: an analysis of the terminology found in the subject literature from the area of knowledge in question in terms of the following: the names of data categories, names of information categories, names of information system categories, and names of the field of knowledge; an analysis of a document presenting both the scope of knowledge within the studied area of knowledge and periodicals published within the area of knowledge, according to the method for updating dictionaries proposed by the author, which constitutes the authorial original method of collecting vocabulary in order to update dictionaries of information retrieval languages; an analysis of interdisciplinary connections in the area of knowledge. The dissertation consists of an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter presents problems referring to terminology and concepts found in the science of geoinformation. The analysis of geoinformation terminology has been carried out taking into account the terms relating to names of the following categories: data, information, information systems, and the names of the field of knowledge. In each of the aforesaid ranges of category names, there occur a multiplicity and ambiguity of terms used in names; therefore, definitions have been created and interdependence between terms has been pointed out. Further, the concept of space has been introduced, the characteristics of geoinformation as a specific category of information have been discussed, the sources of geoinformation, geoinformation systems and geoinformation infrastructure have been characterised, and the thematic structure of geoinformation science has been presented. The prepared characteristics facilitates the understanding of concepts and is useful in the analysis of problems relating to geoinformation science, assessment of its representation in information retrieval languages, and collection of vocabulary in order to update dictionaries of information retrieval languages. The second chapter presents the results of an analysis carried out in order to illustrate the current state of representation of geoinformation science in the selected information retrieval languages. In order to assess the state of representation, a comparison has been made of terms appearing in the existing representation with the expressions from Zasobu wiedzy w zakresie nauki o geoinformacji (The Body of Knowledge in the Field of Geoinformation Science), as well as with the terms related to such category names as: data, information, information systems, and the names of the area of knowledge. Moreover, the characteristics of the information retrieval languages selected for the study has been carried out and the information retrieval language has been presented as a tool for the organization of information and knowledge. The third chapter presents the results of vocabulary collection process carried out for the purpose of updating dictionaries of information retrieval languages. The authorial original method of gathering vocabulary, proposed in the dissertation, has been described and its assessment has been made by comparison with other methods of compiling vocabulary. The chapter also sets out rules for selecting Polish and foreign periodicals (from the field of geoinformation) for research. One of the stages in the proposed method, i.e. the bibliometric analysis of the vocabulary, has allowed to present proposals for vocabulary update in the dictionaries of information retrieval language in the field of geoinformation science. Additionally, the bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary connections in the field of geoinformation science has been carried out. The fourth chapter describes the issue of updating dictionaries of information retrieval languages and proposes an update on the representation of geoinformation science in the selected information retrieval language. Identified based on the analysis of terminology in the scope of names of data categories, information categories, categories of information systems and field of knowledge, the analysis of the document presenting both the scope of knowledge within the studied area of knowledge and published periodicals, and the analysis of interdisciplinary connections, the proposed vocabulary has been compared with the existing state of representation, thus allowing to obtain the final proposal of lexical units for inclusion into the dictionaries of selected information retrieval languages. As an illustration of the proposed method of updating the vocabulary, a list of vocabulary and dictionary articles has been proposed for the selected information retrieval languages and a proposal for a dictionary of language controlled keywords has been designed

Submarine Landslides in the Central Mediterranean: Causes and Recurrences

This thesis (SLATE-project, https://www.itn-slate.eu/) is concentrated on submarine landslides in the central Mediterranean Sea. Commonly found in marine and lacustrine environments, submarine landslides represent one of the main mechanisms of sediment transport along continental margins, their volumes can be far larger than any terrestrial landslides and have potential to produce far-reaching tsunamis that can rival those produced by earthquakes. However, many uncertainties remain concerning their preconditioning factors, triggering mechanisms, return frequencies and relationship with climate change as well as their geohazard potential, which vary depending on their location. Newly identified submarine landslides emplaced in the Gela Basin (GB; south of Sicily, central Mediterranean Sea) were investigated where the particular geodynamic and oceanographic context and the limited extent basin is ideal for submarine landslides research. The investigation through multiple data types including deep boreholes, multi-channel and subbottom seismic profiles, sediment cores and swath bathymetry revealed the emplacement of multiple submarine landslides during the margin outbuilding in the Pliocene-Quaternary with a drastic transition in their volumes and emplacement location at the Middle-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). This change, accompanied by an accelerated margin outbuilding from 150 to 900 m/kyr and growth of the contourite deposits, has been related to the decreasing tectonic activity at the southern front of the Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt and the climatic changes linked to the switch to the 100-kyr Milankovitch cyclicity. Numerical in-house codes used for the reconstruction of two small-size MTDs located at the ends of the GB show similar potential of generating high-wave tsunamis that can impact the coasts of Malta and Sicily but different triggering mechanisms based on the stability analysis. A multiproxy approach made on the sediment cores revealed that strong bottom currents and very-high sedimentation rate fluctuations, associated with sea-level changes, affected the stability of contourite deposits and contributed to the recurrent emplacement of MTDs

Comparison of height between ponts collected with the GPS RTK and digital photogrammetry

A obtenção de informações com qualidade sobre o nosso planeta vêm se tornando uma exigência cada vez maior. Tais informações devem apresentar um padrão mínimo de qualidade de acordo com as normas técnicas nacionais para que possam ser usadas para fins de: engenharia, cartografia, geoprocessamento e outros. Este trabalho traz subsídios para que os profissionais possam ter confiança na altimetria automática de sistemas fotogramétricos. Para isso, se realizou os modelos numéricos do terreno (MNTs) com pontos gerados automaticamente pelo sistema fotogramétrico digital SOCET SET, comparado com os dados levantados no campo com o uso do sistema GPS (Global Positioning System - Sistema de Posicionamento Global) em tempo real. Essa comparação foi realizada por método estatístico interno ao sistema fotogramétrico SOCET SET e o erro padrão obtido ficou na ordem de 26 cm. A partir desse resultado, gerou-se como produto final uma ortofoto da região em estudo. A utilização da ortofoto deve-se às características de imagens exclusivas deste tipo de produto que equivale a um mapa de linha e permite ver exatamente o objeto-imagem e não símbolos representativos.Obtaining information with quality about our planet is becoming each time more necessary. These information must have at least the smallest standard quality according to the Brazilian rules about maps to that can be used in: engineering, cartography, data processing and others. This report deal with data to help profissionals giving them confidence in the automatic geometric height of pothogrammetrics systems. Therefore numeric terrain modeling were done with ponts generated automaticly by digital pothogrammetric system SOCET SET and compared with data collected in the field with the use of a GPS system (Global Positioning System) in real time. This comparison was realized by statistician method at SOCET SET pothogrammetric system and the standard error obtained stayed in twenty-six centimeters. As a result, the use of orthophoto, is due to its characteristics of exclusive image of this type of product what means a line map and allow to see exactly the image of the object and not representative symbols

Comparison of height between ponts collected with the GPS RTK and digital photogrammetry

A obtenção de informações com qualidade sobre o nosso planeta vêm se tornando uma exigência cada vez maior. Tais informações devem apresentar um padrão mínimo de qualidade de acordo com as normas técnicas nacionais para que possam ser usadas para fins de: engenharia, cartografia, geoprocessamento e outros. Este trabalho traz subsídios para que os profissionais possam ter confiança na altimetria automática de sistemas fotogramétricos. Para isso, se realizou os modelos numéricos do terreno (MNTs) com pontos gerados automaticamente pelo sistema fotogramétrico digital SOCET SET, comparado com os dados levantados no campo com o uso do sistema GPS (Global Positioning System - Sistema de Posicionamento Global) em tempo real. Essa comparação foi realizada por método estatístico interno ao sistema fotogramétrico SOCET SET e o erro padrão obtido ficou na ordem de 26 cm. A partir desse resultado, gerou-se como produto final uma ortofoto da região em estudo. A utilização da ortofoto deve-se às características de imagens exclusivas deste tipo de produto que equivale a um mapa de linha e permite ver exatamente o objeto-imagem e não símbolos representativos.Obtaining information with quality about our planet is becoming each time more necessary. These information must have at least the smallest standard quality according to the Brazilian rules about maps to that can be used in: engineering, cartography, data processing and others. This report deal with data to help profissionals giving them confidence in the automatic geometric height of pothogrammetrics systems. Therefore numeric terrain modeling were done with ponts generated automaticly by digital pothogrammetric system SOCET SET and compared with data collected in the field with the use of a GPS system (Global Positioning System) in real time. This comparison was realized by statistician method at SOCET SET pothogrammetric system and the standard error obtained stayed in twenty-six centimeters. As a result, the use of orthophoto, is due to its characteristics of exclusive image of this type of product what means a line map and allow to see exactly the image of the object and not representative symbols

Modelação de dados batimétricos com estimação de incerteza

Tese de mestrado em Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (Tecnologias e Aplicações), apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2011A evolução dos sondadores acústicos impôs aos Serviços Hidrográficos novas metodologias na interpretação, manuseamento e aplicação da informação hidrográfica. Considerando a elevada densidade de dados adquiridos pelos sondadores multifeixe, alguns Serviços foram impelidos a uma redefinição do produto final de um levantamento hidrográfico. Este foi definido, em 2010, pela National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) como uma superfície batimétrica construída a partir do algoritmo Combined Uncertainty Bathymetry Estimator (CUBE), onde a estimação de profundidade toma em consideração a incerteza das medições observadas. Actualmente, no Instituto Hidrográfico (IH), o produto final de um levantamento hidrográfico é constituído por um subconjunto discreto de sondas mínimas espaçadas de forma irregular, extraído do conjunto total de sondas validadas, seguindo recomendações e requisitos definidos pela Organização Hidrográfica Internacional (OHI). De modo a avaliar o processamento efectuado com recurso ao CUBE para efeitos da cartografia náutica, foram analisados diferentes levantamentos hidrográficos. As sondas mínimas validadas pelo hidrógrafo foram comparadas com as profundidades estimadas pelo CUBE. O objectivo principal foi o de quantificar a diferença entre as sondas validadas e os modelos batimétricos gerados com o CUBE e avaliar a viabilidade de utilização do CUBE para a cartografia náutica. O processamento dos dados foi executado de forma tradicional e, paralelamente, foi utilizado o CUBE para processar e gerar modelos batimétricos com as especificações da NOAA. Com excepção das áreas de declive acentuado, as diferenças encontradas entre as sondas validadas e as profundidades estimadas pelo CUBE têm uma grandeza inferior a metade da incerteza vertical requerida pela OHI. As potencialidades do CUBE minimizam a subjectividade inerente ao processamento tradicional e tornam o processamento de dados cerca de 33% mais rápido em fundos irregulares e cerca de 67% em fundos regulares. O fluxograma de processamento de dados hidrográficos proposto pretende constituir, actualmente, a abordagem mais eficiente para a criação de produtos de base cartográfica, mantendo, no entanto, sob a responsabilidade do hidrógrafo a designação de sondas mínimas de objectos, ou outras estruturas relevantes para a segurança da navegação, em casos excepcionais em que a modelação batimétrica não garanta os requisitos da cartografia náutica.The evolution of acoustic sounding systems imposed on Hydrographic Services new methodologies for interpretation, handling and application of hydrographic information. Taking into account the high data density acquired by multibeam echosounders, some Services were driven to a redefinition of the final product of a hydrographic survey. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defined, in 2010, the final product of a hydrographic survey as a bathymetric surface generated from the Combined Uncertainty Bathymetry Estimator (CUBE) algorithm, where depth estimation takes into account observed measurement uncertainties. Currently, at Instituto Hidrográfico (IH), the final product of a hydrographic survey consists of a discrete subset of irregularly spaced minimum soundings (shoals), selected from the full set of validated soundings, as required by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). In order to evaluate CUBE processing for nautical cartography purposes, different hydrographic surveys were analyzed. Shoals validated by hydrographers were compared with estimated depths by CUBE. The main objective is to quantify the difference between validated soundings and bathymetric models generated by CUBE and evaluate the feasibility of using CUBE for nautical cartography. Data processing was performed with the traditional methodology and, at the same time, CUBE was used for processing and generating bathymetric models using the NOAA specifications. Except in areas of steep slopes, differences between traditional shoals and CUBE estimated depths are less than half of the vertical uncertainty required by IHO. CUBE capabilities minimize inherent subjectivity in traditional processing, reducing processing times up to 33% on irregular seafloor and about 67% on regular seafloor. The proposed hydrographic data processing flowchart is intended to be the most efficient approach for the creation of cartographic products. Nevertheless, in exceptional cases where bathymetric modeling does not guarantee the requirements for nautical cartography, the responsibility to designate specific minimum soundings or other relevant structures for safety of navigation still rests on the hydrographer