Teaching Climate Literacy Using Geospatial Tools

Antarctica is the world’s coldest, driest and windiest continent. It is a harsh environment that few people will ever see but it is a very important part of our Earth system. Over the past 34 million years the climate in Antarctica has deteriorated from one that supported lush vegetation to the conditions observed today. By studying this trend and the associated changes to ice and vegetation we can gain critical insight into climate changes taking place today. This thesis presents three pieces of curricula that will help students and the general public understand some of the research currently underway in Antarctica while introducing them to geospatial tools that can be used to study climate and other large spatial and temporal events. The first paper guides students through an investigation of changing palynological distributions over time. In the activities described, students will use these data to infer climatic change on different geologic time scales and in different locales. Students will use published data-sets to trace changes in plant assembly over the past 34 million years on the Antarctic Peninsula as well as to understand the demise of the North American Ice Sheet during the last 20,000 years. The activity also introduces the use of GeoMapApp mapping software for the preparation of geo-spatial imagery and data processing. In the second paper, I outline a forensics activity that is based on actual cases where pollen has been used to solve crimes. This paper outlines a method to geo-locate a crime scene by combining Google Earth and data from NOAA’s paleo-climate website. Here the focus is on spatial, rather than temporal, changes in climate and flora. Finally, I present an activity that uses GeoMapApp and multi-beam sonar data from the Ross Sea to find and map megascale glacial lineations which can then be used to infer paleo-ice stream locations and grounding zone wedges that were laid down during the last glacial maximum

History, Space and Place

Spaces, too, have a history. And history always takes place in spaces. But what do historians mean when they use the word ""spaces""? And how can spaces be historically investigated? Susanne Rau provides a survey of the history of Western concepts of space, opens up interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenon of space in fields ranging from physics and geography to philosophy and sociology, and explains how historical spatial analysis can be methodologically and conceptually conceived and carried out in practice. The case studies presented in the book come from the fields of urban history, the history of trade, and global history including the history of cartography, but its analysis is equally relevant to other fields of inquiry. This book offers the first comprehensive introduction to the theory and methodology of historical spatial analysis. Supported by Open Access funds of the University of Erfur

History, Space and Place

Spaces, too, have a history. And history always takes place in spaces. But what do historians mean when they use the word ""spaces""? And how can spaces be historically investigated? Susanne Rau provides a survey of the history of Western concepts of space, opens up interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenon of space in fields ranging from physics and geography to philosophy and sociology, and explains how historical spatial analysis can be methodologically and conceptually conceived and carried out in practice. The case studies presented in the book come from the fields of urban history, the history of trade, and global history including the history of cartography, but its analysis is equally relevant to other fields of inquiry. This book offers the first comprehensive introduction to the theory and methodology of historical spatial analysis. Supported by Open Access funds of the University of Erfur

Communication and internationalization plan for Pinhal da Torre

A presente tese de mestrado é um projeto associado a uma empresa do sector vitivinícola, com o nome de Pinhal da Torre. Localizada em Alpiarça, na região do Tejo (aproximadamente a 90 km de Lisboa), esta empresa tem vindo a apostar desde o seu início na atividade vinícola, na expansão para mercados internacionais, deixando o Mercado português para trás devido à sua saturação. O seu sucesso tem vindo a crescer e a constante aposta em mercados internacionais e reconhecimento granjeado por parte de destacadas personalidades e organizações importantes desta indústria tem vindo a demonstrá-lo. Este projeto destina-se à elaboração e preparação de mais uma iniciativa de internacionalização em conjunto com ações de comunicação, desta vez para o mercado russo, uma vez que é um dos mercados com bastante potencial e cada vez mais procurado por empresas portuguesas. É um projeto baseado na realidade da empresa, com o objectivo de fomentar a sua imagem internacional e fornecer à empresa informações e conhecimentos não só a nível do mercado mas também a nível de estratégias de marketing, uma vez que é uma das lacunas. Todas as ações e estratégias desenvolvidas foram adequadas ao objetivo da empresa Pinhal da Torre, de forma a poderem ser postas em prática num futuro próximo.The present master’s thesis is a project associated with a company in vine sector, which name is Pinhal da Torre, and is located in Alpiarça in Tejo region (approximately 90 km from Lisbon). Since the beginning of vine activity, the company bet on expansion to international markets, leaving the Portuguese market behind due to his saturation. The success has been increasing and the constant bet on international markets and the recognition by important personalities and organizations in this area has shown it. This project is intended to development and preparation of one more internationalization initiative coupled with a set of communication actions, this time to Russian market, once is one of the potential and each time more requested markets by Portuguese companies. Is a company reality-based project, with the objective of projecting his international image and supply information’s and knowledge’s to the company not only at Russian market level, but also at the level of marketing strategies, which is a level that company has some barriers. In this way all actions and strategies developed were thought according to the objective of the company, in order to be applicable in a near future

Ripping up the map: Criminology and cartography reconsidered

Criminologists have long been interested in mapping crime, yet their use and understanding of maps remain superficial and uncritical. This article traces crime mapping’s historical development before considering the emergence of ‘critical cartography’ and exploring its implications for criminology. Criminologists are urged to interrogate conventional crime maps, and to investigate the criminological implications of emergent digital mapping technologies. Maps and map making afford a host of innovative methodologies that criminologists have yet to take advantage of, and some tentative suggestions are made as to how criminologists might utilize cartographic methods in order to generate unique empirical insights. Finally, the article considers how criminologists might harness maps’ communicative power to better engage with the public and to promote social justice

Development and usability analysis of a mixed reality GPS navigator application for the microsoft hololens

The present work aims to perform a comparative usability analysis between two Human- Computer Interaction systems (HCI) for global geolocation (GPS) navigators. The intent is to compare the conventional use of a navigation application on a mobile device, such as a smartphone attached to the dashboard of a vehicle, to an implementation in Mixed Reality (MR) powered by the Head Mounted Display (HMD) Microsoft HoloLens. By connecting the MR device to a local network routed by an ordinary cellular phone, which is connected to a mobile data network, it is possible to ubiquitously acquire the phone’s geolocation data, its magnetometer deviation and a route graph of a navigation Application Programming Interface (API) from its current location to a destination entered by the user. Thus, a series of three-dimensional holograms are created at runtime, geolocated and placed around the user, guiding him through a path indicated on the floor, pertinent to the streets around him that lead to the desired destination. Apart from that, arrows are projected on the way at each crucial point of the path, where some maneuver must be performed, e.g., turning right or taking an exit at a roundabout. In a user experiment, performance and usability were assessed. Results show that users deemed the MR solution to offer a higher visibility both to the oncoming traffic and the suggested route, when compared to the conventional interface, being less attention demanding. EEG readings for most participants also exposed a significantly more demanding focus level for the handheld device. Additionally, an easiness to learn and use was indicated for our system, being almost on par with the already known and highly used application tested.O presente trabalho visa realizar uma análise comparativa de usabilidade entre dois sistemas de interação humano-computador para navegadores de geolocalização global (GPS). Foi almejado comparar o uso convencional do sistema, através de um dispositivo móvel tal qual um smartphone afixado ao painel de um veículo, com uma nova implementação em Realidade Mista potencializada pelo HMD Microsoft HoloLens. Conectando o dispositivo de realidade mista (MR) a uma rede local roteada por um aparelho celular convencional, este conectado a uma rede de dados móvel, foi possível receber ubiquamente os dados de sua geolocalização, de seu magnetômetro e um grafo de rota de uma API de navegação de alta disponibilidade partindo do presente local até um destino inserido pelo usuário. Com isso, é criada em tempo de execução uma série de hologramas tridimensionais geolocalizados ao redor do usuário, guiando-o através de um caminho indicado em seu chão, pertinente às ruas a sua volta que o levarão ao destino desejado. Também são projetadas flechas em seu caminho em cada ponto crucial de seu trajeto, onde deve-se realizar alguma manobra, e.g., dobrar à direita ou tomar uma saída de uma rotatória. Em um experimento realizado com usuários reais, seu desempenho e usabilidade foram aferidos. Resultados mostram que os usuários estimaram que a solução em MR oferecia uma visibilidade maior tanto ao tráfego passante quanto à rota sugerida, em comparação à interface convencional, requerindo menos atenção. Leituras de eletroencefalografia (EEG) na maioria dos participantes indicaram uma demanda significativamente maior de atenção focada no uso do dispositivo móvel. Uma grande facilidade de aprendizado e de uso também foi apontada para nosso sistema, estando quase a par da aplicação móvel altamente conhecida e usada

The development of training and practice of navigation for advanced ships : application to merchant marine training centre programmes in Thailand

This dissertation is a study of an advanced ship, focusing on the training needs for a navigation officer by taking into consideration technological advances, operational factors and human factors. A short overview is given of current and future trends, and developments in modem technology in shipping including an advanced bridge in the form of an integrated bridge system. The role of the navigator, bridge operational procedures and conditions, and training needs are examined, taking into account manning and technological change that have taken place. The required knowledge, skills and attitude for an operator of advanced ships are identified. The importance of Bridge Resource Management training is also discussed. The factors influencing the operation of the advanced ship under the concept of oneman bridge operations are investigated. The results are evaluated to further improve the safe and efficient operation of an advanced ship. Proposals and recommendations are made to improve the training programmes, technology and operations for advanced ships and to update the navigation training programme at the Merchant Marine Training Centre (MMTC). A number of recommendations are also made concerning the need for further study and investigation in the subject

Tabulae imperii Europaei :mapping European empire

PhD ThesisThis thesis examines the unclear political nature of the European Union and current academic theories on how to understand and classify the EU. Placing the EU in the macrohistorical context from which it emerged, the project first critiques competing definitions of “empire” before examining the etymological and philosophical genealogy of imperium. It then uses textual analysis to trace how evolving interpretations of imperium and “empire” have influenced European historiography and political philosophy. This analysis demonstrates that “empire” is not a descriptive taxonomy but a normative discourse, expressing an imagination of power, legitimacy and sole sovereignty, used to validate the inherent inequality and manifest destiny of an imagined European community. This discourse must be publicly expressed in order to have validity, and it is most effectively conveyed in visual language. The study demonstrates that of the many forms of visual language, by far the most powerful is cartography. But while maps represent the world rather than reflect it, map-readers ascribe to maps an authority that is rarely questioned, accepting maps’ portrayals as truthful. Having established and justified a methodology based in semiotics and semantics, the project moves into an analytical focus by semiotically deconstructing the most publicly-accessible EU maps in print and virtual form and on Euro currency. These analyses demonstrate that EU maps intersect with EU iconography and inadvertently construct an imagined community defined by the discourse of empire. Such maps show the Union not as it is but as it should be – the sole sovereign of European civilisation, with supreme power, exclusive legitimacy, a manifest destiny to unite the Europeans, and inhabited by an imagined community whose imagined history partly masks an inherent, yet acknowledged, inequality. This dissertation concludes that the EU is not a sui generis construct but instead embodies a familiar historical discourse – the European Union as Empire. Unless specified, all images have been digitally photographed by the author from the cited books or copied from the cited websites, in accordance with the Copyright Licensing Act (2006) of UUK/SCOP Higher Education institutions. All websites referenced in the text were last accessed on the date of binding, 1st October 2013. Any errors of fact or interpretation remain the author’s own.The Economic and Social Research Council

Geodesy: The science underneath

Geodesy is the science of precisely measuring and mapping the Earth’s surface and locations of objects on it, the figure of the Earth and her gravity field, and changes in all these over time. Geodesy is an old science, going back to the days when land was taken into agricultural use and needed to be mapped. It is also a modern science, serving vital infrastructure needs of our developing global technological society. This text aims to describe the foundations of both traditional geodesy, mapping the Earth within the constraints of the human living space, and modern geodesy, exploiting space technology for mapping and monitoring our planet as a whole, in a unified threedimensional fashion. The approach is throughout at conveying an understanding of the concepts, of both the science and mathematics of measuring and mapping the Earth and the technologies used for doing so. The history of the science is not neglected, and the perspective of the presentation is unapologetically Finnish.Geodesia on tiede, joka mittaa ja kartoittaa tarkasti Maan pintaa ja sen päällä olevia kohteita, Maan muotoa ja painovoimakenttää, sekä niiden kaikkien ajallisia muutoksia. Geodesia on vanha tiede, joka oli olemassa jo muinoin kun maanviljely alkoi ja peltoja piti kartoittaa. Se on myös moderni tiede, joka palvelee modernin, kehittyvän globaalin teknologisen yhteiskuntamme olennaisia infrastruktuuritarpeita. Tämä kirja esittää sekä perinteisen että modernin geodesian perusteet. Perinteinen geodesia kartoittaa Maata ihmisen elintilan puitteissa ja sen ehdolla, kun moderni geodesia käyttää avaruusteknologiaa koko maaplaneetamme kartoittamiseksi ja seuraamiseksi yhtenäisellä kolmiulotteisella tavalla. Tavoitteena on auttaa Maan mittaamiseen ja kartoittamiseen liittyvien sekä tieteellis-matemaattisten että teknologisten käsitteiden ymmärtämistä. Geodesian historiaa ei unohdeta, ja kirjoitelman näkökulma on avoimesti suomalainen