Geospatial information infrastructures

Manual of Digital Earth / Editors: Huadong Guo, Michael F. Goodchild, Alessandro Annoni .- Springer, 2020 .- ISBN: 978-981-32-9915-3Geospatial information infrastructures (GIIs) provide the technological, semantic,organizationalandlegalstructurethatallowforthediscovery,sharing,and use of geospatial information (GI). In this chapter, we introduce the overall concept and surrounding notions such as geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial datainfrastructures(SDI).WeoutlinethehistoryofGIIsintermsoftheorganizational andtechnologicaldevelopmentsaswellasthecurrentstate-of-art,andreflectonsome of the central challenges and possible future trajectories. We focus on the tension betweenincreasedneedsforstandardizationandtheever-acceleratingtechnological changes. We conclude that GIIs evolved as a strong underpinning contribution to implementation of the Digital Earth vision. In the future, these infrastructures are challengedtobecomeflexibleandrobustenoughtoabsorbandembracetechnological transformationsandtheaccompanyingsocietalandorganizationalimplications.With this contribution, we present the reader a comprehensive overview of the field and a solid basis for reflections about future developments

Geo-Ontology Tools – the missing link

Numerous authors have presented ontology building tools that have all been developed as part of academic projects and that are usually adaptations of more generic tools for geo-spatial applications. While we trust that these tools do their job for the special purpose they have been built, the GIScience user community is still a long way away from off-the-shelf ontology builders that can be used by GIS project managers. In this article, we present a comparative study of ontology building tools described in some twenty peer-reviewed GIScience journal articles. We analyze them from the perspective of two application domains, crime analysis and transportation/land use. For the latter, we developed a database schema, which is substantially different from the three main templates commonly used. The crime analysis application uses a rule base for an agent-based model that had no precursor. In both cases, the currently available set of tools cannot replace manual coding of ontologies for use with ESRI-based application software. Based on these experiences, we outline a requirements list of what the tools described in the first part of the article are missing to make them practical from an applications perspective. The result is an R&D agenda for this important aspect of GIScience

Geographic information systems in the social sector: trends, opportunities, barriers, and best practices

There has been a rapid adoption of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the government and commercial sectors over the past several decades, while the social sector (aka "nonprofit sector") has lagged behind. This study addresses a gap in the literature regarding GIS in the social sector, highlighting unique characteristics and trends in the sector related to GIS utilization, in order to support the development of custom GIS adoption strategies. An online survey regarding GIS adoption and perception was conducted among nonprofit organizations in Guilford County, North Carolina and then statewide across North Carolina. Analysis of results found some level of in-house familiarity with GIS to be moderately common, but adoption rates are low. Most current GIS use is multi-modal, with in-house being the most common reported mode. A need for GIS training/education from an external source is demonstrated in survey findings. Respondents most commonly were unable to determine the level of usefulness GIS could provide. Cross-tabulations showed that familiarity, adoption and positive perception of GIS increase with total annual budget size. Findings also suggest a relationship between an organization's investment in key categories (information technology, research, and strategic planning) and GIS adoption. Significantly higher GIS adoption rates were found among nonprofits with partner organizations that also use GIS, while working relationships with government agencies and other nonprofits were prevalent. This finding suggests that a viral approach to GIS adoption in the social sector may be helpful

An Analysis of Quality for Volunteered Geographic Information

In recent years there has been a growing number of online user communities engaged in the creation, visualization, and use of volunteered geographic information (VGI). These data may represent an untapped resource for researchers analyzing large-area geographic phenomena such as species distributions patterns or land and resource management issues. However very few studies have used VGI for analytic research questions as little is known about the quality of these data. An understanding of the validity of VGI is a prerequisite for further exploitation of these novel data sources in research contexts. This paper looks to identify key issues related to the credibility of VGI through a critical literature review. If the measurement of data quality for volunteered geographic data can be established in a formal framework, many new sources of information that could potentially be used to answer cross-cutting geographic research questions of interest to established communities. This low cost alternative to traditional sources of data can be used for up-to-date geographic information, if the data can be trusted

Towards Establishing Effective Protective Boundaries for the Lunan Stone Forest Using an Online Spatial Decision Support System

 The Lunan Stone Forest is the Worldʼs premier pinnacle karst landscape, and was established as a national park in 1982. The existing boundaries are essentially arbitrary, based on notional scenic value, and take into consideration neither the physical landscape nor the existing pattern of urban development. Moreover, the location of the boundaries is not clear to the local community, rendering them largely ineffective. Developing an online Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) potentially provides a way to establish protective boundaries that are meaningful from the perspective of karst science, yet also readily identifiable by the local community within the context of the existing urban fabric. The 7km2 “core area” of the Stone Forest Park is used to illustrate the use of the SDSS.   Lunanski kaniti gozd je najlepši primer »kamnitega gozda« (shilin) na svetu in je bil 1982 razglašen za narodni park. Sedanje meje parka so bile dogovorjene na osnovi zaznavne pokrajinske vrednote in ne upoštevajo niti fizičnih lastnosti pokrajine niti obstoječega vzorca razvoja mesta. Še več, lokalnim skupnostim meje niso jasne in so zato še manj učinkovite. Z razvojem Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) na spletu je dano orodje, s pomočjo katerega bi bilo mogoče določiti meje varovanega območja, ki bi bile zadovoljujoče z vidika krasoslovja in sprejete s strani lokalnih skupnosti v skladu s sedanjim urbanim razvojem. Na 7 km2 osrednjega dela Kamnitega gozda je prikazana možnost uporabe SDSS.

Development and Assessment of a Spatial Decision Support System for Conservation Planning

Land conservation is frequently cited as the most effective means of limiting the detrimental effects of anthropogenic forces on natural resources. Because governmental entities can be hampered by fiscal and political concerns, land trusts are increasing relied on to protect habitat. However, these groups often lack the analysis and research tools necessary to meet their mission. Geographic Information System (GIs) technologies such as Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) offer the promise of allowing decision makers to explore their decision space at a landscape level of analysis. But critics have charged that research in this arena is largely anecdotal in nature. This research explores the validity of this contention and presents two applied empirical studies of user satisfaction with an SDSS. In order to assess the overall maturity of the GIs discipline, articles in four journals from 1996 to 2001 were analyzed based on the scientific rigor of the research strategies employed. The results showed that, while there was an increase in the breadth of methodologies employed, the majority of studies employed qualitative ( hypothesis generating ) rather than empirical ( hypothesis testing ) designs. The findings showed need for scientifically rigorous studies in applied settings. An operational SDSS was designed that identified and prioritized suitable land parcels for protection given multiple criteria and user values. The SDSS was customized for a single land trust in Maine and four theories of user acceptance of technology were tested using a modification of the traditional case study methodology. The Relative Advantage theory provided the best explanation for user acceptance of the technology. The research design also overcame the hurdles to conducting case study research in an empirical manner. In the next stage of research, the SDSS was distributed to eighty-one land trusts for testing. An analysis of the twenty-four returned surveys indicated strong support for the User Competence theory. To the author\u27s knowledge, these two studies represented the first experimental SDSS research in an applied rather than laboratory setting