Recent advances in karst research: from theory to fieldwork and applications

Karst landscapes and karst aquifers, which are composed of a variety of soluble rocks such as salt, gypsum, anhydrite, limestone, dolomite and quartzite, are fascinating areas of study. As karst rocks are abundant on the Earth's surface, the fast evolution of karst landscapes and the rapid flow of water through karst aquifers present challenges from a number of different perspectives. This collection of 25 papers deals with different aspects of these challenges, including karst geology, geomorphology and speleogenesis, karst hydrogeology, karst modelling, and karst hazards and management. Together these papers provide a state-of-the-art review of the current challenges and solutions in describing karst from a scientific perspective

Generative Street Addresses from Satellite Imagery

We describe our automatic generative algorithm to create street addresses from satellite images by learning and labeling roads, regions, and address cells. Currently, 75% of the world’s roads lack adequate street addressing systems. Recent geocoding initiatives tend to convert pure latitude and longitude information into a memorable form for unknown areas. However, settlements are identified by streets, and such addressing schemes are not coherent with the road topology. Instead, we propose a generative address design that maps the globe in accordance with streets. Our algorithm starts with extracting roads from satellite imagery by utilizing deep learning. Then, it uniquely labels the regions, roads, and structures using some graph- and proximity-based algorithms. We also extend our addressing scheme to (i) cover inaccessible areas following similar design principles; (ii) be inclusive and flexible for changes on the ground; and (iii) lead as a pioneer for a unified street-based global geodatabase. We present our results on an example of a developed city and multiple undeveloped cities. We also compare productivity on the basis of current ad hoc and new complete addresses. We conclude by contrasting our generative addresses to current industrial and open solutions. Keywords: road extraction; remote sensing; satellite imagery; machine learning; supervised learning; generative schemes; automatic geocodin

Procedural Content Generation for Location-based Games

Os jogos baseados na localização possibilitam o desenvolvimento de narrativas e experiências emlocais específicos. Como tal, estão muitas vezes limitados pela área geográfica para a qual foramdesenvolvidos. Através de técnicas de geração procedimental de conteúdos é possível adaptar asmecânicas de jogo definidas a outros locais.O principal objectivo desta dissertação é criar uma ferramenta que permita a geração de ummodelo da localização actual do utilizador, através da utilização de informação geográfica. Ainformação sobre a localização é integrada em agentes, sendo utilizadas técnicas de Geração Pro-cedimental de Conteúdos para gerar os componentes. A usabilidade e um possível impacto do usoda aplicação em turismo serão estudados.Location-based games are games where the physical position of the player has influence on thegameplay. Most of these games are currently developed with a specific location in mind, so asto provide the user with a more immersive experience. Thus, procedural content generation haspotential to be of great value to this type of games, as they can be extended to arbitrary locationsin a less labor-intensive fashion.The main goal of this dissertation is to create a tool that is able to generate a model of thecurrent location based on geographical data. Non-player characters containing knowledge of thelocation are used to interact with the player. Procedural Content Generation techniques will beused to generate the components, and a possible impact of the use of this tool for tourism purposeswill be studied

Towards inclusive GIS in the Congo Basin: an exploration of digital map creation and an evaluation of map understanding by non-literate hunter-gatherers

Sustainable and socially just natural resource management is one of the fundamental development challenges humanity is facing today. Communities living in remote areas possess unique insights about their natural resources. While this knowledge is critical to climate change, it is difficult for them to engage in environmental protection. Geographic Information Science (GIS) plays a central role in resource management, as it is utilised in spatial decision making processes. However, the literature argues that its use is too challenging for marginalised communities. Working with indigenous hunter-gatherers in the Congo Basin without prior exposure to technology or maps, this research moves towards enabling them to become active stakeholders in decision making so that they understand how to capture environmental knowledge and gain power through ownership. (Participatory) GIS, Human Computer Interaction, Action Research and Citizen Science concepts are adapted to the local context to address the lack of mapping of these areas, and the increased understanding of if and how digital, high resolution orthographic maps incorporated in digital mapping tools can be understood by people with no prior exposure to maps and technology. Different set-ups of low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and consumer grade cameras were tested and evaluated for suitability to generate high-resolution maps in-situ for previously unmapped and disconnected contexts. Applying a computer log analysis approach to overcome local obstacles, three experiments were carried out to test whether the resulting aerial orthophotos are understood as a representation of familiar geographical landscapes. For each of the experiments, a bespoke app functioning without an internet connection was developed. The research shows that the majority of the 136 participants could find as well as edit known features on the map and all participating groups were able to utilise a map for a Treasure Hunt game. Additionally, a number of methodological amendments are proposed to allow standardised research methods to be applied in a context where usability experiments are significantly challenged

Playful mapping in the digital age:The Playful Mapping Collective

From Mah-Jong, to the introduction of Prussian war-games, through to the emergence of location-based play: maps and play share a long and diverse history. This monograph shows how mapping and playing unfold in the digital age, when the relations between these apparently separate tropes are increasingly woven together. Fluid networks of interaction have encouraged a proliferation of hybrid forms of mapping and playing and a rich plethora of contemporary case-studies, ranging from fieldwork, golf, activism and automotive navigation, to pervasive and desktop-based games evidences this trend. Examining these cases shows how mapping and playing can form productive synergies, but also encourages new ways of being, knowing and shaping our everyday lives. The chapters in this book explore how play can be more than just an object or practice, and instead focus on its potential as a method for understanding maps and spatiality. They show how playing and mapping can be liberating, dangerous, subversive and performative