1,149 research outputs found
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Open-Source, Open-Architecture SoftwarePlatform for Plug-InElectric Vehicle SmartCharging in California
This interdisciplinary eXtensible Building Operating SystemâVehicles project focuses on controlling plug-in electric vehicle charging at residential and small commercial settings using a novel and flexible open-source, open-architecture charge communication and control platform. The platform provides smart charging functionalities and benefits to the utility, homes, and businesses.This project investigates four important areas of vehicle-grid integration research, integrating technical as well as social and behavioral dimensions: smart charging user needs assessment, advanced load control platform development and testing, smart charging impacts, benefits to the power grid, and smart charging ratepayer benefits
Beyond data collection: Objectives and methods of research using VGI and geo-social media for disaster management
This paper investigates research using VGI and geo-social media in the disaster management
context. Relying on the method of systematic mapping, it develops a classification schema that
captures three levels of main category, focus, and intended use, and analyzes the relationships
with the employed data sources and analysis methods. It focuses the scope to the pioneering
field of disaster management, but the described approach and the developed classification
schema are easily adaptable to different application domains or future developments. The
results show that a hypothesized consolidation of research, characterized through the building
of canonical bodies of knowledge and advanced application cases with refined methodology,
has not yet happened. The majority of the studies investigate the challenges and potential
solutions of data handling, with fewer studies focusing on socio-technological issues or
advanced applications. This trend is currently showing no sign of change, highlighting that VGI
research is still very much technology-driven as opposed to theory- or application-driven. From
the results of the systematic mapping study, the authors formulate and discuss several
research objectives for future work, which could lead to a stronger, more theory-driven
treatment of the topic VGI in GIScience.Carlos Granell has been partly funded by the RamĂłn y Cajal Programme (grant number RYC-2014-16913
Advancing Science with VGI: Reproducibility and Replicability of Recent Studies using VGI
In scientific research, reproducibility and replicability are requirements to ensure the advancement of our
body of knowledge.
T
his holds true also for VGI
-
related research and studies. However, the
characteristics
of VGI suggest particular difficulties in
ensuring
reproducibility and replicability
. In this
paper,
we aim to examine the current situation in VGI
-
related research
,
and identify strategies to ensure
realization of its full potential. To do so, we first
investigate
the different aspects of reprod
ucibility and
replicability
and their impact on
VGI
-
related research
. These impacts are different depending on the
objectives
of the study. Therefore
, we examine the
study
focus of VGI
-
related research to assess the
current body of research
and structure o
ur assessment
. Th
is work is
based
on a rigorous review of the
elements of reproducibility and a systematic mapping and analysis
of
58
papers on the use of VGI in the
crisis management field. Results of our investigation show that reproducibility issues related to data are
a
serious
concern
, while reproducibility issues related to analysis methods and processes face fewer
challenges. Howe
ver, since most studies still focus on
analyzing
the source data, reproducibility and
replicability are
still an unsolved problem
in VGI
-
related research. Therefore, we
show initiative
s
tackling
the problem, and
finally formulate strategies to improve the
situatio
Neogeography: The Challenge of Channelling Large and Ill-Behaved Data Streams
Neogeography is the combination of user generated data and experiences with mapping technologies. In this article we present a research project to extract valuable structured information with a geographic component from unstructured user generated text in wikis, forums, or SMSes. The extracted information should be integrated together to form a collective knowledge about certain domain. This structured information can be used further to help users from the same domain who want to get information using simple question answering system. The project intends to help workers communities in developing countries to share their knowledge, providing a simple and cheap way to contribute and get benefit using the available communication technology
Volunteered Drone Imagery: Challenges and constraints to the development of an open shared image repository
Orthorectified imagery is valuable for a wide range of initiatives including environmental change detection, planning, and disaster response. Obtaining aerial imagery at high temporal and spatial scale has traditionally been expensive. Due to lower costs and improved ease of use, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been increasingly prevalent. This presents an opportunity to share images as part of participatory geographic information systems initiatives similar to OpenStreetMap. We outline a workflow to generate maps from UAV aerial images. We then present a characterization of software platforms currently available to aid the development of maps from UAV imagery, defined by type of service, whether imagery hosting or data processing. From this analysis, we identify existing barriers to imagery sharing, including data licensing, data quality, and user engagement
The Practice of Neogeography in Community-Based Organizations
Neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) are two terms that have emerged recently to describe the practice of geography by those not formally trained in it as a discipline and spatial data provided by individuals through social media and other Web-based tools. Both neogeography and VGI can be directly linked to the growth of various online mapping websites and applications that allow for the creation of electronic maps that are interactive, adaptable, and easily shared via the Internet and Web. As recent phenomena, the practice of neogeography and VGI is not well understood, nor are the links these new fields have to previously established knowledge on Geographic Information Systems and its associated practices.
This thesis attempts to fill this knowledge gap through a participatory study of neogeographic practice. Using a participatory workshop format, I observed and documented representatives of community-based organizations in Syracuse, NY as they encountered online mapping tools for the first time. I followed up with two of those organizations in longer case studies to better understand how organizations with no obvious geographic focus come to see geography as a way of communicating complex ideas about space. This study revealed that while the technical complexity of the online mapping software continues to prove to be a hindrance to its use, there remains space for professional geographers to interact with laypeople who make maps. Furthermore, such engagement is necessary to begin to understand the issues involved with location-based information and privacy, access to data, and ability to use and communicate geographic concepts and knowledge
Mapping and the Citizen Sensor
Maps are a fundamental resource in a diverse array of applications ranging from everyday activities, such as route planning through the legal demarcation of space to scientific studies, such as those seeking to understand biodiversity and inform the design of nature reserves for species conservation. For a map to have value, it should provide an accurate and timely representation of the phenomenon depicted and this can be a challenge in a dynamic world. Fortunately, mapping activities have benefitted greatly from recent advances in geoinformation technologies. Satellite remote sensing, for example, now offers unparalleled data acquisition and authoritative mapping agencies have developed systems for the routine production of maps in accordance with strict standards. Until recently, much mapping activity was in the exclusive realm of authoritative agencies but technological development has also allowed the rise of the amateur mapping community. The proliferation of inexpensive and highly mobile and location aware devices together with Web 2.0 technology have fostered the emergence of the citizen as a source of data. Mapping presently benefits from vast amounts of spatial data as well as people able to provide observations of geographic phenomena, which can inform map production, revision and evaluation. The great potential of these developments is, however, often limited by concerns. The latter span issues from the nature of the citizens through the way data are collected and shared to the quality and trustworthiness of the data. This book reports on some of the key issues connected with the use of citizen sensors in mapping. It arises from a European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) Action, which explored issues linked to topics ranging from citizen motivation, data acquisition, data quality and the use of citizen derived data in the production of maps that rival, and sometimes surpass, maps arising from authoritative agencies
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