Contribution towards understanding the categorisation of landforms.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.Categorisation in the geographic domain, including landform categorisation, is more subject to influence by cultural, linguistic, environmental and individual factors, than other domains. The study presented in this dissertation investigates the influence of landscape variation on the landform categories used by non-experts. Video-elicitation methods were used in interviews with inhabitants of two distinct landscape types, in Portugal. One study site was mountainous and topographically varied, while the other consisted of more homogenous, gently undulating terrain. Interview responses indicated that participants used more landform terms in descriptions of familiar landscapes. Specific place recognition was another stimulant for an increase in landform categorisation detail. Additionally, the participant group from the more homogeneous landscape had a smaller landform vocabulary, and primarily used variations on a core set of landform terms to describe topographic eminences. The other group had a much larger and more varied vocabulary.(...

Historical GIS Research in Canada

Fundamentally concerned with place, and our ability to understand human relationships with environment over time, Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS) as a tool and a subject has direct bearing for the study of contemporary environmental issues and realities. To date, HGIS projects in Canada are few and publications that discuss these projects directly even fewer. This book brings together case studies of HGIS projects in historical geography, social and cultural history, and environmental history from Canada's diverse regions. Projects include religion and ethnicity, migration, indigenous land practices, rebuilding a nineteenth-century neighborhood, and working with Google Earth. With contributions by: Colleen Beard Stephen Bocking Jennifer Bonnell Jim Clifford Joanna Dean François Dufaux Patrick A. Dunae Marcel Fortin Jason Gilliland William M. Glen Megan Harvey Matthew G. Hatvany Sally Hermansen Andrew Hinson Don Lafreniere John S. Lutz Joshua D. MacFadyen Daniel Macfarlane Jennifer Marvin Cameron Metcalf Byron Moldofsky Sherry Olson Jon Pasher Daniel Rueck R. W. Sandwell Henry Yu Barbara Znamirowsk

Rekonstruktion von Orten als sozialem Phänomen. Geoinformatische Analyse semantisch annotierter Verhaltensdaten ; Promotionstitel: Ein Framework zur geoinformatischen Analyse von semantisch annotierten Verhaltensdaten zur Rekonstruktion von Orten als sozialem Phänomen

Im Feld der Angewandten Informatik leistet die Arbeit einen Beitrag im Bereich ortsbezogene Geoinformationssysteme, indem durch einen räumlichen Lösungsansatz für eine ortsbezogene Verbundoperation eine bislang nicht verfügbare Funktion (Ähnlichkeit auf Orten) über unterschiedliche Datenarten und -quellen realisiert werden konnte, die sich für einen wichtigen Anwendungsfall (touristische Exploration einer Stadt) als äußerst produktiv erwiesen hat. Das Vorgehen, Zusammenhang zwischen Orten über partielle räumliche Koinzidenz herzustellen, steht dabei komplementär zu bisherigen Ansätzen, Verknüpfungen im Sinne des Qualitativen Räumlichen Schließens ausschließlich auf Ebene des verfügbaren ortsbezogenen Wissens herzustellen.In the area of applied computer science, the work contributes in the field of geo-information systems. A specific spatial approach for the implementation of a place-based join helped to provide a previously unavailable function (similarity of places) across different data types and sources which has provided valid results for an important use case (touristic exploration of a city). Establishing place-based joins via partial coincidence of footprints is complementary to previous approaches which establish links exclusively by qualitative spatial reasoning at the level of place-based knowledge