Trends and concerns in digital cartography

CISRG discussion paper ;

Spatial Aided Decision-making System for E-Government

Non

Deep Space Network information system architecture study

The purpose of this article is to describe an architecture for the Deep Space Network (DSN) information system in the years 2000-2010 and to provide guidelines for its evolution during the 1990s. The study scope is defined to be from the front-end areas at the antennas to the end users (spacecraft teams, principal investigators, archival storage systems, and non-NASA partners). The architectural vision provides guidance for major DSN implementation efforts during the next decade. A strong motivation for the study is an expected dramatic improvement in information-systems technologies, such as the following: computer processing, automation technology (including knowledge-based systems), networking and data transport, software and hardware engineering, and human-interface technology. The proposed Ground Information System has the following major features: unified architecture from the front-end area to the end user; open-systems standards to achieve interoperability; DSN production of level 0 data; delivery of level 0 data from the Deep Space Communications Complex, if desired; dedicated telemetry processors for each receiver; security against unauthorized access and errors; and highly automated monitor and control

A Layered Software Architecture for the Management of a Manufacturing Company

In this paper we describe a layered software architecture in the management of a manufactur-ing company that intensively uses computer technology. Application tools, new and legacy, after the updating, operate in a context of an open web oriented architecture. The software architecture enables the integration and interoperability among all tools that support business processes. Manufacturing Executive System and Text Mining tools are excellent interfaces, the former both for internal production and management processes and the latter for external processes coming from the market. In this way, it is possible to implement, a computer integrated factory, flexible and agile, that immediately responds to customer requirements.ICT, Service Oriented Architecture, Web Services, Computer-Integrated Factory, Application Software

Development of GIS as an information management system: a case study for the Burden Center

For a park site, it is very important and necessary to let the local planning authorities realize and understand the important aspects and benefits of the site and to establish the long-range development strategies for the location. In order to succeed during the planning process, the communication and information that flow among all the participants must be well organized. In this situation, a project-wide Geographic Information System (GIS) would be a good solution. The goal of this project is to explore the possibilities for administrative authorities to implement a GIS database system to support the site planning and management of a park site. The research is based on three parts: The first involves components related to the field of park planning and GIS technology. It provides an outline of the park planning and management process, GIS techniques, and GIS-based strategies that have been developed for use in park planning and design. The second part provides a method of developing a GIS database prototype for park planning and management. An inventory of existing assets and options for future development can be integrated in a GIS database. Then this provides a platform for the gradual development of a comprehensive park management system. The third part involves the development of a prototypical GIS database design for an existing park site. It represents a practical implementation of a GIS system for the Burden Center, an historical and agricultural research center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This system will give quality information about the Burden Center site and will serve as a foundation to facilitate park planning, decision-making, facility management, future development, and resource interpretation for educational purposes

A state-of-the-art review of built environment information modelling (BeIM)

Elements that constitute the built environment are vast and so are the independent systems developed to model its various aspects. Many of these systems have been developed under various assumptions and approaches to execute functions that are distinct, complementary or sometimes similar. Also, these systems are ever increasing in number and often assume similar nomenclatures and acronyms thereby exacerbating the challenges of understanding their peculiar functions, definitions and differences. The current societal demand to improve sustainability performance through collaboration, whole-systems and through-life thinking, is driving the need to integrate independent systems associated with different aspects and scales of the built environment to deliver smart solutions and services that improve the wellbeing of citizens. The contemporary object-oriented digitization of real world elements appears to provide a leeway for amalgamating modelling systems of various domains in the built environment which we termed as built environment information modelling (BeIM). These domains included Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Urban Planning and Design. Applications such as Building Information Modelling, Geographic Information Systems and 3D City Modelling systems are now being integrated for city modelling purposes. The various works directed at integrating these systems are examined revealing that current research efforts on integration fall into three categories: (1) data/file conversion systems, (2) semantic mapping systems and (3) the hybrid of both. The review outcome suggests that a good knowledge of these domains and how their respective systems operate is vital to pursuing holistic systems integration in the built environment

Simplification and generalization of large scale data for roads : a comparison of two filtering algorithms

This paper reports the results of an in-depth study which investigated two algorithms for line simplification and caricatural generalization (namely, those developed by Douglas and Peucker, and Visvalingam, respectively) in the context of a wider program of research on scale-free mapping. The use of large-scale data for man-designed objects, such as roads, has led to a better understanding of the properties of these algorithms and of their value within the spectrum of scale-free mapping. The Douglas-Peucker algorithm is better at minimal simplification. The large-scale data for roads makes it apparent that Visvalingam's technique is not only capable of removing entire scale-related features, but that it does so in a manner which preserves the shape of retained features. This technique offers some prospects for the construction of scale-free databases since it offers some scope for achieving balanced generalizations of an entire map, consisting of several complex lines. The results also suggest that it may be easier to formulate concepts and strategies for automatic segmentation of in-line features using large-scale road data and Visvalingam's algorithm. In addition, the abstraction of center lines may be facilitated by the inclusion of additional filtering rules with Visvalingam's algorithm

Computer-aided boundary delineation of agricultural lands

The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) presently uses labor-intensive aerial photographic interpretation techniques to divide large geographical areas into manageable-sized units for estimating domestic crop and livestock production. Prototype software, the computer-aided stratification (CAS) system, was developed to automate the procedure, and currently runs on a Sun-based image processing system. With a background display of LANDSAT Thematic Mapper and United States Geological Survey Digital Line Graph data, the operator uses a cursor to delineate agricultural areas, called sampling units, which are assigned to strata of land-use and land-cover types. The resultant stratified sampling units are used as input into subsequent USDA sampling procedures. As a test, three counties in Missouri were chosen for application of the CAS procedures. Subsequent analysis indicates that CAS was five times faster in creating sampling units than the manual techniques were