4,517 research outputs found
Internet of things
Manual of Digital Earth / Editors: Huadong Guo, Michael F. Goodchild, Alessandro Annoni .- Springer, 2020 .- ISBN: 978-981-32-9915-3Digital Earth was born with the aim of replicating the real world within the digital world. Many efforts have been made to observe and sense the Earth, both from space (remote sensing) and by using in situ sensors. Focusing on the latter, advances in Digital Earth have established vital bridges to exploit these sensors and their networks by taking location as a key element. The current era of connectivity envisions that everything is connected to everything. The concept of the Internet of Things(IoT)emergedasaholisticproposaltoenableanecosystemofvaried,heterogeneous networked objects and devices to speak to and interact with each other. To make the IoT ecosystem a reality, it is necessary to understand the electronic components, communication protocols, real-time analysis techniques, and the location of the objects and devices. The IoT ecosystem and the Digital Earth (DE) jointly form interrelated infrastructures for addressing todayâs pressing issues and complex challenges. In this chapter, we explore the synergies and frictions in establishing an efïŹcient and permanent collaboration between the two infrastructures, in order to adequately address multidisciplinary and increasingly complex real-world problems. Although there are still some pending issues, the identiïŹed synergies generate optimism for a true collaboration between the Internet of Things and the Digital Earth
From Sensor to Observation Web with Environmental Enablers in the Future Internet
This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communitiesâ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term ?envirofied? Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management)
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,andreïŹectonsome 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 challengedtobecomeïŹexibleandrobustenoughtoabsorbandembracetechnological transformationsandtheaccompanyingsocietalandorganizationalimplications.With this contribution, we present the reader a comprehensive overview of the ïŹeld and a solid basis for reïŹections about future developments
Visualization of and Access to CloudSat Vertical Data through Google Earth
Online tools, pioneered by the Google Earth (GE), are facilitating the way in which scientists and general public interact with geospatial data in real three dimensions. However, even in Google Earth, there is no method for depicting vertical geospatial data derived from remote sensing satellites as an orbit curtain seen from above. Here, an effective solution is proposed to automatically render the vertical atmospheric data on Google Earth. The data are first processed through the Giovanni system, then, processed to be 15-second vertical data images. A generalized COLLADA model is devised based on the 15-second vertical data profile. Using the designed COLLADA models and satellite orbit coordinates, a satellite orbit model is designed and implemented in KML format to render the vertical atmospheric data in spatial and temporal ranges vividly. The whole orbit model consists of repeated model slices. The model slices, each representing 15 seconds of vertical data, are placed on the CloudSat orbit based on the size, scale, and angle with the longitude line that are precisely and separately calculated on the fly for each slice according to the CloudSat orbit coordinates. The resulting vertical scientific data can be viewed transparently or opaquely on Google Earth. Not only is the research bridged the science and data with scientists and the general public in the most popular way, but simultaneous visualization and efficient exploration of the relationships among quantitative geospatial data, e.g. comparing the vertical data profiles with MODIS and AIRS precipitation data, becomes possible
Estimating Fire Weather Indices via Semantic Reasoning over Wireless Sensor Network Data Streams
Wildfires are frequent, devastating events in Australia that regularly cause
significant loss of life and widespread property damage. Fire weather indices
are a widely-adopted method for measuring fire danger and they play a
significant role in issuing bushfire warnings and in anticipating demand for
bushfire management resources. Existing systems that calculate fire weather
indices are limited due to low spatial and temporal resolution. Localized
wireless sensor networks, on the other hand, gather continuous sensor data
measuring variables such as air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and
wind speed at high resolutions. However, using wireless sensor networks to
estimate fire weather indices is a challenge due to data quality issues, lack
of standard data formats and lack of agreement on thresholds and methods for
calculating fire weather indices. Within the scope of this paper, we propose a
standardized approach to calculating Fire Weather Indices (a.k.a. fire danger
ratings) and overcome a number of the challenges by applying Semantic Web
Technologies to the processing of data streams from a wireless sensor network
deployed in the Springbrook region of South East Queensland. This paper
describes the underlying ontologies, the semantic reasoning and the Semantic
Fire Weather Index (SFWI) system that we have developed to enable domain
experts to specify and adapt rules for calculating Fire Weather Indices. We
also describe the Web-based mapping interface that we have developed, that
enables users to improve their understanding of how fire weather indices vary
over time within a particular region.Finally, we discuss our evaluation results
that indicate that the proposed system outperforms state-of-the-art techniques
in terms of accuracy, precision and query performance.Comment: 20pages, 12 figure
Geospatial Narratives and their Spatio-Temporal Dynamics: Commonsense Reasoning for High-level Analyses in Geographic Information Systems
The modelling, analysis, and visualisation of dynamic geospatial phenomena
has been identified as a key developmental challenge for next-generation
Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this context, the envisaged
paradigmatic extensions to contemporary foundational GIS technology raises
fundamental questions concerning the ontological, formal representational, and
(analytical) computational methods that would underlie their spatial
information theoretic underpinnings.
We present the conceptual overview and architecture for the development of
high-level semantic and qualitative analytical capabilities for dynamic
geospatial domains. Building on formal methods in the areas of commonsense
reasoning, qualitative reasoning, spatial and temporal representation and
reasoning, reasoning about actions and change, and computational models of
narrative, we identify concrete theoretical and practical challenges that
accrue in the context of formal reasoning about `space, events, actions, and
change'. With this as a basis, and within the backdrop of an illustrated
scenario involving the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban narratives, we address
specific problems and solutions techniques chiefly involving `qualitative
abstraction', `data integration and spatial consistency', and `practical
geospatial abduction'. From a broad topical viewpoint, we propose that
next-generation dynamic GIS technology demands a transdisciplinary scientific
perspective that brings together Geography, Artificial Intelligence, and
Cognitive Science.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; cognitive systems; human-computer
interaction; geographic information systems; spatio-temporal dynamics;
computational models of narrative; geospatial analysis; geospatial modelling;
ontology; qualitative spatial modelling and reasoning; spatial assistance
systemsComment: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964);
Special Issue on: Geospatial Monitoring and Modelling of Environmental
Change}. IJGI. Editor: Duccio Rocchini. (pre-print of article in press
MusA: Using Indoor Positioning and Navigation to Enhance Cultural Experiences in a museum
In recent years there has been a growing interest into the use of multimedia mobile guides in museum environments. Mobile devices have the capabilities to detect the user context and to provide pieces of information suitable to help visitors discovering and following the logical and emotional connections that develop during the visit. In this scenario, location based services (LBS) currently represent an asset, and the choice of the technology to determine users' position, combined with the definition of methods that can effectively convey information, become key issues in the design process. In this work, we present MusA (Museum Assistant), a general framework for the development of multimedia interactive guides for mobile devices. Its main feature is a vision-based indoor positioning system that allows the provision of several LBS, from way-finding to the contextualized communication of cultural contents, aimed at providing a meaningful exploration of exhibits according to visitors' personal interest and curiosity. Starting from the thorough description of the system architecture, the article presents the implementation of two mobile guides, developed to respectively address adults and children, and discusses the evaluation of the user experience and the visitors' appreciation of these application
Sharing Human-Generated Observations by Integrating HMI and the Semantic Sensor Web
Current âInternet of Thingsâ concepts point to a future where connected objects gather meaningful information about their environment and share it with other objects and people. In particular, objects embedding Human Machine Interaction (HMI), such as mobile devices and, increasingly, connected vehicles, home appliances, urban interactive infrastructures, etc., may not only be conceived as sources of sensor information, but, through interaction with their users, they can also produce highly valuable context-aware human-generated observations. We believe that the great promise offered by combining and sharing all of the different sources of information available can be realized through the integration of HMI and Semantic Sensor Web technologies. This paper presents a technological framework that harmonizes two of the most influential HMI and Sensor Web initiatives: the W3Câs Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces (MMI) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) with its semantic extension, respectively. Although the proposed framework is general enough to be applied in a variety of connected objects integrating HMI, a particular development is presented for a connected car scenario where driversâ observations about the traffic or their environment are shared across the Semantic Sensor Web. For implementation and evaluation purposes an on-board OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) architecture was built, integrating several available HMI, Sensor Web and Semantic Web technologies. A technical performance test and a conceptual validation of the scenario with potential users are reported, with results suggesting the approach is soun
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