Prototype of GIS Based Location Information Enquiry System

The convergence of the internet and wireless communication has led the popularity of using handheld devices. People have now started demanding services that can be delivered any time anywhere, called Location Based Services (LBS). This paper deal with development of location based services on handheld devices that apply to emergency services. Handheld devices suffer from serious constrains in three areas: memory size, processor speed and screen size. This application uses the client server concept within wireless internet environment. The positioning service such as GPS is used to know the position of the user. The objective of this research is to display special query on the required spatial information within handheld devices using different operating systems such as WinCE, Palm OS and Symbian. This implies the strong feature of the proposed system. Hence the system assists people e.g. at the time of emergency to find the shortest path to the nearest hospital. The application will be access through the wireless internet. Only the related location in the entire map will be displayed on the handheld devices to which gives the economical usage of bandwidth and resources for real time response. This technology uses mobile internet as web browser embedded in the handheld devices. In Malaysia, a Location Based Services is still new and can be expand in many ways, especially in emergency cases

Towards Rapid Generation and Visualisation of Large 3D Urban Landscapes for Mobile Device Navigation

In this paper a procedural 3D modelling solution for mobile devices is presented based on scripting algorithms allowing for both the automatic and also semi-automatic creation of photorealistic quality virtual urban content. The combination of aerial images, GIS data, 2D ground maps and terrestrial photographs as input data coupled with a user-friendly customized interface permits the automatic and interactive generation of large-scale, accurate, georeferenced and fully-textured 3D virtual city content, content that can be specially optimized for use with mobile devices but also with navigational tasks in mind. Furthermore, a user-centred mobile virtual reality (VR) visualisation and interaction tool operating on PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) for pedestrian navigation is also discussed. Via this engine, the import and display of various navigational file formats (2D and 3D) is supported, including a comprehensive front-end user-friendly graphical user interface providing immersive virtual 3D navigation

Geographic Information System; Route Tracking System Using Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Nowadays the mobile mapping which incorporation with handheld PDA devices for field data collection is rapidly expanding it wings of Geographic Information System (GIS). While the wireless technology is increasing through time, the usage of mobile GIS has become a very useful tool in any organizations and companies. The introduction of mobile technology actually has resulted in the fundamental paradigm which shifts into the integration of a centralized GIS database engine and other web presentation formats with the mobile data collection units. For mobile mapping, the lightweight GIS application ArcPad and small portable computers such as for example; the Compaq PocketPC are a viable option for field GIS. ESRI® ArcPad™ software is a mobile mapping and geographic information system (GIS) technology. Mobile computing is creating fundamental changes in the way we utilize geography with the ability to bring your work with you and interact directly with the world around you. Mobile GIS comprises the integration of four technologies: GIS, lightweight hardware, the global positioning system (GPS), and wireless communication. Here it emphasis the research on the GIS, more on focusing on the GIS in the mobile environment. It presents the idea of applying GIS concept in tracking route where mobile GIS will combine up with GPS as a tracking movement coordinate tool. The Sashimi Model is used as a guidance to monitor the project progress. The methodology is suitable as it stresses on both side which is the requirement side and the implementation side. A simulation of route tracking system would be presented as the findings of the while research. Further more the simulation present the idea of the real-time tracking the route using data output from the GPS receiver

Sustainable Planning of Land Use Changes in farming areas under ecological protection

Land use has been changing in the last decades because of agricultural intensification and land abandonment which implies deterioration in the optimum habitat structure and quality. Habitat degradation and loss, resulting from changes in land use remain significant drivers of biodiversity loss. These trends are widely recognised and have forced national and international agencies to identify protected sites for natural areas with high biodiversity value. Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are natural zones particularly relevant for nature conservation. Regional planning is bound to play an increasing role in nature conservation policies because much biodiversity is located in farming areas outside natural parks. Agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin has always been highly dependent on rainfed crops, cereal, vine and olive. Vine growing plays an important role not only from the economic point of view, but also environmentally as a permanent plant cover in terms of preventing erosion, managing land and water resources in a sustainable way, defending against desertification an settling population in rural areas. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to implement a decision tool system to analyse the feasibility of new proposals to upgrade traditional vineyards in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The study focuses on the sustainability of current farming practices in Special Protection Areas for Steppe Land Birds. This paper presents a model to quantify the resulting habitat fragmentation basing on infrastructure facilities, leading to mapping areas where to apply restriction measures to prevent physical destruction of the habita

Mobile Geographical Information System: Using Personal Digital Assistant to Monitor Vehicle Navigation

Geographic analysis has been around longer than maps; probably back thousands of years when early humans planned hunting and movement. Perhaps the first GIS were scratches in the dirt or sand. Traditionally, highly skilled cartographers spent many hours drawing maps, and map users labored over the analytical tasks. Modern GIS arrived when computers became powerful, easier to operate, more affordable, and generally available to many users. Technology has created many changes, including geography, data, and methods of analysis. Modern GIS is a new paradigm, even more so when Modern GIS goes mobile. The rapid growth in mobile telecommunications and internet business is living proof of a radical change in today's information society and infrastructure. The current phase in this development is the continued increase in total mobility with wideband services. This paper explores GIS in the mobile environment using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. It sees the research on GIS, focusing on GIS in mobile environment. It presents the ideaof applying GIS concept in vehicle tracking, where mobile GIS will couple up with GPS as a vehicle movement monitoring tool. The Reuse-Oriented Development Model is used as guidance for the project progress. The methodology is suitable as it stresses on component reuse. It encourages timely completion of the project. A simulation of vehicle tracking and navigating concept would be presented as the findings of the research. The simulation presents the idea of real-time tracking of a moving vehicle using data output from the GPS.

An integrated GPS/PDA/GIS telegeoprocessing system for traffic & environment

The development of sustainable urban transport networks is a present priority for world leaders, national governors and local authorities. The challenge is to increase mobility reducing the adverse impacts of transport. The potential of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to provide solutions for the 21st century sustainable urban transport system has already been demonstrated in several piecewise applications. An integrated framework that addresses the needs of municipal authorities, that integrates the data spread through different sources, that supports the intelligent traffic & environment operations, and that provides information to the citizens steering their involvement and commitment is of critical importance and can be the enabler towards the creation of more efficient, safety, and environmental-friendly transport networks that promote the citizens’ quality of life. This work describes an integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) / PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) / GIS (Geographical Information System) system which is part of the mentioned framework. The system includes prototypes for mobile urban traffic data acquisition, with a GPS -equipped vehicle, a PDA application and wireless communications, and for a geodatabase with a related Web application for urban traffic & environment. Their integrated operation is exemplified for a real urban transport system.Postprint (published version

Free and simple GIS as appropriate for health mapping in a low resource setting: a case study in eastern Indonesia

Background: Despite the demonstrated utility of GIS for health applications, there are perceived problems in low resource settings: GIS software can be expensive and complex; input data are often of low quality. This study aimed to test the appropriateness of new, inexpensive and simple GIS tools in poorly resourced areas of a developing country. GIS applications were trialled in pilot studies based on mapping of health resources and health indicators at the clinic and district level in the predominantly rural province of Nusa Tenggara Timur in eastern Indonesia. The pilot applications were (i) rapid field collection of health infrastructure data using a GPSenabled PDA, (ii) mapping health indicator data using open source GIS software, and (iii) service availability mapping using a free modelling tool. Results: Through contextualised training, district and clinic staff acquired skills in spatial analysis and visualisation and, six months after the pilot studies, they were using these skills for advocacy in the planning process, to inform the allocation of some health resources, and to evaluate some public health initiatives.Conclusions: We demonstrated that GIS can be a useful and inexpensive tool for the decentralisation of health data analysis to low resource settings through the use of free and simple software, locally relevant training materials and by providing data collection tools to ensure data reliability

DESIDS: An Integrated Decision Support System for the Planning, Analysis, Management and Rehabilitation of Pressurised Irrigation Distribution Systems

Pressurized irrigation distribution systems (PIDSs) play a vital role in irrigation intensification, especially in the Mediterranean region. The design, operation and management of these systems can be complex, as they involve several intertwined processes which need to be considered simultaneously. For this reason, numerous decision support systems (DSSs) have been developed and are available to deal with these processes, but as independent components. To this end, a comprehensive DSS called DESIDS has been developed and tested. This DSS has been developed to bear in mind the needs of irrigation district managers for an integrated tool that can assist them in taking strategic decisions for managing and developing reliable, adequate and sustainable water distribution plans which provide the best services to farmers. Hence, four modules were integrated in DESIDS: (i) irrigation demand and scheduling module; (ii) hydraulic analysis module; (iii) operation and management module; and (iv) design and rehabilitation module. DESIDS was tested on different case studies, proving itself a valuable tool for irrigation district managers, as it provides a wide range of decision options for the proper operation and management of PIDSs. The developed DSS can be used as a platform for future integrations and expansions, and to include other processes needed for better decision-making support

Compact gml: merging mobile computing and mobile cartography

The use of portable devices is moving from "Wireless Applications", typically implemented as browsing-on-the-road, to "Mobile Computing", which aims to exploit increasing processing power of consumer devices. As users get connected with smartphones and PDAs, they look for geographic information and location-aware services. While browser-based approaches have been explored (using static images or graphics formats such as Mobile SVG), a data model tailored for local computation on mobile devices is still missing. This paper presents the Compact Geographic Markup Language (cGML) that enables design and development of specific purpose GIS applications for portable consumer devices where a cGML document can be used as a spatial query result as well