Evaluation of subjective preferences regarding indoor maps: comparison of schematic maps and floor plans

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014.In this study, we investigate subjective preferences regarding floor plans and schematic maps in the use of a map in an indoor environment. To achieve this, we performed a qualitative experiment with a random user sample; the survey was carried out remotely. The survey was conducted in Portuguese and English, and users were asked to answer questions, using two different maps:a floor plan and a schematic map. In the sequence, users were asked questions about their preferences regarding map use in an indoor environment. Users also answered questions about the positive and negative aspects of using a schematic map in an indoor environment. The initial results do not indicate a preference for one kind of map, but show that users found the symbology adopted in the schematic map easier to understand

Spatially clustered associations in health GIS

Overlaying maps using a desktop GIS is often the first step of a multivariate spatial analysis. The potential of this operation has increased considerably as data sources and Web services to manipulate them are becoming widely available via the Internet. Standards from the OGC enable such geospatial mashups to be seamless and user driven, involving discovery of thematic data. The user is naturally inclined to look for spatial clusters and correlation of outcomes. Using classical cluster detection scan methods to identify multivariate associations can be problematic in this context, because of a lack of control on or knowledge about background populations. For public health and epidemiological mapping, this limiting factor can be critical but often the focus is on spatial identification of risk factors associated with health or clinical status. Spatial entropy index HSu for the ScankOO analysis of the hypothetical dataset using a vicinity which is fixed by the number of points without distinction between their labels. (The size of the labels is proportional to the inverse of the index) In this article we point out that this association itself can ensure some control on underlying populations, and develop an exploratory scan statistic framework for multivariate associations. Inference using statistical map methodologies can be used to test the clustered associations. The approach is illustrated with a hypothetical data example and an epidemiological study on community MRSA. Scenarios of potential use for online mashups are introduced but full implementation is left for further research

When worlds collide: combining Ordnance Survey and Open Street Map data

The context of this paper is the progress of national and international spatial data infrastructures such as the UK Location Programme and INSPIRE, contrasted against crowd-sourced geospatial databases such as Open Street Map. While initiatives such as INSPIRE tend towards a top-down process of harmonised data models and services using ISO & OGC standards, the OSM approach is one of tagged data with attribute tags agreed through consensus, but a tag set that can change with time (with inherent related issues of data quality). There is a danger that should the more formal approaches simply ignore the crowd sourced initiatives then they will miss an opportunity to evolve to better meet growing demands for geographic information. In any case both formal and informal data will increasingly coexist begging the question of how an end user gains maximum benefit from both. Ordnance Survey as the national mapping agency of Great Britain provides authoritative datasets with published data specifications driven by a combination of user need and the history of national mapping with a remit to ensure real-world feature changes are reflected in the OS large-scale data within 6 months. OSM in contrast relies on the availability of local mapping enthusiasts to capture changes but through its more informal structure can capture a broader range of features of interest to different sub-communities such as cyclists or horse riders. This research has been carried out to understand the issues of data integration between crowd sourced information and authoritative data. The aim of the research was to look into the mid-term and long-term effects of crowd sourcing technologies for understanding their effects on the change intelligence operations of national mapping agencies (NMAs) in the future. Mobile phones, with more computing power than the desktop machine of 5 years ago and incorporating built-in GPS receivers and cameras have become widespread and give people a multi-sensor capability. This combined with CCTV, sensor webs, RFID etc. offers the potential to make data capture pervasive and ubiquitous. All key sectors of modern economies will be affected by the developments in crowd sourcing of information. The synergies created by new technologies will create the conditions for exciting new developments in geospatial data integration. This has an impact in the spatial data collection domain especially in collecting vernacular and crowd-sourced information. Individual users will be able to use these technologies to collect location data and make it available for multiple applications without needing prior geospatial skills. The basic question behind our research is how do we combine data from authoritative OS data sets with feature-rich, informal OSM data, recognising the variable coverage of OSM while capturing the best of both worlds? There have been previous studies (Al-Bakri and Fairbairn, 2010) focussing on geometric accuracy assessment of crowd-sourced data(OSM) with OS data. Another important context is the rapid developments in Open Source GIS. The availability of free and open source GIS has made possible for large number of government organizations and SMEs to make use of GIS tools in their work. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is an excellent example of community initiative to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies. OSGeo’s key mission is to promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry and to encourage the implementation of open standards and standards based interoperability in its projects

When worlds collide: combining Ordnance Survey and Open Street Map data

The context of this paper is the progress of national and international spatial data infrastructures such as the UK Location Programme and INSPIRE, contrasted against crowd-sourced geospatial databases such as Open Street Map. While initiatives such as INSPIRE tend towards a top-down process of harmonised data models and services using ISO & OGC standards, the OSM approach is one of tagged data with attribute tags agreed through consensus, but a tag set that can change with time (with inherent related issues of data quality). There is a danger that should the more formal approaches simply ignore the crowd sourced initiatives then they will miss an opportunity to evolve to better meet growing demands for geographic information. In any case both formal and informal data will increasingly coexist begging the question of how an end user gains maximum benefit from both. Ordnance Survey as the national mapping agency of Great Britain provides authoritative datasets with published data specifications driven by a combination of user need and the history of national mapping with a remit to ensure real-world feature changes are reflected in the OS large-scale data within 6 months. OSM in contrast relies on the availability of local mapping enthusiasts to capture changes but through its more informal structure can capture a broader range of features of interest to different sub-communities such as cyclists or horse riders. This research has been carried out to understand the issues of data integration between crowd sourced information and authoritative data. The aim of the research was to look into the mid-term and long-term effects of crowd sourcing technologies for understanding their effects on the change intelligence operations of national mapping agencies (NMAs) in the future. Mobile phones, with more computing power than the desktop machine of 5 years ago and incorporating built-in GPS receivers and cameras have become widespread and give people a multi-sensor capability. This combined with CCTV, sensor webs, RFID etc. offers the potential to make data capture pervasive and ubiquitous. All key sectors of modern economies will be affected by the developments in crowd sourcing of information. The synergies created by new technologies will create the conditions for exciting new developments in geospatial data integration. This has an impact in the spatial data collection domain especially in collecting vernacular and crowd-sourced information. Individual users will be able to use these technologies to collect location data and make it available for multiple applications without needing prior geospatial skills. The basic question behind our research is how do we combine data from authoritative OS data sets with feature-rich, informal OSM data, recognising the variable coverage of OSM while capturing the best of both worlds? There have been previous studies (Al-Bakri and Fairbairn, 2010) focussing on geometric accuracy assessment of crowd-sourced data(OSM) with OS data. Another important context is the rapid developments in Open Source GIS. The availability of free and open source GIS has made possible for large number of government organizations and SMEs to make use of GIS tools in their work. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is an excellent example of community initiative to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies. OSGeo’s key mission is to promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry and to encourage the implementation of open standards and standards based interoperability in its projects

Establishing a persistent interoperability test-bed for European geospatial research

The development of standards for geospatial web services has been spearheaded by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) - a group of over 370 private, public and academic organisations (OGC, 1999-2009). The OGC aims to facilitate interoperability between geospatial technologies through education, standards and other initiatives. The OGC Service Architecture, described in the international standard ISO 19119, offers an abstract specification for web services covering data dissemination, processing, portrayal, workflows and other areas. The development of specifications covering each of these categories of web services has led to a significant number of geospatial data and computational services available on the World Wide Web (the Web). A project1 to establish a persistent geospatial interoperability test-bed (PTB) was commissioned in 2007 by the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), Commission 5 (Networks) of the European Spatial Data Research (EuroSDR) organisation and the OGC

THE ISSUE. Traffic, Health, Environment; Intelligent Solutions Sustaining Urban Economies.

THE ISSUE is a project within the Regions of Knowledge scheme funded through the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme. THE ISSUE focuses on Traffic, Health and Environment to achieve Intelligent Solutions for Sustaining Urban Economies by bringing together innovative research-driven clusters to coordinate European research and technology development in six areas. These areas are Intelligent Transportation Systems; transport impacts on urban mobility; transport greening; intermodal regional transport; safety and security of citizens; and associated economic, health and environmental impacts. THE ISSUE project particularly addresses the use of space technologies from satellite remote sensing and navigation, as well as GIS and computer intelligence technologies in transport-related sectors. This paper looks into the general presentation of the project and the first results.EU FP7 Regions Of Knowledge projec

Intelligent Solutions Sustaining Urban Economies – Master Classes case study

This is an output from the FP7 Regions of Knowledge project THE-ISSUE. This project is developing an EU network in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems that deliver on multiple policy objectives, Transport Health & the Environment. More can be found at www.theissue.euTHE ISSUE is a project within the Regions of Knowledge scheme funded through the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme. THE ISSUE focuses on traffic, health and the environment to achieve intelligent solutions for sustaining urban economies by bringing together innovative research-driven clusters to coordinate European research and technology development in six areas. These comprise ITS; transport impacts on urban mobility; transport greening; intermodal regional transport; safety and security of citizens; and associated economic, health and environmental impacts. THE ISSUE project particularly addresses the use of space technologies from satellite remote sensing and navigation, as well as GIS and computer intelligence technologies in transport-related sectors. This paper specifically looks into the planned Master Classes program. THE ISSUE project comprises research clusters from the East Midlands Region in the UK, the Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine Regions in France, the Molise Region in Italy and the Mazovia Region in Poland. Each region has set up a three-way partnership between regional authorities, academic partners, and industry contributors working to draw together the industry and academic strengths in the regions and connect the research with the needs of managing traffic, transport, and air quality that the regional bodies are responsible for. The three-year project is supporting scientists, engineers and development agencies from the different regions to work together, using the latest space and information technologies, to develop more effective methods of easing road congestion and improving the urban environment. As part of THE ISSUE project "Master Class" knowledge exchange programmes will be developed using material from the earlier review of applicable technology and expertise within the THE ISSUE consortium. Two variants will be developed, one focussing on senior management and policy/strategy makers and the other with a focus on technical awareness and implementation. The "Master Classes" will be trailed and delivered through workshops for core partners and associates. The case studies, which will be part of the Master Classes, will present information on how cartography, GPS&GIS database applications, navigation and remote sensing are used in urban transport, health and air quality related data. The project is bringing together scientists, engineers, development agencies and bodies responsible for managing traffic, transport and air quality in four European regional clusters using advanced space and information technologies, to develop the most effective methods of easing urban congestion and improving the impact of transport on the local economy, urban environment, climate change and the health of citizens. These Master Classes materials will contribute for the exchange of knowledge and expertise in sustainable traffic solutions between academic, business and public sector partners within and across the five European regions.EU FP

Automatic derivation of schematic maps from large scale digital geographic datasets for mobile GIS

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Spatially clustered associations in health related geospatial data

Overlaying maps using a desktop GIS is often the first step of a multivariate spatial analysis. The potential of this operation has increased considerably as data sources and Web services to manipulate them are becoming widely available via the internet. Standards from the OGC enable such geospatial mashups to be seamless and user driven, involving discovery of thematic data. The user is naturally inclined to look for spatial clusters and correlation of outcomes. Using classical cluster detection scan methods to identify multivariate associations can be problematic in this context, because of a lack of control on or knowledge about background populations. For public health and epidemiological mapping, this limiting factor can be critical but often the focus is on spatial identification of risk factors associated with health or clinical status. In this paper we point out that this association itself can ensure some control on underlying populations, and develop an exploratory scan statistic framework for multivariate associations. Inference using statistical map methodologies can be used to test the clustered associations. The approach is illustrated with a hypothetical data example and an epidemiological study on community MRSA. Scenarios of potential use for online mashups are introduced but full implementation is left for further research. Authors: Didier G. Leibovici, Lucy Bastin, Suchith Anand, Gobe Hobona and Mike JacksonJRC.DDG.H.3-Global environement monitorin