EGIS '93


Book Description




Expert Systems and Geographic Information Systems for Impact Assessment


Book Description

Impact Assessment is becoming part and parcel of an increasing number of development proposals in the UK and Europe. As the practice of Impact Assessment develops it becomes more standardized and good practice starts to be defined. However, the quality of Impact Assessment is still far from satisfactory. Expert Systems and GIS for Impact Assessment




Geographic Information Research


Book Description

The contributors to this edited collection demonstrate that geographic information research is truly global in character, cutting across a wide range of disciplines and addressing conceptual, methodological, technical, ethical and political issues alike. Of the six themes, two are broadly concerned with data integration (geographic data infrastructures, GIS diffusion and implementation); two are more technical and conceptual in nature (generalisation, concepts and paradigms), and two reflect to a larger extent the application-driven nature of GIS technology (spatial analysis and multimedia). Each section is introduced by chapters highlighting the key research issues. Further chapters explore these issues in greater depth, and benefit from the international collaboration. Through the comparison of results included in this book, the prospects for advancing the field and addressing the challenges of GIS research are greatly improved.




Geographical Information and Planning


Book Description

The 1990s have seen some remarkable changes in geographical information (GI) provision and computer technology that have impacted on many of the activities that constitute planning in all its different forms. However, relatively few texts in the field of geographical information systems (GIS) and planning have been published since Henk Scholten and John Stillwell edited Geographical Information Systems for Urban and Regional Planning in 1990. This volume seeks to redress the balance by showing how GI of various types is being used in urban, physical, environmental, socio-economic and business planning contexts at local, regional and national scales with the assistance of GIS and modelling methods, and how the uses of GI and GI technologies have evolved over the last decade. During this period, a number of meetings took place in Europe in different locations organised initially by European Geographical Information Systems (EGIS, 1990- 94) and more recently by the Joint European Conference and Exhibition (JEC) on Geographical Information (1995-97). These meetings brought together members of the GI community from across the world to discuss GI research and GIS applications. One of the Special Interest Groups associated with the JEC gatherings was that on 'Geographical Information and Planning' and several of the contributions in this book have their origins in papers presented to the group's meetings.




GIS Diffusion


Book Description

This third book in the GISDATA series focuses on the widespread use of geographical information systems GIS in European local government. The editors include a wide range of applications carried out by different professional groups, and offer the opportunity of studying the extent to which diffusion of innovations like GIS are sensitive to national issues such as cultural context, institutional setup and the availability of data.; The book answers key questions such as: what can be learnt from research on organizational behaviour in relation to technological innovation?; what are the classical features of the GIS diffusion process?; to what extent is the adoption and utilization of GIS facilitated - or impeded - by the organizational culture within which it takes place?; and what mechanisms can be applied to enhance the diffusion of GIS? The book covers aspects of diffusion in the following European countries: UK, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Portugal.




Spatial Information Theory


Book Description

This volume collects the papers presented at the European Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT '93) held on the island of Elba, Italy, inSeptember 1993. Spatial information theory includes disciplinary topics and interdisciplinary issues dealing with the conceptualization and formalization of large-scale (geographic) space. It contributes towards a consistent theoretical basis for Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Geographic information systems are widely used in administration,planning, and science in many different countries, and for a wide variety ofapplications. Research results which relevant for GIS are distributed between many disciplines and contacts between researchers have been limited. At the same time, the development of GIS has been hinderedby the lack of a sound theoretical base. This conference was intended to help remedies these problems.




GIS And Generalisation


Book Description

This text is the inaugural book in Taylor and Francis's GISDATA series, and is derived from the specialist workshop convened under the auspices of the European Science Foundation's GISDATA Scientific Programme. Generalisation is an integrating tool for the analysis and presentation of spatial data. Effective spatial data analysis requires multiple views of the world at various scales with different thematic layers of representation. Generalisation is a key mechanism in this process, as it filters out information which is required for particular scales or layers; hence it is critical to implement full and comprehensive generalisation capabilities in a GIS, something with which few current GIS are equipped.; This book overviews the core and as-yet unresolved issues surrounding the achievement of this goal, and presents various alternatives - both speculative views and practical examples - in the areas of automated generalisation, vis-a-vis problems such as object simplification and placement. At the same time it distinguishes between modelling with generalisation and graphical representation, and adopts a model-building perspective. It also describes artificial intelligence techniques for implementing automated generalised routines, and addresses issues of data quality and production.; The text is organized into six parts: an introduction; generic issue; object-orientated methods and knowledge-based modelling; knowledge acquisition and representation; data quality; and operation and implementation.




Geographical Information


Book Description

Geographical Information is defined as the collection of data on real virtual objects which have a fixed place above, on, in or beneath the surface of the earth. Geographical information involves all information on buildings, roads, pipelines, cabling, etc. as well as boundaries, air corridors, topography and postcode areas, the information can be administrative and geometric. Changes in social and economic interests have caused the emphasis to shift over the years. Virtual objects (areas, postcode areas) in particular have attracted more interest in recent years. This is closely related to the increased desirability of analysing and presenting policy information within certain spatial limits, in which the introduction of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and systems like GIS has played a significant role. Geographical Information cannot be regarded as the informational side of one policy area. Geographical information is not only necessary for the layout and management of space, but also for such things as taxation, environmental policy, water management, maintenance and protection of pipeline systems and making maps. The volumes address the latest developments with respect to technological innovation, scientific progress and advanced professional application in the field of geographical information. In addition, articles dealing with the state of the art and coming innovations with respect to major fields of GI research and application are included. The books cover the following areas of specific interest topics with the current scope of geographical information research: geographical information technolgy; geographical information and environment; geographical information planning; geographical information in urban and regional government; geographical information inutilities, telecom and private enterprise; geographical information education and awareness; geographical information in Spain.




Innovations In GIS


Book Description

Whither geographical information systems GIS? This book - the second in a series - presents GIS research at the cutting edge, deriving from presentations made to the second GIS Research UK Conference GISRUK, a transdisciplinary focus meeting supported by the Association for Geographic lnformation AGI and the UK Regional Research Laboratories Initiative, and comprising contributions - all fully reviewed for publication - from leading experts from geography computer science, land use and resources, environmental science, ecology and urban and regional planning.; The book is founded on the premise that GIS is "the province of no one discipline", and its mission is thus to foster communication, to demonstrate the commonality of problems, and to offer alternative solutions from a variety of sources. It focuses on data base issues - attributes; their location; their appropriate and rapid retrieval; spatial analysis - the statistical interrogation of spatial and aspatial attributes; decision-making - the interface between people and computational support; visualization - beyond the metaphor of the static, paper, map; and applications extending the use and usefulness of GIS.




Taming Technology


Book Description

It is often assumed that innovative technology is an essential resource for the establishment of an information infrastructure. This study on geoinformation infrastructures convincingly demonstrates that technology is an important and far more complex factor than much geoinformation practitioners want us to believe. Three Dutch cases were studied, of which two were intended to develop an infrastructure deliberately applying innovative technology. Due to a constant stream of innovations these cases failed to bring about a working infrastructure. The third case was aimed at establishing a system of large-scale basemaps. These maps acted as a ‘narrative anchor’, a non-tangible interface between innovating technology and the infrastructure to be developed. Through the narrative anchor, this infrastructure has already existed for over 35 years and is likely to continue. Its success can be attributed to the ability of the narrative anchor to reconcile different types of technology through time, both innovative and conservative. The conclusion of this book is that lasting and reliable future (geo)information infrastructures need to have a narrative anchor that will act as an interface between ever-innovating technology and infrastructure itself.