Geographic Knowledge Infrastructure


Book Description

Geographic Knowledge Engineering: Applications to Territorial Intelligence and Smart Cities studies the specific nature of geographic knowledge and the structure of geographic knowledge bases. Geographic relations, ontologies, gazetteers and rules are detailed as the basic components of such bases, and these rules are defined to develop our understanding of the mechanisms of geographic reasoning. The book examines various problems linked to geovisualization, chorems, visual querying and interoperability to shape knowledge infrastructure for smart governance. - Provides geographic business rules - Presents information on multi-actor, multicriteria decision support systems - Examines various problems linked to geovisualization, chorems, visual querying and interoperability




Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of Census Activities


Book Description

The handbook demonstrates how the use and application of contemporary geospatial technologies and geographical databases are beneficial at all stages of the population and housing census process.




Manual of Digital Earth


Book Description

This open access book offers a summary of the development of Digital Earth over the past twenty years. By reviewing the initial vision of Digital Earth, the evolution of that vision, the relevant key technologies, and the role of Digital Earth in helping people respond to global challenges, this publication reveals how and why Digital Earth is becoming vital for acquiring, processing, analysing and mining the rapidly growing volume of global data sets about the Earth. The main aspects of Digital Earth covered here include: Digital Earth platforms, remote sensing and navigation satellites, processing and visualizing geospatial information, geospatial information infrastructures, big data and cloud computing, transformation and zooming, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and social media. Moreover, the book covers in detail the multi-layered/multi-faceted roles of Digital Earth in response to sustainable development goals, climate changes, and mitigating disasters, the applications of Digital Earth (such as digital city and digital heritage), the citizen science in support of Digital Earth, the economic value of Digital Earth, and so on. This book also reviews the regional and national development of Digital Earth around the world, and discusses the role and effect of education and ethics. Lastly, it concludes with a summary of the challenges and forecasts the future trends of Digital Earth. By sharing case studies and a broad range of general and scientific insights into the science and technology of Digital Earth, this book offers an essential introduction for an ever-growing international audience.




Rediscovering Geography


Book Description

As political, economic, and environmental issues increasingly spread across the globe, the science of geography is being rediscovered by scientists, policymakers, and educators alike. Geography has been made a core subject in U.S. schools, and scientists from a variety of disciplines are using analytical tools originally developed by geographers. Rediscovering Geography presents a broad overview of geography's renewed importance in a changing world. Through discussions and highlighted case studies, this book illustrates geography's impact on international trade, environmental change, population growth, information infrastructure, the condition of cities, the spread of AIDS, and much more. The committee examines some of the more significant tools for data collection, storage, analysis, and display, with examples of major contributions made by geographers. Rediscovering Geography provides a blueprint for the future of the discipline, recommending how to strengthen its intellectual and institutional foundation and meet the demand for geographic expertise among professionals and the public.




Knowledge Management for Regional Policymaking


Book Description

The present publication focusses the attention on new avenues in regional information and knowledge management, while we will zoom in particularly on the potential promises and hurdles of digital technology. This digital challenge has already generated a wealth of implications in the area of smart or intelligent cities, but as yet far less has been achieved in the field of regional planning and regional science. There is clearly a need for a more systematic and wide-ranging assessment and presentation of emerging approaches and concepts in this field, for instance, in regard to principles (e.g. geographic rule modeling), methodologies (e.g. blockchain systems), data analytics (e.g. machine learning) and data governance (e.g. data sovereignty) of regional information and knowledge. Especially in our ‘big data’ era, a systematic, comprehensible and reliable acquisition, storage, sharing and handling of data (e.g. on the basis of systematic decomposition and filtering principles) is more needed than ever before. The present study seeks to present a selection of state-of-the-art contributions on advanced – often digitally-oriented – regional information and knowledge management foundations, principles and practices written by several experts in the field of spatial informatics. These contributions were collected with a view to the design of a comprehensive knowledge and research agenda, which was discussed during a brainstorm workshop in Lyon, France (October 2021). This book covers various fields of interest, such as GeoAI, knowledge modelling, IoT and scalability, space syntax, rule extraction, data governance and data self-sovereignty. It is concluded with a knowledge and research agenda outlining future endeavors in the field of the spatial information sciences (or spatial informatics).




Re-visioning Geography


Book Description

Geography is a discipline with a profound interdisciplinary character focusing on studying the complex interactions between nature and society. Geography can advance the level of knowledge and awareness and provide important contributions to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. This book explores some of these issues, while also disseminating and supporting the efforts of geographers worldwide to promote the implementation of the SDGs. It offers local and global perspectives to a variety of topics covered by the SDGs, such as: How do different actors such as universities, companies and education actors respond to Sustainable Development Goals, especially during the complex context of the COVID pandemic? What is the role of novel spatial technologies and open/big data in achieving SDGs and how can Geography assist? How are new eco-social challenges positioned in a post-pandemic global change? What are novel educational contexts and resources that can be used to transform society toward sustainability of socioecological systems? What conceptual frameworks and strategies can contribute to the construction of societies based on human welfare and the care of nature? This book is focused on innovative sustainability-oriented geographical research on the above (and more) topics that explore the diverse social, environmental, economic and cultural contexts at various spatial scales. It also includes chapters that report on geographical education initiatives in schools and universities, the implication of geographers in community-based learning and increasing community's awareness in terms of environment, climate change and sustainable development as well as chapters that make use of geospatial technologies (e.g., remote sensing, GIS, etc.) both in geographical research and education for sustainable development are particularly relevant for the book.




Economic Geography of Higher Education


Book Description

This exhaustive study from an experienced and respected set of editors and authors looks at the impact that universities have on their surroundings, with particular reference to regional development. With contributions from such leading scholars as Peter Maskell and Gunnar Trnqvist, this book will be of great interest to students and academics inv




Concepts and Techniques of Geographic Information Systems


Book Description

Fully updated to reflect advances in GIS concepts and techniques, this guide approaches the subject from the broader context of information technology. Gives complete, up-to-date coverage to the concepts and techniques pertaining to every stage of the systems development life cycle of GIS, as well as its applications to various areas of spatial problem solving and decision making. For GIS specialists, GIS technologists, GIS sales directors, urban planners, natural resource managers, land surveyors, geomatics engineers, and foresters who want a complete understanding of GIS and how GIS applies to their fields of interest.




Universal Ontology of Geographic Space: Semantic Enrichment for Spatial Data


Book Description

A universal approach to the ontology of geographic space has already been, and is going to be, a comprehensive task for establishing more effective spatial models. The concept of a universal spatial ontology should be independent of location, culture, and time. It should be fundamental and universal in the same way that the number p defines the ratio between the diameter and the circumference of a circle. The term “universal” therefore means all-embracing and for general propose. Universal Ontology of Geographic Space: Semantic Enrichment for Spatial Data aims to escalate the current scope of research to support the development of semantically interoperable systems of geographic space. This reference will aid university lecturers and professors, students, researchers, developers of spatial applications.




Mobile Information Systems Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information for Earth Observation


Book Description

This book, written by an international team of prominent authors, gathers the latest developments in mobile technologies for the acquisition, management, analysis and sharing of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in the context of Earth observation. It is divided into three parts, the first of which presents case studies on the implementation of VGI for Earth observation, discusses the characteristics of volunteers’ engagement in relation with their expertise and motivation, analyzes the tasks they are called upon to perform, and examines the available tools for developing VGI. In turn, the second part introduces readers to essential methods, techniques and algorithms used to develop mobile information systems based on VGI for distinct Earth observation tasks, while the last part focuses on the drawbacks and limitations of VGI with regard to the above-mentioned tasks and proposes innovative methods and techniques to help overcome them. Given its breadth of coverage, the book offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented reference guide for researchers and practitioners in the field of geo-information management.