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FC-22 - Geometric Primitives and Algorithms

Geometric primitives are the representations used and computations performed in a GIS that concern the spatial aspects of the data, data objects described by coordinates. In vector geometry, we distinguish in zero-, one-, two-, and three-dimensional objects, better known as points, linear features, areal or planar features, and volumetric features. A GIS stores and performs computations on all of these. Often, planar features form a collective known as a (spatial) subdivision. Computations on geometric objects show up in data simplification, neighborhood analysis, spatial clustering, spatial interpolation, automated text placement, segmentation of trajectories, map matching, and many other tasks. They should be contrasted with computations on attributes or networks.

There are various kinds of vector data models for subdivisions. The classical ones are known as spaghetti and pizza models, but nowadays it is recognized that topological data models are the representation of choice. We overview these models briefly.

Computations range from simple to highly complex: deciding whether a point lies in a rectangle needs four comparisons, whereas performing map overlay on two subdivisions requires advanced knowledge of algorithm design. We introduce map overlay, Voronoi diagrams, and Delaunay triangulations and mention algorithmic approaches to compute them.

GS-11 - Professional and Practical Ethics of GIS&T

Geospatial technologies are often and rightly described as “powerful.” With power comes the ability to cause harm – intentionally or unintentionally - as well as to do good. In the context of GIS&T, Practical Ethics is the set of knowledge, skills and abilities needed to make reasoned decisions in light of the risks posed by geospatial technologies and methods in a wide variety of use cases. Ethics have been considered from different viewpoints in the GIS&T field. A practitioner's perspective may be based on a combination of "ordinary morality," institutional ethics policies, and professional ethics codes. By contrast, an academic scholar's perspective may be grounded in social or critical theory. What these perspectives have in common is reliance on reason to respond with integrity to ethical challenges. This entry focuses on the special obligations of GIS professionals, and on a method that educators can use to help students develop moral reasoning skills that GIS professionals need. The important related issues of Critical GIS and Spatial Law and Policy are to be considered elsewhere.  

DM-90 - Hydrographic Geospatial Data Standards

Coastal nations, through their dedicated Hydrographic Offices (HOs), have the obligation to provide nautical charts for the waters of national jurisdiction in support of safe maritime navigation. Accurate and reliable charts are essential to seafarers whether for commerce, defense, fishing, or recreation. Since navigation can be an international activity, mariners often use charts published from different national HOs. Standardization of data collection and processing, chart feature generalization methods, text, symbology, and output validation becomes essential in providing mariners with consistent and uniform products regardless of the region or the producing nation. Besides navigation, nautical charts contain information about the seabed and the coastal environment useful in other domains such as dredging, oceanography, geology, coastal modelling, defense, and coastal zone management. The standardization of hydrographic and nautical charting activities is achieved through various publications issued by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). This chapter discusses the purpose and importance of nautical charts, the establishment and role of the IHO in coordinating HOs globally, the existing hydrographic geospatial data standards, as well as those under development based on the new S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model.

DM-03 - Relational DBMS and their Spatial Extensions

The relational Database Management System (DBMS) is widely used in modern business systems. Entities and relationships from a data model are presented as relational tables. To store data in a relational database, a relation schema should be defined to specify the design and structure of relations. The schema design generally uses database normalization to reduce data redundancy and maintain data integrity. Users can retrieve and manage data in a relational database using Structured Query Language (SQL). To make spatial data fit the relational model, spatial vector geometry or raster data type can be customized by extending basic data types in relational databases. This further helps derive the so-called spatial object-relational DBMS, by manipulating vector geometry and/or raster data types as spatial objects using SQL queries. The performance of queries is improved by adding spatial indexes in relational databases.

GS-20 - Aggregation of Spatial Entities and Legislative Redistricting

The partitioning of space is an essential consideration for the efficient allocation of resources. In the United States and many other countries, this parcelization of sub-regions for political and legislative purposes results in what is referred to as districts. A district is an aggregation of smaller, spatially bound units, along with their statistical properties, into larger spatially-bound units. When a district has the primary purpose of representation, individuals who reside within that district make up a constituency. Redistricting is often required as populations of constituents shift over time or resources that service areas change. Administrative challenges with creating districts have been greatly aided by increasing utilization of GIS. However, with these advances in geospatial methods, political disputes with the way in which districts increasingly snare the process in legal battles often centered on the topic of gerrymandering. This chapter focuses on the redistricting process within the United States and how the aggregation of representative spatial entities presents a mix of political, technical and legal challenges.

AM-07 - Point Pattern Analysis

Point pattern analysis (PPA) focuses on the analysis, modeling, visualization, and interpretation of point data. With the increasing availability of big geo-data, such as mobile phone records and social media check-ins, more and more individual-level point data are generated daily. PPA provides an effective approach to analyzing the distribution of such data. This entry provides an overview of commonly used methods in PPA, as well as demonstrates the utility of these methods for scientific investigation based on a classic case study: the 1854 cholera outbreaks in London.

DM-91 - Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure

Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI), the extension of terrestrial Spatial Data Infrastructure to the marine environment, is a type of cyberinfrastructure that facilitates the discovery, access, management, distribution, reuse, and preservation of hydrospatial data. MSDIs provide timely access to data from public and private organizations of marine related disciplines such as hydrography, oceanography, meteorology and maritime economic sectors, to be used for applications such as the safety of navigation, aquatic and marine activities, economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and marine ecosystems sustainability. This chapter discusses the main pillars of a MSDI, its importance for facilitating public processes such as Marine Spatial Planning and Coastal Zone Management, the wide range of stakeholders, implementation challenges, and future developments, such as the FAIR design principles, new data sources and services.

DM-36 - Physical Data Models

Constructs within a particular implementation of database management software guide the development of a physical data model, which is a product of a physical database design process. A physical data model documents how data are to be stored and accessed on storage media of computer hardware.  A physical data model is dependent on specific data types and indexing mechanisms used within database management system software.  Data types such as integers, reals, character strings, plus many others can lead to different storage structures. Indexing mechanisms such as region-trees and hash functions and others lead to differences in access performance.  Physical data modeling choices about data types and indexing mechanisms related to storage structures refine details of a physical database design. Data types associated with field, record and file storage structures together with the access mechanisms to those structures foster (constrain) performance of a database design. Since all software runs using an operating system, field, record, and file storage structures must be translated into operating system constructs to be implemented.  As such, all storage structures are contingent on the operating system and particular hardware that host data management software. 

PD-20 - Real-time GIS Programming and Geocomputation

Streaming data generated continuously from sensor networks, mobile devices, social media platforms and other edge devices have posed significant challenges to existing computing platforms for achieving both high throughput and low latency data processing in addition to scalable computing. This entry introduces a real-time computing and programming platform for time-critical GIS (Geographic Information System) applications. In this platform, advanced streaming data processing software, such as Apache Kafka and Spark Streaming, are integrated to enable data analytics in real-time. This computing platform can also be extended to integrate GeoAI (Geospatial Artificial Intelligence) based machine learning models to leverage both historical and streaming data to achieve real-time prediction and intelligent geospatial analytics. Two real-time geospatial applications in terms of flood simulation and climate data visualization are introduced to demonstrate how real-time programming and computing can help tackle real-world problems with important societal impacts.

DA-30 - GIS&T and Landscape Ecology

Landscape ecology is a transdisciplinary science dedicated to the study of the interactions among landscape heterogeneity, humans, and natural system. Since its inception in the mid-20th Century, landscape ecology has been strongly intertwined with spatial technologies, from aerial photography to modern space-borne sensors. Satellite-based remote sensing is among the primary data sources for contemporary landscape ecology analysis, while geographic information systems provide tools to analyze the spatial configurations of satellite derived classifications, simulate landscapes and species distributions, quantify landscape change, and elucidate the reciprocal relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes. Additionally, global navigation satellite systems, such as GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS, augment these datasets and may be used for data collection to aid landscape ecology research. Emerging geospatial technologies, such as unoccupied aerial systems and micro- and nanosatellites, also have a role to play in landscape ecology.

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