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ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf., Volume 9, Issue 6 (June 2020) – 72 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): In the last two decades, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have successfully been used in different environments for diverse applications. For UAS LiDAR-based mapping missions, the requirements for flight planning differ from those of conventional UAS image-based flight plans because of various reasons related to the LiDAR scanning mechanism, scanning range, output scanning rate, field of view (FOV), and rotation speed, amongst others. The article presents flight planning simulations in which the UAS platform is equipped or, alternatively, three low-cost multi-beam LiDARs, namely Quanergy M8, Velodyne VLP-16, and Ouster OS-1-16. The specific characteristics of the three sensors were used to plan flights and acquire dense point clouds. The results show clear relationships between point density, flying speeds, and flying heights. View this paper
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17 pages, 7439 KiB  
Article
An Evaluation Model of Level of Detail Consistency of Geographical Features on Digital Maps
by Pengcheng Liu and Jia Xiao
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 410; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060410 - 26 Jun 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1972
Abstract
This paper proposes a method to evaluate the level of detail (LoD) of geographic features on digital maps and assess their LoD consistency. First, the contour of the geometry of the geographic feature is sketched and the hierarchy of its graphical units is [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a method to evaluate the level of detail (LoD) of geographic features on digital maps and assess their LoD consistency. First, the contour of the geometry of the geographic feature is sketched and the hierarchy of its graphical units is constructed. Using the quartile measurement method of statistical analysis, outliers of graphical units are eliminated and the average value of the graphical units below the bottom quartile is used as the statistical LoD parameter for a given data sample. By comparing the LoDs of homogeneous and heterogeneous features, we analyze the differences between the nominal scale and actual scale to evaluate the LoD consistency of features on a digital map. The validation of this method is demonstrated by experiments conducted on contour lines at a 1:5K scale and artificial building polygon data at scales of 1:2K and 1:5K. The results show that our proposed method can extract the scale of features on maps and evaluate their LoD consistency. Full article
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24 pages, 9318 KiB  
Article
Accounting for Local Geological Variability in Sequential Simulations—Concept and Application
by Adrian Linsel, Sebastian Wiesler, Joshua Haas, Kristian Bär and Matthias Hinderer
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 409; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060409 - 26 Jun 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2878
Abstract
Heterogeneity-preserving property models of subsurface regions are commonly constructed by means of sequential simulations. Sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) and direct sequential simulation (DSS) draw values from a local probability density function that is described by the simple kriging estimate and the local simple [...] Read more.
Heterogeneity-preserving property models of subsurface regions are commonly constructed by means of sequential simulations. Sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) and direct sequential simulation (DSS) draw values from a local probability density function that is described by the simple kriging estimate and the local simple kriging variance at unsampled locations. The local simple kriging variance, however, does not necessarily reflect the geological variability being present at subsets of the target domain. In order to address that issue, we propose a new workflow that implements two modified versions of the popular SGS and DSS algorithms. Both modifications, namely, LVM-DSS and LVM-SGS, aim at simulating values by means of introducing a local variance model (LVM). The LVM is a measurement-constrained and geology-driven global representation of the locally observable variance of a property. The proposed modified algorithms construct the local probability density function with the LVM instead of using the simple kriging variance, while still using the simple kriging estimate as the best linear unbiased estimator. In an outcrop analog study, we can demonstrate that the local simple kriging variance in sequential simulations tends to underestimate the locally observed geological variability in the target domain and certainly does not account for the spatial distribution of the geological heterogeneity. The proposed simulation algorithms reproduce the global histogram, the global heterogeneity, and the considered variogram model in the range of ergodic fluctuations. LVM-SGS outperforms the other algorithms regarding the reproduction of the variogram model. While DSS and SGS generate a randomly distributed heterogeneity, the modified algorithms reproduce a geologically reasonable spatial distribution of heterogeneity instead. The new workflow allows for the integration of continuous geological trends into sequential simulations rather than using class-based approaches such as the indicator simulation technique. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Uncertainty Modeling in Spatial Data Analysis)
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23 pages, 4408 KiB  
Article
A Symbiotic Relationship Based Leader Approach for Privacy Protection in Location Based Services
by Hosam Alrahhal, Mohamad Shady Alrahhal, Razan Jamous and Kamal Jambi
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 408; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060408 - 26 Jun 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2237
Abstract
Location-based services (LBS) form the main part of the Internet of Things (IoT) and have received a significant amount of attention from the research community as well as application users due to the popularity of wireless devices and the daily growth in users. [...] Read more.
Location-based services (LBS) form the main part of the Internet of Things (IoT) and have received a significant amount of attention from the research community as well as application users due to the popularity of wireless devices and the daily growth in users. However, there are several risks associated with the use of LBS-enabled applications, as users are forced to send their queries based on their real-time and actual location. Attacks could be applied by the LBS server itself or by its maintainer, which consequently may lead to more serious issues such as the theft of sensitive and personal information about LBS users. Due to this fact, complete privacy protection (location and query privacy protection) is a critical problem. Collaborative (cache-based) approaches are used to prevent the LBS application users from connecting to the LBS server (malicious parties). However, no robust trust approaches have been provided to design a trusted third party (TTP), which prevents LBS users from acting as an attacker. This paper proposed a symbiotic relationship-based leader approach to guarantee complete privacy protection for users of LBS-enabled applications. Specifically, it introduced the mutual benefit underlying the symbiotic relationship, dummies, and caching concepts to avoid dealing with untrusted LBS servers and achieve complete privacy protection. In addition, the paper proposed a new privacy metric to predict the closeness of the attacker to the moment of her actual attack launch. Compared to three well-known approaches, namely enhanced dummy location selection (enhanced-DLS), hiding in a mobile crowd, and caching-aware dummy selection algorithm (enhanced-CaDSA), our experimental results showed better performance in terms of communication cost, resistance against inferences attacks, and cache hit ratio. Full article
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18 pages, 6859 KiB  
Article
A Simplified Method of Cartographic Visualisation of Buildings’ Interiors (2D+) for Navigation Applications
by Dariusz Gotlib, Michał Wyszomirski and Miłosz Gnat
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 407; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060407 - 26 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2993
Abstract
This article proposes an original method of a coherent and simplified cartographic presentation of the interior of buildings called 2D+, which can be used in geoinformation applications that do not support an extensive three-dimensional visualisation or do not have access to a 3D [...] Read more.
This article proposes an original method of a coherent and simplified cartographic presentation of the interior of buildings called 2D+, which can be used in geoinformation applications that do not support an extensive three-dimensional visualisation or do not have access to a 3D model of the building. A simplified way of cartographic visualisation can be used primarily in indoor navigation systems and other location-based services (LBS) applications. It can also be useful in systems supporting facility management (FM) and various kinds of geographic information systems (GIS). On the one hand, it may increase an application’s efficiency; on the other, it may unify the method of visualisation in the absence of a building’s 3D model. Thanks to the proposed method, it is possible to achieve the same effect regardless of the data source used: Building Information Modelling (BIM), a Computer-aided Design (CAD) model, or traditional architectural and construction drawings. Such a solution may be part of a broader concept of a multi-scale presentation of buildings’ interiors. The article discusses the issues of visualising data and converting data to the appropriate coordinate system, as well as the properties of the application model of data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geovisualization and Map Design)
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20 pages, 14033 KiB  
Article
Experiment in Finding Look-Alike European Cities Using Urban Atlas Data
by Zdena Dobesova
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 406; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060406 - 26 Jun 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2889
Abstract
The integration of geography and machine learning can produce novel approaches in addressing a variety of problems occurring in natural and human environments. This article presents an experiment that identifies cities that are similar according to their land use data. The article presents [...] Read more.
The integration of geography and machine learning can produce novel approaches in addressing a variety of problems occurring in natural and human environments. This article presents an experiment that identifies cities that are similar according to their land use data. The article presents interesting preliminary experiments with screenshots of maps from the Czech map portal. After successfully working with the map samples, the study focuses on identifying cities with similar land use structures. The Copernicus European Urban Atlas 2012 was used as a source dataset (data valid years 2015–2018). The Urban Atlas freely offers land use datasets of nearly 800 functional urban areas in Europe. To search for similar cities, a set of maps detailing land use in European cities was prepared in ArcGIS. A vector of image descriptors for each map was subsequently produced using a pre-trained neural network, known as Painters, in Orange software. As a typical data mining task, the nearest neighbor function analyzes these descriptors according to land use patterns to find look-alike cities. Example city pairs based on land use are also presented in this article. The research question is whether the existing pre-trained neural network outside cartography is applicable for categorization of some thematic maps with data mining tasks such as clustering, similarity, and finding the nearest neighbor. The article’s contribution is a presentation of one possible method to find cities similar to each other according to their land use patterns, structures, and shapes. Some of the findings were surprising, and without machine learning, could not have been evident through human visual investigation alone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geographic Complexity: Concepts, Theories, and Practices)
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22 pages, 2822 KiB  
Article
Supporting Disaster Resilience Spatial Thinking with Serious GeoGames: Project Lily Pad
by Brian Tomaszewski, Amy Walker, Emily Gawlik, Casey Lane, Scott Williams, Deborah Orieta, Claudia McDaniel, Matthew Plummer, Anushka Nair, Nicolas San Jose, Nathan Terrell, Kyle Pecsok, Emma Thomley, Erin Mahoney, Emily Haberlack and David Schwartz
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 405; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060405 - 22 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5155
Abstract
The need for improvement of societal disaster resilience and response efforts was evident after the destruction caused by the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. We present a novel conceptual framework for improving disaster resilience through the combination of serious games, geographic information systems (GIS), [...] Read more.
The need for improvement of societal disaster resilience and response efforts was evident after the destruction caused by the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. We present a novel conceptual framework for improving disaster resilience through the combination of serious games, geographic information systems (GIS), spatial thinking, and disaster resilience. Our framework is implemented via Project Lily Pad, a serious geogame based on our conceptual framework, serious game case studies, interviews and real-life experiences from 2017 Hurricane Harvey survivors in Dickinson, TX, and an immersive hurricane-induced flooding scenario. The game teaches a four-fold set of skills relevant to spatial thinking and disaster resilience, including reading a map, navigating an environment, coding verbal instructions, and determining best practices in a disaster situation. Results of evaluation of the four skills via Project Lily Pad through a “think aloud” study conducted by both emergency management novices and professionals revealed that the game encouraged players to think spatially, can help build awareness for disaster response scenarios, and has potential for real-life use by emergency management professionals. It can be concluded from our results that the combination of serious games, geographic information systems (GIS), spatial thinking, and disaster resilience, as implemented via Project Lily Pad and our evaluation results, demonstrated the wide range of possibilities for using serious geogames to improve disaster resilience spatial thinking and potentially save lives when disasters occur. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gaming and Geospatial Information)
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22 pages, 3102 KiB  
Article
GroupSeeker: An Applicable Framework for Travel Companion Discovery from Vast Trajectory Data
by Ruihong Yao, Fei Wang, Shuhui Chen and Shuang Zhao
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 404; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060404 - 20 Jun 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2170
Abstract
The popularity of mobile locate-enabled devices and Location Based Service (LBS) generates massive spatio-temporal data every day. Due to the close relationship between behavior patterns and movement trajectory, trajectory data mining has been applied in numerous fields to find the behavior pattern. Among [...] Read more.
The popularity of mobile locate-enabled devices and Location Based Service (LBS) generates massive spatio-temporal data every day. Due to the close relationship between behavior patterns and movement trajectory, trajectory data mining has been applied in numerous fields to find the behavior pattern. Among them, discovering traveling companions is one of the most fundamental techniques in these areas. This paper proposes a flexible framework named GroupSeeker for discovering traveling companions in vast real-world trajectory data. In the real-world data resource, it is significant to avoid the companion candidate omitting problem happening in the time-snapshot-slicing-based method. These methods do not work well with the sparse real-world data, which is caused by the equipment sampling failure or manual intervention. In this paper, a 5-stage framework including Data Preprocessing, Spatio-temporal Clustering, Candidate Voting, Pseudo-companion Filtering, and Group Merging is proposed to discover traveling companions. The framework even works well when there is a long time span during several days. The experiments result on two real-world data sources which offer massive amount of data subsets with different scale and different sampling frequencies show the effective and robustness of this framework. Besides, the proposed framework has a higher-efficiency performing when discovering satisfying companions over a long-term period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends in Location Based Services and Science)
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14 pages, 5809 KiB  
Article
Village-Level Homestead and Building Floor Area Estimates Based on UAV Imagery and U-Net Algorithm
by Xueyan Zhang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 403; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060403 - 20 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2437
Abstract
China’s rural population has declined markedly with the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, but the area under rural homesteads has continued to expand. Proper rural land use and management require large-scale, efficient, and low-cost rural residential surveys; however, such surveys are time-consuming and [...] Read more.
China’s rural population has declined markedly with the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, but the area under rural homesteads has continued to expand. Proper rural land use and management require large-scale, efficient, and low-cost rural residential surveys; however, such surveys are time-consuming and difficult to accomplish. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology coupled with a deep learning architecture and 3D modelling can provide a potential alternative to traditional surveys for gathering rural homestead information. In this study, a method to estimate the village-level homestead area, a 3D-based building height model (BHM), and the number of building floors based on UAV imagery and the U-net algorithm was developed, and the respective estimation accuracies were found to be 0.92, 0.99, and 0.89. This method is rapid and inexpensive compared to the traditional time-consuming and costly household surveys, and, thus, it is of great significance to the ongoing use and management of rural homestead information, especially with regards to the confirmation of homestead property rights in China. Further, the proposed combination of UAV imagery and U-net technology may have a broader application in rural household surveys, as it can provide more information for decision-makers to grasp the current state of the rural socio-economic environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unmanned Aerial Systems and Geoinformatics)
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14 pages, 16094 KiB  
Article
Exploring Urban Spatial Features of COVID-19 Transmission in Wuhan Based on Social Media Data
by Zhenghong Peng, Ru Wang, Lingbo Liu and Hao Wu
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 402; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060402 - 19 Jun 2020
Cited by 54 | Viewed by 17589
Abstract
During the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, there was a short run of medical resources, and Sina Weibo, a social media platform in China, built a channel for novel coronavirus pneumonia patients to seek help. Based on the geo-tagging Sina [...] Read more.
During the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, there was a short run of medical resources, and Sina Weibo, a social media platform in China, built a channel for novel coronavirus pneumonia patients to seek help. Based on the geo-tagging Sina Weibo data from February 3rd to 12th, 2020, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal distribution of COVID-19 cases in the main urban area of Wuhan and explores the urban spatial features of COVID-19 transmission in Wuhan. The results show that the elderly population accounts for more than half of the total number of Weibo help seekers, and a close correlation between them has also been found in terms of spatial distribution features, which confirms that the elderly population is the group of high-risk and high-prevalence in the COVID-19 outbreak, needing more attention of public health and epidemic prevention policies. On the other hand, the early transmission of COVID-19 in Wuhan could be divide into three phrases: Scattered infection, community spread, and full-scale outbreak. This paper can help to understand the spatial transmission of COVID-19 in Wuhan, so as to propose an effective public health preventive strategy for urban space optimization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS in Healthcare)
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13 pages, 3705 KiB  
Article
Spatial Dimension of Unemployment: Space-Time Analysis Using Real-Time Accessibility in Czechia
by Pavlína Netrdová and Vojtěch Nosek
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 401; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060401 - 18 Jun 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2900
Abstract
This paper focuses on the analysis of unemployment data in Czechia on a very detailed spatial structure and yearly, extended time series (2002–2019). The main goal of the study was to examine the spatial dimension of disparities in regional unemployment and its evolutionary [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on the analysis of unemployment data in Czechia on a very detailed spatial structure and yearly, extended time series (2002–2019). The main goal of the study was to examine the spatial dimension of disparities in regional unemployment and its evolutionary tendencies on a municipal level. To achieve this goal, global and local spatial autocorrelation methods were used. Besides spatial and space-time analyses, special attention was given to spatial weight matrix selection. The spatial weights were created according to real-time accessibilities between the municipalities based on the Czech road network. The results of spatial autocorrelation analyses based on network spatial weights were compared to the traditional distance-based spatial weights. Despite significant methodological differences between applied spatial weights, the resulting spatial pattern of unemployment proved to be very similar. Empirically, relative stability of spatial patterns of unemployment with only slow shift of differentiation from macro- to microlevels could be observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spationomy—Spatial Exploration of Economic Data)
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14 pages, 3900 KiB  
Communication
Terrain Analysis in Google Earth Engine: A Method Adapted for High-Performance Global-Scale Analysis
by José Lucas Safanelli, Raul Roberto Poppiel, Luis Fernando Chimelo Ruiz, Benito Roberto Bonfatti, Fellipe Alcantara de Oliveira Mello, Rodnei Rizzo and José A. M. Demattê
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 400; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060400 - 17 Jun 2020
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 8135
Abstract
Terrain analysis is an important tool for modeling environmental systems. Aiming to use the cloud-based computing capabilities of Google Earth Engine (GEE), we customized an algorithm for calculating terrain attributes, such as slope, aspect, and curvatures, for different resolution and geographical extents. The [...] Read more.
Terrain analysis is an important tool for modeling environmental systems. Aiming to use the cloud-based computing capabilities of Google Earth Engine (GEE), we customized an algorithm for calculating terrain attributes, such as slope, aspect, and curvatures, for different resolution and geographical extents. The calculation method is based on geometry and elevation values estimated within a 3 × 3 spheroidal window, and it does not rely on projected elevation data. Thus, partial derivatives of terrain are calculated considering the great circle distances of reference nodes of the topographic surface. The algorithm was developed using the JavaScript programming interface of the online code editor of GEE and can be loaded as a custom package. The algorithm also provides an additional feature for making the visualization of terrain maps with a dynamic legend scale, which is useful for mapping different extents: from local to global. We compared the consistency of the proposed method with an available but limited terrain analysis tool of GEE, which resulted in a correlation of 0.89 and 0.96 for aspect and slope over a near-global scale, respectively. In addition to this, we compared the slope, aspect, horizontal, and vertical curvature of a reference site (Mount Ararat) to their equivalent attributes estimated on the System for Automated Geospatial Analysis (SAGA), which achieved a correlation between 0.96 and 0.98. The visual correspondence of TAGEE and SAGA confirms its potential for terrain analysis. The proposed algorithm can be useful for making terrain analysis scalable and adapted to customized needs, benefiting from the high-performance interface of GEE. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Big Data Computing for Geospatial Applications)
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21 pages, 55347 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Influence of Urban Morphology on Urban Wind Environment Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation
by Chia-An Ku and Hung-Kai Tsai
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 399; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060399 - 17 Jun 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3888
Abstract
Due to urbanization around the world, people living in urban areas have been suffering from a series of negative effects caused by changes in urban microclimate, especially when it comes to urban heat islands (UHIs). To mitigate UHIs, management of urban wind environments [...] Read more.
Due to urbanization around the world, people living in urban areas have been suffering from a series of negative effects caused by changes in urban microclimate, especially when it comes to urban heat islands (UHIs). To mitigate UHIs, management of urban wind environments is increasingly considered as a crucial part of the process. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of wind fields has become a prevailing method to explore the relationship between morphological factors and wind environment. However, most studies are focused on building scale and fail to reflect the effects of comprehensive planning. In addition, the combined influence of different morphological factors on wind environment is rarely discussed. Therefore, this study tries to explore the relationship between urban morphology and wind environment in a new-town area. CFD method was applied to simulate the wind field, and 11 scenarios based on criteria according to existing literature, planning regulations and local characteristics were developed. The simulation results from different scenarios show that the impact of the five selected factors on wind speeds was non-linear, and the impact varied significantly among different areas of the study region. Simulation of the differences in regional wind speeds among different planning scenarios can provide strong decision-making support. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Applications of 3D-City Models in Urban Studies)
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31 pages, 21772 KiB  
Article
Geointelligence against Illegal Deforestation and Timber Laundering in the Brazilian Amazon
by Franco Perazzoni, Paula Bacelar-Nicolau and Marco Painho
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 398; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060398 - 17 Jun 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4090 | Correction
Abstract
Due to the characteristics of the Southern Amazonas Mesoregion (Mesorregião Sul do Amazonas, MSA), conducting on-site surveys in all licensed forestry areas (Plano de Manejo Florestal, PMFS) is an impossible task. Therefore, the present investigation aimed to: (i) analyze the use of geointelligence [...] Read more.
Due to the characteristics of the Southern Amazonas Mesoregion (Mesorregião Sul do Amazonas, MSA), conducting on-site surveys in all licensed forestry areas (Plano de Manejo Florestal, PMFS) is an impossible task. Therefore, the present investigation aimed to: (i) analyze the use of geointelligence (GEOINT) techniques to support the evaluation of PMFS; and (ii) verify if the PMFS located in the MSA are being executed in accordance with Brazilian legislation. A set of twenty-two evaluation criteria were established. These were initially applied to a “standard” PMFS and subsequently replicated to a larger area of 83 PMFS, located in the MSA. GEOINT allowed for a better understanding of each PMFS, identifying illegal forestry activities and evidence of timber laundering. Among these results, we highlight the following evidences: (i) inconsistencies related to total transport time and prices declared to the authorities (70% of PMFS); (ii) volumetric information incompatible with official forest inventories and/or not conforming with Benford’s law (54% of PMFS); (iii) signs of exploitation outside the authorized polygon limits (51% of PMFS) and signs of clear-cutting (43% of PMFS); (iv) no signs of infrastructure compatible with licensed forestry (24% of PMFS); and (v) signs of exploitation prior to the licensing (19% of PMFS) and after the expiration of licensing (5%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Using GIS to Improve (Public) Safety and Security)
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18 pages, 57039 KiB  
Article
Past and Present Practices of Topographic Base Map Database Update in Nepal
by Nimisha Wagle and Tri Dev Acharya
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 397; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060397 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 15604
Abstract
Topographic Base Maps (TBMs) are those maps that portray ground relief as the form of contour lines and show planimetric details. Various other maps like geomorphological maps, contour maps, and land use planning maps are derived from topographical maps. In this constantly changing [...] Read more.
Topographic Base Maps (TBMs) are those maps that portray ground relief as the form of contour lines and show planimetric details. Various other maps like geomorphological maps, contour maps, and land use planning maps are derived from topographical maps. In this constantly changing world, the update of TBMs is indispensable. In Nepal, their update and maintenance are done by the Survey Department (SD) as a national mapping agency. This paper presents the history of topographical mapping and the reasons for the lack of updates. Currently, the SD is updating the TBM database using panchromatic and multispectral images from the Zi Yuan-3 (ZY-3) satellite with a resolution of 2.1 and 5.8 m, respectively. The updated methodology includes the orthorectification of images, the pansharpening of images, field data collection, digitization, change detection, and updating, the overlay of vector data and field verification, data quality control, and printing map production. A TBM in the Dang district of Nepal is presented as casework to show the changes in the area and issues faced during the update. Though the present digitizing procedure is time-consuming and labor-intensive, the use of high-resolution imagery has made mapping accurate and has produced high-quality maps. However, audit and automation can be introduced from the experiences of other countries for accurate and frequent updates of the TBM database in Nepal. Full article
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27 pages, 2934 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Spatial and Temporal Development of Land Prices: A Case Study of Czech Cities
by Jaroslav Burian, Karel Macků, Jarmila Zimmermannová and Rostislav Nétek
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 396; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060396 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2831
Abstract
Only a limited number of studies have examined land price issues based on official land price maps. A very unique timeline of official land price maps (2006–2019) allowed research to be conducted on four Czech cities (Prague, Olomouc, Ostrava, and Zlín). The main [...] Read more.
Only a limited number of studies have examined land price issues based on official land price maps. A very unique timeline of official land price maps (2006–2019) allowed research to be conducted on four Czech cities (Prague, Olomouc, Ostrava, and Zlín). The main aim of the research was to describe the links between land price, land use types, and macroeconomic indicators, and to compare temporal changes of these links in four cities of different size, type, and structure by using spatial data processing and regression analysis. The results showed that the key statistically significant variable in all cities was population size. The effect of this variable was mostly positive, except for Ostrava, as an example of a developing city. The second statistically significant variable affecting land prices in each city was discount rate. The effect of other variables differed according to the city, its characteristics, and stage of economic development. We concluded that the development of land prices over time was slightly different between the studied cities and partially dependent on local spatial factors. Nevertheless, stagnation in 2010–2011, probably as a consequence of the global economic crisis in 2009, was observed in each city. Changes in the monitored cities could be seen from a spatial point of view in similar land price patterns. The ratio of land area with rising prices was very similar in each city (85%–92%). The highest land prices were typically in urban centers, but prices rose only gradually. A much more significant increase in prices occurred in each city in their peripheral residential areas. The results of this study can improve understanding of urban development and the economic and spatial aspects of sustainability in land price changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spationomy—Spatial Exploration of Economic Data)
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27 pages, 8587 KiB  
Article
Mapping Submerged Aquatic Vegetation along the Central Vietnamese Coast Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing
by Tran Ngoc Khanh Ni, Hoang Cong Tin, Vo Trong Thach, Cédric Jamet and Izuru Saizen
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 395; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060395 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5052
Abstract
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Khanh Hoa (Vietnam) coastal area plays an important role in coastal communities and the marine ecosystem. However, SAV distribution varies widely, in terms of depth and substrate types, making it difficult to monitor using in-situ measurement. Remote [...] Read more.
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Khanh Hoa (Vietnam) coastal area plays an important role in coastal communities and the marine ecosystem. However, SAV distribution varies widely, in terms of depth and substrate types, making it difficult to monitor using in-situ measurement. Remote sensing can help address this issue. High spatial resolution satellites, with more bands and higher radiometric sensitivity, have been launched recently, including the Vietnamese Natural Resources, Environment, and Disaster Monitoring Satellite (VNREDSat-1) (V1) sensor from Vietnam, launched in 2013. The objective of the study described here was to establish SAV distribution maps for South-Central Vietnam, particularly in the Khanh Hoa coastal area, using Sentinel-2 (S2), Landsat-8, and V1 imagery, and then to assess any changes to SAV over the last ten years, using selected historical data. The satellite top-of-atmosphere signals were initially converted to radiance, and then corrected for atmospheric effects. This treated signal was then used to classify Khanh Hoa coastal water substrates, and these classifications were evaluated using 101 in-situ measurements, collected in 2017 and 2018. The results showed that the three satellites could provide high accuracy, with Kappa coefficients above 0.84, with V1 achieving over 0.87. Our results showed that, from 2008 to 2018, SAV acreage in Khanh Hoa was reduced by 74.2%, while gains in new areas compensated for less than half of these losses. This is the first study to show the potential for using V1 and S2 data to assess the distribution status of SAV in Vietnam, and its outcomes will contribute to the conservation of SAV beds, and to the sustainable exploitation of aquatic resources in the Khanh Hoa coastal area. Full article
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29 pages, 10016 KiB  
Article
Measuring Accessibility of Healthcare Facilities for Populations with Multiple Transportation Modes Considering Residential Transportation Mode Choice
by Xinxin Zhou, Zhaoyuan Yu, Linwang Yuan, Lei Wang and Changbin Wu
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 394; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060394 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4371
Abstract
Accessibility research of healthcare facilities is developing towards multiple transportation modes (MTM), which are influenced by residential transportation choices and preferences. Due to differences in travel impact factors such as traffic conditions, origin location, distance to the destination, and economic cost, residents’ daily [...] Read more.
Accessibility research of healthcare facilities is developing towards multiple transportation modes (MTM), which are influenced by residential transportation choices and preferences. Due to differences in travel impact factors such as traffic conditions, origin location, distance to the destination, and economic cost, residents’ daily travel presents different residential transportation mode choices (RTMC). The purpose of our study was to measure the spatial accessibility of healthcare facilities based on MTM considering RTMC (MTM-RTMC). We selected the gravity two-step floating catchment area method (G2SFCA) as a fundamental model. Through the single transportation mode (STM), MTM, and MTM-RTMC, three aspects used to illustrate and redesign the G2SFCA, we obtained the MTM-RTMC G2SFCA model that integrates RTMC probabilities and the travel friction coefficient. We selected Nanjing as the experimental area, used route planning data of four modes (including driving, walking, public transportation, and bicycling) from a web mapping platform, and applied the three models to pediatric clinic services to measure accessibility. The results show that the MTM-RTMC mechanism is to make up for the traditional estimation of accessibility, which loses sight of the influence of residential transportation choices. The MTM-RTMC mechanism that provides a more realistic and reliable way can generalize to major accessibility models and offers preferable guidance for policymakers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring, Mapping, Modeling, and Visualization of Cities)
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21 pages, 6006 KiB  
Article
National-Scale Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Austria Using Fuzzy Best-Worst Multi-Criteria Decision-Making
by Meisam Moharrami, Amin Naboureh, Thimmaiah Gudiyangada Nachappa, Omid Ghorbanzadeh, Xudong Guan and Thomas Blaschke
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 393; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060393 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3497
Abstract
Landslides are one of the most detrimental geological disasters that intimidate human lives along with severe damages to infrastructures and they mostly occur in the mountainous regions across the globe. Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) serves as a key step in assessing potential areas [...] Read more.
Landslides are one of the most detrimental geological disasters that intimidate human lives along with severe damages to infrastructures and they mostly occur in the mountainous regions across the globe. Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) serves as a key step in assessing potential areas that are prone to landslides and could have an impact on decreasing the possible damages. The application of the fuzzy best-worst multi-criteria decision-making (FBWM) method was applied for LSM in Austria. Further, the role of employing a few numbers of pairwise comparisons on LSM was investigated by comparing the FBWM and Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP). For this study, a wide range of data was sourced from the Geological Survey of Austria, the Austrian Land Information System, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, and remotely sensed data were collected. We used nine conditioning factors that were based on the previous studies and geomorphological characteristics of Austria, such as elevation, slope, slope aspect, lithology, rainfall, land cover, distance to drainage, distance to roads, and distance to faults. Based on the evaluation of experts, the slope conditioning factor was chosen as the best criterion (highest impact on LSM) and the distance to roads was considered as the worst criterion (lowest impact on LSM). LSM was generated for the region based on the best and worst criterion. The findings show the robustness of FBWM in landslide susceptibility mapping. Additionally, using fewer pairwise comparisons revealed that the FBWM can obtain higher accuracy as compared to FAHP. The finding of this research can help authorities and decision-makers to provide effective strategies and plans for landslide prevention and mitigation at the national level. Full article
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22 pages, 8382 KiB  
Article
Mission Flight Planning of RPAS for Photogrammetric Studies in Complex Scenes
by José Miguel Gómez-López, José Luis Pérez-García, Antonio Tomás Mozas-Calvache and Jorge Delgado-García
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 392; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060392 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4183
Abstract
This study describes a new approach to Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) photogrammetric mission flight planning. In this context, we have identified different issues appearing in complex scenes or difficulties caused by the project requirements in order to establish those functions or tools [...] Read more.
This study describes a new approach to Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) photogrammetric mission flight planning. In this context, we have identified different issues appearing in complex scenes or difficulties caused by the project requirements in order to establish those functions or tools useful for resolving them. This approach includes the improvement of some common photogrammetric flight operations and the proposal of new flight schemas for some scenarios and practical cases. Some examples of these specific schemas are the combined flight (which includes characteristics of a classical block flight and a corridor flight in only one mission) and a polygon extrusion mode to be used for buildings and vertical objects, according to the International Committee of Architectural Photogrammetry (CIPA) recommendations. In all cases, it is very important to allow a detailed control of the flight and image parameters, such as the ground sample distance (GSD) variation, scale, footprints, coverage, and overlaps, according to the Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) available for the area. In addition, the application could be useful for quality control of other flights (or flight planning). All these new functions and improvements have been implemented in a software developed in order to make RPAS photogrammetric mission planning easier. The inclusion of new flight typologies supposes a novelty with respect to other available applications. The application has been tested using several cases including different types of flights. The results obtained in the quality parameters of flights (coverage and GSD variation) have demonstrated the viability of our new approach in supporting other photogrammetric procedures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unmanned Aerial Systems and Geoinformatics)
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29 pages, 49436 KiB  
Article
Assessment and Quantification of the Accuracy of Low- and High-Resolution Remote Sensing Data for Shoreline Monitoring
by Dionysios N. Apostolopoulos and Konstantinos G. Nikolakopoulos
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 391; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060391 - 15 Jun 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3476
Abstract
Τhe accuracy of low-resolution remote sensing data for monitoring shoreline evolution is the main issue that researchers have been trying to overcome in recent decades. The drawback of the Landsat satellite archive is its spatial resolution, which is appropriate only for low-scale mapping. [...] Read more.
Τhe accuracy of low-resolution remote sensing data for monitoring shoreline evolution is the main issue that researchers have been trying to overcome in recent decades. The drawback of the Landsat satellite archive is its spatial resolution, which is appropriate only for low-scale mapping. The present study investigates the potentialities and limitations of remote sensing data and GIS techniques in shoreline evolution modeling, with a focus on two major aspects: (a) assessing and quantifying the accuracy of low- and high-resolution remote sensing data for shoreline mapping; and (b) calculating the divergence in the forecasting of coastline evolution based on low- and high-resolution datasets. Shorelines derived from diachronic Landsat images are compared with the corresponding shorelines derived from high-spatial-resolution airphotos or Worldview-2 images. The accuracy of each dataset is assessed, and the possibility of forecasting shoreline evolution is investigated. Two sandy beaches, named Kalamaki and Karnari, which are located in Northwestern Peloponnese, Greece, are used as test sites. It is proved that the shorelines derived from the Landsat data present a displacement error of between 6 and 11 m. The specific data are not suitable for the shoreline forecasting procedure and should not be used in related studies, as they yield less accurate results for the two study areas in comparison with the high-resolution data. Full article
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17 pages, 11929 KiB  
Article
Mining Subsidence Prediction by Combining Support Vector Machine Regression and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar Data
by Lichun Sui, Fei Ma and Nan Chen
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 390; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060390 - 15 Jun 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2442
Abstract
Mining subsidence is time-dependent and highly nonlinear, especially in the Loess Plateau region in Northwestern China. As a consequence, and mainly in building agglomerations, the structures can be damaged severely during or after underground extraction, with risks to human life. In this paper, [...] Read more.
Mining subsidence is time-dependent and highly nonlinear, especially in the Loess Plateau region in Northwestern China. As a consequence, and mainly in building agglomerations, the structures can be damaged severely during or after underground extraction, with risks to human life. In this paper, we propose an approach based on a combination of a differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) technique and a support vector machine (SVM) regression algorithm optimized by grid search (GS-SVR) to predict mining subsidence in a timely and cost-efficient manner. We consider five Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)/Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) images encompassing the Dafosi coal mine area in Binxian and Changwu counties, Shaanxi Province. The results show that the subsidence predicted by the proposed InSAR and GS-SVR approach is consistent with the Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. The maximum absolute errors are less than 3.1 cm and the maximum relative errors are less than 14%. The proposed approach combining DInSAR with GS-SVR technology can predict mining subsidence on the Loess Plateau of China with a high level of accuracy. This research may also help to provide disaster warnings. Full article
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17 pages, 7434 KiB  
Article
Urban Geological 3D Modeling Based on Papery Borehole Log
by Xinyu Zhang, Junqiang Zhang, Yiping Tian, Zhilong Li, Yi Zhang, Lirui Xu and Song Wang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 389; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060389 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5803
Abstract
Borehole log is important data for urban geological 3D modeling. Most of the current borehole logs are stored in a papery form. The construction of a smart city puts forward requirements for the automatic and intelligent 3D modeling of urban geology. However, it [...] Read more.
Borehole log is important data for urban geological 3D modeling. Most of the current borehole logs are stored in a papery form. The construction of a smart city puts forward requirements for the automatic and intelligent 3D modeling of urban geology. However, it is difficult to extract the information from the papery borehole log quickly. What is more, it is unreliable to rely entirely on automated algorithms for modeling without artificial participation, but there is no effective way to integrate geological knowledge into 3D geological modeling currently. Therefore, it is necessary to research how to use existing papery borehole logs efficiently. To overcome the above obstacles, we designed a method that combines structural analysis and layout understanding to extract information from the borehole log. Then, the knowledge-driven three-dimensional geological modeling is proposed based on dynamic profiles. With these methods, the papery borehole log can be converted into structured data which can be used for data analysis directly, and geological knowledge can be integrated into the process of 3D geological modeling. The 3D geological modeling of Xinyang City based on a papery borehole log has been taken as an example to verify the feasibility of the method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geo-Enriched Data Modeling & Mining)
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15 pages, 1708 KiB  
Article
A Map Is a Living Structure with the Recurring Notion of Far More Smalls than Larges
by Bin Jiang and Terry Slocum
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 388; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060388 - 11 Jun 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4024
Abstract
The Earth’s surface or any territory is a coherent whole or subwhole, in which the notion of “far more small things than large ones” recurs at different levels of scale ranging from the smallest of a couple of meters to the largest of [...] Read more.
The Earth’s surface or any territory is a coherent whole or subwhole, in which the notion of “far more small things than large ones” recurs at different levels of scale ranging from the smallest of a couple of meters to the largest of the Earth’s surface or that of the territory. The coherent whole has the underlying character called wholeness or living structure, which is a physical phenomenon pervasively existing in our environment and can be defined mathematically under the new third view of space conceived and advocated by Christopher Alexander: space is neither lifeless nor neutral, but a living structure capable of being more alive or less alive. This paper argues that both the map and the territory are a living structure, and that it is the inherent hierarchy of “far more smalls than larges” that constitutes the foundation of maps and mapping. It is the underlying living structure of geographic space or geographic features that makes maps or mapping possible, i.e., larges to be retained, while smalls to be omitted in a recursive manner (Note: larges and smalls should be understood broadly and wisely, in terms of not only sizes, but also topological connectivity and semantic meaning). Thus, map making is largely an objective undertaking governed by the underlying living structure, and maps portray the truth of the living structure. Based on the notion of living structure, a map can be considered to be an iterative system, which means that the map is the map of the map of the map, and so on endlessly. The word endlessly means continuous map scales between two discrete ones, just as there are endless real numbers between 1 and 2. The iterated map system implies that each of the subsequent small-scale maps is a subset of the single large-scale map, not a simple subset but with various constraints to make all geographic features topologically correct. Full article
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30 pages, 14167 KiB  
Article
Interdependent Healthcare Critical Infrastructure Analysis in a Spatiotemporal Environment: A Case Study
by Nivedita Nukavarapu and Surya Durbha
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 387; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060387 - 11 Jun 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2549
Abstract
During an urban flooding scenario, Healthcare Critical Infrastructure (HCI) represents a critical and essential resource. As the flood levels rise and the existing HCI facilities struggle to keep up with the pace, the under-preparedness of most urban cities to address this challenge becomes [...] Read more.
During an urban flooding scenario, Healthcare Critical Infrastructure (HCI) represents a critical and essential resource. As the flood levels rise and the existing HCI facilities struggle to keep up with the pace, the under-preparedness of most urban cities to address this challenge becomes evident. Due to the disruptions in the interdependent Critical Infrastructures (CI) network (i.e., water supply, communications, electricity, transportation, etc.), during an urban flooding event, the operations at the healthcare CI facilities are inevitably affected. Hence, there is a need to identify cascading CI failure scenarios to visualize the propagation of failure of one CI facility to another CI, which can impact vast geographical areas. The goal of this work is to develop an interdependent HCI simulation model in a spatiotemporal environment to understand the dynamics in real-time and model the propagation of cascading CI failures in an interdependent HCI network. The model is developed based on a real-world cascading CI failure case study on an interdependent HCI network during the flood disaster event in December 2015 at Chennai, TamilNadu, India. The interdependencies between the CI networks are modeled by using the Stochastic Colored Petri Net (SCPN) based modeling approach. SCPN is used to model a real-word process that occurs in parallel or concurrently. Furthermore, a geographic information system-based interface is integrated with the simulation model, to visualize the dynamic behavior of the interdependent HCI SCPN simulation model in a spatiotemporal environment. Such a dynamic simulation model can assist the decision-makers and emergency responders to rapidly simulate ‘what if’ kind of scenarios and consequently respond rapidly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS in Healthcare)
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18 pages, 3242 KiB  
Article
Evaluating Temporal Approximation Methods Using Burglary Data
by Lukas Oswald and Michael Leitner
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 386; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060386 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3590
Abstract
Law enforcement is very interested in knowing when a crime has happened. Unfortunately, the occurrence time of a crime is often not exactly known. In such circumstances, estimating the most likely time that a crime has happened is crucial for spatio-temporal analysis. The [...] Read more.
Law enforcement is very interested in knowing when a crime has happened. Unfortunately, the occurrence time of a crime is often not exactly known. In such circumstances, estimating the most likely time that a crime has happened is crucial for spatio-temporal analysis. The main purpose of this research is to introduce two novel temporal approximation methods, termed retrospective temporal analysis (RTA) and extended retrospective temporal analysis (RTAext). Both methods are compared to six existing temporal approximation methods and subsequently evaluated in order to identify the method that can most accurately estimate the occurrence time of crimes. This research is conducted with 100,000+ burglary crimes from the city of Vienna, Austria provided by the Criminal Intelligence Service Austria, from 2009–2015. The RTA method assumes that crimes in the immediate past occur at very similar times as in the present and in the future. Historical crimes with accurately known time stamps can therefore be applied to estimate when crimes occur in the present/future. The RTAext method enhances one existing temporal approximation method, aoristicext, with probability values derived from historical crime data with accurately known time stamps. The results show that the RTA method performs superiorly to all other temporal approximation methods, including the novel RTAext method, in two out of the three crime types analyzed. Additionally, the RTAext method shows very good results that are similar to the best performing existing approximation methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Crime Mapping and Analysis Using GIS)
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25 pages, 10353 KiB  
Article
A Thematic Similarity Network Approach for Analysis of Places Using Volunteered Geographic Information
by Xiaoyi Yuan, Andrew Crooks and Andreas Züfle
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 385; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060385 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3726
Abstract
The research presented in this paper proposes a thematic network approach to explore rich relationships between places. We connect places in networks through their thematic similarities by applying topic modeling to the textual volunteered geographic information (VGI) pertaining to the places. The network [...] Read more.
The research presented in this paper proposes a thematic network approach to explore rich relationships between places. We connect places in networks through their thematic similarities by applying topic modeling to the textual volunteered geographic information (VGI) pertaining to the places. The network approach enhances previous research involving place clustering using geo-textual information, which often simplifies relationships between places to be either in-cluster or out-of-cluster. To demonstrate our approach, we use as a case study in Manhattan (New York) that compares networks constructed from three different geo-textural data sources—TripAdvisor attraction reviews, TripAdvisor restaurant reviews, and Twitter data. The results showcase how the thematic similarity network approach enables us to conduct clustering analysis as well as node-to-node and node-to-cluster analysis, which is fruitful for understanding how places are connected through individuals’ experiences. Furthermore, by enriching the networks with geodemographic information as node attributes, we discovered that some low-income communities in Manhattan have distinctive restaurant cultures. Even though geolocated tweets are not always related to place they are posted from, our case study demonstrates that topic modeling is an efficient method to filter out the place-irrelevant tweets and therefore refining how of places can be studied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geo-Enriched Data Modeling & Mining)
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15 pages, 2880 KiB  
Article
Multifractal Characteristics of Seismogenic Systems and b Values in the Taiwan Seismic Region
by Chun Hui, Changxiu Cheng, Lixin Ning and Jing Yang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 384; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060384 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2208
Abstract
Seismically active fault zones are complex natural systems and they exhibit multifractal correlation between earthquakes in space and time. In this paper, the seismicity of the Taiwan seismic region was studied through the multifractal characteristics of the spatial-temporal distribution of earthquakes from 1st [...] Read more.
Seismically active fault zones are complex natural systems and they exhibit multifractal correlation between earthquakes in space and time. In this paper, the seismicity of the Taiwan seismic region was studied through the multifractal characteristics of the spatial-temporal distribution of earthquakes from 1st January 1995 to 1st January 2019. We quantified the multifractal characteristics of Taiwan at different scales and defined them as ΔD values. Furthermore, we studied the relationship between the ΔD and b values, which signifies the average size distribution of those earthquakes. The results are as follows. (1) The temporal multifractal curve changes substantially before and after the strong earthquakes. (2) The maximum ΔD value of the seismic region in Taiwan occurs at depths of 0~9 km, indicating that geological structures and focal mechanisms is the most complex at these depths compared with other depths. (3) ΔD values for different regions range from 0.2~1.5, and b values range from 0.65~1.3, with a significant positive correlation between them (ΔD = 1.5 × b − 0.68). For this purpose, a statistical relationship is developed between b and ΔD values, and regional and temporal changes of these parameters are analyzed in order to reveal the potential of future earthquakes in the study region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Geo-Information in Earthquake Studies)
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16 pages, 11256 KiB  
Article
Earth Observation and Artificial Intelligence for Improving Safety to Navigation in Canada Low-Impact Shipping Corridors
by René Chénier, Mesha Sagram, Khalid Omari and Adam Jirovec
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 383; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060383 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2466
Abstract
In 2014, through the World-Class Tanker Safety System (WCTSS) initiative, the Government of Canada launched the Northern Marine Transportation Corridors (NMTC) concept. The corridors were created as a strategic framework to guide Federal investments in marine transportation in the Arctic. With new government [...] Read more.
In 2014, through the World-Class Tanker Safety System (WCTSS) initiative, the Government of Canada launched the Northern Marine Transportation Corridors (NMTC) concept. The corridors were created as a strategic framework to guide Federal investments in marine transportation in the Arctic. With new government investment, under the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), the corridors initiative, known as the Northern Low-Impact Shipping Corridors, will continue to be developed. Since 2016, the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) has been using the corridors as a key layer in a geographic information system (GIS) model known as the CHS Priority Planning Tool (CPPT). The CPPT helps CHS prioritize its survey and charting efforts in Canada’s key traffic areas. Even with these latest efforts, important gaps in the surveys still need to be filled in order to cover the Canadian waterways. To help further develop the safety to navigation and improve survey mission planning, CHS has also been exploring new technologies within remote sensing. Under the Government Related Initiatives Program (GRIP) of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), CHS has been investigating the potential use of Earth observation (EO) data to identify potential hazards to navigation that are not currently charted on CHS products. Through visual interpretation of satellite imagery, and automatic detection using artificial intelligence (AI), CHS identified several potential hazards to navigation that had previously gone uncharted. As a result, five notices to mariners (NTMs) were issued and the corresponding updates were applied to the charts. In this study, two AI approaches are explored using deep learning and machine learning techniques: the convolution neural network (CNN) and random forest (RF) classification. The study investigates the effectiveness of the two models in identifying shoals in Sentinel-2 and WorldView-2 satellite imagery. The results show that both CNN and RF models can detect shoals with accuracies ranging between 79 and 94% over two study sites; however, WorldView-2 images deliver results with higher accuracy and lower omission errors. The high processing times of using high-resolution imagery and training a deep learning model may not be necessary in order to quickly scan images for shoals; but training a CNN model with a large training set may lead to faster processing times without the need to train individual images. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Using GIS to Improve (Public) Safety and Security)
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17 pages, 4516 KiB  
Article
Unfolding Events in Space and Time: Geospatial Insights into COVID-19 Diffusion in Washington State during the Initial Stage of the Outbreak
by Vaishnavi Thakar
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 382; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060382 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4356
Abstract
The world witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The first case of COVID-19 in the United States of America (USA) was confirmed on 21 January 2020, in Snohomish County in Washington State (WA). Following this, a rapid explosion of COVID-19 cases was observed [...] Read more.
The world witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The first case of COVID-19 in the United States of America (USA) was confirmed on 21 January 2020, in Snohomish County in Washington State (WA). Following this, a rapid explosion of COVID-19 cases was observed throughout WA and the USA. Lack of access to publicly available spatial data at finer scales has prevented scientists from implementing spatial analytical techniques to gain insights into the spread of COVID-19. Datasets were available only as counts at county levels. The spatial response to COVID-19 using coarse-scale publicly available datasets was limited to web mapping applications and dashboards to visualize infected cases from state to county levels only. This research approaches data availability issues by creating proxy datasets for COVID-19 using publicly available news articles. Further, these proxy datasets are used to perform spatial analyses to unfolding events in space and time and to gain insights into the spread of COVID-19 in WA during the initial stage of the outbreak. Spatial analysis of theses proxy datasets from 21 January to 23 March 2020, suggests the presence of a clear space–time pattern. From 21 January to 6 March, a strong presence of community spread of COVID-19 is observed only in close proximity of the outbreak source in Snohomish and King Counties, which are neighbors. Infections diffused to farther locations only after a month, i.e., 6 March. The space–time pattern of diffusion observed in this study suggests that implementing strict social distancing measures during the initial stage in infected locations can drastically help curb the spread to distant locations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Collection Spatial Components of COVID-19 Pandemic)
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20 pages, 4725 KiB  
Article
Uncorrelated Geo-Text Inhibition Method Based on Voronoi K-Order and Spatial Correlations in Web Maps
by Yufeng He, Yehua Sheng, Yunqing Jing, Yue Yin and Ahmad Hasnain
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(6), 381; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi9060381 - 09 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2198
Abstract
Unstructured geo-text annotations volunteered by users of web map services enrich the basic geographic data. However, irrelevant geo-texts can be added to the web map, and these geo-texts reduce utility to users. Therefore, this study proposes a method to detect uncorrelated geo-text annotations [...] Read more.
Unstructured geo-text annotations volunteered by users of web map services enrich the basic geographic data. However, irrelevant geo-texts can be added to the web map, and these geo-texts reduce utility to users. Therefore, this study proposes a method to detect uncorrelated geo-text annotations based on Voronoi k-order neighborhood partition and auto-correlation statistical models. On the basis of the geo-text classification and semantic vector transformation, a quantitative description method for spatial autocorrelation was established by the Voronoi weighting method of inverse vicinity distance. The Voronoi k-order neighborhood self-growth strategy was used to detect the minimum convergence neighborhood for spatial autocorrelation. The Pearson method was used to calculate the correlation degree of the geo-text in the convergence region and then deduce the type of geo-text to be filtered. Experimental results showed that for given geo-text types in the study region, the proposed method effectively calculated the correlation between new geo-texts and the convergence region, providing an effective suggestion for preventing uncorrelated geo-text from uploading to the web map environment. Full article
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