DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOCOL FOR A GIS RELATED TO THE RESTORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE BUILDINGS AND SITES THROUGH DOCUMENTATION STAGE

The Conservation and the Restoration of Cultural Heritage is a particularly specialized and interdisciplinary process. It requires scientific monitoring and planning and incorporation of skills and knowledge in the academic milieu. Relevant studies programs and courses are primarily designed to explore the possibility of cooperation between scientists (archaeologists, architects, surveyors, engineers etc.). Participating in such an educational institution (Interdepartmental Program of Postgraduate Studies “Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments”, AUTh, Greece), the development of a protocol for a GIS related to the restoration of cultural heritage buildings and sites through documentation stage was born out of necessity.Α GIS application including the documentation (geometric, architectural, structural etc.) of the historical complex of Saint John, the Baptist (19th century, Kavala, Greece), while using modern 3D representational techniques (laser scanner, topography, photogrammetry, GPS), and the related thematic information (analysis, archive data) has been organized for that purpose and has been used as a case study.The main objectives of the project are to give guidelines regarding the collection, the processing and the management of heritage data, to articulate the cross-disciplinary collaboration/synergy and to provide an educational toolkit. The methodology is proposed to be applied to other objects of study such as archaeological sites, individual structures, monuments and sites of different dating and use (e.g., industrial, religious, fortification etc.).

Refinement Proposals for Geodiversity Assessment—A Case Study in the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, Hungary

Geodiversity is the variety of natural elements that are excluded from biodiversity, such as: geological, geomorphological, and soil features including their properties, systems, and relationships. Geodiversity assessment measures these features, emphasising the characteristics and physical fragility of the examined areas. In this study, a quantitative methodology has been applied in Bakony–Balaton UGGp, Hungary. The Geopark’s area was divided into 2 × 2 km cells in which geodiversity indices were calculated using various data: maps, spatial databases, and elevation models. However, data sources differ significantly in each country: thematic information may not be entirely public or does not have the appropriate scale and complexity. We proposed to use universal data—geomorphons and a watercourse network—derived from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to calculate geomorphological diversity. Making a balance between the base materials was also an aim of this research. As sources with different data densities are used, some abiotic elements may be overrepresented, while others seem to have less significance. The normalisation of thematic layers solves this problem: it gives a proportion to each sub-element and creates a balanced index. By applying worldwide accessible digital base data and statistical standardization methods, abiotic nature quantification may open new perspectives in geoconservation.

Combining Multiband Imaging, Photogrammetric Techniques, and FOSS GIS for Affordable Degradation Mapping of Stone Monuments

The detailed documentation of degradation constitutes a fundamental step for weathering diagnosis and, consequently, for successful planning and implementation of conservation measures for stone heritage. Mapping the surface patterns of stone is a non-destructive procedure critical for the qualitative and quantitative rating of the preservation state. Furthermore, mapping is employed for the annotation of weathering categories and the calculation of damage indexes. However, it is often a time-consuming task, which is conducted manually. Thus, practical methods need to be developed to automatize degradation mapping without significantly increasing the diagnostic process’s cost for conservation specialists. This work aims to develop and evaluate a methodology based on affordable close-range sensing techniques, image processing, and free and open source software for the spatial description, annotation, qualitative analysis, and rating of stone weathering-induced damage. Low-cost cameras were used to record images in the visible, near-infrared, and thermal-infrared spectra. The application of photogrammetric techniques allowed for the generation of the necessary background, that was elaborated to extract thematic information. Digital image processing of the spatially and radiometrically corrected images and image mosaics enabled the straightforward transition to a spatial information environment simplifying the development of degradation maps. The digital thematic maps facilitated the rating of stone damage and the extraction of useful statistical data.

Management tools in modern distributed social communities

The article is devoted to the consideration and generalization of modern management capabilities and tools of distributed social communities formed based on online resources (social networks) to achieve the set socio-economic management goals. The authors conducted a problem analysis of the identified opportunities for managing specialized social thematic resources in the implementation of joint projects, the formation of social groups based on interests and hobbies, and the promotion of brands and products. The authors identify software tools for managing social network media resources. These tools allow collecting data on consumer interaction (b2c), monitoring thematic information, and attracting a new target audience.

Built-up area analysis using Sentinel data in metropolitan areas of Transylvania, Romania

The anthropic and natural elements have become more closely monitored and analysed through the use of remote sensing and GIS applications. In this regard, the study aims to feature a different approach to produce more and more thematic information, focusing on the development of built-up areas. In this paper, multispectral images and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images were the basis of a wide range of proximity analyses. These allow the extraction of data about the distribution of built-up space on the areas with potential for economic and social development. Application of interferometric coherence and supervised classifications have been accomplished on various territories, such as metropolitan areas of the most developed region of Romania, more specifically Transylvania. The results indicate accuracy values, which can reach 94 per cent for multispectral datasets and 93 per cent for SAR datasets. The accuracy of resulted data will reveal a variety of city patterns, depending mainly on local features regarding natural and administrative environments. In this way, a comparison will be made between the accuracy of both datasets to provide an analysis of the manner of built-up areas distribution to assess the expansion of the studied metropolitan areas. Therefore, this study aims to apply well-established methods from the remote sensing field to enhance the information and datasets in some areas lacking recent research.

Identification of Urban Functional Area by Using Multisource Geographic Data: A Case Study of Zhengzhou, China

The rational allocation of functional areas is the foundation for addressing the sustainable development of cities. Efficient and accurate identification methods of urban functional areas are of great significance to the adjustment and testing of urban planning and industrial layout optimization. Firstly, by employing multisource geographic data, an identification method of urban functional areas was developed. A quantitative measurement approach of the urban functional area was then established considering the comprehensive effects of human-land, space-time, and thematic information to present the covering area of ground objects, public awareness, and empirical research. Finally, the Zhengzhou city, which locates in Henan province of central China, was used to test the method. The results show that the developed method is efficient, accurate, and universal and can identify urban functional areas quickly and accurately. We found that the overall distribution of Zhengzhou’s functional areas presents a spatial pattern of single and multimixed coordinated development. The city’s commercial functional areas and commercial-based mixed functional areas are located in the city’s central area. The green square’s function area occupies relatively low and is mainly distributed in the city’s fringe.

Using Google Trends to analyze trends in user queries in ecology

In 2007, Google introduced its Google Trends service to assess statistically users queries. However, despite some success in using Google Trends data for forecasting, most researchers think that without them they can obtain approximately similar results based on other models. Nevertheless, other researcher have been still exploring forecast functionality of the service.The authors analyze Google Trends’ estimates of queries in ecology. Their goal is reveal general trends and contradictions and to analyze RNPLS&T resources’ meeting global trends in ecology and sustainable development information.Google Trends data is about similar to the current user activity idicators for the Library’s e-catalog and do not allow forecasting rise of or decrease in user demands. Google Trends enables to make some, rather approximate estimations of thematic information flow. Therefore it may be used by librarians as a source to evaluate interest users are expected to take in ecological information when the Library is planning for events or collection development. Further research is needed for advanced service application in user demand forecasting.The paper is prepared within the framework of the State Order № 075- 01300-20-00 “Development and improvement of the system of Open Archive of integrated information and library resources of Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology as modern knowledge management system in digital environment: On the way to Open Science” for 2020–2022.

VECTOR-SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF GIS APPLICATION LAYERS FOR PLACING STRATEGIC POINTS IN DAM DESIGN

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) is widespread in water resources management. One of the development stages in this area was the use of GIS information not only for matching and executing queries, but also for analyzing trends and making decisions using applications that provide spatial analysis. GIS provides the ability to process spatial information and represent it using a similar reality model that represents spatial features from a point, line, and polygon, and thematic information. Spatial analysis in GIS includes a set of procedures used to study the structure and territorial relations based on knowledge of the position and characteristics of geographical features of the corresponding variables. Subject: delineation of areas for potential location of dams with the use of geospatial algorithms for distance. The research is based on the hypothesis that from geospatial analysis of the distances between peaks extracted from the .shp layers of rivers and areas of great importance for protection, it is possible to delineate potential areas for dam construction. Materials and methods: literature sources and results of preliminary experimental studies are analyzed, experimental planning is carried out. Results: This study examines the use of algorithms for processing distances between points used in the field of service geography, in connection with the use of localization and distribution models. To do this, algorithms are compared using criteria such as processing time, the ability to create new layers, and creating tables of distances between objects belonging to different layers. Conclusions: This evaluation is performed in order to select the most appropriate algorithm for selecting suitable points that can be evaluated in future analysis of localization and dam construction.

INDEX OF FIELD SURVEY OF THE TERRITORY FOR MEDIUM-SCALE MAPPING

The quality of thematic mapping mostly depends on the representativeness of the field survey of the territory. In large-scale mapping geostatistical techniques can be used to design survey spatial sampling. In medium-scale mapping, the sampling scheme is traditionally based on experience, common views about the thematic diversity of the territory and available cartographic data. In the digital map-ping of thematic variables secondary data is used. There are mainly remote sensing data and derivatives of a digital elevation model. Spatial extrapolation of thematic information of points is somehow connected with the use of distance measures between studied and unstudied points in the space of secondary variables. This measure is proposed to be used as a numerical measure of the survey quality of the entire mapping space. This article provides numerical experiments to illustrate the behavior of this index, as well as proposes possible ways of using the index to control fieldwork in order to improve the spatial model of thematic variables.

INTERACTIVE MUNICIPAL MAP AND ITS PLACE IN THE MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRONIC AND DIGITAL MAPS

The article provides an example of classification of electronic-digital maps by the property of dis-play on the monitor screen, presence of a dynamic component. One of the new criteria-type of use is also proposed, since in the modern world the need for electronic and digital maps has significantly in-creased. The article describes the features of creating digital thematic maps for municipal institutions. We consider types of data about municipal institutions (addresses, information about managers, and territorial areas of responsibility), that will be displayed on the thematic layers of the digital map. The article sets out the requirements for conventional signs intended for displaying thematic information, and provides examples. The analysis of the features of creating map signs for their correct display on digital maps used in mobile devices is performed. The main criteria for creating new symbols for mu-nicipal digital maps are formulated. The article also presents a number of definitions: digital map, electronic map, digital map object, taken from GOST 28441-99.