Spatial Information System Development

An approach to an ontology-based information system design theory for spatial information system development is presented. This approach addresses the dynamic nature of information system development at the beginning of the 21st century and addresses the question of how to establish relationships between the various design components of a spatial information system. It should also help to automate and guide the design process while at the same time improve the quality of the process along with its outputs. An example of this approach is presented, along with examples of the various ontologies utilized in the design of this particular spatial information system. Finally, a method to mitigate the issues regarding the organization and management of a growing library of ontologies is discussed.

Geospatial Web Services

As Web service technologies mature in recent years, a growing number of geospatial Web services designed to interoperate spatial information over the network have emerged. Geospatial Web services are changing the way in which spatial information systems and applications are designed, developed and deployed. This chapter introduces all aspects of geospatial Web services from service-oriented architecture to service implementation. It covers the life cycle of geospatial Web services in terms of geospatial interoperable standards, including publish, discovery, invocation and orchestration. To make geospatial Web services more intelligent, semantic issues about geospatial data and services are discussed here. Furthermore, the applications of standard-compliant geospatial Web service are also reviewed.

GIME

We present an information architecture using Web services for exchanging and utilizing geotechnical information, which is of critical interest to a large number of municipal, state and federal agencies as well as private enterprises involved with civil infrastructures. For example, in the case of soil liquefaction hazard assessment, insurance companies rely on the availability of geotechnical data for evaluating potential earthquake risks and consequent insurance premiums. The exchange of geotechnical information is currently hampered by a lack of a common data format and service infrastructure. We propose an infrastructure of Web services, which handles geotechnical data via an XML format. Hereafter we report on the design and some initial experiences.

Minign Critical Infrastructure Information from Municipality Data Sets

An essential task in critical infrastructure protection is the assessment of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. The use of scenario sets is widely regarded as the best form for such assessments. Unfortunately, the construction of scenario sets is hindered by a lack in the public domain of critical infrastructure information as such information is commonly confidential, proprietary, or business sensitive. At the same time, there is a wealth of municipal data in the public domain that is pertinent to critical infrastructures. However, to date, there are no reported studies on how to extract only the most relevant CI information from these municipal sources, nor does a methodology exist that guides the practice of CI information mining on municipal data sets. This problem is particularly challenging as these data sets are typically voluminous, heterogeneous, and even entrapping. In this chapter, we propose a knowledge-driven methodology that facilitates the extraction of CI information from public domain, i.e., open source, municipal data sets. Under this methodology, pieces of deep, though usually tacit, knowledge acquired from CI domain experts are employed as keys to decipher the massive sets of municipal data and extract the relevant CI information. The proposed methodology was tested successfully on a municipality in the Southeastern United States. The methodology is considered a viable choice for CIP professionals in their efforts to gather CI information for scenario composition and vulnerability assessment.

Towards a Global Real-Time Enterprise

Frictionless interoperation of business processes even across enterprise boundaries, complete up-to-date view of the overall status, and full remote control over the business parameters for individuals in charge – this is the holy grail of a “global real-time enterprise”. Yet a vision, a number of enabling technologies brought us closer to accomplishing the challenges: Sensing the position of mobile objects and processes status, distributing the status information with “zero latency”, discovering it according to specific demands across organisation boundaries, providing and securing uniform service-oriented access to all kinds of entities ranging from smart items to business processes, and aggregating the overwhelming variety of elementary services to form high-value composite services. In this chapter, we overview the enabling technologies that drive the development and further discuss market factors, security and privacy concerns, and standardization processes that have to be considered. Then we propose our SEMALON approach – the SEMAntic LOcation Network – intended as a basic infrastructure for discovery and composition of location based services. Finally we describe our experiences from a case study implementation – the NOMADS Campus – which is a distributed spatial information system for our campus at Humboldt University Berlin.

GIS-Based Site Suitability Decision Support System for Planning Confined Animal Feeding Operations in iowa

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are becoming increasingly common on the Iowa landscape. It produces large amounts of byproducts that can cause a threat to the surrounding environment of the areas of production. Thus, there is a need for careful planning, particularly the selection of suitable locations for future CAFO development. In addition to Iowa state regulations, selection of locations for CAFOs require multiple parameters like, locations of manmade structures that include roads, residences, businesses, wells, etc., and location of natural features such as rivers and lakes. Currently, locations for CAFOs are chosen manually using paper hard copies with producer’s preference and are restricted by state of Iowa guidelines. There is no decision support system available to aid in selecting an appropriate location for the development of future CAFO structures. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how a decision support tool was developed to aid CAFO managers and producers in selecting appropriate locations for animal confinements using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and CAFO regulations in Iowa.

Flexible Spatial Decision-Making and Support

Spatial decision-making is a key aspect of human behaviour. Spatial decision support systems support spatial decision-making processes by integrating required information, tools, models and technology in a user-friendly manner. While current spatial decision support systems fulfil their specific objectives, they fail to address many of the requirements for effective spatial problem solving, as they are inflexible, complex to use and often domain-specific. This research blends together several relevant disciplines to overcome the problems identified in various areas of spatial decision support. We proposed a generic spatial decision-making process and a domain-independent spatial decision support system (SDSS) framework and architecture to support the process. We also developed a flexible SDSS to demonstrate an environment in which decision makers can utilize various tools and explore different scenarios to derive a decision. The use of the system is demonstrated in a number of real scenarios across location, allocation, routing, layout, and spatio-temporal problems.

Spatial Reasoning for Human-Robot Teams

This chapter presents research designed to study and improve an operator’s ability to navigate or teleoperate a robot that is distant from the operator through the use of a robot intelligence architecture and a virtual 3D interface. To validate the use of the robot intelligence architecture and the 3D interface, four user-studies are presented that compare intelligence modes and interface designs in navigation and exploration tasks. Results from the user studies suggest that performance is improved when the robot assumes some of the navigational responsibilities or the interface presents spatial information as it relates to the pose of the robot in the remote environment. The authors hope that understanding the roles of intelligence and interface design when operating a remote robot will lead to improved human-robot teams that are useful in a variety of tasks.

The Weather Tool, An Agent-Based Approach to Information Integration

This chapter discusses the process of providing information in its most accurate, complete form to its users and the difficulties faced by the users of the current information systems. The chapter describes the impact of prevalent technologies such as the Multi-Agent Systems and the Semantic Web in the area of information supply via an example implementation and a model use case. The chapter offers a potentially more efficient and robust approach to information integration and supply process. The chapter intends to highlight the complexities inherent in the process of information supply and the role of emerging information technologies in solving these challenges.

Cognitive Mapping and GIS for Community-Based Resource Identification

This chapter describes and analyzes the effectiveness of two methodological techniques, cognitive mapping and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), for identifying social service resources. It also examines the processes used to integrate hand-drawn map information into geocoded data points and provides recommendations for improving efficiency and precision. As a first step to integrate Jefferson County social service delivery into community-based child welfare “systems of care” (SOC), both formal and informal services had to be identified. Cognitive mapping, a process by which participants draw visual representations of geographical areas, was conducted with 247 participants in Jefferson County, Colorado. Over 3500 resources were identified and entered into a GIS to analyze the availability, capacity, and distribution of social services in the county and within communities. Identification of community resources via cognitive mapping and GIS analysis provide: (1) a comprehensive database of existing services; (2) a basis to build communication networks and cooperation among government and community providers; (3) the ability to create an efficient system that avoids duplication of efforts; (4) an understanding of the geographical distribution of resources; (5) the identification of resources lacking in the county and specific communities; and (6) knowledge differences among diverse participant groups.