Abstract Book The European Information Society: Leading the way with Geo-Information

Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Berlin, Germany.

2007

Programme Committee

Programme Chair Monica Wachowicz, Wageningen University and Research Centre Programme Co-Chair Sara Fabrikant, University of Zurich

Organising Committee

Lars Bodum, Aalborg University (Chair) Esben Munk Sørensen, Aalborg University Henning Sten Hansen, Aalborg University Hans Skov-Petersen, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural Univer-sity Lasse Møller-Jensen, Copenhagen University

Scientific Committee

Dave Abel, CSIRO Pragya Agarwal, University College London (United Kingdom) Itzak Benenson, Tel Aviv University (Israel) Lars Bernard, University of Dresden (Germany) Michela Bertolotto, University College Dublin (Irland) Thomas Bittner, SUNY Buffalo (USA) Lars Bodum, University of Aalborg (Denmark) Arnold Bregt, Wageningen University (Netherlands) Christoph Brox, University of Münster (Germany) Gilberto Camara, INPE (Brazil) Nicholas Chrisman, Laval University (Canada) Christophe Claramunt, Naval Academy Research Institute (France) Irene Compte, University of Girona (Spain)

Helen Couclelis, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) Max Craglia, European Joint Research Centre (Italy) Isabel Cruz, University of Illionois at Chicago (USA) Leila De Floriani, University of Genova (Italy) Michel Deshayes, CEMAGREF (France) Pasquale diDonato, University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy) Jürgen Döllner, University of Potsdam (Germany) Matt Duckham, University of Melbourne (Australia) Sara Fabrikant, University of Zurich (Switzerland) Peter Fisher, City University of London (United Kingdom) Michael Gould, University "JaumeI" Castellon (Spain) Francis Harvey, University of Minnesota (USA) John Herring, Oracle Corporation (USA) Gerard Heuvelink, Wageningen University (Netherlands) Stephen Hirtle, University of Pittsburgh (USA) Hartwig Hochmair, St. Cloud State University (USA) Gary Hunter, University of Melbourne (Australia) Chris Jones, Cardiff University (United Kingdom) Didier Josselin, Avignon University (France) Marinos Kavouras, National Technical University of Athens (Greece) Lars Kulik, University of Melbourne (Australia) Rob Lemmens, ITC (Netherlands) Bela Markus, University of West Hungary (Hungary) Gabor Mezosi, University of Szeged (Hungary) Daniel Montello, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) Atsuyuki Okabe, University of Tokyo (Japan) Anders Ostman, University of Gavle (Sweden) Henk Ottens, University of Utrecht (Netherlands) Marco Painho, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal) Donna Peuquet, Penn State University (USA) Dieter Pfoser, Research Academic Computer Tech.-Hellas (Greece) Poulicos Prastacos, Foundation for Research and Tech.-Hellas (Greece) Hardy Pundt, Uni. of Applied Sciences Harz, Wernigerode (Germany) Ross Purves, University of Zürich (Switzerland) Martin Raubal, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) Wolfgang Reinhardt, UniBwMunchen (Germany) Femke Reitsma, Edinburgh University (United Kingdom) Jochen Renz, The University of New South Wales Sydney (Australia) Claus Rinner, Ryerson University (Canada) Jorge Rocha , GISLAB-U. Minho (Portugal) Andrea Rodríguez, Universidad de Concepción(Chile) Mauro Salvemini, University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy) Christoph Schlieder, University of Bamberg (Germany) Timos Sellis, National Technical University of Athens(Greece)

Monika Sester, University of Hannover (Germany) Takeshi Shirabe, Vienna University of Technology (Austria) John Stell, University of Leeds(United Kingdom) Kathleen Hornsby, University of Maine (USA) Juan Suárez, Forestry Commission (United Kingdom) Fred Toppen, University of Utrecht (Netherlands) Barbara Tversky, Columbia University (USA) Marc Van Krefeld, University of Utrecht (Netherlands) Peter van Oosterom, Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) Danny Vandenbroucke, Catholic Leuven University (Belgium) Agnes Voisard, Fraunhofer ISSt and FU Berlin (Germany) Monica Wachowicz, Wageningen University (Netherlands) Robert Weibel, University of Zurich (Switzerland) Stephan Winter, University of Melbourne (Australia) Mike Worboys, University of Maine (USA) Andreas Wytzisk, ITC (Netherlands) May Yuan, University of Oklahoma (USA)

Additional Reviewers

Rubén Béjar, University of Zaragoza (Spain) Arzu Çöltekin, University of Zurich (Switzerland) Eleni Tomai, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (Greece)

Sponsoring Institutions

Table of Contents

GI Education In Europe

Enabling P2P Cooperative WMS Proxy Caching and Prefetching in an Educational Environment

Jeffrey Bergamini and Michael Haungs…….………………………………..1 An Ontological-based Approach to Geographic Information Science Cur-ricula Design

Marco Painho, Paula Curvelo and Ignacio Jovani……………………….. 2

Advances in Applied GI Research

Environmental Modelling and Management

An Adaptive Land-use Simulation Model for Integrated Coastal Zone Planning

Henning Sten Hansen…………………………………………………………...3 Delineation of individual tree crowns for LiDAR tree and stand parameter estimation in scottish woodlands

Rafael Garcia, Juan Suarez and Genevieve Patenaude …………………...4 Resolution Sensitivity of a Compound Terrain Derivative as Computed from LiDAR-Based Elevation Data

Ralph K. Straumann and Ross S. Purves……………………………………..5

Mobile Applications and Collaborative GIS

A Universal Abstract Model for Future Movements of Moving Objects Reasey Praing and Markus Schneider………………………………………..6

A user context approach for adaptive and distributed GIS Mathieu Petit, Cyril Ray and Christophe Claramunt……………………....7

Privacy versus national security: The impact of privacy law on the use of location technology for national security purposes

Bastiaan van Loenen, Danielle Groetelaers, Jaap Zevenbergen and Jitske de Jong......................................................................................................................8

Urban Modelling and Analysis

The Aggregation of Urban Building Cluster Based on the Skeleton Parti-tioning of Gap Space

Tinghua Ai and Xiang Zhang………………………………………………. …9

Effects of Ground Surface Relief in 3D Spatial Analysis on Residential Environment

Toshihiro Osaragi and Ikuko Otani……………………………………..... .10

Advanced GI Technologies

Spatial Data Infrastructures

The gazetteer content model issue: Could Spatial Data Infrastructures pro-vide it?

F. Javier López-Pellicer, F. Javier Zarazaga-Soria, Alexander Mogollón Díaz, Javier Nogueras-Iso and P.R. Muro-Medrano……………………..11

Estimating the costs of an SDI-based project

Javier Nogueras-Iso, Eva Fernandez-Villoslada, Miguel Angel Latre, Rubén Béjar, Pedro R. Muro-Medrano and F. Javier Zarazaga-Soria……………………………………………......12

Geo-Spatial Web Services

RIMapperWMS - a Web Map Service providing SVG maps with a built-in client

Barend Köbben…………………………………………………………………13

Definition and Implementation of an Active Web Map Service Nieves R. Brisaboa, Antonio Fariña, Miguel R. Luaces, David Trillo and

José R. Viqueira…………………………………………………………………………..14 Increasing the Fitness of OGC-Compliant Web Map Services for the Web 2.0

Thomas Brinkhoff………………………………………………………………15

State-of-the-Art in GI Basic Research

Data Management and Interoperability

Extending the OpenGIS© for Managing Discrete and Continuous Time Dependent Data

Luca Paolino, Monica Sebillo, Genoveffa Tortora and Giuliana Vitiello…………………………………………………….. .....16

Spatial Data Management Aspects in Archaeological Excavation Docu-mentation

Dieter Pfoser, Thanasis Hadzilacos, Niko Faradouris and Kriton Kyrimis………………………………………………………….. .17

Processing Mediated Geographic Queries: a Space Partitioning Approach

Mehdi Essid, Yassine Lassoued and Omar Boucelma………………… …18

Ontology, Reasoning and Representation

Towards a Mathematical Theory for Snapshot and Temporal Formal On-tologies

Andrew U. Frank………………………………………………………………19 Space contained conflict revision to allow consistency checking of spatial decision support

Omar Doukari and Robert Jeansoulin………………………………………20 Towards Spatial Reasoning in the Semantic Web: A Hybrid Knowledge Representation System Architecture

Rolf Grütter and Bettina Bauer-Messmer………………………………… .21

Usability, Data Quality and Accuracy

Geospatial Information Bottom-Up: A Matter of Trust and Semantics Mohamed Bishr and Werner Kuhn…………………………………………..22

Improving Spatial Data Usability By Capturing User Interactions

Eoin Mac Aoidh and Michela Bertolotto…………………………………...23 Improving the usability of spatial information products and services

Gary Hunter, Sytze de Bruin and Arnold Bregt…………………………...24 Characterising Straightness Qualitatively

Björn Gottfried…………………………………………………………………25 Extending Geographic Data modeling by Adopting CDT to Specify Spatial Integrity Constraints

Fei Wang and Wolfgang Reinhardt……………………………………….. .26

3D Modelling and Virtual Environments

A Compact Topological DBMS Data Structure For 3D Topography Friso Penninga and Peter van Oosterom…………………………………..27

Depth Cue of Occlusion Information as Criterion for the Quality of Anno-tation Placement in Perspective Views

Stefan Maass, Markus Jobst and Doellner Juergen……………………….28

Enabling P2P Cooperative WMS Proxy Caching and Prefetching in an Educational Environment Jeffrey A. Bergamini and Dr. Michael Haungs Department of Computer Science California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 USA {jbergami,mhaungs}@calpoly.edu

Abstract. Given the great demand and promise for educational use of GIS, real time access to massive remote geospatial datasets for pedagogical pur-poses would be immensely useful to educators and students. However, such access has remained elusive. In other work, we have demonstrated that a P2P distributed system of client-side proxies can address the chal-lenges posed by the interactive, multiplicative, and exploratory nature of classroom GIS, and we described this system at a high level. In this paper, we present the details of several novel techniques that enable P2P coopera-tive caching and prefetching of OGC WMS data in an educational lab en-vironment, via an implicit and flexible pyramid tiling scheme, a query smoothing heuristic, and statistical prediction. The techniques are stan-dards-compliant and client-transparent, and provide dramatic improvement in user response times while reducing impact on remote WMS servers. Keywords: WMS, P2P, caching, prefetching, tiling, education

1

An ontological-based approach to Geographic Information Science curricula design

Marco Painho, Paula Curvelo, Ignacio Jovani

Instituto Superior de Estatística e Gestão de Informação da Universidade Nova deLisboa (Institute for Statistics and Information Management of the New University of Lisbon) Campus de Campolide 1070-312 Lisboa, Portugal http://www.isegi.unl.pt/ {painho, pcurvelo, ikaki }@isegi.unl.pt

Abstract. The growing recognition of the crucial role geographic informa-tion plays within the Knowledge Society, the recent advances on geo-graphic information technologies, the continuous demand for professionals in these areas and the use of new information and communication tech-nologies in teaching and learning processes, are all factors which concur for a better systematization of Geographic Information Science Curricula in order to improve its accessibility and efficiency. The program contents, the teaching methods to be implemented, the policies context and the un-derlying notion of curriculum, have led to the establishment of a Curricula Development Model that is trying to answer a set of challenges/ opportuni-ties situated at different levels (pedagogical, educational, politicalinstitu-tional and technological).The ontological-based approach translates the concern with integration and articulation of the curriculum, and the need for the development of a properly documented and structured methodology that allows for the definition and explanation of the processes considered fundamental for an effective improvement and innovation of wide-ranging curricula in this area. Keywords: Geographic Information Science, Bologna Process, Curricula Development Model, Learning Paths, Visualization Tools, GIScience On-tology

2

An Adaptive Land-use Simulation Model for Integrated Coastal Zone Planning

Henning Sten Hansen

Aalborg University, Department of Development and Planning National Environmental Research Institute, Roskilde Fibigerstræde 11 DK-9200 Aalborg East Phone : +45 46 30 18 07 Fax : +45 46 30 12 12 hsh@land.aau.dk

Abstract. The coastal zone has huge economic, social, environmental, cul-tural and recreational importance for Europe, and about 20% of the Euro-pean population lives in the coastal zone. Recently, the coastal zone has got enhanced focus through the European Union recommendation on inte-grated coastal zone management. The dynamic processes of the coastal zone – both man-made and natural – are interdependent and complex. Plans for the coastal zone should take these processes into account and consider the possible consequences for other interests and the impact on adjacent regions and nations as appropriate Using modelling and simula-tion, we can increase our understanding of the land-use system and reduce uncertainty concerning decisions. The current paper describes the devel-opment of a land-use simulation model facilitating the decision-making process through and adaptive and transparent modeling system. Keywords: land-use, cell-based modelling, decision, support systems, coastal zone planning.

3

Delineation of individual tree crowns for LiDAR tree and stand parameter estimation in Scottish woodlands

Rafael García1, Juan C. Suárez2, Genevieve Patenaude1

1 Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP,UK. 2 Silviculture North, Forest Research, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9SY, UK {Juan Suárez, Juan.suarez@forestry.gsi.gov.uk}

Abstract. There is an increasing need for accurate forest inventories to assist forest manag-ers and decision makers in the planning of the forest resources. Airborne LiDAR methods enable the construction of Tree Canopy Models (TCM) at a fine resolution, which allow the delineation of individual tree crowns. This information can be useful for the prediction of forest parameters such as top height, basal area, standing volume and biomass. In this pa-per, we present a comparative analysis of the algorithms developed independently by Gougeon (1995), Popescu (2003) and Weinacker (2004a) for delineating individual tree crowns and as a means to extract forest parameters. The comparison was achieved as fol-low. Firstly, the algorithms were tested in their efficiency for delineating tree crowns. Sec-ondly, single tree parameters were estimated using the crown delineation and finally, stand parameters were estimated by averaging single tree parameters. Results of the three algo-rithms were compared to each other and to field measurement for validation. The results showed that the algorithm by Popescu was the most suitable method to delineate crowns with 89% accuracy. However only 72% were linked with actual trees measured in the field. The algorithm by Popescu was the most suitable to estimate individual tree height with s RMSE (%) of 1.93 m (8.1%). The algorithm by Gougeon was the most suitable to estimate individual crown diameter and stem diameter with a RMSE (%) of 1.81 m (31.7%) and 7.05 cm (21.8%) respectively. The algorithm by Popescu was the most suitable to estimate top height with a RMSE (%) of 0.94 m (3.8%). Finally, the algorithm by Weinacker was the most suitable to estimate stand basal area and volume with a RMSE (%) of 9.10 m2/ha (24.3%) and 119.7 m3/ha (29.4%) respectively. All the methods underestimated the tree and stand parameters. However, it was shown that individual tree heights and stand top heights could be estimated with similar levels of accuracy than field methods. Keywords: Individual tree delineation, LiDAR, Canopy segmentation methods, Scotland, Sitka spruce.

4

Resolution Sensitivity of a Compound Terrain Derivative as Computed from LiDAR-Based Elevation Data

Ralph K. Straumann and Ross S. Purves

Department of Geography, University of Zurich – Irchel, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland {rsm, rsp}@geo.unizh.ch

Abstract. New technologies such as Light Detection And Ranging (Li-DAR) provide high resolution digital elevation data. These data offer new possibilities in the field of terrain modelling and analysis. However, not very much is known about the effects when these data are used to compute broadly applied terrain derivatives. In this paper the sensitivity of the To-pographic Wetness Index (TWI) and its two constituting components gra-dient and Specific Catchment Area (SCA) regarding the resolution of Li-DAR-based elevation data is examined. For coarser resolutions a shift in the TWI distribution to higher values is noted. TWI distributions at differ-ent resolutions differ significantly from each other. These findings have an impact on aspatial and spatial modelling based on the TWI. Keywords: Terrain derivatives, Topographic Wetness Index, resolution sensitivity, LiDAR

5

A Universal Abstract Model for Future Movements of Moving Objects

Reasey Praing and Markus Schneider*

University of Florida Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering Gainesville, FL 32611, USA {rpraing,mschneid}@cise.ufl.edu

Abstract. Recently, with the advances in mobile technology and emerging mobile applications, moving objects databases have become the focus of much research. A number of models have been proposed to handle the continuously changing ge-ometries and positions of moving objects. While most of these models focus on managing the historical and current motion of moving objects, only a few of them have been proposed to deal with their future movements. Due to the complexity of handling the uncertainty aspect associated with future movements, these models are often restricted to a specific type of constrained movement and tailored to a certain application domain by integrating specific pre-diction techniques. These predictions are often based only on the past and current movements and neglect external domain-specific information which may signifi-cantly affect the future movements of moving objects. In this paper, we emphasize the separation of moving object models and prediction methods and propose a universal abstract model for future movements of moving objects. This abstract model serves as a conceptual basis for all future movement models as well as poses object requirements for the output of all prediction methods. Keywords: moving objects, future movements, probability model, spatio-temporal model, abstract model *This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant num-ber NSF-CAREER-IIS-0347574.

6

A user context approach for adaptive and distributed GIS

Mathieu Petit, Cyril Ray, and Christophe Claramunt

Naval Academy Research Institute, 29240, Brest Naval BP 600, France {petit,ray,claramunt}@ecole-navale.fr

Abstract. The research presented in this paper introduces a user context approach for collaborative and adaptive Geographical Information System (GIS). The proposed model is part of a framework based on a multi-dimensional contextual approach that combines user, geographical and de-vice contexts. The spatial properties of the GIS components categorize dif-ferent configurations as a support for the derivation of user groups. The in-terfaces and functionalities offered by the adaptive GIS are generalized within each group, and derived from the interface usages. The spatial be-haviors that reflect user experiences within a group favor collaborative ex-changes. A prototype applied to maritime navigation validates the ap-proach and the algorithms developed. Keywords: Adaptive GIS, Collaborative filtering, Context-awareness, Preferences elicitation, Profile sharing

7

Privacy versus national security: The impact of privacy law on the use of location technology for national security purposes

Bastiaan van Loenen, Daniëlle Groetelaers, Jaap Zevenbergen, and Jitske de Jong

Delft University of Technology, OTB Research Institute for Housing, Ur-ban and Mobility Studies, Jaffalaan 9, 2628 BX Delft, Netherlands b.vanloenen@tudelft.nl

Abstract. Location technology allows for the continuous tracking of indi-viduals. Knowledge about the person’s whereabouts also allows for the development of location based services at a very detailed levels. However, there is a potential danger that the further development of the appealing technologies will be blocked by privacy regulations. This paper assesses the legal framework on balancing privacy and national security at the European level. Although the privacy restrictions may limit the use within the consumer market, for purposes of national security they appear to be almost non-existent. The European Court of Human Rights’ judgments confirm that privacy invading technologies can be used to increase na-tional security. A discussion on the need for far-reaching surveillance mandates for national intelligence services concludes this paper. Keywords: Location privacy, national security, location technology, Europe

8

The Aggregation of Urban Building ClustersBased on the Skeleton Partitioning of Gap Space

Tinghua Ai and Xiang Zhang

School of Resource and Environment Sciences, Wuhan University, China tinghua_ai@tom.com, hrent1982@gmail.com

Abstract. This paper presents a model for building cluster distribution analysis based on the Delaunay triangulation skeleton. The skeleton con-nection within the gap area among the building polygons obtains a special geometric construction similar to Voronoi diagram that spatially partitions the gap area equally. Each building polygon is surrounded by a partition-ing polygon which can be regarded as the growth region of inner building. Based on this model, several cluster structure variables can be computed, such as the distribution density, the topological neighbour, the adjacent distance and the adjacent direction. Considering the constraints of position accuracy, statistical area balance, orthogonal shape in building generaliza-tion, the study presents a progressive algorithm of building cluster aggre-gation, including the conflict detection (where), the object (who) dis-placement and the geometric combination (how). The algorithm has been realized in a generalization system and some experiment illustrations are provided in the paper. Keywords: Map generalization, Building aggregation, Polygon cluster, Delaunaytriangulation

9

Effects of Ground Surface Relief in 3D Spatial Analysis on Residential Environment

Toshihiro Osaragi, and Ikuko Otani

Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-W8-10 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan Abstract. The inherent worth of visibility from high-rise housing has been actively discussed in recent years. Securing sunshine is also a fundamental and important issue in residential areas. Since visibility and sunshine vary according to various local factors, it is difficult to extract and analyze them in urban areas covered by a number of buildings. In previous research, visibility and sunshine analysis have been carried out under the assumption that the ground surface is a flat plane. However, it is necessary to incorpo-rate geographical relief when conducting 3D urban spatial analysis. In this article, we construct a visibility analysis system, adapt it to a 3D urban sur-face model, and examine the effects of geographical relief on urban spatial analysis. Keywords: 3D urban spatial analysis, geographical relief, visibility analy-sis, sunshine analysis, terrain, LIDAR data

10

The gazetteer content model issue: Could Spatial Data Infrastructures provide it?

F.J. López-Pellicer1, F.J. Zarazaga-Soria1, A. Mogollón-Díaz2, J. No-gueras-Iso1, and P.R. Muro-Medrano1

1 Computer Science and Systems Engineering Department, University of Zaragoza Maria de Luna, 3, 50015 Zaragoza, Spain {fjlopez,javy,jnog,prmuro}@unizar.es http://iaaa.cps.unizar.es 2 Computer Science Department, Pontifical University of Salamanca Madrid campus, Paseo Juan XXIII, 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain alxmog@upsam.net http://www.upsam.com

Abstract. The gazetteer is perceived differently in different contexts: Geographical Information Systems, Digital Libraries, Toponymic Stan-dardization Processes and Cartotoponomy.These contexts shape the con-tent of the SDI gazetteer. This paper analyzes the conventional core prop-erties and the nature of the gazetteer to ease the building of SDI gazetteers. Keywords: Gazetteer, Spatial Data Infrastructures, Geographical Informa-tion Systems, Digital Libraries, Toponymic Standardization Processes, Cartography

11

Estimating the costs of an SDI-based project

J. Nogueras-Iso, R. Béjar, M.A. Latre, E. Fernéndez-Villoslada, P.R. Muro-Medrano, and F.J. Zarazaga-Soria

Computer Science and Systems Engineering Department University of Zaragoza María de Luna 1, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain {jnog, rbejar, latre, evaf, prmuro, javy}@unizar.es

Abstract. The development of any information system entails a set of costs that must be estimated well in advance. The estimation of costs facilitates an appropriate project planning and helps monitor-ing the different project tasks, verifying whether the expected cost of tasks is out of step with their real development. Given the multidis-ciplinary nature of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI), the estimation of costs for SDI-based projects is particularly complex. Apart from the complexity of technical aspects, they usually require the coordi-nation of resources coming from different institutions in the public and private arenas. In such complex scenarios, the task of estimating may benefit from the development of small prototypes that can help the large scale estimation. This work estimates the costs for the im-plementation of an SDI-based project (SDIGER) in the European context based on the background given by a first prototype. Keywords: Cost estimation, Spatial Data Infrastructures, SDI, INSPIRE, European SDI,Water Framework Directive, WFD

12

RIMapperWMS: a Web Map Service providing SVG maps with a built-in client

Barend Köbben International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Department of GIP, PO Box 6, 7500 AA Enschede, The Netherlands. kobben@itc.nl – http://kartoweb.itc.nl/RIMapper/

Abstract. This paper introduces RIMapperWMS, a light-weight web map-ping application that conforms to the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Web Map Service specification. It serves interactive web maps from a spatial database back-end. Compared to existing WMS implementations, it stands out firstly because it serves its maps in the Scalable Vector Graphics for-mat. This allows it to offer high-quality vector cartography, specially suit-able for mobile devices such as PDA’s and smartphones. Secondly, RI-MapperWMS includes so-called VendorSpecific Capabilities that the OGC specification allows, in this case enabling it to produce the SVG output with a built-in Graphical User Interface, allowing the data to be dissemi-nated to any SVG-capable application, without the need for a separate WMS client. Keywords: Web Mapping, Spatial Databases, WMS, SVG, built–in GUI

13

Definition and Implementation of an Active Web Map Service

Nieves R. Brisaboa 1, Antonio Fariña 1, Miguel R. Luaces 1, David Trillo 1, José R.Viqueira 2

1 Database Laboratory Facultade de Informática, University of A Coruña

Campus de Elviña, 15071. A Coruña. Spain{brisaboa, fari, luaces, dtrillo}@udc.es

2 Systems Laboratory Department of Electronics and Computer Science,

University of Santiago de Compostela Instituto de Investigaciones Tecnológicas

Campus sur, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain joserios@usc.es

Abstract. The most widespread Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specification for GIS defines the interface of a Web Map Service (WMS). A service implementing this interface accepts an HTTP request from a client and replies with a map encoded in either a raster format or a vector format such as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). However, in both cases, the response of the WMS represents a static map that cannot react to user actions. It would be useful to obtain vector maps encoded in active SVG that can execute actions and change their visual appear-ance in response to user-triggered events.

In this paper, we present the specification of an Active Web Map Ser-vice (AWMS), which is defined as an extension of the OGC WMS specification that allows the retrieval of active SVG maps. Given that a WMS uses the OGC SLD language (Styled Layer Descriptor) to de-scribe the set of layers and visualization styles available, our AWMS specification also needs an extension of such specification to describe the active component of the maps. This is achieved by adding a new type of SLD element called Active Symbolizer that enables the defini-tion of active and dynamic behaviour for the geographic objects that be-long to each geographic information layer.

Keywords: GIS, web services, Web Map Service (WMS), Active Vec-torial Information

14

Increasing the Fitness of OGC-Compliant Web Map Services for the Web 2.0

Thomas Brinkhoff

Institute for Applied Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics (IAPG) FH Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Wilhelmshaven (University of Applied Sci-ences) Ofener Straße 16/19, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany Thomas.Brinkhoff@fh-oldenburg.de http://www.fh-oow.de/institute/iapg/personen/brinkhoff/

Abstract. Google Maps and Google Earth are very popular web mapping services but they are not open and not OGC-compliant. The question arises why this is not the case. One reason is that commercial data providers re-quire a tight coupling between the provided maps and additional supple-ments like advertisements. Another answer to this question is the missing support of mashups that become more and more popular with using Google Maps. This paper presents several approaches to overcome these deficits of OGC-compliant web mapping services. The most promising so-lutions are integrated into an architecture for a Web 2.0 map server and are implemented by a prototype. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is one es-sential technology within this architecture. By using such approach, the current need for closed systems like Google Earth or Google Maps may diminish. Keywords: Web Mapping Services, OGC, Google Maps, Google Earth, Mashups, SVG.

15

Extending the OpenGeospatial© Specification for Managing Discrete and Continuous Time Dependent Data

Luca Paolino, Monica Sebillo, Genoveffa Tortora, Giuliana Vitiello

Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Salerno Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084, Fisciano (SA), Italy {lpaolino,msebillo, tortora, gvitiello}@unisa.it

Abstract. The integrated management of continuous fields and discrete objects is particularly important for all those systems which aim to support expert users in analysis and decision making about real-world scenarios. In this paper, we present an extended OpenGeospatial-based architecture able to store continuous fields along with their spatial and temporal properties. Data are defined in agreement with the binary representation and new functions are defined to manage the underlying structure with data. Our approach is fully consistent with the previous OpenGeospatial specifica-tion, thus guaranteeing compatibility with respect to existing geographic databases. Keywords: Continuous fields, Spatial Databases, OpenGeospatial, Archi-tecture, Binary Representation.

16

Spatial Data Management Aspects in Archaeological Excavation Documentation1

Dieter Pfoser†, Thanasis Hadzilacos†, Nikos Faradouris‡, Kriton Kyrimis‡

† Research Academic Computer Technology Institute, Davaki 10, 11526 Ampelokipoi - Athens, Greece {pfoser|thh}@cti.gr ‡ Talent SA, Karytsi Sq. 4a, 10561 Athens, Greece {niko|kyrimis}@cti.gr

Abstract. Archaeological excavation documentation poses several challenges to spatial data management. This work gives a data model, respective query functionality and the description of the resulting proto-type system for recording and analyzing the data produced during the course of an excavation. Based on a requirements analysis, we develop a data model that not only captures geo-referenced finds (pottery sherds, bones, etc.) and their properties, but also excavation diaries and the particularities of the excavation space. Towards an effort of analyz-ing the collected data and constructing a virtual excavation space, we describe spatial query capabilities providing access to the data in two and three-dimensional space. The system also captures uncertainty with respect to position, which is quite common due to either missing infor-mation and/or approximate measurements. Finally, we will give a com-plete overview of “Arxaiorama,” the system prototype that was devel-oped during the course of a research project and that is currently being used at the excavation site of Dispilio in Kastoria, Greece.

Keywords: archaeology, GIS, excavation documentation

1 Further contributors are M. Koutlis, Talent SA, Greece, D. Nousia, Research

Academic Computer Technology Institute, Greece, M. Sofronidou and G. Chour-mouziadis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

This work is supported by the “Arxaiorama” project, funded by the Greek Gen-eral Secretariat of Research and Technology. 17

Processing Mediated Geographic Queries: a Space Partitioning Approach

Mehdi Essid1 and Yassine Lassoued2 and Omar Boucelma1

1 LSIS - UMR CNRS 6168, Aix-Marseille Université Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niemen, F-13397 Marseille {first.last}@lsis.org 2 CMRC, Cork, Ireland Y.Lassoued@ucc.ie

Abstract. In this paper, we address the objects’ fusion issue, in the context of a spatial data integration system. The issue consists in (1) identifying the ”same” geographic objects coming from different data sources and, (2) joining their information in order to obtain one unified object with its complete information. We describe a query processing technique, based on space Partitioning, that allows reducing the objects fusion costs. The goal is to avoid useless join operations between objects that belong to different regions. Keywords: Web-based GIS, WFS, GML, Mediation, Query Rewriting, Spatial Partitioning

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Towards a Mathematical Theory for Snapshot and Temporal Formal Ontologies

Andrew U. Frank

Department of Geoinformation, TU Wien, frank@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at

Abstract: In order to achieve interoperability of GIS, the meaning of the data must be expressed in a compatible description. Formal methods to de-scribe the ontology of data are increasingly used, but the detail of their definitions are debated. In this paper I investigate the mathematical struc-ture of formal ontologies as they are the background for ontology lan-guages like OWL, which are increasingly used in GIS. I separate formal aspects of the ontology languages from possible interpretations of the for-mulae in light of philosophical position. The paper gives formal descrip-tion of a static and a temporal formal ontology. This clarifies what are as-sumptions (i.e., ontological commitments) and what are consequences of these. A formalized treatment leads to a consistent formal ontology and is the precondition for the integration of ontological descriptions of geo-graphic data. The analysis shows that most of the important restrictions in ontologies can be expressed only in a temporal ontology and they are often related to the question, which processes are included in the temporal on-tology. Keywords: Interoperability, ontology, formal ontology, temporal ontol-ogy, temporal logic, functional representation of ontological committment

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Space-contained conflict revision, for geographic information.

Omar Doukari1, Robert Jeansoulin2

1 LSIS, CNRS UMR6168, Centre Math Informatique, Joliot-Curie 39, 13453 Marseille Cedex 13, France. } IGM, CNRS UMR8049, Institut Gaspard Monge, Boul. Descartes,

Champs sur Marne, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée Cedex, France. {robert.jeansoulin@univ-mlv.fr}

{omar_douk@yahoo.fr

2

Abstract. Using qualitative reasoning with geographic information, con-trarily, for instance, with robotics, looks not only fastidious (i.e.: encoding knowledge Propositional Logics PL), but appears to be computational complex, and not tractable at all, most of the time. However, knowledge fusion or revision, is a common operation performed when users merge several different data sets in a unique decision making process, without much support. Introducing logics would be a great improvement, and we propose in this paper, means for deciding –a priori- if one application can benefit from a complete revision, under only the assumption of a conjec-ture that we name the “containment conjecture”, which limits the size of the minimal conflicts to revise. We demonstrate that this conjecture brings us the interesting computational property of performing a not-provable but global, revision, made of many local revisions, at a tractable size. We illus-trate this approach on an application. Keywords: belief revision, Reiter diagnosis, local-to-global extension.

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Towards Spatial Reasoning in the Semantic Web: A Hybrid Knowledge Representation System Architecture

Rolf Grütter and Bettina Bauer-Messmer

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, an Institute of the ETH Board, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Abstract. Environmental databases store a wide variety of data from het-erogeneous sources which are described with domain-specific terminol-ogies and refer to distinct locations. In order to make them accessible also to non-expert users, terminological concepts and spatial relations must be represented in a way that they can be exploited for searches. In this paper we propose a hybrid knowledge representation system architecture which integrates terminological and spatial aspects of the application domain and provides support for reasoning with RCC, a well-known calculus for spa-tial reasoning, and the Semantic Web’s ontology language OWL. Our ap-proach is motivated by the observation that RCC cannot be expressed in OWL without a major revision of the latter. Issues of upholding consis-tency of the knowledge base in view of an evolving ontology and of com-putational complexity are discussed. Keywords: Spatial Reasoning, Region Connection Calculus (RCC), Web Ontology Language (OWL), Knowledge Representation System, Envi-ronmental Database, Semantic Web

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Geospatial Information Bottom-Up: A Matter of Trust and Semantics

Mohamed Bishr and Werner Kuhn

Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Muenster, Germany {m.bishr,kuhn}@uni-muenster.de

Abstract. Geographic Information Science and business are facing a new challenge: understanding and exploiting data and services emerging from online communities. In the emerging technologies of the social web, GI user roles switched from being data consumers to become data producers, the challenge we argue is in making this generated GI usable. As a use case we point to the increasing demands for up-to-date geographic infor-mation combined with the high cost of maintenance which present serious challenges to data providers. In this paper we argue that the social web combined with social network science present a unique opportunity to achieve the goal of reducing the cost of maintenance and update of geospa-tial data and providing a platform for bottom up approaches to GI. We pro-pose to focus on web-based trust as a proxy measure for quality and to study its spatio-temporal dimensions. We also point to work on combining folksonomies with ontologies, allowing for alternative models of metadata and semantics as components of our proposed vision. Keyword: trust, spatio-temporal trust, social networks, social semantics, quality

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Improving Spatial Data Usability By Capturing User Interactions

E. Mac Aoidh and M. Bertolotto

School of Computer Science and Informatics, UCD Dublin, Ireland. {eoin.macaoidh, michela.bertolotto}@ ucd.ie

Abstract. In this paper we present a flexible architecture for both desktop and mobile systems designed to measure users’ implicit levels of interest in spatial information, based their mouse movements. Users interact with spatial objects through a GIS interface. Our system monitors their actions and compares the spatial location of their mouse interactions a session to the underlying spatial information displayed to the user. By making this comparison we implicitly determine a user’s interests and disinterests. This information can be build up a user profile on a session by session basis, al-lowing the system to personalize datasets to present to the user based on his profile, reducing information overload, and increasing the ratio of user-relevant content. The case study for our system concerns archaeological in-formation for burial tombs in the ancient city of Tarquinia. Keywords: Implicit profiling, mouse movements, User modelling, person-alisation

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Improving the Usability of Spatial InformationProducts and Services

Gary Hunter1, Sytze de Bruin2 and Arnold Bregt2

1 Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia 2 Center for Geo-Information, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands garyh@unimelb.edu.au, sytze.debruin@wur.nl, arnold.bregt@wur.nl

Abstract. With the rapid growth in the range of spatial information prod-ucts and services now being offered to consumers, there is increasing competition occurring in the marketplace. The implication of this competi-tion is that data producers and service providers need to be far more certain that what they create will satisfy customer needs. At the same time it should also yield a positive return on their investment in terms of the time and money spent in research and development, and bringing the product to the marketplace. Traditionally, there has been a tendency within the spatial information industry to think that an information product’s usefulness is determined solely by its quality or ‘fitness for use’. However, long-standing experience gained from the testing of software and hardware tells us that a more useful concept to apply in judging whether a product will satisfy consumer needs is the concept of ‘usability’. This paper discusses some of the factors that might impact on spatial information usability, and illustrates them with a case study of an information product that has almost one million downloads per year, yet still generates many complaints from its consumers. Keywords: spatial information, usability, products, services

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Characterising Straightness Qualitatively

Björn Gottfried

Centre for Computing Technologies University of Bremen bg@tzi.de

Abstract. In the geographic domain shape features are of concern for sev-eral objects, such as borders between countries and counties as well as other administrative units, highways, coastlines, rivers, and other objects determining the infrastructure of a country such as telecommunication networks: we have to deal with shape features of those objects in the con-text of spatial planning and spatial databases. Defining Gestalt features of shapes, however, is a challenging issue. While in computer vision many features have been devised emphasis has been put on precision. The com-plementary approach consists in defining features which are not precise but allow shape properties to be defined at the categorical level. As a con-sequence those features are closely related to human perception and as such appropriate as comprehensible features, aiding in searching spatial databases for specific objects. Additionally those features are cheaper from the computational point of view: they compactly characterise shapes and they can equally compactly be employed in the context of storage, com-parison, and retrieval.1

Keywords: qualitative spatial representation, qualitative straightness, shape, bipartite arrangements, linear objects, rivers

1 This work has been partially funded by the European Commission, through IST project MDS, contract no. 026459.

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Extending Geographic Data Modeling by Adopting Constraint Decision Table to Specify Spatial Integrity Constraints

Fei Wang and Wolfgang Reinhardt AGIS – GIS lab, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Werner-Heisenberg- Weg 39, D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany {Fei.Wang, Wolfgang.Reinhardt}@unibw.de Abstract. The rapidly growing use of geospatial data creates a great de-mand for a standard based GIS data model which also includes quality is-sues. Especially when datasets are shared for different purposes, the qual-ity information becomes important and must be available to the data users. This paper proposes a method to extend geographic data modeling which allows for the consideration of quality information in a standardized way. In more detail it is shown how Constraint Decision Table (CDT) can be used to include spatial integrity constraints in the model. The information of the data model will conduct the following activities in GIS, especially during the data capture process, thus we also focus on integrating the qual-ity information within the data capture workflow. For the integration we use OGC web services and discuss how they can be extended to provide the mobile GIS clients with these information. Keywords: Geographic data modeling, spatial integrity constraints, data quality, field data capture, Mobile GIS.

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A Compact Topological DBMS Data Structure For 3D Topography

Friso Penninga and Peter van Oosterom

Delft University of Technology, OTB, section GIS Technology, Jaffalaan 9, 2628 BX the Netherlands F.Penninga@tudelft.nl, oosterom@tudelft.nl

Abstract. The objective is to develop a data structure that is capable of handling large data volumes and offers support for querying, analysis and validation. Based on earlier results (i.e. the full decomposition of space, the use of a TEN structure and applying Poincaré simplicial homology as mathematical foundation) a simplicial complex-based TEN structure is de-veloped. Applying simplicial homology offers full control over orientation of simplexes and enables one to derive substantial parts of the TEN struc-ture, instead of explicitly store the entire network. The described data structure is developed as a DBMS data structure and the usage of views, function based indexes and 3D R-trees result in a compact topological 3D data structure. Theoretical aspects of this approach are described earlier [12, 17, 18]. This paper describes both theory and implementation of the approach. Keywords: 3D GIS, tetrahedral network, spatial database, simplicial ho-mology

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Depth Cue of Occlusion Information as Criterion for the Quality of Annotation Placement in Perspective Views

Stefan Maass1, Markus Jobst2, Juergen Doellner1

1University of Potsdam, Hasso-Plattner-Institute, 14482 Potsdam, Ger-many 2Technical University of Vienna, Research Group Cartography, A-1020 Vienna, Austria maass@hpi.uni-potsdam.de, markus@jobstmedia.at, doellner@hpi.uni-potsdam.de

Abstract. In cartography and computational geometry, concepts and tech-niques for automated label placement have been developed for two-dimensional maps. Less is known whether these methods can be applied to annotate geovirtual 3D environments. In this paper we discuss the applica-tion of these methods within geovirtual 3D environments and investigate the effects that can possibly harm the information transfer. To achieve high quality labeling readability, visibility, and the unambiguous correlation to the reference have to be ensured. Illustrated by examples, we show that perspective attributes inherently encoded in a depiction have to be consid-ered as well. In particular, we focus on overriding occlusion information by added annotations and the impact on the complexity of the cognition process. A user test verifies our hypothesis that this disturbance is actually noticeable by users. Keywords: Annotation, Labeling, Depth Cue, GIS, Perspective Views, Geovirtual Environments

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