Notes and Personal Takeaways from the Lecture Series
Selected Topics of Geoinformatics
Outline of Lectures
- Introduction to Satellite Generated Atmospheric and Climatic Data (Shahnawaz, PLUS)
- Applications of Satellite Generated Atmospheric and Climatic Data, Case Studies from India (Shahnawaz, PLUS)
- Can We Measure GeoParticipation? (Jíří Pánek, UPOL)
- Citizen Science (Muki Haklay, UCL)
- Supporting Digital Transformations with Geoinformation, Use Cases of Forestry Processes and Crane Data Analysis (C. Atzl & M. Andorfer, aWHEREness:lab)
- Introduction to the ArcGIS Living Atlas (Josef Strobl, PLUS)
- Charting a Course for GIS Education for 2030 (Joseph Kerski, Esri)
- Radar Remote Sensing and its Applications in Urban Areas (Deepak Kumar, Amity University in India)
- Geospatial Media Data in Decision-Making (Helen Serere, PLUS)
- Burned area detection using Sentinel-2 imagery and OBIA techniques (Chanida Suwanprasit, Chuang Mai University in Thailand)
- Digital twins in the context of disaster preparedness: fusion of GIS and game engines (Deligant, PLUS & UPOL)
Introduction to Satellite Generated Atmospheric and Climatic Data (Shahnawaz, PLUS)
The value of long-term continuous weather monitoring increased with the current climate change challenges. It addresses the velocity and the hotspots of the change and provides the reasonings for the key contributors of the climate change.
Global in-situ measurements are distributed unevenly and are superseded by the satellite global coverages represented in continuous raster datasets. Interoperability between the outputs is essential. Different spacecrafts (Aqua, Terra) share the same sensors (CERES, MODIS) resulting in better temporal resolution. Other example of interoperability is the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. GPM comprises a collaborative group of international space agencies. It provides the best precipitation measurements globally, compared to its predecessor Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The near-real time satellite observations bring great opportunities to tackle the global challenges we face as a society.
Applications of Satellite Generated Atmospheric and Climatic Data, Case Studies from India (Shahnawaz, PLUS)
The study of spatiotemporal development of aerosols in India proved that human activities impact one of the highest pollutions in the world. The months from 2001 to 2019 were compared and reduced to the maximal, minimal, average values and their standard deviation. The data from the season of lockdown in April 2020 is the reference to the previous years and proved the hypothesis for the great anthropogenic impact.
A similar approach was presented in the case of the spatiotemporal analysis of surface temperature and precipitation. The data for temperature is provided by the MODIS sensor and the rainfall by TRMM. The measurements support the regular development of the seasonal monsoons. The study of the developments backs the warning systems for flood resilience in the regions which suffer from inappropriate preparedness.
Can We Measure GeoParticipation? (Jíří Pánek, UPOL)
Geoparticipation is a means for developing sustainable urban communities using geo-enabled technology. The technology like smartphones is accessible and widespread so that the urban communities benefit from the means of communication. However, the technology bias on the respondent side has to be considered. Rural communities differ in demography from urban ones. Therefore, there it is more effective to participate in a less structured and informal environments like pubs, sports clubs.
In the literature, participation is defined by different levels. Following the definition, what are the ways to measure it? Pánek et al. (2021) analysed the levels of participation in the Czech municipalities. Interestingly the spatial patterns of the final index were not observed. Nevertheless, the indices prove that the work of local initiatives for participation and policies is reflected. The level of distributed policy varies unevenly across the country, and it is complex to observe. The research group focuses on different methods to visualise the indicators in a new weighted index.
Citizen Science (Muki Haklay, UCL)
Haklay explained in his introductory lecture the principles of citizen science and how it evolved to the position it has today. The literacy of the population has grown over the last centuries, and the ratio of highly educated has been on the rise over the last decades. The shortening time at work provides more free time for hobbies. Furthermore, the ageing population is often healthy and vital for self-realization. These factors contribute to the existence of open and inclusive science as we know it today.
Citizen science can be characterized by the main streams: long-running citizen science, citizen cyberscience and community science. The long-running CS focuses on monitoring the environment e.g., meteorology. The citizen cyberscience can work with distributed computer power provision and cognitive classification training. Lastly, the community science deals with participatory sensing and DIY science. Haklay is part of the Extreme Citizen Science research group. The group aims to democratize science and let the experts take the backseats that sustain the quality assurance of the results.
Supporting Digital Transformations with Geoinformation, Use Cases of Forestry Processes and Crane Data Analysis (C. Atzl & M. Andorfer, aWHEREness:lab)
Digital transformation of the physical world into a digital representation has the potential to increase the productivity of activities. Companies can collect data sustainably. The data can be presented in form of a dashboard or form of a dynamically generated report.
Atzl presented how the whole system has been developed from the prototypes up to the utilization of specific applications for use cases. The apps are interconnected, based on the use case they are granted privileges as needed. The integration of spatiotemporal-enabled data brought opportunities to query and analyse the data efficiently with new insights.
Andorfer explained how photogrammetry through UAV can help to streamline the workflow of cranes while loading and unloading the timber logs. After time synchronization, one was capable to mimic the movement of the machine in the process. The company considers the results promising and hopes to increase the accuracy. So far it is done at a half-meter accuracy.
Introduction to the ArcGIS Living Atlas (Josef Strobl, PLUS)
The whole ArcGIS ecosystem consists of possibilities for geoprocessing, geovisualization, however, the Living Atlas takes part in the dynamic, cloud-based spatial data provision. It is a rich repository of regularly updated spatial datasets. The data come from authorities, open data sources, community sourcing.
The data can be browsed via thematic, temporal, or spatial attributes. The themes are broken down into six major categories, so the user experience is clear and easy to follow. The “living” part of the atlas is represented by the dynamic processing on the cloud e.g., slope calculation from DEM or vector basemap custom rendering. Everything is processed on cloud, no data download is needed. It makes the use of the product handy and independent on the local computing power.
The service also provides apps that make the access to the data more convenient. In some cases, also the data is structured just for direct interpretation. For instance it is Sentinel Explorer for Sentinel satellite imagery exploration, the alternative for the EO Browser and others.
Charting a Course for GIS Education for 2030 (Joseph Kerski, Esri)
Kerski in his presentation explained the opportunity to forge new ground, new trails and a new ground for geoinformatics. It all starts at the fundamental question: “WHY am I doing things I'm doing?” People having an interest in GI science share the vision for an equitable, sustainable, and resilient future. However, building a personal “elevator speech” describing the GIS essentials to any public sphere can save someone's workplace in a company.
Technology and education will advance; therefore, the most important thing is to develop the most important tool, our spatial-oriented thinking, through life-long learning. According to Kerski, five forces compelling us to do so are the increasing geo-awareness, geo-enablement, geo-technology, citizen science and storytelling. Although the tools will evolve, we need to embrace the forces to stay on the track with the GI science evolution.
Secondly, Kerski mentioned five trends of geoinformatics that will lead the frontiers in the following years. They are 3D; BIM – CAD – AEC; real-tie data analytics, big data and IoT; enterprise and web GIS; AI and machine learning. He emphasized that specialization is needed and simultaneously one need to keep a holistic view of the environment.
Lastly, the top skills of GI specialists were discussed. The most stressed point was to be curious, meaning asking good questions which do not have to be answered right away. Such questions push the boundaries and bring innovation to society. For more information, the full content of the presentation can be found in a storymap.
Radar Remote Sensing and its Applications in Urban Areas (Deepak Kumar, Amity University in India)
Kumar has brought a general overview of radar satellite sensing. The knowledge ground of physics and technology introduced the applications in the urban environments. Interferometry obtains the information about the wave phase to estimate the subsidence of terrain. Next, the higher amount of backscattered energy likely refers to the impervious land cover (built-up areas). Lastly, polarimetry and combinations of polarizations for RGB, bring other unknown information about the environment.
Geospatial Media Data in Decision-Making (Helen Serere, PLUS)
Social media provide a valuable source of data from the population i.e., images, audio, text, videos, and gifs. However, only around 0,55 % is geotagged and in 1,8 % of posts can the location be inferred from the content. The pros of such a source are the coverage of a wide range of topics, and near-real-time accessibility (i.e., the reactive response to an event, no temporal lag).
The anonymized data can be collected through tools like Twitter Crawler or Crowd Tangle. After the collection, the records need to undergo natural language pre-processing. As the uncertainty of meanings is one of the biggest challenges, the model has to be customized for every use case adequately.
To increase the amount of represented georeferenced samples, the location inference approach has been presented. The analysis teaches the machine to identify the remote and actual locations mentioned in the text based on the sentence syntax.
Such involvement of human inputs in analysis has been used in different use cases. In the department of Geoinformatics (PLUS) the approach to use geospatial media data in decision-making has been implemented in emotion mapping, refugee movements, and natural hazards like earthquakes or flooding.
Burned area detection using Sentinel-2 imagery and OBIA techniques (Chanida Suwanprasit, Chuang Mai University in Thailand)
The region of Chuang Mai is known for slash-and-burn farming in the highlands. This method brings threads to the lowlands air pollution after the harvest season (dry season). The initiatives have brought up the call to stop the burning. The regulations to lower the haze pollution in the cities needed to be tested.
Burnt areas have been classified on the Sentinel 2 imagery. The spatial and temporal resolution allow us to see the evolvement of burn agriculture during the dry season. Based on the NDVI and NIR, RGB bands a ruleset has been formed for the object-based image analysis (OBIA). OBIA utilizes the characteristics of the burnt areas for its detection.
In further research, the different indices like Normalized Burnt Ratio, Mid-Infrared Brun Index, and Burn Area Index could be tested and incorporated into the analysis of multiple regions. The potential useability of the active sensors (Sentinel 1) could be tested as well.
Digital twins in the context of disaster preparedness: fusion of GIS and game engines (Deligant, PLUS & UPOL)
The author discussed how the concept of the Digital Twin can advance preparedness for natural disasters. The evolution from implementation via tools to integration and holistic fusion seamlessly across platforms, domains, and scales is essential for the Digital Twin paradigm.
His case studies aimed at the VR visualization of flooded areas in Brno and Prague. The spatial data has been shared out through the web services and implemented in ArcGIS Online Scenes and Unity environments. The resultant visualizations have been user-tested.