测绘工程专业英语：Section 10 Geographical Information Science

Section10GeographicalInformationScience:APerspectiveof1998THEORIGINOFGEOGRAPHICALINFORMATIONSCIENCEGeographicalInformationScience,asthenameimplies,isthesciencedealingwithgeographicalinformation.Itemphasizesmoreonthescientificaspectsofgeographicalinformationratherthanitstechnologicalimplementation,whichhasbeenthefocusofgeographicalinformationsystems.Theterm"geographicalinformationscience"ismuchnewerthan"geographicalinformationsystems".ThelatterwasfirstintroducedbyTomlinson(1967)30yearagowhiletheformerseemsfirstappearedinanarticlebyGoodchild(1990)forlessthan10years.Therefore,itisreallyaproblemtodeterminewhereshouldbethestartingpointinanattempttoprovideaperspectiveofgeographicalinformationscience.Theremustbedifferentviewsregardingthehistoryofgeographicalinformationscience.Somemayconsideritasamorerecentdevelopmentwhilethegeographicalinformationsystemsasatechnologybecomesmaturedandresearchisemphasizedonitsscientificcomponents.ThisisevidencedbythechangeofnameforthethenonlyacademicjournalinthefieldfromInternationalJournalofGeographicalInformationsystemstoInternationalJournalofGeographicalInformationScience.Itisalsoevidencedbythepropernameofthisjournalwhenitwasestablishedin1995.However,someresearchersconsidertherelationshipotherwise.Forexample,Openshaw(1987)consideredgeographicalinformationsystemasthe“20thcenturytechnologybeingusedfor19thcenturypurposes”.Itmeansthatthescientificfoundationofmanyapplicationsbygeographicalinformationsystemswasalreadylaideveninthe19thcentury.Indeed,principlesofsomeoperationssuchasoverlayhaveexistedforalongtime.Inthissense,geographicalinformationsciencecouldbeasoldasotherscientificdisciplines,sincegeographicalinformationcoversanenormousrange“includingthedistributionofnaturalresources,theincidenceofpollutants,descriptionsofinfrastructure,patternoflanduseandthehealth,wealth,employment,housingandvotinghabitsofpeople”(DOE,1987).Itisalsoarguablethatthestartofaninformationsciencecouldbeconsideredinanerawhencomputerwasusedasinformationprocessor.Thenlate1950sorearly1960smightberegardedasthereasonableperiodastheearlydaysofgeographicalinformationscience.Indeed,duringthisperiod,researcharticlesbegantoappearintheliteratureonvariousaspectsofgeographicalinformationsuchasautomatedcartography,digitalterrainmodelingandgeographicalanalysis.EARLYDAYSOFGEOGRAPHICALINFOR-MATIONSCIENCEThetermgeographicalinformationcoversawiderangeandvarietyandanydisciplinedealingwithsuchinformationmayclaimitscontributiontotheoriginofgeographicalinformationscience.However,itseemsaconsensusthatthefollowingtwodisciplinesmademostsignificantcontribution,namely,automatedcartographyandquantitativeanalysisofgeo-referenceddata(geographicalanalysis).Intheareaofautomatedcartography,somemostsignificantestablishmentswereinitiatedbytheExperimentalCartographyUnit(ECU),theHarvardLaboratoryforComputerGraphicsandSpatialAnalysisandtheUniversityofEdinburgh.TheHarvardLabwasfoundedin1966andanumberofsoftwarepackagesforthematicmappingweredeveloped.Amongthese,themostfamousonewasSYMAPwhichhadover500sitesinstalledworld-wide.TheLabpublishedresearchresultsinitsjournalcalledHarvardLibraryofComputerGraphics.Inthe1960sandearly1970s,anumberofstatisticalmappingpackagesweredevelopedattheUniversityofEdinburgh.Awell-knownoneofthesewasGIMMSwhichwasinstalledinover200sitesin12countries.UnlikeHarvardLabandEdinburghUniversity,ECU,Intheareaofautomatedcartography,themostinfluentialisperhapstheAuto-Cartoconferenceseries.Itwasstartedin1964andhassincebeenheldforeveryotheryear.Itservedasavenueforthepresentationofnewideasandconcepts,althoughafterAuto-Carto10(in1991),theconferencehasbecomelessandlessimportantthanbefore.OnereasonforsuchadeclinationmightbethehighdemandonthequalityofsubmittedpapersthatneedtobefullyrefereedsinceAutoCarto10.Thiswasevidencedbythefactthattherewereonly60paperssubmittedtoAutoCarto10insteadofhundreds,whichhadbeentheusualnumber.Anotherreasoncouldbetheexistenceofnumerousotherconferencesthatclaimedalargeshareofresearchpublicationsfromthecommunity.Inquantitativeanalysisofgeo-referenceddata(spatialanalysis)inthelate1950sandearly1960s,Tomlinson(1988)speciallymentionedtheseminalworkbyHaroldMcCartyattheUniversityofIowaandWilliamGarrisonattheUniversityofWashing-tonintheUSA.Inasimilarperiod,muchworkwasalsodonebyCoppock(1988)attheUniversityof1998INTHEHISTORICALCONTEXTOFGEOGRAPHICALINFORMATIONSCIENCE1998wasaspecialyearinthehistoryofgeographicalinformationscience.Itwasayearofspecialanniversariesforseveralimportanteventsanditwasalsoayearwithfullofnewimportantdevelopments.1998experiencedanumberofnewdevelopmentswhichareworthyofmentioning.TheInternationalSocietyofPhotogrammetryandRemoteSensing(ISPRS)CommissionIVhelditsfirstsymposiuminStuttgart(Germany)sinceitbecameacommissiononGISandmappingin1996.ItmarkedtheactiveinvolvementofISPRSingeographicalinformationscience.Anothernoticeableeventwasthe8thInternationalSymposiumonSpatialDataHandling(SDH)heldatSomonFraserUniversity(Canada).Theattendancewasmuchlowerthanexpected.WhetheritwillfollowthetrackofAuto-CartoseriescouldbeagoodquestionsincetheSDHserieshadalsostartedtoreviewfullpapersinceits7thsymposiumheldattheUniversityof1998istheanniversaryofanumberofimportantevents.TheInternationalJournalofGeographicalInformationSystemswasrenamedasInternationalJournalofGeographicalInformationScience-markinganemphasisonthetheoreticalaspectsofgeographicalinformation.GeoInformatica,aninternationaljournalonadvancesofcomputerscienceforgeographicalinformationsystems,waslaunched,whichmarkedtheactiveinvolvementofcomputersciencesinGeographicalInformationScience.AninternationalworkshopondynamicandmultidimensionalGISwasheldattheHongKongPolytechnic1998wasthe10thanniversaryofafewimportanteventsasfollows:(a)theestablishmentofNationalGeographicalInformationandAnalysis(NCGIA)intheUSAandthusthecommencementoftheNCGIAinitiatives,(b)theestablishmentofRegionalResearchLaboratories(RRLs),whichisUK'sequivalenttoUS'sNCGIA,andthusthecommencementofRRLinitiatives,(c)theestablishmentofAssociationofGeographicalInformation(AGI)inBritain;and(d)firstresearchagendainthisareapublishedbyahigh-profileresearcher.GEOGRAPHICALINFORMATIONSCIENCEINTHENEARFUTURELookingatthenearfuturebeyond1998,anumberofimportantdevelopmentsarealreadyvisible.In1999,somerelevantmagazineswillhavetheirnameschangedtoshowtheirbroadeningscopes.TheGISworld,GISEuropeandGISAsiaPacificwillberenamedtoGeoWorld,GeoEuropeandGeoAsia.-Pacific,respectively.Intheverynearfuture,one-meterresolutionsatelliteimageswillbecomecommerciallyavailable.Itmeansthatverydetailedspatialinformationisextractablefromtheseimagesandonecouldhavesuchdatawithatemporalfrequencyof2-3days.Thistypeofimageswillbethemajordatasourceforanumberofapplicationsandtherewillbeurgentdemandsandchallengesonthetechnologyforinformationextractionfrom,andmanagementofsuchimages.Inthenearfuture,asOpenshaw(1998)pointedout,distributedspatialanalysisonInternetwouldbefeasiblewiththedevelopmentofJavaandheterogeneousGIS.Onecouldsendspatialanalysistaskstoaparticularwebsiteandreceivetheresultsbacklater.AstheVice-PresidentoftheUSA,A1Gore(1998),pointedoutinhisfamousarticle-TheDigitalEarth-thereisaseriousproblemwithcurrentinformationdisplayandthereisanurgentneedonmulti-scalerepresentationand3-Dvisualizationofterrain.Someoftheseproblemswillcertainlybetackledinthenearfuture.IthasbeenconsideredbyWrightandGoodchild(1997)thatmarinewouldbethecandidatetocaptivatethepublicandtoservethepragmaticinterestsasvitalasthemilitary'whilecreatingvastopportunityforjobsandinvestmentsinthenearfuture.Thisrequiresthedynamicandmultidimensionaldatamodel,whichisclearlyoneofthemajorfocusesofthecurrentresearchforceingeographicalinformationscience.THISSPECIALISSUEINTHECONTEXTOFGEOGRAPHICALINFORMATIONSCIENCEIndeed,1998couldbeayeartorememberinthecontextofgeographicalinformationscience.Itisnotonlyduetothemanyfactsoutlinedintheprevioussectionbutalsopossiblyduetothepublicationofthisissue.Inthisissue,Openshawreviewsthetrendsonspatialanalysisandofferssomefutureperspectivesonthistopic.OpenshawconcludesthatdistributedspatialanalysisonInternetwouldbefeasibleinthenearfutureandthespatialanalysisandgeographicaldataminingfloodgatesareabouttoopen.HefurtherclaimsthattheInternetprovidesanobviouschannelformeetingmanyoftheseneeds.Healthdataareanimportanttypeofspatialdata.Spatialanalysisofhealthdatausinggeographicinformationsystemshasattractedmuchattentionfromgeographicandpublichealthcommunities.In1998,twoconferenceswereheld:oneinSanDiegoon"GISinPublicHealth"andtheotherinBaltimoreon"HealthGeographics."Spearetal.reportauniqueapplicationofremotesensingandGIStothecontrolofschistosomiasis.ToachieveInternet-basedspatialanalysis,somerobustsoftwarearchitecturalmodelsarerequired.Inthisissue,Zhang,LiandLinpresentamodelfor"GISVirtualMachine",whichisasoftwareframeworkallowingdifferentfunctionalcomponentstointer-operatethroughtheInternettoprovidespatialanalysisservice.Ashasbeendiscussedintheprevioussection,dynamicandmultidimensionaldatamodelswillbecomeoneofthemajorresearchfocuses.Asaresult,anarticleonhybrid3-DdatastructurewrittenbyWangandGruenispresented.Itwasdesignedforcybercityandtakesconsiderationofthegeometrical,topological,texturalandthematicinformationof3-Dobjects.Tofacilitate3-Dvisualizationoftheterrainand/ortobuild3-Dmodelsterrainobjects,digitalterrainmodels(DTM)ordigitalelevationmodels(DEM)istheessentialbasis.Withtheavailabilityofhigh-resolutionsatelliteimages,high-qualityDTM(fineresolutionandhighaccuracyofdatapoints)areobtainableusingautomatedmatchingtechniques.ThiskindofDTM,however,doesnotalwaysprovideanadvantageandintelligentcompressionmaybeappliedtofilteroutsomelessimportantpoints.Thiswillundoubtedlycausealossofaccuracy.Li,LamandLireportsomeexperimentaltestonsuchaloss.Indeed,DTMhasbecomeatypeofspatialdatainanationalgeospatialdatainfrastructure.Itisnotonlythebasisfor3-Dvisualizationand3-Dmodelingbutalsothebasisfromwhichvarioustypesofinformationcanbeextractedfordifferentapplications.TheflowdistributionestimationinhydrologicalmodelingisoneofsuchinformationtobeextractedfromDTM.PilesjoandZhoupresentanewtechniqueforestimationofflowdistributionoveraDTMbasedontheanalysisoftopographicformasurfacefacetthatdictatestheflowdistribution.Inanygeographicalmodeling,e.g.theestimationofflowdistribution,errorisalwaysaconcern.Witherrors,someuncertaintyinfinalresultswillbecreated.Thebeststrategyistoavoiderrorifpossible.However,sometimes,errorsareinevitablethusonehastomanagethem.Forsuchmanagement,anunderstandingaboutthenatureoferrorsisessential.Meng,ShiandLiupresentanexperimentalresultonthedistributionoftheerrorsinthecartographiclinesthatweremanuallydigitizedfromanaloguemaps.Social-economicdataareamajortypeofspatialdataingeographicanalysis.Forsuchdata,TIGERfileshavebeenwidelyemployed.PangandZhudemonstratetheuseofsuchdatatostudythespatialstructureofrentalcostinanurbanarea.Inabroadenedscope,geographicalinformationscienceshouldalsoincludeGlobalPositioningSystem(GPS)andRemoteSensing(RS).Inthisissue,anarticleonGPSinnavigationalapplicationsauthoredbyChaoandDingisincluded.ThisarticleisabouttheintegrationofGPSwithGISfornavigationalapplications.Inremotesensing,land-cover&land-useclassificationandtheirchangedetectionarethefundamentaltopics.Althoughtheyhavebeenstudiedforoverhalfacentury,roomsarestillleftforimprovement.PuandGongintroduceanewapproachbasedongraysystemstheorytopredictlandcoverchangefromhistoricalaerialphotographs.EPILOGUEInthiseditorial,wefeelveryinconvenienttowritedownthefullnamesof“geographicalinformationscience”and“geographicalinformationsystems”inmostcasesinordernottomixthemup.Since“GIS”hasbeenbookedtoreferto“geographicalinformationsystems”,itmightbeagoodideatoadoptanotherwordfor“geographicalinformationscience”.Lookingatthedevelopmentandthecontextofgeographicalinformationscience,itmayberegardedasadisciplinewhichintegratestheories,techniquesandmethodologiesinspatialinformationprocessing.Fromthispointofview,thetermGeoinformaticsmightbemoreappropriate.Thiswordconsistsof“geo-”and“informatics”.ThelattercomesfromGerman"Informatik"whichreferstoadisciplinethatstudiesthecoding,transmission,process,retrievalandutilizationofinformation.Therefore,itisquitenaturaltorefer"Geoinformatics"togeographicalinformationscience.Indeed,"Geoinformatics"hasalreadybeenadoptedintheNeth