ChronosDB in Action

Today, interactive maps are gaining popularity and are used by both specialists and ordinary users in various fields of science and technology. However, the development of the theoretical base of web cartography and the development of interactive maps lags significantly behind the practical component. Moreover, a systematization of the principles of user-centered design in the field of web mapping is necessary. The aim of this work is to create a methodical framework that can be universal for most interactive web map development projects. The creation of the framework is based on the established scheme of interactive web maps development, the ideas of user-oriented design, as well as on the personal experience of the authors in the development of interactive web maps. The methodical framework covers the following aspects: the need for interactivity of web maps, accessibility on various devices, the dimensional aspect of a map, data structuring, the choice of elements of interaction, the need of usage of third-party maps, multilinguality, the ability to upload user-generated content, the need to create animations, and the choice of the base software. The developed framework helps to form the determining part of the conception of an interactive web map, which is a fundamental step in the proposed process of a web map development. Moreover, the framework facilitates the process of creating interactive web maps and opens up new possibilities and development methods for specialists in web cartography. The authors, using the interactive web map dedicated to the World Heritage Site “Struve Geodetic Arc”, which was developed by them, as an example, clearly demonstrated the conceptual development process based on the methodical framework. The terminology is considered and a new definition of an interactive web map is given.

Nowadays environmental science experiences tremendous growth of raster data: N-dimensional (N-d) arrays coming mainly from numeric simulation and Earth remote sensing. An array DBMS is a tool to streamline raster data processing. However, raster data are usually stored in files, not in databases. Moreover, numerous command line tools exist for processing raster files. This paper describes a distributed array DBMS under development that partially delegates raster data processing to such tools. Our DBMS offers a new N-d array data model to abstract from the files and the tools and processes data in a distributed fashion directly in their native file formats. As a case study, popular satellite altimetry data were used for the experiments carried out on 8- and 16-nodes clusters in Microsoft Azure Cloud. New array DBMS is up to 70× faster than SciDB which is the only freely available distributed array DBMS to date.

Abstract. The current task of cartographic support for geological exploration and the oil and gas industry is to meet the needs for rapid access to spatial data by specialists. The preparation of specialized data for publication in interactive web maps involves a number of technical issues. Some of them are explored in detail in case of a cartographic support for a cameral processing and interpretation of geological, geophysical and other geoscientific data in Andaman deep water basin. The points highlighted here are in fact a reflection of the role of interactive web maps, regardless of the thematic content, in the development of the Real and Virtual maps concept. The experimental work presented in this article illustrates most of the R/V transformations first developed by H. Moellering in early 1980s. Solving the operations for transformations between real maps, interactive maps, initial (raw) thematic data and cartographic databases will help enrich cartography with new methods of creating and using data, expanding and adapting the communicative conception of cartography to modern realities. An example of the web map developed also shows how the cartographer can simplify the work of professionals in other sectors, their communication with each other through the map language and its web representations. The use of web maps in the poorly studied Andaman deep water basin shows how web maps can contribute to the quality implementation of government programs for increasing exploration and the subsequent development of mineral resources.

BackgroundThe rates of Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in England have been rising steadily since the mid 1990s, making them a major public health concern. In 2003, 672,718 people were diagnosed with an STD in England, and around one third of those cases were diagnosed in London.ResultsUsing GeoReveal v1.1 for Windows, we produced Web-based interactive choropleth maps of diagnoses of STDs by Primary Care Trust (PCT) in London for the years from 1997 to 2003 . These maps are in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format and require a freely available Adobe SVG browser plug-in to be displayed. They are based on data obtained from the House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 15 October 2004. They show steadily rising rates of STDs in London over the covered seven-year period. Also, one can clearly see on the maps that PCTs located in central London had the highest numbers of STD diagnoses throughout the mapped seven years. A companion bar chart allows users to instantly compare the STD figure of a given PCT for a given year against the average figure for all 25 mapped PCTs for the same year, and also compare those figures across all seven years. The maps offer users a rich set of useful features and functions, including the ability to change the classification method in use, the number of ranges in the map, and the colour theme, among others.ConclusionsWizard-driven tools like GeoReveal have made it very easy to transform complex raw data into valuable decision support information products (interactive Web maps) in very little time and without requiring much expertise. The resultant interactive maps have the potential of further supporting health planners and decision makers in their planning and management tasks by allowing them to graphically interrogate data, instantly spot trends, and make quick and effective visual comparisons of geographically differentiated phenomena between different geographical areas and over time.SVG makes an ideal format for such maps. SVG is a World Wide Web Consortium non-proprietary, XML-based vector graphics format, and is an extremely powerful alternative to Macromedia® Flash and bitmap graphics.

Explosive growth of raster data volumes in numerical simulations, remote sensing and other fields stimulate the development of new efficient data processing techniques. For example, in-situ approach queries data in diverse file formats avoiding time-consuming import phase. However, after data are read from file, their further processing always takes place with code developed almost from scratch. Standalone command line tools are one of the most popular ways for in-situ processing of raster files. Decades of development and feedback resulted in numerous feature-rich, elaborate, free and quality-assured tools optimized mostly for a single machine. The paper reports current development state and first results on performance evaluation of ChronosServer – distributed system partially delegating in-situ raster data processing to external tools. The new delegation approach is anticipated to readily provide rich collection of raster operations at scale. ChronosServer already outperforms state-of-the-art array DBMS on single machine up to 193×.

We have analysed satellite altimetry data from the ERS-2, ENVISAT and Topex/Poseidon satellites to construct water level time series over a 8-year period (from April 1996 to April 2004) over the lower Mekong River basin. The study area includes the Tonle Sap Lake, seasonally inundated areas and several branches of the hydrographic network of the Mekong delta. We found a very strong seasonal signal over the main river north of 13°N, the Tonle Sap Lake and Tonle Sap River, with amplitudes reaching 8-10 meters annually. We also found a clear interannual signal in altimetry-derived water level time-series. For example, year 1999 had weak floods (around 6 m amplitude), contrasting with year 2000 during which strong flood was noticed (around 10 m amplitude). Southward, we also observed large seasonal fluctuations (2-3 m) over inundated floodplains, as identified using satellite imagery data from the SPOT-4 Vegetation instrument. Depending on the location, quite different annual amplitudes were observed, the closer to the Mekong mouth, the smaller the signal (less than 0.5 m seasonal amplitude). Using NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) data from the Vegetation instrument, we studied the seasonal extent of flood plains in the delta. Then combining the areal extent of floods with water levels estimated from the ERS-2/ENVISAT data, we computed maps of monthly surface water volume change over six successive years (1998-2003), the period of availability of the NDVI data. Averaged over the lower Mekong basin, this surface water volume change was then compared to the total (i.e., surface plus underground) water volume change inferred from the GRACE satellite. They exhibit in phase fluctuations.

A raster is the primary data type in Earth science, geology, remote sensing and other fields with tremendous growth of data volumes. An array DBMS is an option to tackle big raster data processing. However, raster data are traditionally stored in files, not in databases. Command line tools have long being developed to process raster files. Most tools are feature-rich and free but optimized for a single machine. This paper proposes new techniques for distributed processing of raster data directly in diverse file formats by delegating considerable portions of work to such tools. An N-dimensional array data model is proposed to maintain independence from the files and the tools. Also, a new scheme named GROUP–APPLY–FINALLY is presented to universally express the majority of raster data processing operations and streamline their distributed execution. New approaches make it possible to provide a rich collection of raster operations at scale and outperform SciDB over \(410\times \) on average on climate reanalysis data. SciDB is the only freely available distributed array DBMS to date. Experiments were carried out on 8- and 16-node clusters in Microsoft Azure Cloud.

The Geologic Map Index of Alaska (Map Index) is an online, interactive web mapping application that provides access to an actively growing geographic index of geology-related maps of Alaska and adjacent areas. This online research tool provides the locations and outlines of most DGGS and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geologic and geophysical maps of Alaska in a single, interactive web map. It allows searches of the map database by geographic area of interest, keywords, themes, publishing agency, dates, and other criteria. The search results provide links to DGGS's comprehensive, multi-agency publications database, where users may view and download publications for free. No other geographic index of Alaska geologic maps exists at this time. Map Index provides access to traditional geologic maps, as well as geophysical, sample location, geologic hazards, and geologic resources maps. DGGS plans to add outlines and data to the application for remaining geologic maps published by DGGS, USGS, U.S. Bureau of Mines, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Reports without maps can be accessed through DGGS's comprehensive publications database, .

Since the roles of intuition and affection in map use and the relationship between these processes and the effectiveness in activities supported by maps have not been completely measured, this paper intends to bring a contribution to the discussion about the relationship between subjective preference and objective performance. A series of experiments with graduation students was carried out, asking students what they would prefer as a desirable type of map to use for an analytical decision-making process and then their performance of this process was measured. To ensure the validity of the experiment, maps used for this study were designed using a social background as their theme, with analysts being asked to decide where to invest public funds. The same experiment was conducted first using a subset of paper maps (1st stage) and then using interactive web maps (2nd stage). Three types of subsets of thematic maps were assigned randomly among the respondents. Statistical tests were applied and the correlation between preference and performance in this experiment was measured. Results for the 1st step show that there is no significant variation due to the technique used in the performance tests, and for this specific subject, there is insufficient evidence to guarantee that user's preference among map techniques can lead or is related to better performance. Also it was noted that performance decreases for a reasoning related task, and maybe this could be related to the need for a deeper analysis of data evolution through time.KeywordsLess Significant DifferenceGraphic VariableVisual VariableSituation ParishVisual Perception TaskThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Heritage conservation in Alexandria demands integrative, data-driven approaches that reconcile preservation efforts with satisfactory visitor access. This study investigates how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can document, evaluate, and spatially optimise the city’s cultural heritage. A four-stage framework was applied: (1) compiling a multi-source geodatabase of 294 heritage assets in addition to transport nodes; (2) digitising attributes for value scoring based on five National Organisation of Urban Harmony (NOUH) criteria; (3) conducting spatial analytics—hot-spot, nearest-neighbour, buffer, and network analysis—together with a six-parameter walkability index; and (4) translating findings into policy-relevant interventions and interactive web maps. Results reveal pronounced clustering in the historic downtown;however 83 high-value assets lie outside a 400 m walk from transit, notably in Foad Street, Kafr-Abdo, and Ancient Catacombs sub-areas. Proposed measures—two bus-stop extensions, and one new tram halt would reduce unserved sites to 8.5 per cent. Six optimised cultural routes cut average walking time within heritage clusters to maximise exposure to unique assets. A dashboard links routes, heritage metadata, and multimodal travel options as well as enabling user-defined preference customisation. The research demonstrates GIS’s capacity to integrate qualitative heritage evaluation with quantitative mobility analytics, offering a transferable model for sustainable, economically beneficial urban heritage management.

<p>Social vulnerability is mostly described as specific social inequalities in the context of a disaster. Following this understanding, empirical research focuses on the unequal exposure of different groups to disasters and/or on the unequal capacities of groups to anticipate, cope and recover from the impact of a hazard. Although social vulnerability has recently gained attention in academia, Sweden lacks frameworks and indicators to assess it at a national level.</p><p>Following the large amount of publicly available data in Sweden, to address this gap, we present a method for quantifying social vulnerability to climate risks in Swedish municipalities. A large number of variables were collected and analyzed to create quantitative indicators that purport to measure a municipality’s vulnerability. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the information in the variables was reduced to a smaller number of components and socioeconomic vulnerability scores for each Swedish municipality. The factor analysis resulted in five components explaining more than 75% of the total variance. The resulting components and the final index are mapped for each municipality.</p><p>The results show that socio-economic vulnerability is not evenly distributed across Sweden. Apart from those findings the fact that some municipal clusters are much more vulnerable than others, the developed method is a useful tool for comparing socio-economic conditions among municipalities and for identifying susceptible municipalities which are likely to face significant challenges in coping with future natural hazard events.</p><p>Preliminary results show similar trends of social vulnerability to natural hazards at a highly resolved spatial level of aggregation as comparted to municipal levels. As studies on social vulnerability are often data-driven and thus performed on larger administrative aggregations, the sub-set of socio-economic variables from Statistics Sweden used in this study was found useful in our approach. In order to explore social vulnerability in conjunction with coastal and fluvial flood scenarios, an interactive web map was created with ArcGIS Dashboards.</p>

Background The extent of past Indigenous cultural burning in the eastern US remains contested. Historical documents (e.g. early histories, journals, and reports) contain descriptions of burning. Scholars have summarised descriptions, but few have compiled them into databases. Aims This paper presents efforts to compile descriptions of past Indigenous burning in the eastern US and early results from mapped descriptions. Methods Utilising previously cited descriptions and those discovered from digitised historical texts, the current dataset mapped >250 descriptions of burning in the northeastern US. Most were historical summaries from 19th century authors, and fewer were firsthand observations. Descriptions are currently shared as a GIS data layer, a tabular file, and an interactive web map. Key results Descriptions correspond with fire-adapted vegetation, and clusters of descriptions suggest burning over large extents (e.g. southern New England, western New York). Estimated dates of burning or initial Euro-American settlement show an east–west succession in Indigenous fire exclusion and replacement with early Euro-American burning. Conclusions Historical descriptions suggest regional-extent influence of Indigenous burning upon past forested ecosystems, but the veracity of descriptions should be carefully evaluated. Implications This study provides a dataset for further examination of Indigenous burning and comparison with other methodologies for historical cultural fire reconstruction.

The ionospheric irregularities have important impact on the satellite navigation, communication, radar system <italic>etc</italic>. In this paper, the numerical simulation and observation data contrast are both carried out to validate the feasibility of wavelet decomposition and reconstruction method. Taking sporadic E for example, in numerical simulation, the background of the electron density distribution is simulated by the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI). Then the horizontal total electron density (<italic>δ</italic>_ht) is used in the inversion of the ionosphere irregularities, and the results are compared with the simulated data. With the wavelet decomposition and reconstruction method of observation data, the COSMIC occultation data from 1 to 9 in July 2009 have been compared with the ground-based observation data provided by SPIDR. Both results show well accordance with the true value or observation which indicates the method is feasible for the inversion of ionosphere irregularities. This is in great significance for the research of ionosphere irregularities.

FE modeling of the compressive behavior of porous copper-matrix nanocomposites

Together with ongoing experimental efforts to detect gravitational waves, several fronts of theoretical research are presently being pursued, including second-generation detector design, data analysis, and numerical-relativity simulations of sources. This thesis presents a study in each of these topics: i) The noise in the most sensitive frequency bands in second-generation ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers is dominated by the thermal noise of the test masses. One way to reduce test-mass thermal noise is to modify shape of the laser beam so that it better averages over the thermal fluctuations. When edge effects are neglected, the test-mass thermal noise is related to the beam shape by simple scaling laws. This thesis presents a rigorous derivation of these laws, along with estimates of the errors made by neglecting edge effects. ii) An important class of gravitational-wave sources for space-based gravitational-wave interferometers is extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs). These are binaries in which an object of a few solar masses spirals into a (typically million-solar-mass) supermassive black hole (or, if any exist, other type of massive body). Ryan (1995) proved that, under certain simplifying assumptions, the spacetime geometry is redundantly encoded in EMRI waves. One of Ryan's assumptions was negligible tidal coupling. After first finding that only the time-varying part of the induced tide is unambiguously defined when the central body is a black hole, this thesis extends Ryan's theorem by showing that both the spacetime geometry and details of the tidal coupling are encoded in EMRI waves. iii) Merging black holes with comparable masses are important sources of gravitational waves for ground-based detectors. The gravitational waves near the time of merger can only be predicted by numerically solving the Einstein equations. Initial data in numerical simulations must contain the desired physical content but also satisfy the Einstein constraint equations. But conventional binary-black-hole initial data has physical flaws: a nonzero orbital eccentricity and an initial, unphysical pulse of spurious gravitational radiation. Using the Caltech-Cornell pseudospectral code, this thesis develops and implements methods to reduce both of these effects.