Population Analysis Using Gis Software Tools – Case Study of Romania

For the performance of geographic information systems, it has been widely recognized that efficient data structures and algorithms supporting proximity based access to spatial data are a crucial ingredient. Because of that, in the last years, a lot of data structures for storage of multidimensional non-point objects have been proposed in the literature (for an overview see our tutorial introduction in this volume). Almost all of these approaches are made to support queries based on spatial neighborhood of objects, so-called proximity queries. Common examples of such proximity queries are range queries, returning all objects intersecting a given (rectangular) region, or nearest neighbor queries, determining the object nearest to a given point. But a geographic or cartographic information system should also support queries that do not exclusively refer to the spatial neighborhood of objects. For example, different versions of spatial data must be organized such that proximity queries to any version of the data can be answered efficiently. Or, given a set of object classes, a spatial query that involves an arbitrary combination of these classes should also be supported. Because of the growing size of data sets to be handled in geographic information systems, an appropriate data organisation to support such and several other application-specific queries becomes more and more important. In this paper, we will present two approaches for access structures supporting the two types of queries mentioned above. Handling of versioned, spatial data is the topic of Section 2, while Section 3 discusses queries on some classes selected from the set of object classes stored in a geographic information system.

In this thesis, concepts for developing Spatial Data Infrastructures with an emphasis on visualizing 3D landscape and city models in distributed environments are discussed. Spatial Data Infrastructures are important for public authorities in order to perform tasks on a daily basis, and serve as research topic in geo-informatics. Joint initiatives at national and international level exist for harmonizing procedures and technologies. Interoperability is an important aspect in this context - as enabling technology for sharing, distributing, and connecting geospatial data and services. The Open Geospatial Consortium is the main driver for developing international standards in this sector and includes government agencies, universities and private companies in a consensus process. 
\n3D city models are becoming increasingly popular not only in desktop Virtual Reality applications but also for being used in professional purposes by public authorities. Spatial Data Infrastructures focus so far on the storage and exchange of 3D building and elevation data. For efficient streaming and visualization of spatial 3D data in distributed network environments such as the internet, concepts from the area of real time 3D Computer Graphics must be applied and combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For example, scene graph data structures are commonly used for creating complex and dynamic 3D environments for computer games and Virtual Reality applications, but have not been introduced in GIS so far. 
\nIn this thesis, several aspects of how to create interoperable and service-based environments for 3D spatial data are addressed. These aspects are covered by publications in journals and conference proceedings. The introductory chapter provides a logic succession from geometrical operations for processing raw data, to data integration patterns, to system designs of single components, to service interface descriptions and workflows, and finally to an architecture of a complete distributed service network.
\nDigital Elevation Models are very important in 3D geo-visualization systems. Data structures, methods and processes are described for making them available in service based infrastructures. A specific mesh reduction method is used for generating lower levels of detail from very large point data sets. An integration technique is presented that allows the combination with 2D GIS data such as roads and land use areas. This approach allows using another optimization technique that greatly improves the usability for immersive 3D applications such as pedestrian navigation: flattening road and water surfaces. It is a geometric operation, which uses data structures and algorithms found in numerical simulation software implementing Finite Element Methods. 
\n3D Routing is presented as a typical application scenario for detailed 3D city models. Specific problems such as bridges, overpasses and multilevel networks are addressed and possible solutions described. The integration of routing capabilities in service infrastructures can be accomplished with standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium. An additional service is described for creating 3D networks and for generating 3D routes on the fly. Visualization of indoor routes requires different representation techniques.
\nAs server interface for providing access to all 3D data, the Web 3D Service has been used and further developed. Integrating and handling scene graph data is described in order to create rich virtual environments. Coordinate transformations of scene graphs are described in detail, which is an important aspect for ensuring interoperability between systems using different spatial reference systems. The Web 3D Service plays a central part in nearly all experiments that have been carried out. It does not only provide the means for interactive web-visualizations, but also for performing further analyses, accessing detailed feature information, and for automatic content discovery.
\nOpenStreetMap and other worldwide available datasets are used for developing a complete architecture demonstrating the scalability of 3D Spatial Data Infrastructures. Its suitability for creating 3D city models is analyzed, according to requirements set by international standards. A full virtual globe system has been developed based on OpenStreetMap including data processing, database storage, web streaming and a visualization client.
\nResults are discussed and compared to similar approaches within geo-informatics research, clarifying in which application scenarios and under which requirements the approaches in this thesis can be applied.
\n

Abstract: This book presents a comprehensive and interdisciplinary framework for advancing spatial big data analytics by integrating distributed computing technologies with modern Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It addresses the growing complexity and scale of geospatial data characterized by high volume, velocity, and spatial-temporal heterogeneity. The core objective is to equip researchers, analysts, and practitioners with scalable methodologies that harness the combined power of the Hadoop ecosystem and ArcGIS platforms for processing, modeling, and visualizing large-scale spatial datasets. The analytical framework developed in this work builds on foundational spatial concepts—such as topology, projections, and spatial autocorrelation—and extends into advanced topics including spatial machine learning, geostatistics, real-time sensor stream analytics, and spatial-temporal modeling. Methodologies encompass the use of HDFS, MapReduce, GeoSpark, and SpatialHadoop for distributed processing, combined with ArcGIS tools for spatial modeling, scripting (ArcPy), and high-resolution visualization. Empirical case studies drawn from environmental monitoring, urban planning, disaster response, and precision agriculture illustrate end-to-end pipelines that emphasize reproducibility, ethical data handling, and decision-oriented visualization. The key contribution of this volume lies in bridging computational infrastructure with geospatial reasoning, offering a scalable, interoperable, and ethically informed approach to modern spatial data science. Keywords spatial big data, geospatial analytics, Hadoop, ArcGIS, spatial machine learning, spatial-temporal modeling, GIS, MapReduce, GeoSpark, SpatialHadoop, ArcPy, distributed computing, geostatistics, spatial data visualization, real-time stream analytics, spatial data science, geoinformatics, environmental monitoring, urban analytics, data-intensive GIS

The most prominent problem of rapid urbanism in Harare is the development of slums and Epworth is a notable example. The quality of planning and decision making in the participatory slum upgrading initiative can be sustainably improved by well managed processes of spatial and socio-economic data collection. More so, existing approaches for slum upgrading are built on the basis of collaborative planning and thus community participation. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and support systems should explicitly consider the needs of professional and non-professional stakeholders in slum upgrading process. This study aimed to develop a customized “GIS based slum upgrading system" that would empower the community to participate in the planning and decision making processes involved in slum upgrading. The study involved developing tools that could be used by lay people, to achieve the same results an expert would. To achieve this, a PostgreSQL/Postgis spatial database integrating the spatial and enumeration data component was developed as the backend with a front end developed using VB.Net. A Map Control tool was imported from Map window 4.7 for displaying and interacting with spatial data. Techniques such as buffering were incorporated in the system to allow users to check for structures within a given distance of a feature. The system also provided a tool that allowed users to select an area and calculate the number of stands that can be obtained after inputting parameters like stand size and type of road. The system provided for tools that calculate statistical values e.g. determining the population as well as the number of households in a selected area. Users could also query for socio-economic data by selecting spatial features. This provided flexibility in terms of the interaction of the users with the data. The system proved that with user oriented GIS system it is possible to develop tools that can be used by lay people especially those in slums to formalize their areas and obtain security of tenure.Keywords: Slum upgrading, Participatory GIS, Security of tenure

Coral reef ecosystems are threatened with extinction. Along with the development of technology, the distribution of coral reefs can be reviewed only by looking at an information map. The purpose of this research is to map coral reef ecotourism on Pahawang Island. So that it is expected to provide information to the community and also island developers related to the condition of the coral reef ecosystem on Pahawang Island. The method used in map processing is sentinel 2A image data processing with the guided classification method in ArcGIS software, while the analysis method is descriptive, which describes the results of the coral reef cover map. The results of the analysis and discussion found that Geographic Information System (GIS) based remote sensing with processed sentinel 2A imagery is very helpful in the process of finding information on the distribution of coral reefs on Pahawang Island. Data processing in ArcGIS software using guided classification methods can be used in order to produce coral cover maps. The results of the coral reef distribution map have an area of 128.64 Ha. The conclusion is that Geographic Information System (GIS) based remote sensing with ArcGIS software can be used to produce coral cover maps. On Pahawang Island, the coral reef cover area of 128.64 Ha was obtained.

Geographic Information System (GIS) skills are increasingly marketable across a wide range of industries, subject areas and specialized fields. As a result, GIS courses draw students from a plethora of disciplines beyond geography, including business, social sciences, agriculture, geology, natural resources and computer science. At advanced teaching levels, this disciplinary diversity generates questions about how complex GIS skills are being taught to students who do not necessarily have a background in geography or the spatial sciences. This study compares undergraduate and graduate course curricula to determine what topics, techniques and theory are being addressed and prioritized in GIS courses across pedagogical levels. We surveyed 1,698 courses being taught at 126 research universities in the United States. Our findings point towards a shift in pedagogy that favours technique- or application-centred lessons at advanced levels that require less background knowledge in geography than more theory-centred teaching methods. Our findings also suggest that a large number of graduate courses, even introductory courses ones, fail to address many fundamental GIS concepts and theories. Together, the results suggest a need for standards to ensure that students enrolled in GIS classes are properly trained to enter the workforce with appropriate skills.

The development and increased use of geographic information systems (GIS) in policing has intensified the demand for public access to digital spatial information. For example, those in the academic arena require access to spatial information to augment their learning, teaching and research endeavours, while the general public need spatially related crime information related to their local area or region to inform decisions that impact upon their everyday living (for example, safety precautions, choice of residential suburb). Much of this information exists, such as the 2001 Census from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2003), crime data available on the Queensland Police Service (QPS) website (http://www.police.qld.gov.au/), and the Atlas of Crime in Australia 2000 (AIC, 2000), yet often the information is not in a form that is easily accessible or comprehendable, requiring an understanding of and access to relatively complex commercial GIS packages. In recent years, police and researchers have worked closely together to develop publicly accessible web-based GIS applications for crime mapping, crime analysis, community mapping and information sharing (see, e.g., Police Foundation, 2001; Shyy et al., 2005; Chainey and Smith, 2006). Dragicevic (2004) highlights how web-based GIS has enhanced the open use of GIS in three main directions including: spatial data access and dissemination; spatial data exploration and geovisualization; and spatial data processing, analysis and modelling.

BackgroundThis paper reports on a case study of the use of visualization of geospatial data that is distributed across data sets and requires integration over time and space to aid decision makers. Like many State Highway Agencies (SHAs) in the United States, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is organized along the traditional functional lines of planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations. It has historically relied on experience and longevity of its staff to efficiently and effectively plan its construction and maintenance projects. Although functional boundaries of maintenance and construction are fairly clearly defined, there tends to be some overlap in projects that can be executed by either of the functional groups. The department currently does not have a robust integrated information system for identifying potential planning conflicts between its construction and maintenance projects. This has led to suboptimal use of resources, including overlapping plans for maintenance and mobility enhancement projects.Case descriptionWith over 650 highway projects assigned across two functional groups within the district’s (TxDOT Fort Worth district) boundary, it is a challenging task to assemble a coherent plan for managing these projects over a multi-year planning period that is subject to external stakeholder input as well as shifting funding constraints. Temporal and spatial data needed for integrated planning resides in specialized information systems developed for the needs of individual functional groups. To address this challenge, this district decided to integrate and visualize data from individual information systems in a Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS-based tool was developed to integrate, visualize, and analyze projects data from multiple information systems.Discussion and evaluationThis paper documents the benefits associated with visualization and integration of projects data in a GIS to address planning challenges facing a typical highway agency. Among the lessons learned are the potential uses of GIS, which include detecting spatially and temporally overlapping projects, supporting integrated planning, and improving communication among functional groups within a state highway agency.ConclusionThe study demonstrates that such spatial-temporal representations of project data can lead to early identification of potential overlaps during the planning phase. In a broader context, such geospatial visualization efforts can also form the basis for eliciting practitioners’ perspectives and knowledge input in the development of spatial decision support systems.

North Carolina State University (NCSU) Center for Earth Observation (CEO) is assisting the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources (NCDFR) in integrating modern spatial analysis tools and data into their daily forest management practices as well as in pre-suppression fire planning. Specific objectives of this project are to: (1) construct a geographic database useful for pre-suppression planning and forest management; (2) identify damaged forested areas within zone(s) estimated to have sustained 75-100% downed trees during hurricane Fran; (3) provide current county fire control maps for the state; (4) conduct workshops on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS); (5) provide guidance and assistance in implementing a statewide GIS program and (6) provide GIS tools to make utilization of data easier. In 1996 Hurricane Fran left behind much forest debris presenting a significant fire hazard to North Carolina. In early 1998, the NCSU CEO used traditional photogrammetric methods to map polygons of downed timber in the two counties determined by a preliminary survey to have the most forest damage. Topography was compiled for the 53 county region declared a disaster area after the hurricane. In addition, NCSU has compiled GIS data including roads, hydrology, land cover, places, and 1993 digital orthophoto quarter quadrangles statewide.

Paper, 83830S, 8 S.

Principles of stereoscopic vision have long been used in geographic data processing and visualization, e.g. Laussedat created what he called metrophotography in 1895 [2][3] and a stereoautograph for plotting from terrestrial photographs was produced in 1911 [2]. Today, a common and established use of stereoscopy in geographic domain is three-dimensional (3D) modeling of terrains and cities based on aerial, satellite and/or terrestrial imagery with photogrammetric techniques. In these systems, commonly, stereoscopic imagery is used as an input and a vector 3D representation of the terrain or city is obtained as an output. Stereoscopy has also been used for close-range photogrammetry, however within the scope of this paper the focus is on the cartographic use of stereoscopic visualizations. In recent years, a number of mainstream digital devices with stereoscopic capabilities are marketed (e.g. [4], [5], [6]), which indicates that we can expect to see more stereoscopic content in the near future [1]. In anticipation of such a development, it is also plausible to expect that stereoscopic geo-data will become more available for everyday use. It is, therefore, interesting to document which stereoscopic visualization features are supported by mainstream geographic information systems (GIS) software and whether these features can be improved. This work presents a survey on current stereoscopic visualization support in geographic information (GI) systems. The underlying objective is to outline future research needs by examining current stereoscopic 3D visualization techniques and tools in current GISs. This paper focuses on visualization modules of GIS software, and tries to answer the question “How commonly is stereoscopic visualization supported in GIS?" To achieve this, first whether such support exits or not in GIS software is documented, then supported types of stereoscopic operations and viewing methods are reported. Motivated by improving efficiency of stereoscopic visualizations in cartographic domain, within this survey, it is also examined whether these software offer level of detail (LOD) management support for stereoscopic datasets. Findings from the study are meant as a guide to researchers and practitioners to assess the current state of True 3D support in widely used GIS software.

Economic growth rate of any country largely depends on the development of mineral sector. Then, the level of technology employed for meeting the extraction conditions must meet environmental norms. Exploration of mineral resources in India and mining is a ready application for technologies for ensuring productivity and efficiency. Use of Geographical Information System (GIS) in mineral resources management is of great help, where each stakeholder can access, use and exchange spatial and nonspatial data for social, economic and environmental activities. With development of communication and information technology, integration of heterogeneous repository of data from the different data sources can be achieved by using Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). At the present scenario, the dynamic updating of data, data analysis, data visualisation and data uploading are lacking in most of the information system in GIS environment. For real time integrated mineral resources information monitoring, it is essential to integrate information system with geospatial database. Visualisation of integrated mineral resources information is possible on the desktop environment with the help of GIS. But it is not sufficient for updating the data in dynamic environment. It may be possible to perform dynamic tasks like update, analysis and visualisation of mineral resources information through the mobile devices with the modern high end mobile communication infrastructure. It makes it possible and very useful to take the decision at anytime from anywhere in the world. The data repositories can also be timely updated with the help of common mobile devices from any location, of course with security measure in place. In the present work, a three tier secure framework has been proposed for the mobile based SDI Model for the better management of mineral resources information infrastructure with the use of mobile devices by the integration of geospatial database. The interaction between the various services in the proposed Model has been modeled by using Unified Modeling Language (UML) use case and activity diagrams.

In the last decades, three-dimensional asset management is one of the significant practices that is rapidly being used nowadays. Nowadays, 3D GIS has been applied in various applications, especially asset management. A major problem that faces the country at present is the lack of effective tools for managing and maintaining the assets. Currently, in Malaysia, there has been a system that develop by the government named Malaysia Immovable Asset Management System (MySPATA) that is used for the recording, managing, and monitoring government immovable assets. However, this system has not been very successfully utilized due to data complexity and complication in the documentation. This also happens because there are issues involving the management of spatial data due to the growing complexity in infrastructure and limitation of applications. In the surge of digitized economies and industrial improvement, the usefulness of data visualization is becoming increasingly significant in sectors such as smart city planning, construction, management, and services. Therefore, for this to happen, integration between 3D asset management and the CityGML concept is needed This paper focuses on managing 3D asset management using the CityGML concept. CityGML is an independent geospatial information model for semantic 3D city and landscape models that contain various features and modules such as spatial information, data integration, and data visualization. Integration of current technology which is Geographical Information System (GIS) and CityGML concept being employed for 3D asset management. A 3D asset management modeling is being developed using the CityGML standard to track spatial assets, maintain asset records, and sustain an accurate inventory of assets. Thus, in the future, an effective GIS database management will be developed to ensure adequate system performance and operational.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a technology that deals with location to support better representations and decision making. It has a long tradition in several planning areas, such as urbanism, environment, riskiness, transportation, archeology or tourism. In academics context higher education has followed that evolution. Despite of their potentialities in education, GIS technologies at the elementary and secondary have been underused. Empowering graduates to learn with GIS and to manipulate spatial data can effectively facilitate the teaching of critical thinking. Likewise it has been recognized that GIS tools can be incorporated as an interdisciplinary pedagogical tool. Nevertheless more practical examples on how GIS tools can enhance teaching and learning process, namely to promote interdisciplinary approaches. The proposed paper presents some results obtained from the project “Each thing in its place: the science in time and space”. This project results from the effort of three professors of Geography, History and Natural Sciences in the context of Didactics of World Knowledge curricular unit to enhance interdisciplinarity through Geographic Information Technologies (GIT). Implemented during the last three years this action-research project developed the research practice using GIS to create an interdisciplinary attitude in the future primary education teachers. More than teaching GIS the authors were focused on teaching with GIS to create an integrated vision where spatial data representation linked the space, the time and natural sciences. Accumulated experience reveals that those technologies can motivate students to learn and facilitating teacher’s interdisciplinary work.

This research paper discusses about the application of Web-Based Geographical Information System (GIS), an ICT tool for electronic business; particularly through Internet, with a future plan to develop e-promotion and strategic marketing by implementing Web GIS tools for Geobusiness. In the context of e-business, this present study penetrates the usage of GIS to disseminate maximum level of information to the customers. On the other hand, it depicts the growing incorporation of GIS in target marketing, business management, and strategic decision-making processes. It discusses how this modern Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) tool is used for collecting and analyzing information for the efficient and effective management and promotion of e-commerce. Geographical Information System (GIS) is the fundamental science and technology for Geo Design, a systematic methodology of Geographic planning and decision making. Web GIS is the modern technology for capturing, storing, retrieving, mapping and analyzing spatial and non-spatial geographical data in the digital format over the internet. It provides all the GIS functions over the Web, these functions can, in turn, be applied in various sectors of e-business. This paper highlights on the technical aspects of Web GIS for strategic planning, daily business operations, supply chain management, marketing, customer service, improving efficiency and attaining competitive advantage for business organizations.