Day: June 15, 2010

ESRI Provides Road Map to Meet INSPIRE Timeline

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

New Insights and Strategies for Spatial Data Infrastructure to Be Presented at INSPIRE Conference

Solutions to help European Union (EU) member states follow Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) initiative time frames will be presented by ESRI and its European business partners at the INSPIRE Conference 2010 in Krakow, Poland, June 22–25. ESRI’s ArcGIS software, including the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension, will be demonstrated. The software provides the capability to create metadata for country geospatial information as required by the winter 2010 deadline.

“Implementing a national SDI that’s compliant with INSPIRE requires a modern GIS [geographic information system] that quickly incorporates changes and facilitates collaboration,” says Mark Cygan, map, chart, data production, and SDI industry manager, ESRI. “Such an ambitious initiative has to be approached by extending and adapting existing infrastructures every time new INSPIRE rules and guidelines become available. ESRI and our partners understand that a system should evolve smoothly from existing solutions to a fully operational, INSPIRE-compliant SDI.”

ESRI, con terra GmbH, and interactive instruments GmbH will be presenting a preconference workshop and paper presentation at the INSPIRE Conference, describing a road map to meet the INSPIRE objectives. The workshop, “How to become an INSPIRE node and fully exploit the investments made? Solution Patterns for data & service providers and for consumers: end users & developers”, will be held Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Participating organizations will gain an understanding of how to transform, publish, and download existing data sources in an INSPIRE-compliant manner.

ESRI’s vision for INSPIRE will be presented during the conference in the paper “SDI Solutions for INSPIRE: Technologies Supporting a Framework of Cooperation”. The paper will be presented Wednesday, June 23, 16:40 p.m. and identify challenges and reflect on the technologies and solutions that underpin a successful SDI.

“We are pleased to team with knowledgeable partners who can provide a pathway for supporting the INSPIRE initiative, including nontechnical aspects such as capacity building and organizational setup,” says Guenther Pichler, business development manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) Group at ESRI. “Ubiquitous and interoperable access to spatial information from a wide range of sources is key for decision making. European governance will be more efficient and effective, specifically regarding the sustainable management of resources and the environment.”

To learn more about ESRI’s solution for INSPIRE, visit www.esri.com/esri-inspire. For more information and to set up a private meeting at the conference, e-mail nationalmapping_info@esri.com.

[Source; ESRI press release]

Urban Growth Monitoring and Projection using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems: A Case Study in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Geocarto International, Volume 25, Issue 3 June 2010 , pages 213 – 230

Fei Yuan

“This study investigates urban growth dynamics from regional to local scales in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and demonstrates how metropolitan growth can be driven by policies. Urban change from 1975 to 2006 was detected using Landsat imagery. Future growth in 2030 was modelled based on two scenarios with or without regional development policies incorporated. City- or township-level growth was examined by a zonal analysis. Results show urban grew 126,700 ha from 1975 to 2006. The Markov-Cellular Automata model projected at least another 67,000 ha of urban growth from 2006 to 2030. When regional development policies were incorporated, homogeneous and compact growth patterns were predicted along the urban periphery; however, actual land supplies within the cities along the urban edge are facing challenges to accommodate the projected growth as large portions of suitable lands are located outside of the 2030 Municipal Urban Service Area boundary.”

Fine-scale Determinants of Butterfly Species Richness and Composition in a Mountain Region

/ Matt Artz

Journal of Biogeography, Date: May 2010

Javier Gutiérrez Illán, David Gutiérrez, Robert J. Wilson

“Aim: Global patterns of species richness are often considered to depend primarily on climate. We aimed to determine how topography and land cover affect species richness and composition at finer scales.

“Location: Sierra de Guadarrama (central Iberian Peninsula).

“Methods: We sampled the butterfly fauna of 180 locations (89 in 2004, 91 in 2005) at 600–2300 m elevation in a region of 10800 km2. We recorded environmental variables at 100-m resolution using GIS, and derived generalized linear models for species density (number of species per unit area) and expected richness (number of species standardized to number of individuals) based on variables of topoclimate (elevation and insolation) or land cover (vegetation type, geology and hydrology), or both (combined). We evaluated the models against independent data from the alternative study year. We also tested for differences in species composition among sites and years using constrained ordination (canonical correspondence analysis), and used variation partitioning analyses to quantify the independent and combined roles of topoclimate and land cover.

“Results: Topoclimatic, land cover and combined models were significantly related to observed species density and expected richness. Topoclimatic and combined models outperformed models based on land cover variables, showing a humped elevational diversity gradient. Both topoclimate and land cover made significant contributions to models of species composition.

“Main conclusions: Topoclimatic factors may dominate species richness patterns in regions with pronounced elevational gradients, as long as large areas of natural habitat remain. In contrast, both topoclimate and land cover may have important effects on species composition. Biodiversity conservation in mountainous regions therefore requires protection and management of natural habitats over a wide range of topoclimatic conditions, which may assist in facilitating range shifts and alleviating declines in species richness related to climate change.”

Threatened Archaeological, Historic, and Cultural Resources of the Georgia Coast: Identification, Prioritization and Management using GIS Technology

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Geoarchaeology, Volume 25, Issue 3, Date: May/June 2010, Pages: 312-326

Michael H. Robinson, Clark R. Alexander, Chester W. Jackson, Christopher P. McCabe, and David Crass

“Archaeological sites in beach and estuarine environments are continually threatened by diverse natural marine processes. Shoreline erosion, bluff retreat, and sea level rise all present potential for site destruction. Using historic maps, aerial imagery, and field survey methods in a GIS, 21 potentially significant archaeological sites on Georgia barrier islands were selected for determination of site-specific rates of shoreline change using a powerful, new, moving-boundary GIS analysis tool. A prioritized list of sites, based on the order of site loss from erosion, was generated to assist coastal managers in identifying and documenting sites most at risk. From the original selection of 21 sites, 11 sites were eroding, 8 shorelines were stable, and 2 shorelines were accreting. The methodology outlined here produces critical information on archaeological site loss rates and provides a straightforward means of prioritizing sites for detailed documentation.”

URISA to Present Third GIS in Public Health Conference in Atlanta

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

URISA – The Association for GIS Professionals – is pleased to announce the Third URISA GIS in Public Health Conference, taking place June 27-30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference program is developed through a Call for Presentations which will be issued shortly.

URISA is pleased to present this specialty conference, to explore the many uses of GIS for public health access, processes, and decision-making. A dedicated committee of well-known and respected professionals in the field has spearheaded this effort to create a specialty conference to promote sharing of information and networking within the discipline.

Previous Conferences:

  • URISA 2009 GIS in Public Health Conference – June 5-8, 2009 – Providence, Rhode Island
  • URISA’s Inaugural GIS in Public Health Conference – May 20-23, 2007 – New Orleans, Louisiana

For more information,visit http://www.urisa.org or contact Wendy Nelson at URISA, wnelson@urisa.org

[Source: URISA press release]

Potential Biases due to Geocoding Error in Spatial Analyses of Official Data

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Health & Place, Volume 15, Issue 2, June 2009, Pages 562-567

Geoff Hay, Kypros Kypri, Peter Whigham, and John Langley

“Geospatial methods have been used extensively to examine associations between alcohol outlet density and various harms; however, the literature offers too little methodological detail to assess possible geocoding biases in these studies. We used New Zealand liquor licensing and crime data to assess geocoding error. For the year with the best data, 69% of offences could be accurately mapped (91% of those in urban areas, 38% in rural areas). There was considerable urban–rural variation in the accuracy and specificity of location data. If similar error exists in other jurisdictions, previous findings may be biased. Greater consideration should be given to the effects of data quality in geospatial studies, and geocoding methods should be reported explicitly.”