Day: January 21, 2011

Scales of Temporal and Spatial Variability of Midlatitude Land Surface Temperature

/ Matt Artz

Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 116, 2011

Konstantin Y. Vinnikov, Yunyue Yu, Mitchell D. Goldberg, Ming Chen, and Dan Tarpley

“Scales of temporal and spatial variability of clear-sky land surface temperature (LST) in middle latitudes are empirically evaluated using data from satellite and land surface observations. We consider separately the time-dependent expected value, its spatial variations, weather-related temporal and spatial anomalies, and errors of LST observation. Seasonal and diurnal cycles in the time-dependent expected value of LST are found to be the main components of temporal variations of clear-sky LST. The scale of spatial variability in the expected value of LST is found to be much smaller than the scale of spatial variability of the weather-related signal. The scale of temporal autocorrelation of weather-related LST variations is found to be in a good agreement with our earlier preliminary estimate and equal to 3 d, which corresponds to the time scale of weather system variations. This weather-related signal in clear-sky LST is statistically the same as in surface air temperature (SAT) observations at regular meteorological stations. The scale of spatial autocorrelation of weather-related LST variations exceeds 1000 km, which is the spatial scale of synoptic weather systems. These estimates provide us with a basis for better understanding and interpretation of LST observations from past, current, and future geostationary satellites and polar orbiters. ”

A Geographic Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Spatio-Temporal Constraints on Social Networks

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Spatio-Temporal Constraints on Social Networks Workshop, University of California, Santa Barbara, Center for Spatial Studies, 13-14 December 2010

A Geographic Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Spatio-Temporal Constraints on Social Networks

Daniel Sui

“In much the same way as web search engines provide instant access to the retrospective web of previously crawled and indexed content, rapidly expanding social computing services are a catalyst for what is known as the prospective web, with constantly modified real-time content that reflects the current activity of the web’s participants. As an integral part of the prospective web, social media is quickly becoming social sensors that broadcast signals at both individual and societal levels. The explosive growth and diffusions of locative social media and the spatial turn in media studies, coupled with the communicational turn in geography, are providing us a golden opportunity to study social media and social networking from geographic perspectives. As the first step, I am interested in contributing a geographic conceptual framework for understanding spatio-temporal constraints on social networks. This framework will be developed by synthesizing the insights gained from the spatial turn in media studies (Falkheimer, and Jansson, 2006) and the communicational turn in geography (Adams, 2009).”

No Instructions Required: Taking the GIS out of Web Mapping

/ Matt Artz

URISA, British Columbia Chapter
GIS Technology Showcase, 19 January 2011
Burnaby,Canada

Chad Huntington

“The Geosource web mapping application has been an invaluable tool for TOL staff members and its residents for the past five years. However, due to the technological constraints of traditional tools available for web mapping development, the end result has been a non user-friendly product that is effectively a “desktop in a browser.” This presentation will showcase how the Geomatics Department plans to utilize new technology and the concept of neogeography to take the GIS out of web mapping by developing a set of high-performance, content-rich and context-specific products that remain intuitive enough that no tutorials or training will be required.”