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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Cartography, geodesy & geographic information systems (GIS)
The use of air photographs as an aid to understanding and mapping natural resources has long been an established technique. The advent of satellite imagery was, and indeed by many still is, regarded as a very high altitude air photograph, but with the introduction of digital techniques the full analysis of imagery has become very sophisticated. Radar imagery presents the resource scientist with a new imaging technique that has to be understood and used, a technique which, although in many respects still in its infancy, has considerable applications potential for resources studies. Remote sensing now forms an element in study courses in the earth sciences in many major universities and a number of universities offer specialist post-graduate courses in remote sensing. Nevertheless there are a large number of earth scientists already working with imagery who have progressed from the air photograph base to satellite imagery. Such scientists may find themselves confronted with microwave or radar imagery or wish to use the imagery for surveys and find themselves hindered by a lack of understanding of the differences between radar imagery and optical imagery. Unfortunately reference to much of the literature will not be of very great help, many excellent text books on the theory and interaction of microwaves, on instrument design and construction and on the research carried out on specific target types exist, most of these are however written for specialists who are usually physicists not earth scientists.
The 7th International Conference on Basement Tectonics was held at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, from August 17th to 21st, 1987. Much ofthe conference was devoted to presentations and discussions on "Major Fracture Zones in the Earth's Crust" and "The Tectonic Evolution of North America" . Subsidiary themes at the conference were "Tectonic Controls of Cratonic Basins" and "Basement Structures and Metallogeny" . The conference was characterized by lively discussion amongst a diverse group of participants with a broad spectrum of interests, encouraged by the single-session format of the conference and a generous allotment of time for discussion following each presentation. The following presided over individual sessions and their assistance is greatly acknowledged: D.L. Baars, P.J. Barosh, M.J. Bartholomew, R.e. Bostrom, D.M. Carmichael, E.M. Chown, J.J. Gallagher, M.C. Gilbert, H. Helmstaedt, R.A. Hodgson, Y.O. Isachsen, J. Kutina, P.D. Lowman, S.P. Gay, Jr. and M.J. Rickard.
Optical Metrology is a rapidly expanding field i'n both its scientific foundations and technological developments, being of major concern to measurements, quality control, non-destructive tes ting and in fundamental research. In order to define the state-of-the-art, and to evaluate pre sent accomplishments, whilst giving an appraisal of how each of the particular topics will evolve the Optical Metrology-anAdvancedStudy Institute was organized with a concourse of the world's acknowledged experts. Thus, the Institute provided a forum for tutorial reviews blended with topics of current research in the form of a progressive and comprehensive presentation of recent promising developments, lea ding techniques and instrumentation in incoherent and coherent optics for Metrology, Sensing and Control in Science, Industry and Biomedici ne. Optical Metrology is a very broad field which is highly inter disciplinary in its applications, and in its scientific and technolo gical background. It is related to such diverse disciplines as physi cal and chemical sciences, engineering, electronics, computer scien ces, biological sciences and theoretical sciences, such as statistics. Although there was an emphasis on photomechanics and industri al applications, a marked diversity was reflected in the different background and interests of the participants. The vitality and viabi lity of the discipline was enhanced not only by the encouraging number of young scientists and industrialists participating and authoring, but also by the remarkably promising prospects found in x the practical applications supported by advanced electronic hybridi zation."
An up-to-date, detailed set of notes covering all aspects of NOAA AVHRR data collection, pre-processing, analysis and application. Includes many FTP sites, e-mail addresses and URL locations. Some chapters address particular aspects of the NOAA AVHRR system, such as radiometric calibration and geometric correction, while others provide general information of interest to any remote sensing study, such as radiative transfer modelling and atmospheric correction. The publication of a book that covers all important aspects of the treatment and understanding of the data in one volume makes the work a convenient, informative `recipe book' that is sure to become a favourite for all users of NOAA AVHRR data.
This book is a collection of the most recent and significant research on algorithms for the analysis of polar sea-ice SAR data. All algorithms are implemented and tested. One chapter is from the Alaskan SAR Facility, the major NASA archive of polar SAR data and a source of many SAR analysis algorithms, including high-level results of such analyses. One chapter has been written jointly by the US and Canadian Ice Centers, which provide e.g., operational sea-ice products to the shipping and oil-drilling industries and to polar explorations. This book will be useful to all researchers in the polar sciences community.
It is the task of the engineer, as of any other professional person, to do everything that is reasonably possible to analyse the difficulties with which his or her client is confronted, and on this basis to design solutions and implement these in practice. The distributed hydrological model is, correspondingly, the means for doing everything that is reasonably possible - of mobilising as much data and testing it with as much knowledge as is economically feasible - for the purpose of analysing problems and of designing and implementing remedial measures in the case of difficulties arising within the hydrological cycle. Thus the aim of distributed hydrologic modelling is to make the fullest use of cartographic data, of geological data, of satellite data, of stream discharge measurements, of borehole data, of observations of crops and other vegetation, of historical records of floods and droughts, and indeed of everything else that has ever been recorded or remembered, and then to apply to this everything that is known about meteorology, plant physiology, soil physics, hydrogeology, sediment transport and everything else that is relevant within this context. Of course, no matter how much data we have and no matter how much we know, it will never be enough to treat some problems and some situations, but still we can aim in this way to do the best that we possibly can.
In the past half century, we have experienced two major waves of methodological development in the study of human behavior in space and time. The fIrst wave was the well known "quantitative revolution" which propelled geography from a mainly descriptive discipline to a scientifIc discipline using formalism such as probability, statistics, and a large-number of mathematical methods for analyzing spatial structures and processes under certainty and uncertainty. The second wave is the recent advancement of geographical information systems which equips geographers with automation in the storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of data. Both developments have significant impacts on geographical studies in general and solutions to real life spatio-temporal problems in particular. They have found applications in urban and regional planning, automated mapping and facilities management, transportation planning and management, as well as environmental planning and management, to name but a few examples. Both developments have one thing in common. They one way or the other use computer to process and analyze data. However, not until recently, there has been very little interaction between the two. Quantitative models have largely been developed independent of the underlying data models and structures representing the spatial phenomena or processes under study. Display of analysis results has been primitive in terms of the utilization of computer graphic technologies. Formal models, in addition to their technical difficulties, have poor capability in communication with users. Geographical information systems, on the other hand, have originally been developed with a slight intention to entertain powerful analytical models.
This book is the latest volume in the series entitled " Data and Knowledge in a Changing World ", published by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (Icsu). This series was established to collect together, from many diverse fields, the wealth of information pertaining t.o the intelligent exploitation of data in the conduct of science and technology. This volume is the first in a two-volume series that will discuss techniques for the analysis of natural dynamic systems, and their applications to a variety of geophysical problems. The present volume lays out the theoretical foun dations for these techniques. The second volume will use these techniques in applications to fields such as seismology, geodynamics, geoelectricity, ge omagnetism, aeromagnetics, topography and bathymetry. The book consists of two parts, which describe two complementary ap proaches to the analysis of natural systems. The first, written by A. Gvishi ani, deals with dynamic pattern recognition. It lays out the mathematical VI Foreword theory and the formalized algorithms that. forms the basis for the classifi cation of vector objects and the use of this classification in the study of dynamical systems, with particular emphasis on the prediction of system behavior in space and time. It discusses the construction of classification schemes, and the evaluation of their stability and reliability.
Natural and anthropogenic disasters have caused a large number of victims and significant social and economic losses in the last few years. There is no doubt that the risk prevention and disaster management sector needs drastic measures and improvements in order to decrease damage and save lives of inhabitants. Effective utilization of satellite positioning, remote sensing, and GIS in disaster monitoring and management requires research and development in numerous areas: data collection, access and delivery, information extraction and analysis, management and their integration with other data sources (airborne and terrestrial imagery, GIS data, etc.), data standardization, organizational and legal aspects of sharing of remote sensing information. This book provides researchers and practitioners with a good overview of what is being developed in this topical area.
Remote sensing is the study of a region from a distance, particularly from an airplane or a spacecraft. It is a tool that can be used in conjunction with other methods of research and investigation. This tool is especially applicable to the study of the deserts and arid lands of the Earth because of their immense size and their inaccessibility to detailed study by conventional means. In this book examples are given of the utility of aerial photographs and space images in the study of semi-arid, arid, and hyper-arid terrains. Emphasis is placed on the physical features and terrain types using examples from around the world. The authors I have called upon to prepare each chapter are renowned specialists whose contributions have received international recognition. To the general reader, this book is a review of our knowledge of the relatively dry parts of the Earth, their classification and varied features, their evolution in space and time, and their development potentials. To the specialist, it is a detailed account of the deserts and arid lands, not only in North America, but also their relatively unknown counterparts in North Africa, Australia, China, India, and Arabia.
Decision Support Systems for Risk-Based Management of Contaminated Sites addresses decision making in environmental risk management for contaminated sites, focusing on the potential role of decision support systems in informing the management of chemical pollutants and their effects. Considering the environmental relevance and the financial impacts of contaminated sites all over the post-industrialized countries and the complexity of decision making in environmental risk management, decision support systems can be used by decision makers in order to have a more structured analysis of a problem at hand and define possible options of intervention to solve the problem. Accordingly, the book provides an analysis of the main steps and tools for the development of decision support systems, namely: environmental risk assessment, decision analysis, spatial analysis and geographic information system, indicators and endpoints. Sections are dedicated to the review of decision support systems for contaminated land management and for inland and coastal waters management. Both include discussions of management problem formulation and of the application of specific decision support systems. This book is a valuable support for environmental risk managers and for decision makers involved in a sustainable management of contaminated sites, including contaminated lands, river basins and coastal lagoons. Furthermore, it is a basic tool for the environmental scientists who gather data and perform assessments to support decisions, developers of decision support systems, students of environmental science and members of the public who wish to understand the assessment science that supports remedial decisions. Within the framework of Ispra Courses, a course on "Applications of Remote Sensing to Agrometeorology" was held from April 6th to 10th, 1987 at the Joint Research Centre of the European Communities, Ispra Italy. The purpose of the course was to familiarize scientists, active in Agrometeorology and related fields, with remote sensing techniques and their potential applications in their respective disciplines. Conventional ground investigations in various fields of natural sciences such as hydrology, pedology and agrometeorology can be supple mented by a range of instruments carried by airborne or earth orbiting platforms. The last few years, in particular, have seen many developments in this respect and a growing amount of information can now be derived not only from dedicated earth resources satellites such as the LANDSAT and SPOT, but also from other platforms such as METEOSAT and the series of NOAA-TIROS. Future platforms (ERS-l, Space Station, etc.) with their advanced sensors will further broaden the range of applications open to the investigators. The use of these data sources, together with field investigations, can lead, at a reduced cost, to a better characterization of the spatial and temporal properties of natural systems."
The book provides comprehensive information on possible
applications of remote sensing data for hydrological monitoring and
modelling as well as for water management decisions. Mathematical
theory is provided only as far as it is necessary for understanding
the underlying principles.
The completion of this collection took many months, and, for a variety of reason, required the assistance and/or indulgence of a number of individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank Tim Hudson for his useful input and support at the outset of the project Likewise, I would like to thank Jesse O. McKee for providing a hospitable environment during my affiliation with the University of Southern Mississippi. At Louisiana State University I am grateful to Sam Hilliard and Carville Earle for their invaluable understanding. The book became part of the GeoJoumal Library as a result of Wolf Tietze's confidence in the topic, and because of Henri G. van Dorssen's (and Kluwer Academic Publishers') good nab.lre - despite numerous 'problems'. Curtis C. Roseman, and the remainder of the Geography Department at the University of Southern California (where I completed many last minute details for the volume), are to be thanked for the cordial and warm environ ment I received while a visitor in Los Angeles. Finally, no multi-authored collection reaches completion without the help of many patient contributors. This particular book suffered many set-backs along the way, so I am particularly grateful to the authors herein. They demonstrated their compassion and exceptional professionalism throughout, by never second-guessing my decisions, and by allowing me to remedy the set-backs in my own way. They were a pleasure to work with, and they should take pride in their achievements."
This volume contains reviews on five different aspects of bioclimatology: (1) The establishment, maintenance and use of data from automatic weather station networks for agricultural purposes; (2) Techniques for estimating global and ultraviolet irradiance at the earth's surface, and the net radiation balance from operational satellite observations; (3) Mathematical models of the effects of climate on energy and mass balance in crop production; (4) Paleoecological and experimental studies of the response of stomatal density to changes in the atmospheric CO2 concentrations; and (5) The sensory and behavioral responses of insects and other invertebrates to small CO2 gradients resulting from plant and animal metabolism, considering the global changes in CO2 concentration and air temperature.
At the end of the 1970s, when signs of destabilization of forests became visible in Eu rope on a large scale, it soon became obvious that the syndrome called "forest de cline" was caused by a network of interrelated factors of abiotic and biotic origin. All attempts to explain the wide-spread syndrome by a single cause, and there were many of them, failed or can only be regarded as a single mosaic stone in the network of caus es behind the phenomenon. Forest ecosystems are highly complex natural or quasi natural systems, which exhibit different structures and functions and as a conse quence different resilience to internal or external stresses. Moreover, forest ecosys tems have a long history, which means that former impacts may act as predisposing factors for other stresses. The complexity and the different history of forest ecosys tems are two reasons that make it difficult to assess the actual state and future devel opment of forests. But there are two other reasons: one is the large time scale in which forests react, the other is the idiosyncrasy of the reactions on different sites. Due to the slow reaction and the regional complexity of the abiotic environment of forest ecosys tems, a profound analysis of each site and region is necessary to identify the underly ing causes and driving forces when attempting to overcome the destruction of forest ecosystems.
Fully updated and containing significant new material on photography, laser profiling and image processing, the third edition of this popular textbook covers a broad range of remote sensing applications and techniques across the Earth, environmental and planetary sciences. It focuses on physical principles, giving students a deeper understanding of remote sensing systems and their possibilities, while remaining accessible to those with less mathematical training by providing a step-by-step approach to quantitative topics. Boxed examples, additional photos and numerous colour images engage students and show them how the theory relates to the many real-world applications. Chapter summaries, review questions and additional problems allow students to check their understanding of key concepts and practise handling real data for themselves. Supplementary online material includes links to freely available software, animations, computer programs, colour images and other web-based resources of interest.
One of the key milestones of radar remote sensing for civil applications was the launch of the European Remote Sensing Satellite 1 (ERS 1) in 1991. The platform carried a variety of sensors; the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is widely cons- ered to be the most important. This active sensing technique provides all-day and all-weather mapping capability of considerably ?ne spatial resolution. ERS 1 and its sister system ERS 2 (launch 1995) were primarily designed for ocean app- cations, but soon the focus of attention turned to onshore mapping. Examples for typical applications are land cover classi?cation also in tropical zones and mo- toring of glaciers or urban growth. In parallel, international Space Shuttle Missions dedicated to radar remote sensing were conducted starting already in the 1980s. The most prominent were the SIR-C/X-SAR mission focussing on the investigation of multi-frequency and multi-polarization SAR data and the famous Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Data acquired during the latter enabled to derive a DEM of almost global coverage by means of SAR Interferometry. It is indispe- ableeventodayandformanyregionsthebestelevationmodelavailable. Differential SAR Interferometry based on time series of imagery of the ERS satellites and their successor Envisat became an important and unique technique for surface defor- tion monitoring. The spatial resolution of those devices is in the order of some tens of meters.
This book is the outcome of the work of contributors who participated in the wo- shop "Mapping Different Geographies (MDG)" in February 2010, held in Puchberg am Schneeberg, Austria. This meeting brought together cartographers, artists and geoscientists who research and practice in applications that focus on enhancing o- to-one communication or develop and evaluate methodologies that provide inno- tive methods for sharing information. The main intention of the workshop was to investigate how 'different' geographies are being mapped and the possibilities for developing new theories and techniques for information design and transfer based on place or location. So as to communicate these concepts it was important to appreciate the many contrasting meanings of 'mapping' that were held by workshop participants. Also, the many (and varied) viewpoints of what different geographies are, were ela- rated upon and discussed. Therefore, as the focus on space and time was embedded within everyone's felds of investigation, this was addressed during the workshop. This resulted in very engaging discourse, which, in some cases, exposed the restrictions that certain approaches need to consider. For participants, this proved to be most useful, as this allowed them to appreciate the limits and restrictions of their own approach to understanding and representing different geographies. As well, the workshop also was most helpful as a vehicle for demonstrating the common ground of interest held by the very diverse areas of endeavour that the workshop participants work within.
The ability to extract generic 3D objects from images is a crucial step towards automation of a variety of problems in cartographic database compilation, industrial inspection and assembly, and autonomous navigation. Many of these problem domains do not have strong constraints on object shape or scene content, presenting serious obstacles for the development of robust object detection and delineation techniques. Geometric Constraints for Object Detection and Delineation addresses these problems with a suite of novel methods and techniques for detecting and delineating generic objects in images of complex scenes, and applies them to the specific task of building detection and delineation from monocular aerial imagery. PIVOT, the fully automated system implementing these techniques, is quantitatively evaluated on 83 images covering 18 test scenes, and compared to three existing systems for building extraction. The results highlight the performance improvements possible with rigorous photogrammetric camera modeling, primitive-based object representations, and geometric constraints derived from their combination. PIVOT's performance illustrates the implications of a clearly articulated set of philosophical principles, taking a significant step towards automatic detection and delineation of 3D objects in real-world environments. Geometric Constraints for Object Detection and Delineation is suitable as a textbook or as a secondary text for a graduate-level course, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been experiencing a steady and unprecedented growth in terms of general interest, theory development, and new applications in the last decade or so. GIS is an inter-disciplinary field that brings together many diverse areas such as computer science, geography, cartography, engineering, and urban planning. Database Issues in Geographic Information Systems approaches several important topics in GIS from a database perspective. Database management has a central role to play in most computer-based information systems, and is expected to have an equally important role to play in managing information in GIS as well. Existing database technology, however, focuses on the alphanumeric data that are required in business applications. GIS, like many other application areas, requires the ability to handle spatial as well as alphanumeric data. This requires new innovations in data management, which is the central theme of this monograph. The monograph begins with an overview of different application areas and their data and functional requirements. Next it addresses the following topics in the context of GIS: representation and manipulation of spatial data, data modeling, indexing, and query processing. Future research directions are outlined in each of the above topics. The last chapter discusses issues that are emerging as important areas of technological innovations in GIS. Database Issues in Geographic Information Systems is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course on Geographic Information Systems, Database Systems or Cartography, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.
The definitive guide to bringing accuracy to measurement, updated and supplemented Adjustment Computations is the classic textbook for spatial information analysis and adjustment computations, providing clear, easy-to-understand instruction backed by real-world practicality. From the basic terms and fundamentals of errors to specific adjustment computations and spatial information analysis, this book covers the methodologies and tools that bring accuracy to surveying, GNSS, GIS, and other spatial technologies. Broad in scope yet rich in detail, the discussion avoids overly-complex theory in favor of practical techniques for students and professionals. This new sixth edition has been updated to align with the latest developments in this rapidly expanding field, and includes new video lessons and updated problems, including worked problems in STATS, MATRIX, ADJUST, and MathCAD. All measurement produces some amount of error; whether from human mistakes, instrumentation inaccuracy, or environmental features, these errors must be accounted and adjusted for when accuracy is critical. This book describes how errors are identified, analyzed, measured, and corrected, with a focus on least squares adjustment the most rigorous methodology available. * Apply industry-standard methodologies to error analysis and adjustment * Translate your skills to the real-world with instruction focused on the practical * Master the fundamentals as well as specific computations and analysis * Strengthen your understanding of critical topics on the Fundamentals in Surveying Licensing Exam As spatial technologies expand in both use and capability, so does our need for professionals who understand how to check and adjust for errors in spatial data. Conceptual knowledge is one thing, but practical skills are what counts when accuracy is at stake; Adjustment Computations provides the real-world training you need to identify, analyze, and correct for potentially crucial errors.
Realistically representing our three-dimensional world has been the subject of many (philosophical) discussions since ancient times. While the recognition of the globular shape of the Earth goes back to Pythagoras' statements of the sixth century B. C. , the two-dimensional, circular depiction of the Earth's surface has remained prevailing and also dominated the art of painting until the late Middle Ages. Given the immature technological means, objects on the Earth's surface were often represented in academic and technical disciplines by two-dimensional cross-sections oriented along combinations of three mutually perpendicular directions. As soon as computer science evolved, scientists have steadily been improving the three-dimensional representation of the Earth and developed techniques to analyze the many natural processes and phenomena taking part on its surface. Both computer aided design (CAD) and geographical information systems (GIS) have been developed in parallel during the last three decades. While the former concentrates more on the detailed design of geometric models of object shapes, the latter emphasizes the topological relationships between geographical objects and analysis of spatial patterns. Nonetheless, this distinction has become increasingly blurred and both approaches have been integrated into commercial software packages. In recent years, an active line of inquiry has emerged along the junctures of CAD and GIS, viz. 3D geoinformation science. Studies along this line have recently made significant inroads in terms of 3D modeling and data acquisition.
J.-E DUBOIS and N. GERSHON As with Volume 1 in this series, this book was inspired by the Symposium on "Communications and Computer Aided Systems" held at the 14th International CODATA Conference in September 1994 in Chambery, France. This book was conceived and influenced by the discussions at the Symposium and most of the contributions were written following the Conference. Whereas the first volume dealt with the numerous challenges facing the information revolution, especially its communication aspects, this one provides an insight into the recent tools provided by computer science for handling the complex aspects of scientific and technological data. This volume, "Modeling Complex Data for Creating Information," is concerned with real and virtual objects often involved with data handling processes encountered frequently in modeling physical phenomena and systems behavior. Topics concerning modeling complex data for creating information include: * Object oriented approach for structuring data and knowledge * Imprecision and uncertainty in information systems * Fractal modeling and shape and surface processing * Symmetry applications for molecular data The choice of these topics reflects recent developments in information systems technologies. One example is object oriented technology. Recently, research, development and applications have been using object-oriented modeling for computer handling of data and data management. Object oriented technology offers increasingly easy-to-use software applications and operating systems. As a result, science and technology research and applications can now provide more flexible and effective services.
Remote sensing of our environment is becoming increasingly accessible and important in today s society. This book aims to highlight some of the broad and multi-disciplinary applications, and emerging practices, that remote sensing and photogrammetric technologies lend themselves to. The papers have been selected from the 13th and 14th Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conferences given by experts in remote sensing, spatial analysis and photogrammetry from across the Asia Pacific region. They are presented here as a collection of peer reviewed papers covering research into areas such as data fusion techniques and their applications in environmental monitoring, synoptic monitoring and data processing, terrestrial and marine applications of remote sensing, and photogrammetry. " |
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