Cartography and geographic information (GI) are remarkably appropriate for the requirements of early warning (EW) and crisis management (CM). The use of geospatial technology has increased tremendously in the last years. ICT has changed from just using maps created in advance, to new approaches, allowing individuals (decision-makers) to use cartography interactively, on the basis of individual user's requirements. The new generation of cartographic visualizations based on standardisation, formal modelling, use of sensors, semantics and ontology, allows for the better adaptation of information to the needs of the users. In order to design a new framework in pre-disaster and disaster management safety/security/privacy aspects of institutions and citizens need to be considered. All this can only be achieved by demonstrating new research achievements, sharing best practices (e.g. in the health area) and working towards the wider acceptance of geospatial technology in society, with the help of education and media.

This book will outline research frontiers and applications of cartography and GI in EW and CM and document their roles and potentials in wider processes going on in information/knowledge-based societies.

Analysis, assessment, and data management are core tools required for operation research analysts. The April 2011 conference held at the Helenic Military Academy addressed these issues with efforts to collect valuable recommendations for improving analysts' capabilities to assess and communicate the necessary qualitative data to military leaders. This unique volume is an outgrowth of the April conference and comprises of contributions from the fields of science, mathematics, and the military, bringing Greek research findings to the world. Topics cover a wide variety of mathematical methods used with application to defense and security. Each contribution considers directions and pursuits of scientists that pertain to the military as well as the theoretical background required for methods, algorithms, and techniques used in military applications. The direction of theoretical results in these applications is conveyed and open problems and future areas of focus are highlighted. A foreword will be composed by a member of N.A.T.O. or a ranking member of the armed forces. Topics covered include: applied OR and military applications, signal processing, scattering, scientific computing and applications, combat simulation and statistical modeling, satellite remote sensing, and applied informatics - cryptography and coding. The contents of this volume will be of interest to a diverse audience including military operations research analysts, the military community at large, and practitioners working with mathematical methods and applications to informatics and military science.

Data science has recently gained much attention for a number of reasons, and among them is Big Data. Scientists (from almost all disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, among others) and engineers (from all fields including civil, environmental, chemical, mechanical, among others) are faced with challenges posed by data volume, variety, and velocity, or Big Data. This book is designed to highlight the unique characteristics of geospatial data, demonstrate the need to different approaches and techniques for obtaining new knowledge from raw geospatial data, and present select state-of-the-art geospatial data science techniques and how they are applied to various geoscience problems.

This book discusses statistical modeling of single- and multi-channel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and the applications of these newly developed models in land and ocean monitoring, such as target detection and terrain classification. It is a valuable reference for researchers and engineers interested in information processing of remote sensing, radar signal processing, and image interpretation.

Ideal for both undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of geography, forestry, ecology, geographic information science, remote sensing, and photogrammetric engineering, LiDAR Remote Sensing and Applications expertly joins LiDAR principles, data processing basics, applications, and hands-on practices in one comprehensive source. The LiDAR data within this book is collected from 27 areas in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, and Haiti and includes 183 figures created to introduce the concepts, methods, and applications in a clear context. It provides 11 step-by-step projects predominately based on Esri's ArcGIS software to support seamless integration of LiDAR products and other GIS data. The first six projects are for basic LiDAR data visualization and processing and the other five cover more advanced topics: from mapping gaps in mangrove forests in Everglades National Park, Florida to generating trend surfaces for rock layers in Raplee Ridge, Utah. Features Offers a comprehensive overview of LiDAR technology with numerous applications in geography, forestry and earth science Gives necessary theoretical foundations from all pertinent subject matter areas Uses case studies and best practices to point readers to tools and resources Provides a synthesis of ongoing research in the area of LiDAR remote sensing technology Includes carefully selected illustrations and data from the authors' research projects Before every project in the book, a link is provided for users to download data

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.

Spatial Analysis for Radar Remote Sensing of Tropical Forests is based on the authors' extensive involvement in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mapping projects, targeting the health of an earth ecosystem with great relevance for climate change studies: the tropical forests. The subject is developed from a vantage point provided by analysis in a combined space, scale (frequency), time, wavelength, polarization domain. The combination of space and scale offers the capability to zoom in and out like a virtual microscope to the resolution in tune with the underlying ecological phenomenon. It also enables statistical measures (correlations) related to the forest spatial distribution in case of backscatter, or to the canopy height variations in case of interferometric observations. The time dimension brings into play measures of the ecosystem dynamics, such as the flooding extent in the swamp forests, deforestation or degradation events. Wavelength and polarization agility extend the abovementioned capabilities by radar observations that are in tune with particular characteristics of the forest and terrain layers. The book's spotlight is on radar spatial random fields, these being populated by either backscatter observations or elevation data from interferometric SAR. The basic tenet here is that the spatial statistic of the fields measured by the wavelet variance (in stationary or non-stationary situations) carries fingerprints of the forest structure. Features: Uniquely focused on specific techniques that provide multi-resolution spatial and temporal analysis of forest structure characteristics and changes. Examines several large and important international remote sensing projects aimed at documenting entire tropical ecosystems. Provides novel wavelet methods for tropical forest structural measures. As the first book on this topic, this composite approach appeals to both students learning through important case studies and to researchers finding new ideas for future studies.

Extreme weather and climate change aggravate the frequency and magnitude of disasters. Facing atypical and more severe events, existing early warning and response systems become inadequate both in scale and scope. Earth Observation (EO) provides today information at global, regional and even basin scales related to agrometeorological hazards. This book focuses on drought, flood, frost, landslides, and storms/cyclones and covers different applications of EO data used from prediction to mapping damages as well as recovery for each category. It explains the added value of EO technology in comparison with conventional techniques applied today through many case studies.

Sixty years after its birth, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) evolved as a key player of earth observation, and it is continually upgraded by enhanced hardware functionality and improved overall performance in response to user requirements. The basic information gained by SAR includes the backscattering coefficient of targets, their phases (the truncated distance between SAR and its targets), and their polarization dependence. The spatiotemporal combination of the multiple data operated on the satellite or aircraft significantly increases its sensitivity to detect changes on earth, including temporal variations of the planet in amplitude and the interferometric change for monitoring disasters; deformations caused by earthquakes, volcanic activity, and landslides; environmental changes; ship detection; and so on. Earth-orbiting satellites with the appropriate sensors can detect environmental changes because of their large spatial coverage and availability. Imaging from Spaceborne and Airborne SARs, Calibration, and Applications provides A-to-Z information regarding SAR researches through 15 chapters that focus on the JAXA L-band SAR, including hardware description, principles of SAR imaging, theoretical description of SAR imaging and error, ScanSAR imaging, polarimetric calibration, inflight antenna pattern, SAR geometry and ortho rectification, SAR calibration, defocusing for moving targets, large-scale SAR imaging and mosaic, interferometric SAR processing, irregularities, application, and forest estimation. Sample data are created by using L-band SAR, JERS-1, PALSAR, PALSAR-2, and Pi-SAR-L2. This book is based on the author's experience as a principal researcher at JAXA with responsibilities for L-band SAR operation and researches. It reveals the inside of SAR processing and application researches performed at JAXA, which makes this book a valuable reference for a wide range of SAR researchers, professionals, and students.

The oceans cover approximately 71% of Earth's surface, 90% of the biosphere and contains 97% of Earth's water. Since the first launch of SEASAT satellite in 1978, an increasing number of SAR satellites have or will become available, such as the European Space Agency's ERS-1/-2, ENVISAT, and Sentinel-1 series; the Canadian RADARSAT-1/-2 and the upcoming RADARSAT Constellation Mission series satellites; the Italian COSMO-SkyMed satellites, the German TERRASAR-X and TANDEM-X, and the Chinese GAOFEN-3 SAR, among others. Recently, European Space Agency has launched a new generation of SAR satellites, Sentinel-1A in 2014 and Sentinel-1B in 2016. These SAR satellites provide researchers with free and open SAR images necessary to carry out their research on the global oceans. The scope of Advances in SAR Remote Sensing of Oceans is to demonstrate the types of information that can be obtained from SAR images of the oceans, and the cutting-edge methods needed for analysing SAR images. Written by leading experts in the field, and divided into four sections, the book presents the basic principles of radar backscattering from the ocean surface; introduces the recent progresses in SAR remote sensing of dynamic coastal environment and management; discusses the state-of-the-art methods to monitor parameters or phenomena related to the dynamic ocean environment; and deals specifically with new techniques and findings of marine atmospheric boundary layer observations. Advances in SAR Remote Sensing of Oceans is a very comprehensive and up-to-date reference intended for use by graduate students, researchers, practitioners, and R&D engineers working in the vibrant field of oceans, interested to understand how SAR remote sensing can support oceanography research and applications.

Human factors play a critical role in the design and interpretation of remotely sensed imagery for all Earth sciences. Remote Sensing and Cognition: Human Factors in Image Interpretation brings together current topics widely recognized and addressed regarding human cognition in geographic imagery, especially remote sensing imagery with complex data. It addresses themes around expertise including methods for knowledge elicitation and modeling of expertise, the effects of different aspects of realism on the interpretation of the environment, spatial learning using imagery, the effect of visual perspective on interpretation, and a variety of technologies and methods for utilizing knowledge in the analysis of remote sensing imagery. Written by leaders in the field, this book provides answers to the host of questions raised at the nexus of psychology and remote sensing. Academics and researchers with an interest in the human issues surrounding the use of remote sensing data will find this book to be an invaluable resource. The topics covered in this book are useful for both the scientific analysis of remote sensing imagery as well as the design and display of remote sensing imagery to facilitate a variety of other tasks including education and wayfinding. Features Brings together remote sensing, environmental, and computer scientists discussing their work from a psychological or human factors perspective Answers questions related to aesthetics of scientific visualization and mathematical analysis of perceptible objects Explains the perception and interpretation of realistic representations Provides illustrative real-world examples Shows how the features of display symbols, elements, and patterns have clear effects on processes of perception and visual search

Today, remote sensing technology is an essential tool for understanding the Earth and managing human-Earth interactions. There is a rapidly growing need for remote sensing and Earth observation technology that enables monitoring of world's natural resources and environments, managing exposure to natural and man-made risks and more frequently occurring disasters, and helping the sustainability and productivity of natural and human ecosystems. The improvement in temporal resolution/revisit allows for the large accumulation of images for a specific location, creating a possibility for time series image analysis and eventual real-time assessments of scene dynamics. As an authoritative text, Remote Sensing Time Series Image Processing brings together active and recognized authors in the field of time series image analysis and presents to the readers the current state of knowledge and its future directions. Divided into three parts, the first addresses methods and techniques for generating time series image datasets. In particular, it provides guidance on the selection of cloud and cloud shadow detection algorithms for various applications. Part II examines feature development and information extraction methods for time series imagery. It presents some key remote sensing-based metrics, and their major applications in ecosystems and climate change studies. Part III illustrates various applications of time series image processing in land cover change, disturbance attribution, vegetation dynamics, and urbanization. This book is intended for researchers, practitioners, and students in both remote sensing and imaging science. It can be used as a textbook by undergraduate and graduate students majoring in remote sensing, imaging science, civil and electrical engineering, geography, geosciences, planning, environmental science, land use, energy, and GIS, and as a reference book by practitioners and professionals in the government, commercial, and industrial sectors.

Data science has recently gained much attention for a number of reasons, and among them is Big Data. Scientists (from almost all disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, among others) and engineers (from all fields including civil, environmental, chemical, mechanical, among others) are faced with challenges posed by data volume, variety, and velocity, or Big Data. This book is designed to highlight the unique characteristics of geospatial data, demonstrate the need to different approaches and techniques for obtaining new knowledge from raw geospatial data, and present select state-of-the-art geospatial data science techniques and how they are applied to various geoscience problems.

Urban development and migration from rural to urban areas are impacting prime agricultural land and natural landscapes, particularly in the less developed countries. These phenomena will persist and require serious study by those monitoring global environmental change. To address this need, various models have been devised to analyze urbanization and the physical, socioeconomic, and institutional factors impacting urban development. The most promising and rapidly developing of these paradigms take advantage of new Geographical Information System (GIS) technology. Modelling Urban Development with Geographical Information Systems and Cellular Automata presents one such cutting-edge model that is more than just predictive. It describes how the model simulates the urbanization process, and it provides theoretical context to promote understanding. Starting with a practical overview of the modelling techniques used in urban development research, the author focuses on the cellular automata model and its greatest strength - the incorporation of fuzzy set and fuzzy logic approaches through which urban development can be viewed as a spatially and temporally continuous process. Real-Life Application to Develop Future Planning Methods The text describes a landmark study underway, in which the fuzzy constrained cellular automata model has been implemented in a GIS environment to simulate urban development in Sydney, Australia. Featuring a survey of associated research and a geographical database for the Sydney simulation, this book answers many general "what if" questions for urban planners and details a new approach that they can adapt to their own testing and evaluation needs. This modeling method will provide researchers and planners with the means to not just predict population trends, but to better prepare for their consequences.

Commuting, the daily link between residences and workplaces, sets up the complex interaction between the two most important land uses (residential and employment) in a city, and dictates the configuration of urban structure. In addition to prolonged time and stress for individual commuters on traffic, commuting comes with additional societal costs including elevated crash risks, worsening air quality, and louder traffic noise, etc. These issues are important to city planners, policy researchers, and decision makers. GIS-Based Simulation and Analysis of Intra-Urban Commuting, presents GIS-based simulation, optimization and statistical approaches to measure, map, analyze, and explain commuting patterns including commuting length and efficiency. Several GIS-automated easy-to-use tools will be available, along with sample data, for readers to download and apply to their own studies. This book recognizes that reporting errors from survey data and use of aggregated zonal data are two sources of bias in estimation of wasteful commuting, it studies the temporal trend of intraurban commuting pattern based on the most recent period newly-available 2006-2010, and it focuses on commuting, and especially wasteful commuting within US cities. It includes ready-to-download GIS-based simulation tools and sample data, and an explanation of optimization and statistical techniques of how to measure commuting, as well as presenting a methodology that can be applicable to other studies. This book is an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and practitioners in geography, urban planning, public policy, transportation engineering, and other related disciplines.

Satellite remote sensing presents an amazing opportunity to inform biodiversity conservation by inexpensively gathering repeated monitoring information for vast areas of the Earth. However, these observations first need processing and interpretation if they are to inform conservation action. Through a series of case studies, this book presents detailed examples of the application of satellite remote sensing, covering both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, to conservation. The authors describe how collaboration between the remote sensing and conservation communities makes satellite data functional for operational conservation, and provide concrete examples of the lessons learned in addition to the scientific details. The editors, one at NASA and the other at a conservation NGO, have brought together leading researchers in conservation remote sensing to share their experiences from project development through to application, and emphasise the human side of these projects.

This new textbook on remote sensing and digital image processing of natural resources includes numerous practical, problem-solving exercises, applications of sensors and satellite systems using remote sensing data collection resources with emphasis on free and open-source platform R. It explains basic concepts of remote sensing and multidisciplinary applications using R language and R packages, by engaging students in learning theory through hands-on, real-life projects. All chapters are structured with learning objectives, computation, questions, solved exercises, resources and research suggestions. Features 1. Explains the theory of passive and active remote sensing and its applications in water, soil, vegetation, and atmosphere. 2. Covers data analysis in free and open-source (FOSS) R platform, which makes remote sensing accessible to anyone with a computer. 3. Includes case studies from different environments with free software algorithm and R toolset for active learning and learn-by-doing. 4. Provides hands-on exercises at the end of each chapter and encourages readers to understand the potential and the limitations of the environments, remote sensing targets and process. 5. Explores current trends and developments in remote sensing in homework assignments with data to further explore the use of free multispectral remote sensing data, including very high spatial resolution data sources for target recognition with image processing techniques. While the focus of the book is on environmental and agriculture engineering, it can be applied widely to a variety of subjects such as physical, natural, and social sciences. Students in upper-level undergraduate or graduate programs, taking courses in Remote Sensing, Geoprocessing, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Biology, and Hydrology will also benefit from the learning objectives in the book. Professionals who use remote sensing and digital processing will also find this text enlightening.

Plane and Geodetic Surveying blends together theory and practice, conventional techniques and satellite-based methods, to provide the ideal book for students of surveying. It gives detailed guidance on how and when the principal surveying instruments (total stations, levels and navigational satellite receivers) should be used. It fully and clearly explains the concepts and formulae needed to convert instrument readings into useful and reliable results. It offers rigorous explanations of the theoretical background to surveying, while at the same time providing a wealth of useful advice about conducting a survey in practice. The book also contains an accompanying least square adjustment program that is available for free download. What's New in the Second Edition: Revises and updates the text to reflect recent developments in satellite navigation, laser scanners and total stations Provides a more rigorous treatment of how to calculate and use mean earth curvature in geodetic geometry Includes substantial additional information on precise levelling, spherical and ellipsoidal geometry, trigonometric heighting and setting out Offers a fuller description of mapping systems, including the State Plane Coordinate System This book is essential for all students of surveying and for practitioners who need a 'stand-alone' text for further reading.

This book provides an advanced introduction to the science behind automated prediction systems, focusing on sea ice analysis and forecasting. Starting from basic principles, fundamental concepts in sea ice physics, remote sensing, numerical methods, and statistics are explained at an accessible level. Existing operational automated prediction systems are described and their impacts on information providers and end clients are discussed. The book also provides insight into the likely future development of sea ice services and how they will evolve from mainly manual processes to increasing automation, with a consequent increase in the diversity and information content of new ice products. With contributions from world-leading experts in the fields of sea ice remote sensing, data assimilation, numerical modelling, and verification and operational prediction, this comprehensive reference is ideal for students, sea ice analysts, and researchers, as well as decision-makers and professionals working in the ice service industry.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the First International Workshop on Mobility Analytics for Spatio-Temporal and Social Data, MATES 2017, held in Munich, Germany, in September 2017. The 6 revised full papers and 2 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 13 submissions. Also included are two keynote speeches. The papers intend to raise awareness of real-world problems in critical domains which require novel data management solutions. They are organized in two thematic sections: social network analytics and applications, and spatio-temporal mobility analytics.

This book offers an introduction to remotely sensed image processing and classification in R using machine learning algorithms. It also provides a concise and practical reference tutorial, which equips readers to immediately start using the software platform and R packages for image processing and classification. This book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces remote sensing digital image processing in R, while chapter 2 covers pre-processing. Chapter 3 focuses on image transformation, and chapter 4 addresses image classification. Lastly, chapter 5 deals with improving image classification. R is advantageous in that it is open source software, available free of charge and includes several useful features that are not available in commercial software packages. This book benefits all undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, university teachers and other remote- sensing practitioners interested in the practical implementation of remote sensing in R.

The Virtual and the Real in Planning and Urban Design: Perspectives, Practices and Applicationsexplores the merging relationship between physical and virtual spaces in planning and urban design. Technological advances such as smart sensors, interactive screens, locative media and evolving computation software have impacted the ways in which people experience, explore, interact with and create these complex spaces. This book draws together a broad range of interdisciplinary researchers in areas such as architecture, urban design, spatial planning, geoinformation science, computer science and psychology to introduce the theories, models, opportunities and uncertainties involved in the interplay between virtual and physical spaces. Using a wide range of international contributors, from the UK, USA, Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Japan, it provides a framework for assessing how new technology alters our perception of physical space.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Web and Wireless Geographical Information Systems, W2GIS 2018, held in A Coruna, Spain, in May 2018. The 15 full papers included in the volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 20 submissions. They deal with theoretical, technical, and practical issues in the field of wireless and Internet technologies suited for the dissemination, usage, and processing of geo-referenced data.