CONTRIBUTIONS TO A THEORY OF GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ENGINEERINGScientific colloquium in honour ofProf. Andre U. FrankVienna, 2008

Gilberto Câmara National Institute for Space Research, Brazil

Why GI Engineering?Frank, A. and M. Raubal (2001). "GIS Education Today: From GI Science to GI Engineering." URISA JOURNAL 13(2): 5-10

Chemistry Chemical Eng.Physics Electrical Eng.Computer Computer Eng. Science GI Science GI Engineering

GI Engineering:= “The discipline of systematic construction of GIS and associated technology, drawing on scientific principles.”

Scientists and EngineersPhoto 51(Franklin, 1952)

Scientists build in order to study

Engineers study in order to build

What set of concepts drove GIS -20?

Map-based (cartography)User-centered (user interfaces)

Toblerian spaces (regionalized data analysis)Object-based modelling and spatial reasoning

What should GIS-20 Engineers have studied?

CartographyPhotogram

SpatialRelations

SemanticsOntology

Spatial Analysis

DataModelling

Spatial Databases

ComputerLanguages

UserInterfaces

Geographic InformationEngineering

GIS-20: Object-oriented modelling

Egenhofer, M. and A. Frank (1992). "Object-Oriented Modeling for GIS." URISA Journal 4(2): 3-19.

SPRING´s object-oriented

data model (1995)

ARCGIS´s object-centred

data model (2002)

Geo-object

Cadastral

Coverage

Spatial database

Categorical

Geo-field

Numerical

Is-a Is-a

contains contains

GIS-20: Topological Spatial Reasoning

Egenhofer, M. and R. Franzosa (1991). "Point-Set Topological Spatial Relations." IJGIS 5(2): 161-174

OGC´s 9-intersection dimension-extended

Open source implementations (GEOS)

GIS-20: User interfacesJackson, J. (1990) Visualization of metaphors for interaction

with GIS. M.S. thesis, University of Maine.

Geographer´s desktop (1992)

ArcView (1995)

GIS -20: Region-based spatial analysis

Goodchild, Anselin, Applebaum, and Harthorn. 2000. Toward Spatially Integrated Social Science. Int Regional Science Review 23 (2):139-159.

GeoDA ArcGIS Geostatistical analyst (1995)

augmented reality

sensor networks

mobile devices

GIS-21

ubiquitous images and maps

Data-centered, mobile-enabled, contribution-based, field-based modelling

Global Change

Where are changes taking place? How much change is happening? Who is being impacted by the change?

Global Change: How is the Earth’s environment changing, and what are the consequences for human civilization?

TrackingPositions collected over a fixed period of time

MonitoringData from remote stations, fixed or mobile

Sensor Webs source: ARGOS

What should GIS-21 Engineers study?

Spatial Cognition

SpatialReasoning

SemanticsOntology

Spatio-temporalmodels

Networktheory

Spatial Databases

ComputerLanguages

InfoVisualiz.

Geographic InformationEngineering

GIE-21: Functional Programming Frank, A. (1997). Higher order functions necessary for spatial theory development. In: Auto-Carto 13.Frank, A. (1999). One Step up the Abstraction Ladder: Combining Algebras – From Functional Pieces to a Whole. COSIT 99

class Coverage cv where evaluate :: cv a b a Maybe b domain :: cv a b [a] num :: cv a b Int values :: cv a b [b]

Geospatial data processing is a collection of types and functions Functional programming allows rigorous development of GIS

GIS-21: Multiscale modelling

snap: T ⟶ (S1 ⟶ V) {snap1(t1),., snapn(tn)} space-based snapshots

hist : S2 ⟶ (T⟶V)the history of a location in space

Data modelling of human-environment issues poses unresolved problems

{snap1(t1),...., snapn(tn)}

a set of space-based snapshots

state : (S x T) ⟶V ) the previous state of the world (or a theory about)

state : (S x T) ⟶V ) (NEW) a new guess about the state of the world

theory_space : (S ⟶V ) a theory about the process that describe space

theory_time : (T ⟶V ) a theory about the time evolution

{hist1(s1),...., histn(sn)} a set of time series for fixed locations

f ( It+n )

. . FF

f (It) f (It+1) f (It+2)

GIS-21: Spatio-temporal modelling

“A dynamical spatial model is a computational representation of a real-world process where a location on the earth’s surface changes in response to variations on external and internal dynamics on the landscape” (Peter Burrough)

Dynamic Spatial Models need higher-order functions!

GIS-21: Spatio-Temporal modellingwith Agents in Cell Spaces

Cell Spaces

Representation

Cell Spaces Generalized Proximity Matriz – GPM Hybrid Automata model Nested scales

TerraME: Based on functional programming concepts (second-order functions) to develop dynamical models

GIE-21: Spatial Cognition

Technology-enabled spatial cognition: revisit the metaphors, obtain quantitative results, design better systems

Collaborative GIS (Virtual Rome)

Relative location in microspaces

source: A. Camara (Ydreams)

Frank, A. U. (1996). "Qualitative Spatial Reasoning: Cardinal Directions as an Example." IJGIS 10(3): 269-290.Mark, D. and A. Frank (1991). Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space. Dordrecht, Kluwer.

GIE-21: Network Theory

Bus traffic volume in São Paulo

Innovation network in Silicon Valley

Barabasi, A.-L. and Albert, R., Emergence of scaling in random networks, Science 286, 509–512 (1999).Newman, M. E. J., Barabasi, A.-L., and Watts, D. J., The Structure and Dynamics of Networks, Princeton University Press, Princeton (2003).

Consolidated area

GIE-21: Network-based analysis

Emergent area

Modelling beef chains in Amazonia

GIS-21: Human-enviroment interactions

Nature: Physical equations Describe processes

Society: Decisions on how to Use Earth´s resources

Frank, A. U. (2001). "Tiers of ontology and consistency constraints in GIS."IJGIS15(7): 667-678.

Should we teach GIEngineering for the 21st century?

Spatial Cognition

SpatialReasoning

SemanticsOntology

Spatio-temporalmodels

Networktheory

Spatial Databases

ComputerLanguages

InfoVisualiz.

Geographic InformationEngineering