This thesis examines the ways in which Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be used, together with documentary sources, to advance the study of enclosure and landscape. The study proposes that the much researched subject of enclosure has been the focus of economic and social history and that the importance of its effects upon landscape has been under-appreciated. The study area is the historic county of Northamptonshire, an exceptionally well documented county, with one of the highest percentages of land enclosed in the parliamentary period. Enclosure from all periods is studied, with the focus on the parliamentary period as having the most extensive sources. The primary source is the historic map, from which the landscape has been digitally reconstructed in GIS using the techniques of landscape archaeology. First the methodology is defined which provides a definition of terms and explores the range and uses of the source materials. Then the process of enclosure, with the key elements of chronology, density and determinants, is explored within the context of previous studies. There follows chapters on the pre and post-enclosure landscapes which examines the influence of land owners and land use. It will be demonstrated that before enclosure it was the agricultural system that created and defined the landscape, while afterwards the landowners were the most influential factor. A final chapter uses case studies to establish a methodology for using GIS in landscape conservation and management. This has shown that GIS is essential for identifying historic features in the complexity of the modern landscape. Furthermore, the use of GIS in this study has enabled important new issues to be identified: the unenclosed landscape was not dominated by arable but was, by the mid-eighteenth century, predominantly pasture; there was no distinct enclosed landscape, it was far more nuanced than has been recognised; some features associated with enclosure, dispersed buildings and simplified road networks, were in fact associated with period rather than process.

Kαταγραφή και Επεξεργασία για το Δήμο Νηλέως των τοπογραφικών, γεωλογικών και πληθυσμιακών χαρακτηριστικών με τη χρήση των Γ.Σ.Π. / The analyse of the topographical and geological characteristics and also elements about the popularity of area Nileos with the use of G.I.S.

A new Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) has been designed and developed to address a wide spectrum of semi-structured spatial decision problems. These problems are related to site selection, site ranking and impact assessment. The proposed SDSS is conceptualised as a holistic, informed and impact-based multicriteria decision framework. The system has been developed using the .NET C# programming language and open source geoinformatics technologies such as DotSpatial and SpatiaLite. A combination of existing Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, with a few novel variations have been developed and incorporated into the SDSS. The site selection module utilises a theme-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). Two site ranking techniques have been introduced in this research. The first technique is based on the systematic neighbourhood comparison of sites with respect to key indicators. The second technique utilises multivariate ordering capability of the one-dimensional Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) to rank the sites. The site impact assessment module utilises a theme-based Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM). A spatial variant of the General Regression Neural Networks (GRNN) with a genetic algorithm for optimisation has been developed for the prediction and regression analysis. A number of other spatial knowledge discovery and geovisual-analytics tools have been provided in the system to facilitate spatial decision making process. An application of the SDSS has been presented to investigate the potential of Coalbed Methane (CBM) development in Wales, UK. Most potential sites have been identified by utilising the site selection and site ranking tools of the developed SDSS. An impact assessment has been carried out on the best sites by using Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix. Further analysis has uncovered the spatial variability expected in the potential impacts of the sites, considering key indicators. The application has demonstrated that the developed system can help the decision makers in providing a balanced regime of social, environmental, public health and economic aspects into the decision making process for engineering interventions. The generic nature of the developed system has extended the concept of Spatial Decision Support System to address a range of spatial decision problems, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the decision making process. The developed system can be considered as a useful modern governance tool, incorporating the key factors into decision making and providing optimal solutions for the critical questions related to energy security and economic future of the region.

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) provides a structured approach to identifying the character and distinctiveness about the landscape. It is a tool used to identify what makes a location unique, a set of techniques and procedures used to map differences between landscapes based on their physical, cultural and historical characteristics. Although the UK has committed to assessing all of its landscapes by signing the European Landscape Convention in 2006, only 60% of coverage has been achieved. The majority of LCAs are carried out by professional environment or landscape consultancies rather than ‘in-house’. Geographical Information Systems are increasingly being used to collate and analyse data and produce character maps. This research presents a Spatial Decision Support System (LCA-SDSS) based in ArcGIS 9.3 that can be used to support decision makers in conducting a LCA. The LCA-SDSS provides a method for storing data, a model base for the assessment of Landform, Ground Type, Land Cover & Cultural attributes and a method for the user to interact with the resulting maps. Using the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as a study area the SDSS was developed and tested, resulting in character maps for each stage of the modelling and a final characterisation map. These maps were compared to a LCA conducted by a professional environmental consultant and were found to have produced a good quality assessment as verified by the end user at the Tamar Valley AONB Partnership.

Different Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations are available these days. This has led to an increase in the number of satellites available for the user, and that presents different performance levels for the user requirements like accuracy and convergence time. However, these benefits come from different constellations that have different reference times and for some, different frequencies. At the same time, the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has also been presented as being a position solution within a certain level of accuracy and precision. Therefore, it is important to investigate the potential benefits from the PPP with a view to using a single or multi-constellation. These investigations include accuracy, precision, and convergence time. In addition, it is important to look at the individual performance of these constellations regarding the above improvements. This will give a clear decision about adopting a single or multi-constellation. It will also provide an independent solution, for instance for the station coordinates and troposphere, and independent estimated station velocities, without additional cost. This research has been conducted in three stages. Firstly, the research begins with an evaluation of the GPS and the GLONASS (GLO) constellation geometry using a new approach for computing the cumulative dilution of precision (DOP) rather than the conventional DOP which was found to be latitude-dependent. Then it investigates the achievable station coordinate accuracy from PPP scenarios for static positioning after choosing the most appropriate PPP strategy that needs to be followed. Furthermore, the effect of different precise products (satellite orbits and clocks) on the PPP solutions and the difference between those products has been covered. It has been proven that PPP solutions can reach the same precision as a Global Double-Difference (GDD) GPS solution. Most importantly, the PPP GLO is found to be capable of producing similar precision and accuracy when compared to PPP GPS as well as the GDD GPS solution. Secondly, this research also investigates the conventional strategy (using a model for the hydrostatic component and estimating the wet component) for estimating the troposphere Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) from the PPP solutions with an evaluation of the obtained accuracy of the tropospheric ZTD from four tropospheric models. It also presents an alternative strategy (estimating both components using different mapping functions and different process noises) for estimating the tropospheric ZTD from the PPP that can give millimeters of ZTD accuracy without affecting the station coordinate estimation and without relying on any metrological data or models. Validations have been conducted for the new strategy using PPP GPS, PPP GLO and PPP GPS+GLO. Regional validation was conducted over seven consecutive days for seven weeks, using the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain (OSGB) stations in the UK, and long-term (over one year) validation was conducted using 22 stations from the OSGB. The regional and long-term validations have been conducted using three different final precise products (satellite orbits (SP3) and clocks (CLK)), which are the EMX, ESA and GFZ. A global validation using ~76 IGS stations was conducted over a different period. This was conducted in three stages, using the final EMX, final IGS and real-time IGS precise products. It was found that this approach can be used in real-time as well as in post processing without a significant difference between the results. Finally, this research has investigated the potential of using the PPP GLO for crustal motion separate to using the PPP GPS. Consistent horizontal station rates were found between PPP GPS and GDD GPS solutions. It was also concluded that it should be possible to use the PPP GLO for crustal motion, as an independent and precise solution. However, there was a bias in the orientation components of the estimated horizontal station rates between the PPP GLO and both other solutions (PPP GPS and GDD GPS), which was concluded to be a system bias rather than a strategy bias.

Examples of spatio-temporal data that can be represented as sets of points (called dot patterns) are pervasive in many applications, for example when tracking herds of migrating animals, ships in busy shipping channels and crowds of people in everyday life. The use of this type of data extends beyond the standard remit of Geographic Information Science (GISc), as classification and optimisation problems can often be visualised in the same manner. A common task within these fields is the assignment of a region (called a footprint) that is representative of the underlying pattern. The ways in which this footprint can be generated has been the subject of much research with many algorithms having been produced. Much of this research has focused on the dot patterns and footprints as static entities, however for many of the applications the data is prone to change. This thesis proposes that the footprint need not necessarily be updated each time the dot pattern changes; that the footprint can remain an appropriate representation of the pattern if the amount of change is slight. To ascertain the appropriate times at which to update the footprint, and when to leave it as it is, this thesis introduces the concept of change identifiers as simple measures of change between two dot patterns. Underlying the change identifiers is an in-depth examination of the data inherent in the dot pattern and the creation of descriptors that represent this data. The experimentation performed by this thesis shows that change identifiers are able to distinguish between different types of change across dot patterns from different sources. In doing so the change identifiers reduce the number of updates of the footprint while maintaining a measurably good representation of the dot pattern.

"Mapping is a way of visualizing parts of the world and maps are largely diagrammatic and two dimensional. There is usually a one-to-one correspondence between places in the world and places on the map, but while there are limitless aspects to the world, the cartographer can only select a few to map" Daniel Dorling, 1996 Map generalization is the process by which small scale maps are derived from large scale maps. This requires the application of operations such as simplification, selection, displacement and amalgamation to map features subsequent to scale reduction. The work is concerned with the problem of effective rendering of large scale datasets on small display devices by developing appropriate map generalization techniques for generating schematic maps. With the advent of high-end miniature technology and large scale digital geographic data products it is essential to devise proper methodologies and techniques for the automated generation of schematic maps specifically tailored for mobile GIS applications. Schematic maps are diagrammatic representation based on linear abstractions of networks. Transportation networks are the key candidates for applying schematization to help ease the interpretation of information by the process of cartographic abstraction. This study looks at how simulated annealing optimisation technique can be successfully applied for automated generation of schematic maps from large scale digital geographic datasets tailored specifically for mobile GIS applications. The software developed makes use of a simulated annealing based schematic map generator algorithm to generate route maps from OSCAR® dataset corresponding to a series of user defined start and end points. The generated schematic route maps are displayed and tested on mobile handheld devices shows promising results for mobile GIS applications. This work concentrates on the automatic generation of schematic maps, which, in the context of mobile mapping, are seen as being a particularly useful means of displaying routes for way finding type and utility network applications.

Ökosysteme und die Lebensräume seltener Tier- und Pflanzenarten machen nicht an Staatsgrenzen halt. Grenzgebiete sind aufgrund ihrer peripheren Lage, dünnen Besiedlung und charakteristischen Naturräume wie Flüsse oder Gebirge oft sogar besonders reich an schützenswerten Landschaften. In grenzüberschreitenden Großschutzgebieten ist es erforderlich, auch die Tätigkeit der Schutzgebietsverwaltungen grenzüberschreitend zu koordinieren, um die Kohärenz der Schutzbemühungen sicherzustellen. In der Nationalparkregion Sächsisch-Böhmische Schweiz sammeln die Verantwortlichen auf deutscher und tschechischer Seite Erfahrung in einem gemeinsamen Projekt.

This thesis develops and applies an integrated method of environmental assessment that couples a geographic Information system (GIS) to Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA), using bioenergy combustion and CHP sites as a case study. A literature review to identify the gaps in knowledge with respect to spatial MCA and GIS-based approaches to support decision-making and sustainability assessments shows the need for an approach to identify suitable locations for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants using bioenergy combustion and to analyse spatial aspects. CHP plants can improve the efficiency and sustainability of bioenergy generation because they are capable of producing and utilising both electrical and thermal energy. Identifying suitable locations for these, typically decentralised, plants is crucial but challenging because proximity to both feedstock supply and heat demand has to be considered. The thesis develops and applies a novel GIS-based approach to identify suitable locations for CHP bioenergy plants and to analyse spatial aspects. This work stands out as the principal novel contribution of the research presented in this thesis. The science-based technical assessment can be integrated in a formal and structured decision support framework (DSF) which could aid environmental decision-making. There is no single right way to conduct a decision-making process because every process is limited by resources and timelines. The environmental assessment case study described in this thesis uses a modified version of the MCA framework proposed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (2009). The GIS-based approach is integrated in this DSF to couple GIS to MCA. Additionally, specific attention is given to reviewing and selecting sustainability aspects (covering Criteria and Indicators) and MCA methods. These processes are also integrated in the DSF and can be seen as being part of the problem structuring phase of the DSF used in the research presented in this thesis. It is shown how the DSF is applied to assess alternatives for centralised and decentralised generation in a research case study region. By applying the different stages of the DSF, including the GIS-based approach, the selection processes and a selected MCA method (Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)), it can be concluded that the decentralised alternatives should be preferred in the research case study scenarios if regional sustainable bioenergy generation wants to be archived. In the first scenario, the second alternative (A2) clearly dominates with an overall score of 71.82% (A1: 28.18%). However, the results are relatively close in the second scenario (A3: 56.62%, A4: 43.38%), which is mainly due to the similarity of the alternatives in the scenario. The sensitivity analyses show that the rankings of alternatives do not change in both scenarios unless major criteria weight variations or performance adjustments are made.

Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο αναπτύσσονται οι έννοιες Γεωδαισία, Γεωδαιτικό ή τοπογραφικό δίκτυο, τα είδη των δικτύων, τα προβολικά συστήματα, τα διεθνή και τα ελληνικά γεωδαιτικά συστήματα αναφοράς καθώς και η μεταξύ τους μαθηματική σχέση. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο αναφέρονται ο ορισμός και τα είδη του Γεωγραφικού Συστήματος Πληροφοριών, τα δομικά του στοιχεία, η οργάνωσή του, οι εφαρμογές και δυνατότητές του. Επίσης ιδιαίτερη έμφαση δίνεται στη διασύνδεση του Γ.Σ.Π με την ευρυζωνικότητα, γεγονός το οποίο αναδεικνύει την σημαντικότητα ύπαρξης των GIS(Γ.Σ.Π). Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο αναλύεται το πρόγραμμα που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην υλοποίηση, δηλαδή το Quantum GIS, ενώ ακολουθούν οι ψηφιακοί χάρτες καθώς και οι αναλυτικές αναφορές σχεδιασμού τους, οι οποίοι κατασκευάστηκαν με χρήση του QGIS. Η παραπάνω ανάλυση αναφέρεται στους δήμους Πύργου, Αμαλιάδος, Πάτρας, Ρίου, Αιγίου, Αγρινίου, Ναυπλίου και Μεσολογγίου. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο αναπτύσσονται δύο αλγόριθμοι εφαρμογής: ένας για την ανίχνευση του περικλειόμενου τριγώνου(με κορυφές ασύρματα κέντρα) δοθέντος συγκεκριμένου σημείου και ένας για την εύρεση της διαδρομής από δοθέν σημείο έως τον πλησιέστερο κόμβο ενός δικτύου οπτικών ινών. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται τα συμπεράσματα της διπλωματικής εργασίας και ακολουθεί η βιβλιογραφία που χρησιμοποιήθηκε. / -