Geographical Information Systems (GIS) represent one of the major contributions to spatial analysis and planning of the new technologies. While teachers and others have viewed its potential contribution to geographical education as considerable, it has not been known with any certainty whether they present a valuable educational tool that aids geographical education. The value of GIS to geographical education is viewed as depending on a geographical education being, in itself, valuable. Within this context, synergetic focus groups are employed to explore the conceptions of GIS held by 109 secondary school students studying Senior Geography in metropolitan and regional Queensland, Australia. A phenomenographic approach is adopted to identify the six qualitatively different ways, or conceptions, in which the participating students experience GIS as: 1. Maps and a source of maps in geography. 2. Mapping in geography: a way to use and create maps. 3. A professional mapping tool: exceeding the needs of senior geography. 4. Frustrating geography: irksome and presenting many challenges to the student-user. 5. Relevant geography: within and beyond the school experience. 6. A better geography: offering a superior curriculum, and broader geographical education, when contrasted to a senior geography that omits its use. The structural and referential elements of each of these conceptions are elucidated within corresponding Categories of Description. The qualitatively different ways in which the conceptions may be experienced are illustrated through an Outcome Space, comprising a metaphoric island landscape. This structural framework reveals that for the Senior Geography students who participated in this investigation, the extent to which GIS may augment the curriculum is influenced by the nature of students' individual understandings of how GIS manages spatial data. This research project is a response to repeated calls in the literature for teachers of geography themselves to become researchers and for a better understanding of GIS within geography education. It reviews the salient literature with respect to geography and geography education generally, and GIS within geographical education specifically. The investigation has confirmed that qualitatively different conceptions of GIS exist amongst students and that these are not consistently aligned with assumptions about its use and benefits as presented by current literature. The findings of the study contribute to knowledge of the potential educational outcomes associated with the use of GIS in geography education and decisions related to current and potential geography curricula. It provides guidance for future curriculum development involving GIS and argues for additional research to inform educators and the spatial sciences industry about the actual and perceived role of GIS within geography education.

Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Criminal activity and police station locations have an inherent geography that needs to be understood in order for crime prevention strategies to be reasonably effective. This study analysed the spatiotemporal pattern of crime in the city of Manzini, in Swaziland, for the period of 2004 and determined suitable locations for future police stations. Four categories of crime were analysed. These were crimes against property, crimes against people, drug related crimes and crimes against public order. Five main analyses were performed namely: overlay analysis, proximity analysis, temporal analysis, morphological analysis, and accessibility analysis. The findings suggest that crimes against property are the most prevalent category of crime in Manzini with a prevalence rate of 84.2%. This category was followed by crimes against people (11.9%), drug related crimes (3.5%), and crimes against public order (0.4%). Landuses associated with transportation experienced the highest amount (22%) of crime in Manzini. There was a strong relationship between incidents of crime and areas with medium to high population density. The proximity analysis revealed that the highest concentration of incidents of crime was between 50 and 100 metres from alcohol serving establishments in Manzini. In a similar analysis, the proximity of incidents of crime to educational institutions was concentrated between 500 and 1000 metres whereas the proximity of incidents of crime to the Manzini police station was dominant between 250 and 500 metres. Of all recorded incidents of crime 87% occurred during the day while 13% occurred during the night. In areas of high-crime concentration such as the bus rank and the Manzini market, it was established that the structural layout of these areas promoted criminal activity. The accessibility analysis showed that seven police stations are necessary to ensure that people do not walk more than 30 minutes to the nearest police station in Manzini. The study concluded that crime prevention strategies would require the intervention of both the police and city planners to be reasonably successful. It also noted that the establishment of accessible police stations would complement the efforts of the police in their endeavour to combat crime in Manzini.

A intensa fragmentação florestal da Bacia do Rio Corumbataí, SP, resultante do processo desordenado de uso e ocupação do solo da região em que ela está inserida, motivou a definição de áreas prioritárias para sua conservação e preservação florestal, tendo em vista o incremento da biodiversidade regional. Empregou-se a abordagem multicriterial, em ambiente SIG, com o Método da Média Ponderada Ordenada, para combinação dos fatores (características da paisagem) importantes ao objetivo do projeto. A princípio os fatores selecionados foram: proximidade entre fragmentos de maior área nuclear; proximidade à cobertura florestal; proximidade à rede hidrográfica; distância à malha viária; distância aos centros urbanos; e vulnerabilidade à erosão. Para a obtenção desse fatores foram necessários os planos de informação: uso e cobertura do solo; fragmentos de floresta; área nuclear dos fragmentos de floresta; rede hidrográfica; centros urbanos; malha viária; declividade; e erodibilidade do solo. Para auxiliar na definição dos fatores, seus pesos de compensação (expressam a ordem de importância dos fatores no processo de decisão) e restrições (categorias restritivas das características) utilizou-se a Técnica Participatória e o Processo Hierárquico Analítico, no próprio SIG. Na determinação dos melhores pesos de ordenação (controlam a maneira como os fatores são agregados e o nível de compensação entre eles) foi considerado o risco assumido no processo de tomada de decisão. Foram, dessa maneira, avaliados mapas de áreas prioritárias com riscos médio, alto e baixo. Os mapas de prioridades foram reclassificados de maneira a apresentar cinco classes de prioridade: muito baixa, baixa, média, alta e muito alta. O mapa final de áreas prioritárias foi reclassificado em sete classes, que possibilitaram o melhor entendimento das alterações propostas para a estrutura da bacia. Na avaliação da importância e da influência dos fatores, para o processo de tomada de decisão, utilizou-se a análise de sensibilidade. Ela foi realizada somente para o mapa de prioridades referente ao grupo de pesos de ordenação mais adequado. Essa análise indicou que a melhor alternativa, para a priorização de áreas, foi o mapa sem o fator proximidade à rede hidrográfica, que apresentou risco médio-alto (R = 0,46) e compensação de 73% entre seus fatores. Os pesos de ordenação desse mapa de prioridades promoveram a definição de áreas prioritárias de acordo com o préestabelecido para esse processo de tomada de decisão. A grande maioria das áreas com maior prioridade coincidiram com regiões da bacia que concentram sua área de floresta nativa e, ainda, seus melhores fragmentos (maiores, mais próximos uns dos outros, com melhores formas e maiores áreas nucleares). Conclui-se que a abordagem multicriterial, com o método da Média Ponderada Ordenada, é eficiente para a definição de áreas prioritárias para a conservação e preservação florestal e o processo de tomada de decisão apresenta robustez, com pesos de compensação, ordenação e solução coerentes. / The forest fragmentation of the Corumbataí River Basin, SP (Brazil) is a consequence an unplanned process of soil occupation and use. The purpose of this study was to define priority areas for forest conservation and preservation in that river basin, aiming at improve the regional biodiversity. Multicriteria evaluation with Ordered Weighted Average was used to aggregate factors (characteristics of landscapes). Factors considered important were: proximity to forest patches; proximity to forest with larger core area; proximity to water; distance to roads; distance to urban areas; and vulnerability to erosion. In order to produce these factors it was necessary the layers: land use/land cover; forest patches; core area of forest patches; streams; urban areas; roads; slope; and erodibility. In the definition of the factors, the factors importance weights (define the importance of each factor in the process) and constraints, the Participatory Technique and the Hierarchical Analytic Process were used. In the determination of the factors order weights (controls the manner in which the weighted factors are aggregate) its was considered the risk-taking. Maps were produced with low, medium, and high risk. These maps were reclassified in order to show only five levels of priority (very low, low, medium, high, very high), and the final map in seven levels of priority. The sensitivity analysis was employed to identify the importance and the influence of factors (only to the selected priority map with adequate risk-taking). According to this analysis the best alternative was the priority map without proximity to water, that showed high risk (R = 0.40) and 78% of trade-off among the factors. The order weights of this final map promoted the definition of priority areas, according to the objective of this project. Finally, it is concluded that the multicriteria evaluation with Ordered Weighted Average is efficient to determine priority areas to forest conservation and preservation; and the process presents robustness.

Notre thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre de la mise en place d'un observatoire des pratiques agricoles dans le bassin versant de la Vesle. L'objectif de ce système d'information agri-environnemental est de comprendre les pratiques responsables de la pollution de la ressource en eau par les pesticides d'origine agricole sur le territoire étudié et de fournir des outils pertinents et pérennes pour estimer leurs impacts. Notre problématique concerne la prise en compte de l'imperfection dans le processus de la fusion de données multi-sources et imparfaites. En effet, l'information sur les pratiques n'est pas exhaustive et ne fait pas l'objet d'une déclaration, il nous faut donc construire cette connaissance par l'utilisation conjointe de sources multiples et de qualités diverses en intégrant dans le système d'information la gestion de l'information imparfaite. Dans ce contexte, nous proposons des méthodes pour une reconstruction spatialisée des informations liées aux pratiques agricoles à partir de la télédétection, du RPG, d'enquêtes terrain et de dires d'experts, reconstruction qualifiée par une évaluation de la qualité de l'information. Par ailleurs, nous proposons une modélisation conceptuelle des entités agronomiques imparfaites du système d'information en nous appuyant sur UML et PERCEPTORY. Nous proposons ainsi des modèles de représentation de l'information imparfaite issues des différentes sources d'information à l'aide soit des ensembles flous, soit de la théorie des fonctions de croyance et nous intégrons ces modèles dans le calcul d'indicateurs agri-environnementaux tels que l'IFT et le QSA. / Our thesis is part of a regional project aiming the development of a community environmental information system for agricultural practices in the watershed of the Vesle. The objective of this observatory is 1) to understand the practices of responsible of the water resource pollution by pesticides from agriculture in the study area and 2) to provide relevant and sustainable tools to estimate their impacts. Our open issue deals with the consideration of imperfection in the process of merging multiple sources and imperfect data. Indeed, information on practices is not exhaustive and is not subject to return, so we need to build this knowledge through the combination of multiple sources and of varying quality by integrating imperfect information management information in the system. In this context, we propose methods for spatial reconstruction of information related to agricultural practices from the RPG remote sensing, field surveys and expert opinions, skilled reconstruction with an assessment of the quality of the information. Furthermore, we propose a conceptual modeling of agronomic entities' imperfect information system building on UML and PERCEPTORY.We provide tools and models of representation of imperfect information from the various sources of information using fuzzy sets and the belief function theory and integrate these models into the computation of agri-environmental indicators such as TFI and ASQ.

[pt] Sistemas de posicionamento, combinados com tecnologias de comunicação de baixo custo, abrem possibilidades interessantes para implementar aplicações em tempo real que monitoram objetos móveis e que apoiam sistemas de tomada de decisão. Inicialmente, esta dissertação discute requisitos básicos para aplicações proativas de monitoramento em tempo real. Em seguida, propõe uma arquitetura para aplicações proativas que monitoram objetos móveis, explorando a semântica da trajetória e a dinâmica do ambiente. Por fim, fornece um exemplo sobre como uma aplicação que monitora uma frota de caminhões pode se tornar proativa, utilizando notícias sobre condições da malha viária, a partir da publicação de dados em texto não estruturado através da Internet. A dissertação descreve como estruturar e georreferenciar as notícias, utilizando serviços de geocodificação. / [en] Positioning systems, combined with inexpensive communication technologies, open interesting possibilities to implement real-time applications that monitor moving objects and that support decision making. This dissertation first discusses basic requirements for proactive real-time monitoring applications. Then, it proposes an architecture to deploy applications that monitor moving objects, are pro-active, explore trajectory semantics and are sensitive to environment dynamics. Lastly, this dissertation provides an example of how an application that monitors a fleet of trucks can become proactive, using unstructured text information available on Internet focused on road conditions change. The dissertation describes how to structure and geo-reference the text, using available geocoding services.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-07-31T18:16:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ELVIS RODRIGUES DA SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2007..pdf: 3374100 bytes, checksum: 70beb2c61d7b1eb969fe1e64941edd84 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-31T18:16:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ELVIS RODRIGUES DA SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2007..pdf: 3374100 bytes, checksum: 70beb2c61d7b1eb969fe1e64941edd84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-04 / Os sistemas de roteamento vêm se tornando ferramentas bastante úteis recentemente. Eles pretendem ajudar os usuários a encontrar o caminho mais adequado entre dois lugares de acordo com a distância da viagem, o tempo do percurso, e outros critérios. Esta dissertação apresenta uma arquitetura orientada a serviços e propõe um novo algoritmo de busca de rotas chamado Coolest Path. Este algoritmo habilita personalização multi-critério de acordo com a distância da viagem, o tempo, pontos turísticos e a simplicidade do caminho. Além disso, a dissertação propõe restrições a serem acrescentadas aos caminhos calculados: A-autonomy, onde o usuário define uma constante A e o algoritmo provê um caminho com N paradas, uma a cada distância A; e T-autonomy, onde o usuário define uma constante T e o algoritmo provê um caminho com N paradas, uma a cada T unidades de tempo. Essas paradas são realizadas em pontos de interesse (ex. pontos turísticos). Os algoritmos são fornecidos na forma de serviços Web, ou seja, são acessíveis de qualquer dispositivo conectado à Internet: um browser desktop, um celular ou um quiosque turístico localizado em um aeroporto. O serviço de roteamento é uma extensão ao framework iGIS. / Routing systems have become very powerful tools recently. They help users in finding the most suitable path between two places using travel distance, time and others criteria. This dissertation presents a routing system based on service-oriented architecture, which includes the proposal of an innovative algorithm known as coolest path. This algorithm enables multi-criteria personalization by using travel distance, time, points of interest and path simplicity. Moreover, constrained paths are also supported including the implementation of a-autonomy in road networks and the proposal of a new algorithm: t-autonomy, which returns the best path with N stops, such that the travel time between any two consecutive points in the path is not greater than t. These algorithms are implemented as an iGIS extension by using Web services technology.

Mozambique is in the process of setting up maternity waiting homes (MWHs) in an attempt to improve access of women living in remote areas. It is expected that MWHs will increase institutional deliveries and consequently, decrease maternal mortality caused by the delay in reaching obstetric care. However, no evidence for this assumption has been found in the literature. The objective of this research was, using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), to assess the impact of MWHs in increasing institutional deliveries coverage. GIS technology is a valuable methodology to analyse access, especially in contexts where official records are weak. An ecological study, using a sample of 28 health facilities, was conducted in six districts in northern Mozambique. The findings suggest that MWHs could contribute to increasing institutional deliveries coverage in a range of 4% to 2 %. However, they do not appear to increase access of women living in remote areas. / M.A. (Public Health)

Os SIG estão se popularizando cada vez mais e isso tem se dado principalmente através da Internet. Os assim chamados SIG-Web no entanto, quando desenvolvidos com as tecnologias tradicionais de web, apresentam as mesmas fraquezas daquelas, a saber: sincronicidade e pobreza na interação com o usuário. As tecnologias usadas para Rich Internet Applications (RIA) são uma alternativa que resolvem esses problemas. Na presente dissertação será demonstrada a factibilidade do seu uso para o desenvolvimento de SIG-Web, oferecendo um conjunto de códigos e estratégias para desenvolvimentos futuros, a partir de um conjunto básico de operações a se realizar em um SIG-Web. Adicionalmente será proposta a UWE-R, uma extensão a uma metodologia de engenharia web existente, para modelagem de RIA e SIG-Web. / GIS are getting more popular, mainly due to the Internet. Nonetheless the so called Web-GIS, when developed using traditional web technologies, inherit the same weaknesses from those, i.e.: sinchronicity and poor user interaction. Rich Internet Applications (RIA) technologies are an alternative for those issues. In the present work the feasibility of their usage for Web-GIS will be demonstrated, providing a set of codes and strategies for future developments, taking into account a basic set of Web-GIS operations. Additionally UWE-R, an extension to a web engineering methodology will be proposed for RIA modeling and Web-GIS.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-02-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:44:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pascoa_ag_dr_jabo.pdf: 850002 bytes, checksum: 43fea4489183f5f75ba5a41c29d32b80 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Entender o complexo arranjo do ambiente de pastagem significa poder manejar os animais e hábitos de pastejo e incrementar a sustentabilidade desse ecossistema. Os objetivos com este estudo foram caracterizar os efeitos da dispersão espacial de condicionadores de pastejo frente ao comportamento de bovinos, além de aplicar novos métodos para a avaliação do uso do espaço pelos animais. Foram feitas avaliações de como os condicionadores de pastejo (bebedouro, saleiro, cocho de suplementação, altura do dossel, inclinação do terreno, oferta de forragem) e o manejo influenciaram o comportamento dos bovinos. Houve rejeição de forragem contaminada por placas de fezes somente quando existiram condições para que os animais a rejeitassem. Fatores como a concentração de matéria seca e proteína bruta na forragem, distância do bebedouro e massa verde podem afetar a preferência dos animais por certas áreas da pastagem. A eficiência da movimentação dos cochos na melhoria da distribuição das placas de fezes é dependente do suplemento fornecido e da altura do dossel. A concentração de placas de fezes foi maior próximo ao cocho de concentrado que próximo ao de sal mineral. A movimentação dos cochos diminui o efeito substitutivo do concentrado. Em piquetes com concentrado em cocho fixo os animais utilizam a altura do dossel como referência enquanto naqueles em que o cocho foi deslocado a qualidade da forragem foi mais utilizada. Mesmo diminuindo o esforço da caminhada devido ao ângulo com que os animais se deslocam em uma pastagem, outras estruturas, como disposição das cercas, influenciam no deslocamento. / To understand the complex arrangement of the pasture environment means could handling the animals and their pasture habits and increase the sustainability of the ecosystem. The objective with this study was to evaluate the influence of the space dispersion of the pasture conditioners in the cattle grazing behaviour and optimize the nutrients cycling deriving of the dung pats, beyond applying new methodologies for the evaluation of the use of the space for bovines. For this, five experiments were developed in different time and local. It was studied how the pasture conditioners (water bunker, feed bunker, salt bunker, heights of grazing, land declivity, forage offer) and handling had influences on cattle behaviour. Rejection of contaminated plant for dung pats only occurred when existed conditions for the animals did it. Factors like the concentration of dry matter and crude protein in forage, water bunker distance and green mass could affect the animal’s preferences for grazing areas. The efficiency of the feed bunker movements in the improvement of the distribution of the dung pats is dependent of the supplied supplement and the height of the fodder plant in the pasture. It was observed more dung pats near the supplement bunker in comparison with the salt bunker. In paddocks with supplement on fixed feed bunker the animals used the height of the fodder as reference, while in situations when the feed bunkers were moved, the quality of the forage was more advantaged. Even decreasing the walk effort because of the angle used for the animals in the pasture, others structures, like the fence arrangement, influences the displacement.

A ocorrência de eventos erosivos acelerados associados à implantação de sistemas de transportes é um dos principais problemas socioambientais enfrentados pelas concessionárias brasileiras. Feições erosivas do tipo linear e laminares são observadas tanto ao longo da plataforma, nos cortes e aterros, como fora dela, em caixas de empréstimo, áreas de jazidas exploradas, junto aos pés de aterros e jusante das obras de transposição. Em geral, na literatura, os estudos relativos às analises de dinâmica de desenvolvimento e ocorrência de processos erosivos, bem como o risco oferecido ao meio, estão inseridos nas abordagens ambientais teorizadas como Análise Integrada da Natureza e nas análises de riscos e suscetibilidades (hazards) subsidiadas pela Cartografia Geotécnica e Geoambiental, ambas amparadas pela utilização da ciência e sistemas de informação geográfica (SIG) em plataformas computacionais. Especificamente no campo de engenharia de transportes, tais abordagens estão relacionadas aos estudos das áreas de influência pertencentes aos traçados e domínios de empreendimentos lineares (rodovias e ferrovias) em operação ou em implantação, atuando como ferramenta de gestão e monitoramento frente a requisitos ambientais exigidos pela legislação vigente e almejados pelas concessionárias responsáveis pelas vias. Inserido no viés da problemática ambiental envolvendo o setor ferroviário, e no sentido de subsidiar processos de licenciamento ambiental e regularização de linhas férreas em operação, além de fornecer bases metodológicas para a implantação de empreendimentos futuros preocupados com a prevenção de problemas relacionados à erosão, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal a elaboração de um estudo que realize a análise do risco oferecido à linha férrea pelos processos erosivos identificados ao longo do traçado da malha. Através da utilização de informações espaciais em plataformas SIG, a pesquisa apresenta a aplicação de um conjunto de metodologias que compõem todo o procedimento, desde o registro dos pontos mapeados, espacialização, o fornecimento de mapas temáticos ambientais intermediários, a identificação de graus de suscetibilidade da área de estudo até a definição de parâmetros para a análise de risco dos processos erosivos em relação à linha férrea em análise. Os resultados fornecem a leitura das características analisadas para composição do indicador de suscetibilidade e a análise de risco (baixo, médio ou alto) de cada processo erosivo mapeado em relação à linha férrea. / The occurrence of accelerated erosion events associated with the implementation of transport systems is one of the main environmental problems facing brazilian concessionaires. Erosive features of linear and laminar type are observed both along the platform, in the sections and embankments, and outside in boxes loan areas explored deposits, at the foot of embankments and downstream of the works transposing. In general, studies on the analysis of dynamics of development and occurrence of erosion (and risks induced to the environment) are inserted in environmental approaches theorized such as Integrated Analysis of the Nature and analysis of risks and susceptibility (hazards) subsidized by the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Cartography, both supported by the use of science and geographic information systems (GIS) in computing platforms. Specifically in the area of transportation engineering, such approaches are related to studies of areas of influence belonging to the plan and domain of linear transport developments (roads and railways) in operation or in implementation, acting as a management tool and monitoring against environmental requirements by current legislation and sought by the concessionaires responsible for roads. Inserted into the bias of environmental issues involving the railway sector, and in order to support the processes of environmental licensing and regulation of railways in operation, besides provide methodological foundations for the implementation of future projects concerned with the prevention of problems related to erosion, the present work aims to prepare a study that performs the analysis of the risk concerned to the railway line by erosion processes identified along the plan line. Through the use of spatial information in GIS platforms, a set of methodologies that make up the whole process will be presented, from registration and spatial distribution of mapped points, provision of environmental thematic maps intermediaries, identification of susceptibility levels of the study area until parameters settings for risks assessment of erosion in relation to railway line analysis.The results provide the reading of the characteristics analyzed for composition of susceptibility indicator and risk analysis (low, medium or high) of each erosion mapped in relation to the railway line .