The objective of the research is to develop a user friendly framework for an internet GIS (Geographic Information Systems) application. The study aims at providing a map with GIS capabilities without requiring the clients (users of the website) having to install ArcGIS (a product of ESRI) software on their personal computers along with the facility to download hydrological data. It also aims at providing a methodology to synthesize data in case of data gaps. High resolution data was collected in a small watershed in west Central Florida to measure hydrologic storages and fluxes during 2001-2004. Meteorological, surface and groundwater data were collected at 5 to 10 minute intervals. A watershed database was constructed using Microsoft Access and was normalized to 3NF (third Normalization Form) for easy update. The databases available do not involve user-friendly tools to map data collection locations or to facilitate interactive delivery of data. In many fields like hydrology, it is important to provide spatial location of the data points with the data. In addition there is also a need for one platform wherein various user communities (students, planners, hydrologists etc) can be served. Thus there is a need for an online user-friendly environment, which allows for interactive delivery of data along with mapping and spatial analysis. To address this need an ArcIMS website was constructed. It includes ortho-photography of the site, which can be overlaid with the shapefile of the data locations thus giving the user reference orientation of the data locations. The user is allowed to download data in the form of text files based on the required temporal resolution and date ranges. Furthermore, users are provided with valuable data sets to parameterize or test hydrologic models applied to west-central Florida conditions. The website has a feature to generate synthetic data using linear correlation in cases where data are unavailable for the requested period of time. The website also serves the dual role of providing accessible surface and groundwater information to the public. It can also be used as a desktop geographic work tool for engineers, planners and developers, to help better understand the surface water, vadose zone and groundwater interaction. Hence this website is useful not only for professional hydrologists but also for graduate research.

Middle East Technical University (METU) campus has such an extensive area that reaching the necessary information which affects campus life, such as the locations of the buildings, classrooms, computer labs, and etc. may be very difficult for anyone who does not know the campus well, and even for a student, personnel or a graduate who had a long time in the campus. An interactive campus map and a database structure related to this map which can be accessed by multiple types of users on the Internet can display this information with its geographical locations, and will reduce the &quot / difficulty for reaching information&quot / widely. For this purpose, data of METU were collected from various sources, edited, organized, and inserted into data tables. An interactive campus map displaying the locations of the physical structures and facilities in the campus was created in Scalable Vector Grapics (SVG) standard, and published on the Internet. By JavaScript functions, the map can be browsed with map navigation tools, including zoom in, zoom out, move and information buttons, and layers control. There is a search section on the user interface, which allows users make queries to find building and classroom names, and list the buildings and facilities according to their usage and category types. Data are stored in PostgreSQL database, transmitted through PHP scripts, and can be edited by authorized users through the specialized web interfaces. Lastly, web-based implementation of the application is entirely based on open-source standards.

This research aims to investigate different solutions when creating the mostsuitable tool-set for implementation of outdoor attractions Web GISapplication using Web 2.0 technologies. The project has been set incooperation with a local Nedre Dalälven region Leader development teamfor their purposes and needs. Theoretical study has been taken in order todefine a software tool-set which would fit implementation process the best.The research approach includes collection of information about Web 2.0technologies, using available sources (databases which access was providedby University of Gävle), as well as discussion of differences between them.Analysed technologies were compared against applications' requirements.As the results of mentioned research, during development process three-tierarchitecture is going to be considered. The data tier and logical tier are goingto be located on the same server. For the mapping service Google Mapsserver is going to be employed. As an exchange format JSON is going to beused because it is much lighter then XML. On the client side JavaScriptwould suit well for the implementation because of Google Maps JavaScriptAPI and JSON exchange format that are going to be used. The PHP scriptinglanguage is going to implement business logic.The conclusion have been made that three-tier architecture suits thisapplication the best. The information about paths, which should be presentedon the map, is going to be stored in .gpx files rather than database, while filepath on the server side is going to be stored together with other details aboutit.This paper recommends the implementation of such an application and studyof further changes with a purpose of improving performance characteristics.

It can be a hard and time consuming task for a decision maker to decide which parts of a network to reinvest in. There are a lot of parameters to take into consideration regarding reinvestments, for example age, number of outages, number of inspection remarks and the degree of inspection remarks. Without any visualization, it is difficult to detect patterns in the data. Therefor, the decision maker is required to really know the network he/she is working with and to have a gut feeling of where to reinvest. The purpose of this thesis is to show that the decision making process can be much simpler and better supported when using GIS tools for analysis and visualization. This is done by designing a prototype of a web application that can produce multicriteria decision analysis on the parameters of interest for reinvestments in a power network.Traditionally, heavy desktop clients are for expert users while web-based clients are better for layman users. One of the greatest advantages of a web-based client over a desktop client is that it can be reached externally from any device that has access to internet. Because of this, the prototype is developed as a web-based client. Customer data can be sensitive information, this means that the data needs to be secure and directly accessible for the users of the application. Therefor, a 3-tier architecture with client, server and database is used. The result is visualized in a map, which makes it easy for anyone to interpret the result. Since the prototype is developed to be used by none GIS experts, the weighted linear combination method is used for the analysis. The prototype is not fully automated and does not deliver an absolute decision, the goal is rather for it to function as an aid for the decision maker when deciding on the final reinvestment area. The prototype is evaluated by the prospective users of the application through a questionnaire and the results show that a tool like this would be very useful for reinvestments decisions. Since the prototype does not rely on topology or network structure, it can be adapted to other spatial decision problems than just reinvestments in power networks.

With the economic growth, the number of motor vehicles has increased rapidly for the last decades, especially in developing countries like China and India. Availability of more vehicles makes it more convenient for people to travel and merchandise transport. The increase of the number of vehicles also brings stresses to public traffic and pollution to the environment. When the number of vehicles on the road is over the available space, it results in traffic congestion. The problem is being studied and there are several solutions to it, like building more roads, rebuilding the existing streets and enlarging the cities. Based on the traffic reason and the environment reason, the government and the institute of environmental protection appeal to the public to take public transport means instead of private cars. But the measure affects the utilization ofmotor vehicles. Global Positioning System (GPS) provides autonomous geo-spatial positioningand navigation service. Once the user enters the destination, the navigation service will show the shortest path from the location of the user to the destination. Following the guide makes the vehicles running purposively, and it is also favorable for traffic control and management. Theoretically, if the diver keeps the same driving mode, the shortest path will cost the shortest time, but in reality, the traffic environment is complex and the driving speed is variable thus the shortest path is probably not the fastest path. In this study, the hinder factors of the speed and traffic are fixed constructions on the road, like: turnings, hospitals, schools, residential areas, traffic lights and the user-controlled factor (sites of traffic jams, accidents, and temporary construction on the road). We take the hinderfactors of traffic and driving speed into consideration while providing the route plan, finding the shortest-time path, and showing the result as an online map via the web Geographic Information System (GIS) application. We show that reducing the travelling time of motor vehicles, makes the traffic flow more rapid and efficient. Alsoreducing the emission time of motor vehicles, diminishes the greenhouse effect. Beside these, the achievement of our study also shows that the public can take advantage of open source tools and data to build their GIS application to do spatial and data analysis.

Tsunamis, as the catastrophic disasters, can cause loss of live and property when they come to the shores. Preparation of emergency plans is essential to reduce the damage. Consequently, any initiative in tsunami modeling and inundation mapping is of vital importance for progressing safety surveillance and maintenance. In an effort to achieve a thorough analysis of effect of tsunami, it is critical to estimate the geographical extent of possibly affected area and to predict tsunami impacts. The inundation mapping system also must serve to manage the simulation data in a scalable environment to reach end-users in the time of event. For this purpose, in this study, the generation of a Web based Geographic Information System (GIS) to serve inundation maps through web. The research methodology consists of four main stages: (i) simulating tsunamis based on six different scenarios (ii) processing simulation data through a GIS application / (iii) development of web interfaces and implementation of the developed model for Web-GIS application / (iv) verification of the created model for Marmara Sea Region. The proposed system is expected to be an efficient tool for improving inundation mapping efforts for expected tsunamis in Turkey.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IgorPSC_da_capa_ate_cap5.pdf: 2688023 bytes, checksum: cee6b43b55f77595d45129c9130b17e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-19 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has becoming very important in fields where detailed and precise study of earth surface features is required. Applications in environmental protection are such an example that requires the use of GIS tools for analysis and decision by managers and enrolled community of protected areas. In this specific field, a challenge that remains is to build a GIS that can be dynamically fed with data, allowing researchers and other agents to recover actual and up to date information. In some cases, data is acquired in several ways and come from different sources. To solve this problem, some tools were implemented that includes a model for spatial data treatment on the Web. The research issues involved start with the feeding and processing of environmental control data collected in-loco as biotic and geological variables and finishes with the presentation of all information on theWeb. For this dynamic processing, it was developed some tools that make MapServer more flexible and dynamic, allowing data uploading by the proper users. Furthermore, it was also developed a module that uses interpolation to aiming spatial data analysis. A complex application that has validated this research is to feed the system with data coming from coral reef regions located in northeast of Brazil. The system was implemented using the best interactivity concept provided by the AJAX model and resulted in a substantial contribution for efficiently accessing information, being an essential mechanism for controlling events in the environmental monitoring / O uso de Sistemas de Informa??es Geogr?ficas (SIG) tem se tornado essencial nos campos onde os detalhes e estudos precisos da superf?cie terrestre s?o requeridos. Aplica??es em monitoramento ambiental s?o exemplos que requerem o uso de um SIG para que os gestores e toda a comunidade envolvida possam realizar as an?lises e decis?es em cima das ?reas de prote??o ambiental. Neste campo espec?fico, um desafio ? construir um SIG que possa ser alimentado dinamicamente com dados, permitindo que os pr?prios pesquisadores enviem freq?entemente os dados ao sistema. Em alguns casos, os dados s?o adquiridos de diferentes fontes e precisam ser centralizados em um s? sistema. Para solucionar este problema, ferramentas foram implementadas nesta Tese, possibilitando que os dados espaciais sejam devidamente tratados na Web. Com efeito, a pesquisa envolvida nesta Tese tem in?cio a partir da inser??o e processamento de dados obtidos in-loco, como vari?veis bi?ticas e geol?gicas, e ? finalizada com a representa??o dessas informa??es na Web. Para a consecu??o deste processo din?mico foram desenvolvidas ferramentas que tornam o MapServer mais flex?vel e din?mico, permitindo que o pr?prio usu?rio envie os dados coletados. Al?m disso, um m?dulo que utiliza t?cnicas de interpola??o espacial para auxiliar as an?lises espaciais foi, tamb?m, implementado. Como meio de valida??o do sistema foram utilizados dados provenientes de pesquisas em uma regi?o de recifes de corais, no Nordeste do Brasil. Por fim, este sistema foi implementado atrav?s do uso dos conceitos de interatividade que s?o dados pelo AJAX, se tornando uma ferramenta para controle dos eventos relacionados ao monitoramento ambiental

Die mapChart GmbH bietet einen Softwaredienst an, der es ermöglicht, auf der Grundlage von teilweise kundenspezifischen Basisgeometrien vektorbasierte Karten zu erstellen. Primäres Ausgabemedium ist dabei die Bildschirmkarte des JAVA-Clients im Webbrowser. PDF-Export und Druck sind ebenso möglich. Bei der Kartenerstellung ist der Anwender nicht an vorgegebene Maßstäbe gebunden, sondern kann frei wählen, welches Gebiet in welcher Größe dargestellt werden soll. Hierdurch ergeben sich komplexe Aufgabenstellungen für die kartografische Generalisierung. Diese Probleme und deren bisherige Lösungen durch das Unternehmen werden im ersten Teil der Arbeit diskutiert, wobei verschiedene wissenschaftliche Arbeiten für spezielle Teilaufgaben der Generalisierung kurz vorgestellt werden. Selektion und Formvereinfachung gelten als die wichtigsten Generalisierungsschritte. Während die Selektion mit den vorhandenen Methoden von Geodatenbanken relativ problemlos realisiert werden kann, stellt die Formvereinfachung ein umfangreiches Problem dar. Das Hauptaugenmerk der Arbeit richtet sich deswegen auf die rechnergestützte Liniengeneralisierung verbunden mit dem Ziel, überflüssige Stützpunkte mit Hilfe von Algorithmen zur Linienvereinfachung einzusparen. Ergebnis sind schnellere Übertragungszeiten der Kartenvektordaten zum Anwender sowie eine Beschleunigung raumbezogener Analysen, wie z. B. Flächenverschneidungen. Des weiteren werden Verbesserungen in der Darstellung angestrebt. Ein geeigneter Algorithmus zeichnet sich durch eine geringe Beanspruchung der Ressourcen Zeit und Speicherbedarf aus. Weiterhin spielt der erreichbare Grad der Verringerung der Stützpunktmenge bei akzeptabler Kartenqualität eine entscheidende Rolle. Nicht zuletzt sind topologische Aspekte und der Implementierungsaufwand zu beachten. Die Arbeit gibt einen umfassenden Überblick über vorhandene Ansätze zur Liniengeneralisierung und leitet aus der Diskussion der Vor- und Nachteile zwei geeignete Algorithmen für die Implementierung mit der Programmiersprache JAVA ab. Die Ergebnisse der Verfahren nach Douglas-Peucker und Visvalingam werden hinsichtlich der Laufzeiten, des Grades der Verringerung der Stützpunktmenge sowie der Qualität der Kartendarstellung verglichen, wobei sich für die Visvalingam-Variante leichte Vorteile ergeben. Eine Parameterkonfiguration für den konkreten Einsatz der Vereinfachungsmethode in das GIS der mapChart GmbH wird vorgeschlagen. Die Vereinfachung von Polygonnetzen stellt eine Erweiterung des Problems der Liniengeneralisierung dar. Hierbei müssen topologische Aspekte beachtet werden, was besonders schwierig ist, wenn die Ausgangsdaten nicht topologisch strukturiert vorliegen. Für diese Aufgabe wurde ein neuer Algorithmus entwickelt und ebenfalls in JAVA implementiert. Die Implementierung dieses Algorithmus und damit erreichbaren Ergebnisse werden anhand von zwei Testdatensätzen vorgestellt, jedoch zeigt sich, dass die wichtige Bedingung der Echtzeitfähigkeit nicht erfüllt wird. Damit ergibt sich, dass der Algorithmus zur Netzvereinfachung nur offline benutzt werden sollte.:1 Einleitung 2 Kartografische Generalisierung 3 Algorithmen zur Liniengeneralisierung 4 Implementierung 5 Ergebnisse 6 Ausblick 7 Zusammenfassung / MapChart GmbH offers a software service, which allows users to create customized, vector-based maps using vendor as well as customer geometric and attributive data. Target delivery media is the on-screen map of the JAVA client within the web browser. PDF export and print are also supported. Map production is not limited to specific scales. The user can choose which area at which scale is shown. This triggers complex tasks for cartographic generalization. Current solutions by the company are discussed and scientific work for selected tasks will be presented shortly. Selection and Simplification are known as the most important steps of generalization. While selection can be managed sufficiently by geo databases, simplification poses considerably problems. The main focus of the thesis is the computational line generalization aiming on reducing the amount of points by simplification. Results are an increased speed of server to client communication and better performance of spatial analysis, such as intersection. Furthermore enhancements for the portrayal of maps are highlighted. An appropriate algorithm minimizes the demands for the resources time and memory. Furthermore the obtainable level of simplification by still producing acceptable map quality plays an important role. Last but not least efforts for the implementation of the algorithm and topology are important. The thesis discusses a broad overview of existing approaches to line simplification. Two appropriate algorithms for the implementation using the programming language JAVA will be proposed. The results of the methods of Visvalingam and Douglas-Peucker will be discussed with regards to performance, level of point reduction and map quality. Recommended parameters for the implementation in the software of MapChart GmbH are derived. The simplification of polygon meshes will be an extension of the line generalization. Topological constraints need to be considered. This task needs a sophisticated approach as the raw data is not stored in a topological structure. For this task a new algorithm was developed. It was also implemented using JAVA. The results of the testing scenario show that the constraint of real-time performance cannot be fulfilled. Hence it is recommended to use the algorithm for the polygon mesh simplification offline only.:1 Einleitung 2 Kartografische Generalisierung 3 Algorithmen zur Liniengeneralisierung 4 Implementierung 5 Ergebnisse 6 Ausblick 7 Zusammenfassung

Die mapChart GmbH bietet einen Softwaredienst an, der es ermöglicht, auf der Grundlage von teilweise kundenspezifischen Basisgeometrien vektorbasierte Karten zu erstellen. Primäres Ausgabemedium ist dabei die Bildschirmkarte des JAVA-Clients im Webbrowser. PDF-Export und Druck sind ebenso möglich. Bei der Kartenerstellung ist der Anwender nicht an vorgegebene Maßstäbe gebunden, sondern kann frei wählen, welches Gebiet in welcher Größe dargestellt werden soll. Hierdurch ergeben sich komplexe Aufgabenstellungen für die kartografische Generalisierung. Diese Probleme und deren bisherige Lösungen durch das Unternehmen werden im ersten Teil der Arbeit diskutiert, wobei verschiedene wissenschaftliche Arbeiten für spezielle Teilaufgaben der Generalisierung kurz vorgestellt werden. Selektion und Formvereinfachung gelten als die wichtigsten Generalisierungsschritte. Während die Selektion mit den vorhandenen Methoden von Geodatenbanken relativ problemlos realisiert werden kann, stellt die Formvereinfachung ein umfangreiches Problem dar. Das Hauptaugenmerk der Arbeit richtet sich deswegen auf die rechnergestützte Liniengeneralisierung verbunden mit dem Ziel, überflüssige Stützpunkte mit Hilfe von Algorithmen zur Linienvereinfachung einzusparen. Ergebnis sind schnellere Übertragungszeiten der Kartenvektordaten zum Anwender sowie eine Beschleunigung raumbezogener Analysen, wie z. B. Flächenverschneidungen. Des weiteren werden Verbesserungen in der Darstellung angestrebt. Ein geeigneter Algorithmus zeichnet sich durch eine geringe Beanspruchung der Ressourcen Zeit und Speicherbedarf aus. Weiterhin spielt der erreichbare Grad der Verringerung der Stützpunktmenge bei akzeptabler Kartenqualität eine entscheidende Rolle. Nicht zuletzt sind topologische Aspekte und der Implementierungsaufwand zu beachten. Die Arbeit gibt einen umfassenden Überblick über vorhandene Ansätze zur Liniengeneralisierung und leitet aus der Diskussion der Vor- und Nachteile zwei geeignete Algorithmen für die Implementierung mit der Programmiersprache JAVA ab. Die Ergebnisse der Verfahren nach Douglas-Peucker und Visvalingam werden hinsichtlich der Laufzeiten, des Grades der Verringerung der Stützpunktmenge sowie der Qualität der Kartendarstellung verglichen, wobei sich für die Visvalingam-Variante leichte Vorteile ergeben. Eine Parameterkonfiguration für den konkreten Einsatz der Vereinfachungsmethode in das GIS der mapChart GmbH wird vorgeschlagen. Die Vereinfachung von Polygonnetzen stellt eine Erweiterung des Problems der Liniengeneralisierung dar. Hierbei müssen topologische Aspekte beachtet werden, was besonders schwierig ist, wenn die Ausgangsdaten nicht topologisch strukturiert vorliegen. Für diese Aufgabe wurde ein neuer Algorithmus entwickelt und ebenfalls in JAVA implementiert. Die Implementierung dieses Algorithmus und damit erreichbaren Ergebnisse werden anhand von zwei Testdatensätzen vorgestellt, jedoch zeigt sich, dass die wichtige Bedingung der Echtzeitfähigkeit nicht erfüllt wird. Damit ergibt sich, dass der Algorithmus zur Netzvereinfachung nur offline benutzt werden sollte.:1 Einleitung 2 Kartografische Generalisierung 3 Algorithmen zur Liniengeneralisierung 4 Implementierung 5 Ergebnisse 6 Ausblick 7 Zusammenfassung / MapChart GmbH offers a software service, which allows users to create customized, vector-based maps using vendor as well as customer geometric and attributive data. Target delivery media is the on-screen map of the JAVA client within the web browser. PDF export and print are also supported. Map production is not limited to specific scales. The user can choose which area at which scale is shown. This triggers complex tasks for cartographic generalization. Current solutions by the company are discussed and scientific work for selected tasks will be presented shortly. Selection and Simplification are known as the most important steps of generalization. While selection can be managed sufficiently by geo databases, simplification poses considerably problems. The main focus of the thesis is the computational line generalization aiming on reducing the amount of points by simplification. Results are an increased speed of server to client communication and better performance of spatial analysis, such as intersection. Furthermore enhancements for the portrayal of maps are highlighted. An appropriate algorithm minimizes the demands for the resources time and memory. Furthermore the obtainable level of simplification by still producing acceptable map quality plays an important role. Last but not least efforts for the implementation of the algorithm and topology are important. The thesis discusses a broad overview of existing approaches to line simplification. Two appropriate algorithms for the implementation using the programming language JAVA will be proposed. The results of the methods of Visvalingam and Douglas-Peucker will be discussed with regards to performance, level of point reduction and map quality. Recommended parameters for the implementation in the software of MapChart GmbH are derived. The simplification of polygon meshes will be an extension of the line generalization. Topological constraints need to be considered. This task needs a sophisticated approach as the raw data is not stored in a topological structure. For this task a new algorithm was developed. It was also implemented using JAVA. The results of the testing scenario show that the constraint of real-time performance cannot be fulfilled. Hence it is recommended to use the algorithm for the polygon mesh simplification offline only.:1 Einleitung 2 Kartografische Generalisierung 3 Algorithmen zur Liniengeneralisierung 4 Implementierung 5 Ergebnisse 6 Ausblick 7 Zusammenfassung

There exists a debate regarding where to build new housing in increasingly denser cities today. Often it is the green spaces that must be sacrificed which lead to conflicts among decision makers and citizens. Although, some sources claim (Byrne et al., 2010; Van Herzele & Wiedemann, 2003) that it is not only the fact that there is a green area close to you that matters; but rather which values that piece of green land offers you as a citizen. Values of parks can be described as the features or attributes the park area possess that inspire people to go to and stay there. In Stockholm, Sweden these values are connected to sociotopes, a delimited area containing a set of user values with social meaning (Ståhle, 2006). User values thus describes an activity or an experience that is present at a location.  There exists a lack of and a desire for more detailed mapping of user values of green areas as well as a potential need for finding an efficient method for aiding in citizen dialogue when green areas are planned for urban development. The purpose of this thesis is thus to try to incorporate geographical information science (GIS) in urban planning by investigating if it is possible to measure the physical accessibility of user values of a green area before and after its urban development in lines with the recommendations on accessibility from the municipality. Then, try to create a visual tool to be used in the designing phase of urban planning and in citizen dialogue when developing a new urban area. To do this, a case study was done of Årstafältet, a green area in Stockholm that is planned for urban development and improvement of existing and creation of new user values. By using GIS, the user values were defined spatially, and geographical data based on the study area currently as well as after the development where found or created based on descriptions of the new area in planning documents. Accessibility was defined as the physical distance a resident must walk from their home to the closest access point of a user value. Based on previous research, 1000m was deemed the largest distance a resident can walk to be considered a potential user of a user value. An access analysis was made for all residents within the study area to the closest access point of every user value.  The results of the analysis were visualized in two ways, one regarding urban design and another regarding citizen dialogue in the form of bivariate maps and a GIS web application. Apart from the visual maps, some numerical results regarding distance, distance change and number of accessed user values were calculated.   The maps point out the areas that are mostly affected both in the negative and positive sense.  More research needs to be done to decide the best way of deriving and using the numerical measures. Because of the many assumptions and generalizations made in the study it is difficult to make any overall conclusions about the accessibility of user values at Årstafältet. What is more interesting is the reception by people in the field of GIS and urban planning; which was in general positive. They noted upon the important aspect of concretize the design phase of the urban planning process, which often is based on feeling, and create a solid ground to base more informed decisions upon. The visualization methods presented were well received as tools for enabling more people access into the planning process as well as an easy way of exploring geographical data. Also, the possibility to extend this type of access analysis beyond sociotopic user values was deemed as very useful. Lastly, they expressed that this type of analysis is desired by the workers in the field and highly relevant in today’s urban planning process.