Discuss the present panorama of Geographical Information System

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Discuss the present panorama of the Geographical Information System (GIS) and the Geographical Information Science (GIScience)

Do you feel that sometimes the world can fit in the palm of your hand? Globalization is not a fresh trend anymore, but with the upcoming of new technologies such as Global Position System (GPS) enabled devices and web mapping the world has become smaller and more interconnected. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which emerged in the 1960s, is a useful tool to handle with spatial information and apply it to different kinds of works. It relies on Remote Sensing technologies which are concerned principally about collecting data over as many areas as possible at rapid temporal frequencies (Mesev, 2008). Through the years, GIS researchers have come over with many achievements. Software has been established, models and algorithms have been consolidated and the industry is still growing with many types of products coming out (Goodchild, 1992). Further, alternatives to share and spread geographic information and also to work with online platforms, such as Google Maps and Google Earth, Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, or Wikimapia connect people around the world, changing spatial information and working together in collaborative mapping (Elwood, 2009). Therefore, in the 1990s, the academic community started discussing about the whole field of the study that use GIS as its basic tool and create a subject that contains “the development and use of theories, methods, technology, and data for understanding geographic processes, relationships, and patterns.” (UCGIS, 2012). Geographic Information Science (GIScience) was created and according to Mark’s (2000) statement about the workshop held at the National Science Foundation from USA it can be fully defined as an area of study that aims to discuss about concepts from geography and how it is being used by GIS. He also says that GIScience looks over interaction of GIS and the society, showing out its impact on people life and how the community acts on the spatial technology. This research area integrates conventional spatial oriented subjects such as geography, cartography and geodesy with information science. It is also important to say that GISscience deal with more specialized research fields, for example, computer science, statistics and mathematics, while it can provide achievements in this areas, as well. Another remarkable thing about this science is that it is useful for political science research once it draws on those fields in studies of geographic information and society.

After more than almost three decades working and researching in this field, it is very important to look at what accomplishment have been done and what is coming with this trend that is becoming even more often present in everyday life. Practically, all smartphones, notebooks, computers and other electronic devices are connected to the internet and to a Global Position System (GPS) that allows people to interact with geographic information and use it every day. Aiming in this way, this essay attempt to provide a discussion about what has happened with geographic information in the past few years and how it is affecting our present days.

The first period of GIScience is mostly considered as the storehouse of knowledge which is behind the GIS. Blaschke (2012) shows in his work that it improved with faster algorithms, more efficient indexing schemes, and new ways of visualizing geographic information. The Goodchild (2010) review of it illustrate that it could been seen that some researchers believe that improvements have been made in fields like data models, statistical analysis, user interfaces, and visualization, which can be summarized in some key points. First Map algebra which relies on combining information from different maps from the same place, what it will result in another map. Second it could be include Geostatistics, that its basic meaning is the associating of traditional statistics with spatialized information. Also, his work brings out about the geolibrary which has been developed with information retrieval and spatial search, what is expanding itself. Other important point showed in Goodchild work is the geography consciousness for the people brought by many resources such as geobrowsers, neogeography, volunteered geographic information, location-based services, etc. At least, it could be highlighted the topic of geographic visualization that has been improved and facilitated a lot among the development of electronic devices.

Moreover, technological achievements act as a main factor together in spatial research development. GIS depends on information systems and improvements in computers and operational systems that have made processing information increase in pace, such as reducing time in process working with draining models or complex digital terrain models from big areas. Powerful machines are indispensable in GIS research centres otherwise it would be really slow working with spatial data, specially nowadays that information is getting more complex and massive, which also demands a greater capacity of electronic storage which is dealt with by great capacity electronic database.

Another main factor to consider is about sources to acquire data, such as satellites and other sensors. Projects like Landsat from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have improved the net of satellites around the earth. This is world's longest continuously acquired collection of orbital moderate-resolution captured data and now most obtained images are available without costs (Landsat, 2014). An interesting example of the accomplishment in providing information is the cooperation between The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan and NASA developing the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) that it is now in its second version. This international cooperation aims to make available to the world researchers community data of “highly accurate digital elevation model (DEM) covering all the land on earth, and available to all users regardless of size or location of their target areas” (ASTER, 2014). Basing works on ASTER and GDEM data (Figure 1), wide analyses can be done by establishments responsible for working with disaster monitoring, hydrology, energy, environmental monitoring etc. even supporting governments to handle with public issues.

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Figure 1: ASTER Global Elevation Model map overview result (GEO, 2014)

In addition, there are aircraft equipped with on boarded sensor that uses airplanes to obtain information over the earth surface. It can be easily seen that remote sensing works using images taken from flight over the land. There is no difficulty in ordering the acquisition of this type of image and it can cover just the area of interest. However, images do not provide altitude information which has opened ways to development of a particular example of recent technology. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems is upcoming in the last 15 years which is based on measuring distance with laser light, in other words, capturing height values from many points on land surface (Figure 2). Airborne laser-scanning technology makes it possible to obtain highly accurate, detailed 3-D measurements of the ground, vegetation, and buildings, for example, in open, flat areas and ground features can be measured with an error factor within 6 inches of real elevation. It was firstly used to survey power line corridors to identify encroaching vegetation and mapping landforms and coastal areas in the USA (Mcgaughey, 2014).