Sensors & Systems - Perspectives

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As scientists contemplate geoengineering, how do geospatial tools assist in assessing feasibility?

Details: 23 October 2008 | 1256

Jeff Thurston — "Geoengineering suggests that wide ranging change for the positive can be applied to large-scale processes, such as climate change, to reverse and improve upon the current situation. Many geospatial technologies are new technologies, less than a few decades old, and only now beginning to provide a glimpse into these processes."

Matt Ball — "There are an increasing number of big science ideas for reversing the warming course of our planet, such as massive dumps of iron into the ocean to foster carbon-sucking algae growth or pumping sulfur into the atmosphere to deflect the sun’s heat. While all of these efforts are an enormous gamble, escalating pressures placed on our planet by global warming may elevate how seriously these ideas are contemplated. Any contemplation will require in-depth modeling and analysis, and geospatial technologies will play a role."

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What is a spatial data model and why are they important to understand?

Details: 16 October 2008 | 1479

Jeff Thurston — "The spatial data model is the heart of a GIS and CAD system. It is more than data alone. More than format. The data model governs how well your software will perform useful functions because it represents your depth of understanding of the process(s) that you are attempting to apply spatial data and associated geoprocessing functions toward. It is not a random happening that modeling and simulation lie so close to GIS - they are a manifestation of this realisation. This also explains why data translation is an art - not a simple database operation."

Matt Ball — "A well thought out spatial data model is critical to get the most out of geographic information systems (GISs), because it dictates how spatial data are stored and represented within the database, and the rules for how the data can be analyzed and manipulated. In addition to different data models to represent vector or raster data, the data model is also the means to create a common set of attributes, rules and workflows for specific application areas."

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What role can geospatial tools play in carbon emissions trading markets?

Details: 09 October 2008 | 1301

Jeff Thurston — "To understand emissions requires an understanding of the dynamics of carbon cycling. Geospatial tools can be applied across the entire carbon cycling chain including biological processes, physical infrastructure design as well as the policy and financial interactions that support it."

Matt Ball — "There are many critics of carbon trading, and most fault difficulties related to: assessing pollution levels, ongoing monitoring, enforcement, and the overall complexity of the system. Geospatial technologies are ideally suited to each of these four issues, providing a credible and science-based means for assessment, monitoring and enforcement, and lending some transparency to help reduce the complexity of the systems."

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Are organizations that do not use geoinformation at higher risk than those that do?

Details: 02 October 2008 | 1532

Jeff Thurston — "Spatial information is an integral component of forward thinking organizations. Together with tool sets that are capable of working with spatial information, these organizations can more effectively understand their assets, operations, customers as well as threats and uncertainties. In short, their strategic foundations are stronger and their ability to adapt, respond and re-organize quickly is more fully enabled."

Matt Ball — "Organizations that don’t make use of geoinformation are certainly less informed, and many disregard the geographic perspective at their peril. Failure to understand the application of geoinformation in business practice is largely due to a lack of awareness or a feeling that the costs outweigh the benefits. It’s up to the geospatial industry as a whole to continue to inform the business community about the benefits, and to illustrate the lowered entry cost that current tools offer (primarily through a web services approach)."

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How can geospatial technology drive political consensus on environmental issues?

Details: 25 September 2008 | 1391

Jeff Thurston — "There are many ways that geospatial technology can drive political consensus on environmental issues. Flooding, disease, conservation, water quality, noise mapping and many other issues often demand high quality geographic information, spatial analysis and integration. Action, coordination and collaboration are necessary to meet these challenges."

Matt Ball — "At this point in time, geospatial technology, in all its different forms, drives most environmental policy decisions. The information that can be synthesized through observation, modeling and analysis of geospatial information, provides a valuable tool for informing both sides of any given environmental debate."

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