Lessons learned in the last several years have given clear indications that the prediction and efficient monitoring of disasters is one of the critical factors in decision-making process. In this respect space-based technologies have the great potential of supplying information in near real time. Earth observation satellites have already demonstrated their flexibility in providing data to a wide range of applications: weather forecasting, person and vehicle tracking, alerting to disaster, forest fire and flood monitoring, oil spills, spread of desertification, monitoring of crop and forestry damages. This book focuses on a wider utilisation of remote sensing in disaster management. The discussed aspects comprise data access/delivery to the users, information extraction and analysis, management of data and its integration with other data sources (airborne and terrestrial imagery, GIS data, etc.), data standardization, organisational and legal aspects of sharing remote sensing information.
There is no doubt that today, perhaps more than ever before, humanity faces a myriad of complex and demanding challenges. These include natural resource depletion and environmental degradation, food and water insecurity, energy shortages, diminishing biodiversity, increasing losses from natural disasters, and climate change with its associated potentially devastating consequences, such as rising sea levels. These human-induced and natural impacts on the environment need to be well understood in order to develop informed policies, decisions, and remedial measures to mitigate current and future negative impacts. To achieve this, continuous monitoring and management of the environment to acquire data that can be soundly and rigorously analyzed to provide information about its current state and changing patterns, and thereby allow predictions of possible future impacts, are essential. Developing pragmatic and sustainable solutions to address these and many other similar challenges requires the use of geodata and the application of geoinformatics. This book presents the concepts and applications of geoinformatics, a multidisciplinary field that has at its core different technologies that support the acquisition, analysis and visualization of geodata for environmental monitoring and management. We depart from the 4D to the 5D data paradigm, which defines geodata accurately, consistently, rapidly and completely, in order to be useful without any restrictions in space, time or scale to represent a truly global dimension of the digital Earth. The book also features the state-of-the-art discussion of Web-GIS. The concepts and applications of geoinformatics presented in this book will be of benefit to decision-makers across a wide range of fields, including those at environmental agencies, in the emergency services, public health and epidemiology, crime mapping, environmental management agencies, tourist industry, market analysis and e-commerce, or mineral exploration, among many others. The title and subtitle of this textbook convey a distinct message. Monitoring -the passive part in the subtitle - refers to observation and data acquisition, whereas management - the active component - stands for operation and performance. The topic is our environment, which is intimately related to geoinformatics. The overall message is: all the mentioned elements do interact and must not be separated. Hans-Peter B ahr, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.h.c., Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany.
This book constitutes a notable contribution to investigate and present the capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their applicability and usefulness in environmental-related applications and sciences. The focus is on the design, creation, development and operation of integrated Web-based GIS applications for weather, marine and atmospheric environments, and the Earth's magnetic field. More specifically, the aim of this book is to present characteristic applications of GIS to environmental monitoring including GIS solutions for eco-mapping sea and port-related parameters, climate changes, and geomagnetic field. In the first part of the book, the description of every application includes the user requirements, the design and development stages performed and the presentation of the final outcome, its capabilities and services. The Web-based applications are developed through different innovative approaches, such as cloud GIS and Google Apps for GIS, justifying the merit of WebGIS in the world of the environmental applications. The second part of the book provides an overview of geomagnetic field parameters and reveals the potential of using GIS for modeling and analyzing of the Earth's magnetic (geomagnetic) field and its parameters. Here, the authors present the recently introduced phenomenon called “geomagnetic pseudostorm”, which is modeled and further analyzed here with GIS technology and tools. This book appeals to those interested in various areas where spatial information becomes of paramount relevance (e.g. social and economic research and mapping, environmental and climate research, decision support systems, public services, and especially for geomagnetic field variations and for the design of warning systems for natural disasters). It presents modern methods and approaches to visualize and analyze spatial information using innovative techniques, procedures, and tools of WebGIS technology. In this book, the readers find a valuable companion in their efforts to design and develop their own WebGIS applications, as it includes useful examples of developing (Web)GIS applications regarding the monitoring of marine and atmospheric environments, as well as applications that deal with meteorological issues and the Earth’s magnetic field along with solar activity (space weather information).This book can also serve as a useful reference source for graduates, researchers and professionals related to the areas indicated above.
This book provides a step-by-step guide on how to use various publicly available remotely sensed time series data sources for environmental monitoring and assessment. Readers will learn how to extract valuable information on global changes from a 20-year collection of ready-to-use remotely sensed data through the free open statistical software R and its geographic data analysis and modeling tools. The case studies are from the Mediterranean region—a designated hot spot regarding climate change effects. Each chapter is dedicated to specific remote sensing products chosen for their spatial resolution. The methods used are adapted from large-scale to smaller-scale problems for different land cover areas. Features Includes real-world applications of environmental remotely sensed data Analyzes the advantages and restrictions of each data source Focuses on a wide spectrum of applications, such as hydrology, vegetation changes, land surface temperature, fire detection, and impacts Includes R computer codes with explanatory comments and all applications use only freely available remotely sensed data Presents a step-by-step processing through open source GIS and statistical analysis software Advanced Environmental Monitoring with Remote Sensing Time Series Data and R describes and provides details on recent advances concerning publicly available remotely sensed time series data in environmental monitoring and assessment. This book is a must-have practical guide for environmental researchers, professionals, and students.
Most government agencies and private companies are investing significant resources in the production and use of geographical data. The capabilities of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for data analysis are also improving, to the extent that the potential performance of GIS software and the data available for analysis outstrip the abilities of
Spatial Modeling in GIS and R for Earth and Environmental Sciences offers an integrated approach to spatial modelling using both GIS and R. Given the importance of Geographical Information Systems and geostatistics across a variety of applications in Earth and Environmental Science, a clear link between GIS and open source software is essential for the study of spatial objects or phenomena that occur in the real world and facilitate problem-solving. Organized into clear sections on applications and using case studies, the book helps researchers to more quickly understand GIS data and formulate more complex conclusions. The book is the first reference to provide methods and applications for combining the use of R and GIS in modeling spatial processes. It is an essential tool for students and researchers in earth and environmental science, especially those looking to better utilize GIS and spatial modeling. - Offers a clear, interdisciplinary guide to serve researchers in a variety of fields, including hazards, land surveying, remote sensing, cartography, geophysics, geology, natural resources, environment and geography - Provides an overview, methods and case studies for each application - Expresses concepts and methods at an appropriate level for both students and new users to learn by example
This publication is a compilation of papers that were presented at the IAHS Symposium on Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring and Change Detectionorganised by the IAHS International Commission on Remote Sensing, in Perugia, 2007. The 30 contributions cover approaches using the thermal infrared, microwave and radar; studies monitoring vegetation, snow and ice, and evapotranspiration; and the combination of remote sensing techniques and GISfor hydrological applications.
GIS for Environmental Monitoring is a gentle but thorough introduction to those fields of which a basic understanding is a must for using, designing, and understanding geoinformation systems. These include introductions to reference systems, surveying and its techniques, cartography, digital imaging, data quality assessment. Audience: GIS for Erwironmental Monitoring addresses all users of geographical inforrnation systems and related techniques, that is engineers, geoscientists, surveyors, civil engineers, hydrologists as well as students of these fields.
Geospatial technology is a combination of state-of-the-art remote sensing and technology for geographic information systems (GIS) and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) for the mapping and monitoring of landscapes and environment. The main thrust of using geospatial technology is to understand the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of spatial heterogeneity, while its ultimate objective is to provide a scientific basis for developing and maintaining ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable landscapes. This book presents new research on the interdisciplinary applications of geospatial technology for identification, assessment, monitoring, and modelling issues related to landscape, natural resources, and environmental management. The book specifically focuses on the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display, and dissemination of spatio-temporal data, which help to resolve environmental management issues including ecosystem change, resource utilization, land use management, and environmental pollution. The positive environmental impacts of information technology advancements with regard to global environmental and climate change are also discussed. The book addresses the interests of a wide spectrum of readers who have a common interest in geospatial science, geology, water resource management, database management, planning and policy making, and resource management.
This unique book focuses on remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS) in Iraq. The environmental applications include monitoring and mapping soil salinity and prediction of soil properties, monitoring and mapping of land threats, proximal sensing for soil monitoring and soil fertility, spatiotemporal land use/cover, agricultural drought monitoring, hydrological applications including spatial rainfall distribution, surface runoff and drought control, geo-morphometric analysis and flood simulation, hydrologic and hydraulic modelling and the effective management of water resources. Also, this book assesses the impacts of climate change on natural resources using both RS and GIS, as well as other applications, covering different parts of Iraq. The book chapters include tens of maps extracted from the remotely sensed datasets, in addition to tables and statistical relations obtained from the results of the studies of the chapters' authors. These studies have been conducted in different parts of Iraq; in the north (Kurdistan region) with its mountainous and undulating lands, in western parts which have desert soils, and in central and southern Iraq where there are salty soils, dunes, wetlands, and marshes. The book is written by distinguished scientists from Iraq, China, USA, Italy, Iran, Germany, and the Czech Republic who are interested in the Iraqi environment. The book is therefore a useful source of information and knowledge on Iraqi environment for graduate students, researchers, policy planners, and stakeholders in Iraq as well as similar regions.
