Urban Green Space, Uneven Development and Accessibility: A Case of Dalian′s Xigang District

This study examines the socio-spatial context of uneven development and the residential accessibility of green space in Dalian of Liaoning Province, China. The social fairness was analyzed with a community scale as the basis. We combined social scientific methods with a GIS method using a behavior accessibility model from the perspectives of fairness of urban green space allocation based on social geography, geographic information science, management science and many other related discipline theories. The results show that: 1) Most of the urban green space distribution presents an unbalanced phenomenon, and it does not match with the population distribution; 2) We found some differences in the accessibility of the population with different attributes and opportunities to use and enjoy the urban green spaces, mainly due to: the dual social and spatial attributes of the residents and the serious stratum differentiation generated were the internal causes; the residential space differentiation and the pursuit of economic and real estate development were the direct causes; and unreasonable planning, in regard to the fact that government policies did not give consideration to efficiency and fairness, was also an important factor.

Distributed Modeling of Extraterrestrial Solar Radiation Over the Rugged Terrains of Pakistan

In Pakistan,the solar analogue has been addressed but its surface geographical parameterization has given least attention.Inappropriate density of stations and their spatial coverage particularly in difficult peripheral national territories,little or no solar radiation data,non-satisfactory sunshine hours data,and low quality of ground observed cloud cover data create a situation in which the spatial modeling of Extraterrestrial Solar Radiation(ESR) and its ground parameterization got sufficient scope.The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) input into Geographic Information System (GIS) is a compatible tool to demonstrate the spatial distribution of ESR over the rugged terrains of the study domain.For the first time,distributed modeling of ESR is done over the rugged terrains of Pakistan,based on DEM and ArcGIS..Results clearly depict that the complex landforms profoundly disrupt the zonal distribution of ESR in Pakistan.The screening impact of topography is higher on spatial distribution of ESR in winter and considerably low in summer.The combined effect of topography and latitude is obvious.Hence,the model was further testified by plotting Rb (ratio of ESR quantity over rugged terrain against plane surface) against azimuth at different latitudes with different angled slopes.The results clearly support the strong screening effect of rugged terrain through out the country especially in Himalayas,Karakoram and Hindukush (HKH),western border mountains and Balochistan Plateau.This model can be instrumental as baseline geospatial information for scientific investigations in Pakistan,where substantial fraction of national population is living in mountainous regions.

STUDY OF SETTING UP THE FOREST RESOURCES MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM BASED ON WEBGIS

Based on an analysis of the characteristics of the Forest Resources Management Information System of each development phase, and consideration of the technical trend in Geographic Information System (GIS) in the Internet Age, this paper explores the importance and the feasibility of setting up Forest Resources Management Information System based on the WEBGIS. At the same time, based on the experience of our study, the paper explores the function, structure and method of developing the Forest Resources Management Information System based on WEBGIS. With the technology of WEBGIS, the Forest Resources Management Information System with data from Huoditang Farm was set up, which makes a great impact on forest resources management. So setting up the Forest Resources Management Information System based on WEBGIS is a trend of forest resources management. In the course of setting up this system, we must pay attention to following questions: 1) unify data standard and information encoding; 2) change mind.

Relocation Selection for Poverty Alleviation:Factor Analysis and GIS Modeling

Resettlement is considered a major policy measure in two major Chinese policy programs,the "Great Development of the West" and poverty alleviation in the new century,and the "New Countryside Development".The selection of the target location of resettlement sites for poverty-stricken villages is of critical importance to the success of resettlement projects,yet the selection process is challenged by the need for analyzing a variety of contributing factors,and the need for many rounds of tedious data processing.So in this paper we present an in-depth analysis of the major factors and data processing model concerning mountainous povertystricken villages,which also takes a major part of China's poor villages.Our analysis shows the following factors bear the most importance in resettlement selection:1) topography:candidate areas should have slope less than 25 degrees and altitude less than 2400 meters.2) accessibility:close to market conventions places and transportation facilities.3) farming resources:with abundant land and water resources.4) non-intrusiveness:interests of receiving villages should be considered and negative impact minimized.A simple measure could be having the candidate area 1000 m away from the receiving residents.5) Minimal ecological and political footprint:candidate areas shall not conflict with nature conservation areas or nationally planned key land use projects.6) Social and cultural compatibility:residents will better off if relocated in the same county,considering language,religion,ethnic culture and other factors.Taking Makuadi,Lushui County of Nujiang Prefecture as a case study,we demonstrate how GIS analysis and modeling tools can be used in the selection process of resettlement projects in mountainous areas.

Geomorphic Characteristics of Hillslope and Channelized Debris Flows: A Case Study in the Shitou Area of Central Taiwan

The data on the hillslope and channelized debris flows in the Shitou area of central Taiwan occurred during Typhoons Toraji and Nali in 2001 were applied in this paper. The geomorphic parameters, including the flow length, gully gradient, drainage area and form factor of the debris flows were determined by spatial analysis using a Geographic Information System (GIS) based on the data derived from field investigation, aerial photographs, and topographical maps. According to such determined geomorphic parameters, the threshold conditions and empirical equations, such as the relationship between the gully gradient and drainage area and that between gully length and drainage area and topographic parameter, are presented and used to distinguish the geomorphic characteristics between the channelized and hillslope debris flows.

Implementation method of Oil and Gas Geologic Information System with ArcGIS Engine

ComGIS is the mainstream of developing GIS currently.Developing Geographic Information System with the technology of components can reduce the difficulties of developing,improving the developing efficiency and enhancing the flexibility and opening of system.ArcObjects(AO) is based on the technology of COM,and ArcGIS Engine(AE) is a set of embedded AO which can extend to various platforms.Compared with AO,ArcGIS Engine can shorten the period of developing and improve the efficiency greatly.Having introduced the techniques of ArcObjects and ArcGIS Engine,we offer the method of developing GIS with Visual Basic and ArcGIS Engine with Oil and Gas Geologic Information System.

GIS as an Information Infrastructure for Recovery and Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake

This study considers the regional characteristics of the Tohoku region and the extent of the damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and makes proposals for recovery and reconstruction of the areas affected by this disaster as well as for a reduction of the impact of natural disasters that may occur in the future with GIS （geographic information systems） as a social infrastructure positioned at the heart of the information infrastructure. Due to the fact that social media that used ICT （information and communication technology） was useful in the days directly after the disaster, it can be said that it is necessary to investigate the provision of an information infrastructure that uses ICT to reduce the impact of disasters. Therefore, this study proposes the construction of a geographical information database using GIS and the provision and sharing of information using social media GIS after discussion of the relationship between the development of the computerization of Japan and GIS as a valid example of using information systems for recovery and reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Development and application of water environment management information system based on ARCGIS Engine

Embedded ArcGIS Engine can improve development efficiency of environmental information system. The authors designed the structure, functions and database of the Yongjiang River Basin Water Environment Management Information System (YRBWEMIS) through the integration of ArcGIS Engine software with VC. The spatial data and attribute data in the YRBWEMIS are stored and managed separately. The system functions include display, query, statistics, spatial analysis and thematic mapping for water pollution sources, water quality, water function regionalization and catchments region.

Shoreline Change Prediction Model for Coastal Zone Management in Thailand

The prediction of shoreline erosion is vital for coastal management. This study aims to utilize geo-informatics technology to increase accuracy of a shoreline prediction model along two study sites in Samutprakarn province and in Prachuabkirikhan province. Predicting coastline change using remote sensing together with GIS （geographic information system） is a spat^o-temporal technology, which can continuously provide perspectives of coastal areas. Due to a long term of operational period of LANDSAT satellite, it is useful to enhance accuracy of prediction model. LANDSAT-5 TM images acquired during 1999-2009 were used to produce historical shoreline vectors. Physical data were modified to be input data of digital shoreline analysis system. The model was validated. Linear regressions were applied in order to derive equations of erosion magnitude. The result presents that averaged erosion and accretion rate along Samutprakarn province was 22.30 meters/year and 2.94 meters/year, respectively. On the other hand, the average rate of coastal erosion along Prachuabkirikhan province was much lower, being 2.48 meters/year while the accretion rate was approximately 4.11 meters/year. The predicted shoreline change at Samutprakarn province in 2019 is about -132.69 ~ 0.758 meters while at Prachuabkirikhan is 40.58 ~ 0.0012 meters. In conclusion, this prediction model focused the changing of shoreline in long term and accuracy of the model could be improved by increasing number of shorelines vectors, transect intervals and resolution of satellite images. Clearly, the model is flexible and can be applied in other particular areas for coastal zone management in Thailand.

Low-cost cloud computing solution for geo-information processing

Cloud computing has emerged as a leading computing paradigm,with an increasing number of geographic information(geo-information) processing tasks now running on clouds.For this reason,geographic information system/remote sensing(GIS/RS) researchers rent more public clouds or establish more private clouds.However,a large proportion of these clouds are found to be underutilized,since users do not deal with big data every day.The low usage of cloud resources violates the original intention of cloud computing,which is to save resources by improving usage.In this work,a low-cost cloud computing solution was proposed for geo-information processing,especially for temporary processing tasks.The proposed solution adopted a hosted architecture and can be realized based on ordinary computers in a common GIS/RS laboratory.The usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed solution was demonstrated by using big data simplification as a case study.Compared to commercial public clouds and dedicated private clouds,the proposed solution is more low-cost and resource-saving,and is more suitable for GIS/RS applications.

Forest and Soil Carbon Stocks, Pools and Dynamics and Potential Climate Change Mitigation in Nepal

The degradation of forest and soil contribute significantly to carbon emission to the atmosphere leading to the build-up of carbon dioxide in atmosphere and contributing to global warming. Consequences of climate change are not only the rise in global temperatures, but also changes in the precipitation patterns, which could affect agricultural production, food security, human health and long-term ecosystem properties balance. The deforestation and land degradation are major sources of GHG （greenhouse gas） emissions. International negotiations and dialogues on REDD＋ mechanism are held for both national and local level mitigation policies formulation for the reduction of carbon emission from land use, land use change and forestry sector. The reduction of emissions from fossil fuel combustion and avoidance of deforestation and forest/land degradation constitute lasting and long-term solutions for mitigating climate change. There is an urgent need of relevant and efficient methods of measuring forest and soil carbon through application of the latest geospatial technologies, i.e., GIS （geographic information system）, Remote Sensing and LiDAR （Light Detection and Ranging）. These technologies can support the precise measurement of carbon stocks, as well as, offer cost effective and interoperable data generation methods. The REDD＋ mechanism is being promoted worldwide mainly to reduce the diminishing of forest in developing countries. Such an approach must consider use rights, sustainable management of forests, ensuring and safe-guarding the benefit sharing mechanism and good governance, along with the legal framework and local livelihood concerns.

An Integrated and Layered Architecture for Location-Aware Computing

This paper gives an overall introduction to the basic concept of LAC(location-aware computing) and its development status, puts forward an integrated location-aware computing architecture which is useful for designing the reasonable logical model of LBS(location-based service). Finally, a brief introduction is conducted on a LAC experimental prototype, which acts as a mobile urban tourism assistant.

STUDY ON GIS BASED PREDICTION SYSTEM FOR RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION IN URBAN REGION

In this letter, an integrated application of the prediction for radio wave propagation with the Geographic Information System (GIS) is presented and a real prediction system based on GIS is implemented.

The Demographic Impact on Credit Scores＂ Evidence From Statistical Methods and Geographic Information Systems （GIS） Mapping

Average credit scores for people in the United States （US） differ from state to state. Some states have high, and some states have low average credit scores. Since lenders and employers use credit scores to make loan and employment decisions, people living in states where average credit scores are high should experience the benefits of living where credit scores tend to allow more favorable loan and employment decisions. Although credit scores are the direct result of credit histories, credit histories may be impacted by demographic factors. If the demographic factors that impact credit histories are identified, ways to improve credit scores are likely to be discovered and available to people and state government policymakers. This study looks for demographic factors to indirectly explain the average credit scores for people living in each state of the US. The methodology includes statistical analyses and geographic information systems （GIS） mapping. Statistical analyses provide evidence to suggest that state average credit scores are explained by the demographic factors of education, family, income, and health. GIS mapping reveals clusters of states with similar demographics and credit scores.

Emerging trends in information and communication technology in mine safety and disaster management

There is tremendous growth in the use of Geographic Information Systems(GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Remote Sensing, Satellite Communication, andModeling & Simulation techniques.These tools and techniques helps significantly in characterizinginfrastructure, risk area and disaster zones, planning and implementation ofhazards reduction measures etc.Communication satellites becomes vital for providingemergency communication and timely relief measures.Integration of space technologyinputs into natural disaster monitoring and mitigation mechanisms is critical for hazard reduction.This paper mainly focused on all the issues described above.Major emphasis hadbeen given to the recent developments in information & communication technology enabledtools and their applications in mining industries for safe mining operations with increasedproductivity.

Navigation System for Foreign Tourists in Japan

The present study aimed to design, develop, operate and evaluate a sightseeing navigation system in order to support foreign tourists＇ efficient acquisition of sightseeing spot information in Japanese urban tourist areas, about which a variety of information is transmitted, by enabling information to be accumulated, shared and recommended. The system was developed by integrating Web-GIS （Geographic Information Systems）, SNS （Social Networking Services） as well as the recommendation system into a single system. The system used the non-language information such as signs, marks and pictograms in addition to English information, and displayed sightseeing spot information and conduct navigation on 2D and 3D digital maps of the Web-GIS. Additionally, the system was operated for two weeks in the central part of Yokohama city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and the total number of users was 54. Based on the results of the web questionnaire survey, all of the specific functions are highly evaluated, and the usefulness of the system when sightseeing was excellent. From the results of the access analysis of users＇ log data, it is evident that it can be said that the system was mainly used before sightseeing and users confirm their favorite sightseeing spots and made their tour planning in advance, using 2D and 3D digital maps.

Modelling spatial vagueness based on type-2 fuzzy set

The modelling and formal characterization of spatial vagueness plays an increasingly important role in the imple- mentation of Geographic Information System (GIS). The concepts involved in spatial objects of GIS have been investigated and acknowledged as being vague and ambiguous. Models and methods which describe and handle fuzzy or vague (rather than crisp or determinate) spatial objects, will be more necessary in GIS. This paper proposes a new method for modelling spatial vagueness based on type-2 fuzzy set, which is distinguished from the traditional type-1 fuzzy methods and more suitable for describing and implementing the vague concepts and objects in GIS.

Stability analysis and monitoring study of Jijia River landslide based on WebGIS

On the basis of in situ investigation and deformation monitoring of the Jijia River landslide （JJRL）, the rigid body limit equilibrium method and finite element method （FEM） were used to analyze the stability of the JJRL; the grey system theory method was applied to forecast the deformation trend of the JJRL; and the information system about the landslide deformation and monitoring, and forecasting systems based on the platform of the Web Geographical Information System （WebGIS） were developed, which can be used to analyze in situ monitoring data and predict the deformation of the landslide. The study results can be summarized as follows： （1） the JJRL is stable as a whole; the water content in the landslide has a great effect on its stability; （2） the developed Web Geographical Information System has realized many functions, including inputting, computing, inquiry, analyzing, and the function of forecasting; it has also realized the functions of distance data management, analysis, and forecasting based on the WebGIS; （3） the information resource can be shared by the WebGIS developed all over the world.

Potentials of New Information and Communication Technologies （ICTs） in Agriculture Sector

There is a widespread belief that information and knowledge are vital for rural and agricultural development. Today, generation of new and various information and knowledge sources need new information and communication channels. New information and communication technologies can decrease poverty by promotion rural people access to education, health, government and financial services; overall, they can improve livelihood. The purpose of this study was to identify potentials of new information and communications technologies （ICTs） in agricultural and rural sector. Documentary research and literature review were used as research method. Findings revealed that the most applications for these ICTs in rural and agricultural sector were： E-trade of inputs and outputs, extension and training activities for rural dwellers, advertisement of rural tourism products, knowledge transfer from urban to rural and vice versa, official procedures and geographic information system （GIS） for management of natural resources.

Design and Implementation of Framework of Mobile GIS Based on Phone Terminal for Environmental Monitoring

This paper proposes a method for constructing an extensive wireless GIS network by utilizing Java cellular phone as GIS terminal for environmental monitoring through dynamic location disaster-emergency notification management of spatial databases. An experimental case study is demonstrated to show its potential in the application field.