gis-news

GDI InfoTour- Der einfache Weg zur Geodateninfrastruktur

fjbehr — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:07:54 +0000

Rund 80 Prozent aller politischen und wirtschaftlichen Entscheidungen beruhen auf Geodaten. Mithilfe einer Geodateninfrastruktur (GDI) können die für Politik, Verwaltung und Wirtschaft erforderlichen Geodaten gefunden und genutzt werden.
Doch was verbirgt sich hinter einer Geodateninfrastruktur? Die kostenlose Online-Anwendung GDI InfoTour (www.gdi-infotour.de) bietet einen einfachen und strukturierten, aber auch praxisnahen und unterhaltsamen Einstieg in das Thema. Am 1. Februar 2012 wurde die GDI InfoTour, das interaktive Informations- und Wissensangebot der Arbeitsgemeinschaft GDI-Südhessen, in einer Festver-anstaltung im Wissenschafts- und Kongresszentrum „darmstadtium“ in Darmstadt offiziell freigeschaltet.

Im Fokus der Veranstaltung stand die Vorstellung der GDI InfoTour, ihre Rolle im Kontext der regionalen Entwicklung und aus Sicht der Geodateninfrastruktur Deutschland sowie die anschließende Freischaltung durch die politischen Spitzen der acht Kooperationspartner der Arbeitsgemeinschaft GDI-Südhessen, der Ideengeberin und Initiatorin der GDI InfoTour. Die acht Kooperationspartner sind der Kreis Bergstraße, der Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, der Kreis Groß-Gerau, der Odenwaldkreis, die Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt und die Stadt Offenbach am Main, der Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain sowie das Land Hessen, vertreten durch die Hessische Verwaltung für Bodenmanagement und Geoinformation.

Hr. Lothar Ehl-Theis - Leiter des Stadtvermessungsamtes der Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt,
Fr. Stang - Bürgermeisterin der Stadt Hofheim / Taunus, gehört zum erweiterten Regionalvorstand des Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain, Hr. Thomas Will - Landrat, Landkreis Groß-Gerau, Hr. Matthias Wilkes - Landrat, Kreis Bergstraße, Hr. Fleischmann - Erster Kreisbeigeordneter, Kreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hr. Oliver Grobeis - Erster Kreisbeigeordneter, Odenwaldkreis, Hr. Dr. Hansgerd Terlinden - Präsident, Hessisches Landesamt für Bodenmanagement und Geoinformation" width="370" height="234" class="size-full wp-image-2184" />

Freischaltung GDI InfoTour

Die GDI InfoTour (Motto: „GEODATEN. GEMEINSAM. NUTZEN.“) vermittelt individuell und zielorientiert Wissen rund um das Thema Geodateninfrastruktur (GDI). Sie bietet Entscheidern aus Politik sowie fachlichen Führungskräften aber auch Sachbearbeitern und technischen Mitarbeitern einen Überblick über die Grundlagen einer GDI. Ferner zeigt sie den Mehrwert auf, erläutert die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen sowie Voraussetzungen und erklärt zudem Schritt für Schritt den Aufbau einer Geodateninfrastruktur.

Die GDI InfoTour ist in insgesamt acht Info-Module gegliedert und umfasst etwa 100 Minuten. Sie kann zum einen jederzeit unterbrochen werden, zum anderen können Themenbereiche übersprungen werden. Animationssequenzen, anschauliche Grafiken, erläuternde Texte und interessante Wissensspiele sowie eine Audio-Führung durch den Inhalt sorgen für eine lehrreiche, aber auch lebendige Wissensvermittlung. Dabei werden Fachbegriffe erläutert, ein umfangreiches Glossar steht ebenfalls zur Verfügung. Darüber hinaus besteht eine Kommentarfunktion zum interaktiven Austausch mit anderen Usern. Auch die technischen Voraussetzungen sind denkbar einfach: Für die Nutzung der GDI InfoTour ist weder eine Registrierung noch ein Log-in nötig.

Insensa-GIS, a new software for GIS data analysis, index development, sensitivity analysis and environmental assessments, has been released

fjbehr — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:09:19 +0000

Insensa-GIS, a new open-source software tool was presented in a workshop at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Germany) by Dennis Biber, the developer of the software, and Lisa Freudenberger. The software has been recently released as a beta-version and can be downloaded from http://www.insensa.org.

Insensa-GIS has been initially designed for spatial index development and sensitivity analysis but provides many other functions for statistical analysis of geographical data in different formats. Furthermore, it allows displaying maps, graphs and statistical outputs.

In the workshop, different staff members from Eberswalde University were invited to take the first steps to working with Insensa-GIS. While some of the participants had already worked intensively with GIS data, others were less experienced. Despite their different knowledge states, all of them were able to work with the software independently within a very short time.

The clearly arranged graphical interface and the intuitive handling of the software make it a very easy to work with geographical data in Insensa-GIS. The software is designed as open-source software and allows a user-friendly integration of plugins. This makes it very easy to extend the functionality of the software and to adapt it for individual needs and purposes. The homepage also offers a forum for developers and users to exchange ideas and make suggestions for further functions that could be useful and integrated in Insensa-GIS.

The specific purpose of the software offers the possibility to create weighted indices based on different indicators. Lisa Freudenberger is using the software for example to develop spatial priority-indices for nature conservation planning. Different mathematical procedures can be used to create an index and standardized sensitivity analysis procedures to assess the robustness of the created index to weighting variations and indicator selection. “Insensa-GIS is an interesting open source software, especially impressing by its speed and usability. The software is completed by the integrated sensitivity analysis and the possibility to import self-made plugins.” said Philipp Arndt, one of the workshop participants.

Have a look at the Insensa-GIS homepage http://www.insensa.org to get more information about the software and to download it for free. (Lisa Freudenberger)

Zunehmendes Angebot an Open Data: Geologischen Karten und die GEOFAST-Blätter von Österreich

fjbehr — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:55:32 +0000

Für GIS-Anwendungen werden von der Geologische Bundesanstalt Österreich die gedruckten geologischen Karten und die GEOFAST-Blätter von Österreich mit Hilfe von Services kostenfrei angeboten. Sowohl Blattschnittkarten (1:50.000 und 1:75.000) wie auch Bundesländer-, Gebiets-, Themenkarten und GEOFAST-Blätter können verwendet werden. Sämtliche Karten sind natürlich georeferenziert.

Die Services werden vom ArcGIS Server (mit Image Extension) an der Geologischen Bundesanstalt zur Verfügung gestellt und können einfach in ArcGIS oder JavaScript, FLEX und Silverlight-Applikationen eingebunden werden. Die meisten Dienste stehen auch als WMS oder WCS zur Verfügung. Umfangreiche Informationen finden Sie dazu unter folgendem hier. (Johannes Reischer)

OGC Open GeoSMS standard now available

fjbehr — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:18:27 +0000

The OGC Open GeoSMS standard defines an encoding for location enabling a text message to be communicated using a Short Messages System (SMS) which could be applied in emergency cases.

The function of this (compared to toher standards quite small) OGC Open GeoSMS encoding standard is to facilitate communication of location content using the extended Short Message Service feature between different LBS (Location-Based Service) devices or applications for achieving interoperable communications while still maintaining human readability of the content. Namely, any application or service can simply leverage an extended SMS message using the Open GeoSMS format.

15. Workshop “EDV in der Stadtplanung” am 14.02.2012

fjbehr — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:12:16 +0000

Die Arbeitsgruppe EDV in der Stadtplanung lädt zu ihrem 15. Workshop an die HFT Stuttgart ein. Geboten werden Vorträge und Workshops (Möglichkeiten der Visualisierung und Nutzung von 3D Gebäude- und Geodaten auf TabletPCs, Nutzung von OpenData).

Der Termin: 14. Februar 2012, ab 9:00 Uhr (Bau 1, Aula, 2. Stock) an der Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart, Schellingstraße 24, 70174 Stuttgart

IIITM-K Summer School on Environmental Informatics

fjbehr — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:47:24 +0000

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management – Kerala (IIITM-K) invites applications from postgraduate students, doctoral and postdoctoral scholars, faculty members and scientists of Indian Universities/ research institutions in the field of ecology, environmental science and allied disciplines for its Summer School on Environmental Informatics to be conducted from 9-13 April 2012.

Environmental Informatics is an emerging interdisciplinary subject that attempts to transform conventional environmental science from being qualitative, descriptive to quantitative and precise. It essentially integrates environmental science, informatics, computational and social sciences to help us understand the challenges confronting mankind.
This program provides an occasion for intensive training in the different facets of environmental informatics. Lecture sessions will be complemented by hands-on training to reinforce the contents. List of topics that will be covered during the program are:

1. Environmental Informatics: The need, relevance and directions.
2. The Natural capital.
3. Carrying capacity.
4. Understanding global change: A thermodynamic perspective.
5. Numerical techniques for environmental research [Statistical - R package]
6. Numerical techniques for environmental research [Mathematical – Matlab]
7. Geospatial Web Technologies and Standards for Environmental Scientists.

Grants are available to support travel and accommodation of 20 participants. Candidates are requested to forward their hardcopy applications through research supervisors/ Head of Department or Head of the institution so as to reach The Registrar, IIITM-K on or before 04 March 2012. Selected candidates will be intimated electronically by 09 March 2012.
However, participants are encouraged to express their interest in advance by submitting the online application.

OGC announces IndoorGML Indoor Location Standards Working Group

fjbehr — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:47:18 +0000

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) announced the formation of a new OGC Technical Committee Standards Working Group
(SWG) to advance the candidate OGC IndoorGML Standard. The OGC members invite the public to comment on the SWG charter and will consider comments received before 10 February 2012.

This SWG aims to provide a common schema framework for interoperability between indoor navigation applications, which cover a wide spectrum of application areas such as indoor LBS, indoor web map services, indoor emergency control, guiding services for visually handicapped persons in indoor space, and indoor robotics. Several commercial services for indoor spatial information have been recently launched such as Google Maps and Bing Indoor Maps. In order to meet the market demands from these application areas, we need indoor navigation information as an essential component. There are also strong demands for indoor navigation information from other standardization organizations including ISO/TC204 and IEEE RAS to extend existing standards to cover indoor space as well as outdoor space in a seamless way.

in Karlsruhe ein OpenStreetMap Hack Weekend

fjbehr — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:45:22 +0000

Am 25./26. Februar 2012 findet in Karlsruhe ein OpenStreetMap Hack Weekend statt.
Das Wochenende bietet die Gelegenheit neue OSM-Projekte zu starten oder auch angefangene, aber noch nicht fertiggestellte Projekt vornazubringen. Spass am Entwickeln und Interesse an etwas OSM-Socializing reichen, so die Einladung, als Voraussetzung völlig aus.
Das Hack-Weekend findet in den Büroräumen der Geofabrik statt (Adresse: Scheffelstrasse 17a, 76133 Karlsruhe).
Weitere Details finden sich auf der Wikiseite.

Clark Labs Unveils IDRISI Selva

fjbehr — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:11:47 +0000

Clark Labs is releasing the 17th version of its IDRISI geospatial software for monitoring and modelling the Earth’s system. The IDRISI Selva software incorporates major revisions to its Land Change Modeler and Earth Trends Modeler applications. It also includes a variety of new analytical techniques, optimisations to current modules and additional import/export options.

IDRISI’s Land Change Modeler application for the modeling, prediction and impact assessment of land cover change now includes major modeling enhancements and special tools to support REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). These include accounting methodologies required for REDD projects, such as the estimation of baseline emissions from various carbon pools and the calculation of deferred emissions and carbon credits. A pioneering Land Cover Change modeling procedure, following the recently published SimWeight methodology, is now also included, as well as an integrated interface to the Maxent software for species distribution modeling.

IDRISI Selva introduces substantial enhancements to its revolutionary Earth Trends Modeler application for the analysis of patterns and trends in earth observation image time series. Particular emphasis has been given to the provision of new tools for the analysis of coupled systems (such as the oceans and atmosphere). These include Extended PCA/EOF, Multi-channel Singular Spectrum Analysis, Extended EOT, Multichannel EOT and Canonical Correlation Analysis.

IDRISI Selva delivers a variety of new display elements and enhancements for map compositions. Firstly, the new version eliminates the 32,000 row/column limitation on both the display and processing of images. IDRISI Selva additionally includes a new pyramid file structure for the rapid display of large image files, and a new automatic arrangement feature for the display of map compositions. With IDRISI Selva, vector field plots showing magnitude and direction, such as wind speed and direction, are now supported.

IDRISI has the largest support for image classifiers in the industry, and Selva continues its groundbreaking support of machine learning procedures, adding a Radial Basis Function classifier to its existing suite of MLP, SOM and Fuzzy Artmap neural networks.

The OGC seeks comment on WaterML 2.0 Hydrologic Time Series Encoding Standard

fjbehr — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:54:17 +0000

WaterML 2.0 is a candidate Open Geospatial Consortium standard for the representation of hydrological observations, specifically addressing time series data. The WaterML 2.0 candidate standard is implemented as an application schema of the OGC Geography Markup Language (GML) Encoding Standard version 3.2.1 and makes use of the OGC Observations and Measurements (O&M) [http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/om] model and encoding standards.

The OGC WaterML 2.0 candidate standard supports encoding of hydrological and hydrogeological observation data in exchange scenarios such as: exchange of data for operational monitoring and forecasting programs; supporting operation of infrastructure (e.g. dams, supply systems); exchange of observational and forecast data for surface water and groundwater; release of data for public dissemination; enhancing disaster management through data exchange; and exchange in support of national reporting.

WaterML 2.0 is the result of an international cooperative effort of the OGC Hydrology Domain Working Group, involving hydrological and government agencies, software providers, universities and research organizations from Australia, the USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries.

The candidate OGC WaterML Version 2.0 standard documents are available for public review and comment at http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/85 Comments are due by 17 February 2012.