GI_Forum 2018, Volume 6, Issue 2

The ROCEEH Out of Africa Database (ROAD) is a multidisciplinary database with archaeological and paleobiological content. It was developed to support the interdisciplinary research project “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans” (ROCEEH), whose main aim is to study the cultural aspects of human expansions over the last three million years. The concept of the database is to bring together archaeological, paleoanthropological and paleoenvironmental content to allow quantitative and statistical analysis of the information stored. The data entered into ROAD include new results produced by researchers involved in the project, as well as published data from previous excavations. The data rely on a standardized vocabulary that is applied across the project and its publications; the data can be retrieved from the database in tabular form or using SQL queries. In addition to the archaeological and paleobiological information, ROAD contains spatial data (e.g., vector and raster data), generated by ROCEEH and other projects. One important part of ROAD is its web-based application, which allows the user to easily insert, update, review, query, export, visualize and analyse data.

Schlagworte: databases, digital archaeology, SQL queries

Artefacts found during archaeological fieldwork are the objects most favoured by academic research. Private collections on the other hand, of which many exist and which may contain large numbers of artefacts, are mostly disregarded. These overlooked objects are often retrieved by people looking for artefacts in agrarian fields or in construction yards. Their private collections carry considerable value for archaeological and heritage research, but have never been systematically documented. They are therefore hardly known within professional circles in the Netherlands. The central aim of PAN (Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands) is to document and publish archaeological finds in private ownership online, particularly metal artefacts found by metal detector users. PAN makes information about these objects and their find locations available for a variety of stakeholders, significantly increasing the amount of archaeological artefacts that can be used for research and for the creation of object distribution maps in the Netherlands, which are an important research tool for archaeologists.

Schlagworte: Archaeology, geospatial technology, the Netherlands, digital humanities

In this paper we present a unique spatial dataset of Neandertal sites in Europe. Information on topographic locations with human fossils was collected in the course of our own work and from a comprehensive literature review. The fossils are classified into Pre-Neandertals, Early Neandertals and Classic Neandertals. Based on this dataset, we explored the environmentally constrained site-selection criteria of Neandertals. The site locations are described by topographic indices giving information on climatic, strategic and water-related criteria on which Neandertals may have based their site selection. We applied two different explorative statistical approaches for the three Neandertal fossil classes, deriving robust and consistent results for Early and Classic Neandertals. However, because of the nature and size of the response variables showing a certain heterogeneity and due to landscape dynamics, which might have occurred in the observed periods, we focus on the overall trends that the data show. The study reveals that Early and Classic Neandertals not only show specific spatial distributions but are also characterized by different environmental preferences. Both models reproduce the particular site preferences for Early and Classic Neandertals, which demonstrate a higher relevance of climatic issues for the Early Neandertals and a pronounced strategic component for the Classic Neandertals. Additionally, the methodology allows for a spatial prognosis of occurrence probabilities for Neandertal sites. External validation using a spatial artefact dataset for the German Middle Paleolithic shows generally good agreement.

Schlagworte: explorative data analysis, Neandertal sites, terrain analysis, boosted regression trees, maximum entropy

This paper presents work-in-progress, rooted in architectural art history and applied informatics, designed to draw new conclusions about the relationships of six medieval German Palatinate castles to the landscapes in which they were built. This is achieved through the integration of 32 geo-referenced historical maps (1540–1799 A.D.) of the German Palatinate and spatial analyses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The composition of the spatial analyses is based on terrestrial-laserscan (TLS) models of each of the castles, and 25-metre resolution airborne-laserscanning (ALS) data. This report is a subproject of the ongoing CITADEL project, which includes Structure from Motion (SfM) models in addition to the TLS ones, as well as a textual component comprising historical charters from the period1174–1589 A.D. For the purposes of this paper, only the geo-referenced maps and GIS spatial analyses will be discussed at length.

Schlagworte: QGIS, geo-referenced maps, medieval archaeology

Historical dictionaries are colossal spatio-temporal artefacts comprising thousands of interrelated concepts and hosting a wide range of answers for cultural and/or historical inquiries. In our approach, the combination of thematic maps with network analysis and real-time textual querying of semantically-enriched lexicographical data serves as an entry point for the visual exploration of a large collection of records. Our tool aims to improve the comprehension of big data through visualization, thus helping the user to reach meaningful conclusions and acquire valuable insights into linguistic and other cultural issues in fast, easy ways.

Schlagworte: data visualization, e-lexicography, exploratory analysis, user-centred design, dialectology

The once-settled ‘wilderness’ region that is the subject of this paper is marked by historic layers of physical inscription and erasure – a nature–culture hybrid that offers a readable surface with temporal depth. In this paper I discuss the mapping of these spatial surfaces as an interpretive and constructive practice. In the process of searching for long-abandoned farms in a designated ‘wilderness’ landscape, my collaborators and I were reading topography and vegetation, aerial photos and archival documents as though all were obscure texts which confronted us with silences, anomalies and uncertainties. In writing up this discursive work in the form of an online GIS map hyperlinked to a web of texts and documentary images, I argue that we were both recording and constituting the layers of meaning that make the landscape. I am interested in the subtle power dynamic of such map-making. We were re-reading what the state has designated as ‘wilderness’ or ‘nature’ as, instead, non-nature – a cultural artefact. Yet I am sensible of the tension between my collaborators, for whom the map articulates ancestral claims to the landscape, and myself, happy to see the state protect, under the guise of ‘wilderness’, what I see as a nature–culture hybrid.

Schlagworte: critical cartography, nature–culture hybrid, wilderness, Gaelic land memory, story maps

Spatio-temporal visualization tools are powerful for communicating and analysing spatial data as well as for generating new insights from this data. This applies not only to geography-related disciplines but also to other subjects. In this paper, we look at the results of a cross-domain cooperation between geoinformatics and musicology at Salzburg University. The aim is to develop a task-oriented, spatio-temporal web mapping solution to provide visual support for communicating and analysing the production of the first printed music in German-speaking countries from the 15th to the middle of the 16th centuries. The approach behind this interdisciplinary cooperation, the prototypical web maps as well as the results of a short exploratory online survey are introduced to assess how this spatio-temporal approach is evaluated by representatives of the musicology department. The paper also shows the added value of using spatio-temporal visualization methods to gain new insights into the world of early printed music.

Schlagworte: web mapping templates, interactive maps, spatio-temporal maps, early printed music

Social media such as Twitter or Facebook not only create new spaces of interaction and communication, they also influence the way we perceive things and lead to changes in our self-perception and our own worldview. Online data occur in various forms and can contain opinions or expressions of feeling. In this article, we explore the potential of SentiStrength, a tool for sentiment analysis in geographic research. We analyse posts on Twitter containing hashtags for possible constructions of spaces in Ostend, a neighbourhood in Frankfurt, Germany. We collected tweets via the Twitter API and used the SentiStrength online application to conduct our sentiment analysis. In order to evaluate the results, we also classified our data manually for comparison. Through its lexicon-based classification, the tool was able to identify positive and negative associations of Ostend. However, we were also able to demonstrate the limitations of the tool compared to manual analysis. Although it provides a quick and comprehensive overview of sentiments, SentiStrength reaches its limits when other media such as images are involved. Overall, the tool offers a good low-threshold approach for scientists to work with digital data.

Schlagworte: sentiment analysis, SentiStrength, Twitter, hashtags, construction of space

Geoinformation is represented in increasing numbers of different forms, with heterogeneous social and cultural implications. This paper highlights the merits as well as the ambivalence of the social (especially) and political effects of the widespread expansion and growing importance of (volunteered) geographic information. This general overview of the basic symbolic forms in which geoinformation appears distinguishes between three areas of spatial semantics: while technological systems address space mainly in numerical terms, the user refers to space by ego-centered deixis, while society and culture provide the established everyday language of toponyms. The main argument, based on this categorization, stresses the importance of diversity and transparency in acting and interacting with geoinformation and geomedia in order to promote empowerment, education and reflection.

Schlagworte: volunteered geographic information, critical GIS, interaction practices, interface design, spatial language

The pervasive integration of geomedia in urban societies changes the perception and appropriation of space by influencing everyday modes of connectivity while also changing manifestations of power. Geomedia and the resulting datasets thus enable new types of platform capitalism and surveillance, but also possible empowerment. At the current level of ‘permanent spatial connectivity’, power becomes relational and liquid, and manifests within structures ((machine learning) algorithms and codes) rather than people. (Geo)mediatization theory addresses underlying power relations critically; in this paper, it is complemented by Foucault’s theories of power. His conception of power as ‘fluid’, diffused and disembodied is adopted as a fruitful concept in the analysis of geomedia and spatial practices within digital networks.

Schlagworte: geomedia, geomediatization, power structures, Foucault, communication practices

The age of ‘Big Data’ and rapid online publishing brings with it a new need for verifying and understanding digital media. Cartographers are interested in the analysis of maps published online with regards specifically both to their adherence to established cartographic techniques and to identifying innovative approaches to geographic visualization. But traditional manual cartographic analysis methods, based solely on inspecting a map as an image, are limited; they can neither keep up with the volume of new maps coming online every day, nor answer all questions about the process of creation of the map. This paper proposes a novel approach to analysing maps which takes into account the source code of the cartographic program producing the map image. It is argued that such a method can surpass manual analysis in both its potential to facilitate semi- or fully automated processes as well as the depth of insight that the method is able to give into the complete socio-technical assemblage of a digital map artefact.

Schlagworte: digital cartography, web maps, reverse engineering, Transformations, deconstruction

Although Spatial Citizenship Education calls for real life-oriented and context-based teaching and learning within cooperative learning environments to foster students’ participation in society, a corresponding didactic strategy has not so far been integrated into pre-service teacher education. This article therefore describes the implementation of the service learning approach into a project module in geography teacher education at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. The module allows students to participate in authentic, experience-based learning using digital geomedia, and covers aspects of children’s and adolescents’ spatial socialization in cooperation with educational and municipal institutions at local level. Our action research on the recent implementation process shows that the new, action-based learning environment increases students’ content knowledge as well as their technical and pedagogical skills. Furthermore, it prompts a positive change in students’ perceptions of, and perspectives on, the social-spatial action routines of children and adolescents. Discussing the potentials of service learning for Spatial Citizenship Education in pre-service teacher education, we argue that service learning is a suitable strategy for vital geographic learning in relation to society and civic participation.

Schlagworte: spatial citizenship, service learning, Geography, pre-service teacher education, higher education

This paper questions Harley’s (1989) specific way of interpreting and dealing with ‘the map’. Contrasting Harley’s perspective with Derrida’s approach of deconstruction provides a more detailed understanding of the potentials and limits of Harley’s practice for a critical understanding of maps. Moreover, this paper offers an alternative practice for a critical reading of maps, rooted in Adorno’s concept of Mündigkeit and Derrida’s deconstruction.

Schlagworte: deconstruction, Mündigkeit, education, spatial citizenship, map-reading

Research on network theory and innovativeness often addresses innovations. However, network theory lacks theory on innovativeness (the ability to participate in innovation processes), whereas the latter lacks descriptions of network theory. This paper seeks to describe these desiderata, to combine these theoretical research approaches, and to enrich Weis et al.’s (2017) Innovativeness model with network theory in order to describe collaborative innovating. To do this, we use the example of street art, which we view as a form of geomedia that can be created collaboratively as innovations. We will use predominantly the example of the street artist Blek le Rat, whose presumptive embeddedness in social networks we see as an important part of his innovativeness. The final enriched Innovativeness model can contribute to explaining other innovation processes in geography and beyond, to promoting people’s abilities to participate in innovation-related communication processes, to changing spatial meanings and to shaping societies.

Schlagworte: geomedia, street art, innovativeness, innovation networks, participation

Smart cities, despite their supposed benefits, also pose challenges to inhabitants. The promised improvements of quality of life, sustainability and efficiency are accompanied by a lack of data security and privacy, and a loss of spontaneous and chaotic but enjoyable urban life. School has to prepare pupils for life in the smart city, and therefore universities have to equip pre-service teachers for this task. This paper seeks to examine how portfolio work supports pre-service teachers in this undertaking. Portfolios compiled in a teacher-training seminar for geography and interviews with participants were analyzed and categorized. The results demonstrate that students created complex images of the smart city. The images widely agree with attributions assigned to smart cities by experts. Additionally, the study revealed abilities which the students developed through portfolio writing and identified tasks that supported them in this. For example, one student visualized his ideal city in an essay and thereby identified his own interests. The students described their learning process precisely and reflected on their opinion forming. The findings indicate that portfolio work is valuable in the learning field of smart cities in particular, as well as in the domain of the digitalization of society in general.

Schlagworte: smart city, mediatization, geographical education, portfolio, emancipation

In a discussion spanning close to three decades, a variety of approaches for the use of geomedia in secondary education have been developed, roughly following technical/ workforce, spatial thinking, and spatial citizenship arguments. However, these approaches have mainly supported teaching within the subject of geography, or adjacent school subjects with a distinctly spatial outlook. Spatially Enabled Learning looks into a completely different domain, discussing how spatio-temporal contextualization might support learning processes across subjects. This contribution explores the possibilities of supporting learning processes using the example of German language education and suggests a model for support structures.

Schlagworte: Spatially Enabled Learning, geomedia, education, geography education, learning

This paper deals with the integration and promotion of spatial citizenship and public-participation GIS in education – especially in geography lessons – to maintain and improve Holocaust Education. Because of the political shift towards the right in Europe during recent years, the act of maintaining and promoting Holocaust Education is more important than ever. Therefore, it is crucial for schools to educate young students in terms of what the Holocaust was, what happened, how they are connected to the topic (for example through the history of their surroundings), and, most importantly, what can be done in order to prevent such things happening again in the future. Furthermore, the Austrian Curriculum for Secondary Schools (BGBI, 2016) states that one of its highest educational goals is the direct confrontation of a student’s individual identity with the promotion of respect, tolerance and solidary. With this aim in mind, this paper deals with the ‘places of resistance in Salzburg’ project, in which students participate in the expansion of an online archive and the creation of an online tour, both of which will be available for the public. The approach builds on resistance as one part of Holocaust Education: resistance against (local) atrocities, such as the violation of values of tolerance, respect or even human rights, might be truly difficult, but it is possible – and even was so during WWII.

Schlagworte: Holocaust Education, PPGIS, archival work, Places of Remembrance, Remembrance Culture

In the context of a competency-oriented teaching and learning culture, a cooperative learning environment is created in which learners construct a common digital, multi-layered city model in Google My Maps. The aim is that students should gain an advanced understanding of urban models and urban structure and acquire methodological skills in the use of Web GIS. This urban model focusses on the spatial distribution of urban soil sealing (imperviousness), urban green spaces, and the spatial distribution of population, facilities and workplaces, rather than land use and the layout of a city.

Schlagworte: urban model, Web GIS, cooperative learning, Google My Maps, urban ecology

Thanks to the rapid development of spatial technology, people can now easily access global geographic information. Geography education in schools faces the need to integrate spatial technology with fieldwork. The purpose of this research is to combine geospatial information and fieldtrips to promote elementary-school students’ learning in the national geography curriculum. During a GIS camp, students were taught to use Google Earth, Google Maps and desktop GIS. They were then guided to do fieldwork and mapping of their local area so that they would know how to geotag interesting local spots by themselves. Observation and questionnaires were used to understand the students’ learning progress. Sketch-map analysis was adopted to evaluate the development of their map skills and geography capability. The results indicated that students’ map skills and geography knowledge increased. Students actively participated in the activities and showed a positive attitude towards learning using Google Maps and Google Earth rather than GIS software.

Schlagworte: spatial technology, fieldtrip, geography education, GIS, homeland education

Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) were a hot topic in the 1990s, when researchers tried to imbue GIS with additional decision support features. Successful practical developments such as HAZUS or CommunityViz have since been built, based on commercial desktop software and without much heed for theory other than what underlies their process models. Others, like UrbanSim, have been completely overhauled twice but without much external scrutiny. Both the practical and the theoretical foundations of decision support systems have developed considerably over the past 20 years. This article presents an overview of these developments and then looks at what corresponding tools have been developed by open source communities. In stark contrast to the abundance of OpenGeo software, there is a dearth of open source SDSS. The core of the article is a discussion of different approaches that lend themselves as platforms to develop an open source framework to build a variety of SDSS.

Schlagworte: inference engine, knowledgebases, OLAP, operations research, utility theory

This study demonstrates how complex image classification workflows can be built using a visual modelling tool. Models facilitate the comparison of different classifiers while allowing an analyst to experiment with different input features. The models include custom workflow steps for preparing input and training data, training the classifier, classifying images and evaluating the results. The example models presented here were used to classify Sentinel-2 imagery of eastern Texas, USA, into five land-use categories that consisted primarily of vegetation. Separate models were created for Softmax Regression and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification, each using Sentinel-2 spectral bands and again with an additional entropy texture image as input. The results showed that SVM performed better than Softmax Regression and that the selected texture measure did not improve classification results. A discussion is provided of how the models could be extended further to provide different analysis options.

Schlagworte: classification, Softmax Regression, support vector machine, model, workflow, trainer

With the advent of wearable GNSS devices and activity trackers, new opportunities for automatic travel-mode detection arise. Although physiological measures such as heart rates carry a high potential for travel-mode detection, little research has been done that exploits this data. This paper presents a rule-based method for the detection of the travel modes walk, bike, bus, train and car, based on the combination of GNSS and heart-rate data from off-the-shelf fitness watches. The aim of this research is to minimize the input variables and reference data for mode detection. In the case study, the proposed workflow performed very well and substantially reduced the confusion between active and motorized travel modes compared to a workflow that did not take heart rate into consideration, although the differentiation among motorized travel modes could be further enhanced with additional data. Combining GNSS data with physiological variables such as heart rate allows a clear reduction in the amount of reference data and processing effort required for mode detection.

Schlagworte: travel-mode detection, active mobility, trip segmentation, physiological data, GPS

The complex nature of air quality suggests the need for fine-scale air-quality monitoring in cities. With 1 in 8 deaths worldwide being associated with air pollution in 2012, communities have started partnering with academic institutions and with state and federal agencies to assess local air quality and address these concerns. Participatory sensing has recently become one popular method for collecting air-quality information. It offers the prospect of collecting data at finer levels of granularity, but is subject to at least two significant challenges: data gaps (due, e.g., to the lack of calibration, maintenance and replacement of sensors), and citizens’ concerns regarding privacy). We argue that including housing companies as stakeholders in participatory sensing frameworks may be beneficial in overcoming these challenges. A survey of housing companies suggests that they are willing to participate in air-quality monitoring for cities. The ideas presented here are pertinent to the design of more robust and privacy-aware participatory sensing frameworks.

Schlagworte: air pollution, participatory sensing, privacy, volunteered geographic information, housing companies

This paper evaluates the experience quality of recreational green spaces in the functional urban area (FUA) of Salzburg. The assessment is based on the calculation of spatial indicators assigned to the three indices ‘nature and scenery’, ‘properties and infrastructure’ and ‘accessibility’. These are combined to give an integrated recreational value, which serves as an input to determine the reachability of green spaces with different quality levels in terms of walking and biking distances. The analysis covers all populated grid cells as the initial part of a supply and demand study. The results show a good supply in the city centre, although often not equally distributed over all indices, but a noticeable lack of reachable recreational areas along with an almost complete deficit of high-quality spots in more highly populated peri-urban areas. This study is a preliminary approach for an integrated green-space assessment at FUA level, addressing the lack of research on the recreational potential of the rural–urban hinterland. The findings will be used as a starting point for a more profound evaluation of supply and demand of green qualities, including other types of green land and further ecosystem services.

Schlagworte: green infrastructure, recreational value, spatial indicators, functional urban area

Modernizing societies become increasingly dependent on critical infrastructures (CRITIS), one of the most important of which is the road network. Road networks are vulnerable to hazards from the natural environment (e.g. extreme weather conditions, seismic and volcanic events, and landslides) and social environment (e.g. intentional attacks, traffic jams, roadblocks). Conversely, road networks impose vulnerability on their social environment (e.g. on people trying to leave disaster zones). Investigating the particular vulnerability of a given road network in order to increase its resilience is crucial for disaster risk reduction by spatial planning. However, in many cases in developing countries, the vulnerability of people still seems more pressing than the vulnerability of CRITIS. This paper develops an approach for investigating road network vulnerability in developing regions, using a Chilean example. However, the approach is sufficiently generic to be applied to comparable situations in other countries.

Schlagworte: critical infrastructure (CRITIS), road network vulnerability, Chile, spatial planning in disaster risk reduction, generic model

Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is known as a fundamental comprehensive approach of spatial data managing and sharing. Due to the complexity of establishing SDI, creating SDI has been considered as serious challenge, especially in developing countries. Successful and sustainable SDI can be developed when social, organizational and cultural issues are resolved in harmony with the technological ones. The framework of the present research is constructed on the basis of a survey and an SDI readiness model. Following a review of the research background, and taking into account the interaction of relevant indicators, criteria for establishing SDI were identified. After identification of the criteria, the data were collected through questionnaires and interviews with experts. 185 questionnaires were completed by 75 government-based departments, organizations, universities, and the private sector in East Azerbaijan province. The results were analysed and a readiness index was computed. The minimum chance of successfully establishing SDI was determined as being about 64.12%, while the maximum rate was 89.48%. The results are of great importance for analyzing the factors which may have significant impact on successful SDI development in East Azerbaijan province.

Schlagworte: spatial data infrastructure, readiness assessment, multicriteria approach, East Azerbaijan province, Iran