MSc Abstracts 2000

Andre Brits

Sharing Geo-Spatial Information: Human and Inter-Organisational Cooperation

Recent advances in Internet-based technologies offer unique opportunities to analyse and compare disparate types of geo-spatial information from different sources. The ability to integrate traditional databases opens opportunities to deliver both information and quality services. Data is a particularly costly element of any Geographical Information System (GIS). While figures vary somewhat, experts commonly attribute about 80 percent of the total costs of a GIS to data collection and conversion (Thapa and Bossler, 1992, p.838). Often, however, the information needs of different organisations overlap. Consequently, sharing data can yield considerable efficiencies, and costs for GIS development could be lowered if organisations reuse datasets that already exist. Lower costs not only benefit those already using GIS, but also allow more organisations to afford an array of GIS software tools.

 

Yet there is deep-rooted and widespread resistance to distributed access and processing of geo-spatial information, even when it is limited to intra-organisational sharing of processing responsibility. When distributed strategies are advanced that transcend organisational boundaries, resistance magnifies. Why is resistance so high, and what alternative mechanisms exist, for managing or overcoming these sources of resistance? This study will argue that, in order to overcome these sources of resistance and sustain information sharing arrangements, relationships must be based on voluntary participation and mutual benefit. Voluntary participation in defining and maintaining standards stems from the observation that where multi disciplinary information is involved, there is an inverse relationship between the number of disciplines that will accept a standard and the semantic complexities of such a standard.

Rene Colijn

The diffusion of GIS in municipalities within the Netherlands

 

The information technology revolution has had a significant impact on the four core traditional functions of government; ordering, structuring, achieving, and caring. Local governmental tasks are, on most areas, strictly defined by higher governmental bodies. As a consequence, municipalities are not competitively motivated. They are, however, authorised to manage their own policies on a local scale. Due to the widespread automation of old paper records into digital computer format, municipalities are now faced with every increasing data mountains. In order to function effectively, municipalities need to be able to manage and analyse these data, and increasingly, find efficient ways of undertaking data exchange with other governmental bodies. Municipalities represent a midpoint of data exchange between several governmental bodies, but are arguably not well prepared for this task. GIS technology can potentially increase the efficiency and effectiveness of these data management, analyse, and exchange needs.

 

This study focuses on the diffusion of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) at the level of municipalities in the Netherlands. It aims to develop a better understanding of nature and extent of GIS diffusion across and within municipalities. The main objectives are to (a) to examine the benefits of GIS use and the barriers to adoption; (b) to identify success and failure factors; and, (c) to explore the nature and development of GIS diffusion over time. This study has two research levels. The first focuses on GIS diffusion within municipalities in the Netherlands at a general level, utilising a national questionnaire survey amongst all 538 municipalities in the Netherlands. The second, provides in-depth case studies, which involved studying strategic papers, studying implementation methods, attending project group meetings and undertaking a detailed study of User needs among (potential) GIS users within a small sized municipality.

 

The research revealed that GIS use has increased within municipalities from 21 per cent in 1996 to 39 per cent in 1999. One of the key findings was the unplanned nature of GIS diffusion, with half of the municipalities, which started to implement GIS, doing so without a vision or a plan for the future. To date, GIS within municipalities are mainly used to perform registration and maintenance functions, instead of supporting in the decision-making process. This raises many questions as to the role, impact, and future of GIS within municipalities in the Netherlands.

Saviour Formosa

Coming of Age: Investigating the conception of a census web-mapping service for the Maltese Islands

In a society where data creation is expanding exponentially and distribution is spread over an entire planet, the search for tools to improve accessibility and dissemination of data grows more acute. User-friendliness and instant access to reliable data has rapidly become the main issue of concern for researchers and organisations worldwide.

 

This study investigates the use of Web-mapping technology and its impact on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The study also investigates the diffusion of GIS to the general public through the use of common web browsers or freeware. It researches the feasibility of Web-mapping as a solution to the current lack of accessible data in the Maltese Islands. The study uses the 1995 Population and Housing Census data in the Maltese Islands as a test case to demonstrate the feasibility of the Web-mapping technologies.

 

The project entailed the carrying out of three surveys: first the current Web-mapping situation, second a pre-review questionnaire and third a post-application analysis questionnaire. The purpose of the surveys was mainly to elicit the reviewers opinions on data accessibility and to propose further systems developments. The study was accomplished through an analysis of current websites having Web-mapping functions, mainly the type of technology employed and the level of interactivity with spatial data through on-line maps. Based on the findings, a full-scale dual system Census project was developed giving an opportunity to both GIS professionals and the general public the faculty to access an extensive amount of data either through Imagemaps (interactive on-line maps) or through a GIS-Client system that users can analyse, query and map their requests using a freeware GIS-viewer.

 

Reviewer feedback based on the two developments resulted in the identification of a need to implement the technologies as part of data management and presentation as well as to further develop Web-mapping systems in such areas as environment, transport, planning and the research field. The results indicate a willingness to readily accept on-line GIS as the medium for data distribution, querying and analysis through its integration with current systems both within the organisation under study and in external entities.

Tim Gibbs

Internet GIS and Environmental Information

The power of geographical information systems (GIS) to display data visually, combined with the information dissemination capabilities of the World Wide Web (WWW) should form a exceptional combination for educating and providing information to the public. One could imagine that many public bodies, charities, local authorities and government agencies with environmental interests would be clamouring to utilise these integrated technologies (GIS and the WWW) to inform the public and increase the "people power" behind their cause.

 

These ideas have been examined with specific reference to non-commercial organisations with environmental interests in the UK and the use made of GIS and mapping on the World Wide Web. Based on the assumptions that GIS and the Web make an exceptional educational combination, and the fact that environmental Web GIS sites have been a success in the USA (Harder, 1998) it could be expected that projects are currently underway in the UK.

 

This specific group of organisations has been chosen for investigation because they deal with environmental data, obviously suited for use within GIS because of its spatial nature. In addition, these organisations should have an interest in making data available, or accessing data, through statute such as the Open Government code of practice on Access to Government Information and the Environmental Information Regulations.

 

A secondary factor contributing to the choice of this dissertation topic was the lack of academic research into the take up of Internet GIS. As is described in the introduction (page 7), many articles have been written by GIS vendors and consultants, but few case studies have been published by users (Kendall, 1999). The take up of Internet GIS by public sector organisations, universities, and charities in the UK who are actively involved in environmental issues has been investigated. Results have been used to ascertain if, why, and how the technological and information revolutions, in the form of Internet GIS, are impacting upon the availability of environmental information to the public.

Kolethi Gumbo

An assessment of the mapping of the semi-arid woodlands in Zimbabwe with Landsat TM Data using a supervised maximum likelihood classification and an unsupervised Fuzzy C Means classification

The vegetation resources in many parts of Zimbabwe are under increasing pressure from over-grazing, expansion of agricultural lands, settlements and fuelwood collection. At the same time, there is insufficient information about the extent and condition of these resources to support informed decision making in their management, sustained utilisation and conservation. (Kwesha and Traub, 1993). For planning and management of vegetation resources, adequate and up to date information about the resources is a pre-requisite. Without adequate knowledge of the spatial and temporal information about vegetation cover it is impossible to formulate sound management and conservation plans for the resource. Field survey techniques for vegetation resource data collection are costly, time consuming and laborious. For this reason, a cost effective and less time consuming technique for data collection and information extraction is needed. In addition to this, there is a need to design methods of data collection and analysis that will provide reliable information on the vegetation resources in a cost effective and time effective manner.

 

Current vegetation mapping trends in Zimbabwe have involved the visual interpretation of Landsat TM data to produce vegetation maps. The accuracy of the resulting maps has not been investigate and investigations into the use of automatic methods to map the woodlands with Landsat TM data has not been done. Could automated methods of classification of Landsat TM data be used and with what accuracy to classify the semi-arid woodlands of Zimbabwe?

The results obtained indicated that a supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification can achieve an overall accuracy of 89.78% whereas an unsupervised Fuzzy C Means achieves an overall accuracy of 59.52%. According to Lillesand and Kiefer, 1994, an accuracy of 85% in mapping with Landsat TM data is acceptable. The study shows that a supervised MLC can achieve acceptable results in the mapping of the semi-arid woodlands of Zimbabwe. This shows that expert intervention is required to produce more accurate results. The limitations of unsupervised automatic classification such as Fuzzy C Means are identified and discussed.

John Higton

An evaluation of the use of Digital Elevation Models to represent indeterminate boundaries

Crisp boundaries are inadequate for representing boundary regions exhibiting continual change over space. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) currently have limited functionality in expressing continuous boundaries with a reliance on crisp representation methods. Producing a crisp boundary for continuous phenomena is a subjective process, so this form of boundary can be described as indeterminate. However, a crisp boundary misrepresents the dynamics of interaction that occur at indeterminate boundary locations. An example of an indeterminate boundary is a heathland transition zone.

Continuous geographical entities can be described using surfaces. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are explored as a method of representing indeterminacy. The method examines the effectiveness of using unclassified remotely sensed digital numbers (DN) as a means of characterising the continuous space of transition zones. The surfaces aim to express information on the properties of indeterminate boundaries which crisp boundaries cannot convey.

Specific areas of interest were chosen from a previously acquired remotely sensed image where indeterminate boundaries were known to exist. The surfaces produced by a DEM were then compared to surfaces where crisp boundaries were located. Surface representations were found to be dependent on the radiation wavelength chosen to represent the surface and in part on the types of boundary found at a location. Further work on mapping the surfaces classified DN data is recommended.

Subject of interest is to set up new easy to use rules, just like Bertin’s grammar, which can be used by GIS users as a guideline for choosing the most effective representation to express their particular time variant.

In this thesis these issues are explored in theory. An overview is given of Bertin’s theory and the characteristics of time related geographical data sets. An evaluation of the extensions made by fellow cartographers to the theory of Bertin in order to incorporate the factor time in his scheme is made. Finally, a personal proposal of the representation of time related geographical data sets is given, based on the theory models available and extended with new selection criteria. A selection scheme will help a mapmaker in his creating process based on the kind of data, goal and technical possibilities.

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Martin Hogeweg

Spatio-Temporal Visualisation and Analysis

Local water boards are responsible for the maintenance of the water system in a certain area. Water boards are more and more confronted with new targets concerning ecological and financial targets in addition to their traditional tasks of water quality management and water quantity management.   

GIS are strong at visualising and analysing a given state of the development of an area. The integral approach to water management poses two important additional demands to information, being historic information and the possibility to assess long-term effects of measures taken.   

These demands cannot be fulfilled by regular GIS, but are within the field of spatio-temporal GIS. Research into spatio-temporal GIS has resulted in different concepts and software systems. However, these systems often use proprietary storage formats, or lack functionality of regular GIS.   

This thesis investigates whether or not today’s level of technology allows for the realisation of combined spatio-temporal visualisation and analysis functionality, including thematic information as an extension to regular GIS instead of using stand-alone software and/or hardware. For this purpose, a prototype spatio-temporal GIS is developed, that adds animation and 3-dimensional dynamic maps to a desktop GIS.The prototype is applied in a spatio-temporal analysis of phosphate in part of the Province Friesland in the Netherlands. The prototype is evaluated through a SWOT analysis.   

The main conclusion of this evaluation and thereby of the entire study is that the current state of technology, combined with the availability of extendable GIS indeed makes it possible to develop spatio-temporal GIS as an integral part of existing GIS applications.  Although the prototype is limited to visualisation and analysis of measured data, the experience gathered in the application of the prototype revealed that spatio-temporal GIS can be a valuable addition to the existing set of instruments at hand of decision makers. It is therefore advised to further develop the prototype resulting from this study.  

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Mark Izzard

Spatial Data, The Key to "Joined-Up Government" for Local Authorities

The "Central Local Information Age Government Concordat" was signed between Local and Central Government on 29^th July 1999. This committed Local Government to play its part in the Government’s programme to achieve a range of improvements to services set out in the White Paper "Modernising Government" presented in March 1999 including the realisation of "Joined-up Government" to provide for full electronic service provision by 2008. Central Government’s progress towards these aims was such that on 30 March 2000 the deadline was bought forward to 2005. What potential was there for Local Government to deliver joined-up working and services?

The benefits of Service Level Agreement between Local Government and the Ordnance Survey and the use of the range of digital products it provides are explored to establish the potential for data sharing, through the insight provided by a survey of Ordnance Survey Liaison Officers in November 1999, the "Millennium Survey"

A collection of national initiatives, dubbed "N" issues, are identified and explored which will either ease access to reliable national spatial datasets and/or provide a significant contribution to enable the achievement of "Joined-up Government" using spatial data:

• National Geospatial Data Framework
• National Topographic Database (currently being re-engineered to form the Digital National Framework)
• National Street Gazetteer (BS7666 Part 1)
• National Land and Property Gazetteer (BS7666 Part 2 and 3)
• National Land Information System
• National Land Use Database

Local Authority involvement in all the initiatives/issues was found to be either desirable or key to their success and that success, particularly of the National Land and Property gazetteer and thus the National Land Information System, is essential to fulfil most of the requirements of "Joined-up Government" and thus the realisation of the comprehensive electronic "one-stop shop" service for citizens to interface with all levels of government.

Sean Johnson

A spatial data infrastructure model for developing countries

 The Geographic Information System paradigm is composed of three different perspectives: data, organisation and technology. All three elements are important but a review and analysis of case studies in southern Africa shows that GIS in the developing world is still constrained by data-related issues and also dependent upon official development assistance for funding and support.

The emerging concept of spatial data infrastructure, that comprises an institutional framework, technical standards, fundamental or core datasets, and a data clearinghouse, is examined and a classification and catalogue of fundamental datasets produced that will be applied in a developing country context.

 

The definition of a spatial data model also requires a stakeholder analysis. The GIS community in the developing world is dominated by aid-supported projects, which have in the past concentrated on applications in the environmental and agricultural sectors.

 

However, the objectives for development aid have changed in recent years, towards the goal of poverty alleviation. Data for defining, monitoring and targeting the geographical incidence of poverty, as well as the spatial data requirements of GIS projects in health, education, and land administration, which can demonstrate a direct impact on poverty, are identified in a user needs analysis.

 

A generic spatial data model is proposed from a synthesis of developing country GIS issues, a global definition of SDI, and from poverty-related data needs. Defined in terms of framework, fundamental and thematic roles, a spatial data model is developed that may be considered appropriate to developing country requirements. The overarching principle is that fundamental spatial data must be enabling and facilitating rather than all providing.

 

The model is tested against the emerging South African National Spatial Information Framework and a significant degree of correlation is found. However, further evaluation is necessary following the appearance of additional spatial data infrastructures in the developing world.

Loukas Laliotis

The design of a national base map network system, based on Cadastral standards, for the Greek network companies

Using modern system topology capabilities (e.g. objects may have more than two geometry attributes), organisations have designed an integrated database where the user can model more accurately the "real world" network, as well as, having the ability to manage more complex queries.

 

Issues such as organisational structure (categories of users separated according to their rights),conflict recognition and management between distributed datasets, frequency and ways of updating have also been extensively discussed.

 

The whole system, via Java and VB-script Language technology, as being discussed extensively in this dissertation is easily controlled through Internet connection. Using this advanced technology, users can interactively control the GIS package (according to the written code) using only an Internet Java compatible browser (e.g. make queries on the basis of the parcel identifier).

 

Finally, over the system, Greek network companies have started building applications two of which have been extensively described.

The first application described is thematic maps construction and distribution via network connection. The second application concerns the network organisations plans to include in the GIS an application which will help their specially converted vehicles (kind of emergency vehicles)choose the fastest in time route using two applications capabilities (also in pilot form in Greece): The on-line traffic volume detection and the traffic pre-emption (GPS equipped) facilities. This application is considered to facilitate a lot in the future network organisations emergency vehicles to reach the place of damage earlier.

 

The whole organisational and network structured model, described in this dissertation, is expected by the managers to offer unique opportunities to distribute, compare and manipulate disparate types of information, opening up new opportunities to deliver both information and services.

Tanya Lechthaler

Data Conversion Management

The foundation of any GIS are base data (Hohl, 1999), with data conversion being the process by which such a database is created from source information.

 

Since, no two conversion projects are alike, effective project management is a necessity. Clear objectives, good communication and identifiable milestones are part of any successful management plan, which must be structured to ensure that systematic planning, monitoring of work and measurement of results can all take place (Hohl, 1999).

 

The intended aim of the study is, therefore, to justify the importance of data conversion management for any conversion project.

To prevent, or at least minimise, the problems that may beset any project, a carefully formulated conversion strategy comprising a detailed specification, pilot test, quality control and quality assurance procedures and conversion costs, is considered essential. A detailed review of such a strategy will thus be undertaken.

 

For those embarking on a GIS conversion project, the acquisition of guidance regarding such, can prove invaluable. Aside from that well documented within literature, the provision of guidance by various professional bodies will be duly assessed.

 

To illustrate the problems arising from data conversion that has been contracted out, a case study will be used, based on the conversion of sewer network records for the Drainage Section of Fylde Borough Council, as commissioned by North West Water.

A questionnaire survey of local authorities in the north west, together with information extracted from published case studies and UNIGIS students' module 5 assignments, aim to further establish the problems that might be encountered during data conversion.

 

The case study and survey will be examined to assess the importance of data conversion management for conversion projects and in so doing determine, whether the aim of the dissertation can be justified.

Jan Luijx

A Life saving open geodata Warehouse: An application of how an open geodata warehouse can benefit the work of the Dutch Public Order and Safety

Geographically related data and especially information is becoming more and more important to, both for an increasing number of organisations, and also for a wider range of users. The era of using geographically related Information Systems to improve decision making is rapidly advancing. To make this possible, it is necessary to have a solid geographical dataset (map), as recognised by the Directorate of the Public Order And Safety within the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Therefore the Ministry started a number of projects to find out what it takes to use maps in the most efficient and effective way. The most recent project was called DIGIKAR, which had to produce one national agreement with one or more map suppliers, in order to improve standardisation, co-ordination and communication within the Directorate of the Public Order and Safety. This project became the foundation of this study. When the established project team visited the organisations concerned, they discovered that the use of maps was not the only problem, but there were problems surrounding all data used in relation with their Geographical Information Systems (GIS). This paper presents a solution to these problems based on one of the latest database techniques, known as data warehousing. After an assessment proving that this type of Information System can benefit the Public Order and Safety Directorate effectively, a functional and technical design forms these thoughts into a usable concept, in the form of an Open Geodata Warehouse based on a so called Enterprise Data Mart Architecture (EDMA). This type of data warehouse makes it possible to retrieve information required in a fast and easy manner without the user having to worry where he or she can find this information. The data which is needed to provide this information is previously extracted from the operational systems in a platform-independent manner, and transformed into appropriate databases which can be used according to the information needs. Besides this functionality, it is also possible to begin small and to grow when needed using datamarts. This constitutes an ideal solution for the Public Order and Safety Directorate.

Ruurd Maasdam

Exploratory Data Analysis in Water Quality Monitoring Systems

This thesis reviews some of the conceptual and technological issues associated with changes in water management and water monitoring. In the past many monitoring programs have been characterised as "data-rich but information poor", because the existing data was not used effective and efficient. This thesis treats this shortcoming of the past as the challenge for the future, and additionally strengthen the spatial content of the data.

The thesis advocates the concept of explorative analysis, with a special emphasis in those developments that make it possible to explore the data in a visual, spatial, dynamic and interactive way. These technologies allow the user to gain insight and stimulate the generation of ideas ("private visual thinking"). In the new concept maps are getting t an integral part of analysis and not just the end-product (e.g. presentation) of the analytical process

To illustrate that this new concept and tools are valuable in current monitoring programs a case study with Regional Water System Report is presented. In this case ArcView and Cartographic Data Visualiser (CDV) are used as tools to allow the user to explore data and results in a interactive and dynamic way.

The prototype is applied in a spatio-temporal analysis of phosphate in part of the Province Friesland in the Netherlands. The long-term development of phosphate concentrations in the surface water is investigated and the effect of a specific measure (the use of a dephosphatisation installation in a water treatment plant) is evaluated.

The prototype is evaluated using a SWOT analysis, that identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The main conclusion of the evaluation of the prototype and thereby of the entire study is that the current state of technology combined with the availability of extendable GIS indeed makes it possible to develop spatio-temporal GIS as an integral part of existing GIS applications.

Although the prototype is limited to visualisation and analysis of measured data, the experience gathered in the application of the prototype revealed that spatio-temporal GIS can be a valuable addition to the existing set of instruments at hand of decision makers. It is therefore advised to further develop the prototype resulting from this study.

Tom McHugh

Constraints on the multiple use of European Datasets: Area Aid Application Data

The EU Common Agricultural Policy provides aid to farmers for certain activities. This aid is area based, and it is a requirement that an application be made which uniquely identifies the parcel of land for which a claim is being made, and that the land use and area under cultivation be declared also.

Agricultural administrations process this information each growing season, and mostly use GIS to control and administer the schemes. they have therefore, a large and comprehensive spatially referenced dataset of land use throughout the European Union. There are other potential users for this data, mostly in large governmental bodies, for example Eurostat. This data could also be used by the agricultural administrations for other purposes, such as policy formulation. users would be in a position to work with built and processed data as opposed to a fixed system for query and display.

There are no major technical problems in using the data for other purposes, but building the dataset can be time consuming. It is likely that with this process completed, routines can be developed to automate large parts of the work. Once integrated into a system, the data can be easily queried and mapped. It can also be easily used with other datasets. It does not appear that the data is being used in this way currently, outside of the agricultural administrations.

There are non-technical issues that may affect the use of the data; data protection legislation and the right to privacy, against that there is legislation granting the right to freedom of information. There is interest among potential users in seeing further work carried out to answer questions posed by this work; who would host the data? What format would be required? What other issues would arise in making it an available datasheet?

Andrew Millard

Geographic Information Systems and Data Quality in Local Authorities

The United Kingdom central government has increased the importance of digital data with targets for both central and local government to deliver services electronically. Geographic information systems have the capability to pull together disparate data sources linked only by geographic reference and could be a major tool in helping local authorities meet electronic service delivery targets. The problem for local authorities is whether the data they hold is of a sufficient quality to fulfil the expectation of both central government and service users.

It is clear from this study that GIS is becoming more widespread in local authorities but as yet the data being utilised lacks consistency, with users unsure of its quality. Case study analysis has highlighted the diversity of problems facing data quality in local authorities. This paper agrees with other commentators that data quality has to be a cultural philosophy that exists throughout an organisation. If the government’s target for electronic service delivery is to be accomplished local authorities have to look seriously at the quality of the data they hold.

The tools are in place to deliver services electronically but a concerted effort is now required to ensure that customers and data users are confident to accept data without having to check original paper records. The research paper concludes with a data quality model that addresses the fundamental issues of data quality in local authorities from a corporate policy through to dealing with issues of cost, staff time and knowledge.

Andrew Patterson

The recording and assessment of the natural and anthropogenic causes of Oak dieback within the area of Watling Chase Community Forest using Geographic Information Systems

Dieback is a stress condition affecting a number of tree species. It is manifest by deterioration in the condition of the tree crown, resulting in chronic poor health or death in one season. It has been reported on a number of occasions throughout the 20^th century. Considerable survey work has identified specific insects, fungae, and water stress as well as a range of man induced factors as multiple agents with the potential to kill affected trees. Recent research has added the pathogen Phythophthera cinnamomi to this list. In 1999 a survey of non-woodland oak in south Hertfordshire was undertaken. The health of trees was assessed against crown loss, using a scoring system used by earlier surveys. Observations undertaken during field walking recorded physical attributes adjacent to each tree. This information was plotted within a GIS, and other data relating to land use, rivers, flood plains and height contours was secured. Analysis of this data confirmed the relative good health of urban trees, and poor health of those adjacent to arable operations. In direct conflict with other surveys, oak within proximity to ordinary roads were no less healthy than the overall average of the population. However, over 25% of oaks in close to proximity to motorways were found to have a crown loss in excess of 80%. Unexpectedly, the presence of a ditch favourably influenced trees adjacent to it. It is unclear whether this effect related to some feature of the ditch itself, or whether the presence of the ditch forced a modification in land management practices close to it. The poor health of oak in proximity to a main river together with results relating to height, aspect and flood plain suggest that research to investigate the soil within the area would be productive.

Niamh O’Reilly

Development of a Land Information System Prototype

Currently in Ireland obtaining information regarding legal ownership and rights in land is a slow and tedious procedure that requires a visit to the relevant Land Registry or Registry of Deeds of office, depending on where the legal land documents have been registered. When dealing with just one or more properties this can be just an inconvenience, but for organisations dealing with large property portfolios this can be a costly and non productive process requiring the employment of full time researchers.

Throughout the world it is recognised that this type of information must be made easily accessible and available in a flexible format, and as a consequence organisations are now providing this information over the Internet. in addition, this information is being integrated with other land information datasets to produce a multipurpose Land Information System. This linking together of datasets is possible by providing a Unique Property Identification Number that is common to them all. By providing land information in this manner ensures that a good book keeping system of land information is being maintained which is an essential element for sustainable development.

For the research a LIS prototype was developed which concentrated on Land Registry information. The information used was fictitious but by using it together with Ordnance Survey large scale digital information it was possible to identify potential problems that would need to be rectified in the event that a National Land Information System was developed in Ireland. In addition the prototype was used as a demonstration tool during interviews held with candidates from both government agencies and local authorities. This helped to identify key application areas together with possible problem areas.

To assist in the research a number of case studies were carried out to evaluate systems that have been developed by other countries and to determine the most successful solutions from which recommendations could be made in this research.

Wim de Rooij

The Care Algorithm : A Heuristic Method to Solve Capacitated Set Covering Location Problems on Large-Scale Networks

The location of service centres determines for a larger part their effective and efficient functioning. Whether a certain location is optimal depends on the objective pursued. In this study the objective is a complete coverage of demand points along a road network with a minimal number of centres. The capacity of the service centres is assumed to be limited and the distance from a service centre to demand points allocated to it should not exceed a certain maximum value. This location-allocation problem is known as the capacitated set covering location problem (CSCLP).

In the last decades several heuristic methods have been developed to solve location-allocation problems. These methods are usually suited for small-scale networks (up to hundreds of nodes and arcs) to medium-scale networks (up to thousands of nodes and arcs), and capacitated centres were hardly considered. The CARE algorithm was developed to solve the CSCLP for large-scale networks (up to 100,000 nodes and arcs and more). The CARE algorithm is named after its main constituents: centre adding, centre repositioning, and centre elimination. The CARE algorithm has been implemented in a GIS environment, which facilitated rapid-development, and made the visualisation of results straightforward.

The CARE algorithm has been applied to medium-scale networks, and to large-scale (real-world) networks in a case study of Statistics Netherlands, where the problem is to determine the minimum number of interviewers required to cover all addresses in the Netherlands. A detail study indicated that by finding proper locations the number of service centres may be reduced without an increase of travel expenses, and with a decrease of total costs. The main results of the study was, that the CARE algorithm produces good results in a reasonable time, even for large-scale (real-world) networks.

Karl Watson

Urban Design A Virtual Reality? (Leicester City - A Case Study

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is becoming increasingly mainstream as its availability and affordability improve. This is especially the case with non-immersive forms distributed over computer networks, from corporate intranets to the World Wide Web. Alongside such technological advances has been an increase in public awareness of the various possibilities offered by VR. This trend may well place pressure on Local Authorities to adopt such technologies as visualisation, communication and consultation tools in relation to their Planning functions. But would such expectations be realistic?

So far, research appears to have concentrated upon the technology and isolated 'proof of concept' applications, developed from academic perspectives on 'problems' within the Planning domain. Little applied research appears to have been carried out on the practicalities of its adoption by Local Planning Authorities, especially relating to its implications on existing systems and actors. This project is a limited, initial exploratory foray into these areas based on a case study undertaken at Leicester City Council. From an Urban Design perspective it focuses on the production and evaluation of Geographical Information System (GIS) derived Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) applications employed in the Development Brief process. It attempts to roughly map out the lie of the land from this position, identify major obstacles and any areas which require a more detailed reconnaissance.

Gloria Wilson

Electronic circulation and automatic importation of construction drawings into GIS

The expert management of information is vital in today’s competitive environment. Shrewd data management can reduce costs, increase efficiency and customer service and makes for effective business management. Most utilities (if not all) are facing problems due to the high cost of data maintenance where CAD data feed in to GIS. The City of Calgary provides a case study of the processes and systems of data management, which is used to investigate, and address the problem by applying a likely practical solution to their operation. The solution recommends that the data are held centrally on a web server and accessed via standard web browsers by both internal and external users although each department still maintains the data on a maintenance server. This solution depends largely on engineering firms submitting planning application to the City of Calgary in a pre-defined format and standard. Corporations, like the City of Calgary, should consider adding a web-component to their present architecture and streamlining the entire process. This stage may be seen as a gradual step towards Network-Oriented GIS. Successful implementation of this system would require careful considerations to change management issues because of the impact it has on the organisation and it’s wide reaching implication on both internal and external users.

Josephine Wong Lua Ming

GIS as a tool for sustainable forest resources management

At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Malaysia made an international commitment to adopt Sustainable Forest Management. This formed the basis for an international co-operation on the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests between the Malaysian and the German Government. The Forest Department of Sarawak and the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) started the Forest Management Information System Sarawak with the goal to elaborate, introduce and implement economically viable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable concepts of Sustainable Forest Resource Management. The increased concern for sustainability and the environment has increased the complexity of the planning process with planning requiring proper consideration of full range of interactions within an integrated system. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has demonstrated the potential for the application of zoning of resources for sustainable forest management to provide a potential solution for multiple usage’s of natural resources. A methodology was developed to provide an overview of the information required for developing forest function maps for forest zoning as a decision support model for sustainable forest management planning. Special attention is devoted to evaluating the Forest Zoning model by establishing the inherent uncertainties. Through the combination of multiple data sources containing information uncertainties, the potential of manipulation and bias increases tremendously calling for a cautious stand towards analysis and modelling. The model acknowledges existing limits of GIS concerning the handling of uncertainties and error and the study suggests that GIS output undergo critical evaluation with any analysis having an inherent professional and an ethical component.

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