Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Spatial Map'

MSC Dissertation in Computer Engineering
With recent developments in Web-based Mapping technologies, the use of digital spatial data has become accessible to people that would not originally use this type of data. Moreover, with the widespread availability of online mapping tools, the perfect stage is set for the development of spatial tools to enable collaboration in spatial decision-making. In this dissertation, different approaches to spatial collaboration are examined, both from a conceptual and technical point of view. The analysis of existing efforts into collaboration and spatial decision-making, supported by different techniques, revealed potential for spatial collaboration over the Internet. Before pursuing its implementation, a technological and conceptual study had to be realized, on the needs that distributed users will have, when collaboration spatially. This study supports the choice of spatial operators to facilitate collaboration through space, to compose a distributed work environment developed using currently available online mapping services. The first contribution of this work results from the conceptual approach, and it consists on a generic activity model for public participation to support different types of spatial decisionmaking where the public is involved. Following the definition of the model, a generic collaborative Spatial decision support system was developed, containing the necessary structures to enable the application of the model in different spatial decision making contexts.

This thesis describes a doctoral project which has addressed some of the problems of automatically performing cartographic generalization in a holistic manner, that is, processing the map features in the context of the whole map rather than individual features in isolation. The approach is based on two key ideas: firstly, that the map surface can be represented by a structure based on simplicial complexes which provides useful relationships for topology and proximity and facilitates many of the fundamental generalization operations. Secondly, that the epistemological structures needed for generalization can be represented by a hierarchy of "context" frames, each of which encapsulate the knowledge required to recognize, generalize and resolve a cartographic situation. A data structure that uses simplicial complexes to represent map objects has been designed and implemented. Each object is described by a set of two-dimensional simplices (triangles) that are maintained in the form of a constrained Delaunay triangulation. This structure gives a fully connected two-dimensional plenum that stores important spatial relationships such as "enclosed", "adjacent" and "between" explicitly. This simplicial data structure (SDS), as it is called, can be used directly to perform several types of operations necessary for automatic generalization, for example, automatic overlap detection, displacement, merging, enlargement, simplification of building outlines and skeletonization. Algorithms for many of these operators have been implemented while others are proposed. Pseudo-code and descriptions are used to document many of these operators, results are given and discussed. A frame-based architecture is proposed which provides a framework for the representation and application of knowledge for generalization. The project was funded by an EPSRC CASE studentship in collaboration with the Ordnance Survey.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 1999.
Adviser: Holly A. Taylor. Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-96).
This thesis presents a collaborative human-machine crowdmapping approach to creating socio-spatial maps that represent both spatial and social aspects of communities. Our implemented system combines satellite image analytics, a mobile mapping app, and social survey data. The system is designed to provide an end user experience that aligns institutional interests with grassroots interests, resulting in a self-sustaining system. In collaboration with the global health organization Partners in Health, we tested our approach with local health workers in Rwanda. Better maps can improve local visibility and empower communities to share knowledge, trade goods, and access medical services. Assisted by automatically annotated satellite maps, the community-driven mapping resulted in detailed spatial and social maps for four rural villages. With the collected data, we designed a novel socio-spatial map for this community that combines knowledge about household locations, paths, inhabitants of those homes, and social relations between residents. Generalizing from this map, we propose a framework to organize people, places, paths, and relationships to reason about the intersection of social and spatial mapping. Furthermore, we derive design characteristics of our human-machine mapping system that can guide the development of new systems in related contexts. Socio-spatial maps have the potential to be used as critical decision-making tools for individuals and organizations alike.
by Raphael Schaad.
S.M.

Through an exploration of both sculptural and thought processes undertaken in making my Masters exhibition, ‘Hippocampus’, I unpack some possibilities, instabilities, and limitations inherent in representation and visual perception. This thesis explores the Hippocampus as image (seahorse) and concept (brain-structure involved in cognitive mapping of space). Looking at Gilles Deleuze’s writings on representation, I will expand on the notion of the map as being that which does not define and fix a structure or meaning, but rather is open, extendable and experimental. I explore the becoming, rather than the being, of image and concept. The emphasis here is on process, non-representation, and fluidity of meaning. This is supportive of my personal affirmation of the practice and process of art-making as research. I will refer to the graphic prints of Maurits Cornelis Escher as a means to elucidate a visual contextualization of my practical work, particularly with regard to the play with two- and three-dimensional space perception. Through precisely calculated ‘experiments’ that show up the partiality of our visual perception of space, Escher alludes to things that either cannot actually exist as spatial objects or do exist, but resist representation. Similarly I will explore how my own sculptures, although existing in space resist a fixed representation and suggest ideas of other spaces, non-spaces; an in-between space that does not pin itself down and become fixed to any particular image, idea, objector representation.

Previous research has indicated an increasing need for intelligent automated design. The contention of this project is that Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) techniques can be used to mimic the process of map design in cartography. A suitable environment for such a map system is considered. Attention is focused on methods for identifying and resolving conflicts that occur when spatial data are displayed using cartographic techniques. The research attempts to find a suitable mechanism for describing and identifying spatial conflicts and serves to focus attention on exactly what makes good map design. It appears that human judgement of design requires the understanding of the map as a whole and is based on geographical knowledge and an understanding of spatial processes. This is in addition to the knowledge of design and perception of maps. An appropriate method of description enables evaluation and assessment of the graphic. The potential spatial conflicts that can occur in a map, along with possible solutions for resolving those conflicts, are identified. Automated techniques were devised for identifying features in proximity and resolving those clusters by application of cartographic license (localized feature displacement). Following from this the knowledge governing the use of all generalization techniques is identified and explicitly itemized. A suitable taxonomy of rules is investigated and the knowledge implemented in a rule based system called CLARITY. The rules base contains over one hundred rules. The results and evaluation of the implementation, together with suggested further work conclude this project.

Automated positioning systems designed to measure three-dimensional locations of objects are of paramount importance to flexible manufacturing applications. These systems should perform in an industrial environment, withstanding obstacles of solid objects and must be immune from external influences including changes in atmospheric conditions and surrounding noise. Automated positioning systems should also be free of mechanical contact and able to perform without having to establish a line-of-sight with the measured object. In this thesis, a novel design is proposed for the spatial measurement of the six degrees of freedom industrial robots and autonomous vehicles. Not only does the proposed system comply with the above characteristics, but it is also capable of achieving better resolutions than CCD cameras, easier to implement, safer than laser devices and more accurate than ultrasound systems.[...]
Doctor of Philosophy

Automated positioning systems designed to measure three-dimensional locations of objects are of paramount importance to flexible manufacturing applications. These systems should perform in an industrial environment, withstanding obstacles of solid objects and must be immune from external influences including changes in atmospheric conditions and surrounding noise. Automated positioning systems should also be free of mechanical contact and able to perform without having to establish a line-of-sight with the measured object. In this thesis, a novel design is proposed for the spatial measurement of the six degrees of freedom industrial robots and autonomous vehicles. Not only does the proposed system comply with the above characteristics, but it is also capable of achieving better resolutions than CCD cameras, easier to implement, safer than laser devices and more accurate than ultrasound systems.[...]
Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering

When different development rates for psychological processes such as those in spatial memory exist, they can be linked to relevant brain areas via their different developmental rates. The hippocampus and caudate nucleus have been implicated in allocentric and egocentric spatial behavior changes found in youth and old age. Variation in allocentric and egocentric behavior in squirrel monkeys due to age was examined using a quadruple T-maze and animals in three age groups: 0.3 - 4 year olds, (n = 12), 5 - 10 year olds (n=12) and 11 - 17 year olds (n = 12). Subjects were trained to go to one of three goals in the maze from one of two training release locations. When they reached criterion for consistent responding, they were given probe trials pseudorandomly interspersed with the training trials in which they were released from one of the three other locations. The 12 test sessions were divided into three phases consisting of four sessions each. A 3 (age groups) x 3 (probe sites) x 3 (phases) mixed design ANOVA with repeated measures on the second and third factors revealed only a significant effect for probe site (F(1,33) = 14.55, p < .01) sing the Geisser-Greenhouse correction for heterogeneity of variance. The pattern of responding most clearly resembled route and was stable over testing. Age was not significant although there was a trend toward random behavior in young and more route-like behavior in older animals. Intrinsic maze cues effects on responding were examined. These data were analyzed using a 3 (age groups) x 2 (training groups) x 3 (probe sites) mixed design ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor, and again revealed only a significant probe site effect (F(1,33) = 14.55, p < .01). Thus cues intrinsic to the maze did not affect response pattern. Only 13 subjects clearly used one of the three spatial strategies: 6 route, 3 direction, and 4 place. Of the remaining 23 animals 11 were young, 5 were adult and 7 were mature. Two used a variation of place, three used a combination of strategies, four were idiosyncratic, 10 used proto-route (route-like, but not systematic enough to be route) and three were random. The use of place strategy by animals as young as 4 and as old as approximately 17 implicates hippocampal changes occurring outside this age range.

In this thesis, we present an innovative and novel approach to personalise maps/geo-spatial services for mobile users. With the proposed map personalisation approach, only relevant data will be extracted from detailed maps/geo-spatial services on the fly, based on a user’s current location, preferences and requirements. This would result in dramatic improvements in the legibility of maps on mobile device screens, as well as significant reductions in the amount of data being transmitted; which, in turn, would reduce the download time and cost of transferring the required geo-spatial data across mobile networks. Furthermore, the proposed map personalisation approach has been implemented into a working system, based on a four-tier client server architecture, wherein fully detailed maps/services are stored on the server, and upon a user’s request personalised maps/services, extracted from the fully detailed maps/services based on the user’s current location, preferences, are sent to the user’s mobile device through mobile networks. By using open and standard system development tools, our system is open to everyday mobile devices rather than smart phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) only, as is prevalent in most current map personalisation systems. The proposed map personalisation approach combines content-based information filtering and collaborative information filtering techniques into an algorithmic solution, wherein content-based information filtering is used for regular users having a user profile stored on the system, and collaborative information filtering is used for new/occasional users having no user profile stored on the system. Maps/geo-spatial services are personalised for regular users by analysing the user’s spatial feature preferences automatically collected and stored in their user profile from previous usages, whereas, map personalisation for new/occasional users is achieved through analysing the spatial feature preferences of like-minded users in the system in order to make an inference for the target user. Furthermore, with the use of association rule mining, an advanced inference technique, the spatial features retrieved for new/occasional users through collaborative filtering can be attained. The selection of spatial features through association rule mining is achieved by finding interesting and similar patterns in the spatial features most commonly retrieved by different user groups, based on their past transactions or usage sessions with the system.

Knowledge of soil moisture spatial patterns provides basic but important information in studies of hydrological processes. At the field to subwatershed scale, soil moisture spatial variability is critical to aid in hydrologic modeling, but has not been adequately studied. Two new approaches were taken to contribute to the study of soil moisture spatial variability at this scale. The Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) framework is a more general method than classical geostatistics and has not yet been applied to soil moisture spatial estimation. The recently developed mobile Cosmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COSMOS), i.e. COSMOS rover, has a ∼660 m diameter footprint which can potentially be used in field to subwatershed scale soil moisture mapping. The objectives of this research are to compare the effectiveness of BME versus ordinary kriging (OK) for spatial prediction of soil moisture at the field scale, and to calibrate and validate a COSMOS rover for mapping 0 – 5 cm soil moisture at spatial scales suitable for evaluating satellite-based soil moisture estimates. High resolution aerial photography was incorporated into the soil moisture spatial prediction using the BME method. Soil moisture maps based on the BME and the OK frameworks were cross-validated and compared. The BME method showed only slight improvement in the soil moisture mapping accuracy compared to the OK method. The COSMOS rover was calibrated to field average soil moisture measured with impedance probes which were themselves calibrated to 0-5 cm soil moisture measured by soil sampling. The resulting rover calibration was then applied to map soil moisture around the Marena, Oklahoma In Situ Sensor Testbed (MOISST) in north central Oklahoma, USA and in the Little Washita River watershed in southwest, Oklahoma. The maps showed reasonable soil moisture patterns and a clear response to soil wetting by an intervening rainfall. The rover measured field averaged soil moisture with an RMSD of 0.039 cm³ cm^-3 relative to the impedance probes which themselves had an RMSE of 0.031 cm³ cm ^-3 relative to soil moisture measured by soil moisture sampling. The results provide evidence that a COSMOS rover can be used effectively for near surface soil moisture mapping with acceptable accuracy.

Conventional electrocardiography (ECG) is an essential tool for investigating cardiac disorders such as arrhythmias or myocardial infarction. It consists of interpretation of potentials recorded at the body surface that occur due to the electrical activity of the heart. However, electrical signals originated at the heart suffer from attenuation and smoothing within the thorax, therefore ECG signal measured on the body surface lacks some important details. The goal of forward and inverse ECG problems is to recover these lost details by estimating the heart&
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s electrical activity non-invasively from body surface potential measurements. In the forward problem, one calculates the body surface potential distribution (i.e. torso potentials) using an appropriate source model for the equivalent cardiac sources. In the inverse problem of ECG, one estimates cardiac electrical activity based on measured torso potentials and a geometric model of the torso. Due to attenuation and spatial smoothing that occur within the thorax, inverse ECG problem is ill-posed and the forward model matrix is badly conditioned. Thus, small disturbances in the measurements lead to amplified errors in inverse solutions. It is difficult to solve this problem for effective cardiac imaging due to the ill-posed nature and high dimensionality of the problem. Tikhonov regularization, Truncated Singular Value Decomposition (TSVD) and Bayesian MAP estimation are some of the methods proposed in literature to cope with the ill-posedness of the problem. The most common approach in these methods is to ignore temporal relations of epicardial potentials and to solve the inverse problem at every time instant independently (column sequential approach). This is the fastest and the easiest approach
however, it does not include temporal correlations. The goal of this thesis is to include temporal constraints as well as spatial constraints in solving the inverse ECG problem. For this purpose, two methods are used. In the first method, we solved the augmented problem directly. Alternatively, we solve the problem with column sequential approach after applying temporal whitening. The performance of each method is evaluated.

Neighborhoods are organic entities that are in a state of constant change and are driven by the specific context of the problem being investigated. The subsequent lack of consensus on a universal geographic definition for what constitutes a neighborhood can lead to biased interpretations of relationships between human activities and place. Further, while existing geographical information system software allows users to combine a range of geographic objects to generate regional units of analyses, their design does not explicitly assess how changing patterns, such as populations, impact the data expressed within them. This research develops an exploratory geographical information system framework that allows users to dynamically delineate neighborhoods based on user-specified characteristics. These include socioeconomic and similar measurements of neighborhood classification from information obtained from secondary data sources, including parcel data, land use/land cover information, and attribute data provided by the United States Postal Service. The proposed methodology creates custom geographies from readily available tract data obtained from various federal and state data repositories to produce indices. By allowing the user to dynamically weigh the combinations of variables used to define their neighborhood, this thesis introduces a solution to a common analytical problem in the discipline.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 180 million blind/visually-impaired people in the World. Travelling in unfamiliar scenes is one of the most troublesome tasks for the blind/visually-impaired. Limited spatial information obtained solely from sense of hearing and touching makes this task remarkably difficult. Research into the electronic travel aids (ETA) area aims to provide more spatial information for the blind and visually-impaired. There are two types of electronic travelling aids, obstacle detection ET A and orientation ETA. At present the available obstacle detection ETAs are based on sonar sensors and orientation ETAs only provide global orientation to the user. We present a new solution for a hybrid system to provide the visually-impaired with obstacle detection and local of an unfamiliar scene using computer vision sensors. Given a stereo image pair, the system creates a Spatial Information Awareness Map (SIAM). Using image gradient operators, the SIAM is extracted from the stereo disparity image. Mathematical morphology is also used as a post processing technique to clean up noise, remove isolated pixels, and improve the labelling of the spatial relationship of the scene. It is intended that the SIAM would be communicated to the user via a dynamic binary tactile map (RBTM) and work in conjunction with the traditional walking cane. The experimental results obtained from synthetic disparity and real stereo images demonstrate the validity of our approach, and shows promising results. From the RIAM, the user is provided with spatial information as horizontal lines which represent horizontal flat surfaces, and vertical lines which represent the location of objects in the scene. With SIAM, the user can locate empty space and the position of any objects in the local environment, thus allowing them to create their own cognitive map of the scene and plan their route.

Understanding how soil variability changes with spatial scale is critical to our ability to understand and model soil processes at scales relevant to decision makers. This thesis uses legacy data to address the ongoing challenge of understanding soil spatial variability in a number of complementary ways. We use a range of information: precision agriculture studies; compiled point datasets; and remotely observed raster datasets. We use classical geostatistics, but introduce a new framework for comparing variability of spatial properties across scales. My thesis considers soil spatial variability from a number of geostatistical angles. We find the following: • Field scale variograms show differing variance across several magnitudes. Further work is required to ensure consistency between survey design, experimental methodology and statistical methodology if these results are to become useful for comparison. • Declustering is a useful tool to deal with the patchy design of legacy data. It is not a replacement for an evenly distributed dataset, but it does allow the use of legacy data which would otherwise have limited utility. • A framework which allows ‘roughness’ to be expressed as a continuous variable appears to fit the data better than the mono-fractal or multi-fractal framework generally associated with multi–scale modelling of soil spatial variability. • Soil appears to have a similar degree of stochasticity to short range topographic variability, and a higher degree of stochasticity at short ranges (less than 10km and 100km) than vegetation and Radiometrics respectively. • At longer ranges of variability (i.e. around 100km) only rainfall and height above sea level show distinctly different stochasticity. • Global variograms show strong isotropy, unlike the variograms for the Australian continent.

Malgré la multiplicité des études démontrant le comportement fascinant des animaux dans leur milieu naturel, quelques domaines de recherches demeurent difficiles à aborder. Ainsi, l’étude de certains aspects cognitifs nécessite un certain contrôle sur l’environnement afin de dissocier les influences écologiques et sociales de l’implication cognitive ; par exemple la cognition spatiale incluant la mémoire spatiale, les mécanismes d’orientation spatiale, ainsi que leur implication dans la navigation, tel que par la planification. L’étude de la cognition spatiale des chimpanzés sauvages s’est déroulée dans le Parc national de Taï, une forêt tropicale dense où les ressources potentielles sont abondantes et réparties sur un territoire de 25 km², avec une visibilité d’environ 30 mètres. De plus, les chimpanzés vivent dans une société du type fission-fusion, impliquant de multiples relations sociales. Toutefois, l’enregistrement précis de la position et des activités des chimpanzés, ainsi qu’une carte botanique précise, nous a permis de dissocier les effets écologiques, sociaux et cognitifs afin de mieux comprendre les relations entre ces différents facteurs. Par cette étude, nous montrons que les chimpanzés ont développé un mécanisme permettant une navigation précise grâce à une carte Euclidienne contenant des informations sur la direction et la distances vers des ressources connues. Ce mécanisme est extrêmement adapté et efficace par la connaissance précise de la localisation de milliers de ressources dans leur habitat. Ces capacités permettent d’augmenter leur efficacité en sélectionnant les ressources les plus productives, en les planifiant à l’avance et, de manière plus avancée, en planifiant le parcours le plus court à travers ces différentes ressources durant la journée lorsque la pression sociale requière une meilleure précision dans le choix des ressources. Ces découvertes illustrent d’abord les capacités extraordinaires des chimpanzés, et deuxièmement que les aspects cognitifs peuvent être expliqués dans le milieu naturel des animaux
Whereas numerous studies demonstrated fascinating behaviour of animals in their natural habitat, some important areas of research were difficult to tackle in the field. This is the case of many studies on cognitive aspects that required controlled environment to dissociate ecological and social influence from cognition. One of these important areas of research is the spatial cognition including spatial memory, spatial orientation mechanisms and the practical use of these abilities to travel efficiently, such as planning skills. This study on spatial cognition in wild chimpanzees took place in Taï National Park, a tropical dense forest where potential food resources are highly abundant in their 25 km² territory, and the visibility is approximately 30 meters. Adding to this complexity, chimpanzees live in a fission-fusion society, maintaining relationships with each other. Nevertheless, with a precise recording of chimpanzee’s location and activities and a precise botanic map of the territory, we were able to dissociate the ecological, social and cognitive effects and understand some relationships between these factors. Here, we showed that wild chimpanzees developed a precise mechanism to navigate efficiently in their large area using a Euclidean map containing accurate information about direction and distance to the known resources. This mechanism is highly adapted and efficient as the chimpanzees have a precise knowledge of the resources location in their area, remembering the location of thousand trees location. These highly developed abilities allowed them to increase their efficiency by selecting the most productive resources, planning them in advanced and on a higher level to plan the shortest path through these major resources during the day when the social pressure induce a higher precision in resource selection. These findings highlight first the outstanding spatial abilities of wild chimpanzees and second that cognition can be better explained in animals’ natural complex environment
Trotz zahlreicher Studien, die das faszinierende Verhalten von Wildtieren in ihrer natürlichen Umwelt dokumentieren, bleiben einige Studienfelder schwer erfassbar. So ist zum Beispiel bei der Erforschung von bestimmten kognitiven Aspekten die Rücksichtnahme auf den Umweltfaktor erforderlich, damit Umwelt- und Sozialeinfluss von den kognitiven Faktoren unterschieden werden können. Zu diesen Untersuchungsfeldern gehört die Raumkognition, welche das Raumgedächtnis, die Mechanismen der Raumorientierung sowie deren effizientes Nutzen durch die Schimpansen, z.B. durch ihre Fähigkeit zum Planen, einschließt. Die vorgestellte Studie über Raumkognition bei wild lebenden Schimpansen wurde im Nationalpark von Tai durchgeführt, das heißt, in einem dichten tropischen Wald, wo potentielle Ressourcen bei einer Sichtweite von ungefähr 30 Metern auf einem 25 qm großen Areal reichlich verteilt sind. Hinzu kommt, dass Schimpansen in einer Fission-Fusion Gesellschaftsstruktur leben, die vielfache soziale Beziehungen fördern. Jedoch, mit einer genauen Registrierung der räumlichen Lage und der Aktivitäten der Schimpansen und anhand einer präzisen botanischen Karte des Gebiets, konnten wir die Umwelt-, Sozial- und kognitiven Effekte gegeneinander abgrenzen und somit die zwischen diesen unterschiedlichen Faktoren bestehenden Beziehungen erfassen. In dieser Studie zeigen wir, dass Schimpansen einen besonderen Mechanismus zur Raumorientierung auf ihrem Gebiet entwickelt haben. Dabei verfügen sie über eine euklidische Mind-Karte mit präzisen Informationen über Richtungen und Entfernungen zu den bekannten Ressourcen. Durch ein genaues Wissen über die Verteilung der Nahrungsressourcen auf ihrem Gebiet ist dieser Mechanismus hoch effizient. Dank dieser Fähigkeiten werden Schimpansen immer effizienter, indem sie die ergiebigsten Ressourcen auswählen, dabei planende Fähigkeiten einsetzen und weiterhin indem sie an einem Tag die kürzeste Strecke zu den verschiedenen Ressourcen ausmachen, wenn der soziale Druck höchste Präzision in der Wahl der Nahrungsressourcen erfordert. Diese Erkenntnisse erhellen zuallererst die außergewöhnlichen Fähigkeiten der wild lebenden Schimpansen und beweisen, dass sich kognitive Mechanismen bei wild lebenden Tieren in ihrer natürlichen Umwelt besser erklären lassen

This thesis presents Pixgis; a novel application for map-centric management of photographs. In short Pixgis is an interactive environment in which photographs may be discovered, viewed and managed through maps. With Pixgis finding photographs from a specific location or of a particular structure is as easy as finding the location or structure on a map. As Pixgis simultaneously displays maps, photographs and spatial metadata it also enables users to analyze photographs in new manners. This thesis work illustrates the benefits of applications for map-centric management of photographs, exposes the problems one faces when implementing such applications and presents novel solutions to many of these problems. The thesis also elaborates on spatial metadata and methods for acquisition of photographs with embedded spatial metadata.

Master of Landscape Architecture
Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning
Brent Chamberlain
Narratives of urban experiences influence understanding of space and urban form. Narratives give meaning to space, creating memories of places and helping to define an individual’s cognitive map. The representation of narratives within cognitive maps impacts day to day activities, as well as, emotional, cultural, and social characteristics of one’s self. Planners and designers play an important role in crafting narratives through the implementation of designs and policies that together shape urban form. This research investigates the relationship between spatial cognitive schemas and narratives within cognitive maps. Specifically, how college students develop and use narratives within their cognitive map to help with living in a new and initially unfamiliar place of residence. Through mixed method analysis of drawn individual cognitive maps, an online survey, and a group discussion, results show that different types of experiences within narratives influence the likelihood of it appearing within the spatial cognitive schema. The findings suggest that narratives created by peak emotional experiences contain a longer and clearer representation within cognitive maps because of their personal value. By better understanding the role of these emotional responses and their connection with urban form, design professionals can aim to frame projects toward influencing individual’s lives. Understanding how individuals develop narratives of their new city may influence planning and design with the goal of creating urban projects that provide social and cultural significance through meaning of place.

The aim of this Master’s Thesis is noise map creation and processing of measured data using ArcView 9.2 and its extensions. One - year Student Edition of ArcView 9.2 and its extensions have been provided by ARCDATA PRAHA, s.r.o. Noise maps are created from measured data in the neighborhood of the faculty building and the Moravian Square in Brno. Measurement of geographic position of measuring points is realized by GPS. For creation of noise maps, analysis and processing of measured data ArcGIS extensions - Spatial Analyst and Geostatistical Analyst were used. The last part of this Master’s Thesis is specialized on creation of 3D landscape model using ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension.

Spatialization methods create visualizations that allow users to analyze high-dimensional data in an intuitive manner and facilitates the extraction of meaningful information. Just as geographic maps are simpli ed representations of geographic spaces, these visualizations are esssentially maps of abstract data spaces that are created through dimensionality reduction. While we are familiar with geographic maps for path planning/ nding applications, research into using maps of high-dimensional spaces for such purposes has been largely ignored. However, literature has shown that it is possible to use these maps to track temporal and state changes within a high-dimensional space. A popular dimensionality reduction method that produces a mapping for these purposes is the Self-Organizing Map. By using its topology preserving capabilities with a colour-based visualization method known as the U-Matrix, state transitions can be visualized as trajectories on the resulting mapping. Through these trajectories, one can gather information on the transition path between two points in the original high-dimensional state space. This raises the interesting question of whether or not the Self-Organizing Map can be used to discover the transition path between two points in an n-dimensional space. In this thesis, we use a spherically structured Self-Organizing Map called the Geodesic Self-Organizing Map for dimensionality reduction and the creation of a topological mapping that approximates the n-dimensional space. We rst present an intuitive method for a user to navigate the surface of the Geodesic SOM. A new application of the distance transformation algorithm is then proposed to compute the path between two points on the surface of the SOM, which corresponds to two points in the data space. Discussions will then follow on how this application could be improved using some form of surface shape analysis. The new approach presented in this thesis would then be evaluated by analyzing the results of using the Geodesic SOM for manifold embedding and by carrying out data analyses using carbon dioxide emissions data.

The general aims of this dissertation project were to analyze mental spatial representations derived from common spatial learning inputs, such as a map and/or navigation, in relation to the role of age and of individual visuo-spatial factors. In particular, this dissertation project analyzed the features of mental spatial representations: i) after learning an environment from a map; recall was tested with map drawing, sketch map, and pointing tasks, in young, young-old and old-old participants (Study 1); ii) after direct navigation in an environment; recall was tested using route repetition, map drawing, and pointing tasks, in young and young-old participants (Study 2); iii) after learning from a map and a video; recall was tested using route repetition, sketch map drawing, and pointing tasks, in participants of all ages across the adult lifespan (Study 3); and also examined the contribution of visuo-spatial working memory and visuo-spatial (rotation and perspective-taking) abilities. In all three studies, participants took part in two sessions. In the first, they performed a visuo-spatial working memory task, a task measuring their rotation ability, and a perspective-taking task. In the second session, they learned an environment from a map and/or navigation, then completed a series of recall tasks. Concerning the role of age, the results of all three studies indicated that young people produce more efficient mental spatial representations than older people, and that the quality of these representations is also influenced by the type of learning input and by the type of task used to assess their recall. As for the role of individual visuo-spatial factors, the three studies highlighted their relevance in supporting mental spatial representations. Overall, the present dissertation project sheds light on people’s mental spatial representations and how they change with aging, confirming that spatial learning is a complex matter. External factors, such as the learning format used and the recall tasks administered, and internal factors such as age and individual visuo-spatial factors, combine together to influence mental spatial representation processes and how they change over time.
L’obiettivo generale di questa tesi è quello di analizzare le rappresentazioni mentali spaziali derivate dall'apprendimento spaziale attraverso input comuni, come le mappe e/o la navigazione, in relazione al ruolo dell’età e dei fattori visuo-spaziali individuali. In particolare, sono state analizzate le caratteristiche delle rappresentazioni mentali spaziali: i) dopo l’apprendimento di un ambiente attraverso una mappa; testando il ricordo attraverso il compito di disegno di mappa, di sketch map e il compito di pointing, in giovani, giovani-anziani e anziani-anziani (Studio 1) ii) dopo l’apprendimento di un ambiente attraverso navigazione diretta in esso; testando il ricordo attraverso il compito di ripercorso, disegno di mappa e compito di pointing, in giovani e giovani-anziani (Studio 2) iii) dopo l’apprendimento di una mappa e di un video; testando il ricordo attraverso il compito di ripercorso, sketch map e pointing, in partecipanti di tutte le età del lifespan adulto (Studio 3); analizzando anche il contributo della memoria di lavoro visuo-spaziale e delle abilità di rotazione e presa di prospettiva. In tutti e tre gli studi, i partecipanti hanno preso parte a due sessioni. Nella prima, completavano il compito di memoria di lavoro visuo-spaziale, un compito che misurava la loro abilità di rotazione e uno di presa di prospettiva. Nella seconda sessione, apprendevano un ambiente da mappa e/o da navigazione e compilavano una serie di compiti di ricordo. Per quanto riguarda il ruolo dell’età, i risultati dei tre studi indicano che i giovani formano una rappresentazione mentale più efficace rispetto agli anziani e la qualità della rappresentazione è influenzata dal tipo di input utilizzato nell'apprendimento e dal tipo di compito di ricordo. Per quanto riguarda il ruolo dei fattori visuo-spaziali individuali, i tre studi hanno dimostrato la loro importanza nel supportare le rappresentazioni mentali spaziali. Nel complesso, il presente lavoro di tesi ha fatto luce sulle rappresentazioni mentali spaziali e su come esse si combino con l’età, confermando che l’apprendimento spaziale è un argomento complesso. Fattori esterni, come il tipo di format dell’apprendimento e i compiti utilizzati per testare il ricordo, e i fattori interni come l’età e gli aspetti visuo-spaziali individuali si combinano insieme nell'influenzare le rappresentazioni mentali spaziali e come cambiano con il passare del tempo.

It has been proposed that as animals explore their environment they build and maintain a cognitive map, an internal representation of their surroundings (Tolman, 1948). We tested this hypothesis using a task designed to assess the ability of rats to make a spatial inference (take a novel shortcut)(Roberts et al., 2007). Our findings suggest that rats are unable to make a spontaneous spatial inference. Furthermore, they bear similarities to experiments which have been similarly unable to replicate or support Tolman’s (1948) findings. An inability to take novel shortcuts suggests that rats do not possess a cognitive map (Bennett, 1996). However, we found evidence of alternative learning strategies, such as latent learning (Tolman & Honzik, 1930b) , which suggest that rats may still be building such a representation, although it does not appear they are able to utilise this information to make complex spatial computations. Neurons found in the hippocampus show remarkable spatial modulation of their firing rate and have been suggested as a possible neural substrate for a cognitive map (O'Keefe & Nadel, 1978). However, the firing of these place cells often appears to be modulated by features of an animal’s behaviour (Ainge, Tamosiunaite, et al., 2007; Wood, Dudchenko, Robitsek, & Eichenbaum, 2000). For instance, previous experiments have demonstrated that the firing rate of place fields in the start box of some mazes are predictive of the animal’s final destination (Ainge, Tamosiunaite, et al., 2007; Ferbinteanu & Shapiro, 2003). We sought to understand whether this prospective firing is in fact related to the goal the rat is planning to navigate to or the route the rat is planning to take. Our results provide strong evidence for the latter, suggesting that rats may not be aware of the location of specific goals and may not be aware of their environment in the form of a contiguous map. However, we also found behavioural evidence that rats are aware of specific goal locations, suggesting that place cells in the hippocampus may not be responsible for this representation and that it may reside elsewhere (Hok, Chah, Save, & Poucet, 2013). Unlike their typical activity in an open field, place cells often have multiple place fields in geometrically similar areas of a multicompartment environment (Derdikman et al., 2009; Spiers et al., 2013). For example, Spiers et al. (2013) found that in an environment composed of four parallel compartments, place cells often fired similarly in multiple compartments, despite the active movement of the rat between them. We were able to replicate this phenomenon, furthermore, we were also able to show that if the compartments are arranged in a radial configuration this repetitive firing does not occur as frequently. We suggest that this place field repetition is driven by inputs from Boundary Vector Cells (BVCs) in neighbouring brain regions which are in turn greatly modulated by inputs from the head direction system. This is supported by a novel BVC model of place cell firing which predicts our observed results accurately. If place cells form the neural basis of a cognitive map one would predict spatial learning to be difficult in an environment where repetitive firing is observed frequently (Spiers et al., 2013). We tested this hypothesis by training animals on an odour discrimination task in the maze environments described above. We found that rats trained in the parallel version of the task were significantly impaired when compared to the radial version. These results support the hypothesis that place cells form the neural basis of a cognitive map; in environments where it is difficult to discriminate compartments based on the firing of place cells, rats find it similarly difficult to discriminate these compartments as shown by their behaviour. The experiments reported here are discussed in terms of a cognitive map, the likelihood that such a construct exists and the possibility that place cells form the neural basis of such a representation. Although the results of our experiments could be interpreted as evidence that animals do not possess a cognitive map, ultimately they suggest that animals do have a cognitive map and that place cells form a more than adequate substrate for this representation.

Navigation cues – like labels, signs, maps, planners, spoken directions, and navigational gestures – provide humans with navigation capabilities that far surpass those of mobile robots. This thesis demonstrates how a mobile robot can use the symbolic spatial information embedded in navigation cues to proficiently navigate unseen built environments. The primary contributions of the thesis reside in the abstract map, a novel tool for grounding navigation symbols. The abstract map imagines abstract layouts and structures for unseen spaces through a mechanical analogy, then tethers the abstract spatial models with robot perceptions to inform navigation to symbolic goals in built environments.

xiii, 103 p. : ill. (some col.)
This research investigates the relationship between map use tasks, spatial abilities and training-based effects in persons who are blind or visually impaired. A mixed-method approach using theories and methods in behavioral geography, tactile cartography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have produced finds that identify both behaviorally-based as well as biologically-based impacts resulting from systematic tactile map use and spatial thinking training. The neurological results indicate that prior to training a dominant egocentric/route strategy is used to answer all experimental map tasks, while after training an allocentric/survey strategy is used. The current study demonstrates that the adoption of an allocentric perspective is coupled with improved behavioral performance. The findings provide supporting evidence that people who are blind are capable of learning and applying sophisticated spatial strategies. The systematic progression from egocentric/route processing to allocentric/survey processing in the participant population follows traditional developmental models of spatial knowledge.
Committee in charge: Amy Lobben, Chairperson; Andrew Marcus, Member; Patrick Bartlein, Member; Michal Young, Outside Member

Maps are used to represent three-dimensional space and are integral to a range of everyday experiences. They are increasingly used in mathematics, being prominent both in school curricula and as a form of assessing students understanding of mathematics ideas. In order to successfully interpret maps, students need to be able to understand that maps: represent space, have their own perspective and scale, and their own set of symbols and texts. Despite the fact that maps have an increased prevalence in society and school, there is evidence to suggest that students have difficulty interpreting maps. This study investigated 43 primary-aged students’ (aged 9-12 years) verbal and gestural behaviours as they engaged with and solved map tasks. Within a multiliteracies framework that focuses on spatial, visual, linguistic, and gestural elements, the study investigated how students interpret map tasks. Specifically, the study sought to understand students’ skills and approaches used to solving map tasks and the gestural behaviours they utilised as they engaged with map tasks. The investigation was undertaken using the Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD) design. The design of this study capitalised on existing research data to carry out a more detailed analysis of students’ interpretation of map tasks. Video data from an existing data set was reorganised according to two distinct episodes—Task Solution and Task Explanation—and analysed within the multiliteracies framework. Content Analysis was used with these data and through anticipatory data reduction techniques, patterns of behaviour were identified in relation to each specific map task by looking at task solution, task correctness and gesture use. The findings of this study revealed that students had a relatively sound understanding of general mapping knowledge such as identifying landmarks, using keys, compass points and coordinates. However, their understanding of mathematical concepts pertinent to map tasks including location, direction, and movement were less developed. Successful students were able to interpret the map tasks and apply relevant mathematical understanding to navigate the spatial demands of the map tasks while the unsuccessful students were only able to interpret and understand basic map conventions. In terms of their gesture use, the more difficult the task, the more likely students were to exhibit gestural behaviours to solve the task. The most common form of gestural behaviour was deictic, that is a pointing gesture. Deictic gestures not only aided the students capacity to explain how they solved the map tasks but they were also a tool which assisted them to navigate and monitor their spatial movements when solving the tasks. There were a number of implications for theory, learning and teaching, and test and curriculum design arising from the study. From a theoretical perspective, the findings of the study suggest that gesturing is an important element of multimodal engagement in mapping tasks. In terms of teaching and learning, implications include the need for students to utilise gesturing techniques when first faced with new or novel map tasks. As students become more proficient in solving such tasks, they should be encouraged to move beyond a reliance on such gesture use in order to progress to more sophisticated understandings of map tasks. Additionally, teachers need to provide students with opportunities to interpret and attend to multiple modes of information when interpreting map tasks.

Transcription factor (TF) binding has been studied extensively in relation to binding site affinity and chromosome modifications; however, the relationship between genome spatial organisation and transcription factor binding is not well studied. Using the recently available high resolution Hi-C contact map of human GM12878 lymphoblastoid cells, we investigated computationally the genome-wide spatial co-localization of transcription factor binding sites, for both within the same type and between different types. First, we observed a strong positive correlation between site occupancy and homotypic TF co-localization based on Hi-C contacts, consistent with our predictions from biophysical simulations of TF target search. This trend is more prominent in binding sites with weak binding sequences and within enhancers, suggesting genome spatial organisation plays an essential role in determining binding site occupancy, especially for weak regulatory elements. Furthermore, when investigating spatial co-localization between different TFs, we discovered two distinct co-localization networks of TFs in lymphoblastoid cells, one of which is enriched in lymphocyte specific pathways and distal enhancer binding. These two TF networks have strong biases for either the A1 or A2 chromosome subcompartment, but nonetheless are still preserved within each, indicating a potential causal link between cell-type-specific transcription factor binding and chromosome subcompartment segregation. We called 40 pairs of significantly co-localized TFs according to the genome wide Hi-C contact map, which are enriched in previously reported, physical interactions, thus linking TF spatial network to co-functioning. In addition to the above main project, I also worked on a side project to find compute-efficient ways in scaling binding site strength across different TFs based on Position-Weight-Matrices (PWM). While common bioinformatics tools produce scores that can reflect the binding strength between a specific TF and the DNA, these scores are not directly comparable between different TFs. We provided two approaches in estimating a scaling parameter $\lambda$ to the PWM score for different TFs. The first approach uses a PWM and background genomic sequence as input to estimate $\lambda$ for a specific TF, which we applied to show that $\lambda$ distributions for different TF families correspond with their DNA binding properties. Our second method can reliably convert $\lambda$ between different PWMs of the same TF, which allows us to directly compare PWMs that were generated by different approaches.

The value of measuring Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD) is the main concern of this thesis. The theory and research described in the thesis examines the psychological and educational purpose of measuring the ZPD within the context of children's representational skills. The first chapter discusses the development of children's ability to understand and use spatial representations. Recent research in developmental psychology is criticised for measuring the ZPD and claiming that the ZPD corresponds to children's individual developmental level. The experiments in Chapter 2 show that previous research has overestimated the representational ability of young children and that a children's potential development is different from their actual development, as assessed by the ZPD. Chapter 3 examines the origins of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and the ZPD within Soviet psychology and Hegelian philosophy. The next chapter presents contemporary interpretations of the ZPD which have to varying degrees attempted to extend this concept. The idea of dynamic assessment is introduced in this chapter and experiments using this notion are described in detail. Preliminary studies are described in Chapter 5, which examine the possible need for measurement of the ZPD and they also choose appropriate samples, methods and apparatus for future experiments which aim to measure the ZPD within a spatial task. The sixth chapter consists of three experimental studies, which all attempted to measure the ZPD using dynamic assessment techniques. These studies showed that measurement of the ZPD could provide important diagnostic information about children's spatial ability beyond that given by individual tests of intelligence. This was especially true in the case of children with learning difficulties. The results of all the experiments in the thesis are discussed in relation to measurement of the ZPD and its value within developmental psychology and educational psychology.

Résumé Internet est devenu un moyen de diffusion de l’information géographique par excellence. Il offre de plus en plus de services cartographiques accessibles par des milliers d’internautes à travers le monde. Cependant, la qualité de ces services doit être améliorée, principalement en matière de personnalisation. A cette fin, il est important que la carte générée corresponde autant que possible aux besoins, aux préférences et au contexte de l’utilisateur. Ce but peut être atteint en appliquant les transformations appropriées, en temps réel, aux objets de l’espace à chaque cycle de génération de la carte. L’un des défis majeurs de la génération d’une carte à la volée est la résolution des conflits spatiaux qui apparaissent entre les objets, essentiellement à cause de l’espace réduit des écrans d’affichage. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une nouvelle approche basée sur la mise en œuvre d’un système multiagent pour la génération à la volée des cartes et la résolution des conflits spatiaux. Cette approche est basée sur l’utilisation de la représentation multiple et la généralisation cartographique. Elle résout les conflits spatiaux et génère les cartes demandées selon une stratégie innovatrice : la génération progressive des cartes par couches d’intérêt. Chaque couche d’intérêt contient tous les objets ayant le même degré d’importance pour l’utilisateur. Ce contenu est déterminé à la volée au début du processus de génération de la carte demandée. Notre approche multiagent génère et transfère cette carte suivant un mode parallèle. En effet, une fois une couche d’intérêt générée, elle est transmise à l’utilisateur. Dans le but de résoudre les conflits spatiaux, et par la même occasion générer la carte demandée, nous affectons un agent logiciel à chaque objet de l’espace. Les agents entrent ensuite en compétition pour l’occupation de l’espace disponible. Cette compétition est basée sur un ensemble de priorités qui correspondent aux différents degrés d’importance des objets pour l’utilisateur. Durant la résolution des conflits, les agents prennent en considération les besoins et les préférences de l’utilisateur afin d’améliorer la personnalisation de la carte. Ils améliorent la lisibilité des objets importants et utilisent des symboles qui pourraient aider l’utilisateur à mieux comprendre l’espace géographique. Le processus de génération de la carte peut être interrompu en tout temps par l’utilisateur lorsque les données déjà transmises répondent à ses besoins. Dans ce cas, son temps d’attente est réduit, étant donné qu’il n’a pas à attendre la génération du reste de la carte. Afin d’illustrer notre approche, nous l’appliquons au contexte de la cartographie sur le web ainsi qu’au contexte de la cartographie mobile. Dans ces deux contextes, nous catégorisons nos données, qui concernent la ville de Québec, en quatre couches d’intérêt contenant les objets explicitement demandés par l’utilisateur, les objets repères, le réseau routier et les objets ordinaires qui n’ont aucune importance particulière pour l’utilisateur. Notre système multiagent vise à résoudre certains problèmes liés à la génération à la volée des cartes web. Ces problèmes sont les suivants : 1. Comment adapter le contenu des cartes, à la volée, aux besoins des utilisateurs ? 2. Comment résoudre les conflits spatiaux de manière à améliorer la lisibilité de la carte tout en prenant en considération les besoins de l’utilisateur ? 3. Comment accélérer la génération et le transfert des données aux utilisateurs ? Les principales contributions de cette thèse sont : 1. La résolution des conflits spatiaux en utilisant les systèmes multiagent, la généralisation cartographique et la représentation multiple. 2. La génération des cartes dans un contexte web et dans un contexte mobile, à la volée, en utilisant les systèmes multiagent, la généralisation cartographique et la représentation multiple. 3. L’adaptation des contenus des cartes, en temps réel, aux besoins de l’utilisateur à la source (durant la première génération de la carte). 4. Une nouvelle modélisation de l’espace géographique basée sur une architecture multi-couches du système multiagent. 5. Une approche de génération progressive des cartes basée sur les couches d’intérêt. 6. La génération et le transfert, en parallèle, des cartes aux utilisateurs, dans les contextes web et mobile.
Abstract Internet is a fast growing medium to get and disseminate geospatial information. It provides more and more web mapping services accessible by thousands of users worldwide. However, the quality of these services needs to be improved, especially in term of personalization. In order to increase map flexibility, it is important that the map corresponds as much as possible to the user’s needs, preferences and context. This may be possible by applying the suitable transformations, in real-time, to spatial objects at each map generation cycle. An underlying challenge of such on-the-fly map generation is to solve spatial conflicts that may appear between objects especially due to lack of space on display screens. In this dissertation, we propose a multiagent-based approach to address the problems of on-the-fly web map generation and spatial conflict resolution. The approach is based upon the use of multiple representation and cartographic generalization. It solves conflicts and generates maps according to our innovative progressive map generation by layers of interest approach. A layer of interest contains objects that have the same importance to the user. This content, which depends on the user’s needs and the map’s context of use, is determined on-the-fly. Our multiagent-based approach generates and transfers data of the required map in parallel. As soon as a given layer of interest is generated, it is transmitted to the user. In order to generate a given map and solve spatial conflicts, we assign a software agent to every spatial object. Then, the agents compete for space occupation. This competition is driven by a set of priorities corresponding to the importance of objects for the user. During processing, agents take into account users’ needs and preferences in order to improve the personalization of the final map. They emphasize important objects by improving their legibility and using symbols in order to help the user to better understand the geographic space. Since the user can stop the map generation process whenever he finds the required information from the amount of data already transferred, his waiting delays are reduced. In order to illustrate our approach, we apply it to the context of tourist web and mobile mapping applications. In these contexts, we propose to categorize data into four layers of interest containing: explicitly required objects, landmark objects, road network and ordinary objects which do not have any specific importance for the user. In this dissertation, our multiagent system aims at solving the following problems related to on-the-fly web mapping applications: 1. How can we adapt the contents of maps to users’ needs on-the-fly? 2. How can we solve spatial conflicts in order to improve the legibility of maps while taking into account users’ needs? 3. How can we speed up data generation and transfer to users? The main contributions of this thesis are: 1. The resolution of spatial conflicts using multiagent systems, cartographic generalization and multiple representation. 2. The generation of web and mobile maps, on-the-fly, using multiagent systems, cartographic generalization and multiple representation. 3. The real-time adaptation of maps’ contents to users’ needs at the source (during the first generation of the map). 4. A new modeling of the geographic space based upon a multi-layers multiagent system architecture. 5. A progressive map generation approach by layers of interest. 6. The generation and transfer of web and mobile maps at the same time to users.

Expertise in topographic map reading is dependent on efficient processing of geographical information presented in a standardised map format. Studies have supported the proposition that expert map readers employ cognitive schemas in which prototypical configurations held in long term memory are employed during the surface search of map features to facilitate map comprehension. Within the experts' cognitive schemas, it is assumed that features are grouped according to spatial configurations that have been frequently encountered and these patterns facilitate efficient chunking of features during information processing. This thesis investigates the nature of information held in experts' cognitive schemas. It also proposes that features are grouped in the experts' schemas not only by their spatial configurations but according to the abstract and functional roles they perform. Three experiments investigated the information processing strategies employed by firstly, skilled map readers engaged in a map reproduction task and secondly, expert map readers engaged in a location comparison exercise. In the first and second experiments, skilled and novice map readers studied and reproduced a town map and a topographic map. Drawing protocols and verbal protocols provided insights into their information processing strategies. The skilled map readers demonstrated superior performance for reproducing contour related data with evidence of the use of cognitive schemas. For the third experiment, expert and novice map readers compared locations within map excerpts for similarities of boundary extents. Eye-gaze data and verbal protocols provided information on the features attended to and the participants' search patterns. The expert group integrated features into their cognitive schemas according to the abstract roles they performed significantly more frequently than the novices. Both groups employed pattern recognition to integrate features for some of the locations. Within a similar experimental design the second part of the third experiment examined whether experts also integrated the abstract roles of remote features and village grouping concepts within their cognitive schemas. The experts again integrated the abstract roles of physical features into their schemas more often than novices but this strategy was not employed for either the remote feature or grouping categories. Implications for map design and future Geographic Information Systems are discussed.

Over the past few decades, research into public perceptions of crime has largely focused on how mass media consumption shapes beliefs about crime. Substantially less research has been dedicated to exploring the potential influence of alternative sources of information, and even less attention has been devoted to exploring the spatiotemporal aspect of perceptions of crime. This thesis combined Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and structured interviews in order to explore the narratives about crime constructed by three sources: (1) the Ottawa Police Service, (2) the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, and (3) residents of Ottawa. Eight participants were taken on a walking tour interview, and their responses were compared to two maps depicting the geographies of crime presented by the Ottawa Police Service and the Ottawa Citizen. It was found that the places participants believed to be criminal ones were poorly maintained and dirty, were populated by large numbers of homeless individuals, had little to no commercial space, were geographically close to other areas of the city believed to be criminal spaces, and were poorly lit. The three construction of the spatial distribution of crime in Ottawa shared many common features (such as a focus on the Byward Market area as highly criminal) while remaining distinct in their presentation of certain types of spaces (such as the newspaper’s presentation of homeless shelters as highly criminal spaces). Ultimately, this thesis explores three distinct narratives about the geography of crime in Ottawa through the use of a unique mixed methods design that provides an alternative way of interpreting data most commonly analyzed through deductive or quantitative means.

Audio has the capacity to display geospatial data. As auditory display design grapples with the challenge of aligning the spatial dimensions of the data with the dimensions of the display, this dissertation investigates the role of time in auditory geographic maps. Three auditory map types translate geospatial data into collections of musical notes, and arrangement of those notes in time vary across three map types: sequential, augmented-sequential, and concurrent. Behavioral and neuroimaging methods assess the auditory symbology. A behavioral task establishes geographic context, and neuroimaging provides a quantitative measure of brain responses to the behavioral task under recall and active listening response conditions. In both behavioral and neuroimaging data, two paired contrasts measure differences between the sequential and augmented-sequential map types, and between the augmented- sequential and concurrent map types. Behavioral data reveal differences in both response time and accuracy. Response times for the augmented-sequential map type are substantially longer in both contrasts under the active response condition. Accuracy is lower for concurrent maps than for augmented-sequential maps; response condition influences direction of differences in accuracy between the sequential and augmented-sequential map types. Neuroimaging data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show significant differences in blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response during map listening. The BOLD response is significantly stronger in the left auditory cortex and planum temporale for the concurrent map type in contrast to the augmented- sequential map type. And the response in the right auditory cortex and bilaterally in the visual cortex is significantly stronger for augmented-sequential maps in contrast to sequential maps. Results from this research provide empirical evidence to inform choices in the design of auditory cartographic displays, enriching the diversity of geographic map artifacts. Four supplemental files and two data sets are available online. Three audio files demonstrate the three map types: sequential (Supplementary Files, Audio 1), augmented- sequential (Supplementary Files, Audio 2), and concurrent (Supplementary Files, Audio 3). Associated data are available through OpenNeuro (https://openneuro.org/ datasets/ds001415).

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved.
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht.

The quality of RNA is of great importance in gene expression studies. It is mostly measured using the RNA integrity number (RIN). Lately it has been shown that samples with low RIN and different fragmentation patterns could affect quality of sequencing data. For such low RIN samples a new approach has been developed by Illumina called the DV200 metric, which is the percentage of fragments >200 nucleotides. For samples with low RIN, DV200 has proved to be a better method to predict if good quality data from RNA sequencing can be generated. However, neither RIN nor DV200 provide spatial infromation on the RNA integrity. Thus, tissues with areas of heterogeneous RNA integrity, where regions of good quality RNA sequencing data could be generated from are missed. We have designed a method to spatially evaluate the RNA integrity in tissue, which we named in situ RNA QC. The method uses three probes with three different fluorophores, each bound to three specific cDNA regions synthesized from the high abundant and well conserved 18S rRNA. With the help of in-house technology from the Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) group at SciLifeLab, we enable creation of heat maps over the RNA integrity to show spatial fragmentation patterns of RNA in tissue. This could reveal the regional quality of transcripts in situ, which is crucial knowledge when selecting samples for further RNA sequencing. The assay has been tried using different tissue fixation methods in order to show a proof of concept that formalin gives shorter cDNA fragments than acetone. The generated heat-map provides a visual overview of RNA integrity in situ; hence this method could be used to select samples for sequencing by evaluation the spatial quality of RNA. For instance from fresh frozen and formalin fixated paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue (biobanks contain large number of longterm storage FFPE samples). With this assay we will be able to determine which samples are suitable for sequencing.

Rivers and streams are adversely affected by an increase in sedimentation in their waters from eroding land. High sediment loads in streams can bury fish eggs and prevent hatching, increasing nutrients in the water causing algae blooms, or even contaminating the water with heavy metals carried in or on the aggregates. The erodibility of soil is valuable knowledge to all land users so that we may predict soil loss and its potential to pollute streams. This is done by using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). By predicting soil loss from a given landscape, land managers can take mitigation measures. The precision of the current scale available for soil erodibility (K-factor) by the US Department of Agriculture is not useful to small landowners or on a site-by-site basis. In California’s Central Coast, a grassland hillslope toposequence was investigated in a Los Osos-Diablo soil series complex. Geographic information systems software was used for spatial analysis of variation in the K-factor as well as interpolating areas that were not sampled. Analysis of soils’ particle size, infiltration rate, organic matter content, and structure across the toposequence allowed calculation of the soils’ K-factor values. K-factor values for the footslope, backslope, and shoulder were found to be statistically different from one another. All slope position’s average K-factor values were statistically different than the published Los Osos and Diablo series’ K-factor with the exception of the backslope which was not significantly different than Diablo’s K-factor value. The average of all K-factors was found not to be statistically different than the Los Osos’ K-factor but it was statistically different from the Diablo’s soil series K-factor. The USDA K-factors overestimated the predicted soil loss for the study site.

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht

The aim of this Master’s Thesis was mapping of electromagnetic fields and processing of measured data using ArcView 9.2 and its extensions. Software ArcView 9.2 with extensions was provided by university to create this Master’s Thesis. Maps of electromagnetic fields are created from measured data in the neighborhood of the faculty building. Measurement of geographic position of measuring points is realized by GPS. For creation of maps and further analysis in ArcView, ArcGIS extensions - Spatial Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst and 3D Analyst were used.

Digital soil mapping supervised and unsupervised classification methods were evaluated to aide soil survey of unmapped areas in the western United States. Supervised classification of landscape into mountains and basins preceded unsupervised classification of data chosen by iterative data reduction. Principal component data reduction, ISODATA classification, Linear combination of principal components, Zonal averaging of linear combination by ISODATA class, Segmentation of the image into polygons, and Attribution of polygons by majority ISODATA class (PILZSA process) comprised steps isolating unique soil-landscape units. Input data included ASTER satellite imagery and USGS 30-m elevation layers for environmental proxy variables representing soil forming factors. Results indicate that PILZSA captured general soil patterns when compared to an existing soil survey while also detecting fluvial soils sourced from different lithologies and unique mountain areas not delineated by the original survey. PILZSA demonstrates potential for soil pre-mapping, and sampling design efforts for soil survey and survey updates.