Project Title (Acronym)
Spatio-temporal modelling of natural reforestation. (Landscape Change Modelling)
Duration
01.02.2007 - 10.06.2011
Gudrun Wallentin has developed a new "Individual Based Model" for "Spatio-temporal modelling of natural reforestation" and successfully defended her PhD on June 10, 2011. Gudrun has published her research outcomes in the SCI indexed journal "Ecological Modelling" and a paper on "Putting Theory into Practice: Uncertainty in Model Validation" has been accepted by the "International Journal of Geographic Information Science".
This PhD thesis focuses on questions aiming at process-pattern relationships in Landscape Ecology, using an individual based modelling approach. The project is thus embedded in the primary research field „Spatial Analysis and Modelling“ at the ÖAW-GIScience Institute. Methodologically, new ways of analysing spatio-temporal patterns links the thesis to the transversal research theme in „Space & Time“.
Aims and objectives
This PhD project brings together landscape ecological research questions on driving factors of the alpine tree line shift with concepts of uncertainty of spatio-temporal data as understood in GIScience research. The aim of this research is to develop a framework for the assessment of sources of spatial and temporal aspects of uncertainty in individual based models (IBMs) as part of the model validation.
In standard model validation procedures a set of patterns simulated by the model are compared to the respective patterns observed in reality (Grimm et al. 2005), where deviations between these patterns indicate the goodness of the results. However, for stating the reliability of a model, we need to understand the sources of uncertainty that cause the deviation from the observed world. The main objective of this research is the systematic identification of sources of uncertainty that may arise in the modelling procedure.
Approach
A new, spatially explicit, and individual based model of the alpine tree line shift has been developed (TREELIM) (Wallentin et al. 2008), which simulates ecological processes that drive the emergence of spatio-temporal tree line patterns. The aim of this model is to gain a better understanding of the spatio- temporal tree line dynamics, to identify the factors driving the dynamics, and to develop a sound basis for future predictions of the tree line location. Real-world patterns derived from a time series of remotely sensed imagery are used as model input and for model validation.
In an implementation of TREELIM for the Eastern Alps, the model was validated in a case study at Längenfeld, Ötztal over a period of 52 years (Wallentin et al. 2008), where a set of patterns observed in the real system was compared to the model output, e.g. tree density per elevation band or frequency of single trees above the tree line. In model experiments parameters were changed systematically to identify the key factors that are responsible for the emergence of tree line patterns.
Using TREELIM as an example, further research has focused on the validation procedure and the assessment of uncertainty of model results. Specifically, spatial and temporal aspects of uncertainty in IBMs have been investigated (Wallentin & Car 2010).
The steps of conceptualisation, formalisation, parameterisation, analysis and validation in the IBM modelling procedure have been systematically analysed as potential sources of uncertainty. For example, the uncertainty that may arise in the model formalisation has been analysed by comparing simulations that result from two inherently different implementation of the conceptual model of TREELIM: (1) ArcGIS and (2) the IBM-programming framework NetLogo. This leads to inherently different results, specifically in the abundance of small trees in dense forests.
The preliminary results gained in the uncertainty analysis of TREELIM contribute to a conceptual view of spatio-temporal uncertainty for assessing the quality of the outputs of an individual based tree line model.
Future research
The major future challenge lies in the identification of a set of quantitative, robust, and reproducible methods for the assessment of the most relevant aspects of uncertainty in individual based models that can serve as a standard toolbox for modellers. This would further allow us to suggest methods to assess the magnitude of uncertainty for each step in relation to the overall model uncertainty in order to specifically address steps in the modelling cycle that are disproportionally fraught with uncertainty. The major benefit of this approach is that the steps most affecting the overall uncertainty can be addressed on a best-as-possible quantifiable and defensible basis rather than leaving it to be subject to the modeller's experience or intuition on a trial-and-error basis.
Partner
University of Innsbruck, Department of Ecology
ÖAW-GIScience Contact Person
Gudrun Wallentin, Josef Strobl
Project Title (Acronym)
Schools on Ice. Globaler Wandel in Polar- und Hochgebirgsgebieten. (FERMAP.EDUGLOBE)
Duration
01.07.2007 - 30.06.2009
Funding Organization
Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research. FERMAP. Franz Josef Land Environment Research, Monitoring and Assessment Programme. Austrian Initiative to the international Polar Year IPY 2007/2008.
Abstract
The project strongly advocates the inclusion of learners’ perspectives and activity in the conceptualisation of learning materials. Based on these foundations, the project develops and evaluates Geoinformation-based learning objects for free use in schools.
Visualisation and collaboration by learners is based on the use of digital Globes, mapping both global and local change of the cryosphere as well as the economic and ecological consequences thereof. Reference areas are Franz-Josefs-Land on a global and polar scale as well as a section of National Park Hohe Tauern, Austria.
The project is open to further education partners and also serves as a geo-communication base for other FERMAP-IPY projects.
Partner
Science Partner: Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics
Education Partners: BG Nonntal-Salzburg, BRG Traun, BG XXI Vienna
GIScience Contact Person
Josef Strobl, Thomas Jekel, Gudrun Wallentin
Publications and Presentations
- Wallentin, G., Jekel, T., Rattensberger, M. & Binder D. (2008),‚Schools on Ice‘ – Einbindung von Lernendenperspektiven in GI-basiertes Lernen. – In: Jekel, T., Koller, A. & Donert, K. (Eds); Learning with Geoinformation III. – Heidelberg: Wichmann, S. 87 – 95.
- Jekel, T. (2008), Children Mapping Global Change. Participatory GI-Based Learning. – In: Proceedings, Map India, Noida (CD-ROM and http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/miscellaneous/mi08_227.htm).
- Rattensberger , M., Jekel, T., Wallentin, G., & Mitterbauer, U. (2008), Der Klimawandel und was sich unsere Schülerinnen und Schüler darunter so vorstellen: Eine Erhebung von SchülerInnen-Perspektiven. – In: GW Unterricht.
- Binder, D., Jekel, T., Mitterbauer, U., Hausman, H., Behm, M., Wallentin, G. & Brückl, E. (2008), Schools on Ice – Bringing the IPY to the classroom. Proceedings EGU.
- Mitterbauer, U. & Jekel, T. (2008), Schools on Ice – Classroom Experiments on Global Change of the Cryosphere. Proceedings EGU.
Project Title (Acronym)
GIScience and Technology in Croatian Higher Education. (GIST-CroHE)
Duration
01.09.2007 - 30.11.2009
Funding Organization
European Commission. Education and Training. The Tempus Programme.
Summary
The main objective of the GIST-CroHE (Geographic Information Science and Technology in Croatian Higher Education) project is to revise the existing but not yet implemented MSc programme in Geographic Information Science & Technology (GISc&T) in accordance with the Bologna Declaration for the Faculty of Geodesy at the University of Zagreb (FG). Three universities (University of Salzburg, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Faculty of Geodesy (FG) at the University of Zagreb), two individual experts from the U
niversity of West Hungary and the University of Manchester will work together on this project. Furthermore it is supported by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.
The programme is scheduled to start in the Autumn semester of 2008, i.e. at the beginning of the 2nd year of the proposed project, and will be run mainly by FG teaching staff using modern equipment and materials acquired through the project. The revision of the MSc curriculum in GISc&T will focus on the contents, teaching methods, and form of delivery as well as laying foundation for life long learning in the respective field. The main objective will be realized through 5 types of activities leading to 5 types of outcomes: (1) Development of an updated curriculum in GISc&T for the MSc programme. (2) Train The Trainer (TTT) on teaching methodology for faculty at all three partner universities. (3) Implementation of the updated MSc programme at Faculty of Geodesy (FG). (4) Train The Trainer (TTT) and student training combining content and teaching methods. (5) Acquisition of GISc&T related equipment for FG.
This project is seen as the most significant effort in substantiating cooperation between the Partner Country member and the EU partners at HE level, and at the later stage at research level.
Partner
Z_GIS Centre for Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg (co-ordinator and grant holder, Faculty of Geodesy at the University of Zagreb, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management > Project Website
GIScience Contact Person
Adrijana Car, Josef Strobl
Publications and Presentations
- Car, Adrijana; Strobl, Josef; Medak, Damir; Kozak, Jacek (08.02.2008) TEMPUS Joint European Project (CD_JEP-41174-2006(HR)): Report on the action's implementation and Summary report for publication (IR1). Bericht-Nr. CD_JEP-41174-2006(HR) IR1; im Auftrag von: European Commission DG for Education and Culture.
- Car, Adrijana; Strobl, Josef; Medak, Damir; Kozak, Jacek (30.09.2008) TEMPUS Joint European Project (CD_JEP-41174-2006(HR)): Report on
- Strobl, J. (29.05.2008) Geoinformatik-Qualifikationen für die GI-Gesellschaft. Vortrag: Fachhochschule Rapperswil, Rapperswil/SWITZERLAND.
- Strobl, J. (15.05.2008) Reaching out to Distant Learners: Learner-Centered Design and Management of Online Programmes. Vortrag: Second Central Asia GIS Conference - GISCA’08 'GIS for the Future of Central Asia (Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transportation and Architecture), Bishkek/KYRGYZSTAN .
- Strobl, J. (29.02.2008) GIScience als Rahmen für Quantitative Methoden in der Geographie. Vortrag: Arbeitskreis für Quantitative Methoden in der Geographie, Salzburg/AUSTRIA.
- Strobl, J. (26.03.2008) Postgraduate Online Education for GIS professionals. Vortrag: Simposio sobre GIS Educación en América Latina 2008 ( Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)), Quito/ECUADOR.
- Car, A.; Strobl, J. (01.11.2007) TEMPUS: GISc&T Position and Role in Croatian Higher Education. vector1media - online magazine.
- Car, Adrijana (01.03.2007) UNIGIS@Salzburg: Successful Career Development for Professionals Through Online Distance Learning. Vortrag: IntergeoEAST 2007, Sofia/GREECE.
Project Title (Acronym)
Potenzialmodelle für zentrale Einrichtungen in Wien. (MA7 Projekt)
Duration
01.01.2009 - 30.09.2009
>>Research Report
Projektziele
Angestrebt wird die Entwicklung eines mit flexiblen Distanzabnahmefunktionen parametrisierbaren räumlichen Potenzialmodells für zentrale Einrichtungen. Die empirische Validierung ist nicht Teil dieses Modells, vielmehr stehen die Methodenentwicklung und die Entscheidungsunterstützung für unterschiedliche methodische Zugänge im Mittelpunkt des Interesses. Für dieses sowohl für öffentliche Verwaltung wie auch privatwirtschaftliche Betreiber relevante entscheidungsunterstützende Modell wird eine Implementation im Model Builder angestrebt.
Brief Summary
This project applies the modelling of customer potentials to facilities like public transport stations for a part of the Vienna urban area. The results and cartographic visualizations are the basis for profound assumptions on the quality of service supply and reachability of stations.
Additional criteria of attractiveness will be integrated, consequently statements on the centrality of a facility might be optimised. A meaningful criteria is the frequency of service as well as the connectivity of a station in public transport. A probable user of a station presumably will choose a less proximate station if the connectivity is better there. Another stage of expansion is the consideration of competing locations within the modelling of customer potentials. Furthermore the development as a web-based application will enable access for a company-wide public. The project implements a (semi-)automatic modelling of customer potentials. The application is fully integrated in ArcGIS and can be adapted to the requirements of various decision-makers in only a few steps.
Partner
- Bundesamt Statistik Austria, Dr. Erich Wonka (Datenmodell und demographische Basisdaten)
- Forschungsstudio iSPACE, Dr. Thomas Prinz (Kooperation bei Methodenentwicklung)
GIScience Contact Person
Josef Strobl, Barbara Hochwimmer
References
- Strobl, J. (Hrsg.) und E. Wonka (2009): Regionalstatistik in Österreich auf der räumlichen Bezugsbasis von regionalstatistischen Rastereinheiten. 2. Auflage. (Online ).
- Strobl, J. (Hrsg.) und E. Wonka (2008): Regionalstatistik in Österreich auf der räumlichen Bezugsbasis von regionalstatistischen Rastereinheiten. (Online ).
- Strobl, J. (Hrsg.) und E. Wonka (2006): Regionalstatistik in Österreich. Von der Tabelle zur räumlichen Analyse und Visualsierung = Salzburger Geographische Arbeiten, Bd. 39.
- Strobl, J. (2005): Hierarchische Aggregation: Detailinformation versus Datenschutz am Beispiel adressbezogen georeferenzierter Datensätze. In: Salzburger Geographische Arbeiten, Bd. 38, pp 163-171.
- Prinz, T., J. Strobl und E. Wonka (2004): Flexible Aggregation regionalstatistischer Erhebungen – online-Produkte der amtlichen Statistik. In: Angewandte Geographi-sche Informationsverarbeitung XVI. Beiträge zum AGIT-Symposium Salzburg 2004: pp. 556-561.Wichmann-Verlag Heidelberg.
- Wonka, E. (2001): Koordinatengebundene Statistik als Voraussetzung für die Infrastrukturplanung. In: Angewandte Geographische Informationsverarbeitung XIII. Beiträge zum AGIT-Symposium Salzburg 2001. Wichmann-Verlag Heidelberg.
- Wonka, E. (1993): Computergestützte kartographische Darstellungen statistischer Daten mittels Flächensignaturen auf der Basis von geometrischen Bezugseinheiten. In: Berichte und Informationen. Hrsg. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Kartographie, Nr. 22, Wien.
Project Title (Acronym)
Real Time City. Sensing traffic through mobile phone data. (Real Time City)
Duration
15.09.2007 - 31.01.2008
Abstract
Mobile Phone Data - available in real-time, these maps can support decision making in multiple contexts, notably in case of emergencies or for evacuations: for the first time it is possible to quantify how many people there are in a given area, at a given time.
The Real Time City project aims at proofing this concept for the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. It leverages on the KPN network and on the data engineering expertise of world reknown research institutions. Data currently available include the location of cell phone towers to which phones are connected. After processing such data through algorithms, two types of maps can be devised:
- agglomeration of people during the course of the day;
- movements of pedestrians and cars in the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
Partner
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, SpinLAB
GIScience Contact Person
Filippo Dal Fiore
Project Title (Acronym)
Participation in Spatial Planning - online (raum:planen)
Duration
01.10.2010 - 31.07.2011
Funding Organization
Provincial Government of Salzburg
Project Summary
raum:planen develops a platform to access spatial planning data of the Provincial Government of Salzburg for use in secondary education. The collaborative Z_GIS/ÖAW-GIScience project allows pupils and lay people to easily access locally relevant data and bring spatial planning into schools more prominently. It aims at educating pupils for active citizenship by helping them to participate in public decision making.
raum:planen (literally: planning space) allows students in secondary education to discover and to participate in spatial planning. The project develops learning environments for spatial planning and builds competences in terms of reflecting land use requirements and spatial communication on the basis of examples to support the teachers, but also to involve parents and municipalities.
Co-ordinator
University of Salzburg, Centre for Geoinformatics
ÖAW-GIScience Contact Person
Thomas Jekel, Josef Strobl
Project Title (Acronym)
Understanding mobility in an ubiquitously connected society. (Econometric Modelling of Human Spatial Behavior)
Duration
01.03.2007 - 28.02.2009
Abstract
Mobile technologies such as cell phones, laptop computers and PDAs are more and more diffused all over the world. Once people and professionals are always reachable and ubiquitously connected to information resources, how do they modify their daily spatial behaviour? Do they move differently and, if so, do they move more or less, for which new reasons and to which different places? This project aims at shading new light on this issue, building on two case studies: the urban campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where students can count on laptop and ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity; the city of Groningen (NL), where policemen are equipped with a portable workstation PDA.
Mobility data are to be collected through mobility diaries and innovative hi-tech solutions (based on triangulation of Wi-Fi signals and GPS tracks), for then being quantitatively analysed in GIS and correlated with socio-demographic data on the same subjects.
Through regression analysis, a mathematical model is devised to predict spatial behaviour from a wide set of independent variables, one of which being the availability of a mobile device.
Final results will be relevant for different publics, from transportists to urbanists. Hopefully, an increased awareness of current drivers of human mobility will allow them to plan infrastructures that better adapt to the new needs and are more sustainable in the way they get used.
Partner
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Spatial Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SENSEable City Lab
GIScience Contact Person
Filippo Dal Fiore, Josef Strobl
Project Title (Acronym)
Best Practice Network for SDI in Nature Conservation. (Nature-SDIplus)
Duration
01.10.2008 - 31.07.2011
Funding Organization
Commission of the European Communities Directorate-General Information Society and Media. eContentplus Programme.
Project Number
ECP-2007-GEO-317007
The Institute for Geographic Information Science is affiliated partner of the econtentplus project Plan4all,
a Geoportal for spatial planning coordinated by the University of West Bohemia,
Department of Mathematics – Section of Geomatics.
Abstract
The establishment of Natura 2000 and the new transboundary EU approach for protected sites management has enforced the link between nature conservation and geo-information. This has generated the need for interoperable and accessible EU harmonised datasets. The link is also addressed by the INSPIRE Directive which pursues an EU Spatial Data Infrastructure to support environmental policies.
Nature-SDIplus Network aims, through state-of-the-art methodologies and best practice examples, to improve harmonisation of national datasets and make them more accessible and exploitable.
Therefore, it contributes to the INSPIRE implementation with specific reference to a cluster of data themes on nature conservation (as per the INSPIRE Annexes):
· Protected sites ;
· Biogeographical regions, Habitats and biotopes, Species distribution.
The main objective of Nature-SDISplus Network is to: involve new stakeholders; share data and best practices; improve and stimulate exploitation and the re-use of information on nature conservation.
The proposed project will analyse the usability and accessibility of data. The results of this analysis will be used to propose a new work item for a standard metadata profile and data model compliant with the INSPIRE Directive and in coordination with CEN/TC 287 Geographic information.
Representative datasets will be provided by the partners from many EU Member States. The proposed project will define a common multilingual and multicultural approach for a simpler, standard access to spatial data. A demonstration geoportal, supported by web services, will provide data accessibility for the different stakeholders. This geoportal will then afford a means to actively engage the stakeholders.
Through networking activities a Nature-SDIplus Community will be established. This Community will address the relevant themes on a consensus building approach. This Community will also demonstrate the effectiveness of the Nature-GIS thematic SDIC that is already registered with INSPIRE. The proposed project will, through training and dissemination, ensure that widespread awareness is achieved.
Partner
Geographical Information Systems International Group (GISIG) project coordinator and over 20 partners > Project Website
ÖAW-GIScience Contact Person
Josef Strobl, Gudrun Wallentin, Florian Fischer, Karin Hörmanseder, Hermann Klug, Sabine Hennig