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Geoinformatics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leaflet library is often used in geoinformatics for the development of web map applications

Geoinformatics is a scientific field primarily within the domains of Computer Science and technical geography.[1][2] It focuses on the programming of applications, spatial data structures, and the analysis of objects and space-time phenomena related to the surface and underneath of Earth and other celestial bodies. The field develops software and web services to model and analyse spatial data, serving the needs of geosciences and related scientific and engineering disciplines. The term is often used interchangeably with Geomatics, although they are not exactly same. The field of geomatics is a comprehensive discipline encompassing both geodesy and geoinformatics, thus offering a more extensive scope.

Overview

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In a general sense, geoinformatics can be understood as "a variety of efforts to promote collaboration between computer scientists and geoscientists to solve complex scientific questions".[3] More technically, geoinformatics has been described as "the science and technology dealing with the structure and character of spatial information, its capture, its classification and qualification, its storage, processing, portrayal and dissemination, including the infrastructure necessary to secure optimal use of this information"[4] or "the art, science or technology dealing with the acquisition, storage, processing production, presentation and dissemination of geoinformation".[5] Along with the thriving of data science and artificial intelligence since the 2010s, the field of geoinformatics has also incorporated the latest methodology and technical progress from the cyberinfrastructure ecosystem. [6][7]

Geoinformatics has at its core the technologies supporting the processes of acquisition, analysis and visualization of spatial data. Both geomatics and geoinformatics include and rely heavily upon the theory and practical implications of geodesy and cartography. Geography and earth science increasingly rely on digital spatial data acquired from remotely sensed images analyzed by geographical information systems (GIS),[8] photo interpretation of aerial photographs, and Web mining.[9] Geoinformatics combines geospatial analysis and modeling, development of geospatial databases, information systems design, human-computer interaction and both wired and wireless networking technologies. Geoinformatics uses geocomputation and geovisualization for analyzing geoinformation.

Areas related to geoinformatics include:

Data standards and infrastructure

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Geoinformatics depends on shared data models, controlled vocabularies and persistent identifiers to combine observations produced by different surveys and laboratories. GeoSciML, an Open Geospatial Consortium standard, provides a common model for geological units, earth materials, structures, boreholes and samples.[10] The International Geo Sample Number performs a related function for physical specimens by assigning globally unique, resolvable identifiers that can connect a sample to datasets, publications and repositories.[11]

Repositories and synthesis systems support different parts of the data lifecycle. Examples include PANGAEA for Earth and environmental observations, EarthChem for geochemical and petrological data, and Macrostrat for linked geological maps and stratigraphic columns. Increasingly, these infrastructures apply the FAIR principles so that data and metadata are findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable by both people and software.[12][13]

Research

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Research in this field is used to support global and local environmental, energy and security programs. The Geographic Information Science and Technology group of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is supported by various government departments and agencies including the United States Department of Energy. It is currently the only group in the United States Department of Energy National Laboratory System to focus on advanced theory and application research in this field. A lot of interdisciplinary research exists that involves geoinformatics fields including computer science, information technology, software engineering, biogeography, geography, conservation, architecture, spatial analysis and reinforcement learning.

Applications

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Many fields benefit from geoinformatics, including urban planning and land use management, in-car navigation systems, virtual globes, land surveying, public health, local and national gazetteer management, environmental modeling and analysis, military, transport network planning and management, agriculture, meteorology and climate change, oceanography and coupled ocean and atmosphere modelling, business location planning, architecture and archeological reconstruction, telecommunications, criminology and crime simulation, aviation, biodiversity conservation and maritime transport. The importance of the spatial dimension in assessing, monitoring and modelling various issues and problems related to sustainable management of natural resources is recognized all over the world.

Geoinformatics is an important technology to decision-makers across a wide range of disciplines and industries such as: environmental agencies, local and national government, research, academia, national surveys, mapping organisations, international organisations such as the United Nations, emergency services, public health agencies, crime mapping, transportation and infrastructure, information technology industries, GIS consulting firms, the tourist industry, utility companies, market analysis, e-commerce, mineral exploration and seismology.

See also

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Organizations

References

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  1. ↑ Bello, Innocent E. (October 2023). "Critical Issues in the Methods of Data Collection in Geoinformatics and Environmental Sciences". International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Research. 9 (8): 18–28. doi:10.56201/ijssmr.v9.no8.2023.pg18.28.
  2. ↑ Krawczyk, Artur (9 November 2022). "Proposal of Redefinition of the Terms Geomatics and Geoinformatics on the Basis of Terminological Postulates". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 11 (11): Krawczyk. Bibcode:2022IJGI...11..557K. doi:10.3390/ijgi11110557.
  3. ↑ G.R. Keller, C. Baru, eds. (2011) Geoinformatics: Cyberinfrastructure for the Solid Earth Sciences, Cambridge University Press, 1st edition, 593pp.
  4. ↑ P.L.N. Raju, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
  5. ↑ Ehlers, M. (2008). "Geoinformatics and digital earth initiatives: A German perspective". International Journal of Digital Earth. 1 (1): 17–30. Bibcode:2008IJDE....1...17E. doi:10.1080/17538940701781975.
  6. ↑ Ma, Xiaogang; Mookerjee, Matty; Hsu, Leslie; Hills, Denise, eds. (2023). Recent Advancement in Geoinformatics and Data Science. doi:10.1130/SPE558. ISBN 978-0-8137-2558-1.
  7. ↑ Z. Sun, N. Cristea, P. Rivas, eds. (2023) Artificial Intelligence in Earth Science, Elsevier, ISBN 9780323917377
  8. ↑ Bouloucos and Brown, ITC Courses in Remote Sensing, GIS and Photogrammetry
  9. ↑ Annamoradnejad, R.; Annamoradnejad, I.; Safarrad, T.; Habibi, J. (2019-04-20). "Using Web Mining in the Analysis of Housing Prices: A Case study of Tehran". 2019 5th International Conference on Web Research (ICWR). pp. 55–60. doi:10.1109/ICWR.2019.8765250. ISBN 978-1-7281-1431-6. S2CID 198146435.
  10. ↑ "OGC GeoSciML 4.1". Open Geospatial Consortium. 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Klump, Jens; Wyborn, Lesley; Wu, Mingfang; Martin, Jane; Downs, Robert R.; Asmi, Ari (2021). "Towards globally unique identification of physical samples: Governance and technical implementation of the IGSN Global Sample Number". Data Science Journal. 20: 33. doi:10.5334/dsj-2021-033.
  12. ↑ Wilkinson, Mark D.; Dumontier, Michel; Aalbersberg, IJsbrand Jan; et al. (2016). "The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship". Scientific Data. 3: 160018. doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.18. PMC 4792175. PMID 26978244.
  13. ↑ "FAIR play in geoscience data". Nature Geoscience. 12: 961. 2019. doi:10.1038/s41561-019-0506-4.
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