Geographic Information Systems and Science: Enabling a Location-Based Technology Michael F. Goodchild University of California Santa Barbara

Geographic information n Information that links properties to positions on or near the Earth's surface –the information of maps –but much more besides n The atomic form – –point observations, e.g. at weather stations –observations about lines, areas

Three technologies n Earth measurement –the accurate determination of position on the Earth's surface

Eratosthenes, 200 BC

Perfect sphere, radius 6378 km Ellipsoid of rotation, flattening 1/300

EllipsoidSemi-major axis1/flattening Airy Modified Airy Australian National Bessel 1841 (Namibia) Bessel Clarke Clarke Everest (India 1830) Everest (Sabah and Sarawak) Everest (India 1956) Everest (Malaysia 1969) Everest (Malaysia, Singapore) Everest (Pakistan) Modified Fischer Helmert Hough Indonesian International Krassovsky GRS South American WGS WGS

Clarke Ellipsoid of 1866 a = m 1/f = World Geodetic System of 1984 a = m 1/f =

The Global Positioning System

Three technologies n Remote sensing –satellite-based –aircraft, drones

Roofs versus roads Road types Major/minor roads Vegetation cover Shadows Construction areas

Three technologies n Geographic information systems –digital representation of geographic data –editing, transformation, analysis, modeling, visualization, decision support –virtually any conceivable task n The Canada Geographic Information System –1966

The geographic information industries n GPS industry –$1 billion –European Galileo n Data supply industry –remote sensing NASA $10 billion other US civilian agencies $10 billion military and intelligence $30 billion 500,000,000,000,000 sq m petabytes of information online (1PB=10 15 bytes)

The geographic information industries n GIS software –desktop, Web, enterprise –$1 billion –ESRI 30% –Intergraph 20% n Location-based services –Web –cellphones

Location-based services n Information services –provided by systems that know where they are –and modify information accordingly

How does a system know where it is? n GPS onboard –cellphone n Triangulation from towers n Determined at system build time n IP address

What kinds of information? n Nearby services n Visualization of invisible features –underground –around the corner –in the past –visually impaired user

Location-based games n Played on location-enabled devices –cellphones

New directions n Social sciences –most early applications were environmental –health, business, social services n Dynamics –from how the world looks to how the world works

Simulations n 1.8 vehicles per driveway n Driver behavior influenced by: –lane width –slope –view distances –traffic control mechanisms –information feedback –driver aggressiveness n 770 homes –clearing times > 30 minutes 2D clip 3D clip

Policy implications n Addition of new outlets n Better deployment of traffic control resources n Understanding the risk n Reduce cars used per household n Problems of shut-ins, elderly, latch-key kids

Putting it all together n

Conclusion n A rapidly growing industry –tightly connected sectors n Applications across the spectrum of human activities –commerce –research –everyday life n Growing familiarity –GIS a widely recognized acronym –in-car navigation, LBS, Web mapping n Exciting new directions