Geotechnology in Transition:
Evolution, Current Practice, Trends and Future Directions
Presentation by
Joseph K. Berry
W.M. Keck Scholar in Geosciences, University of Denver
Principal, Berry & Associates // Spatial Information Systems
2000 S. College Ave, Suite 300, Fort Collins, CO 80525
Phone: (970) 215-0825 Email: jberry@innovativegis.com
Website at
www.innovativegis.com/basis
Where Are Headed?
This presentation investigates the
context, conditions and forces
driving the transition from…
― Maps to Mapped Data,
― to Map Analysis,
― to Multimedia Mapping
― and beyond (Future Directions)
It does so by first establishing
Geotechnology’s Evolution, then
describing the duality of current
Trends of advancing both
descriptive mapping and
prescriptive analysis, and finally
proposing probable Future that will
shake the very foundation of spatial
data configuration and utility
PowerPoint posted at
www.innovativegis.com/basis/Present/SWUG09/SWUG09_keynote.ppt
(Berry)
Historical Setting and GIS Evolution
Manual Mapping for 8,000+ years
We have been mapping for thousands of years with the
primary of navigation through unfamiliar terrain and seas,
with emphasis on precise placement of physical features.
…but the last four decades have radically changed
the very nature of maps and how they are used—
Computer Mapping
…automates the
cartographic process (70s)
Where
Spatial Database Management
…links
computer mapping with database capabilities (80s)
Where is What
Part 1
Map Analysis
…representation of relationships
within and among mapped data (90s)
Part 2
Why and So What
Multimedia Mapping
…full integration of
GIS, Internet and visualization technologies (00s)
Part 3
More
Wow!!! …did you see that
…future directions in Geotechnology (10s)
(Berry)
Geotechnology
(Nanotechnology)
(Biotechnology)
Geotechnology is one of the three "mega technologies" for the 21st century and
promises to forever change how we conceptualize, utilize and visualize
spatial relationships in scientific research and commercial applications (U.S. Department of Labor)
Geographic Information
Systems (map and analyze)
Global Positioning
System (location and navigation)
Remote Sensing
(measure and classify)
GPS/GIS/RS
The Spatial Triad
Mapping involves
precise placement
(delineation) of
physical features
(graphical inventory)
Where
is
Descriptive
Mapping
Why
What
Prescriptive
Modeling
and
So What
Modeling involves
analysis of spatial
relationships and
patterns
(numerical analysis)
(Berry)
Desktop Mapping Framework (Vector, Discrete)
Click on…
Select Theme
Zoom Pan
Info
Tool
Theme
Table
Distance
Spatial
Table
:
Object ID
X,Y
X,Y
X,Y
:
Query
Builder
…identify tall
aspen stands
Attribute
Table
Feature
:
Object ID
:
Big …over 400,000m2 (40ha)?
Species
:
Aw
:
etc.
Discrete, irregular map features (objects)
Points, Lines and Areas
(Berry)
MAP Analysis Framework (Raster, Continuous)
Click on…
Zoom Pan Rotate
Display
Shading
Manager
Grid
Analysis
…calculate a
slope map and
drape on the
elevation surface
Grid
Table
:
--, --, --, --,
--, --, --, --,
--, --, --, --,
--, 2438, --,
--, --, --, --,
:
Continuous, regular grid cells (objects)
Points, Lines, Areas and Surfaces
(Berry)
Part 1
Map Analysis Evolution (SA and SS)
Traditional GIS
Spatial Analysis
Forest Inventory
Map
Terrain
Slope
Surface
• Points, Lines, Polygons
• Cells, Surfaces
• Discrete Objects
• Continuous Geographic Space
• Mapping and Geo-query
• Contextual Spatial Relationships
Traditional Statistics
Spatial Statistics
Spatial
Distribution
(Surface)
Minimum= 5.4 ppm
Maximum= 103.0 ppm
Mean= 22.4 ppm
StDEV= 15.5
• Mean, StDev (Normal Curve)
• Map of Variance (gradient)
• Central Tendency
• Spatial Distribution
• Typical Response (scalar)
• Numerical Spatial Relationships
(Berry)
Travel-Time for Our Store to Everywhere
A store’s Travelshed identifies the relative driving
time from every location to the store—
…analogous to a “watershed”
Relative scale:
1 = .05 minutes
OUR STORE …close to the store (blue)
(See Location, Location, Location: Retail Sales Competition Analysis, www.innovativegis.com/basis/present/GW06_retail/GW06_Retail.htm)
(Berry)
Travel-Time for Competitor Stores
Ocean
Ocean
Competitor 1
Our Store (#111)
Competitor 3
Ocean
Ocean
Competitor 2
Competitor 4
Ocean
Competitor 5
Ocean
Travel-Time maps from several stores
treating highway travel as four times faster than city streets.
Blue tones indicate locations that are close to a store (estimated twelve minute drive or less). Customer data can
be appended with travel-time distances and analyzed for spatial relationships in sales and demographic factors.
(Berry)
Travel-Time Surfaces (Our Store & Competitor #4)
Blue tones indicate locations that are close to a store (estimated twelve minute drive
or less). Increasingly warmer tones form a bowl-like surface
with larger travel-time values identifying locations that are farther away.
Our Store
Competitor
(Berry)
Competition Map (Our Store & Competitor #4)
The travel-time surfaces for two stores can be compared (subtracted) to identify the
relative access advantages throughout the project area.
Zero values indicate the same travel-time to both stores (equidistant travel-time)
…yellow tones identifying the Combat Zone ; green Our Store advantage; red Competitor #4 advantage
Competitor
Our Advantage
Positive
Our Store
Negative
Competitors
(See Location, Location, Location: Retail Sales Competition Analysis, www.innovativegis.com/basis/present/GW06_retail/GW06_Retail.htm)
(Berry)
Map Analysis Evolution (SA and SS)
Traditional GIS
Spatial Analysis
Store
Travel-Time
(Surface)
Forest Inventory
Map
• Points, Lines, Polygons
• Cells, Surfaces
• Discrete Objects
• Continuous Geographic Space
• Mapping and Geo-query
• Contextual Spatial Relationships
Traditional Statistics
Spatial Statistics
Spatial
Distribution
(Surface)
Minimum= 5.4 ppm
Maximum= 103.0 ppm
Mean= 22.4 ppm
StDev= 15.5
• Mean, StDev (Normal Curve)
• Map of Variance (gradient)
• Central Tendency
• Spatial Distribution
• Typical Response (scalar)
• Numerical Spatial Relationships
(Berry)
GeoExploration vs. GeoScience
“Maps are numbers first, pictures later”
Desktop Mapping graphically links generalized statistics to discrete spatial objects
(Points, Lines, Polygons)— non-spatial analysis (GeoExploration)
Desktop Mapping
Map Analysis
X, Y, Value
Data Space
Field
Data
Geographic Space
Standard Normal Curve
Point
Sampled
Data
(Numeric Distribution)
Average = 22.0
StDev = 18.7
(Geographic Distribution)
Discrete
Spatial Object
22.0
Spatially
Generalized
Continuous
Spatial Distribution
Spatially
Detailed
High Pocket
Adjacent
Parcels
Map Analysis map-ematically relates patterns within and among continuous spatial
distributions (Map Surfaces)— spatial analysis and statistics (GeoScience)
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Epilog”, Technical and Cultural Shifts in the GIS Paradigm, www.innovativegis.com/basis )
(Berry)
Spatial Interpolation (Spatial Distribution)
The “iterative smoothing” process is similar to slapping a big chunk of
modeler’s clay over the “data spikes,” then taking a knife and cutting away
the excess to leave a continuous surface that encapsulates the peaks and
valleys implied in the original field samples …mapping the Variance
…repeated
smoothing slowly
“erodes” the data
surface to a flat
plane
= AVERAGE
(digital slide show SSTAT)
(Berry)
Visualizing Spatial Relationships
Phosphorous (P)
Geographic Distribution
What spatial relationships
do you SEE?
…do relatively high levels
of P often occur with high
levels of K and N?
…how often?
…where?
(Berry)
Clustering Maps
…groups of “floating balls” in data space identify locations in the field
with similar data patterns– data zones
Spatial Data Mining
Map surfaces are clustered to identify
data pattern groups
Relatively low
responses in P, K and N
Relatively high responses in P, K and N
Geographic Space
Data Space
Clustered Data
Zones
…other techniques, such as Level Slicing, Similarity and Map Regression, can be used
to discover relationships among map layers
…map-ematics/statistics
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Topic 16”, Characterizing Spatial Patterns and Relationships, www.innovativegis.com/basis)
(Berry)
The Precision Ag Process (Fertility example)
As a combine moves through a field it 1) uses GPS to check its location then
2) checks the yield at that location to 3) create a continuous map of the
yield variation every few feet. This map is
Steps 1) – 3)
4) combined with soil, terrain and other maps to
derive 5) a “Prescription Map” that is used to
6) adjust fertilization levels every few feet
in the field (variable rate application).
On-the-Fly
Yield Map
Step 4)
Map Analysis
Farm dB
Zone 3
Cyber-Farmer, Circa 1992
Zone 2
Zone 1
Prescription Map
Variable Rate Application
Step 5)
Step 6)
(See Who’s Minding the Farm, http://www.innovativegis.com/basis/present/GW98_PrecisionAg/GW98_PrecisionAg.htm)
(Berry)
Recall that in the beginning we had…
Computer Mapping automates the cartographic process (70s)
Spatial Database Management links computer
mapping with database capabilities (80s)
Mapping and Geo-query
Part 1
Map Analysis representation of relationships within
and among mapped data (90s)
 Spatial Analysis (Contextual)
 Spatial Statistics (Numerical)
Knock-your-socks-off
Multimedia Mapping full
integration of GIS, Internet and
visualization technologies (00s)
Map-ematics



Part 2

Map Delivery/Devices
Map Display
Geospatial Multimedia
Virtual Reality
…4 thrusts driving MMM
(Berry)
Part 2
1)
Multimedia Mapping
Map Delivery/Devices
(00’s …now)
2)
Map Display
Interactive Maps
GPS/GIS Enabled
Devices and
Internet Mapping
Animated Maps
3)
Geospatial Multimedia
4)
Virtual Reality
Maps with
Integrated
 Photos




Video
Audio
Text
Data
Rendered Scenes
(Berry)
3-D Visualization Approaches (Mega-Trend #4)
Image Draping -- is an established technique in GIS.
Draping a
topographic or thematic map onto a 3-D terrain surface is effective but
relies on abstract colors, shading and symbols.
“Map Abstraction”
SportsTracker (MapTrek, 1998)
(Berry)
Landscape Visualization (Rendering Technique)
“Laying the Carpet”
Step 1) 3-D Terrain Surface
Step 2) Polygon Containers
Step 3) Surface Texture
Step 4) Tree Objects
Step 5) Final Composition
Step 6) Atmospheric Effects
“Pouring the Trees”
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Topic 12”, Landscape Visualization, www.innovativegis.com/basis)
(Berry)
Visualizing Landscape Impacts (GIS Rendering)
Virtual Forest (Innovative GIS Solutions, 1998)
(Berry)
Visualizing Landscape Impacts (Clear cut)
Virtual Forest (Innovative GIS Solutions, 1998)
(Berry)
Visualizing Landscape Impacts (Water retention cut)
Virtual Forest (Innovative GIS Solutions, 1998)
(Berry)
Visualizing Landscape Conditions
Virtual Forest (Innovative GIS Solutions, 1998)
…changing the landscape’s
carpet and objects to simulate
different conditions—
TODAY there is a big difference…
…modern Rendered Scenes
approach photographic realism
World Construction Set (3D Nature, 2007)
Forest inventory data establishes tree
types, stocking density and maturity—
Before Fire
3D Objects
After Fire
Winter
Summer (diseased)
After Snowfall (ski run)
…replaces “old pastel colors and abstract symbols”
(Berry)
Part 3
Future Directions (2010 and beyond)
Revisit Analytics
Future Directions
(2020s)
Multimedia Mapping
(2000s)
Revisit Geo-reference
(2010s)
Contemporary GIS
Spatial dB Mgt (1980s)
GIS Modeling
(1990s)
The Early Years
Mapping focus
Data/Structure focus
Analysis focus
Computer Mapping
(1970s)
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Topic 27”, GIS Evolution and Future Trends, www.innovativegis.com/basis)
(Berry)
Dominant Driving Forces (three game changers)
 Cloud Computing (rise of the Netbook) — a “hosted elsewhere” environment that moves
applications, services, and data from local storage to a dispersed set of servers and datacenters
1) it involves
Virtualized
Resources …meaning that
workloads are allocated among a
multitude of interconnected
computers acting as a single device
2) it is Dynamically
Scalable
…meaning that the system can be
readily enlarged
3) it acts as a Service …meaning
that the software and data
components are shared over the
Internet.
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Topic 27”, GIS Evolution and Future Trends, www.innovativegis.com/basis)
 Changes in Our Map Paradigm (“-ists” and “-ologists”) — differences between the
spatial Data/Information describing geographic phenomena and the Knowledge/Wisdom needed for
prescribing management action that solve complex spatial problems
 Alternative Geographic Referencing (3D GIS) — a 3-dimensional coordinate
system of columns (X), rows (Y), and verticals (Z) defining an imaginary matrix of grid elements, or
“voxels,” that are a direct volumetric extension of the “pixels” in a 2D raster image
(Berry)
Changes in Our Map Paradigm (“-ists” and “-ologists”)
Current geotechnology innovation is being driven more and more by users. Innovation—
“a creation, a new device or process resulting from study and experimentation”
—is usually thought of as canonic advancements leading technology
and not market-driven solutions following demand  “user-driven GIS innovation”
… viable solutions require a melding of the minds of—
Technology Experts (“-ists”) and Domain Experts (“-ologists”)
GeoExploration
GeoScience
…so what is the
source of the
differences that
are taking us
beyond
mapping?
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Epilog”, Technical and Cultural Shifts in the GIS Paradigm, www.innovativegis.com/basis )
Second
Game
Changer
(Berry)
Spatial Reasoning & Dialog (Understanding)
Many GIS technologists perceive maps and mapping as precise placement of physical features
(Description of facts — Mapping)
Philosopher’s Progression of Understanding—
 Data (all facts)
 Information (facts within a context)
…GeoExploration emphasizes tools for data
access and visualization (Data Centric)
Mapping focus
Analysis focus
…GeoScience emphasizes tools for analysis of
spatial patterns/relationships (Application Centric)
 Knowledge (interrelationships among relevant facts)
 Wisdom (actionable knowledge)
…but many applications deal with “opposing truths” in judgment and view maps as fluid, cognitive drawings
(Prescription of relationships — Analysis)
(Berry)
Spatial Reasoning & Dialog (Judgment)
Many GIS technologists perceive maps and mapping as precise placement of physical
features (Description of facts — Mapping)
Cognitive Levels of Judgment—
…accounts for individual and
collective values in the
interpretation of mapped data
Mapping focus
Analysis focus
 Perception involves beliefs
and preferences based on experience,
socialization and culture—development
of perspective
 Opinion/Values implies
actionable beliefs that reflect
preferences, not universal truths
But many applications deal with opposing “truths” in judgment and sees maps as fluid, cognitive drawings
(Prescription of relationships — Analysis)
(Berry)
Spatial Reasoning & Dialog (Map Types and Processing)
Many GIS technologists perceive maps and mapping as precise placement of physical
features (Description of facts — Mapping)
Consumers
Mapping
focus
Producers
Analysis
focus
But many applications deal with opposing “truths” in judgment and sees maps as fluid, cognitive drawings
(Prescription of relationships — Analysis)
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Epilog”, Technical and Cultural Shifts in the GIS Paradigm, www.innovativegis.com/basis )
(Berry)
Geographic Referencing (Traditional 2D GIS)
Vector
Discrete Spatial
Objects (vector) —
Point (X,Y) as
fundamental unit
Points, Lines , Areas
Raster
Continuous
Surfaces (grid) —
Cell (Col,Row) as
fundamental unit
Points, Lines , Areas
Surfaces
Third Game Changer
Cartesian Coordinate System (X, Y, and Z) — both the traditional 2-D map and virtual
reality’s 3-D visualization view the earth as a surface—
…flattened to a pancake or curved and wrinkled a bit to reflect the surficial topography of an area
(Berry)
Alternative Geographic Referencing (3D GIS)
Vector
Discrete Spatial
Objects (vector) —
Point (X,Y,Z) as
fundamental unit
…extremely difficult to extend
to 3-dimensional geography
as complex equations
or facet sets must be used
Raster
Continuous
Surfaces (grid) —
Cell (Col,Row,Vertical)
as fundamental unit
Points, Lines , Areas,
Surfaces and Volumes
Database Referencing System (Col, Row, and Vertical) — a Geodetic Referencing
system (geographic position) used in identifying an “areal extent” in two-dimensions on the earth’s
surface can be extended to a Database Referencing system (matrix location)
effectively defining a 3-dimensional “project block” — Col,Row,Vertical (Where) plus Attribute (What)
(See Beyond Mapping III, “Topic 27”, GIS Evolution and Future Trends, www.innovativegis.com/basis)
(Berry)
Alternative Grid Elements (Hexagon and Dodecahedral)
Tightly Clustered Groupings
Continuous Nested Grid Elements
Hexagonal
Grid
Dodecahedral
Grid
Consistent
(6 facets)
Hexagon
Square Grid
(8 facets)
distances and adjacency
to surrounding grid elements
Inconsistent
distances and adjacency
to surrounding grid elements
Dodecahedral
(12 facets)
Cubic Grid
(26 facets)
(Orthogonal and Diagonal)
Square
Cube
2D Grid Element
3D Grid Element
(Planimetric)
(Volumetric)
(Berry)
Where Have We Been? (and opportunities to go further)
Computer Mapping (70s) Spatial Db Management (80s)
 Map Analysis/Modeling (90s)  Multimedia Mapping (00s)
 Future Directions (10s)
PowerPoint posted at …
www.innovativegis.com/basis/Presentations/SWUG09/SWUG09_keynote.ppt
Online book posted at www.innovativegis.com/basis/MapAnalysis/
www.innovativegis.com/basis
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