Parallel Analysis of Clusters in Landscape Ecology
IEEE Computational Science & Engineering
Algorithms for Graphics and Imag
Algorithms for Graphics and Imag
Computational science and engineering
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) - Special ACM 50th-anniversary issue: strategic directions in computing research
Distributed land-cover change simulation
GIS '97 Proceedings of the 5th ACM international workshop on Advances in geographic information systems
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
Computer-based geographic information systems have thoroughly changed the way we make and interpret maps. We can now produce and store maps digitally, and we can link multilayered relational databases of attributes to geographic polygons. The real usefulness of this cartographic advance is not that it produces prettier or even more accurate maps, or that it relieves us from the chore of producing clear plastic overlays showing city buildings, farmland, or population density--all of which it does--but that it allows such quick, flexible, and creative analysis of spatially distributed data. In developing the Land-Use Change Analysis System, Berry's team has used but also gone beyond the GIS paradigm to find novel ways of incorporating socioeconomic factors into an analytic system for predicting changes in land use and the environment. "What-if" analysis tools like Lucas can help planners and natural resource managers establish well-thought-out policies and then adapt them quickly if conditions change. This quick adaptation has a parallel in software development. When an interdisciplinary group builds a software system for interdisciplinary use, things can keep changing as the team interacts and gets to know each other's requirements better. Modularity, facilitated by the object-oriented C++ language, helped here.