Innovative GIS Models and Approaches for Large Environmental and Urban Applications in the Age of AI

Special Issue Editors

State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: geographical information science; spatial and temporal information modelling; complex network analysis; knowledge graph
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: geographical information science; geographical knowledge graph; geographical information retrieval; geoparsing; data & knowledge formalization

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Guest Editor
Institute INSIT, School of Business and Engineering Vaud, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
Interests: geographic information science; geospatial artificial intelligence; citizen science; open data; geospatial web; and spatio-temporal modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: geographical information science; spatio-temporal databases; geo-spatial data mining; machine learning; complex network analysis; NLP; computational transportation science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: geographical information science; scientific data sharing; e-geoscience; ontology; knowledge graph; spatial information technology; automatic data matching

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite its continuous and successful development, GIS should, on the one hand, integrate the novel possibilities offered by the extensive and promising development of sensor-based systems and AI resources and, on the other hand, respond to the novel and urgent needs required in the face of environmental challenges. Sensor-based systems have advanced significantly in recent years, and they can now collect large amounts of data from numerous sources, such as satellites, drones, and IoT devices. Similarly, AI resources have shown great potential to enhance GIS. AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of data, derive useful insights, and make predictions based on previous observations. With the gradual maturation of GIS core approaches, novel AI algorithms, and the emergence of big geographical datasets and sensor-based systems, new data representation forms such as knowledge graphs and interactive and visual systems have shown more intuitive and efficient advantages in the representation, exploration, mining, and analysis of complex geographical phenomena than conventional methods. Accordingly, this Special Issue invites innovative research works that integrate the new forms of data representation and modeling within theoretical, formal, and practical GIS solutions, as well as their application to urban and environmental applications in the AI era. Provided that they fit the scope of the call, the articles can cover, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Novel GIS data representations and structures
  • Sensor-based and real-time GIS
  • AI-based GIS models and languages
  • Integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches
  • Knowledge graph and innovative models
  • Geovisualization analytics
  • Innovative interfaces

Dr. Peng Peng
Dr. Shu Wang
Dr. Maryam Lotfian
Prof. Dr. Feng Lu
Dr. Yunqiang Zhu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • GeoAI
  • knowledge graph
  • spatio-temporal models and interfaces
  • real-time GIS
  • geovisualization analytics

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Published Papers (22 papers)

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17 pages, 10238 KiB  
Article
A Lightweight Multi-Label Classification Method for Urban Green Space in High-Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery
by Weihua Lin, Dexiong Zhang, Fujiang Liu, Yan Guo, Shuo Chen, Tianqi Wu and Qiuyan Hou
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(7), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13070252 - 13 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1178
Abstract
Urban green spaces are an indispensable part of the ecology of cities, serving as the city’s “purifier” and playing a crucial role in promoting sustainable urban development. Therefore, the refined classification of urban green spaces is an important task in urban planning and [...] Read more.
Urban green spaces are an indispensable part of the ecology of cities, serving as the city’s “purifier” and playing a crucial role in promoting sustainable urban development. Therefore, the refined classification of urban green spaces is an important task in urban planning and management. Traditional methods for the refined classification of urban green spaces heavily rely on expert knowledge, often requiring substantial time and cost. Hence, our study presents a multi-label image classification model based on MobileViT. This model integrates the Triplet Attention module, along with the LSTM module, to enhance its label prediction capabilities while maintaining its lightweight characteristic for standalone operation on mobile devices. Trial outcomes in our UGS dataset in this study demonstrate that the approach we used outperforms the baseline by 1.64%, 3.25%, 3.67%, and 2.71% in mAP,F1,precision, and recall, respectively. This indicates that the model can uncover the latent dependencies among labels to enhance the multi-label image classification device’s performance. This study provides a practical solution for the intelligent and detailed classification of urban green spaces, which holds significant importance for the management and planning of urban green spaces. Full article
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14 pages, 2055 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Perception-Based Vehicle Trajectory Prediction Using a Memory-Enhanced Spatio-Temporal Graph Network
by Zhiming Gui, Xin Wang and Wenzheng Li
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(6), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13060172 - 24 May 2024
Viewed by 1154
Abstract
In the realm of intelligent transportation systems, accurately predicting vehicle trajectories is paramount for enhancing road safety and optimizing traffic flow management. Addressing the impacts of complex traffic environments and efficiently modeling the diverse behaviors of vehicles are the key challenges at present. [...] Read more.
In the realm of intelligent transportation systems, accurately predicting vehicle trajectories is paramount for enhancing road safety and optimizing traffic flow management. Addressing the impacts of complex traffic environments and efficiently modeling the diverse behaviors of vehicles are the key challenges at present. To achieve precise prediction of vehicle trajectories, it is essential to fully consider the dynamic changes in traffic conditions and the long-term dependencies of time-series data. In response to these challenges, we propose the Memory-Enhanced Spatio-Temporal Graph Network (MESTGN), an innovative model that integrates a Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolutional Network (STGCN) with an attention-enhanced Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)-based sequence to sequence (Seq2Seq) encoder–decoder structure. MESTGN utilizes STGCN to capture the complex spatial dependencies between vehicles and reflects the interactions within the traffic network through road traffic data and network topology, which significantly influences trajectory prediction. Additionally, the model focuses on historical vehicle trajectory data points using an attention-weighted mechanism under a traditional LSTM prediction architecture, calculating the importance of critical trajectory points. Finally, our experiments conducted on the urban traffic dataset ApolloSpace validate the effectiveness of our proposed model. We demonstrate that MESTGN shows a significant performance improvement in vehicle trajectory prediction compared with existing mainstream models, thereby confirming its increased prediction accuracy. Full article
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21 pages, 3492 KiB  
Article
A Question and Answering Service of Typhoon Disasters Based on the T5 Large Language Model
by Yongqi Xia, Yi Huang, Qianqian Qiu, Xueying Zhang, Lizhi Miao and Yixiang Chen
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(5), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13050165 - 14 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1926
Abstract
A typhoon disaster is a common meteorological disaster that seriously impacts natural ecology, social economy, and even human sustainable development. It is crucial to access the typhoon disaster information, and the corresponding disaster prevention and reduction strategies. However, traditional question and answering (Q&A) [...] Read more.
A typhoon disaster is a common meteorological disaster that seriously impacts natural ecology, social economy, and even human sustainable development. It is crucial to access the typhoon disaster information, and the corresponding disaster prevention and reduction strategies. However, traditional question and answering (Q&A) methods exhibit shortcomings like low information retrieval efficiency and poor interactivity. This makes it difficult to satisfy users’ demands for obtaining accurate information. Consequently, this work proposes a typhoon disaster knowledge Q&A approach based on LLM (T5). This method integrates two technical paradigms of domain fine-tuning and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to optimize user interaction experience and improve the precision of disaster information retrieval. The process specifically includes the following steps. First, this study selects information about typhoon disasters from open-source databases, such as Baidu Encyclopedia and Wikipedia. Utilizing techniques such as slicing and masked language modeling, we generate a training set and 2204 Q&A pairs specifically focused on typhoon disaster knowledge. Second, we continuously pretrain the T5 model using the training set. This process involves encoding typhoon knowledge as parameters in the neural network’s weights and fine-tuning the pretrained model with Q&A pairs to adapt the T5 model for downstream Q&A tasks. Third, when responding to user queries, we retrieve passages from external knowledge bases semantically similar to the queries to enhance the prompts. This action further improves the response quality of the fine-tuned model. Finally, we evaluate the constructed typhoon agent (Typhoon-T5) using different similarity-matching approaches. Furthermore, the method proposed in this work lays the foundation for the cross-integration of large language models with disaster information. It is expected to promote the further development of GeoAI. Full article
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19 pages, 5079 KiB  
Article
An LLM-Based Inventory Construction Framework of Urban Ground Collapse Events with Spatiotemporal Locations
by Yanan Hao, Jin Qi, Xiaowen Ma, Sensen Wu, Renyi Liu and Xiaoyi Zhang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(4), 133; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13040133 - 16 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1754
Abstract
Historical news media reports serve as a vital data source for understanding the risk of urban ground collapse (UGC) events. At present, the application of large language models (LLMs) offers unprecedented opportunities to effectively extract UGC events and their spatiotemporal information from a [...] Read more.
Historical news media reports serve as a vital data source for understanding the risk of urban ground collapse (UGC) events. At present, the application of large language models (LLMs) offers unprecedented opportunities to effectively extract UGC events and their spatiotemporal information from a vast amount of news reports and media data. Therefore, this study proposes an LLM-based inventory construction framework consisting of three steps: news reports crawling, UGC event recognition, and event attribute extraction. Focusing on Zhejiang province, China, as the test region, a total of 27 cases of collapse events from 637 news reports were collected for 11 prefecture-level cities. The method achieved a recall rate of over 60% and a precision below 35%, indicating its potential for effectively and automatically screening collapse events; however, the accuracy needs to be improved to account for confusion with other urban collapse events, such as bridge collapses. The obtained UGC event inventory is the first open access inventory based on internet news reports, event dates and locations, and collapse co-ordinates derived from unstructured contents. Furthermore, this study provides insights into the spatial pattern of UGC frequency in Zhejiang province, effectively supplementing the statistical data provided by the local government. Full article
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19 pages, 1926 KiB  
Article
Multi-Scale Non-Local Spatio-Temporal Information Fusion Networks for Multi-Step Traffic Flow Forecasting
by Shuai Lu, Haibo Chen and Yilong Teng
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13030071 - 27 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1782
Abstract
Traffic flow prediction is a crucial research area in traffic management. Accurately predicting traffic flow in each area of the city over the long term can enable city managers to make informed decisions regarding the allocation of urban transportation resources in the future. [...] Read more.
Traffic flow prediction is a crucial research area in traffic management. Accurately predicting traffic flow in each area of the city over the long term can enable city managers to make informed decisions regarding the allocation of urban transportation resources in the future. The existing traffic flow prediction models either give insufficient attention to the interactions of long-lasting spatio-temporal regions or extract spatio-temporal features in a single scale, which ignores the identification of traffic flow patterns at various scales. In this paper, we present a multi-scale spatio-temporal information fusion model using non-local networks, which fuses traffic flow pattern features at multiple scales in space and time, complemented by non-local networks to construct the global direct dependence relationship between local areas and the entire region of the city in space and time in the past. The proposed model is evaluated through experiments and is shown to outperform existing benchmark models in terms of prediction performance. Full article
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19 pages, 8396 KiB  
Article
Study on Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Commuting under Adverse Weather Events: Case Study of Typhoon In-Fa
by Tao Ji, Xian Huang, Jinliang Shao, Yunqiang Zhu, Shejun Deng, Shijun Yu and Huajun Liao
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13020050 - 5 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1912
Abstract
This study focuses on the main urban area of Yangzhou City and conducts a quantitative comparative analysis of traffic accessibility during normal weather and extreme precipitation conditions (typhoon) based on GPS trajectories of buses. From both temporal and spatial dimensions, it comprehensively examines [...] Read more.
This study focuses on the main urban area of Yangzhou City and conducts a quantitative comparative analysis of traffic accessibility during normal weather and extreme precipitation conditions (typhoon) based on GPS trajectories of buses. From both temporal and spatial dimensions, it comprehensively examines the impact of extreme precipitation on bus travel speed, travel time, and the commuting range of residents in the main urban area of Yangzhou City. (1) Through the mining and analysis of multi-source heterogeneous big data (bus GPS trajectory data, bus network data, rainfall remote sensing data, and road network data), it is found that the rainstorm weather greatly affects the average speed and travel time of buses. In addition, when the intensity of heavy rainfall increases (decreases), the average bus speed and travel time exhibit varying degrees of spatio-temporal change. During the morning and evening rush hour commuting period of rainstorm weather, there are obvious differences in the accessibility change in each typical traffic community in the main urban area of Yangzhou city. In total, 90% of the overall accessibility change value is concentrated around −5 min~5 min, and the change range is concentrated around −25~10%. (2) To extract the four primary traffic districts (Lotus Pond, Slender West Lake, Jinghua City, and Wanda Plaza), we collected Points of Interest (POI) data from Amap and Baidu heat map, and a combination analysis of the employment–residence ratio model and proximity methods was employed. The result show that the rainstorm weather superimposed on the morning peak hour has different degrees of impact on the average speed of the above-mentioned traffic zones, with the most obvious impact on the Lotus Pond and the smallest impact on Wanda Plaza. Under the rainstorm weather, the traffic commute in the main urban area of Yangzhou in the morning and evening peak hour is basically normal. The results of this paper can help to quantify the impact of typhoon-rainstorm weather events on traffic commuting in order to provide a scientific basis for the traffic management department to effectively prevent traffic jams, ensure the reliability of the road network, and allow the traffic management department to more effectively manage urban traffic. Full article
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25 pages, 8792 KiB  
Article
A Containerized Service-Based Integration Framework for Heterogeneous-Geospatial-Analysis Models
by Lilu Zhu, Yang Wang, Yunbo Kong, Yanfeng Hu and Kai Huang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13010028 - 12 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1817
Abstract
The integration of geospatial-analysis models is crucial for simulating complex geographic processes and phenomena. However, compared to non-geospatial models and traditional geospatial models, geospatial-analysis models face more challenges owing to extensive geographic data processing and complex computations involved. One core issue is how [...] Read more.
The integration of geospatial-analysis models is crucial for simulating complex geographic processes and phenomena. However, compared to non-geospatial models and traditional geospatial models, geospatial-analysis models face more challenges owing to extensive geographic data processing and complex computations involved. One core issue is how to eliminate model heterogeneity to facilitate model combination and capability integration. In this study, we propose a containerized service-based integration framework named GeoCSIF, specifically designed for heterogeneous-geospatial-analysis models. Firstly, by designing the model-servicized structure, we shield the heterogeneity of model structures so that different types of geospatial-analysis models can be effectively described and integrated based on standardized constraints. Then, to tackle the heterogeneity in model dependencies, we devise a prioritization-based orchestration method, facilitating optimized combinations of large-scale geospatial-analysis models. Lastly, considering the heterogeneity in execution modes, we design a heuristic scheduling method that establishes optimal mappings between models and underlying computational resources, enhancing both model stability and service performance. To validate the effectiveness and progressiveness of GeoCSIF, a prototype system was developed, and its integration process for flood disaster models was compared with mainstream methods. Experimental results indicate that GeoCSIF possesses superior performance in model management and service efficiency. Full article
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31 pages, 7105 KiB  
Article
Developing a Base Domain Ontology from Geoscience Report Collection to Aid in Information Retrieval towards Spatiotemporal and Topic Association
by Liufeng Tao, Kai Ma, Miao Tian, Zhenyang Hui, Shuai Zheng, Junjie Liu, Zhong Xie and Qinjun Qiu
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13010014 - 30 Dec 2023
Viewed by 2040
Abstract
The efficient and precise retrieval of desired information from extensive geological databases is a prominent and pivotal focus within the realm of geological information services. Conventional information retrieval methods primarily rely on keyword matching approaches, which often overlook the contextual and semantic aspects [...] Read more.
The efficient and precise retrieval of desired information from extensive geological databases is a prominent and pivotal focus within the realm of geological information services. Conventional information retrieval methods primarily rely on keyword matching approaches, which often overlook the contextual and semantic aspects of the keywords, consequently impeding the retrieval system’s ability to accurately comprehend user query requirements. To tackle this challenge, this study proposes an ontology-driven information-retrieval framework for geological data that integrates spatiotemporal and topic associations. The framework encompasses the development of a geological domain ontology, extraction of key information, establishment of a multi-feature association and retrieval framework, and validation through a comprehensive case study. By employing the proposed framework, users are empowered to actively and automatically retrieve pertinent information, simplifying the information access process, mitigating the burden of comprehending information organization and software application models, and ultimately enhancing retrieval efficiency. Full article
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23 pages, 3773 KiB  
Article
Multiscale Feature Extraction by Using Convolutional Neural Network: Extraction of Objects from Multiresolution Images of Urban Areas
by Ching-Lung Fan
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13010005 - 21 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4430
Abstract
The emergence of deep learning-based classification methods has led to considerable advancements and remarkable performance in image recognition. This study introduces the Multiscale Feature Convolutional Neural Network (MSFCNN) for the extraction of complex urban land cover data, with a specific emphasis on buildings [...] Read more.
The emergence of deep learning-based classification methods has led to considerable advancements and remarkable performance in image recognition. This study introduces the Multiscale Feature Convolutional Neural Network (MSFCNN) for the extraction of complex urban land cover data, with a specific emphasis on buildings and roads. MSFCNN is employed to extract multiscale features from three distinct image types—Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images, high-resolution satellite images (HR), and low-resolution satellite images (LR)—all collected within the Fengshan District of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The model in this study demonstrated remarkable accuracy in classifying two key land cover categories. Its success in extracting multiscale features from different image resolutions. In the case of UAV images, MSFCNN achieved an accuracy rate of 91.67%, with a Producer’s Accuracy (PA) of 93.33% and a User’s Accuracy (UA) of 90.0%. Similarly, the model exhibited strong performance with HR images, yielding accuracy, PA, and UA values of 92.5%, 93.33%, and 91.67%, respectively. These results closely align with those obtained for LR imagery, which achieved respective accuracy rates of 93.33%, 95.0%, and 91.67%. Overall, the MSFCNN excels in the classification of both UAV and satellite images, showcasing its versatility and robustness across various data sources. The model is well suited for the task of updating cartographic data related to urban buildings and roads. Full article
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19 pages, 5755 KiB  
Article
Hyperspectral Image Classification Network Based on 3D Octave Convolution and Multiscale Depthwise Separable Convolution
by Qingqing Hong, Xinyi Zhong, Weitong Chen, Zhenghua Zhang and Bin Li
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(12), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12120505 - 17 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2269
Abstract
Hyperspectral images (HSIs) are pivotal in various fields due to their rich spectral–spatial information. While convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have notably enhanced HSI classification, they often generate redundant spatial features. To address this, we introduce a novel HSI classification method, OMDSC, employing 3D [...] Read more.
Hyperspectral images (HSIs) are pivotal in various fields due to their rich spectral–spatial information. While convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have notably enhanced HSI classification, they often generate redundant spatial features. To address this, we introduce a novel HSI classification method, OMDSC, employing 3D Octave convolution combined with multiscale depthwise separable convolutional networks. This method initially utilizes 3D Octave convolution for efficient spectral–spatial feature extraction from HSIs, thereby reducing spatial redundancy. Subsequently, multiscale depthwise separable convolution is used to further improve the extraction of spatial features. Finally, the HSI classification results are output by softmax classifier. This work compares the method with other methods on three publicly available datasets in order to confirm its efficacy. The outcomes show that the method performs better in terms of classification. Full article
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24 pages, 7987 KiB  
Article
Mapping Gross Domestic Product Distribution at 1 km Resolution across Thailand Using the Random Forest Area-to-Area Regression Kriging Model
by Yan Jin, Yong Ge, Haoyu Fan, Zeshuo Li, Yaojie Liu and Yan Jia
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(12), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12120481 - 27 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2462
Abstract
Accurate spatial distribution of gridded gross domestic product (GDP) data is crucial for revealing regional disparities within administrative units, thus facilitating a deeper understanding of regional economic dynamics, industrial distribution, and urbanization trends. The existing GDP spatial models often rely on prediction residuals [...] Read more.
Accurate spatial distribution of gridded gross domestic product (GDP) data is crucial for revealing regional disparities within administrative units, thus facilitating a deeper understanding of regional economic dynamics, industrial distribution, and urbanization trends. The existing GDP spatial models often rely on prediction residuals for model evaluation or utilize residual distribution to improve the final accuracy, frequently overlooking the modifiable areal unit problem within residual distribution. This paper introduces a hybrid downscaling model that combines random forest and area-to-area kriging to map gridded GDP. Employing Thailand as a case study, GDP distribution maps were generated at a 1 km spatial resolution for the year 2015 and compared with five alternative downscaling methods and an existing GDP product. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach yields higher accuracy and greater precision in detailing GDP distribution, as evidenced by the smallest mean absolute error and root mean squared error values, which stand at USD 256.458 and 699.348 ten million, respectively. Among the four different sets of auxiliary variables considered, one consistently exhibited a higher prediction accuracy. This particular set of auxiliary variables integrated classification-based variables, illustrating the advantages of incorporating such integrated variables into modeling while accounting for classification characteristics. Full article
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14 pages, 3856 KiB  
Article
Spatial Accessibility of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Services in China
by Yu Chen, Yuehong Chen and Yuqi Lu
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(12), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12120478 - 25 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2749
Abstract
Decarbonizing the transport sector using electric vehicles (EVs) is a vital pathway for China to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Despite the unprecedented growth of EV diffusion in China, little information is available for the spatial accessibility of public electric [...] Read more.
Decarbonizing the transport sector using electric vehicles (EVs) is a vital pathway for China to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Despite the unprecedented growth of EV diffusion in China, little information is available for the spatial accessibility of public electric vehicle charging services (EVCSs). This study developed an applicable accessibility measurement framework to examine the city-level accessibility of EVCSs in China using the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method. G2SFCA takes the EV charging stations with charging piles as supply and the EV ownership data as demand. The results indicate that (1) the eastern region of China has the highest density of EV charging stations (69.1%), followed by the central region, while the western region has the lowest density; (2) the spatial accessibility of EVCSs has a different pattern, where the central region has the highest accessibility, followed by the eastern and western regions; (3) the spatial mismatch between EVCSs and EV diffusion in the eastern region is larger than that of the other two regions, which may be attributed to the suboptimal layout of EV charging stations and the inconsistent pace between EV penetration and EV charging station construction; and (4) there is a significant spatial inequity in the accessibility of EVCSs across both all three regions and the entirety of China, with the western region exhibiting the highest inequity, followed by the central and eastern regions. Based on these findings, policy implications are drawn for different regions in China, which may aid policymakers in crafting strategic policies and subsidy programs to foster the advancement of EVCSs. Full article
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25 pages, 8987 KiB  
Article
Landscape Sensitivity Assessment of Historic Districts Using a GIS-Based Method: A Case Study of Beishan Street in Hangzhou, China
by Xueyan Yang and Jie Shen
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(11), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12110462 - 12 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2294
Abstract
Historic districts may be damaged during urban renewal. Landscape sensitivity can be used as a method to judge the ability of a landscape to resist change. This study proposes an improved method for assessing landscape sensitivity based on a geographic information system (GIS) [...] Read more.
Historic districts may be damaged during urban renewal. Landscape sensitivity can be used as a method to judge the ability of a landscape to resist change. This study proposes an improved method for assessing landscape sensitivity based on a geographic information system (GIS) according to the characteristics of historic districts. Based on a previous method, this study adds POI big data for comprehensive evaluation and uses objective criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) statistics instead of subjective methods to determine the weights. The assessment framework uses ecological, visual, and cultural sensitivity as primary criteria, which are further defined by several sub-criteria. The Beishan Street Historic District in Hangzhou, China, is used as a case study, and the results of the assessment are shown in the form of sensitivity maps. The results show that the maps can identify buildings in areas of high sensitivity and provide objective indicators for future conservation. Based on the sensitivity maps, this study innovatively used correlation analysis to reveal important interrelationships between ecological, visual, and cultural sensitivity. Assessment factors such as land use type need to be prioritized because they are more closely linked to other factors. Full article
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23 pages, 8496 KiB  
Article
Multi-Scale Road Matching Based on the Summation Product of Orientation and Distance and Shape Descriptors
by Ying Sun, Yuefeng Lu, Ziqi Ding, Qiao Wen, Jing Li, Yanru Liu and Kaizhong Yao
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(11), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12110457 - 8 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1684
Abstract
Most commonly used road-based homonymous entity matching algorithms are only applicable to the same scale, and are weak in recognizing the one-to-many and many-to-many types that are common in matching at different scales. This paper explores model matching for multi-scale road data. By [...] Read more.
Most commonly used road-based homonymous entity matching algorithms are only applicable to the same scale, and are weak in recognizing the one-to-many and many-to-many types that are common in matching at different scales. This paper explores model matching for multi-scale road data. By considering the sources of various scales and landmark datasets, as well as the spatial relationships between the selected objects and the detailed features of the entities, we propose an improved matching metric, the summation product of orientation and distance (SOD), combined with the shape descriptor based on feature point vectors, the shape area descriptor based on the minimum convex hull, and three other indicators, to establish multiple multi-scale road matching models. Through experiments, the comprehensive road matching model that combines SOD, orientation, distance and length is selected in this paper. When matching the road dataset with a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:10,000, the precision, recall, and F-score of the matching result of this model reached 97.31%, 94.33%, and 95.8%, respectively. In the case that the scale of the two datasets did not differ much, we concluded that the model can be used for matching between large-scale road datasets. Full article
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20 pages, 10561 KiB  
Article
An Automated Method for Generating Prefabs of AR Map Point Symbols Based on Object Detection Model
by Nixiao Zou, Qing Xu, Yuqing Wu, Xinming Zhu and Youneng Su
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(11), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12110440 - 24 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2160
Abstract
Augmented reality (AR) technology enables paper maps to dynamically express three-dimensional geographic information, realizing the fusion of virtual and real information. However, in the current mainstream AR development software, the virtual information usually consists of prefabricated components (prefabs), and the content creation for [...] Read more.
Augmented reality (AR) technology enables paper maps to dynamically express three-dimensional geographic information, realizing the fusion of virtual and real information. However, in the current mainstream AR development software, the virtual information usually consists of prefabricated components (prefabs), and the content creation for AR maps heavily relies on manual prefabrication. It leads to repetitive and error-prone prefabrication work, which restricts the design of the dynamic, interactive functions of AR maps. To solve this problem, this paper explored the possibility of automatically generating AR map prefabs using object detection models to establish a data conversion interface from paper maps to AR maps. First, we compared and analyzed various object detection models and selected YOLOv8x to recognize map point symbols. Then, we proposed a method to automatically generate AR map prefabs based on the predicted bounding boxes of the object detection model, which could generate prefabs with corresponding categories and positional information. Finally, we developed an AR map prototype system based on Android mobile devices. We designed an interaction method for information queries in the system to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper. The validation results indicate that our method can be practically applied to the AR map prefabrication process and can quickly generate AR map prefabs with high information accuracy. It alleviated the repetitive workload established through the manual prefabrication method and had specific feasibility and practicality. Moreover, it could provide solid data support for developing dynamic interactive functions of AR maps. Full article
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22 pages, 31161 KiB  
Article
Using Dual Spatial Clustering Models for Urban Fringe Areas Extraction Based on Night-time Light Data: Comparison of NPP/VIIRS, Luojia 1-01, and NASA’s Black Marble
by Jie Zhu, Ziqi Lang, Shu Wang, Mengyao Zhu, Jiaming Na and Jiazhu Zheng
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(10), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12100408 - 4 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1979
Abstract
Night-time light data (NTL) have been extensively utilized to map urban fringe areas, but to date, there has not been a comprehensive evaluation of the existing spatial clustering methods for delineating the urban fringe using different types of night-time light data. Therefore, we [...] Read more.
Night-time light data (NTL) have been extensively utilized to map urban fringe areas, but to date, there has not been a comprehensive evaluation of the existing spatial clustering methods for delineating the urban fringe using different types of night-time light data. Therefore, we first selected three popular sources of night-time light data (i.e., NPP/VIIRS, Luojia 1-01, and NASA’s Black Marble) to identify the urban fringe. The recognition of spatial mutations across the urban–rural gradient was conducted based on changes in night light intensity using a spatial continuous wavelet transform model. Then, we employed three representative dual spatial clustering approaches (i.e., MK-Means, DBSC, and DSC) for extracting urban fringe areas using different NTL. By using dual spatial clustering, the spatial patterns of the mutation points were effectively transformed into homogeneous spatially adjacent clusters, enabling the measurement of similarity between mutation points. Taking Nanjing city, one of China’s megacities, as the study area, we found that (1) Compared with the fragmented and concentrated results obtained from the Luojia 1-01, NASA’s Black Marble and NPP/VIIRS data can effectively capture the abrupt change of urban fringes with NTL variations; (2) DSC provided a reliable approach for accurately extracting urban fringe areas using NASA’s Black Marble data. Full article
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25 pages, 6214 KiB  
Article
Knowledge Graph Construction to Facilitate Indoor Fire Emergency Evacuation
by Mingkang Da, Teng Zhong and Jiaqi Huang
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(10), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12100403 - 3 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2052
Abstract
Indoor fire is a sudden and frequent disaster that severely threatens the safety of indoor people worldwide. Indoor fire emergency evacuation is crucial to reducing losses involving various objects and complex relations. However, traditional studies only rely on numerical simulation, which cannot provide [...] Read more.
Indoor fire is a sudden and frequent disaster that severely threatens the safety of indoor people worldwide. Indoor fire emergency evacuation is crucial to reducing losses involving various objects and complex relations. However, traditional studies only rely on numerical simulation, which cannot provide adequate support for decision-making in indoor fire scenarios. The knowledge graph is a knowledge base that can fully utilize massive heterogeneous data to form a sound knowledge system; however, it has not been effectively applied in the fire emergency domain. This study is a preliminary attempt to construct a knowledge graph for indoor fire emergency evacuation. We constructed the indoor fire domain ontology and proposed a four-tuple knowledge representation model. A knowledge graph was constructed with 1852 nodes and 2364 relations from 25 indoor fire events. The proposed method was tested for the case study of Henan Pingdingshan ‘5.25’ Fire Accident in China. Results show that the proposed knowledge representation model and the corresponding knowledge graph can represent complicated indoor fire events and support indoor fire emergency evacuation. Full article
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20 pages, 4003 KiB  
Article
Spatio-Temporal Relevance Classification from Geographic Texts Using Deep Learning
by Miao Tian, Xinxin Hu, Jiakai Huang, Kai Ma, Haiyan Li, Shuai Zheng, Liufeng Tao and Qinjun Qiu
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(9), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12090359 - 1 Sep 2023
Viewed by 2040
Abstract
The growing proliferation of geographic information presents a substantial challenge to the traditional framework of a geographic information analysis and service. The dynamic integration and representation of geographic knowledge, such as triples, with spatio-temporal information play a crucial role in constructing a comprehensive [...] Read more.
The growing proliferation of geographic information presents a substantial challenge to the traditional framework of a geographic information analysis and service. The dynamic integration and representation of geographic knowledge, such as triples, with spatio-temporal information play a crucial role in constructing a comprehensive spatio-temporal knowledge graph and facilitating the effective utilization of spatio-temporal big data for knowledge-driven service applications. The existing knowledge graph (or geographic knowledge graph) takes spatio-temporal as the attribute of entity, ignoring the role of spatio-temporal information for accurate retrieval of entity objects and adaptive expression of entity objects. This study approaches the correlation between geographic knowledge and spatio-temporal information as a text classification problem, with the aim of addressing the challenge of establishing meaningful connections among spatio-temporal data using advanced deep learning techniques. Specifically, we leverage Wikipedia as a valuable data source for collecting and filtering geographic texts. The Open Information Extraction (OpenIE) tool is employed to extract triples from each sentence, followed by manual annotation of the sentences’ spatio-temporal relevance. This process leads to the formation of quadruples (time relevance/space relevance) or quintuples (spatio-temporal relevance). Subsequently, a comprehensive spatio-temporal classification dataset is constructed for experiment verification. Ten prominent deep learning text classification models are then utilized to conduct experiments covering various aspects of time, space, and spatio-temporal relationships. The experimental results demonstrate that the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformer-Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (BERT-RCNN) model exhibits the highest performance among the evaluated models. Overall, this study establishes a foundation for future knowledge extraction endeavors. Full article
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22 pages, 6978 KiB  
Article
Analysis of PM2.5 Synergistic Governance Path from a Socio-Economic Perspective: A Case Study of Guangdong Province
by Kunkun Fan, Daichao Li, Cong Li, Xinlei Jin, Fei Ding and Zhan Zeng
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(8), 340; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12080340 - 16 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1352
Abstract
Analyzing the influencing factors of PM2.5 concentration, scenario simulations, and countermeasure research to address the problem of PM2.5 pollution in Guangdong Province is of great significance for governments at all levels for formulating relevant policies. In this study, the ChinaHighPM2.5 [...] Read more.
Analyzing the influencing factors of PM2.5 concentration, scenario simulations, and countermeasure research to address the problem of PM2.5 pollution in Guangdong Province is of great significance for governments at all levels for formulating relevant policies. In this study, the ChinaHighPM2.5 dataset and economic and social statistics for Guangdong Province from 2010 to 2019 were selected, and a PM2.5 pollution management compliance path formulation method based on the multi-scenario simulation was proposed by combining the differences in city types and PM2.5 concentration prediction. Based on the prediction model of PM2.5 concentration constructed by the Ridge and SVM models and facing the PM2.5 pollution control target in 2025, the urban PM2.5 pollution control scenario considering the characteristics of urban development was constructed. According to the scenario simulation results of the PM2.5 prediction model, the PM2.5 pollution control path suitable for Guangdong Province during the 14th Five-Year Plan period was explored. The coupling coordination model was used to explore the spatial and temporal pattern evolution of PM2.5 pollution collaborative governance in various prefecture-level cities under the standard path, and the policy recommendations for PM2.5 pollution control during the 14th Five-Year Plan period are proposed. The results showed the following: ① in the case of small samples, the model can provide effective simulation predictions for the study of urban pollutant management compliance pathways. ② Under the scenario of PM2.5 management meeting the standard, in 2025, the annual average mass concentration of PM2.5 in all prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province will be lower than 22 μg/m3, and the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in the whole province will drop from 25.91 μg/m3 to 21.04 μg/m3, which will fulfil the goal of reducing the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in the whole province to below 22 μg/m3, as set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Ecological Environmental Protection of Guangdong Province. ③ Under the path of PM2.5 control and attainment, the regional coordination relationship among prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province is gradually optimized, the number of intermediate-level coordinated cities will increase, and the overall spatial distribution pattern will be low in the middle and high in the surrounding area. Based on the characteristics of the four city types, it is recommended that a staggered development strategy be implemented to achieve synergy between economic development and environmental quality. Urban type I should focus on restructuring freight transportation to reduce urban pollutant emissions. City type II should focus on urban transportation and greening. For city type III, the focus should be on optimizing the industrial structure, adjusting the freight structure, and increasing the greening rate of the city. For city type IV, industrial upgrading, energy efficiency, freight structure, and management of industrial pollutant emissions should be strengthened. Full article
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22 pages, 3043 KiB  
Article
PMGCN: Progressive Multi-Graph Convolutional Network for Traffic Forecasting
by Zhenxin Li, Yong Han, Zhenyu Xu, Zhihao Zhang, Zhixian Sun and Ge Chen
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(6), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12060241 - 16 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2183
Abstract
Traffic forecasting has always been an important part of intelligent transportation systems. At present, spatiotemporal graph neural networks are widely used to capture spatiotemporal dependencies. However, most spatiotemporal graph neural networks use a single predefined matrix or a single self-generated matrix. It is [...] Read more.
Traffic forecasting has always been an important part of intelligent transportation systems. At present, spatiotemporal graph neural networks are widely used to capture spatiotemporal dependencies. However, most spatiotemporal graph neural networks use a single predefined matrix or a single self-generated matrix. It is difficult to obtain deeper spatial information by only relying on a single adjacency matrix. In this paper, we present a progressive multi-graph convolutional network (PMGCN), which includes spatiotemporal attention, multi-graph convolution, and multi-scale convolution modules. Specifically, we use a new spatiotemporal attention multi-graph convolution that can extract extensive and comprehensive dynamic spatial dependence between nodes, in which multiple graph convolutions adopt progressive connections and spatiotemporal attention dynamically adjusts each item of the Chebyshev polynomial in graph convolutions. In addition, multi-scale time convolution was added to obtain an extensive and comprehensive dynamic time dependence from multiple receptive field features. We used real datasets to predict traffic speed and traffic flow, and the results were compared with a variety of typical prediction models. PMGCN has the smallest Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) results under different horizons (H = 15 min, 30 min, 60 min), which shows the superiority of the proposed model. Full article
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Review

Jump to: Research

36 pages, 2828 KiB  
Review
Framing VRRSability Relationships among Vulnerability, Risk, Resilience, and Sustainability for Improving Geo-Information Evaluations within Geodesign Decision Support
by Timothy Nyerges, John A. Gallo, Keith M. Reynolds, Steven D. Prager, Philip J. Murphy and Wenwen Li
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024, 13(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13030067 - 23 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1978
Abstract
Improving geo-information decision evaluation is an important part of geospatial decision support research, particularly when considering vulnerability, risk, resilience, and sustainability (V-R-R-S) of urban land–water systems (ULWSs). Previous research enumerated a collection of V-R-R-S conceptual component commonalties and differences resulting in a synthesis [...] Read more.
Improving geo-information decision evaluation is an important part of geospatial decision support research, particularly when considering vulnerability, risk, resilience, and sustainability (V-R-R-S) of urban land–water systems (ULWSs). Previous research enumerated a collection of V-R-R-S conceptual component commonalties and differences resulting in a synthesis concept called VRRSability. As a single concept, VRRSability enhances our understanding of the relationships within and among V-R-R-S. This paper reports research that extends and deepens the VRRSability synthesis by elucidating relationships among the V-R-R-S concepts, and organizes them into a VRRSability conceptual framework meant to guide operationalization within decision support systems. The core relationship within the VRRSability framework is ‘functional performance’, which couples land and water concerns within complex ULWS. Using functional performance, we elucidate other significant conceptual relationships, e.g., scale, scenarios and social knowledge, among others. A narrative about the functional performance of green stormwater infrastructure as part of a ULWS offers a practical application of the conceptual framework. VRRSability decision evaluation trade-offs among land and water emerge through the narrative, particularly how land cover influences water flow, which in turn influences water quality. The discussion includes trade-offs along risk–resilience and vulnerability–sustainability dimensions as key aspects of functional performance. Conclusions include knowledge contributions about a VRRSability conceptual framework and the next steps for operationalization within decision support systems using artificial intelligence. Full article
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19 pages, 1271 KiB  
Review
Question Classification for Intelligent Question Answering: A Comprehensive Survey
by Hao Sun, Shu Wang, Yunqiang Zhu, Wen Yuan and Zhiqiang Zou
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(10), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12100415 - 10 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2313
Abstract
In the era of GeoAI, Geospatial Intelligent Question Answering (GeoIQA) represents the ultimate pursuit for everyone. Even generative AI systems like ChatGPT-4 struggle to handle complex GeoIQA. GeoIQA is domain complex IQA, which aims at understanding and answering questions accurately. The core of [...] Read more.
In the era of GeoAI, Geospatial Intelligent Question Answering (GeoIQA) represents the ultimate pursuit for everyone. Even generative AI systems like ChatGPT-4 struggle to handle complex GeoIQA. GeoIQA is domain complex IQA, which aims at understanding and answering questions accurately. The core of IQA is the Question Classification (QC), which mainly contains four types: content-based, template-based, calculation-based and method-based classification. These IQA_QC frameworks, however, struggle to be compatible and integrate with each other, which may be the bottleneck restricting the substantial improvement of IQA performance. To address this problem, this paper reviewed recent advances on IQA with the focus on solving question classification and proposed a comprehensive IQA_QC framework for understanding user query intention more accurately. By introducing the basic idea of the IQA mechanism, a three-level question classification framework consisting of essence, form and implementation is put forward which could cover the complexity and diversity of geographical questions. In addition, the proposed IQA_QC framework revealed that there are still significant deficiencies in the IQA evaluation metrics in the aspect of broader dimensions, which led to low answer performance, functional performance and systematic performance. Through the comparisons, we find that the proposed IQA_QC framework can fully integrate and surpass the existing classification. Although our proposed classification can be further expanded and improved, we firmly believe that this comprehensive IQA_QC framework can effectively help researchers in both semantic parsing and question querying processes. Furthermore, the IQA_QC framework can also provide a systematic question-and-answer pair/library categorization system for AIGCs, such as GPT-4. In conclusion, whether it is explicit GeoAI or implicit GeoAI, the IQA_QC can play a pioneering role in providing question-and-answer types in the future. Full article
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