Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/99375
Do scientists studying global problems (overpopulation, drought/hunger, climate change, etc.) use geotechnology effectively to make their cases? Jack Dangermond: In my experience, science has always been one of the primary application areas of geospatial technology. Today we see many great examples of GIS being used to advance science and understand how human activities are changing and affecting our world at many different scales. But there is still a lot of work to be done in this area. The ���Big Data��� movement plays into this effort. The ability of GIS to reduce large volumes of data from multiple sources, disciplines, and organizations into simple and meaningful information suggests it���s providing a new medium for contributing to human understanding. It���s a language that���s increasingly recognized as a powerful means for reducing complexity and quickly understanding the dimensions of a situation. Clearly, the integrative nature of GIS can facilitate better and more systematic understanding in almost all areas of science. Scientists need to embrace this. One area where we���ve been focusing a lot of resources at Esri is the oceans. If you examine the big global problems we���re facing, there are significant connections to the oceans. We recently launched a huge effort to enhance the capabilities of GIS to support the coastal and open-ocean communities. This Ocean GIS Initiative is focused on building applications, tools, and data models that can be more easily used by the ocean-science community to inform the responsible use and governance of the oceans. Walter Scott: Geospatial technologies are becoming more widely used in the study of global problems, in large measure because of the rapidly increasing amount of geospatial data (such as satellite imagery), along with tools to Walter Scott, founder, chief analyze them and combine them technical officer and executive vice president, DigitalGlobe. readily with observations on the ground through crowdsourcing and other technologies. Because satellite imagery can capture large areas of any point in the world, even those that aren���t readily accessible to people on the ground, it���s particularly valuable to scientists studying global problems: it provides a comprehensive global view. The global capacity of high-resolution commercial Earth imaging is sufficient, for example, to cover all urban and agricultural areas weekly, forest/range/grass/barren areas at least semiannually, and Antarctica bi-annually. High-resolution imagery and its capability for daily coverage also can address serious problems on a local scale. For example, DigitalGlobe works with the Enough Project to provide imagery and analysis services to monitor evidence of bombings, razed villages and possible threats to civilians in Sudan in an effort called the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP). DigitalGlobe experts analyze imagery and information from sources on the ground and produce situational-awareness reports of the possibility of mass violence in Sudan and South Sudan. In the words of SSP co-founder George Clooney, ���This partnership between DigitalGlobe and the Enough Project represents a game-changing leap forward in how to document evidence of crimes against humanity.��� A unique advantage of using satellite imagery to study global problems is that change can be documented. For example, the SSP was able to uncover evidence of a mass grave in Sudan using before-andafter imagery of the same area where the abuses had allegedly occurred. Mladen Stojic: To understand our world and effectively deal with issues, you have to comprehend these relationships as well as view and understand their evolution and the impact of various decisions on that evolution. Mladen Stojic, vice president, Ideally, we should also take that Geospatial, Intergraph next step, progressing from simple hindsight���understanding the consequences of decisions in the aftermath���to a prior-planning scenario in which we predict outcomes as much as possible. Geotechnology offers multiple options to advance that goal. With a ���smart��� and ���dynamic��� GIS, users can aggregate data from a variety of sources and analyze them to evaluate the situation holistically and extract clear, actionable information. For example, with our GIS, GeoMedia, users can connect directly to data in the spatially enabled databases they use, all common geospatial file formats, most computer-aided design formats, simple text files, and WMS and WFS Web services���and query them all simultaneously. Users can perform sophisticated, complex investigations with these various data sources by stringing together queries so the results of one query feed into another query. As the data change, the results change automatically, providing a living picture of what���s happening. These capabilities also can be used to conduct powerful ���what-if��� analyses for strategic planning. With spatial-modeling tools, users can further analyze data and predict outcomes. Spatial modeling is D E C E M B E R 2 O 1 2 / W W W . G E O P L A C E . C O M 23