Geoinformation Issues Vol. 4, No 1, 2012
Editorial pages, contents, reviewers of journal "Geoinformation Issues"
editorial pages, contents, reviewers of journal to download
Walyeldeen Godah, Jan Krynski, Jan Cisak
The use of GPS data at T-T Zone for the verification of the recent terrestrial reference frames considering possible geodynamic processes
DOI: 10.34867/gi.2012.1
Abstract. The interpretation of the geodynamic phenomena with the use of GPS observations strongly depends on the quality of the terrestrial reference frame. The aim of this contribution is to verify station velocities from recent ITRF/ETRF solutions as well as to evaluate the possible geodynamic processes by using long time series of GPS data from four permanent GNSS stations operating in T-T zone. The components of four baselines were calculated with the use of the Bernese v.5.0 GPS software using GPS observation
data from 2004–2012. Time variations of baseline components and baseline length were analysed and their linear trends were estimated by applying linear regression analysis. The obtained results have indicated that the variations are within the range from –0.2 to 0.3 mm/year in X–component, from –0.6 to –0.3 mm/year in Y–component, from –0.2 to 0.2 mm/year in Z–component and from –0.2 to 0.6 mm/year for the baseline length. The estimated linear trends of baselines components variations fit substantially better to the respective ones derived from ITRF2008/ETRF2000 (R8) than to the ones from ITRF2005/ETRF2000 (R5).
Marek Dróżdż, Andrzej Kaliński
System of determination of horizontal displacements of pressure pipeline supports along the slope of the hill
DOI: 10.34867/gi.2012.2
Abstract. For several years, the team of the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, Warsaw, has been conducting monitoring of the safety of one of Polish hydraulic structures, namely Żarnowiec hydropower plant. In the face of construction disasters caused by landslides that has taken place in the world in recent years, the scope of the monitoring of the facility has been extended by testing the stability of reinforced concrete pressure pipeline supports located on the slope of the hill. This paper concerns the description of the method that has been developed for this purpose. It includes the design and construction of an innovative device that allows the use of existing vertical network benchmarks as points for measuring horizontal displacements. The design of the instrument, which allows setting the EDM prism on different types of survey benchmarks, has been described. Aspects of the selection of unusual shape of the special surveying control network have also been discussed. The method of processing the measurement results has been presented and the results of displacements of monitored sites were analysed.
Maciej Bartold
Monitoring of forest damages in Poland and Slovakia based on Terra.MODIS satellite images
DOI: 10.34867/gi.2012.3
Abstract. Ten years since the largest post war disaster in the Polish forestry have passed last year. Back then in July the hurricane in Masuria region caused a huge devastation in the area of Pisz forest. The pine monoculture deforestation caused by the destructive force of nature and the prevailing drought caused the fire risk conditions. For research of forest destruction the satellite images taken in 2000 and 2006 were used. The observations were conducted at the area of Pisz forest, the Slovak Tatra Mountains and the forests along A1 and A4 motorway construction sites. The method for determining the range of deforestation caused by natural and anthropogenic impacts was developed. To validate the results the changes in change database Corine Land Cover 2000–2006 were used. Terra.MODIS medium resolution images shown themselves good material for elaboration of effective method for monitoring of forest stands changes. The obtained accuracy of detecting changes in forest areas was very high reaching 96.1% for Pisz forest and 96% for Slovak Tatra Mountains. In case of deforestation at the motorways construction sites the accuracy was 57% and 54% for A1 and A4, respectively. The lower accuracy was due to narrow widths of the motorways construction sites while monitoring was based on the analysis of satellite images of spatial resolution of 250 m.
Agata Ciołkosz-Styk
The visual search method in map perception research
DOI: 10.34867/gi.2012.4
Abstract. The way of presenting reality on a map influences the user’s perception, so it also affects the image of reality created in the user’s mind. Therefore, for centuries maps have been considered cognition tools that influence people’s image of the world. Twentieth-century cartographers came to the conclusion that the centuries-old way of map development based on intuition can and should be modified to better reflect the reality, using theories and methods of research from other disciplines, especially psychology. Taking methods from psychology contributed to the development of cognitive cartography. The basic features that distinguish it from other research directions in cartography are that it focuses on the map user, the analysis of map reading and the interpretation process, using experiment as a basic research method and the transfer of experiences
and methods, and often the research problems, from psychology to cartography.
The way of map use and the cognitive abilities and limitations of the user are important issues that have been taken up by cartographers for decades. The problem of map effectiveness should be resolved through the use of knowledge of editorial problems and the user’s cognitive abilities. The first psychological research in cartography was focused on one of the sub-disciplines of psychology – psychophysics. It is one of the oldest psychological research areas, which studies the relation between a physical stimulus and the behaviour, intellectual or mental experience caused by the stimulus. After a period of high interest in experimental research in the 1970s, by the beginning of the next decade, a wave of growing research criticism had appeared. The popularization of computer techniques contributed to a decrease in interest in perception research. When the major part of the basic problems regarding the implementation of computer techniques in cartography had been solved, it was computers that led to a renewal of interest in map perception research. It facilitated map studies and broadened the range of research methods, and also led to the emergence of new types of maps, such as animated and interactive maps, three-dimensional presentations, which have changed the way of map use and required relevant research to be conducted. The adjustment of new forms of cartographic works to human perceptive possibilities is considered one of the basic objectives of cartography.
One kind of psychological perceptive research is visual search. It requires the respondent’s attention engagement while performing tasks involving finding and identifying particular targets in a complex visual configuration, full of various distractors. The visual search theories explain how people search for particular objects and pick them from among many others. Such research is used in medical studies, marketing and advertising.