The September 2016 issue of the Journal of Spatial Science releases the first ever results of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System positioning capabilities over Australia. In addition there are papers across spatial computing, geostatistics, remote sensing, spatial analysis, and marine and land data issues, and professional papers in the areas of health and environment.
Zaminpardaz, Teunissen and Nadarajah release the first ever results of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) positioning capabilities over Australia. The paper aims to gain an understanding of its navigational potential and actual positioning capabilities for Australian users and to demonstrate its current positioning performance using actual L5 pseudorange tracking data, and to analyse its expected positioning performance for when the system is fully operational.
Modern robotic total stations (RTS) have the ability to automatically aim, search and track moving targets at high precision, thereby enabling kinematic positioning. Authors Roberts and Boorer investigate the time delays which limit the precise positioning of a moving target for RTS. They also investigate small-scale unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) which use navigation-quality GPS as a priori coordinates for processing of acquired images with RTS kinematic positioning applied to a UAV to improve a priori image coordinates and evaluate the method for direct geo-referencing.
Zhou, Chen, Liu, Li, Wu and Zhang explore methods for combining processes and threads on multi-core CPUs to accelerate large-scale polygon rasterisation. They used a data decomposition method then a polygon processing strategy to manage four types of exceptional polygons to reduce rasterisation time.
A methodology for optimal ground-based sensor network design for an evapotranspiration estimation method which uses solar radiation as the only parameter has been developed and evaluated by Teegavarapu, Pathak, Mecikalski and Srikishen. The methodology employs geospatial analyses and geostatistics, and data from ground-based sensors and satellite-based estimates of solar insolation. Results indicate that the optimal design of the network depends on the spatial variability of insolation, analysis block size defined based on region-specific radiation characteristics, and the standard error used as a metric of network estimation accuracy.
Geographically weighted generalised linear models are an extension of geographically weighted regression models. In view of the advantages of the local-linear fitting technique, Mei, Xu and Hou propose a local-linear likelihood estimation approach for geographically weighted generalised linear models to improve the accuracy of the coefficient estimators. A Fisher scoring algorithm is formulated to compute the estimators of the coefficients and, compared to the existing local-constant likelihood estimation, the local-linear likelihood method can evidently improve the accuracy of the coefficient estimators.
Since 2007, revolutionary X-band synthetic aperture radar satellites Cosmo-SkyMed and TerraSAR-X have been collecting high-resolution images, convenient for digital surface model acquisition by interferometric SAR techniques. In this study, Sefercik and Yastikli investigate the potential of digital surface models derived from Cosmo-SkyMed and TerraSAR-X high-resolution spotlight images by examining basic accuracy metrics such as absolute vertical accuracy and relative vertical accuracy.
Zhang constructed a collaborative virtual geographic environment that supports three levels of deeper applications including sharing of distributed resources, tightly geographic process simulation and visualisation analysis, and geographic collaboration. A spatiotemporal process model based on cellular automata and parallel computing optimisation was integrated for real-time simulation and analysis of dam-break risk assessment of the Xiaojiaqiao barrier lake in Anxian County, Sichuan Province, China.
Natural forest, oil palm and rubber plantations are economically and environmentally important for Peninsular Malaysia. The study by Mohd Razali, Marin, Nuruddin, Mohd Shafri and Abdul Hamid analysed four years of moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data to develop spectral indices of vegetation, water availability and moisture stress. The indices – the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, the Normalised Difference Water Index and the Moisture Stress Index – were applied to three different habitats to monitor drought and develop a Malaysia Southwest Monsoon classification.
Benke, Sheth, Kealy, Hasnur Rabiain, Raeside, Waters and Hamilton investigated a methodology for assessment of feeding preferences of grazing sheep using GPS collar units for satellite tracking. Sheep grazing preferences were analysed by a statistically based approach under constraints of spatial error in the GPS tracking data and the approach was effective in dealing with GPS spatial errors and in comparing the feeding preferences of sheep.
Land administration concerns the handling of spatial and legal data on land. In many countries this is executed by two separate agencies, cadastres and land registries. Despite international literature claiming that merging such agencies is more effective for data handling, in practice staff within land agencies tend to struggle with such mergers. This article by de Vries, Muparari and Zevenbergen reviews the case of the Swedish land administration merger and uses cultural theory to understand individual perspectives on mergers.
Tarmidi, Mohamed Shariff, Ibrahim, Mahmud and Hamzah discuss the explanatory study of spatial information sharing in Malaysian marine-related organisations. This paper examines the drivers and issues in implementing marine spatial data sharing within and between marine organisations. Thematic and SWOT analyses were used to categorise information into several themes and factors including internal and external factors that affected implementation in the organisations.
In their Professional Paper van Gaans, Hugo and Tonkin start from the premise that existing Phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation services are currently underutilised and improving access will be necessary because of ageing of the population and falling case-fatality rates. The Spatial
Model of Accessibility to Phase 2 Cardiac Rehabilitation Program was developed to quantify accessibility to out-patient cardiac rehabilitation in Australia. A geographic information system was used to combine both geographic and socio-economic aspects of accessibility.
There is a high level of spatio-temporal variability in rainfall events over a region that is measured by rain gauges that provide point measurements. Nazif, Mahmoudi Meimand, Ali Abbaspour and Faraji Sabokbar found that due to limited numbers of rain gauges that can be deployed, it is important to plan for the optimal number and locations of rain gauges in a region. Because of several factors that can affect the optimal number of stations as well as their locations, development of optimisation models for determining the number and location of sampling points within a region is important. In this study, an optimisation model for determining the number and location of rain gauges is proposed.
Curtin University