FOSS Tools and Applications for Education in Geospatial Sciences

Ciolli, Marco; Federici, Bianca; Ferrando, Ilaria; Marzocchi, Roberto; Sguerso, Domenico; Tattoni, Clara; Vitti, Alfonso; Zatelli, Paolo

doi:10.3390/ijgi6070225

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This paper presents new map classification and filtering procedures based on Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA) that have been implemented using GRASS GIS [26], developing new techniques and software modules for text and symbol removal. GRASS GIS is the leading GIS Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), used in research and education [27]. Its availability under the GNU GPL license allows for the modification and adaptation of its code to a wide range of GIS applications; see, e.g., [28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Tools for the Classification and Filtering of Historical Maps

Gobbi

Ciolli

Porta

et al. 2019

IJGI

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Historical maps constitute an essential information for investigating the ecological and landscape features of a region over time. The integration of heritage maps in GIS models requires their digitalization and classification. This paper presents a semi-automatic procedure for the digitalization of heritage maps and the successive filtering of undesirable features such as text, symbols and boundary lines. The digitalization step is carried out using Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA) in GRASS GIS and R, combining image segmentation and machine-learning classification. The filtering step is performed by two GRASS GIS modules developed during this study and made available as GRASS GIS add-ons. The first module evaluates the size of the filter window needed for the removal of text, symbols and lines; the second module replaces the values of pixels of the category to be removed with values of the surrounding pixels. The procedure has been tested on three maps with different characteristics, the “Historical Cadaster Map for the Province of Trento” (1859), the “Italian Kingdom Forest Map” (1926) and the “Map of the potential limit of the forest in Trentino” (1992), with an average classification accuracy of 97%. These results improve the performance of classification of heritage maps compared to more classical methods, making the proposed procedure that can be applied to heterogeneous sets of maps, a viable approach.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Tools for the Classification and Filtering of Historical Maps

Gobbi

Ciolli

Porta

et al. 2019

IJGI

Self Cite

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Section: Geospatial Tools For Capacity Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) provides several desktop toolboxes for ingestion and manipulation of Sentinel data which is in a SAFE format. The FOSS tools provide immense opportunities for capacity building in African countries, overcoming limitations related to software license costs and limited control of workflows [57]. However, the rate of adoption of these tools for operational purposes and in the implementation of spatial data infrastructures to support spatial planning and socio-economic development is still limited.…”

Section: Geospatial Tools For Capacity Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of African Emerging Space Agencies in Earth Observation Capacity Building for Facilitating the Implementation and Monitoring of the African Development Agenda: The Case of African Earth Observation Program

Kganyago

Mhangara

2019

IJGI

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AU-Agenda 2063 was adopted at the 24th Ordinary Session of the African Heads of State and Government in 2015 as the blueprint for the future development of the continent. Built upon the continent’s past experiences, challenges, and successes, AU-Agenda 2063 comprehensively describes the strategic path for Africa’s future development in the next 50 years. Thus, the monitoring of its implementation in various African states is critical for ensuring sustainable development and track progress. However, the higher cost of collecting data for accurately and reliably monitoring the implementation of Agenda 2063 may hinder the progress towards achieving these goals. Satellite Earth observation provides ample data, and thus has provided opportunities for the development of novel products and services with the potential to support implementation, monitoring and reporting for AU-Agenda 2063 development imperatives. However, it has been limitedly exploited in Africa, as evidenced by lower research outputs and investments. This calls for increased capacity building in the use of available EO data and products for various users including decision makers to advance national, regional and continental priorities. The use of such data products is often hampered by the capability to understand the products and thus their value for addressing socio-economic challenges. This paper discusses the potential of Earth observation capacity building for supporting the implementation, monitoring of, and reporting towards achieving AU-Agenda 2063 development imperatives. Specifically, this paper identifies existing capacity building resources, including the role of open and free Earth observation data, open-source software, and product dissemination platforms that can be leveraged for supporting national development, service delivery and the achievement of AU-Agenda 2063 targets. Furthermore, the paper recognizes the importance of bilateral and multilateral partnerships in leveraging existing know-how, technology and other resources for advancing strategic goals of African emerging space agencies and promoting sustainable development, with examples from South African National Space Agency (SANSA). Then, the challenges and opportunities for capacity building and the wide adoption of EO in Africa are discussed in the context of AU-Agenda 2063. The paper thus concludes that EO capacity building is essential to address the skills and data gaps and increase the use of EO-based solutions for decision making in various sectors, critical for achieving AU-A2063.

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“…GRASS GIS [43] is a multi-purpose FOSS GIS for geospatial data production, analysis, and mapping [46] available under the GNU Public License (GPL), used in research and education [47]. It is part of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).…”

Section: Test Softwarementioning

confidence: 99%

Relevance of the Cell Neighborhood Size in Landscape Metrics Evaluation and Free or Open Source Software Implementations

Zatelli

Gobbi

Tattoni

et al. 2019

IJGI

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Landscape metrics constitute one of the main tools for the study of the changes of the landscape and of the ecological structure of a region. The most popular software for landscape metrics evaluation is FRAGSTATS, which is free to use but does not have free or open source software (FOSS). Therefore, FOSS implementations, such as QGIS's LecoS plugin and GRASS' r.li modules suite, were developed. While metrics are defined in the same way, the "cell neighborhood" parameter, specifying the configuration of the moving window used for the analysis, is managed differently: FRAGSTATS can use values of 4 or 8 (8 is default), LecoS uses 8 and r.li 4. Tests were performed to evaluate the landscape metrics variability depending on the "cell neighborhood" values: some metrics, such as "edge density" and "landscape shape index", do not change, other, for example "patch number", "patch density", and "mean patch area", vary up to 100% for real maps and 500% for maps built to highlight this variation. A review of the scientific literature was carried out to check how often the value of the "cell neighborhood" parameter is explicitly declared. A method based on the "aggregation index" is proposed to estimate the effect of the uncertainty on the "cell neighborhood" parameter on landscape metrics for different maps.

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FOSS Tools and Applications for Education in Geospatial Sciences

Cited by 22 publications

References 14 publications

New Tools for the Classification and Filtering of Historical Maps

New Tools for the Classification and Filtering of Historical Maps

The Role of African Emerging Space Agencies in Earth Observation Capacity Building for Facilitating the Implementation and Monitoring of the African Development Agenda: The Case of African Earth Observation Program

Relevance of the Cell Neighborhood Size in Landscape Metrics Evaluation and Free or Open Source Software Implementations

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