A GeoComputational Research Agenda for a New Millennium
What is GeoComputation?
PPT Slide
GIS Linkage?
Also Some confused folk!
Quantitative Geography versus GeoComputation
Basically GeoComputation is:
GeoComputation offers a new perspective and a paradigm for applying science in a geographical context
applying science in a geographical context
science
GC is concerned with..
GC involves FOUR leading edge technologies
GeoComputation is more than just using computers in geography!
BUT
GeoComputation is NOT just about using computers to do arithmetic but its the SCALE or AMOUNT of arithmetic computation that makes it distinctive!
As High Performance Computers become faster and larger so the attractions of developing computational approaches increases its appeal and feasibility
Indeed...it can be argued that until recently computers were nether fast enough or possessed of sufficient memory to make GeoComputation a practical proposition
This is no longer the case!
So by 2000AD it is likely that computer speeds will have increased by..
Do we actually need extra computational power?
they are quite RIGHT!
this is the wrong perspective to apply in an era where HPCs offer 10,000 (soon 100,000 or more) times more that level of performance
Nearly all the models and statistical analysis tools come from an era of either manual calculation or slow-small computers
However..
WE have to be able to demonstrate that if we perform 100,000 or several million times more computation that the benefits are worthwhile!
So... WE need to start to raise AWARENESS about the new opportunities that GeoComputation offers
But WHAT are these OPPORTUNITIES?
Improve legacy models
Improve legacy Statistical Methods
New approaches based on Computational Technologies
Novel Computational Technologies
These can be used in two ways:
GeoComputation is NEW!
Couclelis (1998) GeoComputation’s Five Major Challenges
Criteria for a GeoComputation Research Agenda
Concentrate on the IMPORTANT questions that REALLY MATTER with a high significance factor
A Research Agenda
What we REALLY-REALLY need are a set of GOOD general purpose Geographical Data Mining Tools
But
At present the main problem is ..
due to ..
SPATIAL DATA
AND..
+
More DATA
and
=
A bigger ...
NO.. just a BIGGER GIS database most of which will hardly ever be analyzed or used other than for drawing maps
Indeed
spatial data are being created and stored many times faster than they can be processed!
So the NEED is for (1) user friendly (2)Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis capable of being safely and easily used and understood by people who do not have higher degrees in the statistical or spatial sciences
There are four additional issues:
The SECRET is to develop a GeoComputational Approach to the problem
The results should be visual and expressed as static or animated MAPS rather than as statistics that only a few understand
Also important to make the most of what computational intelligence and AI can deliver in the form of Smart Analysis Methods
Being SMART is not just a matter of methodology but also involves access, usability, relevancy, and result communication factors
The complete novice should be able to perform some sophisticated geographical analysis and get some useful and understandable results on the same day the work started
If these tools are to be created then this is a task outside of GIS or Quantitative Geography
Conclusions
Need something EXCITING and NEW RELEVANT and APPLIED THEORY BASED HAS DEPTH ACCEPTABLE TO OTHERS that can excite new generations of geographers
GeoComputation is ONE way forward in the new millenium
Email: stan@geog.leeds.ac.uk
Home Page: http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/staff/s.openshaw/