Search

Low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), widely known as drones, have become ubiquitous and improved considerably in their technical capabilities and data quality. This opens new opportunities for their utilisation in scientific research that can help to reduce equipment and data collection costs. Remote sensing methods in ecological fieldwork can be a suitable approach to complementing, augmenting or even replacing certain aspects of fieldwork. In this study we tested the suitability of UAV for the detection of salmonid spawning grounds in two lakes in Iceland, Thingvallavatn and Ellidavatn. Salmonids are very susceptible to environmental changes, especially during embryonic development when highly oxygenated water flow and low temperatures are required. Monitoring the changes of the redd density over time will help understand the population dynamics of salmonid species and create strategies for species conservation. As part of this pilot study, we conducted aerial surveys during the spawning seasons in both locations in 2018 recording standard photographs in the visible spectrum (red, green, blue) to fully cover the respective areas of interest. Different flight altitudes were recorded to test the effects of image resolution on the final analyses. The images were then processed by applying standard remote sensing analyses in the software ENVI. The maximum likelihood classification combined with post-classification improvement methods resulted in satisfactory accuracies that are valuable for further monitoring efforts. From these findings we established a workflow that allows the implementation of UAV in ecological fieldwork for regular long-term observations. We discuss our experiences with regards to their utility, their limitations and identify future directions of research for implementing the potential that low-cost approaches have in supporting ecological studies of freshwater ecosystems.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the socioeconomic gradient of birthweights in England with reference to the prescriptive INTERGROWTH-21st Birthweight Standard. DESIGN: National cross-sectional study using data from Hospital Episode Statistics. SETTING: National Health Service in England. PARTICIPANTS: All singleton babies, live born between 34 weeks' gestation and 42 weeks' gestation, between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Birthweight distribution of babies with a birthweight of 90th centile, that is, small for gestational age (SGA) or large for gestational age (LGA) using Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles as a proxy for socioeconomic status. RESULTS: Of 508 230 babies born alive between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012, 38 838 (7.6%) were SGA and 81 026 (15.9%) were LGA. Median birthweight was 3405 g, median z-score was 0.25 (SD 1.06). Birthweight z-score demonstrated a social gradient, from 0.26 (SD 1.1) in the most deprived areas to 0.53 (1.0) in the least deprived. Women in the most deprived areas were twice as likely to have SGA babies using the INTERGROWTH-21st chart (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.87 to 2.01) compared with those in the least deprived areas. If all women had the same rate of SGA equivalent to those living in the least deprived areas, approximately 12 410 (30%) fewer babies would be born SGA in England each year. CONCLUSIONS: This study gives a measure of the social gradient in singleton SGA and LGA babies across England using an international standard of newborn size at birth.

Wilderness is normally visualised using conventional mapping approaches showing the least touched spaces on the planet. Because most of the world’s population lives in very limited spaces, this is a useful method of representation. The effects of human action, however, go much further than that, resulting in much of the land area being relatively close to humankind while the remotest and ‘wildest’ spaces are very little areas on a normal map. This chapter looks at alternative ways to visualise the most remote parts of the land area: by deploying a so-called gridded cartogram transformation to data about the (in)accessibility of a place, the resulting cartograms reveal the areas and the extent of the remotest spaces in a much less common way. Gridded cartograms are created by using an equally distributed grid onto which a density-equalising cartogram technique is applied. Each individual grid cell is resized according to its the average travel time to the nearest larger city. This technique is not only applied to the global scale, but also to regional and national-level data. The results are maps that give the remotest places most space and provide a unique and highly visual perspective on the spatial dimension of remoteness.

Current GIS and mapping techniques are highly technologically driven. With advances in the capabilities especially of online mapping platforms but also advanced geovisualization applications for considerably enhancing digital maps, the map has turned into an advanced digital product that goes far beyond the capabilities of a printed paper map. However, digital mapping practices often remain a mere technical challenge while the wider implications of this digital turn for cartographic practice are less discussed. What is needed is a new approach to rethinking cartographic principles in the digital era.

This paper highlights and critically reflects on some of the most significant technological and societal influences on GIScience over the last 20 years, or since its inception. For the purpose of this book, which in the following chapters begins to sketch out likely paths for future directions of GIScience, one conclusion of this chapter can be taken for granted: In the next 20 years again significant external factors from technology and society will shape GIScience. This paper summarizes the discussions related a panel on the topic at the 2015 Vespucci Institute. The panel in Bar Harbor, moderated by Stephan Winter, included two invited presentations (by Xavier Lopez and Francis Harvey), and responses by two early career panelists (Benjamin D. Hennig and Myeong-Hun Jeong), and by two senior panelists (Tim Trainor and Sabine Timpf).