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The article describes the methodology of archaeological research on the hill of Chotyniec in southeastern Poland. An important part of the research project was the discovery and investigation of an object called Zolnik, which served as a cult site and hosted ritual community festivals. The research methodology presented in the article deviates significantly from previous methods and places particular emphasis on accurate documentation of findings using geoinformation systems. The goal is to enable more comprehensive interpretations of the Zolnik objects and thus contribute to a better understanding and more comprehensive reconstruction of this type of object. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: After each weather front with gales all over Poland, firemen have to perform a few hundred or so interventions. The life of persons covered by a specialistic treatment -- home mechanical ventilation HMV -- depends upon stable supplies of electricity. In case of breakdowns, indispensable aid is given by firemen who deliver generating sets available in Rescue and Firefighting Units (RFU). Aim of the study: Analysis and a statistical presentation of interventions of fire protection units to support the correct operation of home medical machines in case of temporary power failure. Material and methods: Data obtained from the Decision Support System of the State Fire Service (SFS DSS), made available to the authors by the Operational Planning Bureau at the Headquarters of the State Fire Service. In graphical presentations utilized were materials from the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, Law on Geodesy and Cartography, viz. Database for Topographic Objects, National Register of Borders. Medical data consistent with the purpose of the study were collected from the analysis of reports compiled by the person in charge of a rescue action of the State Fire Service, which is not the leading service in medical interventions. Results: In 2015--2021 were 1490 local hazards in which case it was necessary to support the operation -- in most cases of ventilators for home use among people requiring ventilator-based therapy. The data show a constantly rising trend, the number of such actions increased by 64.29% -- from 163 to 276 [mean (M) = 215.86, standard deviation (SD) = 66.35]. The average waiting time for undertaking intervention in these types of events was 910.68 seconds (15 min, 10 s). Conclusions: A significant element of rescue actions are volunteer fire brigade squads for being better deployed in rural areas, provided with generating sets; they can ensure faster an emergency electricity source. Persons in charge of a rescue action should draw up the medical part of a report more accurately (concerning the victim and the disease entity) while performing qualified first aid procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main issues of the management of electrical grids. Selected information technology tools supporting electrical grids maintenance are presented. In electrical infrastructure maintenance of power companies, geographic information systems are increasingly used to support the management of their resources. Their functionalities in terms of creating comprehensive databases for the electrical infrastructure of the power sector are described. The important information technology tools regarding spatial systems for supporting maintenance and operation management electrical grids and the conditions of their implementation are presented. This paper also attempts to present an innovative multidimensional evaluation of the technical and economic benefits resulting from the use of modern information technology tools for the management of energy infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main issues of the management of electrical grids. Selected information technology tools supporting electrical grids maintenance are presented. In electrical infrastructure maintenance of power companies, geographic information systems are increasingly used to support the management of their resources. Their functionalities in terms of creating comprehensive databases for the electrical infrastructure of the power sector are described. The important information technology tools regarding spatial systems for supporting maintenance and operation management electrical grids and the conditions of their implementation are presented. This paper also attempts to present an innovative multidimensional evaluation of the technical and economic benefits resulting from the use of modern information technology tools for the management of energy infrastructure.

Exploring computational intelligence, geographic information systems and statistical information, a creative and innovative model for urban evolution is presented in this paper. The proposed model employs fuzzy logic and artificial neural network as forecasting tools for describing the urban growth. This dynamic urban evolution model considers the spatial data of population, as well as its time changes and the building usage patterns. For clustering the spatial features, fuzzy algorithms were implemented to represent different levels of urban growth and development. Then, these fuzzy clusters were modeled by the multi-layer neural networks to estimate the urban growth. Based on this novel intelligent model, the current state of development of Tehran's population and the future of this urban evolution were evaluated by empirical data and the achieved outcomes were detailed in qualitative charts. The input data-set includes four censuses with five-year intervals. Tehran's demographic evolution model forecasts the next five years with an overall accuracy of 81% and Cohen's kappa coefficient up to 74% beside the qualitative charts. These performance indicators are higher than the previous advanced models. The primary objective of this proposed model is to aid planners and decision makers to predict the development trend of urban population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of objects, situations, or locations in the environment can be productive, useful, or even life-critical for mobile augmented reality (AR) users. Users may need assistance with (1) dangers, obstacles, or situations requiring attention; (2) visual search; (3) task sequencing; and (4) spatial navigation. The omnidirectional attention funnel is a general purpose AR interface technique that rapidly guides attention to any tracked object, person, or place in the space. The attention funnel dynamically directs user attention with strong bottom-up spatial attention cues. In a study comparing the attention funnel to other attentional techniques such as highlighting and audio cueing, search speed increased by over 50 percent, and perceived cognitive load decreased by 18 percent. The technique is a general three-dimensional cursor in a wide array of applications requiring visual search, emergency warning, and alerts to specific objects or obstacles, or for three-dimensional navigation to objects in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays the mining companies use the Spatial Information System in order to facilitate data management, gathered during the mining activity. For these purposes various kinds of applications and software information are used. They allow for faster and easier data processing. In the paper there are presented the possibilities of using the ArcGIS system to support the tasks performed in the mining industry in the scope of the analysis of the influence of the mining tremors, induced by the longwall exploitation on the facilities construction sited on the surface area. These possibilities are presented by the example of the database developed for the coal mine KWK “Rydułtowy-Anna.” The developed database was created using ArcGIS software for Desktop 10. 1. It contains the values of parameters, specified for its implementation relevant to the analyses of the influence of the mining tremors on the surface structures.

Nowadays the mining companies use the Spatial Information System in order to facilitate data management, gathered during the mining activity. For these purposes various kinds of applications and software information are used. They allow for faster and easier data processing. In the paper there are presented the possibilities of using the ArcGIS system to support the tasks performed in the mining industry in the scope of the analysis of the influence of the mining tremors, induced by the longwall exploitation on the facilities construction sited on the surface area. These possibilities are presented by the example of the database developed for the coal mine KWK “Rydułtowy-Anna.” The developed database was created using ArcGIS software for Desktop 10. 1. It contains the values of parameters, specified for its implementation relevant to the analyses of the influence of the mining tremors on the surface structures.

Exploring computational intelligence, geographic information systems and statistical information, a creative and innovative model for urban evolution is presented in this paper. The proposed model employs fuzzy logic and artificial neural network as forecasting tools for describing the urban growth. This dynamic urban evolution model considers the spatial data of population, as well as its time changes and the building usage patterns. For clustering the spatial features, fuzzy algorithms were implemented to represent different levels of urban growth and development. Then, these fuzzy clusters were modeled by the multi-layer neural networks to estimate the urban growth. Based on this novel intelligent model, the current state of development of Tehran’s population and the future of this urban evolution were evaluated by empirical data and the achieved outcomes were detailed in qualitative charts. The input data-set includes four censuses with five-year intervals. Tehran's demographic evolution model forecasts the next five years with an overall accuracy of 81% and Cohen's kappa coefficient up to 74% beside the qualitative charts. These performance indicators are higher than the previous advanced models. The primary objective of this proposed model is to aid planners and decision makers to predict the development trend of urban population.

Floods are a natural phenomenon that has always been and will pose a threat to people's life and health, their property and the environment. Total elimination of the flood is impossible, but the current state of knowledge enables the use of the available tools in order to reduce the scale of these threats. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology of identification of the areas of hindered flow of water, located in the immediate vicinity of rivers. The proposed methodology is based on a study of the land cover. The developed algorithm of land cover spatial data processing for the local flood risk mapping implements GIS tools. Verification of the developed method was carried out on the example of selected rivers in Poland, only one of which is covered by the plans of flood risk management and causes periodic floodings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficiently operating cadastral system may provide the basis for all processes for the purposes of rational and effective property management. The cadastre existing in Poland originates from the 13th century’s tradition of land management. However, the work on the construction of an IT cadastral system was only initiated with the issuance of Regulation on the Land and Property Register in 1996. The implementation of its provisions resulted in errors visible in the cadastral documentation up to the present day. Currently, the Land and Property Register i.e. a public register serves the function of the cadastre in Poland. Regulation of 1996 initiated the stage of transition of (both descriptive and graphic) documents from analogue forms to digital data carriers. Most often, this was done by means of scanning or digitisation of the existing resources. As demonstrated by earlier studies, the process often failed to include the updating of maps and the verification of the compliance of the descriptive part of the Register Documentation with its graphic part. Moreover, significant inconsistencies were observed between the data originating from the Land and Property Register and the Land and Mortgage Register i.e. a register of rights to properties. Low accuracy of the cadastral data, and the incompleteness of sets of spatial data about cadastral objects create a significant barrier to the construction of a modern cadastral system in Poland. This study constitutes the analysis for the construction of a multidimensional cadastre in Poland, and to identify the groups of problems associated with its implementation. Based on detailed analyses of regulation and conducted case studies, a possibility was indicated for a gradual evolution of cadastral data from the 2D dimension to 3D. The study considered technical and legal conditions of designing cadastral systems worldwide. The proposed solution offers an opportunity to accelerate the construction of a cadastral system which is an effective tool of property management policy in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revitalization is a set of urban and planning activities, coordinated by local self-government administration, aim of which is a social, architectural, planning and economical advantageous transformation of the specific area of the municipality, being in a state of crisis resulting from economic and social factors. Whereas, the renewal of the countryside is understood as shaping the living conditions of people in rural areas, with the local community as an animator and subject. The combination of revitalization and renewal of rural areas is a particularly important and urgent task, connected with rural and architectural chaos, decline of cultural context and local tradition. The aim of the article is to examine information needs for the renewal and revitalization of rural areas, and the possibilities of satisfying these needs using available spatial information systems. The first part of the paper contains an analysis of information needs in the field of renewal and revitalization of rural areas, created on the basis of literature and valid legal provisions. The created information resource illustrates the scope of data necessary for proper planning of renewal and revitalization of rural areas. In the second part, specific information needs were compared with the capabilities of existing spatial information systems. The possibility of obtaining free of expense information necessary for renewal and revitalization of rural areas was analysed. Systems which may be useful in the implementation of related activities are also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For 10 years Poland, as a member of the European Union, has been implementing the EU's cohesion policy aimed at reducing the disparities in the social, economic and spatial development. The article is an analysis of the importance of cohesion policy instruments in the development of regional spatial information systems in Poland during the first 10 years of its membership in the EU. The identification of regions which capitalized on the opportunity given by the EU is provided and the level and structure of the EU funds used for that purpose are described. In conclusion, the effectiveness of activities related to the implementation of the cohesion policy, in the context of the development of Regional Information Systems in Poland, was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People use spatial and nonspatial information to structure memory for an environment. Two experiments explored interactions between spatial and social categories on map memory when mediated by retrieval (Experiment 1) and encoding (Experiment 2) demands. Participants studied a map depicting business locations (including proprietors' race). In Experiment 1, participants completed two memory tasks, one globally focused and the other locally focused. The global task compressed, while the local task expanded, within-category similarity. Furthermore, processing styles carried over to the subsequent task. Experiment 2 emphasized either the spatial or social category during encoding, which increased that category's weighting in memory. These results extend the work of Maddox, Rapp, Brion, and Taylor, suggesting that retrieval and encoding demands can shift how these categories affect spatial memory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

3D city models are of interest for various reasons like urban planning, environmental simulations of urban climate and noise pollution, disaster simulations, virtual tourism, virtual-heritage conservation, etc. To create and update large-scale 3D city models efficiently, automated approaches to 3D reconstruction are in great demand. Aside from efficiency, reliability and flexibility are of crucial importance. The derived reconstruction results should be reliable in that they correspond to the observed buildings in both their geometry and their structural topology. Flexibility should ensure the derivation of 3D reconstructions for the most common urban building structures without being limited in descriptive power to only some specific building types. To ensure efficiency, reliability, and flexibility of automated 3D building reconstruction, we propose an approach that combines two paradigms. First, we employ the fusion of information derived from different sensors and map data from a geographic information system. Second, we employ a semantic and component-based approach to model and reconstruct complex buildings. The derived geometrical and semantic building description is utilized within a spatial information system to support spatial and semantic queries for the maintenance and updating of the derived 3D city models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a prototype application - Spatial Visualization Tool (SVT), that can be used to visualize data from different kinds of Business Information Systems and external sources such as the Internet and document bases in the form of an interactive map. The concept of the paper is based on the assumption that all business data can be visualized in a way analogous to geographic maps. The manner of such a visualization can be very legible and facilitate business decision-making when it comes to analyzing large amounts of data. The first part of the paper introduces the reader toselected aspects of Geographic Information Systems methodology and briefly presents the algorithm of SVT. The second part explains the theoretical algorithm of acquiring data and performing a spatial visualization. The last section of the paper covers the practical example of SVT application to select candidates for a job. The prototype tool was constructed using Microsoft Excel with Visual Basic for Applications. We also present the idea to extend the functionality of SVT using semantic Web technologies for recognizing data sources and types to facilitate the automation of data visualization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data acquired from the spatial information system Silva-SI, the majority of the entire forest area in Slovenia (22,220 forest compartments with a total area of 7446km2, classified into eight forest categories) was analysed for changes in the distribution of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in the period 1975–2005 using a binary logistic regression model in terms of selected site, stand and management variables. Additionally, changes in the abundance of beech in forest stands in which beech was present at the beginning and the end of the analysed period were analysed. Beech expanded its area by more than 1200ha per year on average, i.e. the annual expansion rate amounted to 0.24%. Among the 18 studied variables, three site, four stand and no management variables were included in the binary logistic regression model of beech expansion. Beech expansion was more pronounced at lower altitudes, on sites with steep topography, and on sites with a higher proportion of beech in potential natural vegetation. The probability of beech expansion reduced by a factor of 0.54 when the distance to the nearest compartment with beech increased by 1km. Among other stand variables, the proportion of early successional phases and the proportion of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) also influenced the expansion of beech. During the observed period the growing stock of beech almost doubled, its proportion in total growing stock increasing from 27% to 32%. Significant differences were found in changes of beech proportion in the total growing stock among different forest categories; a decrease in the beech proportion was registered in alpine coniferous forests and thermophilous deciduous forests, while in other forest categories the proportion of beech increased. The recent development of forest stands and their current structure indicate a further expansion of beech and an increase in the proportion of beech in forest stands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Because of the spatiotemporal scales involved and the logistical constraints in collecting landscape-level data, spatially explicit simulation models have become important tools in ecological and biogeographical studies conducted over broad extents. Here we review the methods used and some of the applications of landscape-level models of succession and disturbance dynamics. Mechanistic and stochastic models are compared and contrasted and the development, over the last 15 years, of spatial landscape models of ecological change is discussed. Coarse-grained spatial landscape models are compared with finer-grained individual-based approaches (eg, forest gap models). Management and monitoring applications of landscape models are considered alongside a discussion of the appropriate use of models in this context. A key area where spatial landscape models of the type described here need to develop is improved integration with the social sciences – both in terms of the parameters and the processes that the models incorporate. Finally issues related to scale and scaling are outlined and, in particular, the utility of methods for linking ecological models operating at disparate scales (eg, forest gap models versus landscape models) is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction with natural or urban environments creates numerous situations where it is relevant to have access to further information that we cannot perceive by direct observation through our senses. Augmented Reality (AR) technologies allow real time superimposition of synthetic objects on real images, providing an augmented knowledge about the surrounding world. Users of an AR system can visualize the real surrounding world together with additional data generated in real time in a contextual way.This paper presents the ANTS project, which carries out the development of an AR technological infrastructure that can be used to explore physical and natural structures, namely for environmental management purposes. The system''s architecture has a flexible design based on a client-server model, where several independent, but functionally interdependent modules are articulated. Therefore, modules can be moved from the server side to the client side or vice versa, according to the client processing capacity. Several applications have been developed and are also discussed in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Australia today, there is still relatively limited use being made of spatial information systems (SIS). Nevertheless, the technology and methodology is developing rapidly. What is already available has the capacity to assist in the process of making social service provision and community planning more people oriented, more effective and more equitable in its outcomes. Recognising the need for a sound social science context, this paper demonstrates, using a range of examples especially geared towards rural and regional Australia, the work of the National Key Centre for Social Applications of Geographical Information Systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]