Arno Scharl - Böcker

The most important attribute of geospatial platforms is their unique potential to aggregate a multitude of public and private geographic data sets, providing access to data from government agencies, industry and the general public. NASA and other organizations have a wealth of planetary science data – representing the output from thousands of satellites in earth-orbit, and from dozens of costly missions to other planets. Benefits derived from both the data and visual interfaces to access the data represent a significant return on investment for the public. Integrating geospatial data with semantic and collaborative Web technology multiplies the public benefits and represents the main focus of this book. The user interfaces of geobrowsers are designed for the layperson, giving conv- ient access to all kinds of geographically referenced information. Geobrowsers hide the technical details related to finding, accessing and retrieving such information. The daunting challenge of the Geospatial Web is to seamlessly integrate and display vastly different information modes. Nowadays, it is not enough to simply display a map of some region; additional dynamic information modes need to be displayed and put into context – from weather sensor readings and live aerial video feeds to daily news updates, photo collections and video archives.

The most important attribute of geospatial platforms is their unique potential to aggregate a multitude of public and private geographic data sets, providing access to data from government agencies, industry and the general public. NASA and other organizations have a wealth of planetary science data – representing the output from thousands of satellites in earth-orbit, and from dozens of costly missions to other planets. Benefits derived from both the data and visual interfaces to access the data represent a significant return on investment for the public. Integrating geospatial data with semantic and collaborative Web technology multiplies the public benefits and represents the main focus of this book. The user interfaces of geobrowsers are designed for the layperson, giving conv- ient access to all kinds of geographically referenced information. Geobrowsers hide the technical details related to finding, accessing and retrieving such information. The daunting challenge of the Geospatial Web is to seamlessly integrate and display vastly different information modes. Nowadays, it is not enough to simply display a map of some region; additional dynamic information modes need to be displayed and put into context – from weather sensor readings and live aerial video feeds to daily news updates, photo collections and video archives.

The Internet and wireless communication networks are transforming the way society handles the explosive growth & the dwindling half-life of environmentally relevant information. How can we leverage new technologies to advocate sustainability & the protection of natural ecosystems? This book presents an interdisciplinary investigation of this question, combining theoretical foundations of environmental online communication with pioneering conceptual work & case studies of successful information systems. Environmental Online Communication addresses the transition to a knowledge-based economy, sheds light on hidden assumptions & misconceptions about environmental issues, & suggests priorities for research and policy development. This volume analyses communicative strategies and processes from four interrelated perspectives: - Raising Environmental Awareness - Environmental Science - Corporate Sustainability - Networks & Virtual Communities Supplemental material is available at: www.ecoresearch.net/springer

Evolutionary Web Development examines the evolution of Web information systems, paying particular attention to the emergent attributes of electronic markets. It identifies four categories of architecture and demonstrates their virtues and limitations: static, interactive, adaptive, and agent-mediated systems.Advanced systems require the developer to truly understand the needs and preferences of customers. As well as such personal attributes, the availability of empirical data about the structure and content of Web information systems is a precondition for their effective assessment. Arno Scharl presents an automated and scalable approach to Web assessment. He emphasizes the role of feedback in an iterative cycle of design, implementation, usage, and analysis.