Distributed GIS
Distributed GIS refers to GI Systems that do not have all of the system components in the same physical location. This could be the processing, the database, the rendering or the user interface. It represents a special case of distributed computing, with examples of distributed systems including Internet GIS, Web GIS, and Mobile GIS. Distribution of resources provides corporate and enterprise-based models for GIS. Distributed GIS permits a shared services model, including data fusion based on Open Geospatial Consortium web services. Distributed GIS technology enables modern online mapping systems, Location-based services, web-based GIS and numerous map-enabled applications. Other applications include transportation, logistics, utilities, farm / agricultural information systems, real-time environmental information systems and the analysis of the movement of people. In terms of data, the concept has been extended to include volunteered geographical information. Distributed processing allows improvements to the performance of spatial analysis through the use of techniques such as parallel processing.
Etymology
The term Distributed GIS was coined by Bruce Gittings at the University of Edinburgh. He was responsible for one of the first Internet-based distributed GIS. In 1994, he designed and implemented the World Wide Earthquake Locator, which provided maps of recent earthquake occurrences to a location-independent user, which used the Xerox PARC Map Viewer, managed by an interface based in Edinburgh, which drew data in real-time from the National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado, USA. Gittings first taught a course in Distributed GIS in 2005 as part of the Masters Programme in GIS at that institution.Types
Parallel computing in GIS
is the use of multiple CPU’s to execute different sections of a program together. The terms "concurrent computing," "parallel computing," and "distributed computing" do not have a clear distinction between them. Parallel computing today involves the utilization of a single computer with multi-core processors or multiple computers that are connected over a network working on the same task. In the case of Distributed GIS, parallel computing using multi-core processors on the same machine would be where the line starts to blur between traditional desktop GIS and distributed. When done in different locations, it is much clearer. As parallel computing has become the dominant paradigm in computer architecture, mainly in the form of multi-core processors, this is important to mention.Today, there are many examples of applying parallel computing to GIS. For example, remote sensing and surveying equipment have been providing vast amounts of spatial information, and how to manage, process or dispose of this data have become major issues in the field of Geographic Information Science. To solve these problems there has been much research into the area of parallel processing of GIS information. This involves the utilization of a single computer with multiple processors or multiple computers that are connected over a network working on the same task, or series of tasks. The hadoop framework has been used successfully in GIS processing.
Organization GIS
Enterprise GIS
refers to a geographical information system that integrates geographic data across multiple departments and serves the whole organisation. The basic idea of an enterprise GIS is to deal with departmental needs collectively instead of individually. When organisations started using GIS in the 1960s and 1970s, the focus was on individual projects where individual users created and maintained data sets on their own desktop computers. Due to extensive interaction and work-flow between departments, many organisations have in recent years switched from independent, stand-alone GIS systems to more integrated approaches that share resources and applications.Some of the potential benefits that an enterprise GIS can provide include significantly reduced redundancy of data across the system, improved accuracy and integrity of geographic information, and more efficient use and sharing of data. Since data is one of the most significant investments in any GIS program, any approach that reduces acquisition costs while maintaining data quality is important. The implementation of an enterprise GIS may also reduce the overall GIS maintenance and support costs providing a more effective use of departmental GIS resources. Data can be integrated and used in decision making processes across the whole organisation.
Corporate GIS
A corporate Geographical Information System, is similar to Enterprise GIS and satisfies the spatial information needs of an organisation as a whole in an integrated manner. Corporate GIS consists of four technological elements which are data, standards, information technology and personnel with expertise. It is a coordinated approach that moves away from fragmented desktop GIS. The design of a corporate GIS includes the construction of a centralised corporate database that is designed to be the principle resource for an entire organisation. The corporate database is specifically designed to efficiently and effectively suit the requirements of the organisation. Essential to a corporate GIS is the effective management of the corporate database and the establishment of standards such as OGC for mapping and database technologies.Benefits include that all the users in the organisation have access to shared, complete, accurate, high quality and up-to-date data. All the users in the organisation also have access to shared technology and people with expertise. This improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation as a whole. A successfully managed corporate database reduces redundant collection and storage of information across the organisation. By centralising resources and efforts, it reduces the overall cost.
Internet GIS
Web GIS
Mobile GIS
Cell phones and other wireless communication forms have become common in society. Many of these devices are connected to the internet and can access internet GIS applications like any other computer. These devices are networked together, using technology such as the mobile web. Unlike traditional computers, however, these devices generate immense amounts of spatial data available to the device user and many governments and private entities. The tools, applications, and hardware used to facilitate GIS through the use of wireless technology is mobile GIS. Used by the holder of the device, mobile GIS enables navigation applications like Google Maps to help the user navigate to a location. When used by private firms, the location data collected can help businesses understand foot traffic in an area to optimize business practices. Governments can use this data to monitor citizens. Access to locational data by third parties has led to privacy concerns.With ~80% of all data deemed to have a spatial component, modern Mobile GIS is a powerful tool. The number of mobile devices in circulation has surpassed the world's population with a rapid acceleration in iOS, Android and Windows 8 tablet up-take. Tablets are fast becoming popular for Utility field use. Low-cost MIL-STD-810 certified cases transform consumer tablets into fully ruggedized yet lightweight field-use units at 10% of legacy ruggedized laptop costs.
Although not all applications of mobile GIS are limited by the device, many are. These limitations are more applicable to smaller devices such as cell phones and PDAs. Such devices have small screens with poor resolution, limited memory and processing power, a poor keyboard, and short battery life. Additional limitations can be found in web client-based tablet applications: poor web GUI and device integration, online reliance, and very limited offline web client cache.
Mobile GIS has a significant overlap with internet GIS; however, not all mobile GIS employs the internet, much less the mobile web. Thus, the categories are distinct.
CyberGIS
CyberGIS, or cyber geographic information science and systems, is a term used to describe the use of cyberinfrastructure, to perform GIS tasks with storage and processing resources of multiple institutions through, usually through the World Wide Web. CyberGIS focuses on computational and data-intensive geospatial problem-solving within various research and education domains by leveraging the power of distributed computation. CyberGIS has been described as "GIS detached from the desktop and deployed on the web, with the associated issues of hardware, software, data storage, digital networks, people, training and education." The term CyberGIS first entered the literature in 2010, and is predominantly used by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and collaborators to describe their software and research developed to use big data and high-performance computing approaches to collaborative problem-solving.CyberGIS Supercomputer
In 2014, the CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received a National Science Foundation major research instrumentation grant to establish ROGER as the first cyberGIS supercomputer. ROGER, hosted by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, is optimized to deal with geospatial data and computation and is equipped with:- approximately six petabytes of raw disk storage with high input/output bandwidth;
- solid-state drives for applications demanding high data-access performance;
- advanced graphics processing units for exploiting massive parallelism in geospatial computing;
- interactive visualization supported with a high-speed network and dynamically provisioned cloud computing resources.