ABSTRACT
However, certain concepts, functionalities, and methodological issues in Geoinformation Science and supporting sciences in today’s world are not different than what they were several decades ago. For instance, we are still trying to improve our sensor and remote sensing technologies so that we can more precisely capture different aspects of the Earth systems, by increasing spatial and spectral resolutions. We are leveraging advancements in information technology to develop geosensor webs so that data in multiple formats and from dispersed locations and sources can be coalesced to provide a more comprehensive picture and, possibly, more dimensions of the environment or events. We have developed many new tools to analyze and visualize spatial data, but we are still struggling to extract meaningful information from data. In addition, we are contending with the new challenge of dealing with massive amount of data. We are still trying to make GIS and its related tools more user-friendly, with more intuitive procedures and more understandable interfaces, partly through research in cognitive psychology, ontology, semantics, and knowledge. However, the current standards of user-friendliness or usability are not set by GIS professionals but by the general public.
