Integration and Implementation of Spatial Information Systems

Author: Li Deren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-03-01
Features: Li Deren, Academician, served as the project leader, and the research team consisted of dozens of professors, associate professors, Ph.D. candidates, and master's students. They conducted in-depth theoretical discussions and a series of experiments on the integration and implementation of spatial information systems. After years of hard work, significant progress has been made. The results have been compiled into over 50 papers, which have been published in domestic and international journals or academic conferences. These papers cover the entire process of earth-space data and information from acquisition, processing, measurement, analysis, management, storage to display and dissemination, contributing to the refinement of the theoretical framework of earth-space information science, the establishment of its technical system, and the formation of its application fields. On this basis, after further refinement and systematization, the book "Integration and Implementation of Spatial Information Systems" was formed. In the past two to three decades, the comprehensive application of modern spatial information technology has seen rapid development, enabling people to obtain a large amount of geometric and physical information about the Earth's surface and its environment in a timely and continuous manner, forming earth-space data and information flows, which in turn has led to the emergence of earth-space information science and technology systems. In this technology system, the fundamental and core technology is "3S" technology and its integration. The term "3S" refers to the Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS), and Remote Sensing (RS). Without the development of "3S" technology, it would be impossible for the Earth in its dynamic state to enter computer networks in a digital form. "3S" integration refers to the organic integration of the aforementioned three earth-observing technologies and other related technologies. The integration here is the Chinese translation of "integration," meaning an organic combination, online connection, real-time processing, and systematic overall nature. The integration of GPS, GIS, and RS can be achieved at different technical levels. "3S" integration includes airborne "3S" integration and ground-based "3S" integration. Airborne "3S" integration: It achieves direct earth observation using an air-to-ground positioning model, primarily aimed at directly localizing, reconnaissance, guiding, and measuring aerospace remote sensing information under conditions without ground control points (or with a small number of ground control points). Ground-based "3S" integration: Vehicle-mounted, shipborne positioning and navigation, as well as real-time operations such as locating, tracking, and measuring ground targets. Although the term "3S" has become widely recognized, integrating spatial positioning technology (primarily referring to GPS technology), remote sensing technology, and geographic information system technology into a unified system is a highly challenging task both theoretically and practically. Even in developed countries, it is still in its early stages, while in China, it is primarily still in the stage of theoretical exploration. Given this context, to keep pace with international developments in this field and leveraging the achievements of Wuhan University of Technology in the past decade—such as GPS-assisted aerial triangulation, domestic GIS software Geostar, and real-time stereo photogrammetry using CCDs—supported by the National Key Laboratory of Surveying, Remote Sensing, and Information Engineering, the project "Integration Theory and Key Technologies of Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems, and Global Positioning Systems" was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Led by Academician Li Deren, the research team consisted of dozens of professors, associate professors, Ph.D. candidates, and master's students, who conducted in-depth theoretical discussions and a series of experiments on the integration and implementation of spatial information systems. After years of hard work, significant progress has been made: (1) A series of achievements have been made in the integration theory and key technologies between GIS and RS, GPS and RS, and GPS and GIS. (2) Effective theoretical and practical work has been carried out on the overall integration of GPS + RS + GIS and GPS + GIS + CCD. (3) Extensive pioneering work has been done in spatial information fusion, the formation and association of spatial concepts, spatial knowledge discovery, and data mining, all of which play a crucial role in promoting the integration of spatial information systems. These achievements have been compiled into over 50 papers, which have been published in domestic and international journals or academic conferences, covering the entire process of earth-space data and information from acquisition, processing, measurement, analysis, management, storage to display and dissemination, contributing to the refinement of the theoretical framework of earth-space information science, the establishment of its technical system, and the formation of its application fields. On this basis, after further refinement and systematization, the book "Integration and Implementation of Spatial Information Systems" was formed. The book is broadly divided into five parts. In the introduction, the earth-space information science and technology system is primarily elaborated, along with the theoretical and key technologies of "3S" technology and its integration as its fundamental technical core. Since spatial information fusion, the formation and association of spatial concepts, spatial knowledge discovery, and data mining are important methods or means in the integration and implementation of spatial information systems, chapters 2 to 4 provide detailed introductions. From chapter 5 to chapter 8, the book explores "3S" integration issues, mainly covering: vehicle positioning and automatic navigation, as well as the collection of road information and other environmental information; the application of GPS dynamic phase differencing technology in aerial photogrammetry for groundless aerial triangulation; the rapid discovery of spatial object changes using RS and GIS data, while also enabling rapid updates to GIS databases; discovering knowledge from GIS data to assist in remote sensing data processing; vehicle-mounted GPS, GIS, and CCD (including other surveying and mapping sensors) integrated systems, etc. Integrated database technology based on spatial positioning technology, remote sensing technology, and geographic information system technology is one of the hot topics in spatial information integration. It includes the unified storage and management of GPS data, RS data, and GIS data, as well as the creation of navigation digital image maps using remote sensing data and 3D visualization models based on data integration. Chapter 9 is dedicated to introducing these aspects. The final chapter discusses earth-space data frameworks, which are just beginning to be explored internationally but are a topic of discussion, elaborating on their relationship with "3S" and introducing our work in this area. It can be seen that the book "Integration and Implementation of Spatial Information Systems" is a crystallization of collective wisdom and the result of years of hard work by dozens of professors, associate professors, Ph.D. candidates, and master's students. Among them, Academician Li Deren is not only the main leader of the entire research but also meticulously conceptualized and organized the book. Professor Guan Zequn completed the book under his guidance. Dr. Chen Xiaoming, Professor Zhong Sidong, Professor Gong Jianya, Professor Yuan Xiuxiao, and Dr. Di Kaichang also played important roles in the completion of the book. The publication of this book was supported by Ren Xiang of Wuhan University of Technology Press, and thanks are extended to him here. Through relentless efforts, China has achieved many outstanding results in the field of spatial information system integration, cultivating a large number of highly qualified middle-aged and young academic backbones and contributing to the development of the discipline. However, we must clearly recognize that due to significant gaps in sensors, computers, communications, and overall national strength compared to advanced countries, it will take a considerable amount of time for certain aspects of spatial information system integration to overcome the lag behind international advanced levels. We must strive to narrow this gap and make our own contributions to China's economic construction, national defense, and social development.