Geography 292: Geospatial Analysis with Web GIS

Chapter 6:

(Spatiotemopral data and real-time GIS)

loT = The network of physical objects, or things, embedded with sensors and network connectivity that emable these objects to collect and exchange data.

^ Think smart cities and homes

ArcGIS velocity allows use of feed items, real-time analytic items, and big data analytical items.

Poll methods = traditional approach in which a client peridocially polls the server to retrieve the latest data.

Push method = New way to serve data in near real time using the HTML5 Websocket Protocol.

Chapter 6 Notes, Comments, and Questions:

1. Spatiotemporal data includes observations of events, objects, etc. that move and change through time. This data has 4 categories:
   1. Moving, Discrete (something happens at a time/place), Stationary (still, but values change), and Change (growth)
   2. Time values can be a point in time or a duration of time
2. IoT: a network of physical objects embedded with sensors and are network connected to enable these objects to collect/exchange data
   1. Smart cities: uses IoT to supply info that will assist in managing the city assets and resources better (and smart homes)
3. Velocity and GeoEvent Server
   1. Ingest: compatible with many sources and forms of data (Communication component)
   2. Process: Processes the data received from the ingest component. It can provide filters and real-time analysis.
   3. Output: Send the processed data to a variety of destinations
   4. Velocity items: feed items (sensor input receiver), real-time analytics, big data analytics
   5. Delivery (server to client): Polls (ex: retrieves data every 30 seconds) or Push (serve data in real-time)
4. Dashboards: common view of systems and resources you manage
   1. Arcade in dashboards: expression can be used as a data source and used to control control over the looks of a dashboard
5. Mission: real-time communications and situational awareness product that helps with the coordination of movement and communication among an organization.
   1. Manager (web app, organizes missions), Responder (communication), Server (links manager and responder)
6. Animating Time Series Data
   1. Time series: a sequence of data points captured over intervals of time
   2. Animating data lets you visualize it at each interval
   3. To do this you can use a time-enabled web layer, add it to a web map, and create an app from the web map

Chapter 6 Application: 

• My idea for an application for this chapter is an animated time series on how freshwater usage has changed over time. The data (CSV) I have is from Our World in Data and it tracks freshwater usage around the world from 1962 to 2019. I believe this would fall in the change category for spatiotemporal data because it shows how usage changes over time. I would create a time series map and I would also like to try to include a dashboard  to visualize some different charts, lists, and statistics with the map if I feel it is appropriate for this data

Real-time GIS is used to handle objects and events that move, appear, and change through time.

• Spatiotemporal data comes from many sources, ranging from manual data entry to data collected using observational sensors or generated from simulation models.
• Real-time GIS refers to GIS that handles current and continuous data, which can be the latest position, altitude, speed, direction, temperature, pressure, concentration, or water level of various sensors and other objects.
• IoT is the network of physical objects, or things, embedded with sensors and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

ArcGIS Velocity introduces new types of items to ArcGIS, including feed items, real-time analytic items and big data analytic items.

The temporal nature of real-time data allows you to establish a time series or intervals of time and you can:

• Display discrete events, such as crimes, accidents, and diseases, over time.
• Visualize the value change at stationary objects, such as air-quality sensors and weather stations.
• Map the progression of a wildfire, flood, land use, or environmental change over time.
• Replay the events of an emergency, review when and how different departments responded, and learn from the past to improve emergency management and responses.

Using the information/tutorial from this chapter, I could create a display showing change over time or create a web map with real-time layers. For example, I could potentially gather data from the cameras that overlook the main jaywalk crosswalk and create a web map with real time data of it to track incidents. I’d be interested to see if this could be used to gather data about the number of cars that run red lights or fail to yield to students at other crosswalks.

This chapter focuses on the significance of real-time GIS, especially in the context of data generated by mobile devices, sensor networks, smart cities, and the IoT. It introduces ArcGIS products like ArcGIS Velocity, ArcGIS Dashboards, and ArcGIS Mission for addressing real-time data challenges.

Key terms related to spatiotemporal data and IoT are discussed, emphasizing their role in various applications, including smart cities and smart homes.

ArcGIS Velocity, a SaaS platform on ArcGIS Online, is introduced for real-time and big data analytics. ArcGIS Dashboards provide real-time monitoring capabilities in law enforcement, environmental protection, and social media analysis.

ArcGIS Mission is a real-time geospatial communications and situational awareness product for emergency response and security operations.

Using new techniques from this chapter, I could respond to changes in the job market by collecting real-time job-related data and using ArcGIS Velocity to process the data. I would also employ real-time analytics to identify trends and correlations.

WEEK 4

• Spatiotemporal data can be categorized into the following groups: moving (lives feeds of airplanes, buses, cars, trains, etc.), discrete (criminal incidents, earthquakes, geotagged social media feeds), stationary (wind speed and direction measurements at weather stations, highway and traffic speed, water levels at stream gauges), and change (perimeters of wildfires, flooded areas, land use and cover) 
• Real time GIS handles current and continuous data, which can be the latest position, speed, altitude, direction,  temperature, pressure, concentration, or water level of various sensors and other objects. It can provide better situational awareness, enhance emergency response, and support decision making. 
• Point in time- refers to time values that are typically stored in a single attributes field (lightning strike)
• Duration of time- refers to time values that are typically stored in two fields, one for the start time and the other for end time. (wildfires)
• Time measurement systems- time can be expressed in many units, such as in years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds
• Time reference systems- time zones and rules for daylight savings time (GMT, UTC) 
• Time representations- how the date and time is written (11/07/2023)
• Temporal resolution- refers to the time interval in which events are sampled (weather report stations report temp. Every 15 mins) smaller temporal intervals will result in larger data sizes and larger temporal intervals will result in lower temporal resolution
• IoT is the network of physical objects embedded with sensors and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data. Enterprise IoT applications include smart cities, infrastructure management, environment quality monitoring, etc. Consumer IoT applications include connected cars, connected health, and smart homes
• ArcGIS Analytics for IoT and GeoEvent Server share similar basic components: 1.) Ingest- interacts with various data sources. It provides ways to communicate with IoT platforms, sensor networks, social networks, etc. 2.) process- this component processes real time data received and translated by the ingestion component. It also uses real-time filters that remove events that do not satisfy specified criteria. 3.) outputs- sends processed data to a variety of destinations. 
• ArcGIS Analyitics is a real-time and big data processing and analysis capability of ArcGIS Online. It includes the following: 1.) feed items- allow users to receive sensor inputs. 2.) real time analytic items- allow users to perform real-time processing of these inputs. 3.) big data analytic items- allows users to access and analyze big data repositories of historical observations. 
• Poll and Push methods: 1.) Poll- the traditional approach in which a client periodically polls the server to retrieve the latest data. 2.) Push- the new way to serve data in near real time using the HTML5 WebSocket Protocol. 
• Using the information provided in Ch. 6, I could create an app to illustrate the student body population change over time at OWU. To do this, I would find records of the student body population for each year, then enter that data into a file and upload it. I would then add the title, tags, and ensure that the correct time zone is selected and the PopDate is recognized as a Date field and a Time Field. I would then animate the time-series data so that an illustration demonstrates the rise/fall patterns of student enrollment at OWU up to 2023. This could be useful for OWU enrollment staff to see trends on attendance at the school, and to help enhance the methods the school uses to promote students to come and stay here. It may also be interesting for prospective students to see the trends of the school as well. 

Chapter 3 Notes, Comments, and Questions:

1. What can experience builder do?
   1. HTML and Java scripts without programming
   2. Out-of-the-box widgets (can be used, remixed, and configured)
   3. 2D and 3D web apps work across many platforms
   4. Different flexible layouts
   5. Widgets respond to other widgets
2. How do you use it?: Workflow
   1. Template, select theme, select source data, configure widgets, refine layouts, save, preview, publish, and share
3. Basic Components
   1. Page = foundation (consists of header, footer, and body)
   2. Window = complimentary to page (only has body content)
   3. Outline view that lists all widgets on page
4. Widgets
   1. Basic: functional, perform as app tools (ex: map, legend, etc.)
   2. Layout: organize widgets on your layout window (ex: section, column, row, etc)
   3. Customizable widget settings: there are 3 categories (Content, Style, and Action)
   4. 2 groups of Widgets:
      1. Message Actions: These have 3 components (triggers, targets, and action)
      2. Data Actions: These do things like exporting records to a file (for example)
5. 3 Editions of Experience Builder
   1. Embedded in ArcGIS Online
      1. This edition does not allow for custom widgets.
   2. Embedded in Portal for ArcGIS
   3. Developer edition
      1. Developer Edition has the greatest extended functionality.
      2. You can create, deploy, and use custom widgets.

 

Chapter 4: Comments, Notes, Questions:

1. Mobile GIS (concepts and advantages):
   1. Mobility
   2. Location Awareness (GPS, Cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.)
   3. Ease of Data Collection
   4. Near Real-Time Info (Spatial and Temporal Data)
   5. Large Volume of Users (More Accessible)
2. Mobile GIS Devices/Usage
   1. Smartphones, Tablets, Watches, etc.
   2. Mobile OS (Andriod, iOS, Windows)
   3. Wireless Communication Technology
   4. Positioning Technology (Satellite, Network-Based, etc)
3. Trade-off: Mobile devices are less powerful, slower, and have less memory and battery, but are more portable and accessible.
4. Feature Layer Views
   1. You can create a hosted layer that mirrors/references your original layer so users can edit and the public will automatically see those changes 
   2. Survey123 will automatically create these behind-the-scenes views
5. Feature Templates: defines types of data items that users can add to a layer
   1. Data Integrity: prevents users from entering invalid values
   2. Ease of Editing: presents make it easier to know what type of data you are using
6. Mobile App Development Strategies
   1. Browser-based: less costly, quicker, can only access a limited amount of device features
   2. Native-based: apps you download and install, deep-level access, faster, more expensive, can’t run on multiple platforms
   3. Hybrid-based: combo of native and browser-based
7. ArcGIS Native Apps 
   1. Field Maps (Mapcentric)
      1. Plan and coordinate fieldwork, owner can configure projects and attachment types, dispatchers create/prioritize assignments and send out deadline reminders, mobile workers use the app to process and do work
      2. You can also track and capture the locations of mobile users
   2. Survey123 (Formcentric)
      1. Smart Survey w/ dropdowns
      2. Store results in hosted feature layer (online and offline data collection)
      3. 2 ways to design smart forms:
         1. Web Designer: quick, simple, not all smart features available
         2. Connect: more advanced questions and features, desktop app, can pull from outside data sources
   3. Quick Capture
      1. Made to capture data from a moving vehicle
      2. Send/update data in real-time
      3. Very minimalistic interface
   4. Indoors Mobile App: indoor mapping for things that are going on with/in your organization’s indoor environment
   5. Companion
      1. App to access your ArcGIS organization, content, and profile
      2. Perform administrative tasks and search/browse content on the go
8. VR, AR, and other frontiers
   1. LBS: offered through mobile devices (considers location in use). 
   2. VGI: spatial data produced voluntarily by citizens
      1. Survey123 is best for this type of data collection (doesn’t require an account)
   3. VR: simulation of 3D Map/Environment (replaces reality)
   4. AR: an enhanced version of reality (overlay reality)
      1. Tabletop and World Scale ArcGIS toolkits can help implement AR

Chapter 3 and 4 Application: 

1. For an application for Chapter 3, I would use Experience Builder I would create an app that centers on mineral resources throughout the world. I would create a map of these primary mineral resources and possibly one for the secondary resources or compound type for these places as well. I would add a chart widget that you could configure to show how much of each ore was present in certain regions, a list widget of regions and their resources the user could sort, and another page with common uses for the resources. 
2. For the application for Chapter 4, I was thinking of creating a smart survey in Survey123 to be used around Campus. I could be used to report things that need maintenance to buildings and grounds. You could submit photos of the broken thing, provide contact info, specify what type of maintenance needs to be done, etc.

Chapter 3:

• There are two types of widgets. Basic widgets are functional and perform as app tools. Layout widgets are used to organize basic widgets in pages or windows.
• There are two categories of widget actions: Message actions listen to triggers and perform actions automatically, and Data actions provide users with a list of actions to perform that can all be selected.
• It is exciting that there is an entirely different site, other than the app creator, that can be used to display information in a different way. I didn’t realize that ArcGIS Online was so diverse.

Chapter 4:

• Mobile devices can be beneficial for pinpointing locations in the field.
• Users can access through browsers, apps on their mobile devices, or a mixture of both.
• The biggest benefit to using mobile devices alongside ArcGIS Online Apps is the use of location finders to have accurate location data in the field (especially in places where you can’t bring a computer to the field).
• Unfortunately, the camera on my phone is broken so I wasn’t able to finish the tutorials for this section, but it seemed relatively simple.

Possible Applications:

• Any situation where data needs to be taken in the field can find a use for the content of these chapters. Especially in situations where the data is location-specific.

Chapter 3:

Experience Builder has the following workflow for creating web experiences: Pick a premade template or start from scratch, select a theme, add source data, add and configure widgets, refine layouts for all devices, save, and publish.

Basic components: A widget is a JavaScript and HTML component that encapsulates a set of focused functions. Experience Builder provides two types of widgets: basic and layout. Basic widgets include map, legend, layers, query, filter, edit, chart, elevation profile, survey, and more. Layout widgets include sections, columns, rows, fixed panel, sidebar, and more.

The next part of this chapter runs through a tutorial with step-by-step instructions, so it helps to have the book right by you while completing it.

Chapter 4:

Mobile GIS Benefits: Mobility, location awareness, ease of data collection, near-real-time information, large volume of users, versatile means of communication

There are several ways that Mobile ArcGIS can be utilized, including planning and coordinating fieldwork, indoor and outdoor operations, and various mobile app development strategies. The book once again has descriptions of each step you need to follow if you are completing an assignment.

 

 

 

Assign: Read and complete GTKWGIS Chapters 3 & 4 ArcGIS Experience Builder and ArcGIS Web AppBuilder. Create a new blog entry with comments, notes, and questions on these readings. 

Chapter 3 focused on the experience builder and you can configure the app without having to program. It is supposed to be flexible and help the user who needs more functions.  To create a web experience using experience builder you need to select a premade template or create one, add a theme, add source data, configure widgets, and refine the layout. 

Chapter 4 was more of how mobile webGIS can be used to benefit us than using a desktop version that had immobility, connectivity  issues. Mobile GIS is built on some technologies and has grown and invented new ideas. Some of those include wireless communication technology and the satellite internet services like the SpaceX Starlink plan. Others are mobile devices and mobile operating systems. Some mobile positioning technologies are Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and GSM. 

These two chapters provide a comprehensive introduction to modern applications, with a particular focus on Mobile GIS. The first chapter emphasizes the features of the Experience Builder, such as basic and layer widgets.

The second chapter takes us into the idea for Mobile GIS. This chapter explores the advantages of Mobile GIS, such as mobility and real-time information. It introduces various Esri mobile apps, including ArcGIS Field Maps, Survey123, QuickCapture, and AuGeo, tailored for different data collection purposes. Additionally, it covers important concepts like Location-Based Services (LBS), Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) within the context of mobile GIS.