Special Issue "Spatial Data Infrastructures, Cyberinfrastructure, and e-Science for GIScience"

Guest Editor
Prof. Sergio Rey
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, PO Box 875302, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Website: http://geoplan.asu.edu/rey
E-Mail: srey@asu.edu
Phone: +408 965-7433
Fax: +408 965-8313
Interests: open source geocomputation; spatial econometrics; spatial data analysis; economic geography; integrated multiregional modeling; regional science

Guest Editor
Mr. Michael P. Finn
Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS), U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, Mail Stop 510 Denver, CO 80225, USA
Website: http://cegis.usgs.gov/
E-Mail: mfinn@usgs.gov
Phone: +303 202-4544
Interests: high-performance computing and scientific applications for digital geospatial data; in geodesy, spatial coordinate systems, and map projections; in quantitative approaches to imaging in environmental modeling and Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and in data integration and generalization for GIS

Dear Colleagues,

Recent developments in geospatial and related technologies are having profound impacts on the field of geographic information science. This special issue takes stock of these impacts through contributions from leading GIScientists working at this scientific-technological interface. An overriding goal of this special issue will be to bring much needed clarity to the broadly defined and rapidly evolving areas of SDI, cyberinfrastructure, and e-Science to provide focus and guidance to GIScientists who want to make use of stirring new developments in Information and Communication Technology such as high speed networks, high performance computing, and distributed collaborative environments.

Prof. Sergio Rey
Mr. Michael P. Finn
Guest Editors

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• spatial data infrastructures
• cyberinfrastructure
• e-Science
• geocomputation
• geovisualization
• geospatial workflows and workbenches
• data collection and acquisition
• data structures and algorithms
• spatio-temporal databases
• spatial analysis, data mining, and decision support systems
• visualization theory and technology in real and virtual environments
• cartography
• location based services
• uncertainty handling in spatial data
• topology
• geo-telematics
• interoperability and open systems
• applications of geoinformation technology (all possible domains)

Title: Big Landscapes and Big Data: Relationships between e-Science and Ecology
Authors: Sheldon L. Kallio ^1,2, Troy L. Davis ^1,3, Yolanda F. Wiersma ¹,*
Affiliations: ¹ Department of Biology, Memorial University, St. John’s NL, A1B 1L6, Canada; E-Mail: ywiersma@mun.ca (Y.F.W.)
² Current affiliation: Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada
³ Current affiliation: National Parks Service, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, USA
Abstract: Web 2.0 citizen science projects are proliferating and may be a rich source of data for researchers. Natural history projects, particularly those that involve bird watching (e.g., eBird) are among the largest online citizen science projects. eScience endeavors may have advantages in generating observations of species across wider spatial and temporal extents than an individual researcher is able to survey. However, there is uncertainty as to how reliable such observations are in terms of their accuracy and completeness. Amateur scientists may not provide complete information, and their observations may be inaccurate in terms of identification. Lack of directed sampling protocols may yield problems when using the data to address research or management questions. We illustrate issues around data completeness and data utility in eScience via two case studies. The first compares bird sightings recorded using traditional field methods to records in three eScience datasets. The second uses a Web 2.0 database (eBird) and a more traditional citizen science data set (the Breeding Bird Survey) to build models to address the issue of managing bird strikes around airports. We conclude that Web 2.0 data are not always representative of reality and must be applied to management and research questions with caution.
Keywords: bird observations; bird strike models; citizen science; data completeness; data utility; eBird