- GeoComputation
GeoComputation Clarifyme|date=September 2008 is an emergent paradigm for multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary research that enables the exploration of previously insoluble, extraordinarily intricate problems in geographic context.
Introduction
As with any revolution in the sciences, the emergence of a new
paradigm is hotly debated not just by defenders of the old way but also by its first practitioners. Some see GeoComputation as an incremental development rather than something entirely new. Several doubt that GeoComputation will make any real contribution to thescience s. Others view GeoComputation as a follow-on revolution to GIS.Openshaw argues GeoComputation is not just using computational techniques to solve spatial problems, but rather a completely new way of doing
science in a geographical context.Just as
system dynamics is an approach to modelling strongly interactive, highly dynamic systems such as ecological, population, and economic systems, GeoComputation seeks to investigate these problems in their spatial context. These may be seen as complementary approaches to exploring complex social and environmental problems.Application
Much information is inherently spatial in nature: the distribution of population, the movement patterns of migratory animals, location of
natural resources ,crime incidence, the source and areal extent of environmental contamination, the origin and spread ofdisease , the areal extent of natural disasters, etc. Both geographers and non-geographers have assembled massive amounts ofdigital information with spatial attributes. This vast and growing collection of spatial data and the extreme complexity ofgeospatial problems waiting to be explored prompted GeoComputation.Some uses have already been made of
Spatial Decision Support System s. These are an aid to urban and regional planners in their decision making process.External links and references
* [http://www.geocomputation.org/2000/GC006/Gc006.htm The Semantics of GeoComputation]
* [http://www.geocomputation.org GeoComputation.org]
* [http://www.geocomputation.org/what.html What is GeoComputation?] A history and outline
* [http://www.ccg.leeds.ac.uk Centre for Computational Geography] University of Leeds
* [http://www.ifi.uib.no/sd/ System Dynamics Group] Department of Geography, University of Bergen
* [http://www.geosimulation.org/geosim Geosimulation.org]
* [http://ncg.nuim.ie/] National Centre for Geocomputation, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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