CARTOGRAPHIC REQUIREMENTS FOR VISUALIZATION AND PROCESSING OF REAL-TIME DATA

H.A. Asamer, M.M. Mayer, A.R. Riedl

University of Vienna, Department of Geography and Regional Research, Vienna, Country

michael.mayer@univie.ac.at

Today we are living in a world which is spinning faster and faster and time has become a scarce good. Saving time is up-to-date and an inevitable virtue. Therefore economy of time accounts for a rapid availability of geo-information. Consequently a first-class real-time data visualization has to be one of the aims of modern cartography. Real-time data visualization stands for demand-oriented editing (if necessary) and visualization of geo-data directly after its acquisition or its availability. The main focus lies on data, which is continuously updated within a specified interval. Since every data update causes several work steps, all parts regarding the data processing should be fully automated. If this isn't possible, there won't be real-time data visualization as stated above. Real-time data visualization can be used for almost every topic imaginable, although not every subject is suitable.

The paper shows recent developments in real-time data management and tries to show possible applications and solutions. In the beginning there is an introduction to relevant topics connected to real-time data. Which real-time data is suitable for which scale and which level of detail? This and more questions shall be solved in the first part of the presentation. Another important part is the creation of a workflow to create animations in real-time from weather satellite data, e.g. for visualization on an 3D globe (tactile hyperglobe). In this part the whole processing steps from acquiring the data to the final visualization should be explained. A further part will be the presentation of a vessel-tracking application. This application was developed in the course of a research project at the Department of Geography and Regional Research (University of Vienna) to display all forms of mobile vessel fleets. Aim of this project was to visualize all relevant real-time driven data (airplanes, ships, fleet vehicles) on different scales. The presented solutions from live weather-data to real-time tracking should be considered from the view of cartography or geovisualization and GIS. Cartographic rules and standards have to be adapted to real-time systems. This is a challenge for the future, to ensure quality for these highly dynamic map related expressions. Currently real-time data is being used in several LBS systems and projects (e.g. NAVIO, GiMoDig) where users can get position or attribute information from other users.

The topics covered are:

* Characteristics of real-time data visualization

* Forms of real-time data visualization

* Cartographic guidelines

* Methodology of real-time data management

* Demonstration of different examples

The aim of the presentation will be to give insight into the fascinating field of real-time data visualization a new involving subfield of cartography.