Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10
E-Research and
GeoComputation
Mark Birkin and Nick Malleson
CONTENTS
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 241
10.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 241
10.2 E-Research Capabilities and Infrastructure ....................................................................... 242
10.3 National E-Infrastructure for Social Simulation ................................................................244
10.4 E-Research Applications and Uses ..................................................................................... 245
10.5 Towards a Decision Support Tool .......................................................................................246
10.6 New Computational Dimensions ........................................................................................ 248
10.7 E-Research and GeoComputation ...................................................................................... 251
10.8 From the Aggregate to the Individual ................................................................................ 251
10.9 Movement from the Deductive to the Inductive ................................................................. 252
10.10 From the Strategic to the Immediate .................................................................................. 255
10.11 Multidimensional Visualisation .......................................................................................... 256
10.12 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 256
References ...................................................................................................................................... 256
ABSTRACT
Recent developments such as grid and cloud computing have led to much more than increased pro-
cessing capability. In the natural and biological sciences, researchers have looked to exploit these
new capabilities by working towards a more collaborative approach to the extraction of value from
large data sets, using experimental methods which can be shared and reproduced. In this chapter,
the features of this new approach to
e-Research
will be discussed with the use of suitable exam-
ples. It will be argued that similar strategies can be of benefit in a geospatial context. A prototype
e-Research infrastructure will be described and example applications of this infrastructure will be
introduced. The final part of the chapter explores ways in which GeoComputation can be enhanced
and extended with the increasing availability of powerful e-Research tools.
10.1 INTRODUCTION
This topic presents an update on progress in the domain of GeoComputation (GC) since the pub-
lication of an earlier collection in 2000. In that time, computer processors have become progres-
sively more powerful, both individually and when combined together (see Adnan et al. (2014)).
This progression has been supported by
new
paradigms of grid and cloud computing, although
the notion of the grid can easily be traced back to more than a decade ago - see Foster et al.
(2001). However, changes in the computational environment have done much more than simply to
create bigger and faster machines. In this chapter, we will suggest that an umbrella term such as
e-Science or e-Research is a better way to conceptualise the technological components that underpin
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