Spatial Data Quality : From Process to Decisions

This book provides an overview of research in the field of spatial data quality, which looks at understanding, measuring, describing, and communicating information about the imperfections of geographic data used by GIS and other mapping software. It presents results from a number of research projects in this area, from the assessment of data accuracy to legal aspects relating to the quality of geographic information. The international contributors focus on the relationship between the quality of geographic data and the quality of decisions based on such data.

Producing maps that depict the real world accurately has been a major concern of cartographers for centuries. This is especially true today as escalating access to geospatial data and the subsequent increase in user-generated content provided by Web 2.0 have significantly altered the typical processes used to produce, distribute, and use geospatial data.

Focusing on users and decisions as well as the data, Spatial Data Quality: From Process to Decisions provides an up-to-date overview of scientific progress in this core sub-discipline of the Geographic Information Sciences. Presenting results from a number of current research projects in spatial data quality (SDQ) — from the assessment of data accuracy to legal aspects relating to the quality of geographic information — this reference reflects the changes in practice in response to the rapid technological developments over the past decade.

An impressive panel of internationally recognized expert contributors focuses on the relationship between the quality of geographic data and the quality of decisions based on such data. Structured for easy reference, the first section of the book discusses conceptual approaches to SDQ, the second presents a number of applications of spatial data quality methods, the third looks at SDQ issues for remote sensing data, and the final section presents papers that consider the interface between the law and SDQ.

In addition to the main chapters presented in each section, a number of shorter notes present on-going and recent research projects investigating various aspects of spatial data quality.