GIS and Remote Sensing

Biography

Biography: Xinhang Shen

Abstract

GIS as a powerful tool has gained a significant popularity recently as big data are gathered and analyzed spatially. Efficiently retrieving data and map for any specific area is getting more attention as people are losing patience quickly. Current methods defining the bounding rectangle of an area of interest with four real numbers are hurting the user as these numbers are long to input, difficult to remember and communicate and nearly impossible to digest. A new scheme to solve the problem is proposed which can use one short unified code to specify any bounding rectangular area or any location in the world. This new approach will not only improve the efficiency in typing, but more significantly streamline the representations of all areas and locations in the world for all GIS and location applications from urban planning, resources management, environment protection, worldwide postal/courier services, navigation, and emergency services for all people speaking different languages. Even more significant change is that human beings are entering a new era of using accurate spacetime obtained from their spacetime watches/smartphones for their daily activities. Thanks to GPS and the easy-to-remember, easy-to-communicate and easy-to-digest representation of the area and location, a revolution with more impact than the introduction of accurate time-keeping watches in the industrial revolution.