Event cartography

In this work, the concept of mapping goes beyond the principle of mapping objects which have distinct spatial, temporal and attributive identities as usual in object-oriented systems. The main goal in this study is to present a conceptual model for geo-knowledge. This model can handle real world dynamisms such as relationships amongst objects with each other, objects with events, events with events and the involving processes. This study uses a generic event-oriented perspective to implicitly represent causal relationships among different components of a Spatio-Temporal Information System. From this new perspective, objects in space and time are considered merely as information elements of events, which are connected to other event elements through internal or external processes. Making use of the unique opportunity offered by the concept of Volunteered Geographic Information, a framework was developed to provide the possibility of collecting and storing event related information elements in OpenStreetMap platform. These information elements are recorded in OSM history file by adding new key value pairs adequately designed for handling spatio-temporal and semantic information. The implemented framework enables volunteers and users to map and represent different event elements such as involving objects, event duration, event pattern, and involving participants. To utilize the collected event information, a Volunteered Location Based Service– OpenEventMap– was developed. The service provides users possibility of mining the event database and answering spatial, temporal and attributive queries associated with the proposed event definition. The last part is devoted to change the role of the public from pure sensors in the VGI concept. With this regard, public not only observes environment and collects the information through the senses, but also is able to understand the meaning of the gathered data. For this purpose, an Event Visualization and Analysis Tool (EVT) was developed to increase general awareness of volunteers in spatial analysis and shift their power and influences from a mere data collector to a knowledge producer. This accelerates the transition of mastery from professional cartographers to the public; indeed everybody who can understand the space will be able to collect, analyze, and finally synthesize the spatial knowledge. In this way, VGI can move beyond the raw spatial data to realize Volunteered Geographic Understanding.