19^th International CODATA Conference
Category: Data Visualization

Visualization and Sustainable Development  Decision Making

E. Siekierska (Eva.Siekierska@NRCan.gc.ca)
Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

This paper will address the issues related to the effective visual communication in the Internet environment of integrated geospatial information and related knowledge for sustainable development decision making.  An important aspect of facilitating comprehension of large complex volumes of geospatial data is through effective cartographic representation and interactive visualization techniques. The results of the research, carried out within the Natural Resources Department of the federal government of Canada will be presented. Some visualization techniques have been developed within the Mapping Services Branch, Earth Sciences Sector, in cooperation with the Culture, Language, Elderly and Youth Department,  of the Territorial government of Nunavut.  The aim was to effectively disseminate via Internet the information  about newly created territory to the general audience based on geospatial information available in the federal government. Other techniques are being developed within recently initiated program called Sustainable Development through Knowledge Integration (SDKI) program. The aim of Visualization project carried out within the SDKI program is the development and/or implementation of effective representation techniques capable of translating complex geospatial information into a form that readily communicates sustainable development scenarios to various user groups, in particular to the policy and decision makers. Visualization tools, in particular web-based, multi-user interfaces and dynamic, interactive information visualization techniques, will facilitate access to information, integration of multi-source data, hypothesis testing, and communication of integrated knowledge.

http://maps.nrcan.gc.ca/visualization
http://maps.nrcan.gc.ca/iqaluit