Geoexpression: A theoretical framework for understanding geographic process concurrency

Davis, Austin V.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117736 Copy

Description

Title

Geoexpression: A theoretical framework for understanding geographic process concurrency

Author(s)

Davis, Austin V.

Issue Date

2022-10-25

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Wang, Shaowen

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Wang, Shaowen

Committee Member(s)

• Hannon, Bruce
• Chang, Kevin
• Diao, Chunyuan

Department of Study

Geography & GIS

Discipline

Geography

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Geographic Process Concurrency
• Geoexpression
• Petri Network
• Geospatial Information Science

Abstract

Geographic information science and systems (GIS), long entrenched in the study of spatial patterns, embraced the high-performance computational revolution to explore the use of geographic simulation models and spatial representation as a means to understand dynamic changes of human-environment interactions. Geographic process representation has grown into a separate ontology within GIS as researchers grappled with the increasingly available computational capabilities. The dynamics of and interactions between geographic processes have been shown to be essential to geographic knowledge discovery; however, the exploration of spatial representation as a means of understanding geographic processes has produced a bifurcated ontology of pattern and process representations. While pattern representation has been a first-class approach that has enabled geographic knowledge discovery, this dissertation takes a new approach to advancing process representation, by formulating a theory of geographic process concurrency and introducing geoexpression as a mechanism to interrogate it, in light of cyber-based GIS (cyberGIS). A dynamic geographic model of White-Nose Syndrome spread is implemented based on geoexpression. The implications of two separate geoexpressions, representing two possible execution structures of a concurrent geographic process, is examined with the effect that these execution structures have on the produced patterns of the simulation model isolated. Then, the way these return patterns converge and diverge in appearance as a variable changes is investigated to demonstrate that single execution structures at best lead to incomplete understanding of the interactions between geographic processes. The dissertation concludes with a discussion on the significance and future of the work.

Graduation Semester

2022-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Austin Davis

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