Although Norway is a country with rough terrain and a high frequency instable steep slopes, there... more Although Norway is a country with rough terrain and a high frequency instable steep slopes, there is a scarcity of landslide data available. This limits the accuracy of thresholds for early warning systems, and hazard maps, both of which rely on historic event data. There is great potential to supplement existing ground-based observations with automated landslide detection, using satellite imagery and deep learning. In working towards an automated system for landslide detection in Norway, we investigated which imagery types and machine-learning models performed best for detecting landslides in a formerly glaciated landscape.We locally trained a deep learning model with the use of Keras, TensorFlow 2 and U-net architecture. As input data, we used multi temporal composites with Sentinel-1 and -2 image stacks of all available images from one month pre- and post-event. Processed bands included: dNDVI (difference in maximum normalised difference vegetation index) from Sentinel-2, and pre...
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
The study set out to investigate how the experience of creating a map-based participatory system ... more The study set out to investigate how the experience of creating a map-based participatory system might help identify what is needed to support the production of relevant volunteered geographic information (VGI) about urban areas exposed to impacts of adverse weather events in Trondheim, Norway. This article details the systematic approach used to collect VGI, starting from the active engagement of end users during the design and development process of the CitizenSensing participatory system, through using the system in two VGI campaigns, up to the examination of the collected data. Although the VGI examination identified exposed areas in Trondheim, for instance, those that are likely to accumulate surface water from heavy rains or meltwater, the experience gained from the use of the CitizenSensing system helped to identify some critical points regarding the production of relevant VGI. Potential practical implications justify the need for VGI. For instance, in the case of Trondheim, ...
Common operationalpicture (COP) map-based interfacesdisplay operational information to support in... more Common operationalpicture (COP) map-based interfacesdisplay operational information to support integrationofemergency responders. Such interfacesintegrate different subsystems and present the resulting information into an overview for enabling situation awareness. Literature shows that they are often developed from non-user-centric perspectives and are defined in technological terms that arenot adequately capturing the users’ needs. Therefore,theaim of this particular work in progressis to get insight into the features and the role of COP map-based interfaces currently being used in Norway to (1) examine theircontent, functionality, and design;and(2) to understand how such displays are incorporated into the servicecontext.This studystructuresthe knowledge on map displays that constitute part of the COP services.Using workshopand interviews with the developers and usersof existing COP map services, we identify requirements for a common operational symbology and common operational functionality to improvesuch map services andmake them interoperable
Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 2021
ABSTRACT Common operational understanding among engaged emergency responders is facilitated throu... more ABSTRACT Common operational understanding among engaged emergency responders is facilitated through shared operational pictures during crisis situations. Sharing is typically achieved through interactive tools, either desktop or web-based, in which map displays play an essential role. That role can be further strengthened if (1) agreed emergency symbols that are used in map-based interactive tools are sufficient to encode multifaceted operational information visually; and (2) the symbols are legible and meaningful for the diverse users of those tools. The authors revisited official emergency map symbols in use in Norway and reconsidered them against current requirements. To this end, they first conducted several meetings with stakeholders to elicit adequate revision requirements. Next, the reconsideration included the extension of the symbol set, symbol modification, and grouping. After the reconsideration, emergency management officers and specialists were interviewed. The interviews confirmed the agreement with the symbol categorization, extension of the symbols, and their modifications. The interviewees also made numerous suggestions to be considered in a follow-up study. Moreover, two concepts – symbol standardization and symbol harmonization – were proposed.
Scholars of natural resource governance argue that national and local governments must engage ord... more Scholars of natural resource governance argue that national and local governments must engage ordinary community members. When ordinary community members access information about the utilization of natural resource revenue and get an opportunity to provide feedback, the revenue management improves. In this article, the authors engaged Ghanaians through a spatial crowdsourcing platform for their opinion about petroleum management revenue in Ghana. The participants accessed the platform via their mobile phones and completed a survey on their opinions about petroleum revenue management, the Free Senior High School program, and their priority areas for petroleum revenue funding in Ghana. The results suggest that ordinary community members, and particularly women, seemed less informed about the management of petroleum revenue in Ghana. Furthermore, Ghanaians' opinions regarding their prioritized projects for petroleum revenue funding vary geographically. The authors conclude that decision-makers can use spatial crowdsourcing to engage ordinary community members in natural resource revenue management.
The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for... more The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for people with disabilities in Malawi. To accomplish this, we devised a sequential mixed-methods research design that integrated locational survey data and qualitative data from field studies. Our secondary aim was to evaluate this research design not only as a design-solution to our particular research objective, but as a tool with more general applicability within social sciences. Malawi has one of the most underserved health service populations in the world with chronic resource shortages and long travel distances where people with disabilities are at a particular disadvantage. Nevertheless, our results show that even in a resource scarce society such as Malawi it is the interpersonal relationships between patients and health service providers that has the largest impact on the perception of access among patients. Our results also suggest that the sequential mixed-methods design is effective in guiding researchers towards models with strong specifications.
For several years users of standard software for spreadsheets have been able to visualise their t... more For several years users of standard software for spreadsheets have been able to visualise their tabular data as maps due to a new tool: statistical mapping. One such standard software that has imbedded mapping capabilities is Excel. An evaluation of Excel’s functionality for statistical mapping is undertaken. Functionality is herein taken to mean the software’s ability to respond to the user’s needs and aims. The evaluation deals with choropleth mapping, a mapping process, which is broken down into three decisions: the choice of number of classes, the choice of method for class breaks determination, and choice of symbolisation. How the Excel mapping environment performs each of these steps is investigated in comparison with cartographic theory. Finally, some reflections on the influence the democratisation of mapping might have on map design are put forward.
The SAMRISK project “Sharing incident and threat information for common situational understanding... more The SAMRISK project “Sharing incident and threat information for common situational understanding“ (INSITU) commenced in May 2019. The INSITU project develops solutions for establishing a common situational understanding in complex operations requiring collaboration between several agencies. This involves systematic analysis of existing information sources and defining the information elements that are critical to share in different phases of a crisis situation. In addition, the project will develop procedures and related tool support for efficient collection and integration of information. As part of this work, the project contributes to harmonisation of terminology across agencies to secure effective communication. A map-based interface for display of information from different digital map resources will be developed, as a basis for a common operational picture (COP). This solution will also support evaluation and learning from incidents and emergency exercises. Based on a review of related research, the report briefly summarises the state of the art for the areas focused in the project. Through interviews and discussions with emergency stakeholders, field observation during an exercise, and field visits at operations centres, current practice for information sharing and establishing a COP is analysed. Based on the expressed needs from the emergency stakeholders and our analysis of current practice, the report specifies a set of requirements for information sharing, harmonisation of terminology, use of common map resources, and technology support for evaluation and learning from incidents
Although Norway is a country with rough terrain and a high frequency instable steep slopes, there... more Although Norway is a country with rough terrain and a high frequency instable steep slopes, there is a scarcity of landslide data available. This limits the accuracy of thresholds for early warning systems, and hazard maps, both of which rely on historic event data. There is great potential to supplement existing ground-based observations with automated landslide detection, using satellite imagery and deep learning. In working towards an automated system for landslide detection in Norway, we investigated which imagery types and machine-learning models performed best for detecting landslides in a formerly glaciated landscape.We locally trained a deep learning model with the use of Keras, TensorFlow 2 and U-net architecture. As input data, we used multi temporal composites with Sentinel-1 and -2 image stacks of all available images from one month pre- and post-event. Processed bands included: dNDVI (difference in maximum normalised difference vegetation index) from Sentinel-2, and pre...
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
The study set out to investigate how the experience of creating a map-based participatory system ... more The study set out to investigate how the experience of creating a map-based participatory system might help identify what is needed to support the production of relevant volunteered geographic information (VGI) about urban areas exposed to impacts of adverse weather events in Trondheim, Norway. This article details the systematic approach used to collect VGI, starting from the active engagement of end users during the design and development process of the CitizenSensing participatory system, through using the system in two VGI campaigns, up to the examination of the collected data. Although the VGI examination identified exposed areas in Trondheim, for instance, those that are likely to accumulate surface water from heavy rains or meltwater, the experience gained from the use of the CitizenSensing system helped to identify some critical points regarding the production of relevant VGI. Potential practical implications justify the need for VGI. For instance, in the case of Trondheim, ...
Common operationalpicture (COP) map-based interfacesdisplay operational information to support in... more Common operationalpicture (COP) map-based interfacesdisplay operational information to support integrationofemergency responders. Such interfacesintegrate different subsystems and present the resulting information into an overview for enabling situation awareness. Literature shows that they are often developed from non-user-centric perspectives and are defined in technological terms that arenot adequately capturing the users’ needs. Therefore,theaim of this particular work in progressis to get insight into the features and the role of COP map-based interfaces currently being used in Norway to (1) examine theircontent, functionality, and design;and(2) to understand how such displays are incorporated into the servicecontext.This studystructuresthe knowledge on map displays that constitute part of the COP services.Using workshopand interviews with the developers and usersof existing COP map services, we identify requirements for a common operational symbology and common operational functionality to improvesuch map services andmake them interoperable
Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 2021
ABSTRACT Common operational understanding among engaged emergency responders is facilitated throu... more ABSTRACT Common operational understanding among engaged emergency responders is facilitated through shared operational pictures during crisis situations. Sharing is typically achieved through interactive tools, either desktop or web-based, in which map displays play an essential role. That role can be further strengthened if (1) agreed emergency symbols that are used in map-based interactive tools are sufficient to encode multifaceted operational information visually; and (2) the symbols are legible and meaningful for the diverse users of those tools. The authors revisited official emergency map symbols in use in Norway and reconsidered them against current requirements. To this end, they first conducted several meetings with stakeholders to elicit adequate revision requirements. Next, the reconsideration included the extension of the symbol set, symbol modification, and grouping. After the reconsideration, emergency management officers and specialists were interviewed. The interviews confirmed the agreement with the symbol categorization, extension of the symbols, and their modifications. The interviewees also made numerous suggestions to be considered in a follow-up study. Moreover, two concepts – symbol standardization and symbol harmonization – were proposed.
Scholars of natural resource governance argue that national and local governments must engage ord... more Scholars of natural resource governance argue that national and local governments must engage ordinary community members. When ordinary community members access information about the utilization of natural resource revenue and get an opportunity to provide feedback, the revenue management improves. In this article, the authors engaged Ghanaians through a spatial crowdsourcing platform for their opinion about petroleum management revenue in Ghana. The participants accessed the platform via their mobile phones and completed a survey on their opinions about petroleum revenue management, the Free Senior High School program, and their priority areas for petroleum revenue funding in Ghana. The results suggest that ordinary community members, and particularly women, seemed less informed about the management of petroleum revenue in Ghana. Furthermore, Ghanaians' opinions regarding their prioritized projects for petroleum revenue funding vary geographically. The authors conclude that decision-makers can use spatial crowdsourcing to engage ordinary community members in natural resource revenue management.
The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for... more The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for people with disabilities in Malawi. To accomplish this, we devised a sequential mixed-methods research design that integrated locational survey data and qualitative data from field studies. Our secondary aim was to evaluate this research design not only as a design-solution to our particular research objective, but as a tool with more general applicability within social sciences. Malawi has one of the most underserved health service populations in the world with chronic resource shortages and long travel distances where people with disabilities are at a particular disadvantage. Nevertheless, our results show that even in a resource scarce society such as Malawi it is the interpersonal relationships between patients and health service providers that has the largest impact on the perception of access among patients. Our results also suggest that the sequential mixed-methods design is effective in guiding researchers towards models with strong specifications.
For several years users of standard software for spreadsheets have been able to visualise their t... more For several years users of standard software for spreadsheets have been able to visualise their tabular data as maps due to a new tool: statistical mapping. One such standard software that has imbedded mapping capabilities is Excel. An evaluation of Excel’s functionality for statistical mapping is undertaken. Functionality is herein taken to mean the software’s ability to respond to the user’s needs and aims. The evaluation deals with choropleth mapping, a mapping process, which is broken down into three decisions: the choice of number of classes, the choice of method for class breaks determination, and choice of symbolisation. How the Excel mapping environment performs each of these steps is investigated in comparison with cartographic theory. Finally, some reflections on the influence the democratisation of mapping might have on map design are put forward.
The SAMRISK project “Sharing incident and threat information for common situational understanding... more The SAMRISK project “Sharing incident and threat information for common situational understanding“ (INSITU) commenced in May 2019. The INSITU project develops solutions for establishing a common situational understanding in complex operations requiring collaboration between several agencies. This involves systematic analysis of existing information sources and defining the information elements that are critical to share in different phases of a crisis situation. In addition, the project will develop procedures and related tool support for efficient collection and integration of information. As part of this work, the project contributes to harmonisation of terminology across agencies to secure effective communication. A map-based interface for display of information from different digital map resources will be developed, as a basis for a common operational picture (COP). This solution will also support evaluation and learning from incidents and emergency exercises. Based on a review of related research, the report briefly summarises the state of the art for the areas focused in the project. Through interviews and discussions with emergency stakeholders, field observation during an exercise, and field visits at operations centres, current practice for information sharing and establishing a COP is analysed. Based on the expressed needs from the emergency stakeholders and our analysis of current practice, the report specifies a set of requirements for information sharing, harmonisation of terminology, use of common map resources, and technology support for evaluation and learning from incidents
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Papers by Jan Ketil Rød