Integration of GPS with remote sensing and GIS: Reality and prospect
Jay Gao · Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing · 2002
The advent of the Global Positioning System (GP~) technology has not only enhanced the ease and versatility of spatial data acquisition, but has also diversified the approaches by which it is integrated with remote sensing and geographic information systems (GISS). In this paper the necessity of integrating GPS, remote sensing, and GIs is discussed following their definition. The current status of integration is reviewed under four proposed models: linear, interactive, hierarchical, and complex. Applications of integration are reviewed under three categories: resources management and environmental monitoring, emergency response, and mobile mapping. This paper reveals that linear integration is the most common. Hierarchical integration has found applications in precision farming and environmental modeling. The complex mode of integration is most valuable in diaster mitigation, emergency response, and mobile mapping. With limited cases in hierarchical and complex models, the full potential of integration has not been achieved. The prospects of integration are distributed mobile GISS and location-aware multi-media digital personal assistants. As mobile communications technologies improve, full integration will find more applications in many new fields after removal of the obstacles in integration.