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Uncertain Environmental Variables in GIS

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of GIS

Synonyms

Accuracy; Attribute and positional error in GIS; Error; Monte Carlo simulation; Object oriented; Probability theory; Spatial accuracy assessment; Spatial data quality; Taylor series

Definition

Environmental variables are inherently uncertain. For example, instruments cannot measure with perfect accuracy, samples are not exhaustive, variables change in partially unpredictable ways, and abstractions and simplifications of the real world are necessary when building computer models. While these imperfections are frequently ignored in GIS analyses, the importance of developing “uncertainty-aware” GIS has received considerable interest since the beginning of GIS. Assessing and communicating uncertainty is important for establishing the value of data as an input to decision making, for judging the credibility of decisions that are informed by data, and for directing resources toward improving data quality. In this context, uncertainties in data propagate through GIS analyses and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Group, Wageningen University and ISRIC World Soil Information, Wageningen, Netherlands

    Gerard B. M. Heuvelink

  2. Hydrologic Solutions Limited, Southampton, UK

    James D. Brown

Authors
  1. Gerard B. M. Heuvelink
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  2. James D. Brown
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerard B. M. Heuvelink .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Shashi Shekhar

  2. Rutgers Business School, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Hui Xiong

  3. The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Xun Zhou

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Heuvelink, G.B.M., Brown, J.D. (2016). Uncertain Environmental Variables in GIS. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H., Zhou, X. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23519-6_1422-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23519-6_1422-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23519-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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