Advances in Marine Information Systems in East Asia

摘要

Marine environment has always been an important issue as 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans. Many international institutions and learned societies have dedicated commissions or working groups to this topic. These include International Cartographic Association (ICA), International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), Federation Internationale des Geometres, or International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), International Association of Geodesy (IAG), and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). It has been well recognized that the future of the 21 st century belongs to the ocean. Some researchers even claim that the ocean is the area to "captivate the public and to serve the pragmatic interests as vital as the military," while creating vast opportunity for jobs and investments (Dobson 1995). However, studies that involve the marine environment have been at a disadvantage due to an almost complete lack of accurate marine base maps, as most of the hydrographic maps have been constructed a long time ago for navigational purpose (Wright and Goodchild 1997). In recent years, more attention has been paid to marine mapping in many countries. The Pacific Sea-Floor Mapping program by the USGS (USGS 2004) is a good example. To produce hydrographical maps for marine environment, a number of issues are of great concern. These include the datum, measurement technology, and data processing and presentation technology. This special issue aims to cover the development of these areas in the context of East Asia (including Australia).