On Thursday, June 15, 2023, a total of 10 students in the master’s program in Geoinformatics and Surveying presented the results of their teaching research projects from the “Geo-Government 2” module taught by Prof. Dr. Pascal Neis. Among those invited to the presentations were representatives from the City of Mainz, as well as partners from the State Office for Surveying and Geospatial Information and the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office. Throughout the event, various topics in the field of geoinformatics and geodata analysis were presented.
In the first presentation by Anna-Lena Trapp and Janine Kelkel, titled “Comparison of Spatial-Statistical Reference Units for Municipal and Urban Regions,” various approaches to the spatial division of areas were discussed. The focus was on the differences between municipal and urban regions, and the advantages and disadvantages of various statistical units were highlighted.
In the second presentation, Jaron Theurer and Lennart Westenberger demonstrated the prototypical development of a route planning service for government agencies and organizations with security responsibilities. In addition to the challenges involved in planning and implementation, the presentation placed special emphasis on efficient route planning to conserve resources while reaching the destination as quickly as possible.
In the context of digital storytelling, the third presentation by Johannes Frank discussed the use of maps to visualize crime-related information in Frankfurt. The presentation, titled “Digital Storytelling with Maps: Crime in Frankfurt,” demonstrated how geodata and visualizations can be used to present complex information about crime—using Frankfurt as an example—in an engaging and understandable way.
The fourth presentation by Elena Zentgraf and Sarah Schütz focused on the solar potential cadastre for the city of Mainz. This presentation introduced a prototypical workflow that identifies potential sites for solar energy use in Mainz. The presentation demonstrated how such tools could be used to promote renewable energy and what benefits this would bring.
The fifth presentation, “Applications of ArcGIS Pro’s Deep Learning Tools,” by Mohammadhassan Tavakoligargari and Nima Hazrati, explored the diverse applications of deep learning in the field of geodata analysis. Various machine learning-based tools were presented that enable the identification of complex patterns and relationships in geographic data.
Finally, the sixth and final presentation by Julian Brandstäter addressed the topic “AI for Geodata Processing—Using the Example of Building Geometries in Mainz.” This presentation explored how artificial intelligence can be used for the automatic extraction and processing of building geometries. Using the specific example of Mainz, the presentation highlighted the potential of AI in processing large volumes of geospatial data and the possibilities for optimizing GIS processes.
Many thanks to all the students for their contributions, which made this a thoroughly successful event!
Author: Pascal Neis
