The idea of modeling external influences gets to the root capabilities of geospatial modeling and visualization. There’s a degree of sleuthing involved to truly understand the processes and influences of complex systems — applying spatial analysis to a place to profile the players, their impacts on each other, and the long-term trends of change over time.
Geospatial tools are ideally suited for a deep understanding of place, whether it’s an ecosystem or a complex urban environment. This technology can help us gain the required knowledge about our cities, regions, countries and planet — helping us understand our past and present in order to predict and manager our future.
Peeling Back the Surface
Modeling the layers of the earth, whether natural or man-altered, provides an important understanding of influence. Looking under what’s visible on the surface helps reveal the history of change in a place. The discipline of geology provides the perspective of the deep history and origin of our planet, while archeology similarly unveils ancient civilizations buried by earth processes. Geospatial technology allows us to catalog changes, to amass our knowledge, and uncover insights about our ancestors and back beyond the existence of our species on this planet.
What’s underneath is an important perspective in understanding environmental issues. The legacy of industrial processes and natural resource extraction needs to be traced below ground, uncovering contamination that impacts all species and the viability of future settlements. The movement of water below the surface of the earth transports contaminants, and it’s only through modeling that we uncover the full picture of external influence in order to manage and mitigate harmful impacts.
Observing the Now
With an amassed understanding of processes in a specific place, we can determine the primary actors of change in that spot and begin to monitor them in real time in order to avert adverse outcomes. Geospatial technology provide the means to determine what the primary actors are, and to establish thresholds for change by modeling the various processes. By continuously measuring fluctuations against established norms, we can become more effective stewards.
Without an understanding of impacts before action, we’re constantly in a state of trying to rebuild things that we’ve broken. The maintenance of our planet requires a deeper understanding of natural and man-influenced change, so that we’re incrementally taking care of the fragile balance of nature, and avoiding catastrophic consequences. It’s far easier and the least costly to take care of change over time by developing a deep understanding rather than reacting in order to rebuild.
Predicting Impacts
It’s a difficult task to pull together all known and unforeseen events that will impact a location in order to mold its future. Geospatial technology provides the means to continually build upon what we know, to test constantly various what-if scenarios, and to determine which actions have the desired effects.
Public policy is our primary means to curtail impacts by setting guidelines of human behavior so that our planet can sustain future generations. Geospatial technology provides the hub between scientific observation and policy, so that regulations can be crafted for greatest benefit with constant monitoring to ensure improved outcomes.
The focus on external influence involves the distillation of process in order to identify change agents and to curtail adverse outcomes across time. The growing global impacts of climate change provide the ultimate test of geospatial technology to understand external influences. A deeper analysis of the planet is necessary, particularly in how we generate and consume energy. With these impending and profound changes in our planet, we need a greater understanding of the external influences at different scales of both time and space.
