SI2-SSE:GeoVisuals Software: Capturing, Managing, and Utilizing GeoSpatial Multimedia Data for Collaborative Field Research

丰富了地理空间坐标的视频、照片和叙述（音频、文本、图形）可用于捕获各种具有挑战性的环境中的空间数据和相关上下文信息。这些数据可以填补没有数据的空白，捕捉短暂或不断变化的信息，并提供超越传统方法的上下文见解，提升当地知识。示例应用程序可能包括霍乱爆发后接种疫苗干预后海地贫民窟的变化，或识别洛杉矶无家可归者营地的模式（及其时间稳定性）。GeoVisuals软件系统和基于web的GeoVisuals数据存储库弥合了研究人员需求的多样性和“在该领域”经常遇到的数据基础设施挑战之间的差距。计算基础设施帮助领域研究人员和决策者捕获、管理、查询和可视化这些大的、动态的数据，以进行探索和分析任务。这些工具的使用跨越了人类学、临床健康学、犯罪学、灾害管理、流行病学、地理学、规划学和社会学等不同学科。GeoVisuals是由学术界、政府各部门和非营利部门的许多领域研究人员合作开发的，并由NSF高级网络基础设施办公室和社会、行为和经济科学理事会（SBE）资助。它作为公共许可软件与用户共享，可以免费访问。GeoVisuals软件由移动数据采集模块、数据传输模块、数据存储与计算模块和可视化分析模块组成。该软件帮助用户：(1)捕获和传输地理空间多媒体数据，从具有先进信息技术基础设施的发达国家到仍然缺乏可靠的互联网接入的国家；(2)当数据规模和维度对非it专业人员构成技术挑战时，管理和探索收集的数据。它允许很容易地合并和查询GPS，视频，音频，叙述等-具有多种输入类型的灵活性；(3)应用定性、定量和空间数据分析与挖掘算法、视觉表示和交互。该软件功能强大，易于使用，使用户能够对地理空间多媒体数据进行信息采集和意义生成。GeoVisuals数据储存库受面向生物医学研究人员的开放存取GenBank的启发，允许现场研究人员通过基于网络的平台共享他们自己的数据并访问分析和可视化功能。该软件和数据存储库促进了与实地研究相关的全球研究人员和教育工作者的研究活动和资助申请。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Videos, photos, and narratives (audio, text, graphics) enriched with geospatial coordinates can be used to capture spatial data and associated contextual information for a variety of challenging environments. These data can fill gaps where no data exists, capture ephemeral or constantly changing information, and provide contextual insights that elevate local knowledge beyond more traditional methods. Example applications might include how a slum in Haiti changes after a vaccination intervention following a cholera outbreak, or identifying patterns of homeless camps (and their temporal stability) in Los Angeles. The GeoVisuals software system and a Web-based GeoVisuals Data Repository bridge the gap between the diversity of researcher needs and data infrastructure challenges often encountered "in the field". The computing infrastructures help domain researchers and decision-makers capture, manage, query and visualize such big, dynamic data to conduct exploratory and analytical tasks. The utilization of the tools spans across disciplines as diverse as anthropology, clinical health, criminology, disaster management, epidemiology, geography, planning, and sociology. GeoVisuals is being developed with collaboration from many domain researchers in academia, various branches of government, and non-profit sectors, and funded by the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and the Directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). It is shared to users as public-licensed software with free access.The GeoVisuals software consists of a mobile data collection module, a data transmission module, a data storage and computing module, and a visual analytics module. The software helps users to: (1) Capture and transfer geospatial multimedia data in a variety of different field settings ranging from developed countries with advanced IT infrastructures, to countries that still lack a reliable access to the Internet; (2) Manage and explore the collected data, when the data scale and dimensions impose technical challenges for non-IT professionals. It allows for the easy merging and query of GPS, video, audio, narratives, and so on - with flexibility for multiple input types; (3) Apply qualitative, quantitative, and spatial data analysis with mining algorithms, visual representations, and interactions. This robust and easy-to-use software enables the users to conduct information foraging and sense making on geospatial multimedia data. The GeoVisuals Data Repository allows field researchers to share their own data and access the analytical and visualization functions through a web-based platform, being inspired by the open access GenBank for biomedical researchers. The software and the data repository advance the research activities and grant applications of worldwide researchers and educators related to field studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.