Technology is playing a major role in today’s’ information dissemination. Spatial data publishing through the web has been under continuous development since the start of this century. The same technology used to provide fast, cheap, comprehensive, and pleasant methods for data presentation, can also be utilized to establish community-based methods that could revolutionize the data collection process and lead to a better understanding of our world. Despite these technology advances, community-based data collection techniques are hindered by some practical and technological obstacles, especially if the spatial dimension is considered.  One of the objectives of my research is to establish new techniques for web-based data collection that is supported by, and integrated with, current Geomatics spatial data collection methods such as close range photogrammetry and satellite/airborne imagery.

Many applications utilize information about earth surface objects to enhance our understanding of the world and to contribute to the solution of social, environmental, and economic problems.  Image data collected remotely through advanced sensors and analyzed to extract useful information is one of my current research activities. Such imagery can identify certain plant characteristics that ultimately lead to better plant classification. This concept is demonstrated by using hyperspectral and multispectral imagery to identify different plants for accurate water use estimation, invasive species detection, and studying global warming symptoms.  Understanding the relationships between this data and the socioeconomic aspects of a spatial data analysis scheme is an integral part of my research activities.