{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,24]],"date-time":"2025-10-24T13:06:54Z","timestamp":1761311214511,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]],"date-time":"2017-02-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1486512000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The automated development of spatial analysis workflows is one of the envisioned benefits of Web services that provide geoprocessing functionality. Automated workflow development requires the means to translate a user objective into a series of geographic information system (GIS) operations and to evaluate the match between data and operations. Even though full automation is yet out of reach, users benefit from formalized knowledge about operations that is available during workflow development. This article presents user support during workflow development based on a recent approach to extended operation descriptions. User support thereby focuses on the discovery of operations across GIS tools and the validation of chains of spatial analysis operations. The required knowledge about operations is stored in a knowledge base, which builds on an approach called geooperators and extends the geooperator approach with a data-type ontology for describing the interfaces of geooperators and for expressing constraints of geooperator inputs. The advantages of the knowledge base are demonstrated for the construction of a multi-criteria decision making workflow. This workflow contains a set of pre-processing tasks for the input datasets and eventually the calculation of a cost distance raster. A critical discussion of the complexity of the knowledge base and a comparison with existing approaches complement this contribution.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi6020040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,10]],"date-time":"2017-02-10T05:27:09Z","timestamp":1486704429000},"page":"40","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Coupling Knowledge with GIS Operations: The Benefits of Extended Operation Descriptions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7078-3766","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Hofer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Papadakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stephan","family":"M\u00e4s","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Professorship Geoinformatics, Technische Universit\u00e4t Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.3233\/SW-2012-0070","article-title":"The Digital Earth as knowledge engine","volume":"3","author":"Janowicz","year":"2012","journal-title":"Semant. Web IOS Press"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gore, A. (1998). The Digital Earth: Understanding Our Planet in the 21st Century, California Science Center. Speech at the California Science Center.","DOI":"10.1080\/00050348.1998.10558728"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1080\/17538947.2011.638500","article-title":"Digital Earth 2020: Towards the vision for the next decade","volume":"5","author":"Craglia","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Digit. Earth"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1007\/s12145-015-0229-z","article-title":"Towards intelligent GIServices","volume":"8","author":"Yue","year":"2015","journal-title":"Earth Sci. Inform."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"819","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9671.2007.01076.x","article-title":"Requirements for next generation spatial data infrastructures-standardized web based geoprocessing and web service orchestration","volume":"11","author":"Kiehle","year":"2007","journal-title":"Trans. GIS"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Al-Areqi, S., Lamprecht, A.-L., and Margaria, T. (2016, January 4\u20137). Constraints-driven automatic geospatial service composition: Workflows for the analysis of sea-level rise impacts. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications, Beijing, China.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-42111-7_12"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envsoft.2013.09.006","article-title":"Meaningful spatial prediction and aggregation","volume":"51","author":"Stasch","year":"2014","journal-title":"Enviorn. Model. Softw."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envsoft.2012.09.006","article-title":"Integrated environmental modeling: A vision and roadmap for the future","volume":"39","author":"Laniak","year":"2013","journal-title":"Environ. Model. Softw."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bacao, F., Santos, M.Y., and Painho, M. (2015). AGILE 2015, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-16787-9"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2267","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2012.722637","article-title":"Core concepts of spatial information for transdisciplinary research","volume":"26","author":"Kuhn","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"1980","article-title":"Modeling spatiotemporal information generation","volume":"30","author":"Scheider","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s10707-006-7635-9","article-title":"Ontology-Based descriptions for semantic discovery and composition of geoprocessing services","volume":"11","author":"Lutz","year":"2007","journal-title":"Geoinformatica"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1007\/s10707-009-0093-4","article-title":"Functional description of geoprocessing services as conjunctive datalog queries","volume":"15","author":"Fitzner","year":"2011","journal-title":"Geoinformatica"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Qi, K., Gui, Z., Li, Z., Guo, W., Wu, H., and Gong, J. (2015). An extension mechanism to verify, constrain and enhance geoprocessing workflows invocation. Trans. GIS.","DOI":"10.1111\/tgis.12152"},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Brauner, J. (2015). Formalizations for Geooperators\u2014Geoprocessing in Spatial Data Infrastructures. [Ph.D. Thesis, Technische Universit\u00e4t Dresden]."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"124","article-title":"Descriptions of spatial operations\u2014Recent approaches and community feedback","volume":"10","author":"Hofer","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Spat. Data Infrastruct. Res."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"694","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2016.1227441","article-title":"Towards a knowledge base to support geoprocessing workflow development","volume":"31","author":"Hofer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"World Wide Web Consortium (2013). SPARQL 1.1 Recommendation, World Wide Web Consortium."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2219","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi4042219","article-title":"Processing: A python framework for the seamless integration of geoprocessing tools in QGIS","volume":"4","author":"Graser","year":"2015","journal-title":"ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Di, L. (2004, January 22\u201324). GeoBrain\u2014A web Services based geospatial knowledge building system. Proceedings of the NASA Earth Science Technology Conference, Palo Alto, CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2012.01.023","article-title":"GWASS: GRASS web application software system based on the GeoBrain web service","volume":"47","author":"Qiu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"25","article-title":"GeoPW: Towards the geospatial processing Web","volume":"Volume 5886","author":"Yue","year":"2009","journal-title":"Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2011.11.031","article-title":"GeoPWTManager: A task-oriented web geoprocessing system","volume":"47","author":"Sun","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1109\/MCSE.2012.61","article-title":"Using service-based GIS to support earthquake research and disaster response","volume":"14","author":"Wang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Sci. Eng."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1334","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi3041334","article-title":"The RichWPS Environment for Orchestration","volume":"3","author":"Bensmann","year":"2014","journal-title":"ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Open Geospatial Consortium (2015). OGC WPS 2.0 Interface Standard, Open Geospatial Consortium. OGC Document 14-065."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Open Geospatial Consortium (2012). Semantic Annotations in OGC Standards, Open Geospatial Consortium. OGC Best Practices."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sarjakoski, T., Santos, M.Y., and Sarjakoski, L.T. (2016). Geospatial Data in a Changing World, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-33783-8"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1109\/MIC.2006.106","article-title":"Integrating semantic and syntactic descriptions to chain geographic services","volume":"10","author":"Lemmens","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Internet Comput."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"Lutz, M., Lucchi, R., Friis-Christensen, A., and Ostl\u00e4nder, N. (2007, January 29\u201330). A rule-based description framework for the composition of geographic information services. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on GeoSpatial Semantics, Mexico City, Mexico."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Scheider, S., and Tomko, M. (2016, January 6\u20139). Knowing whether spatio-temporal analysis procedures are applicable to datasets. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS 2016), Annency, France.","DOI":"10.3233\/978-1-61499-660-6-67"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"204","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compenvurbsys.2013.06.003","article-title":"Disaster planning using automated composition of semantic OGC web services: A case study in sheltering","volume":"41","author":"Farnaghi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Comput. Environ. Urban Syst."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2006.09.003","article-title":"Semantics-based automatic composition of geospatial Web service chains","volume":"33","author":"Yue","year":"2007","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"K\u00fcster, U., Stern, M., and K\u00f6nig-Ries, B. (2005, January 1). A classification of issues and approaches in automatic service composition. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Engineering Service Compositions (WESC05), Amsterdam, The Netherlands."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"921","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9671.2012.01328.x","article-title":"UncertWeb processing service: Making models easier to access on the web","volume":"16","author":"Jones","year":"2012","journal-title":"Trans. GIS"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2011.10.023","article-title":"Availability of the OGC geoprocessing standard: March 2011 reality check","volume":"47","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2015.05.017","article-title":"Hierarchical profiling of geoprocessing services","volume":"82","year":"2015","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Miles, A., and Bechhofer, S. (2009). SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Reference. Recommendation, World Wide Web Consortium."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Albrecht, J. (1996). Universal GIS-Operations\u2014A Task-Oriented Systematization of Data Structure-Independent GIS Functionality Leading Towards a Geographic Modelling Language, ISPA\u2014Mitteilungen."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"The International Organization for Standardization (2003). ISO 19107: Geographic Information\u2014Spatial Schema, The International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"The International Organization for Standardization (2005). ISO 19123: Geographic Information\u2014Schema for Coverage Geometry and Functions, The International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtrangeo.2008.04.010","article-title":"The formulation and evaluation of transport route planning alternatives: A spatial decision support system for the Via Baltica project, Poland","volume":"17","author":"Keshkamat","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Transp. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ostermann, F.O., and Granell, C. (2015). Advancing science with VGI: Reproducibility and replicability of recent studies using VGI. Trans. GIS.","DOI":"10.1111\/tgis.12195"},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"World Wide Web Consortium (2013). PROV-O: The PROV Ontology Recommendation, World Wide Web Consortium."}],"container-title":["ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/6\/2\/40\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:27:38Z","timestamp":1760207258000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/6\/2\/40"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]]},"references-count":44,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,2]]}},"alternative-id":["ijgi6020040"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijgi6020040","relation":{},"ISSN":["2220-9964"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2220-9964"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]]}}}