International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B2. Istanbul 2004 
and records provided additional information to reconstruct the 
development of Iqaluit to discover the factors influencing 
change, explain patterns in development of the city, and 
provide a cultural and social background. Figure 3 shows the 
user interface created to display historical orthomosaics, maps, 
photographs and 3D renderings of the terrain in the form of 
animations. 
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Figure 3. Historical and spatial evolution of Igaluit. 
Such cartographic products may serve many purposes including 
city planning, resource development, tourism, culture and 
education. Understanding development of Igaluit over time is 
valuable for the education of youth and interesting for visitors 
and tourists. The implementation of the program in Inuktituk, 
the native language of the territory, received funding from the 
territorial government of Nunavut. However, on-line access to 
the web site in northern communities still faces some technical 
challenges. Suggestions have been made by users in Nunavut to 
adapt the application for a stand-alone kiosk-type presentation 
at a science centre to be located in the city of Igloolik. 
4.5 Cartographic Animations 
Cartographic animation refers to any simulated movement 
based on cartographic data. The animation may be passive, in 
which case the only control user has is the ability to start or 
stop the animation. The animation may be interactive and allow 
users to control movements such as rotation, pan and zoom or 
direction of the flight over terrain. In the visualization project, 
"Terrain Visualization Publisher" software from IQ Media was 
used. The animation of 3D data creates large data files for 
which streaming techniques should be used for optimisation of 
performance. The example of passive animation developed as a 
joint initiative between Natural Resources Canada, Science 
World and The Lunny Group is Canada Rover (shown in Figure 
4). It illustrates and explains the draining of water polluted by 
a copper mine into the Howe Sound in British Columbia. 
Compelling presentations of rendered landscape with animated 
fly-overs are effective tools for decision making in applications 
such as environmental protection, safety and security and 
natural resources management. In the SDKI-Vis project plans 
are to use Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality 
Modelling Language (VRML) for a more 
representation of terrain data (Hedley, 2003). 
realistic 
ier and Zinc 
aminated water 
  
  
Figure 4. Passive animation from Canada Rover. 
Selected techniques presented in this section will be used in an 
educational “GIS primer” product which is being developed by 
the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to introduce 
concepts of visualization of geospatial information to decision 
makers. 
S. VISUALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE 
DEVELOPMENT DECISION MAKING 
In 1994, the president of the Association of American 
Geographers (AAG) identified visualization as one of four main 
concepts for learning and decision-making in sustainable 
development. *...(W)e should recognize the growing power of 
the visual image in human communication in this age of 
information revolution. Across the world, the creation and 
diffusion of visual images is displacing the printed word as a 
triggering mechanism for issue identification, constituency 
building and agenda-setting. And visual images, including 
computer mapping and aerial photography, are increasingly 
used to identify threats to sustainability and to examine 
alternative paths. No other form of communication is as 
powerful among such a wide variety of audiences, including 
scholars who are trying to associate creative thinking with 
empirical observations”. Further stressed was the importance of 
implementing innovative means of technological and 
institutional change to foster greater inclusion of the 
geographical perspective in decision-making for sustainable 
development (Wilbanks, 1994). 
Geospatial visualization has emerged as a tool for searching 
through large volumes of data, communicating complex 
patterns, providing a formal framework for data presentation 
and exploratory analysis of data (Gahegan et al, 2001). It 
combines the power of multimedia dynamic representation of 
spatial information with interactive engagement of users 
(experts and non-experts) to perform exploratory analysis. 
Geospatial information relevant for sustainable development 
often tends to be heterogeneous, complex, not directly 
comparable and correlated in ways that may not be apparent 
without the use of visualization techniques. Visualization is 
important not only in the development of information systems 
generally, but also as a tool to improve reliability of multiple 
sustainable development scenarios, as well as to improve the 
ability of non-experts to take advantage of the information 
presented. 
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