BIng Maps

Geocoding is a method used to convert address information into geographical coordinates. It plays a vital role in displaying the relationship between geographic features and semantic information expressed in texts. The objective of this study is to reveal the quality of online geocoding from postal addresses in Turkey provided by Google Maps and Bing Maps services. The quality of geocoding services in urban areas is evaluated using two particular metrics; positional accuracy and address similarity. Positional accuracy measures the distances between point features obtained through the online geocoding and reference data. Address similarity indicates the relationship between two postal addresses based on a similarity index known as the Levenshtein distance. The same performance assessment was also made with the United States’ address data to make comparisons and discussions. The results show that services have  different geocoding capabilities in both countries because of the differen...

The wide commercial spread of very high resolution data which can enable the precise description of important targets (such as critical military facilities) along with their accurate coordinates has created fears that these data could be a valuable tool if they fall in the wrong hands. Until recently this dissemination was nearly uncontrollable. Google and Microsoft via their online, geospatial applications enriched with very high-resolution images of the world, enhanced the concerns that such detailed imagery constituted an essential threat to internal security. The main hypotheses of this paper are that this technological breakthrough cannot be rolled back, it is here to stay, and since it has security implications it need to be controlled. The key research question to be addressed is what are the options governments have to control the distribution of these data ensuring that their national security interests are properly safeguarded?

In the last years Bing Maps has been updated to offer new ways for tourism, but it has abandoned the primary aim: be a real alternative to Google Earth. Microsoft has not yet solved the problems of how to save the images; a screenshot is the only method. After the case study of Veio, Bing Maps returns and shows a hidden “Ostia”, revealing buried structures and building of not excavated areas (Regio III, Regio IV, Regio V and the Harbour of Trajan). Through the use of Photoshop CC 2015 Trial and the plug-in Sharpener Pro, it was possible to improve the sharpness of screenshots, identifying additional anomalies that were invisible from a first interpretation.

L’osservazione obliqua dall’alto offre chiaramente l’opportunità di analizzare il territorio da una prospettiva diversa, ma con maggiori soluzioni. Bing Maps è la soluzione gratuita con maggiori prospettive

In the last years, the aerial archaeology confirmed the importance and the potentiality of aerial photography in the study of landscape that already was realized by Giacomo Boni, Franz Stolze and O.G.S. Crawford between the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. Aerial photography is today a tool used in numerous fields: from geology to civil engineering, from the study of the environment to the identification of pollution sources, from architecture to archeology; in fact it is becoming a valid and indispensable tool for the study of the ancient topography. In this last field, the aerial photograph is really important if it is used as instrument of knowledge and research. The aerial view is sure the most useful tool for observe the modern landscape and all evidence or “marks” that would be unintelligible if they are observed from the ground. The great diffusion of internet has made possible the creation of catalogues that allow consulting maps, orthophotos, aerial and oblique images online; the Italian regions have decided to publish all data on internet with the creation of websites (WebGIS). However, it is possible to encounter serious difficulties in finding the photographic material because of high costs and long times, but thanks to the use of Bing Maps, a web mapping service of Microsoft™, it is possible to break down such restrictions. Bing Maps has high resolution oblique photographs, so called “Bird’s Eye”, that allow to realize a free virtual aerial survey thanks to combined use of aerial and oblique images. This approach has been used to observe the modern landscape of Veio obtaining new archaeological useful data, without cost, for the reconstruction and update of ancient topography of Etruscan town.

Geocoding is a method used to convert address information into geographical coordinates. It plays a vital role in displaying the relationship between geographic features and semantic information expressed in texts. The objective of this study is to reveal the quality of online geocoding from postal addresses in Turkey provided by Google Maps and Bing Maps services. The quality of geocoding services in urban areas is evaluated using two particular metrics; positional accuracy and address similarity. Positional accuracy measures the distances between point features obtained through the online geocoding and reference data. Address similarity indicates the relationship between two postal addresses based on a similarity index known as the Levenshtein distance. The same performance assessment was also made with the United States’ address data to make comparisons and discussions. The results show that services have different geocoding capabilities in both countries because of the differences in the addressing formats.

Die Informationsgesellschaft erlebt derzeit eine geographische Revolution. Raumbezogene Informationen sind voll in den Lebensalltag integriert. Mit einem Geobrowser wie Bing Maps kann beinahe jede Art digitaler Information mit einem Geocode – z. B. einer Adresse oder Koordinate – versehen werden. Sie haften bereits heute an vielen Fotos, Videos, Nachrichten und Blogeinträgen, die im Internet veröffentlicht werden. Dieser Leitfaden gibt zunächst einleitend einen Überblick über das breite Nutzungsspektrum konsumentennaher, geschäftsnaher und gemeinnütziger Geomedien. Das anschließende Kapitel vertieft deren gesellschaftliche Verflechtung in 20 Best-Practice-Beiträgen zum praxisorientierten Einsatz von Bing Maps. Das Internet fordert heute zur aktiven Partizipation auf – seien es Wikis, soziale Netzwerke, Empfehlungsplattformen, Open- Data- oder Open-Source-Projekte. Daher wird in einem abschließenden Kapitel eine Zusammenstellung von kommentiertem Schulungsmaterial für Bing Maps präsentiert. Dieses ist auf häufig genutzte Methoden und Funktionalitäten aus den Best-Practice-Beispielen abgestimmt und ermöglicht dem Leser einen schnellen Einstieg in die Anwendungsentwicklung; es zeigt aber auch die Möglichkeiten der Bing Maps Programmierschnittstelle (Bing Maps API) auf.