GIScience News Blog
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New release of ohsome-planet: Even faster processing of OSM history data in GeoParquet format
A new version of ohsome-planet (codename “Sjælland”) has been released. It is the newest version of HeiGIT´s command line tool, which transforms OpenStreetMap (history) PBF files into into an analysis-ready data format. We illustrate what ohsome-planet can do by assessing how many OSM edits used Bing Imagery as reference source. What is ohsome-planet? Working with…
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New Paper “How politics affect pandemic forecasting”
Searching for early warning systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers explored how digital data sources such as geo-social media (e.g. posts on platforms like X, formerly Twitter, that include location data) could improve the disease’s transmission dynamics. This data offers a valuable tool for local event detection. The study investigated how geo-social media topics…
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New Paper “Utilizing large language models to simulate parking search”
A study published on ScienceDirect evaluates the capability of LLMs to mimic human-like decision-making patterns in parking scenarios. Through experiments, researchers reproduce realistic trade-offs between cost, distance, and availability, while reflecting sociodemographic influences and bounded rationality. Parking behavior research traditionally focuses on how drivers choose parking locations, types, and search strategies, distinguishing between static and…
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HeiGIT and GIScience take part in STADTRADELN
This year, the team from HeiGIT is once again participating in the nationwide cycling initiative STADTRADELN. For 21 days, teams across Germany collect bicycle kilometers, raising awareness for climate protection, sustainable mobility, and improved cycling infrastructure. The campaign promotes environmentally friendly transportation – not only in the everyday lives of the participants but also as…
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Artificial Intelligence in Anticipatory Action: Insights and Lessons Learned
Artificial Intelligence holds great promise for strengthening Anticipatory Action by improving hazard forecasting, vulnerability mapping, and decision support, but must be tailored to real-world humanitarian contexts to really be of benefit. A recent workshop brought together practitioners, researchers, and tech experts to identify gaps, share learnings, and explore how AI can be responsibly and effectively…
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HGG lecture: Resource Use and Resilience: Pre-Columbian Terrace Agriculture in Southern Peru
The last HGG lecture of this summer term 2025 will look at the terraced landscapes in the Peruvian Andes, focussing on human-environment interactions.
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Mapathon with Doctors without Boarders
The lack of geographical data makes providing humanitarian aid more difficult. This is particularly the case in situations of disaster, when geographical data and routing data are crucial for coordinating help. In certain regions, however, this data still remains incomplete. During Mapathons, volunteers map these areas and provide the missing data. As part of this…
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Release of QGIS plugin ORSTools v.2.0.0 & QGIS User Conference
What is ORSTools? With ORSTools, most of the functionalities of openrouteservice are directly accessible in QGIS. The plugin offers a toolset, including routing, isochrone generation and matrix calculations. These functions can be used interactively in the map canvas or applied to point files within the processing framework. Output files come with rich attribute data such…
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Presenting Silver Ways project at AGIT
At this year’s AGIT conference in Salzburg, Austria, GIScience and HeiGIT will host a poster session to our new Silver Ways project, developing a walkable routing system to cater the needs of older adults.
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HGG lecture: Vietnam – Between Coffee and Karst
This HGG lecture is given by students from the Institute of Geography at Heidelberg University who participated in the Vietnam excursion.
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New insights into global mapping with the updated ohsomeNow Stats
The enhanced ohsomeNow Stats dashboard now provides near real-time access to all OpenStreetMap contributions since 2005, enabling more flexible and detailed analysis of global mapping activities. ohsomeNow stats provides a comprehensive overview of mapping activities in near real time. The dashboard was developed as part of our long-term cooperation with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT),…
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New Paper “Accessibility for pedestrians under heat stress – the example of Heidelberg, Germany”
This study introduces the isocalor approach to assess how solar exposure and heat stress impact pedestrian access to essential services in Heidelberg, using OpenStreetMap data and a customized openrouteservice routing engine. As climate change intensifies, cities are increasingly exposed to extreme heat events, with urban populations—especially vulnerable groups like older adults, children, and those with…
3D 3DGEO Big Spatial Data CAP4Access Citizen Science Climate Change Conference crisis mapping Crowdsourcing data quality deep learning disaster DisasterMapping GIScience heigit HELIOS HOT humanitarian humanitarian mapping Humanitarian OpenStreetMap team intrinsic quality analysis landuse laser scanning Lidar machine-learning Mapathon MapSwipe Missing Maps MissingMaps ohsome ohsome example Open data openrouteservice OpenStreetMap OSM OSM History Analytics Quality quality analysis remote sensing routing social media spatial analysis Teaching VGI Workshop