Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1998

Kong and other tropical and sub-tropical regions, and help China develop markets in Southeast Asia for satellites that can monitor the natural environment. The data w i ll also go towards the production of detailed digital maps showing the urban development of the region 一 land use, geological details, transportation networks, population spread. The plane was given the official go-ahead by the HKSAR on 8th January 1998 to fly into Hong Kong for data collection. Wide Applications of Geoinformatio n Science Information collected via remote sensing and other geoinformatics technology can help in redistricting an area, law enforcement, and urban planning and development. It can, for example, be used in the selection of sites for building fire stations, drawing up political districts, mending water and sewage pipes, dispatching emer- gency crew in an earthquake, or locating a serial killer. Director of the lab Prof. Lin Hui explained, 'Geoinformation science has great relevance even for people's daily lives. For example, if you call me in an emergency and you have no idea where you are, geoinformatics technology can help me find out your whereabouts on anelectronic map using your phone number. It's similar to finding the location of a book in a library using the online catalogue. The cynide spill earlier this year could have been better handled if a digital map had been used instead of an old map. It could have given important information such as the location of nearby schools, residential areas, and water source. Hong Kong develops very rapidly. The SAR government should use remote sensing to find out where changes are taking place.' Geoinformatic Tech Geoinformatics technology has w i de applications socio-economicall y i n i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l nd u r b an p l a n n i n g, e n v i r o n m e n t a l conservation, the c o n t a i nme nt o f n a t u r al disasters, a nd c r i me prevention. T h r o u gh the combined use of high-tech remote-sensing equipment (e.g. satellites a nd aircraft) a nd sophisticated c omp u t er systems, geographic data can he acquired, processed, a nd analysed f or the effective m o n i t o r i ng of e n v i r o n m e n t a l changes such as variations in the conditions, patterns, a nd d y n am i cs of air, water, a nd l a nd resources, the d i s t r i b u t i on of a local p o p u l a t i o n, or the traffic flow of h i g h w a ys a nd railroads. I n f o r m a t i on can be presented i n the f o rm of aerial photographs, demographic f i g u r e s, or mu l t i s p e c t r al nd m u l t i r e s o l u t i on d i g i t al images a nd maps. Geoinformatics technology is fast-becoming an indispensable element i n the decision- s u p p o rt i n f o r m a t i on systems o f m a ny g o v e r nme n t s . An Ac t i ve Research P r og r amme Prof. Lin believes that the University was chosen as a partner by the Chinese Academy of Sciences because of the comprehensiveness of its expertise, its experience in running training courses for the United Nations Development Program, and a solid tradition of collaboration with mainland institutions. A programme on Geographic Information Acquisition, Analysis and Application (GIAAA) has been established on campus to promote advanced studies in geoinformatics using a interdisciplinary approach, enhance teaching programmes in the field, provide services to the public by networking and consultancy, and organize workshops and other functions. It draws support from some 20 teaching and research staff from 11 departments of the Faculties of Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Science, and Social Sciences. About 20 interdisplinary research projects have also been planned for the next five years. All for t h e Sake o f Excellence in Research 25