AnaccessibleguidetotheideasandtechnologiesunderlyingsuchapplicationsasGPS,GoogleMaps,Pok矇monGo,ride-sharing,driverlesscars,anddronesurveillance.Billionsofpeoplearoundtheglobeusevariousapplicationsofspatialcomputingdaily--byusingaride-sharingapp,GPS,thee911system,socialmediacheck-ins,evenPok矇monGo.Scientistsandresearchersusespatialcomputingtotrackdiseases,mapthebottomoftheoceans,chartthebehaviorofendangeredspecies,andcreateelectionmapsinrealtime.Dronesanddriverlesscarsuseavarietyofspatialcomputingtechnologies.Spatialcomputingworksbyunderstandingthephysicalworld,knowingandcommunicatingourrelationtoplacesinthatworld,andnavigatingthroughthoseplaces.Ithaschangedourlivesandinfrastructuresprofoundly,markingasignificantshiftinhowwemakeourwayintheworld.ThisvolumeintheMITEssentialKnowledgeseriesexplainsthetechnologiesandideasbehindspatialcomputing.ThebookoffersaccessibledescriptionsofGPSandlocation-basedservices,includingtheuseofWi-Fi,Bluetooth,andRFIDforpositiondeterminationoutofsatelliterange;remotesensing,whichusessatelliteandaerialplatformstomonitorsuchvariedphenomenaasglobalfoodproduction,theeffectsofclimatechange,andsubsurfacenaturalresourcesonotherplanets;geographicinformationsystems(GIS),whichstore,analyze,andvisualizespatialdata;spatialdatabases,whichstoremultipleformsofspatialdata;andspatialstatisticsandspatialdatascience,usedtoanalyzelocation-relateddata.
