The sophisticated use of sensors, microprocessors and data networks has created new possibilities in manufacturing, travel, film, and many other areas. One practical example of the combination of sensors and mapping technology is General Electric’s new Flight Efficiency Services (FES) systems, which are already used by airlines such as Brazil’s ‘Gol’ airline, to ‘track flight routes and optimise fuel consumption’ thereby saving resources.
However, given the strong vested interests of industrial companies and other internet platform providers, these sensors and the associated data collection technology have primarily been used to improve efficiency, to fix problems in businesses or buildings, and to simply collect extensive data regarding human activity and interests. Considering the potential of these technologies in terms of “mapping” introduces exciting new developments.
The sensors need not be limited to human and related industry use where they inform about ourselves and our creations. They can be used in a much broader context to further our knowledge of nature and the world around us. As discussed above, these sensors can be submerged in water, can be powered remotely with solar energy, and can collect data on a huge range of factors including sound, vibration, acidity, humidity, location, speed, light and heat. With this multiplicity of sensor capability, the boundaries of mapping expand dramatically. These sensors can survive most environments, can record data constantly, and can map information on hundreds of other factors in addition to physical location. In the context of mapping that which has never been mapped before, these sensors would, with time and investment allow mapping of live organisms such as trees, animals, fish, and various plants.
For example, if connected to a tree they could conceivably measure the acidity of the sap, the humidity of the air around it, speed of growth, light reaching the tree, and even the heat produced through respiration and its carbon dioxide absorption rate. This enhanced data availability goes far beyond the current GPS locational based monitoring which is used today to track the location of select organisms and allows the mapping and examination of these organisms to go beyond their physical location. For instance, it could facilitate the mapping of CO2 absorption by location and over time. The wealth of detail that could be provided through the interaction of sensor and processing technologies certainly fulfils the Oxford Dictionary definition of mapping as ‘recording in detail the spatial distribution of (something)’.