Characteristics of a geotraceabilty indicator

Besides the general characteristics quoted above which whatever has to answer indicator, an indicator of géotraceability owes necessarily:

• Spatial being:
  • explicitly spatial, it brings in a spatial model which takes into account explicitly coordinates X. The calculation of the indicator can be made only by the use of a GIS because it implements spatial algorithms (example: use of models of neighborhood)
  • implicitly spatial, it makes intervene data connected with geographic objects but can be calculated without the support of a GIS. The GIS brings then simply a cartographic representation of the data and\or the indicator (example: density of population in number of inhabitant / km ²).

  It is evident that within the framework of the GTA program, it is indispensable to develop as much as possible explicitly spatial indicators to value at most the geographic aspect of our work. However the implicitly spatial indicators will be inescapable and cannot be spread.

• Answer a need of traceability:
  • the traceability it is the capacity to redraw the history, the use or the localization of an entity by means of recorded identifications. It is a stream of information coupled with a stream of goods;
  • the geographic trceability, it is the geographic consideration of information relative to the drawn product, and all the elements in touch with the product that are connected in the plot of land: neighborhood, environment.

  The level of traceability can be characterized according to the quantity of available data:

  • when we have all the necessary information, we speak about traceability about real,
  • when we have only a part(party) of the information, we speak of traceability
    approached,
  • when we have no information, we speak of traceability about statistics.

However, an indicator of traceability geographic has necessarily no representation
cartographic. He can be also represented on tabular form statistics, of graph, etc.

© 2002-2003 GeoTraceAgri / IST Project 2001-34281