**6. Related sciences (convergence in scientific approaches)**

GIScience in the context of cave investigations represents a convergence of surveying (geodesy), modeling (mathematics), and application of the results (different disciplines of sciences). The disciplines include mainly natural sciences (geology, hydrogeology, karstology, climatology, morphology, etc.), but archeology may also be involved if the cave contains cultural heritage. This highly varying scope of possible surveyors of caves brings up concerns about the reusability of the surveyed data. A spelunker should bear it in mind that the collected data will affect the cave in longer terms either positively or negatively. If the collected data is disclosed or unorganized, scientists of different disciplines may have to survey the cave over and over impacting the environment with each attempt. The importance of reworking the archives comes into front light especially in those cases when the cave environment has changed drastically (due to opening parts of it to public), but also in those cases when the environmental impact of a new survey is high.

In a case study of the Buda Thermal Karst System (Hungary), Albert et al. [11] demonstrated how to use a GIS to obtain new scientific results from archive data. This project aimed to estimate the macro- and meso-scale conduit porosity within the limestone and marl sequence incorporating the cave. The archive documentation included survey records, maps, transversal, and longitudinal sections. A method was worked out to create 3D passage models from the survey database using Visual Basic scripts and a GIS capable mapping application (AutoCAD), and subsequently extract volumetric data from the models. The database has to be prepared prior to the modeling, and the scripts provided the automation for the process of making 3D shapes from database records. In this case, the data information system included the original survey records but without properly measured LRUD (left-right, up-down) data. The missing information was collected mainly from analog maps. The study processed three caves of the Karst System and managed to estimate the unmapped size of the caves, concluding that one of the studied caves can be the largest of the country with 2/3 of its passages yet to be explored. A few years after the modeling was done when the prediction was confirmed [29]. The study was based on archive data without disturbing the protected cave environments with a new survey.

Caves attract not only scholars and explorers, but tourist as well. The caves are important sites for the public, and the stakeholders—when deciding about cave management—should rely on an information system that incorporates multidisciplinary observations [30]. In all cases, the aim is to minimize the damage in the caves and maximize the benefits of a survey. This can be achieved with a GIS afterwards, but a thorough planning of the survey is also important [31, 32].
