geoinformatics 2010 vol04

GIS and Imagery Real World Gaming

GeoSAR NEXTMap USA

M a g a z i n e f o r S u r v e y i n g , M a p p i n g & G I S P r o f e s s i o n a l sJune 2010 Volume 13

4

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A Magical Mystery Augmented Reality Tour

Recently I had the opportunity of visiting the Location Business Summit in Amsterdam.During this two-day conference there were some interesting reflections on the developmentof location based services. Of particular interest was a presentation by Gary Gale from Yahoo!Geo Technologies, called Taking the hype out of location based services.

He came up with some interesting thoughts. Not only did he mention that smoke signalscould be regarded as location based services avant-la-lettre, he showed that since we aregathering information all the time, we lose perspective. In his own words: we lose the whenin order to get the now. The history of maps is lost by mapping the present, that changesall the time. Also, he used the term Geobabel to point out how people think they are talk-ing about the same location, but in fact they are not without realizing it. The same placemay mean something else to everyone.

In short, with new technologies such as location based services, the concept of location andplace is redefined. Context is important here. A point of interest or location could be any-thing, depending on the context. Manhoods relation with place is complex and geographersuse psychological theories to understand this relation. Social media in combination withlocation will surely pave the way for redefining place, both virtual and physical. A MagicalMystery Augmented Reality Tour for instance. Layar created one and Im excited about it,even though Im not a Beatles fan myself.

Enjoy your reading!

Eric van [email protected]

June 20103

GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis and commentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.

PublisherRuud Groothuis [email protected]

Editor-in-chiefEric van Rees [email protected]

EditorsFrank Arts [email protected] Fischer [email protected] van Haaften [email protected] [email protected] Takken [email protected] Triglav [email protected]

Contributing WritersAngus W. StockingLawry JordanKarel SukupFlorian FischerKen GoeringPhilip Cheng Chuck ChaapelKevin P. CorbleyMatthew DeMeritt

Account ManagerWilfred Westerhof [email protected]

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Building a Modern GISFounded by Romans in 34 BC and with a current population of 92,000,

Cceres is one of Europes oldest cities. Recently, a team of three city

planners working with a modest budget were able to implement a world-

class municipal GIS using existing digital cartography and a variety of

existing databases. Many tasks that were slow and tedious are now

automated, freeing professionals for more productive activities.

C o n t e n t

June 2010

ArticlesBuilding a Modern GIS For an Ancient City 6

GIS and ImageryHow They Became Pals 10

Moving ForwardImage Data Acquisition and Processing of Clustered Cameras 14

Real World Gaming with GPS-MissionBusiness Perspectives of Location Based Entertainment 20

NEXTMap USAA GPS Coordinate for Everything in the United States 26

Pan-sharpening and Geometric CorrectionWorldView-2 Satellite 30

A Collaborative ProjectThe Archaeological Potential for Shipwrecks 42

Making Mapping the Impossible PossibleGeoSAR 44

InterviewsSpatial Technology For Utilities, Public Safety and Security Solutions 24

The Data Exchange CompanySnowflake Software 36

Translate, Transform, Integrate and Deliver DataMoving Data with FME 40

President of ERDASJoel Campbell 50

Conferences and MeetingsThriving on Energy of Shared Innovation2010 ESRI Developer Summit 46

Are We There Yet? The Location Business Summit 34

Page 6

GIS and Imagery: How They Became PalsHistorically, imagery and GIS have occupied two separate worlds.

Imagery had its own methodologies, its own language, and its own set

of distinct instruments. In the same way, GIS had its own tools,

technicians, and geek speak. Although ESRI added support for

imagery and rasters into its software as early as 1982, everyone on

both sides knew technology had to evolve before GIS and imagery could

converge in a completely unified environment.

4

Page 10

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com5

June 2010

On the Cover:

GeoSAR P-band DEM and orthorectified radar image highlight intricate

geomorphological and textural details on the Galeras volcano (Colombia)

and adjacent agricultural features on the fertile slopes of the active volcano

and surrounding the city of Pasto definition. See article at page 44.

Business Perspectives of Location BasedEntertainmentLocation-Based Entertainment seems to come of age slow but surely.

Smartphones and reasonable mobile internet fares establish a framework

to enable a broad public for gaming. The International Mobile Gaming

Award just introduced the category of real world games last year and

experts await good business perspectives for location-based games in

marketing, tourism and education.

GeoSARIn less than a decade of commercial operations, Fugro EarthDatas GeoSAR

system has earned a reputation for mapping the impossible. GeoSAR is a

dual-band airborne interferometric radar system that is capable of rapidly

mapping large areas in any weather conditions. In 2009 Fugro EarthData,

which integrated and operates the system commercially, used GeoSAR to

complete one of the most challenging terrestrial mapping projects the firm

had ever attempted.

Page 44

Calendar 54

Advertisers Index 54

Page 20

Page 44

Building a Modern GIS

For an Ancient CityFounded by Romans in 34 BC and with a current population of 92,000, Cceres is one of Europes oldest cities. Recently,

a team of three city planners working with a modest budget were able to implement a world-class municipal GIS using

existing digital cartography and a variety of existing databases. Many tasks that were slow and tedious are now

automated, freeing professionals for more productive activities.

By Angus W. Stocking, L.S.

Cceres, Spain, is a UNESCO World HeritageCity renowned for its blend of Roman, Islamic,

Jewish, and Christian cultures and medieval

architecture, all of which have left their traces

on the city. Founded by Romans in 34 BC and

with a current population of 92,000, Cceres

is one of Europes oldest cities.

But Cceres is a modern city as well, and its

city servantslike their counterparts around

the worldstruggle to serve citizens efficient-

ly. Recently, a team of three city planners work-

ing with a modest budget were able to imple-

ment a world-class municipal GIS using existing

digital cartography and a variety of existing

databases. The GIS was quickly adopted by

the public and has become a daily timesaver

for city offices, said GIS Department Director

Luis Antonio lvarez Llorente.

Since there was no budget for outside con-

sultants, the citys planning staff had to devel-

op the GIS on their own. And the databases

and cartography that existed had not been

designed with a GIS in mind.

lvarez continued, Everything we hadmap-

ping and alphanumeric informationwas pre-

pared internally. When the project started in

1999, we had some digital cartography that

was inconveniently formatted, a lot of paper

maps and documentation, and databases in

different formats scattered across several city

departments. Also, were very busy so we

couldnt assign a lot of staff to thisthere

were only two technical staff assigned to the

project permanently, and occasionally wed

form small, temporary teams for particular

phases.

Accessible via the InternetBut if the projects challenges were big, so were

its goals. Planners wanted to give all city

employees access to the GIS, they wanted it to

incorporate all existing databasesalong with

information from utilities, railways, and high-

way departmentsand they wanted the GIS to

be easily accessible to the public via the

Internet. To accomplish all this, they broke the

project down into phases.

The first phase was to design and organize the

GIS. One early decision was to build the new

system with Bentley software to take advan-

tage of staffs familiarity with it. MicroStation,

MicroStation GeoGraphics, and Descartes were

heavily used to assemble the cartographic lay-

ers. We had a lot of our urban planning infor-

mation on paper so we scanned that for a raster

layer and then compared that to digital map-

ping that were able to import. We adapted and

drafted as needed to create base mapping,

which gave us a high-quality end product,

explained Faustino Cordero, GIS department

assistant.

The Cceres team also turned to dozens of out-

side sources for cartographic information,

including the National Geographic Institute, the

Geographic Army Service, historic maps on file

at the Cceres Library, and existing street maps.

Most of these were paper-based and required

digitizing.

Utility CompaniesThis base mapping was made available to city

staff, and immediately proved useful. The suc-

cess of this phase encouraged planners and

work continued on base layers. Urban and rural

cadastral mapping was imported to aid asses-

sors, and orthophotos were adapted and tied

to the GIS coordinate scheme.

The next phase involved consolidating alphanu-

meric informationon paper and in databas-

esin the GIS. Bentley tools were able to work

6

Art ic le

June 2010

A sampling of infrastructure maps managed by the GIS of Cceres (Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Cceres)

with the various data formats, and staff was

able to import paper-based info. Once again,

work at this phase was made available as com-

pleted and immediately found eager users.

Thanks to the versatility of the software, the

available maps and data were easy to consoli-

date and weve seen a big return on our invest-

ment, noted lvarez.

With the basic format created and most avail-

able city information included, the GIS planners

turned to outside sources to increase useful-

ness. Cceres was able to reach data-sharing

agreements with all the utility companies that

serve Cceres, including water, wastewater, gas,

and electrical. Cceres was also able to get dig-

ital information about the road and rail net-

works, which consisted of a total length of


June 2010

A sampling of infrastructure maps managed by the GIS of Cceres (Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Cceres)

Wireframe 3D model of the old Cceres city

(Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Cceres)

Art ic le

3,000 kilometers of unpaved roads, and have

integrated everything into the GIS.

Seeking the most complete and useful informa-

tion possible, planners continued to add to the

GIS, and found ways to import and reference

historical cartography, livestock paths, public

transportation routes, tourist-oriented street

maps, and other information resources. All city

buildings are identified, with addresses, useful

information like hours of operation, and more

than 15,000 total pictures of buildings. Other

buildings available for search include pharma-

cies, health centers, and schools.

Internet PublicationTo get this resource on the Internet, the Cceres

team used Geo Web Publisher. Geo Web

Publisher made Internet publication very easy,

because we didnt have to transform or adapt

anythingwe could just use it as we created

it, explained lvarez. But the team did put con-

siderable work into the web interface. VBA and

Javascript were used to add functionalities like

parcel shading and annotation localizing.

Button bars were also created to make the

interface readily useable by the public and city

employees. In all, 30 VBA modules with a total

of more than 5,000 lines of code were built.

Designers have consistently updated, expand-

ed, and improved the Cceres GIS. lvarez

explained that its a living thing, currently man-

aging 42,000 archives with more than 50 giga-

bytes of data and 50 workstations for city use

distributed throughout the citys departments.

All the information is centralized and accessi-

ble to all departments, noted Cordero. That

way, the changes, updates, or improvements

we make are immediately available, not only

for the use of public servants, but for the pub-

lic as well. The power and versatility of this tool

is evident from the large volume of data were

able to manage and make accessible.

lvarez is effusive when speaking to the bene-

fits of the GIS. We have better control of tax

collection and much more ability to answer

planning questions. Our census information is

much more accurate, and were able to do more

with it. And we can do a lot more for the citi-

zens of Cceresfor example, weve easily pro-

duced more than 50,000 street maps, tourist

maps, and public transportation maps, said

lvarez. He added that many tasks that were

slow and tedious are now automated, freeing

public servants for more productive activities.

The system is also a hit with the public, and

more than 150 Cceres residents use it each

day.

Cceres spent 10 years and 1.3 million euros on

the GIS project, when all the staff hours, soft-

ware, workstations, and training hours are

taken into account. Several constituencies agree

that it was money well spentthe city can

accomplish vital tasks more quickly and effec-

tively and take on some chores that were pre-

viously impossible, and residents have a

resource they can turn to again and again for

information.

Angus W. Stocking, L.S. is a licensed land surveyor

who writes about infrastructure projects around

the world. He can be contacted at

[email protected].

8June 2010

Mainface of the street map printed on paper (Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Cceres)

Art ic le

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GIS and Imagery

How They Became Pals

Historically, imagery and GIS have occupied two separate worlds. Imagery had its own methodologies, its own language,

and its own set of distinct instruments. In the same way, GIS had its own tools, technicians, and geek speak.

Although ESRI added support for imagery and rasters into its software as early as 1982, everyone on both sides knew

technology had to evolve before GIS and imagery could converge in a completely unified environment.

By Lawrie Jordan

Moores LawToday, thanks in large part to enabling technologies and Moore's law,

GIS and imagery have combined on the desktop. The result is that the

long-imagined symbiosis between imagery and GIS is here. The challenge

is to demonstrate that symbiosis to those who can most benefit from it.

Thankfully, this job is easy. IT is filled with examples of technological

symbiosis. It's not hard, for example, to explain how weather satellite

technology informs meteorological science and, conversely, how meteo-

rological science informs weather satellite technology. The imagery from

sensors complements atmospheric science because it contains valuable

data. That's similar to how GIS and imagery inform each other.

Photographs of the earth are inherently spatial. GIS extracts the spatial

data inherent in the photographs then processes it, analyzes it, and man-

ages it all on the same platform. That's easy to convey to this audience

because it is common sense.

Universally Understood PrincipleUsers of spatial information all have a common

objective: they all want to produce successful pro-

jects in increasingly shorter time frames. At some

point in the evolution of software, almost every-

body in the software business realized that meet-

ing that objective requires the consolidation of

tasks in a workflow. Complicated processes could

be automated. Moores law enabled CPUs to per-

form a number of concurrent operations without

frying circuits. The software suite was born from

that novel development. The creation of ArcGIS

exemplifies that bundling of functionality. It could-

nt do everything at first, but it did a lot.

10

Art ic le

June 2010

GeoEye 1 high resolution satellite imagery over

Queenstown, New Zealand, with local government par-

cel basemap.

Lawrie Jordan

Killing two birds with one stone is an age-old, universally understood prin-

ciple. If dinner can be had with the least expenditure of energy, that con-

serves time and calories for other equally important tasks. Companies and

governments operate the same way on a macro scale. Only in their case,

time and calories represent their goal to always run at optimal efficiency.

So what does this have to do with earth views and cartography? With

imagery and geoprocessing tools in a single interface, GIS technicians no

longer have to open an image-processing package to modify imagery data,

nor do they have to deal with separate licensing. At 9.3.1, ArcGIS combined

imagery and GIS analysis in one integrated environment that immediately

improved workflow. By availing themselves of that merger, organizations

maximized the value of their imagery data. Many other benefits loom on

the horizon with ArcGIS 10.

The next release of ArcGIS includes a new Image Analysis window in the

user interface, which enables quick access to a range of tools that those

who work with imagery typically require. That integration paves a more

direct path to results. Users can also now create catalogs of all the rasters

in their organization as well as define metadata and processing to be per-

formed. Access has been beefed up, as well. Image services open the door

to huge imagery holdings like ArcGIS Online, Bing, and the forthcoming

ArcGIS.com. The surplus of quality imagery data is ever-growing.

On-the-Fly ProcessingMoore's law told us one day these two disciplines would marry, and indeed

they have. That is evident in ESRI's on-the-fly processing and dynamic

mosaicking. These entail going back to the original source pixels to ren-

der hundreds of thousands of images that instantly display on the screen.

This is tremendously powerful, and ESRI's use of it is unique in the indus-

try. It means if theres an organization that wants to host a datasetsay,

an image mosaic of the world (or any other dataset) it could easily

accommodate tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of users who

want to view it at the same time. Tiled caches are invaluable for that scale

of image delivery.

Many common business needs are easily met thanks to this performance

gain. Not only can pre-processing and dynamic mosaicking save terabytes

of intermediate file storage, the results return accurately and instantly.

Mosaic Datasets and Multiple Sensor ModelsAt ArcGIS 10, ESRI decided to combine GIS and imagery into a single com-

prehensive data model stored within the geodatabase called the Mosaic

Dataset. The enhanced scalability enables massive volumes of imagery to

be quickly and easily cataloged from within ArcGIS Desktop or automated

using the geoprocessing tools. Mosaic datasets not only catalog the data;

they enable definition of extensive metadata and processing to be per-

formed on the imagery. This processing can include simple aspects, such

as clipping and enhancement, to more detailed orthorectification, pan-

sharpening, pixel-based classification, and color correction.

Additionally, Mosaic Datasets can be deployed as image services, making

them quickly accessible to a large number of different users both over

local networks and the Web. The Mosaic Dataset is the implementation of

image serving technology directly into the core of GIS. Soon, Mosaic

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

Art ic le

11June 2010

GeoEye 1 image of Queenstown Airport, on-the-fly sharpening applied.

Datasets will become the de facto method of managing and using large

collections of imagery and other raster datasets that our users continue

to acquire.

GIS also handles new higher-resolution, higher-precision data types. In

version ArcGIS 10, a start has been made to integrate rigorous sensor

models into the software. A sensor model is a precise way to get 3D coor-

dinate positions on the ground. Traditionally, simple approaches just to

make an approximation of exactly where a pixel is on the ground use a

very low-level of mathematical equation. Sensor models are more sophis-

ticated. A sensor model implementation knows all about the optics of the

system and calculates a precise math model that locates the pixel in three-

dimensional coordinate space. ESRI implements several sensor models

into ArcGIS in full cooperation with all of our partners.

Inevitable Transition These groundbreaking developments in GIS and imagery are exciting

to watch. Granted, Moores Law will always create such partnerships,

but that doesnt make it any less gratifying to witness. Anyone inter-

ested in these fields is encouraged to investigate the merger of GIS

and imagery. See what it can do for your organization.

Lawrie Jordan, Director of

Imagery Enterprise Solutions, ESRI.

12

Art ic le

June 2010

Keynote speaker David Chappell

explains why cloud computing is a

golden opportunity for developers

GeoEye 1 image of Queenstown Airport, on-the-fly terrain hillshade processing

Interactive supervised classification of a DigitalGlobe WorldView

2 8-band image.

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Moving Forward

Image Data Acquisition and Processing of Clustered Cameras

GEODIS is a European company in the fields of geodesy, photogrammetry and

remote sensing. The following article focuses on how the company is involved

in image data acquisition and processing of clustered cameras. Topics discussed

are development of the digital technology usage, application of clustered cam-

eras data, image processing using automatic aerotriangulation, among others.

The article concludes with a look into the future of digital photogrammetry.

By Karel Sukup

IntroductionContinuously increasing the resolution of com-

mercially-produced large-format digital cam-

eras or standalone medium-format digital

camera backs has brought a number of

changes in technological methods. One of the

application areas of these digital sensors is

in the field of applied photogrammetry and

image interpretation. GEODIS purchased its

first digital camera with a resolution of 6

megapixels about 10 years ago. The company

was excited about its features, image quality

and PC connectivity support, offering astound-

ing image processing options compared to

classic aerial film cameras. The only flaw in

this type of technology was the relatively low

resolution of its sensors. Compared to an RMK

TOP, the camera used by the company at that

time, the area captured in a single digital

image was negligible. However, the digital

cameras flexibility, its ability to capture quali-

ty images, even in rather poor lighting condi-

tions, and the versatility of its use was

remarkable (the camera could be held in

hand, with vertical or horizontal image axis

orientation, could be used in an aircraft or

car). Amazingly this first digital toy cost the

same as a current 39-megapixel digital cam-

era. And this is not the largest resolution

available on the market there are now 50-

megapixel and 60-megapixel solutions com-

mercially available as standard.

Development of the Digital Technology Usage

The versatility and easy-to-use characteristics

of digital sensors for photogrammetric pur-

poses caused a wide range of camera systems

to appear on the market. The problem of low

individual chip resolution led developers,

through necessity, to combine the chips into

larger units, resulting in a bigger image size.

Todays digital camera image sizes are there-

fore close to the classic large-format film

cameras. Although GEODIS, as a specialized

digital photogrammetry processing company,

was linked to the technologies of Intergraph,

they had to migrate to Vexcel solutions when

facing the decision of which digital camera to

purchase. Sensors from this company were

being developed dynamically and it is worth

noting that efforts at Vexcel have not

dropped. UltraCamD, criticized by many pro-

fessionals for its construction,

instability etc., was relatively

close to GEODIS because the

construction philosophy was

similar to the kit used for build-

ing the companys own camera

systems.

Although GEODIS bought the

first UltraCam back in 2007 and

now have three cameras in total,

they purchased the first 39-

megapixel camera in 2005 and

started experimenting with it,

developing their own solution,

the GbCam digital camera. Their

activities first involved the use

of a single camera but a digital

twin followed in 2006, a three-camera set in

2007 and since 2008 this system has been

used as the five-camera GbCam system (Fig.

1) for capturing vertical and oblique images.

The system is suitable for both aerial and ter-

restrial digital image data acquisition applica-

tions.

Over the years, GEODIS managed to fine-tune

the controlling electronics and software of the

14

Art ic le

June 2010

Fig. 1 Five-camera GbCam

Fig. 2 Orientation system of a cluster camera with two strips

captured with opposite flight heading.

system. However, there was also development

in the digital image processing field, with soft-

ware for stitching generally oriented images,

calculating interior and exterior orientation

parameters, dependent and independent ori-

entation of image pairs, triples, and quintu-

ples, right up to bundle adjustment of whole

image sets. The solution included develop-

ment of software for simple viewing and mea-

suring of images in a single-image mode and

the transition to GEODIS own stereo-viewing

and stereoplotting solution this past year.

Several other specialized companies engaged

solely in image capture hardware develop-

ment followed a similar scenario. Through

development of various versions of dual and

quarto systems, the technology reached the

stage recently when four- or five-camera sys-

tems were developed for capturing generally

oriented images, with one camera usually

pointed vertically and the remaining four cam-

eras tiltable as needed.

Application of Clustered Cameras DataClustered cameras are developed mainly for the

purpose of acquiring area survey/recon -

naissance images. At the beginning this mainly

involved development for military purposes but

civil applications have since followed. Images

are usually visualized using special software

developed specifically for their processing. This

software enables basic measuring information

within the images such as lengths, widths,

heights, surface areas, point coordinates, etc.

There is relatively little discussion about options

for using these generally oriented images for

further photogrammetric applications such as

mapping, orthophotomap production, genera-

tion of better 3D models based on data textur-

ing and others.


June 2010

Fig. 3 PixoView Application Workspace

Fig. 4 Options for generating DTM and DSM using clustered cameras

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The primary problem in processing of generally

oriented images from clustered cameras is their

correct geo-referencing. Since there are a high

number of image files generated during the

photographic mission, perfect data manage-

ment is needed. Compared to large-scale digi-

tal cameras, commonly used medium-format

cameras generate many more images even if

vertical capture only is performed. If there are

five such cameras mounted to the holder, sev-

eral hours of imaging can result in tens or even

hundreds of thousands of images. Proper orga-

nization of this data and simultaneous assign-

ment of appropriate meta-information during

the flight is a relatively difficult task, the suc-

cessful performance of which significantly ben-

efits subsequent data post-processing. If every

image has at least the information on GPS time

and/or basic GPS/INS image orientation infor-

mation assigned, a considerable amount of

effort can be saved later when organizing these

data sets for further production.

If images are only used for monitoring an area

from several different perspectives, the directly

registered GPS/INS data is usually sufficient to

determine orientation of the images with suffi-

cient accuracy. In fact, with these tasks it is only

necessary to download a set of matching gen-

erally oriented images that see the selected

ground objects from various directions after a

viewpoint is selected on a vertical image or

map. If the directly measured image orientation

elements are merely approximate or determined

with lower accuracy, this often poses no prob-

lem for this type of application.

If more accurate image orientation is required,

there are usually two methods available, in

addition to the more accurate GPS/INS system.

The first method is to make a cluster adjust-

ment based on GPS/INS measurement only

without ground control points supplied, which

considerably increases the relative ties of

images. The second option is to perform full

cluster adjustment by means of classic aerotri-

angulation (AT).

Image Processing Using AutomaticAerotriangulation

16

Art ic le

June 2010

Fig. 5 Example of a color orthophotomap generated using images

acquired with the GbCam camera

When processing oblique imagery using soft-

ware solutions that are currently available,

serious issues occur in the functionality of

these systems when processing non-standard

configurations and orientations. It is usually

necessary therefore to process blocks of

images in several passes so that the existing

software can handle these images. At GEODIS

BRNO, there are three types of automatic

aerotriangulation processing software avail-

able: a solution from Intergraph (ISAT), Inpho

(Match AT) and Vexcel (Ultramap AT with

adjustment in Bingo). For processing oblique

images there were two applications under

test, ISAT and Match AT, and our experiences

in 2009 varied. The company was able to use

both applications for calculation with differ-

ent results, relating mainly to the degree of

oblique image used. The problems the com-

pany encountered were discussed with both

software producers. AT input involved individ-

ual images with interior orientation parame-

ters determined by field calibration while exte-

rior orientation parameter calculations were

carried out mostly using Orient software

developed at TU Vienna (adjustment was

done at the Brno University of Technology)

and later using the Bingo system.

The automatic correlation had difficulties tying

appropriate images together. The software

was more stable if overlapping of vertical

strips was ensured. Oblique images correlat-

ed only if taken in the same direction. Images

from strips captured by cameras oriented in

different directions did not produce correla-

tion and considerable dropouts occurred in

mutual ties of the strips. Later, the triangula-

tion blocks were divided into sub-blocks with

the same camera orientation, which substan-

tially increased the stability of the calcula-

tions. The correlated sub-blocks were again

merged into a single block and the final

adjustment was performed using the least

squares method. The complexity of the mutu-

al position of images in strips with opposite

orientation is illustrated in Fig. 2.

Figure 2 shows that when performing image

capture it is better to set up the flight in such

a way that mutual overlapping of central ver-

tical images is ensured (preferably large). This

is given by the current automatic AT process-

ing development level. Although the overlap

between the strips can be selected as need-

ed, at least 40% overlap proved to be useful.

In urban areas, it is better to ensure at least

50% or 60% overlap due to the relating tech-

nologies, e.g. possibility to perform higher

quality DSM correlation, while maintaining the

overlap of 60% between the images in a par-

ticular strip.

Examples of issues bound to automatic AT

processing using current software systems:

Serious correlation problem in ISAT cor-

relation sequences are selected chaotically

especially if multiple overlapping exists;

often there is no connection achieved

ISAT cannot handle correlation of oblique

images if not oriented in the same direc-

tion

Solution: per partes ISAT correlation

standalone correlation for various combi-

nations of strips and cameras with subse-

quent merging into a single block and final

adjustment. It is not possible to determine

in advance which combinations will deliv-

er the best result. However, we know for

sure that the following camera combina-

tions are required (see Fig. 2): 1+3, 2+3, 3

and 3+4+5. If problems persist, additional

special combinations are needed, such as

3+ all images facing south (north, west,

east).

Computing times needed for the ISAT cor-

relation in individual combinations is rela-

tively low (20-35 seconds per image). In

total the times range from 45 to 60 sec-

onds per image depending on the number

of strip combinations.

Inpho Match AT correlates all with all,

which results in longer correlation times

(3.5 minutes per image). If the number of

observations is optimized for a single

point and the maximum number of points

is limited for a single image, the times are

lower, comparable (or even shorter) than

times in the ISAT software. In some cases,

however, images suffer from unacceptable

decrease in the number of automatically

generated points and the optimizing set-

tings need to be re-adjusted, which often

leads to higher correlation times again.

Options for Using Clustered Camerasfor Mapping and 3D MeasurementsThe use of clustered cameras is most fre-

quently discussed in connection with image

acquisition for area documentation purposes,

e.g. for construction, traffic, urban planning,

police, integrated rescue system etc.

However, the oblique images acquired can be

used for mapping too. The procedure suitable

for this purpose is single-image mapping. This

can be applied when obtaining location-spe-

cific details of public areas or performing sim-

ple mapping of buildings and other objects

(see Fig. 3). This kind of mapping can be per-

formed using specialized software, such as

PixoView developed for these applications by

GEODIS BRNO.

However, using oblique images for stereo-

scopic measurements can be far more inter-

esting. The well-known problem of handling


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roof overlaps could also be solved using this

image acquisition method. The stereoscopic

shadow issue, occurring commonly when

using vertical images, could be considerably

eliminated as well. Although the current AT

results are not optimal for use in accurate

mapping, it is merely a matter of better sys-

tem calibration (field conditions are not per-

fect for most types of clustered cameras) and

proper AT adjustment of the entire set of

images to receive accurately geo-referenced

stereo pairs for all directions. For stereo resti-

tution the company has tested the Intergraph

and Inpho systems and our own stereo work-

station. All systems delivered great stereo-

scopic perception with vertical and oblique

images. When using oblique images acquired

in multiple directions, it will be necessary

however, to develop an image manager to

support stereo plotting that will enable

instant replacement of the oblique stereo pair

needed for measuring a situation covered in

one direction.

Options for Using Clustered Camerasfor DTM and DSM PreparationCurrent experiences indicate the option of

using clustered cameras for generating DTM

and DSM. For example, Match-T DSM from

Inpho can be used to create a higher-quality

DSM on the assumption that there is at least

60% overlap of images and strips. Such an

overlap results in a high-quality DSM when

digital images are used. Despite this, even

these calculations have to deal with the issue

of hidden image areas or problems with deter-

mining real terrain, especially close to large

objects, such as buildings. Although these

problems have been minimized in recent

years, the use of oblique images still provides

considerably greater options for obtaining cor-

rect correlation of images and calculating DSM

in locations that proved problematic before.

For now, existing software cannot be fully

used for DSM calculations using oblique

images but it is possible to assume that a

combination of vertical and oblique images

will be beneficial for these calculations.

Available information also suggests that Inpho

has been working intensively on this issue,

also using GbCam data. If one takes into

account the option to calculate surface points

on building faades, the company could gen-

erate a high-accuracy surface model, includ-

ing various types of faade details. Usability

of the above methods for processing oblique

images acquired from an aircraft or mobile

mapping system would certainly represent an

excellent opportunity to calculate accurate

surface models of all buildings around com-

munications for example. Fig. 4 provides sam-

ples of DTM and DSM data generated using

GbCam imagery.

Use of Clustered Cameras forCreating OrthophotomapsThe existing digital rectification technologies

enable the use of oblique mutually overlap-

ping images for creating orthophotomaps. The

modified true orthophotomap creation tech-

nology allows for the efficient patching of

shaded areas of vertical images. This is done

with image information obtained using math-

ematical searches to identify the missing sec-

tion in a suitable oblique image. A similar

method can be applied when performing

automatic building texturing. This is likely to

open a future path to 3D image databases

that will contain all information not only on

the terrain features but also the pixel image

information for all surfaces of the given 3D

object in database systems such as Oracle.

An example of a color orthophotomap pro-

duced using the GbCam system is provided

in Fig. 5 and an example of an automatically

textured building in Fig. 6.

ConclusionThe era of digital photogrammetry will bring

dynamic changes in acquisition and process-

ing of not only classic vertical images but also

oblique images. The software interconnection

of generally oriented images, captured from

an aircraft or ground-based mobile mapping

system, provides opportunities for the gradu-

al development of automated image data pro-

cessing in the sector of geo-informatics,

focused on applications related to image mea-

surement and semantic processing. Generally

oriented images will be stored in 3D databas-

es with the option of further use for various

types of 3D object measurement and surface

texturing. In connection with possible

improvement of image correlation options or

rotating laser scanners, it will be possible to

create extensive 3D databases of selected

areas comprising individual pixels with prop-

er geo-spatial and spectral information.

Karel Sukup Managing Director and CEO of

Geoinformatics Division of GEODIS BRNO, and

Patrik Meixner Production Manager of

Geoinformatics Division of GEODIS BRNO

Many thanks to Ing. Eva Pasekov,

Marketing &Sales Department

Geoinformatics Division

GEODIS BRNO, spol. s r.o.

Internet: www.geodis.cz

18

Art ic le

June 2010

Fig. 6 Example of building automatically

textured using images acquired with the

GbCam camera

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Real World Gaming with GPS-Mission

Business Perspectives of LocationBased Entertainment

Location-Based Entertainment seems to have slowly but surely come of age. Smartphones and reasonable mobile internet

fares have established a framework to enable a broad public market for gaming. The International Mobile Gaming Award

introduced the category of real world games last year and experts await good business perspectives for location-based

games in marketing, tourism and education. Florian Fischer talked with Georg Broxtermann from Orbster about the

promise and prospective of location-based gaming. Orbster is the location-based entertainment company that developed

the highly successful game GPS-Mission.

By Florian Fischer

From the Pursuit of Coordinates to Mixed-RealityMay 1st 2000 is a memorable date for many geo-cachers. It was the day

when the White House announced it was going to stop degrading the

Global Positioning System accuracy and GPS users received an instant

upgrade of their devices accuracy. It has been an enabler for the very

popular leisure activity of geo-caching, which today is widespread all over

the world. People use GPS devices to search for hidden treasures, often

among historical or nature-relevant places, that are only described by their

coordinates. It has become a popular representative for a new paradigm

of leisure and entertainment-based activities, characterised by the conver-

gence of mobile information, communication technology and location ser-

vices to link up material space with media-space. They connect space and

entertainment in a way that makes people discover their environment

beyond their ordinary action space, solve problems, compete with others

and learn about spatial phenomenon or history. It is often described by

terms such as pervasive, mixed-reality or augmented-reality and

mostly dedicated to location-based entertainment like gaming or story-

telling. In 2010 location-based gaming seems to be a rising star in the

entertainment market.

Linking Material and Media-Space with GeospatialTechnologyLinking physical and virtual space holds the possibility of reclaiming social

and physical aspects of space in a playful way, and creates new and revo-

lutionary forms of spatial experience. Location-based games require sensi-

tivity for spatial contexts and interaction during the course of play which

is established by the application of localisation and mapping technolo-

gies. A starting point of their success has been the recent development

and convergence of mobile internet and geospatial technology. Both the

Microsoft and Google geo-browsing platforms ensure a free availability of

maps even on mobile phones. Many communication providers offer fair

mobile internet rates and cell phone producers commonly integrate GPS

chips nowadays. Thus costs for play and provision of location-based games

are reduced, which helps them gain more and more attention in the enter-

tainment and leisure industries.

Up to now a great variety of different games exists, as the Location-Based

Games Database project of the Chair for Computing in the Cultural Sciences

at Bamberg University proves. It contains 135 entries on different games.

While most are prototypes from research institutions, some commercial

projects are listed as well. GPS-Mission (www.gpsmission.com) is one of

these and at the moment one of the most successful in the world.

GPS-Mission The World is Your PlaygroundGPS-Mission is a treasure hunt game that offers numerous missions world-

wide with each mission adapted to a specific urban environment. After

having downloaded the GPS-Mission client on a mobile phone, the player

can log-in and start playing. During the game a mobile internet connec-

tion is necessary to re-load maps and update the players position on the

20

Art ic le

June 2010

GPS-Mission - mixed-reality treasure hunt

server of GPS-Mission. That is to say, the course of the game is recorded

and can be reviewed later. In addition, other players in the community of

GPS-Mission can follow the game in real-time. After having selected a mis-

sion the players mobile phone shows checkpoints he has to reach and

challenges he has to fulfill. Checkpoints are points within walking dis-

tance. When reaching a checkpoint, sometimes a question related to the

place has to be answered. After reaching the last checkpoint the player

has solved the mission.

There is virtual gold everywhere in the world of GPS-Mission. All the gold

a player collects while playing a mission is available for him on his account.

Furthermore he is awarded gold for completing missions and can earn

gold for creating successful missions played by other players. Gold is the

in-game currency and can be used to buy trophies for every mission which

has been completed. The trophies are virtual collectibles similar to the

popular hiking-medals for alpine wanderers. Players can also buy power-

ups that improve the play.

Creating your own MissionsThe missions are created by the community of GPS-Mission which are

assumed to be the community of players of the game as well. Thus every

player in the GPS-Mission community is invited to create their own mis-

sions for the community and share their knowledge of interesting places,

challenge other players and make them walk. Thus a mission designer is

provided as an easy to use web-based tool to create missions online.

After publishing a mission, it is instantaneously available for all players in

the area. The creator of a mission will be rewarded with 50 Gold for every

user that completes his mission successfully. In addition to managing the

mission, the mission designer utilizes a geo-browser optionally Bing-

Maps, OSM or Google Maps to create checkpoints, add local riddles,

gold and photo spots. As soon as a newly designed mission is ready to

be played, it can be published online and is visible for everyone in the

community after just a few seconds.

Quality AssessmentGeorg Broxtermann believes, that the quality of the GPS-Mission largely

belongs to the activities in the community. This is also the reason why we

leave the quality management to the players mainly. However, a tool in

the mission designer checks every mission for its rough playability, and it

is up the players in the community to review the mission with stars and

comments. According to Broxtermann these players are aged mainly from

14yrs to 40yrs but sporadically up to 65yrs. He must smile while he admits

that the best mission on GPS-Mission has been created by a 66 year old

teacher from Amsterdam. This might indicate that the most active mem-

bers, in terms of high-quality contribution, are in the older age range, a

trend similarly observed on

OpenStreetMap and other popular plat-

forms for Volunteered Geographic

Information (VGI). In fact Broxtermann

argues that the authors of missions are

driven by a motivation similar to partici-

pating on YouTube. While he wanted to

focus on entertainment as motivation, I

rather believe in a whole bunch of moti-

vations for creating missions, ranging from

entertainment and education to earning

money, and developing a kind of profes-

sionalism in location-based entertainment.

A Multi-branched Business ModelStill the company Orbster wants to earn some money with GPS-Mission.

Georg Broxtermann explained the various branches of their business

model. Basically a premium client can be purchased on Apples App Store

or Nokias Ovi Store and advertisements on the website of GPS-Mission

generate some revenue for Orbster. But Broxtermann emphasizes that their

interest is in partner-events and the re-use of the GPS-Mission platform

for white-label productions and brand-marketing. There are three levels of

branding which can be incorporated in GPS-Mission. Firstly, the branding

of single missions, which reach from a special design for checkpoints and

a branded story, to the checkpoints that guide the player to points-of-

interest for that particular brand. Secondly, Orbster can build a new game

which is integrated on its platform, and thirdly, create a whole new and

independent game for its customers.

Bright Prospects While location-based entertainment can be part of a branding-strategy in

the opinion of Orbster, it also has opportunities in the tourism and leisure

industries as well as in education. Location-based games are often

described as new leisure activities combining outdoor activities with gam-

ing experience as they generate a great post-work reward for the players.

As such they have strong connotations with life-style trends, self expres-

sion and fashion issues and compete with personal fashion items and

activities, such as having a coffee with friends rather than watching a

movie. Thus it might be assigned a valuable component in the tourism

and leisure industry in the future rather than in the entertainment domain.

Touristic performances are strongly concerned with play. They are about

taking on new roles and trying different patterns of action. The experi-

ence of difference aside from everyday lifes spaces is considered the

most driving force for leisure activities and travelling. Location-based

games provide a playful and different experience in everyday spaces, and

they help players transcend urban life by inscribing the game and their

interactions with it. While the game directs the player in space rather than

as his personal everyday habits do, he gains a new perspective on space

and a chance to reflect on daily spatial habits and configurations. At the

same time, he experiments with new tactics of space appropriation while

he moves through space by conducting the games rules, interacting with

other players and executing strategies to succeed in the game. The change

of perspectives is a basic principle to experience difference and gain an

awareness of other concepts of space. Other-awareness means an imagi-

native takeover of other points of perception while ones own points-of-

view are temporarily suspended. Perspective-taking is an important com-


Art ic le

21June 2010

What the player can

do in GPS-Mission

ponent of a successful learning environment. Thus, loca-

tion-based games might be interesting components of

education-focussed leisure activities as well as for school

excursions and study trips. Affirmatively Georg

Broxtermann explains that education is a fascinating

domain for location-based entertainment. Teachers can

easily use the mission designer to create attractive mis-

sion for their students. There are already many exam-

ples of that. He also mentions a teacher in Munich,

Bavaria who has even been assigned to the municipal

school authority to create missions for learners.

The Future of Location-Based GamingIt seems that location-based entertainment has some

very bright prospects to be used for the branding of

products as well as becoming a popular leisure and

tourist activity or even utilized as a learning environ-

ment. The fusion of location-based gaming with local

search and geo-social networking is expanding. The ever

popular mobile applications like Foursquare and Gowalla unite mobile

gaming with local search. They reward their users with virtual commodi-

ties when they check-in at a place. Those commodities can be collected,

changed and dropped again. Furthermore, players are rewarded with spe-

cial badges if they create new places. Checking-in and the maintenance of

virtual places assure the reception of virtual commodities. In the local

search game MyTown, the player if he owns the virtual place can even

get rent from follow visitors of the place. Embedding

the community of players seems to be a central topic

of future location-based entertainment and its applica-

tion in the leisure, education and marketing domains.

However, we shall keep our eyes peeled to see what

fusions emerge with other kinds of mobile services.

Florian Fischer, GIS Editor and Research Assistant at the

Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for GIScience in

Salzburg, Austria. He has a blog with small essays on the

Geographic Information Society, Locative Media,

Geobrowsers and the like: www.ThePointOfInterest.net.

Links

Orbster: www.orbster.com

GPS-Mission: www.gps-mission.com

Location-Based Games Database: www.kinf.wiai.uni-bam-

berg.de/lbgdb/

Gowalla: www.gowalla.com

Foursquare: www.foursquare.com

MyTown: www.booyah.com

22

Art ic le

June 2010

Game display in GPS-Mission

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Spatial Technology

For Utilities, Public Safety and

Security SolutionsDr. Horst Harbauer, SG&I Senior Vice President for EMEA at Intergraph, talks about the companys software solutions

for the utilities industry, public safety and security solutions. Also , the distinction between GIS and security is addressed

and how Intergraph is in a unique position to deliver critical infrastructure protection to different but related markets.

Lastly, Harbauer speaks about integration real-time sensor feeds with maps and how that experience leads towards

new innovations.

By the editors

How does Intergraph support the Smart Gridneeds of the utilitiesindustry?

The term smart

grid means the availability of

intelligent and flexible grids. More

and more power is being gener-

ated by decentralized power

sources (photovoltaics, wind

power). This leads to higher grid

structure requirements with regard

to load distribution and grid sta-

bility, which can be secured by

intelligent and flexible grids.

Contrary to regular power plants,

photovoltaic plants directly feed

into medium and low voltage net-

works creating significantly higher

effort to conduct networks analy-

sis. Wide area power generation

equally broadens the volume of

requests for network analysis soft-

ware solutions (e.g. voltage drop

and R&X-calculation) from not

only the headquarters and the

power plant, but also in some of

the subsidiaries of the regional

supplier and municipal utilities.

G/Technology is Intergraphs

focused application for utility and communications customers. It was

developed from the foundation of our GeoMedia technology to provide

advanced workflows that meet the data capture, maintenance, analysis

and reporting requirements of utility and communications companies. To

provide maximum openness, flexibility and scalability, both applications

support native Oracle Spatial. Previous versions of G/Technology initially

remained on Oracles relational spatial data model when GeoMedia

upgraded to the object data

model. Today, both G/Technology

and GeoMedia utilise Oracles

object data model. For earlier ver-

sions, customers made use of

Oracle stored procedures to simul-

taneously populate both geome-

try types, allowing both applica-

tions to access common records.

In Europe, when perform-ing disaster managementsimulations, the heavysecurity at governmentinstitutions impedes theexchange of (geo)data.The real problem seems tobe massive firewalls. Inwhat way can Intergraphhelp government agencieswith this issue?

This is really a

matter of approaching the require-

ment from the correct direction.

Major events (whether natural dis-

asters, acts of terrorism or sport-

ing events of the scale of the

Olympics) are unparalleled in their

operational and organisational

complexity. Their safe and effective

management requires timely and

well informed decision making coupled with the ability to communicate

and coordinate across geographically dispersed locations and a bewilder-

ing range of diverse organisations. These can involve critical responders

and resources from emergency services, national government, municipal

and regional government, the private sector (such as utility operators,

communications companies, transport operators, etc.), the military, securi-

ty services and the voluntary sector, amongst others.

24

Interv iew

June 2010

Dr. Horst Harbauer

To achieve this requires a significant degree of coordination, control and

resilience. In the absence of secure, reliable and predictable process and

access control, data sharing invariably becomes reduced to non-sensitive

themes that can be exploited by organisations downloading data from

portals for use in their local projects. The overheads, hinted to in the

question, and the lack of real-time interaction, tend to limit the applica-

tion of GIS to the planning and recovery phases of disaster management.

Intergraph has drawn on its experience as the leading provider of map-

based public safety and security solutions to develop a robust, collabo-

rative, process-driven emergency planning and response suite that fuses

workflow, real-time data integration, secure role-based access and

advanced geospatial functionality. The security and coordination provid-

ed by this platform enables users from different organisations to use

data directly from the source, avoiding the overhead and disconnect

caused by downloading datasets. This platform has already helped man-

age major events successfully, including the recent G8 Summit in LAquila,

Italy, and is being deployed for regional civil protection centres across

Europe.

The same questions as the one before, but with a focuson security and infrastructure? How can Intergraph useits knowledge of the energy and utilities infrastructureindustries to direct its expertise toward security concerns?And because security in government agencies and energycompanies is not in the same hands as GIS, is there anycontact at all between both divisions and what isIntergraphs strategy to enter these divisions?

In a perfect world, the GIS/security distinction would not

exist. However, some GIS technologies are harder to integrate with real-

time information and operational business systems. Intergraph is in a

unique position, having experience and products in the three prerequisite

areas of capability necessary to deliver critical infrastructure protection.

Intergraph offers core geospatial technology, as well as integrated security

platforms and industry solutions for infrastructure design and manage-

ment.

Today, Intergraph solutions are providing integrated security for airports,

ports, mass transit systems, rail, national borders and nuclear power

plants. Besides SG&I (Security, Government & Infrastructure), Intergraph

Process, Power and Marine (PP&M) which is Intergraph Corporations sec-

ond division, is the worlds leading provider of enterprise engineering soft-

ware for the design, construction and operation of process and power

plants. Our close relationship with and insight into the energy sector means

we work with clients wishing to protect next generation nuclear, petro-

chemical plants and oil production facilities.

The utilities industry has quite a high pressure to reduceits operating cost. What solutions can Intergraph provideto achieve this goal?

The German Federal Grid Agency has requested the utility

industry to reduce its operating costs and at the same time to com-

pensate the power losses which occur during the transmission. To secure

this, many power suppliers focus on status oriented maintenance.

Intergraphs G!NIUS solution provides all necessary methods and functions

needed to collect and document the status of the production equipment.

This covers the full workflow of production equipment data into the grid,

graphical user interface for result entry in the field, and recirculation of

the collected data into the office. The funds allocation is then based on

the findings of the results of the status oriented maintenance plan.

Furthermore, Intergraph does return the result data back into the central

ERP-SAP system, where cost calculation can be done.

The placement of safety cameras with a known positionthat recognizes pixels is rapidly bringing digital cameratechnology into the spatial domain. What can be expectedfrom Intergraph in the field of cameras and location, pixelrecognition and the real-time monitoring of suspectedmovements with multiple cameras?

While this is bleeding edge technology for conven-

tional GIS vendors, Intergraph has a long history of working with video,

and the company holds a number of patents in this space. We first

integrated camera feeds with our emergency management environment

over a decade ago and also produce a forensic video enhancement and

analysis product. This experience has enabled us to lead innovation in

a number of directions.

The security and public safety markets have driven the need to inte-

grate real-time sensor feeds with maps to maintain a clear picture of

the situation on the ground and as a way to manage and make sense

of the ballooning and bewildering range of real time data feeds like

intelligent CCTV, radar, access control and UAVs.

The spatial framework also helps the operator understand situations

more quickly by showing the context of an alarm with clear links to

supplementary information that can help them determine whether action

is required. For example, when an alarm is raised by an access control

system or a sensor, the operator is shown its location along with CCTV

that covers the area in question and the location and status of nearby

personnel. Video footage 10 seconds from either side of the alarm can

be accessed by clicking a camera location. Similarly, a patrol can be

dispatched to investigate and CCTV cameras can be panned and

zoomed by simply clicking their icon within the map. Intelligent CCTV

enhances this process by continuously monitoring multiple feeds for

conditions that fall outside acceptable parameters. When an exception

is detected, an operator is shown the video sequence and location of

the event on a map display, providing direct access to all of the sup-

plementary information to assess the alarm and deploy the most effec-

tive response. These capabilities are used extensively in critical infras-

tructure protection and border security.

Intergraph also has just launched GeoMedia Motion Video Analyst to

enable wider and more effective exploitation of the terrabytes of data

that are produced by the hundreds of thousands of hours of video pro-

duced annually by UAV flights. . Motion Video Exploitation combines

video feeds from aerial platforms directly with mapping, enabling live

video to be viewed in its geographic context and in combination with

other data for enhanced situational awareness during operations. It

also unlocks valuable information in archived footage by providing a

simple and reliable means of searching by location as well as date and

time.

For more information, have a look

at www.intergraph.com


Interv iew

25June 2010

NEXTMap USA

A GPS Coordinate for Everythingin the United States

The contiguous United States, comprising more than 8 million km2, extends westward from a Maine beach on the Atlantic

Ocean to the state of Washingtons Pacific coastline. With Canada on its northern border and Mexico on the south, the

countrys landforms range from deserts to mountaintops and from grassland prairies to marshland. Each of those 8 million

square kilometers of diverse terrain is now part of NEXTMap USA, a high-resolution 3D digital elevation dataset from

Intermap Technologies. NEXTMap USA, which also includes the island state of Hawaii, is a companion dataset to NEXTMap

Europe, Intermaps collection of 2.4 million km2 of digital elevation data for all of Western Europe that was made commer-

cially available in May 2009.

By Ken Goering

Like those in NEXTMap Europe, the datasetswithin NEXTMap USA which include digital

surface models, digital terrain models, and

orthorectified radar images are unprece-

dented in their uniform accuracy and have

already been put to use in extraordinarily

diverse markets and industries. County gov-

ernments use the elevation models and

images for projects such as water manage-

ment planning, and U.S. federal government

agencies have leveraged the countrywide uni-

formity of the data, which is of the same accu-

racy specification from coast to coast and

from border to border. In addition, the data

is used in an enormous array of geospatial-

enabled products and services; in the auto-

motive industry alone, NEXTMap data will be

used in 3D in-dash visualization applications,

while Intermaps 3D Roads product, derived

from NEXTMap data, supports energy man-

agement and safety/advanced driver assis-

tance systems (ADAS) applications.

NEXTMap USA is a remarkable database,

said Brian Bullock, Intermap president and

CEO. Every building, road, and even large

rock in the United States now has a GPS

address, if you will, and we know its position

within 2 meters horizontally and 1 meter ver-

tically. Each square kilometer in the database

includes 40,000 individual elevation postings

and 640,000 image pixels, equating to over

600 billion elevation measurements and five

trillion image pixels for the nation.

The privately funded NEXTMap program devel-

oped from Intermaps recognition that map-

ping resources for first-world countries could

be dramatically improved. In 1998, after ana-

lyzing the United Kingdom, Germany, and the

United States, we concluded that the first

world was not well-mapped, said Bullock.

Rather, what existed was an accumulation of

decades and decades of maps, with varying

degrees of accuracy, all cobbled together.

Britain Serves as PrototypeBy 2002, Intermap was ready to initiate its

first whole-country mapping project and chose

Great Britain as a prototype. Intermap collects

its data with interferometric synthetic aper-

ture radar (IFSAR) mounted on an aircraft fleet

which includes Learjets and King Airs that col-

lect data in swaths up to 10 kilometers wide.

The method results in digital elevation

databases with sub-meter vertical accuracy.

One particular advantage of IFSAR is the abil-

ity to collect data in cloudy or dark condi-

tions, which allows the jets to fly without wor-

rying about cloud belts or overcast days.

England and Wales were completed in 2002,

and Scotland was added to NEXTMap Britain

in 2003. We were able to meet the technical

26

Art ic le

June 2010

This is a NEXTMap USA colorized shaded-relief digital terrain model (DTM) of the Grand Canyon, which is

located in northern Arizona in the southwest United States. The canyon is 446 km long and varies in width

from 8 km to 29 km. Grand Canyon National Park was one of the first U.S. national parks; the Colorado River

began carving the canyon at least 17 million years ago.

specifications and also prove the business

model, Bullock said. The big challenge was

to scale that up 50 times and significantly

reduce the costs.

Bullock said that Intermap wanted to devel-

op a digital database for the United States

that was much more accurate than what was

available at the time. It took the U.S. gov-

ernment 60 years and $2 billion to map the

United States the first time, and we were set-

ting out to do it at a thousand times more

density, and at least ten times more accuracy,

and we were going to do it in four or five

years with private funding, he said.

NEXTMap USA Begins with CaliforniaBased on market demand, NEXTMap USA

began with remapping the state of California.

However, remapping this single state was a

significantly larger project than NEXTMap

Britain had been: At nearly 424,000 km2,

California is almost twice the size of England,

Wales, and Scotland combined.

Intermap developed a 150-page project plan

that guided the company through this

along the southern and northern borders of

the United States for the mutual benefit of the

North American governments to manage bor-

der and security issues.

With the northern and southern borders com-

pleted, the rest of the United States was com-

pleted with maximum efficiency as dictated

by cooperative weather patterns and the sea-

sons. Coordinating the flights, which could

change on a moments notice depending on

extreme weather, took a huge effort from

Intermap personnel. There were times, espe-

cially during the winter, when we couldnt fly

anywhere in the country, said Ivan Maddox,

Intermap director of data acquisition and

planning.

Coordinating governmental clearance for the

NEXTMap USA flights was, compared to data

collection for NEXTMap Europe, relatively

straightforward: there is only one civil air

authority for the country, instead of different

agencies for each of the European countries.

Still, the flight planning had to be thorough.

Each flight had a standard 12-page briefing

that included the precise times of every sin-

gle turn, said Maddox.

For NEXTMap USA, Intermap aircraft flew a

total of 2,530 sorties, equating to 10,324

hours of airtime or a total of nearly five years

working aloft.

Improving EfficienciesThroughout data collection operations for

NEXTMap USA and NEXTMap Europe,

Intermap was taking significant steps forward

in both its technology and methodology.

When data for NEXTMap Britain was collect-

ed, the aircraft flew in lines of only 200 km

in length. To maintain the absolutely straight

lines needed for accurate data collection, the

pilots must continuously adjust the aircraft

heading during the flight because of chang-

ing winds aloft which also reorients the

antennae mounted on the jets and changes

the look angle of the antennae. The radar

would have to be taken offline so that it could

be manually reoriented to correct the look

angle, and the aircraft would have to make a

turn in order to start collecting data where it

had left off before. During those periods, the

radar wasnt collecting data, but the aircraft

was still using fuel and time both of which

are expensive resources.

Through intense research and testing, the

companys engineers developed a method of

automatically reorienting the IFSAR antennae

pedestal to account for changing wind direc-

tions while continuing to collect data. This

advancement allowed the Learjets to fly ultra

long lines, 1,200km flightlines that were

restricted to that length only by the fuel

capacity of the aircraft. By the end, said

unprecedented project. The plan addressed,

in part, ways in which to ensure that the data

was collected as accurately as possible.

Intermaps aircraft collect data by flying abso-

lutely straight lines, and subsequently control

the data with reflective ground control points

(GCPs) placed by field staff using GPS coordi-

nates and, for a state the size of California,

GCP placement was no easy task. However,

as massive as California is, its only the sec-

ond-largest state in the contiguous United

States (Texas is nearly 7 million km2):

Intermap was definitely headed into new ter-

ritory with NEXTMap USA.

Data collection for California was completed

in September 2005. The early sales success-

es of the dataset including use for flood-

plain mapping, high-speed rail line planning,

and water resource planning, among many

other projects in the state convinced

Intermap to continue the initiative of remap-

ping the entire United States.

The expansion began with the states of

Mississippi and Florida in the southeastern

United States. Next, Intermap collected data


Art ic le

27June 2010

AccuTerra by Intermap is one of the many applications enabled by NEXTMap data. The application, available

for Apples iPhone as well as dedicated GPS devices, allows users to plan, record, and share their outdoor

recreational experiences, like hiking and skiing.

agement and application interoperability.

Instead of storing and managing large

datasets locally, many users now prefer cost-

effective Internet-hosted solutions that are

compatible with both their existing appli-

cation environment and data access

requirements.

In response, Intermaps Web services por-

tal called TerrainOnDemand is an

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

data as a service platform that

natively supports the acquisition, anal-

ysis, and delivery of the companys

NEXTMap data.

Automotive ApplicationsAboundNEXTMap data is being evaluated

extensively in the automotive indus-

try: Intermaps 3D Roads product is an accu-

rate and homogeneous geometric representa-

tion of all roads in a country, based on

NEXTMap data. Key vehicle energy manage-

ment applications enabled by 3D Roads

include Eco-routing, which helps plan more

fuel-efficient routes (and reducing carbon

emissions), and Electric Vehicle Range

Prediction, which accurately informs electric

or hybrid electric vehicle drivers how far they

can proceed on their current charge. Also in

the automotive sphere, NEXTMap data is

enabling applications such as Predictive Front

Lighting, which automatically adjusts a vehi-

cles headlights to illuminate curves in the

road, and Curve Speed Warning, which alerts

a driver if the vehicle is traveling at an unsafe

speed for an approaching curve.

Recreational Uses As WellNEXTMap USA data is the foundation for

Intermaps AccuTerra product, which is a map

database for smartphones and dedicated GPS

units used by outdoor enthusiasts to plan,

record, and share their hiking, skiing, and

other outdoor recreational pursuits. Earlier

this year, The New York Times used NEXTMap

data to create highly detailed and interactive

maps of the Winter Olympic venues in British

Columbia, Canada, for its Web site.

Ken Goering, Senior Writer at

Intermap Technologies

For more information on NEXTMap USA and

NEXTMap Europe, visit www.intermap.com.

Maddox, we had collected an area about four

times the size of California in the same

amount of time it took to collect that state.

Collection of the data for NEXTMap USA was

completed on March 16, 2009, within its bud-

get by six percent and ahead of

schedule by nine months. The data

was continuously being processed

and verified in several of

Intermaps offices around the

world, necessitating tremendous

upgrades in computing power

and storage capabilities, as

well as significant additions

to staff.

NEXTMap USA required

1,300 GCPs, each placed by

an Intermap employee who

had to ask landowner per-

mission prior to its place-

ment. The field staff would

regularly drive up to 25,000

miles in one month. For

NEXTMap USA, to initially place

and then return to pick up the

reflectors, our GCP crew drove the

equivalent of two return trips to the

moon, said Maddox. A total of 160 field

staff from Intermap worked on the data

collection phase of NEXTMap USA. Various

project teams, including the GCP crews,

spent a total of 24,463 days (67.5 work-

ing years) in the field.

Perhaps most stunning of all of the numbers

regarding the NEXTMap program is: two. For

a significant length of time, data collection

(and all of the operations that occurred to

support it) and processing was taking place

on the two continents of America and Europe

simultaneously so that NEXTMap USA and

NEXTMap Europe could both be completed as

quickly as possible. The end result: more than

10 million square kilometers of datasets pro-

viding uniformly accurate coverage for the

contiguous United States and Western Europe.

Putting NEXTMap USA to WorkWhile Intermap continues to collect and pro-

cess data under its NEXTMap program around

the world, the company has also transformed

itself from a data collection and processing

entity into one that is creating geospatial

products and services based on the NEXTMap

database and driven by the varying needs of

its customers worldwide.

Beyond traditional GIS-based uses for digital

elevation data and images, NEXTMap is also

used in a wide variety of geospatial-enabled

products and services. This year, Intermap is

introducing an online risk assessment portal

with which insurance companies can accu-

rately gauge their property portfolios risk of

flood damage; the accuracy of NEXTMap data

will allow that to happen at the level of a spe-

cific property address.

The company is also launching an application

that supports online terrain profiles applica-

tion for microwave link planning, which allows

telecommunications companies in the plan-

ning phase of building or extending a network

to ensure that their transmission towers will

have a clear line of sight without expensive

field verifications. The application has exten-

sive benefits to industries that use transmis-

sion lines of any type, such as water, and oil

and natural gas.

On-demand Data DeliveryThe quality, resolution, size, and complexity

of geospatial data is increasing exponentially,

driving the need for more effective data man-

28

Art ic le

June 2010

This is a digital surface model (DSM) of Germany

from NEXTMap Europe, which

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