geoinformatics 2012 vol01

● UAV’s: from Toys to Tools ● LiDAR Data Analysis Software● Council of European Geodetic Surveyors ● CityEngine

Magazine for Survey ing, Mapping & GIS Profess iona lsJanuary/Febru

ary

2 0 1 2Volume 15

1Prod_GEO112_Prod GEO66 20-01-2012 10:55 Pagina 1

We Get the Point...

In Fact, We Get Billions. Together with Leica Geosystems, we offer the

ERDAS IMAGINE®, LPS, ERDAS APOLLO and Intergraph’s GeoMedia® at www.erdas.com/lidar

Prod_GEO112_Prod GEO66 20-01-2012 10:55 Pagina 2

http://www.erdas.com/lidar

2012 in a nutshellWith just one week into the new year, the first major event of 2012 was announcedin the press, namely a strategic alliance between Autodesk and Pitney Bowes. Atthe time of writing, no details have been made public but it seems this news fitsvery well with current market trends in the geospatial world where companiesseek ways to integrate their products, services and workflows, all designed to make things easier for the user. (See also the interview in our last issue concerning ERDAS and Intergraph). More on the Autodesk/Pitney Bowes alliancein our next issue.

At the beginning of the new year, lots of bloggers made announcements on whatto expect in 2012 concerning the geospatial market. In this issue, you can find a contribution focusing on the location based systems market and what’s to beexpected there. This market is highly dynamic and therefore interesting, not in theleast since product innovations influence the way tomorrow’s tools will be used.

Another interesting acquisition is that of Procedural by Esri. Cinematographic 3Dimages seem a world away from mapping software, but this isn’t true. Again,innovations in the entertainment industry have their effects on geospatial softwareand I’m very interested to see where this is heading. Also, Procedural’s softwareCityEngine fits in with the GeoDesign concept that Esri is advocating, which untilnow has been an easy target for petty criticism.

Last but not least, we are happy to announce a collaboration between the Councilof European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE) and GeoInformatics magazine. In short,this partnership will consist of newsletters and reviews of events of the council plusmore surveying news in general. To start things off you can read an interview withPresident Jean-Yves Pirlot in this issue.

At GeoInformatics, we continue to strive to publish a balanced view of the geospatial market and produce high-quality content and the latest industry news.We encourage you to send in interesting material to share with our read-ership. What’s relevant, what’s innovative, what should we know asgeo-professionals? This means regular columns, product reviews andcase studies, as well as coverage of events all over the world. I hopethis new issue will give you an update and some insight on the various market sectors that together make up today’s geospatialindustry.

Enjoy your reading,

Eric van [email protected]

GeoInformatics is the leading publication for GeospatialProfessionals worldwide. Published in both hardcopy anddigital, GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis andcommentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.GeoInformatics is published 8 times a year.

Editor-in-chiefEric van Rees [email protected]

Copy EditorFrank Artés [email protected]

EditorsFlorian [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Contributing Writers:Armin Gruen, Reinhard Abke, Monica Pratt, Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk, Remco Takken, Benjamin D.Kamphaus, Artem Nikitsky, Natalya Filimonova, Anna Antonyuk, Cori Keeton Pope, Flávio LobosMartins, Johanna Born, Ilkka Valli

ColumnistsLéon van der PoelMatt Sheehan

[email protected]

Marketing & SalesRuud [email protected]

SubscriptionsGeoInformatics is available against a yearly subscription rate (8 issues) of € 89,00.To subscribe, fill in and return the electronic replycard on our website www.geoinformatics.com

Webstitewww.geoinformatics.com

Graphic DesignSander van der [email protected]

ISSN 13870858

© Copyright 2012. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.

P.O. Box 2318300 AEEmmeloordThe NetherlandsTel.: +31 (0) 527 619 000 Fax: +31 (0) 527 620 989 E-mail: [email protected]

GeoInformatics has a collaboration withthe Council of European GeodeticSurveyors (CLGE) whereby all individualmembers of every national Geodeticassociation in Europe will receive themagazine.

3January/February 2012

Photo

graph

y: Be

stpict

ures.n

l


mailto:[email protected]









http://www.geoinformatics.com




C o n t e n t

A r t i c l e sUnmanned Aerial Vehicles 14

LiDAR Data Analysis Software 18

Hiparc Geotecnologia's Digital Mapping System 24

Latvian Rural Support Service 28

Mapping England’s Highways 30

Interference & Einstein 34

Spatial Data Quality to the Cloud 40

Space Imagery Data and Technology 46

E v e n t sGeoDesign Summit 2012 38

Recap of the FMEdays 2011 44

Geospatial World Forum 2012 50

I n t e r v i ewCouncil of European Geodetic Surveyors Newsletter 6

CityEngine 2011 10

C a l e n d a r / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x 54

At the cover:Costa Concordia, Giglio, Italy-January 17, 2012: A luxury cruise ship ranaground in the Tuscan waters off of Giglio, Italy on Friday, January 13, 2012.Several people have died as a result, many are still missing. (credit:DigitalGlobe) www.digitalglobe.com


http://www.digitalglobe.com

34

6

14Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV’s) have recently attainedgreat attention. This article explains why this is so and decribes the wide range ofusers and applications.

24

This is the first contribution from the CLGE for Geo -

Informatics. As an introductionto the readers of Geo -

Informatics, CLGE PresidentJean-Yves Pirlot explains in

detail what the organization isall about, such as its members

and main activities.

After buying a new photo-grammetric digital aerial came-ra, Hiparc can now collect and

process pictures more efficiently and uses integratedprocessing tools to develop survey maps eight times fasterthan with a film camera.

Some of you may have heardabout the experiment at CERNthat seems to prove that thingscan actually go faster thanlight, something that Einsteinsaid was impossible. So whatdoes a physical experimenthave to do with a GNSS up-

date you may ask.

18Since LiDAR data has become more available and LiDAR dataanalysis software more advanced,organizations are applying this three-dimensional information to solve a variety of complex

problems.

46Russian government institutionsand business companies havebeen increasingly applyingspace imagery data and tech-nology in their activities. Thisarticle reviews only severalprojects, implemented byScanEx RDC specialists in2011 in Russia using space

imagery data.

44

It was not without reason thatcon terra and Safe Software,organisers of the FMEdays

2011, chose to hold this eventunder the somewhat sportysounding motto of: START –

MEET – STUDY.

10Gert van Maren (Esri’sTechnical Product Manager3D) and Pascal Mueller

(Director of the new Esri R&DCenter Zurich, formerlyProcedural) sat down and talked about the acquisition

of the company.


An interview with the CLGE President Jean-Yves Pirlot

Council of European Geodetic S This is the first contribution from the CLGE for GeoInformatics. As an introduction to the readers ofGeoInformatics, CLGE President Jean-Yves Pirlot explains in detail what the organization is all about,such as its members and main activities.

GeoInformatics: What’s the aimof the Council of EuropeanGeodetic Surveyors?Jean-Yves Pirlot: In a one-liner, CLGE is theleading surveyors association in Europe!

GI: … moreover?Pirlot: CLGE is the Council of EuropeanGeodetic Surveyors. The acronym stemsfrom the French name Comité de Liaison desGéomètres Européens. In a broad sense, itrepresents the interests of the EuropeanSurveyor on the whole continent. This meansthat our Council promotes the profession inthe European Union as well as in the sur-rounding Council of Europe countries.Surveying includes Cadastral Surveying

which provides security to land and prop-erty title and thus underlies the economicfoundation of developed societies.Moreover, Geospatial Information is nowubiquitous in our lives and the surveyorplays a fundamental role in this field. Bothactivities are strongly related because awell-managed cadaster is an ideal funda-ment for national Geo Data Infrastructures.

Our tasks in property delimitation andGeoInformation management are stronglyrelated because the cadaster is an idealfundament for Geo Data Infrastructures.

The individual surveyors are the final andmost important beneficiaries of CLGE’s activ-

ities. However, the Council also pursuesmore general aims, such as the sustainabledevelopment of European society and thepublic and individual interests of EuropeanCitizens.It is important to note that we are represent-ing the profession as a whole. This meansthat we have delegates from the private, thepublic and the academic sectors. For thetime being, we are introducing a represen-tation of the youngsters as well.

GI: When and why was CLGEfounded?Pirlot: About 50 years ago, it becameclear that the European countries, unitedwithin the worldwide organization FIG,

January/February 2012

I n t e r v i ew

6

The CLGE Executive Board, from left to right: Pierre Bibollet (FR, Vice President), Leive Bjarte Mjøs (NO, Vice President), Dieter Seitz (DE, Treasurer), Rudolf Kolbe (AT, Vice President), Jean-Yves Pirlot (BE, President), Michelle Camilleri (MT, Secretary General).

Not on the picture Danko Markovinovic (HR, Vice President for GI).

By the editors


needed a representational body to interactwith the then young European institutions.Official history reports a first meeting in1972, during the FIG congress held inWiesbaden, Germany. However, oldermembers of our association have mentionedprior meetings, as early as 1962. We hopethat this issue will be solved before our nextEuropean Conference, in Hanover onOctober 11th, 2012, since our 50thanniversary will of course deserve specialattention.

GI: Which countries are memberof CLGE?Pirlot: CLGE is still growing. As shown onthe map (figure 1), we are represented in35 countries. Amongst them we have the 27EU member states as well as 8 Council ofEurope countries. In each country we askour member organizations to create aNational Liaison Group. This group is rep-resented by two delegates in our GeneralAssembly, sharing one single vote. Thisapproach promotes national cooperation.

GI: How is it possible to becomea member of CLGE and how areyou recruiting new members?Pirlot: Actually, the National Liaison Groups(NLG) are not yet completely built in all our

member countries. This process is still ongo-ing. It means that candidate associations canalways contact existing members of a givenNLG and start negotiations to join it. CLGEnormally does not interfere in these discus-sions unless asked to do so by both parties.Not so long ago, the French Association forTopography started talks with our historicmember OGE (Ordre des Géomètres-Experts

français). I am confident that they will jointhe French NLG soon. Others could follow.

By requiring the constitution of NationalLiaison Groups, we foster the local cooper-ation amongst surveying associations. Andit works!

We are not really recruiting actively. All theCouncil of Europe members are welcome. Itsuffices that the candidate associations rep-resent the majority of the profession withintheir country and engage themselves to fol-low the principles of CLGE. Once acceptedthey have to build a National Liaison Group,together with the sister organizations in theircountry.

I n t e r v i ew

7Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com January/February 2012

Surveyors Newsletter

CLGE is represented in 35 countries. Amongst them are the 27 EU member

states as well as 8 Council of Europe countries.

European Surveyor, regardless where you are on March 5th, 2012, please celebrate your profession! March 5th, 2012, 500 years Mercator, the First Day of the European Surveyor

and GeoInformation.



GI: What are your main activities?As we have limited means, we can onlyinvest in important activities. However, inthis article it is not possible to list them all.We will seize the opportunity given by ourcooperation with your magazine to describeour activities in more detail in the coming15 issues. However, we can of course syn-thesize our engagement by announcing ourmain goals.In a few words CLGE wants to:• take part in the legislative process gov-erning the exercise of the SurveyingProfession at the European and nationallevels;

• build a professional image of theEuropean Surveyor, recognized bynational governments as well as the EU;

• motivate young surveyors to becomeactive within their national associationsand hence CLGE (and urge young peo-ple to join our profession, of course);

• make sure that the CLGE members aresatisfied with our performance.

Therefore, we absolutely need to raise ourprofile and to appear on the radar of theEuropean politicians and the broader public.

CLGE has to raise its profile if we want theprofession to appear on the radar of thepoliticians and the broader public!

And here we have to highlight one singleaction that’s planned for March 5th, 2012;yes, the first Day of the European Surveyor.Our General Assembly has asked us toorganize this event on the very day onwhich our famous predecessor Mercatorwas born, 500 years ago, in what’s nowcalled Belgium.Together with some National Mapping andCadastral Agencies our CLGE delegatesand their organizations will arrange specialevents all over Europe, to honour this day.Moreover, CLGE will organize a specific cel-ebration in Brussels, inviting delegationsfrom every European country. If you areSurveyor and interested in joining the event,do not hesitate to contact us [email protected] (please follow thenews on www.clge.eu for an updated pro-gramme). A few places are available forGeoInformatics readers.In the upcoming issues of this magazine, wewill present several other initiatives in moredetail. We will, for instance, explain ourinvolvement in the modernizationof the European Directive on theMutual Recog nition of Pro -fessional Quali fications, adver-tise our next European Con -

ference to be held during INTERGEO 2012in Hanover, together with our EuropeanStudents Meeting and the first CLGEStudents Contest. We will also give moredetails on the Dynamic Professional Know -ledge Base we are planning to build.

GI: What is the differencebetween CLGE and other international associations, for instance FIG?Jyp: We see CLGE as a part of FIG. Thereis no competition at all. On the contrary,we are working hand in hand in a verycomplementary way. Whilst FIG concen-trates on the work of high level profession-al and technical commissions, CLGE ismore active in the field of European pro-fessional politics. This is an absolute must,since the EU is really shaping the way inwhich we will perform our duties tomor-row.As a matter of fact, a lot of our delegatesare active in CLGE and FIG as well. As westill have increasing participation rates atour General Assemblies and Conferences,we understand that CLGE proposes a sig-nificant added value for our member asso-ciations.

FIG and CLGE are working hand in hand ina very complementary way. The relevanceof CLGE as a regional partner within the FIGcould and should grow in the coming years.

During our Tallinn General Assembly inSeptember 2011, we started some discus-sions about the relevance of CLGE withinFIG. I feel that our involvement as a region-al partner could and should grow in thecoming years.On the European level there is another muchsmaller organization called EGoS (EuropeanGroup of Surveyors). We are preparing amemorandum of understanding to make surethat we work in the same direction. For thetime being this already happens but in aninformal way.Last but not least I would like to mention animportant sister organisation Euro Geo -graphics. This international non-profit asso-ciation unites the National Mapping andCadastral Agencies of the EuropeanContinent. Needless to say it employs a lotof surveyors and thus is our natural ally inmany circumstances. We have co-writtentwo major studies about professional

requirements and the impact of the Euro pean regulations, available onwww.clge.eu. Both our associations arebased in the House of the EuropeanSurveyor and GeoInformation, in Brussels.This helps!The 3rd International and

Professional Training Course forYoung SurveyorsUnder the Auspices of CLGE, the 3rdInternational and Professional TrainingCourse for Young Surveyors (< 35 years)was held in Athens between 3rd and 14thof October, 2011. The training course wasa well-prepared event, organized and spon-sored by the Consiglio NazionaleGeometri e Geometri Laureati (theNational Association of Italian Surveyors)and Geoweb (the company which pro-vides all information about the Cadaster toItalian surveyors), in collaboration withHARSE (the Hellenic Association of Ruraland Surveying Engineers). All participants,young surveyors, lecturers and local orga-nizers expressed their thanks and apprecia-tion to Fausto Savolid, President of CNG eGL and Piero Panunzi, President of Geowebfor this unique initiative. They also expresseda wish to see this become a regularly orga-nized event.In one of the next issues of GeoInformaticswe will come back to the initiative and con-centrate on its future.

Read the full opening speech of the CLGE president on www.clge.eu (google “Pirlot Athens”

on the site search engine).

I n t e r v i ew


In May 2011, Ph.D. Danko Markovinović was appointed CLGE VicePresident for Geodesy and GeoInformation. In the next issue ofGeoInformatics he will take questions about CLGE’s policy in this

specific field.

)")"")"

\



http://www.clge.eu

http://www.clge.eu

http://www.clge.eu

,&,&,&,&& ,&,&,&&,&,&

,&,&,&&

,,,&,&,&&,&&,&&

,,,,&,&,&&,&&,&&,&&,&&,&&,&

,,&,&,&&,&,&

,,&,&

,,,&,&,&,&&&,&&,&&,&&,&

,,,&,&,&&,&&,&&,&

,,,&,&,&&,&&,&&,&&,&&,&

,&,&,&&, ,&,&&,&,&& ,,,,&,&,&&&,&,&&,&

OOOO,O,,O,&,O&,&,O&,&,&O&,&&,!O,!&,!O&,!&&O&&&&&&

OOO,O,,O,&,O&,&,O&,&,&O&,&&,!O,!&,&&,&&&&

OO

OOO&O&O,O,&,O&,&,O&,&,&&,&&,!O,!&!&O&!&&!&O&!&OOOOO,,&,O,&,O&,&,&&,&&,!O,!&&O&&

OOOOO&,O&,&,O&,&,&O&&&,&&,&&,&&,&O&,&!O!O!!O!!O!,!,O!,,&,!&,O&,!&,&,!&,O&,!&,&!&O&!&&,&!&,&O&,!&&,&&,&O&&&!&O&!&

OO,,,&,O,&,&O&,&!O!!O!O!!!O,!,O,O&,&!&O&,

OOOO,O,&,O&,&&&,!O&,!&&O&&&!&O&!&

OOO&,O&,&,O,&,&&,&&,!O,!&!&&!&

OOOOO,O,&,O&,&,&&,!O&,!&,&!&O&,&&&O&&

O OOOOO,O,O&,O&,&,O&,&,&O&,&&,&O&,&&,!O,!&,!O,!&&&&&&&&&&&!&O&!&

OOOOOOO,O,&,O&,&,O&,&,&O&,&&,O&&,&O&&&,&O&&,!O,!&,&O&,&&&&&,&!&O&!&&&O&&

))""""))")""

))")"")))")"")"

"))")""

"))")"")

))")""

)")""

)"

)")"

)")"")"

)")"")"

"))")"")

)")"")"

)")"")

))")""

))")"")")"

))")""

))")"")"

"))")"")")"")"

))")""

))")")""

)")"")"

)")"")")"

)")"")"

))

))")"")

)")"") )")"")

))")""

)")"") )")"")

))")""))")"")

)))")")")"

)")""))")"")

)")")"")"

)")"

))")"")

qqq,&,q&,&,&&,&&,&q&&,&&,&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&

qqq,,q,&,q&,&,&q&&,&&,&&,&&,&q&OO,O,,&,O,q,O,&,&O&,&q&&&&&&,&q&&,&O&,&&,O&,&&&&O&&O&Oq!!!Oq,!O,&,!&,O&,!&,q&,!&,O&,!&,&,&!&,&O&q&O&&,&!&,&O&,!&&,&!&,&O&,&!&&,&!&,&O&,!&,&q&,&!&,&O&,&!&,&

qqqqq,&,q&,&,&&,&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&,& qqqqqq&,q&,&,&&,&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&,&&,&q&&,&q&,&&,&q&

,,&,q&,&&&,&q&&&&,&&,&&,&q&&,&&,&q&

q,q&,q&,&,&q&&&&,&q&&,&q&&,&&,&&,&&,&

qqqq,&,q&,&&&,&q&&,&q&,&&,&q&&&

qqqq,,&,q&,&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&&,&q&,&&q&&&&,&&,&&,&q&,&

q,q,&,q&,&,&q&&q&&,&&,&q&&,&&,&&,&&,&

BUCKEYEE

SSSOST

PAPATRTRICOCIOIOAAIAANNNN LLNN

BUCKEKEYEEYE COCOTT

DADNINEEL

DR

25KKVAVAV \C

!!50KVVAAVAV \\

25KVAVAV \C 25KVAVAV \C

\

25KVAVAV \C

25KV

A\C

2225KVAVAV \C

25KV "AVAV )")"\C

Copyright © 2012 Esri. All rights reserved.

Empowering the Mobile WorkforceWith Esri® mobile solutions, you can quickly capture, update, and

share geospatial information using custom and ready-to-deploy

mobile applications. Mobile GIS saves time, increases data

accuracy, and makes your � eld staff more productive.

Learn more at esri.com/geoinfomob

For Esri locations worldwide, visit esri.com/distributors.F.Y.R.O.M.gisdata.hr

Germanyesri-germany.de

Georgiageographic.ge

Greece and Cyprusmarathondata.gr

Hungaryesrihu.hu

Icelandsamsyn.is

Israelsystematics.co.il

Italyesriitalia.it

Maltageosys.com.mt

Moldovatrimetrica.com

The Netherlandsesrinl.com

Norwaygeodata.no

Polandesripolska.com.pl

Portugalesri-portugal.pt

Romaniaesriro.ro

Austriasynergis.co.at

Belgium and Luxembourgesribelux.com

Bosnia and Herzegovinagisdata.hr

Bulgariaesribulgaria.com

Croatiagisdata.hr

Czech Republicarcdata.cz

Denmarkinformi.dk

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuaniahnit-baltic.lt

Finlandesri-finland.com

Franceesrifrance.fr

Russiadataplus.ru

Slovak Republicarcgeo.sk

Sloveniagisdata.hr

Spainesri-es.com

Swedenesri-sgroup.se

Switzerlandesri-suisse.ch

Turkeyesriturkey.com.tr

Ukraineecomm.kiev.ua

UK/Irelandesriuk.com


3D Content Creation, Modeling and GeoDesign

CityEngine 2011Earlier this year, Esri announced the acquisition of Procedural, a Swiss company active in 3D contentcreation. During the latest European User Conference, Esri released CityEngine 2011, one of Procedural’ssoftware products. Gert van Maren (Esri’s Technical Product Manager 3D) and Pascal Mueller (Directorof the new Esri R&D Center Zurich, formerly Procedural) sat down and talked about the acquisition ofthe company, a new software release and what this all has to do with GeoDesign.

Acquisition of ProceduralThe announcement of Esri’s acquisition ofProcedural, earlier this year during the EsriUser Conference in San Diego, was surpris-ing for a number of reasons. First of all,Procedural is a company that creates 3D con-tent for the entertainment and games industry.What does a software company such as Esrihave to do with these industries? Also, whatare the company’s plans on integrating its soft-ware product, CityEngine, within the ArcGISplatform and what is Esri’s philosophy behindall this? From a user standpoint, what doesthis all mean in terms of supported file formats

and databases that have to be maintained?But first of all, how did the two companiescome together? Pascal Mueller (formerlyProcedural, now Esri) explains: “Proceduralworked together with Esri in 2010 on a pro-ject in the Netherlands. This was a very fruit-ful collaboration and we realized that we usedtechnology that matched very well together.Also, the culture of both companies is verysimilar.” For Procedural, this acquisition wasa great opportunity because with Esri, thecompany can now disseminate its technologyto lots of users. From Esri’s point of view, theidea behind GeoDesign is exactly on par

which Procedural’s approach to all itsurban design clients. “So that’s howthe whole thing started”, says Mueller.

CityEngine: content creatorand GeoDesign toolWith the acquisition of Proceduralcomes a software product calledCityEngine. This software enables thequick creation of 3D cities out of 2Ddata and allows the efficient designand modeling of virtual urban environ-ments in 3D. The latest version, for thefirst time under the Esri logo, was

10

I n t e r v i ew

By Eric van Rees



I n t e r v i ew

released during the latest Esri European UserConference in October of this year.

Gert van Maren explains the two main appli-cation areas of the product, the first one a con-tent creator, using existing GIS data withattributes and rules: “For those GIS users withauthoritative GIS data, this means they canleave it in their geodatabase and maintain itthere. But if they want 3D content, then theycan just drag and drop their data intoCityEngine and apply 3D content rules, if theirdata adheres to a certain template” (more on

templates below). In this way data can bemaintained much more easily. Van Maren:“What we really want to try to avoid is thatour users start to have both a 3D databaseand a 2D database, and then while havingto maintain two databases something changesand then it’s not consistent anymore.”Secondly, CityEngine is meant as a 3D designtool. Once you have your 3D content itbecomes very easy to manipulate that 3D con-tent in CityEngine by changing rules and inter-active modeling. Esri wants to take that a stepfurther in the future, and then combine this

with already existing analysis options. VanMaren explains: “This means that I do a cer-tain design, run analysis in ArcGIS Server, getfeedback in a dashboard, see the impact ofmy design, modify my design and run analy-sis again so I can do a GeoDesign.” In fact,this is where Esri is going: allowing the userto do Geodesign in ArcGIS by usingCityEngine technology. Van Maren: “The whole 3D thing is a verypowerful combination which we have now.We’re strong in analysis and data manage-ment. Procedural is strong in design and con-


Gert van Maren Pascal Mueller




tent creation, so that’s a perfect fit for aGeoDesign tool.”At the moment, CityEngine is used mostly formaster plans for big cities. In the Netherlands,for example, there is a client who usesCityEngine just for doing master planning.Mueller states that city growth is a reallyimportant challenge we are facing worldwide.It requires more planning tools on a city level,because there are no tools out there dedicat-ed to urban planning: “You have lots of sur-veying tools and lots of GIS tools, but they’reall over the place. In urban planning depart-ments they kind of hack something togetherand in master planning studios what they dois they sometimes print out stuff, or they evenbuild the whole model physically, and thendecide it needs to be changed and rebuilt allover again.”

Latest CityEngine releaseFor the first time, the latest CityEngine releaseis now available as a standalone Esri prod-uct. In this new version, users can have geolo-cated content, among other new features.Mueller: “We are one of the first non-ArcGIStools to support the File GeoDatabase (GDB)which is a very good format and we can justimport data very easily in CityEngine. In thenew release, we’ve introduced KMLimport/export, which is for ArcGlobe andGoogle Earth.”There are a number of improvements in theuser interface, like sliders and drop-downmenus, which users can define themselves.The streets have also been improved verymuch so. For example, now users can createroundabouts very easily, and there are thingssuch as automatic residential parceling. Van Maren explains that Esri is planning threetracks with regard to CityEngine. First, it willremain a standalone product, and a high-endprofessional tool mainly for the entertainmentindustry: “we actually don’t want to lose that,but want to be more involved in that industry.The same goes for architects, they loveCityEngine and we are going to improveCityEngine with more GIS functionality.”Expanding on Esri’s plans for the entertain-ment industry, Van Maren explains: “you haveto think of content for movies and games. Aracing game in a real-life city could for exam-ple start with GIS data, and from there it’s builtup in terms of content. The same applies formovies: “for the Cars 2 movie, GIS street dataof London was used to build up the model.”In reverse, ArcGIS could be sold into themovie and entertainment industry as well:“movie studios have assets that are spatiallylocated and by using a GIS the managementof these assets can be optimised”, states VanMaren.

Then the second track, previously mentioned,is a new concept called ArcGIS for UrbanDesign: the ability to do urban planning anddesign in ArcGIS using CityEngine technolo-gy.The third track is that Esri will be integratingProcedural technology into core ArcGIS. VanMaren: “but that won’t be in there until ArcGIS11, and probably mostly invisible to the user.However, we could look for example at 3DProcedural-driven 3D symbology.”In terms of 3D file formats, Van Maren saysthat the new ArcGIS 11 will have new file for-mats or improved file formats: “we know thatArcScene and ArcGlobe are dated 3D ren-dering environments. My colleagues inRedlands are therefore building a newpipeline that will have the ability to read theexisting data formats that we have, but we’realso looking with Procedural at maybe creat-ing new 3D file formats that are way moreoptimized. Multipatches have their limitationswhich we need to solve.”

TemplatesComing back at the reasons for the collabora-tion between the two companies, Mueller addsthat it’s a big strategic advantage forProcedural that everything Esri is doing regard-ing 3D is template driven: “this is because wehave a generic solution in 3D, to create tem-plate-driven geometry.” But not everyoneunderstands what is meant by the term ‘tem-plate’. Van Maren agrees that it is an abusedand over-used word and explains the term:“you’ve got map templates, which is basicallyhow a map should look. This is because Esrihas defined a certain look and feel for a num-ber of maps. If you want to achieve that samelook and feel, simply make sure your dataadheres to the database schema defined in thetemplate, and you are done. For 3D, this idea is taken one step further: atemplate in 3D is basically data and adatabase schema. For example, there is a 2D-to-3D template. Van Maren: “But other thanbeing a nice looking map, it’s also a workflow:we’re trying to solve a problem with a tem-plate. I have 2D data, but I want to turn it into3D. What you get is the data, the databaseschema, plus the geoprocessing models. Yourun the models and 2D data turns into 3D data.Then, you can slide your own data underneathand repeat the workflow. So for 3D, we actu-ally have a lot of geoprocessing models in ourtemplates to solve these problems. For us, it’sslightly more than a map template, it is bestpractices to solve certain common problems.”

Internet: www.esri.com/cityengine

I n t e r v i ew

12 January/February 2012

1 0 16:17


http://www.esri.com/cityengine

I believe in precision.

Leica Geosystems AG Switzerland

www.leica-geosystems.com

Precision is more than an asset – when your reputation is at stake, it’s an absolute necessity.

Zero tolerance is the best mindset when others need to rely on

your data. That’s why precision comes fi rst at Leica Geosystems.

Our comprehensive spectrum of solutions covers all your meas-

urement needs for surveying, engineering, construction, and

geospatial appli cations. And they are all backed with world-class

service and support that delivers answers to your questions.

When it matters most. When you are in the fi eld. When it has

to be right.

You can count on Leica Geosystems to provide a highly precise

solution for every facet of your job.

The new Leica ScanStation C10: this high-defi nition

3D laser scanner for civil engineering and plant

surveying is a fi ne example of our uncompromising

dedication to your needs. Precision: yet another

reason to trust Leica Geosystems.

The new Leica ScanStation C10: this high-defi nition

3D laser scanner for civil engineering and plant

surveying is a fi ne example of our uncompromising

dedication to your needs. Precision: yet another

16:17


http://www.leica-geosystems.com

From Toys to Tools

Unmanned Aerial VehiclesUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) have recently attained great attention. This article explains why thisis so and decribes the wide range of users and applications. But UAV’s also have a number of disad-vantages, which have to be solved in the future in order to establish a good transition from ‘toys totools’.

“Obama demands Iranreturn downed USdrone. Iranian engi-

neers will soon build an aircraftsuperior to the American (drone)using reverse engineering” – news-paper headline of 14 December2011. UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles),or more generally called UASs(Unmanned Aerial Systems), haverecently attained great attention.Both amateur model aircraft pilotsand military drone users are show-ing increased activities, as evi-denced by various media reports.Squeezed between both parties arethe civilian professional users, thosewhich apply these technologies inorder to solve their technical prob-lems. This domain covers a verywide range of applications:Archaeology, architecture, CulturalHeritage, large scale local map-ping, 3D city modeling, changedetection in urban and suburbanareas, cadastre, characterization ofriver and other landscapes, landfill surveys, landslide investigations,agriculture and forestry, natural and man-made hazards, geology, envi-ronmental and construction monitoring, search and rescue, traffic super-vision and traffic accident recording, fire brigade crisis management,crime fighting and coordination of police services, multimedia applica-tions and generation of video games, etc. The diversity of applicationsis already now enormous and ever increasing as time goes by. This isone of the reasons why so many people try to get into this technology.The other reasons are the seemingly ease of operation of such aircraftsand the economic benefits which this technology offers. For an instructive overview of current activities in the UAV sector pleasecontact: “UAS. Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The Global Perspective.2011/2012, 9th edition. Blyenburgh &Co, Paris, France. 216 pages”.The publication contains contributing stakeholders, country overviews,certification and airspace integration, feature articles and a referencesection. Although this publication does by no means show all currentactivities in this sector, it indicates the widespread interest which thistechnology finds. It clearly shows the large amount of systems avail-able, their different designs and various applications.The underlying technology is by no means new. The model helicopter

goes back to 1967, when Schlueteroffered his first system. Five yearlater even a construction setbecame available. The first profes-sional photogrammetric use wasreported by Wester-Ebbinghaus,1980 who used such system for themonitoring of the construction of theWuppertal monorail. At those timesof course, autopilots based onGPS/INS were not available, nei-ther were digital cameras. Sincethen many things have been furtherdeveloped and have made the sys-tems more powerful: More diverseplatform and propulsion technolo-gies, use of digital cameras, inte-gration of GPS and INS forautonomous flying, stabilizer forprecise camera axis pointing, moreflexibility in both flight pattern andpicture taking, and fast processingcapabilities.

UAV’s todayToday we can choose between themany different types of aircrafts:

Balloons, airships, gliders/kites, fixed wing gliders, propeller and jetengines, rotor-kite, single rotor (helicopter), coaxial systems, quadro-rotors, multi-copters. Gas-, jet- and electro-engines are applied andeach comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Finally theapplication conditions will dictate the kind of platform to be best used.In general however, UAV platforms have, compared to other data acqui-sition techniques and tools, a number of significant advantages, as:• Flexibility in sensor design and integration, data acquisition andflight pattern (navigation, flying height). The choice of the recordingcamera can be optimized with respect to project requirements. Flyingheights can vary greatly (usually we fly at heights above groundfrom 50 to 400m) and thus image coverage and footprint (groundresolution) can be varied. Production of vertical, oblique and hori-zontal images from one platform is possible, and maybe even dur-ing one flight. This is the more important the more truly 3D model-ing projects require multi-arrangement imaging.

• Use in high-risk situations. The lack of on-board humans allows formore risky flight executions.

• Flight close to objects. Parts of objects, which are otherwise notreachable at all or only by great efforts, can be recorded.


By Armin Gruen

Figure 1: “Photogrammetric” UAV of the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, ETH Zuerich

Figure 2: The Copter1B on a mission flight over a cornfield (application in Plant Sciences)

A r t i c l e


• Fast data processing (download, on-line and real-time capabilities).Typically (although not always) UAV projects are covering only rela-tively small areas with small or medium format images. This allowsefficient in-the-field data processing. Thus data validation and pro-ject corrections can be made while still on site.

• Inexpensive platform. This applies to both the costs of a system andits operation. Due to the many different systems on the market thereare also great differences in price (and performance).

• High educational value. It is my experience that students love towork with such platforms. For the first time in their aerial pho-togrammetric career they can control the full process of project plan-ning, flight execution, data processing, result representation, etc. bythemselves. This generates a strong push of motivation.

These advantages must be balanced against certain inherent problemsof the technology, as there are:• Flight permissions are required. The regulations and legal conditionsfor UAV flights differ greatly from country to country and are alsodependent on various factors like location of flight, flying height, sizeof platform, communication frequencies, etc. We had recently experi-enced a case where we had to get flight permissions from five differ-ent parties. Under such conditions very early project planning is abso-lutely necessary. Going out and just flying is by no means anadvisable working mode, even if it would be possible technically.

• Also, the safety issue is of great concern. After all, UAV technology isnot in all cases very stable and absolutely reliable. There are certainrules which should be followed wisely: Do not lose the platform outof sight. Anything can happen once you lose eye contact. If autopilotis used and the platform runs in autonomous mode (which we recom-mend highly anyway) make sure you can switch to manual modequickly – it may be necessary.

• These platforms have no built-in intelligence. They cannot cope withunexpected situations (obstacles).

• Some systems require an experienced pilot. This is not only for oper-ating the platform, but also for reasons of repair. You do not wantto travel to a desert in Peru and find out there that some componentsof your system do not work.

• Weight restrictions for carry-on sensors apply. Your system manufac-turer will advise you about these limitations.

• Both the relative and the absolute flying heights may be limited (theformer by regulations, the latter by lack of uplift and oxygen (in caseof a model helicopter with gas engine). It is advisable to test yoursystem under project conditions before you travel far.

• Also, the operating distance is limited. It depends on radio link,energy support and visibility conditions.

Although, as mentioned before, the photogrammetric use of those plat-forms is by no means new, the current boom in applications is due tothe fact that new sensors (digital cameras, GPS/INS) are used on theplatforms and the flexibility and ease of raw data acquisition.While many systems where originally built just as “one-shot systems”,going up into the air for the acquisition of only a few images, withoutnecessarily stereo overlap, we see today many more truly photogram-metric applications. These professional “photogrammetric” UAV sys-tems can be characterized by:• Long flying time for image block data acquisition• Large image sequences (100 – several thousands) • Navigation devices for automated control of trajectory and orienta-tion (autopilot), possibly supported by image-based navigation (new)

• Stabilizing platform for precise image frame location• Image-based and/or range-based sensor(s), modular/exchange-able

• Calibration of sensors and system • Accurate geo-referencing hard- and software (direct/indirect)

A r t i c l e

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com January/February 2012

Figure 3: UAV image from 325m above ground, showing the excavation site Pernil Alto, Palpa, Peru(Archaic Period) in its environmental context. Traces of looting of burial grounds are clearly visible.

Figure 4: UAV image from 50m above ground, showing the excavation site of Pernil Alto, Palpa, Peru inmuch detail (compare to centre image patch in Figure 3)

Figure 5: Castle Landenberg, Obwalden, Switzerland, modelled from UAV images

15



• Automated image analysis and fast processing (batch and/orsequential estimation)

• Standard photogrammetric pre-and post-processing functions• 3D modeling of objects and processes (geometry and texture)• Other suitable data processing software While this may be regarded as a wish-list, some of those functions arealready available, others under development.

ApplicationsFigure 1 shows the Copter1B with the autopilot system wePilot1000 ofweControl AG, which was intensively used by my group in many pro-jects, ranging from Archaeology/Cultural Heritage, Civil Engineering,Geology to Plant Sciences/Agriculture. Although it was originally notdesigned for photogrammetric use, it was later upgraded to pho-togrammetric functionality. This system has so far seen more than 40project flights. Figure 2 shows a flight over a cornfield, where a DigitalSurface Model had to be produced for studies and computations inPlant Sciences.In another application we have recorded an archaeological site in PerilAlto, Palpa, Peru (Archaic Period) for the German ArchaeologicalInstitute. We show two images from different flying heights - 325m(Figure 3) and 50m (Figure 4) above ground, which are used for dif-ferent purposes. While the image of Figure 3 shows an overview ofthe area around the excavation site (indicating also the many lootingholes in the ground), Figure 4 zooms into the excavation and can beused for the mapping and modeling of details.UAVs are suitable tools to record buildings, which are otherwise noteasy to access. Figure 5 shows the 3D model of Castle Landenberg,Obwalden, Switzerland, which was modeled from UAV images. Evenmore, full ensembles and sites can be recorded. Figure 6 shows theflight of a quadrocopter over the archaeological site of DraphamDzong, Bhutan and Figure 7 the resulting 3D model. The site is locatedat 3000m above sea level. We had to use a quadrocopter with elec-tro-engine, since our model helicopter would not have worked at suchaltitude.

Figure 8 indicates the individual steps of data acquisition and process-ing and the associated degree of automation. “Semi-automation” canbe understood either (a) as a fully automated process with substantialpost-editing or (b) as an algorithm that has been designed from thevery beginning as consisting of a combination of manual proceduresand automated components, activated and controlled by a human oper-ator. If “measurement of tie points” is said to be semi-automatic, it doesnot preclude cooperative cases where it works even fully automaticallywith success. The same applies to the measurement of control points.Under certain circumstances this can be done semi-automatically oreven fully automatically.By far the most manual effort goes into the 3D modeling of complexobjects. Here advancements in research are urgently required.

What will the future bring?We will see many more and also new applications of UAV technology.The integration of other sensors, besides panchromatic cameras, e.g.of infrared (near and far infrared), multi-spectral cameras and laser-scanners is already on its way. This leads to new capabilities and appli-cations. Manufacturers are working on the robustification of systems.Minification is also a topic of interest, although one should note thatminification of components may result in a loss of quality.

On the data processing side there is much room for useful R&D:• Integration of novel sensors (multiple cameras, LiDAR, etc.)• Development and testing of dynamic sensor models (LiDAR, LinearArray cameras)

• System and sensor calibration of those new and possibly hybrid sen-sor configurations

• Improvement of positioning and orientation accuracy • Integration of image-based navigation (e.g. by sequential estima-tion)

• Improvement of the level of automation in 3D modeling• Emphasis on real-time and on-line processing

The most urgent needs we see on the side of flight regulations. Herewe need clear rules, laws and regulations, such that projects can beplanned and executed in an orderly fashion.As evidenced by the developments in recent years, the many currentactivities and new applications UAVs have paved their way undoubt-edly into the professional scenery of Geomatics. It is safe to say thatwe will even see an increase of activities in the years to come, makingUAVs, both in terms of hardware and software development, a mostinteresting and challenging area for research, development and prac-tice. This marks a clear transition from toys to tools.

Prof. em. Dr. Armin Gruen, Institute of Conservation and Building Research, ETH Zuerich.

A r t i c l e


Figure 6: Quadrocopter over Drapham Dzong, Bhutan

Figure 7: 3D model of Drapham Dzong, Bhutan, reconstructed primarily from quadrocopter images

Figure 8: Workflow of a photogrammetric UAV mission


http://www.optech.com

http://www.optech.com/i3dugm

Data Sources and Today’s Applications

LiDAR Data Analysis SoftwareLiDAR is an increasingly popular source of three-dimensional data that can provide meaningful contextabout geographic areas. Professionals across industries use LiDAR to create realistic 3D visualizations,extract 3D features and export products to geospatial tools to help understand the world around them.Since LiDAR data has become more available and LiDAR data analysis software more advanced, orga-nizations are applying this three-dimensional information to solve a variety of complex problems.

The Definition andHistory of LiDARLiDAR, light detection and rang-ing, is a range finding technolo-gy similar to SONAR andRADAR (sound and radio detec-tion and ranging respectively).LiDAR sensors work by emittinglight pulses at targets, such asbuildings or trees, and measur-ing properties of the reflectedpulses as they return to the sen-sor. Each reflected pulse has anX, Y and Z measurement that locate it to a geographic position.Collectively, these pulses make up a point cloud. Organizations collectLiDAR point clouds by placing sensors on ground stations, ground vehi-cles, aircraft or spacecraft depending on the intended applications forthe data. Over the past 60 years, LiDAR sensors and the technologyused to process and analyze LiDAR data have steadily evolved.

Different forms of light range finding have existed since the 1950s, how-ever, LiDAR did not enter the realm of geospatial data collection untilthe 1980s when high precision global positioning systems (GPS) becamewidely available and declassified for civilian use. GPS is a key compo-nent of LiDAR because it enables each data point to be precisely locat-ed. In the 1980s, 1990s, and even into the early 2000’s, LiDAR mostlyremained a niche market, limited to specialized surveying tasks andmore commonly used in space and atmospheric sciences than earth-ori-ented sciences. This was the case because the technical requirementsfor processing LiDAR data remained outside the capabilities of mostgeospatial software and planning LiDAR missions remained outside theexpertise of most geospatial analysts.

In addition to the limitations of LiDAR processing software and the tech-nical knowhow of analysts, the size of LiDAR data has also posed achallenge to organizations because full three-dimensional point cloudsusually require a large amount of storage space, which only becamecommon during the last decade. Moreover, geospatial analysts typicallyneed to extract specific features from data, a task that has increased indifficulty as the number of points to classify has grown. Despite thesechallenges, LiDAR data contains important information that cannot beeasily attained using two-dimensional imagery. For example, LiDAR isbetter suited than two-dimensional imagery to identify features superim-posed on each other, like a power line that runs over a building, as wellas three-dimensional shape characteristics, such as nuanced roof shapesand tree crown spreads.

Over the last decade, advancesin computing power, the devel-opment of specialized LiDARprocessing and analysis soft-ware, and improvements inLiDAR sensor design has result-ed in LiDAR becoming a popu-lar, powerful source of informa-tion when mapping and makingcritical decisions. Additionally,there has been an increase in theavailability of LiDAR data, espe-cially as states and nations have

sought periodic complete LiDAR flyovers of their territories to attain datafor a variety of applications.

E3De Capabilities and WorkflowIn order to effectively process and analyze the increasing volume andsize of LiDAR data sets, Exelis Visual Information Solutions recently intro-duced E3De. E3De is a three dimensional software environment forextracting information from LiDAR point clouds and is designed to pro-duce three dimensional building footprint and roof shape models, treemodels (including crown size) and power line models (including powerpoles and power line connectivity). The advanced processing capabili-ties in E3De take advantage of algorithms that operate on the full three-dimensional point cloud morphology, rather than on two-dimensionalintermediate outputs. As such, it is able to handle sophisticated three-dimensional problems such as object superposition in an elegant man-ner. Users of E3De can create a variety of products including classifiedpoint clouds, digital surface models (DSMs) and digital terrain models(DTMs), and export them to traditional GIS and image analysis softwarefor use in applications such as tsunami flooding simulations.

The workflow in E3De has four basic steps – data preparation, identifi-cation and extraction of three-dimensional features, refinement of resultsand exporting three-dimensional products for further analysis or inclu-sion in a GIS for mapping applications. During data preparation, E3Deusers simply import common LiDAR formats, such as LAS and ASCII, intoan E3De project directory that contains metrics about the LiDAR collectand georeferencing information, which helps accurately locate the pointcloud relative to the Earth’s surface. To save time, E3De can ingest multi-ple data files simultaneously, allowing users to quickly focus on identify-ing features and analyzing results.

After importing data into E3De, the next step is to process the data toextract features like building, trees or power lines based on the shape

18

A r t i c l e

By Benjamin D. Kamphaus

Figure 1: Utility companies perform right of way analysis in E3De to map and manage the areas surrounding electronic transmission lines. Data courtesy of Applanix.



characteristics of clusters of neighboring classified points in the pointcloud. Features are first extracted using an automated process. Featureidentification can be performed on an entire point cloud scene, a userdefined subset of a scene or multiple LAS files simultaneously, to quicklyprovide users with information they desire. In addition to extracting fea-tures, E3De also produces a classified point cloud as well as griddedoutputs, such as a DSM, DTM and an additional LiDAR intensityorthophoto. These two-dimensional gridded outputs serve as a maininput in traditional geospatial software packages. For example, ArcGISSpatial Analyst and ENVI image analysis software both contain an exten-sive set of two-dimensional topographic modeling tools that require DTMsas inputs.

Often, three-dimensional feature extraction results need minor refinementto ensure the accuracy of identified features – this stage of the workflowis termed “quality assurance.” Once the initial processing has run inE3De, users are able to “fly through” results and apply computer aideddrawing (CAD) tools to adjust output results, such as building roof shape,tree trunk placement and power pole placement along the power grid.These tools allow the user to perform tasks such as shifting rooftop poly-gon vertices from one location to another or changing the classificationvalue of any given point.

To help ensure users accurately refine features, E3De enables them tocreate realistic three-dimensional visualizations of point clouds and ana-lyze an area from different perspectives. They can also fly through ascene looking for specific data points or individual features of interest.Additionally, this stage allows users to adjust processing parameters andmake small adjustments to point cloud classification results. All adjust-ments made during the quality assurance process are incorporated intofuture processing runs, saving time and ensuring that final products andvisualizations are as accurate as possible.

After users have identified and refined features in a scene, they canexport them as products or layers to perform additional geospatial anal-ysis, share them with colleagues for verification studies or include themin a GIS for mapping applications. E3De analysis results are availablein a variety of formats – standard attribute-linked vector formats, such asshape output, as well as common image formats such as GeoTIFF andENVI. Users can export three-dimensional rooftop shapes into the draw-ing exchange format (DXF) and export 3D-enabled vector formats (includ-ing Shape and GDB) into a variety of GIS, CAD and three-dimensionalproduction environments. Since these three dimensional results can bestored in a GIS framework, they can be incorporated in future geospa-tial management tasks, such as locating buildings within one kilometerof a power line corridor, or to support attribute based queries like find-

ing the locations of power poles with connections higher than 20 metersoff the ground.

Just as E3De analysis results can be exported to a GIS to serve a varietyof purposes, exporting E3De results to image analysis software like ENVI,enables users to fuse results with gridded data, such as multispectraland hyperspectral imagery, for further analyses or to create a variety ofgeospatial products. For example, emergency management profession-als may want to fuse timely elevation information from LiDAR data withother geospatial imagery in ENVI to enhance road extraction effortsafter an earthquake.

LiDAR Data SourcesIndividuals and organizations who need LiDAR data can obtain it justas they do two-dimensional imagery. That is, they can either pay to havenew data collected or take advantage of data already collected. ExistingLiDAR data can often be attained from local and national governments.In the U.S., the National LiDAR Dataset initiative has unified local andstate governments with federal agencies with the goal of obtaining fullcoverage LiDAR data at periodic intervals to support natural resourcemanagement, infrastructure assessment and urban planning. Aside fromthe U.S., other nations collecting LiDAR inventories include Germanyand Estonia. Because of these collects, LiDAR data suitable for differentapplications is often available to organizations and individuals free ofcharge or for minimal fees.

Due to mission planning constraints, however, LiDAR data that is alreadycollected is not always suitable for all tasks. For example, power linemapping requires a higher point density than that typically availablefrom national datasets. Many vendors that perform power line mappingrecommend anywhere from 12 to as high as 20 points per meter, whilenational datasets may only collect four to seven points per meter. Thislesser number of points is suitable for extracting large trees and build-ings but may not be sufficient to extract single family residences, smallertrees or power lines.

Even in the absence of archival data, collecting and analyzing newLiDAR data has frequently proven to be more cost-effective than manualfield survey techniques. A report by the U.S. Government (see referenceat the end of the article) found that traditional methods of ground surveybased tree counting took around 14 weeks to create a forest inventory,whereas collecting and analyzing LiDAR data for this purpose took onlyfour weeks and reduced the costs by half. Costs for collecting LiDARdata for small projects start around $5 thousand and run as much as$2.7 million for projects like the U.S. Geological Survey’s LiDAR for theNorth East project, which covered approximately 8,000 square miles.

A r t i c l e

19Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

Figure 2: E3De users can refine feature extraction

results during the quality assurance (QA) process toensure they have accurately identified features.

Data courtesy of Applanix.




Costs will typically increase aspoint density increases (the high-est point densities require multipleflights over the same area) or withmore expensive scanning equip-ment, such as those that accommo-date color intensity values ratherthan grayscale intensity.

Industry Applications forLiDAR DataToday, industries from environmen-tal conservation to defense andintelligence use LiDAR data for itsup-to-date, accurate informationabout geographic areas of inter-est. One increasingly popularapplication of LiDAR data in theutilities industry is to perform corridor or right of way analysis, which isthe mapping and management of the areas surrounding electronic trans-mission lines. This application is growing because steering organiza-tions and regulation groups such as the EER (European EnergyRegulators) in the E.U., and NERC (North American Electric ReliabilityCorporation) in the U.S., provide guidelines and requirements for man-aging electronic transmission right of ways.

Under these right of way regulations, utility companies are responsiblefor precisely mapping their assets, such as power lines and power poles.While utility companies have historically relied on planning data for thispurpose, surveying has demonstrated that electronic transmission assetsfrequently differ in location from plan, often due to routing and groundsuitability decisions made during installation. In addition to mappingassets, utility companies must also monitor and identify vegetationencroachment that has the potential to damage power lines, such as incases where weather conditions might cause tree limbs to fall on powerlines. In the U.S., the failure to identify encroachment in a timely mannerhas led to large-scale outages costing the government, organizationsand consumers billions of dollars.

Since instances of inaccurate mapping or unchecked encroachment canresult in expensive fines (over one million dollars per violation in the U.S.under NERC), utility companies have a mandate to monitor and maptheir right of ways, which requires a large investment of time andresources. Because of this, they are turning to LiDAR data and analysissoftware to quickly and accurately gather the information that is neededto comply with regulations. Utility companies first collect aerial LiDARdata, typically by flying a plane over an area, then employ advancedprocessing and analysis tools, such as E3De, to extract information.E3De is particularly well suited to the needs of utility companies, becauseit contains workflows specifically designed to extract power lines andfor right of way analysis.

When users apply LiDAR data to urban planning and local governmentapplications, the detailed structure data that they can extract usingadvanced analysis software like E3De is useful for monitoring urbanchange in order to adjust or enforce land use policies and assess prop-erty taxes. While the dominant practice for determining structure-relatedtaxes is the use of field assessors who routinely re-evaluate propertiesand estimate value, several local governments have begun using LiDARdata to increase the frequency and accuracy of their assessments.

For tasks like tax assessment, governments need to identify and measure

structures’ size. Analy zing three-dimensional roof-shape character-istics from LiDAR data tends to bemore accurate for this purposethan analyzing building footprintsmanually or using two-dimension-al imagery. This is because ana-lyzing three-dimensional roof-shape characteristics make areaand volume estimates more accu-rate. Three-dimensional roof-shapecharacteristics are also well suitedfor identifying changes made tostructures, such as expansions orroof alterations, which may leadto a decrease or increase of prop-erty value. Professionals that createland use models also find roof

shapes to be valuable input when identifying land use changes basedon structure alterations. Land use monitoring of this sort can more easilyrecognize undocumented land use alterations and ensure tax and landuse code compliance.

The defense and intelligence community uses LiDAR data and softwareanalysis tools to develop a variety of geospatial products, create situa-tional awareness and make critical decisions. Defense and intelligencepersonnel extract DSMs and DTMs from LiDAR data using software likeE3De for ground routing tasks, constructing view sheds and identifyingobstruction for ground travel. They also analyze LiDAR data for structurecounts and characteristics, such as determining how structures are beingused and estimating populations in undocumented areas.

For defense and intelligence air operations, LiDAR data is one the bestsources of information about vertical obstructions (VOs), such as build-ings, trees and power lines because of the accurate elevation data itcontains. Vertical obstructions must be accounted for when performinglow altitude flight and landing operations, because failure to do so canjeopardize flight assets and overall mission success. Analysts extract ver-tical obstructions from LiDAR data using the feature extraction capabili-ties in E3De and share this information with mission planners. In addi-tion, they take terrain outputs from E3De to determine helicopter landingzones (HLZs) that take into consideration an area’s size, slope, proximi-ty to targets and vertical obstructions.

The Future of LiDARLiDAR data provides critical geospatial information about areas of inter-est and the number of applications it is used for continues to grow. Theelevation and positional accuracy of products derived from LiDAR datahas led to its dependence for specific applications like mapping vegeta-tion encroachment in power line corridors and determining verticalobstructions. Because of the volume and size of LiDAR data, it is bestexploited using advanced processing and analysis technology like E3De.E3De is designed to take advantage of the full shape characteristics ofobjects in point clouds and its processes are especially well suited to thehigh point density LiDAR data commonly collected today.

Benjamin D. Kamphaus is Technical Solutions Engineer at Exelis Visual Information Solutions,[email protected]. Learn more about E3De software at www.exelisvis.com/E3De or watch a

short video at www.idl-envi.com/E3De-lidar.

References:LiDAR for the North East: Project Brief, M. Shillenn and B. Hickey, Photo Science, February 25, 2011,

www.mapps.org/events/2011FPC/DeMulder_USGS_Brief2_031511.pdf.

A r t i c l e

20

Figure 3: Government officials exploit LiDAR data for urban planning and disaster response applications. In thisimage, E3De software is used to extract buildings. Data courtesy of Rochester Institute of Technology.


a o



http://www.exelisvis.com/E3De

http://www.idl-envi.com/E3De-lidar

http://www.mapps.org/events/2011FPC/DeMulder_USGS_Brief2_031511.pdf

HIGH SPEED TRACKING

grafi

t-w

erbe

agen

tur.d

e

www.topcon.eu

The quickest and most accurate Robotic Total Station on the market


http://www.topcon.eu

COLU

MN

Matt Sheehan reviews the mobile market of this year and that of next year:‘immature is a better way to put it’. However, for 2012 he expects a largeradoption of LBS by the whole workforce: ‘we live in exciting times’.

Mobile in 2011 has been very much a caseof hurry up and wait. Immature is maybea better way to put it. Mobile location

based software innovation has been somewhat lim-ited, with too many copycat ideas; “I want to builda site like Foursquare”. Games continue to domi-nate. On the hardware side, there have been manynew releases. Tablets were the most hyped item in2011. Things here have been hit and miss. TheIPad2 and Galaxy stand out as hits. Smartphoneshave evolved. Releases like the Samsung Infuse withlarge 4.5” high resolution screens, have vastlyimproved the user experience.To summarize our overall thoughts: Location basedservices (LBS), with a consumer focus continue todominate the mobile location app space. As in theearly days of the Internet, business adoption hasbeen slow. Mobile remains a confusing market-place; hardware and software/platform wars con-tinue. Increasingly cross platform mobile app solu-tions are popular. Single platform, iPad or iPhoneonly, apps are declining. Mobile devices remainphysically fragile. Rugged cases and more ruggedactual devices will reduce concerns.Businesses are looking at portions of enterprise appsbeing mobilized. Much of this is focused on 2012,and a maturing mobile market. B2C enablers willflourish as mobile web continues to gain importanceas a channel. B2B will remain challenging.

Mobile GIS, LBS & Map Development Tools in 2011Adobe have been one of the key development toolproviders to get behind the mobile revolution. Theyhave increased their focus on mobile AIR, forinstalled mobile applications, and HTML5 for mobileweb apps. Many of the major mapping, spatial andlocation focused companies have turned their atten-tion to mobile. Esri have launched a number ofmobile products to support their ArcGIS flagship.They now provide the best custom mobile GIS toolscurrently in the market. MapQuest have made somevery interesting recent announcements, with a newmobile web release (mapquest.com), their MQVibeproduct (mqvibe.com) and release of their mobileFlash API. They provide a comprehensive array ofmobile solutions. In the open source worldOpenlayers is turning its attention to mobile. A num-ber of the newer location based service companies,such as Foursquare and SimpleGeo, have openedtheir API’s. This made it possible, for example, topass to them current location, and get back a list ofvenues nearby.

Mobile Software Trends in 2011The year started with the dominance of the AppleiOS mobile platform. This maintained the demandfor Objective-C developers; the native language ofiOS. But there has been a steady increase in popu-larity of devices running the Android platform overthe year. The Blackberry Playbook has a growingand loyal user base, even given the parent compa-ny’s troubles. Apple have continued to throw theirweight around, maintaining their stance on prevent-ing third party plug-ins to be included in any iOSbrowser. Effectively stymieing Adobes Flash Playerand Microsoft's Silverlight. The emergence of crossplatform solutions (hybrid installed and mobile web)now means a single application can be built whichruns across multiple devices. For installed cross plat-form apps, Adobe AIR has become popular. For themobile Web HTML5/Javascript seems the emergingfavored choice. Debates about the advantages ofnative installed versus hybrid installed apps contin-ue. The emergence of technologies like PhoneGaphas enabled mobile HTML5 web apps to be con-verted to installed apps.

Mobile Application Enquiries in 2011Looking back at mobile application enquiries wereceived over 2011, we noticed an increasing num-ber of larger company approaches as the year pro-gressed. The business sectors were very diverse; for-est management, surveyors, engineering, outdoorrecreation, facility management, agriculture, politi-cal campaigns, pipeline and transportation. Mobileinterest included geo-data visualization, data queryand search, data editing/new feature additions,and data collection. Offline functionality was also akey area of discussion.

Looking Ahead to 2012 There remain a limited number of good mobile GISand location focused apps in the various app stores.This will change in 2012. If the 2011 trends contin-ue, there should be considerably more interest, andmoney spent by larger businesses. Mobile adoptionwill gather pace. Mobile application developers,particularly those with a location (LBS/GIS) focus,should see increased workloads. Users will beginto reap the benefits of mobile apps. Those workingin the field will be the first affected. But mobile willeventually impact all workers. Location based ser-vices will impact our daily lives. Mobile GIS willhelp improve decision making, save money, time,bring greater insight, and accuracy. We live in excit-ing times.

Matt Sheehan is Principal and SeniorDeveloper at WebmapSolutions.

The company build location focusedmobile applications for GIS, mapping and

location based services (LBS). Matt can be reached at

[email protected].

The Mobile Market in 2011 ReviewedC o l umn




To reduce operating costs and shorten project cycles, Hiparc Geotecnologia wanted to transition fromdependence on film-based aerial cameras and image scanners to a comprehensive digital mappingsystem. After buying a new photogrammetric digital aerial camera, Hiparc can now collect and process pictures more efficiently and uses integrated processing tools to develop survey maps eighttimes faster than with a film camera.

Business NeedsWhen the leaders of Brazil-based Hiparc Geotecnologia formed thecompany in 2004, they initially focused on two core services: process-ing remote sensing and satellite image data and developing special-ized geographic information systems.

Three years later, executives opted to expand the company’s offeringsto include land surveying and geospatial mapping through the use ofaerial photography. This decision proved to be a major catalyst for thecompany’s growth. In fact, within one year, aerial mapping accountedfor half of the company’s total revenue.

Hiparc began by using a single film-based cartographic camera—equipped with For ward Motion Compensation and an integratedInertial Measurement Unit device—to capture aerial images. However, executives noted several challenges with using analog cam-era technology. Beyond the cost of the film and the time needed todevelop the images, Hiparc had no way of determining the quality ofthe photos until after they were scanned and processed.

With such a large portion of its business invested in aerial imaging,Hiparc searched for ways to shorten production cycles. “We needed acost-efficient way to deliver high-resolution photographs in multiple for-mats,” says Flávio Lobos Martins, the Executive Director of Hiparc. “Thephotographs would also have to compete in terms of quality with themore expensive satellite imagery available on the market.” As Hiparcevaluated its options for new camera and mapping technology, execu-tives emphasized the need for compatibility between the solution and

the company’s existing equipment, including its flight management system.

SolutionHiparc ultimately shifted from analog to digital aerial photography andchose to adopt the UltraCam technology from Microsoft. The UltraCamproduct suite comprises a full line of digital aerial mapping systems, all ofwhich incorporate an image processing software application calledUltraMap. “Based on our research, we found that UltraCam was the bestfit for our company,” says Lobos Martins. “It is an end-to-end photogram-metric solution that is completely compatible with our existing aircraft plat-form adapter and flight management system, and we get the support ofthe global Microsoft partner community.”

In March 2010, the company contracted with GeoToolBox Ibérica (GTBi),a reseller based in Madrid, Spain, to purchase the UltraCamL camerasystem. Hiparc subsequently worked with GTBi to upgrade to the 92-megapixel UltraCamLp mapping camera system, which offers a largerimage footprint. During the same year, Hiparc responded to a request bythe metropolitan authority of Belo Horizonte, located in southeasternBrazil, to survey and map an area spanning 23,500 square kilometers(14,600 square miles). Leaders from Belo Horizonte wanted to replacemaps created in 1989 from black-and-white photos at a scale of1:40,000 with maps generated from color images at a scale of1:10,000.

In two campaigns—in July 2010 and August 2011—Hiparc used theUltraCamL and UltraCamLp aboard its twin-engine Piper aircraft to col-


A r t i c l e

By Flávio Lobos Martins

Shortening Production Cycles

Hiparc Geotecnologia's Digital

Figure 1: 5 centimeter UCLp image of Capuaba TVV container terminal, Vila Velha - ES Figure 2: 5 centimeter UCLp image of bridge toll, Vitoria - ES


lect 27,000 images from an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) abovesea level. In two separate eight-day periods of five-hour daily flights, theteam surveyed a mix of urban and suburban landscapes, along with chal-lenging mountainous terrain and dense forest cover. Hiparc used the built-in stereoscopy capabilities in the solution to acquire and store images incolor and infrared formats simultaneously. “We were able to overlayimage types to create a rich three-dimensional model of the terrain,” saysLobos Martins.

The project required a forward overlap of 80 percent and geometric res-olution of 35 centimeters, which meant collecting large amounts of imagedata. Hiparc used the camera’s large footprint, its remarkable precisionat high flight speeds, and the ability to automate processing tasks usingUltraMap to meet these specifications while minimizing mission time.

BenefitsBy moving to a digital photogrammetric solution that delivers superiorimage quality at a fraction of the cost of film-based technology, Hiparchas experienced the following benefits:

Reduced image processing time from eight weeks to five days. Throughits use of the UltraCamLp digital aerial mapping system, Hiparc can pro-vide project deliverables to clients eight times faster than it could when itrelied on analog technology. “We can now produce a complete mosaicmap and digital elevation model of 1,000 square kilometers at a scaleof 1:10,000 in one business week,” says Lobos Martins. “That same

map previously took up to eight weeks to process.” This boost in efficien-cy means that Hiparc can handle more projects, and it can speed up itsbilling cycle to increase cash on hand, which is crucial to its growth strategy. Simplified upgrade path. Hiparc enjoyed a straightforward, hassle-freeupgrade path in moving to the UltraCamLp model. The company did notexperience any difficulties in connecting the camera with existing equip-ment, including its flight management system and gyro-stabilized mount.“From the minute we installed the UltraCamLp, it worked perfectly withall of our other systems,” says Lobos Martins. “The performance and easeof operation have been remarkable. Because we were able to use thesame flight management system, there was no learning curve, whichhelped us to keep our costs low.”

Saved approximately $126,000 in film and development costs. Hiparcnoted massive savings in image processing. Lobos Martins calculates thatHiparc would have needed to spend approximately BRL$40 ($22) perimage in costs if it had used a film camera for this project. After adjust-ing for the format differences between the two camera technologies, heestimates a net cost savings of BRL$220,000 ($126,000). “We’ve beenable to use UltraCamLp to significantly reduce operating costs, whichmeans we can compete much more effectively, even against companiesseveral times our size,” says Lobos Martins.

Flávio Lobos Martins, Executive Director, Hiparc Geotecnologia


Mapping System

Figure 5: 25 centimeter UCLp CIR image of dam sedimentation of iron mining, Itabira - MGFigure 4: 5 centimeter UCLp image of Ilha do Boi residential island, Vitoria - ES

Figure 3: 15 centimeter UCL PAN/CIR/RGBimage of Torres city and beach with phytoplankton highlighted by color

infrared, Torres - RS

A r t i c l e



See the latest in geomaticsand GIS technologies

• talk to the experts

• FREE seminars

• Free pre-registrationPersonal registrations open 1 January 2012

• Gala Evening*

*To get a special deal to stay on site at theHoliday Inn for just £88 incl breakfast & VATcall 0871 942 9071 and quote “GEO-12”.

21&22 March 2012 @ Holiday Inn, London-Elstree M25 Jct 23

for more information visit

www.pvpubs.com

Providing ROI through:Providing ROI through:

• highly competitive and cost-effective stand packages to achieve your marketing goals.

• over 14 years experience of successful exhibitions and conferences dedicated to the geospatial industry.

• GEO Event continues to be the event of choice for product launches and company announcements forleading industry players.

EXHIBITORS: for stand availability please call Sharon Robson on +44 (0)1438 352617

for more information visit

www.pvpubs.com

17:46 Page 1Prod_GEO112_Prod GEO66 20-01-2012 10:57 Pagina 26

http://www.pvpubs.com

29/10/2011 17:46 Page 1 Prod_GEO112_Prod GEO66 20-01-2012 12:24 Pagina 27

Latvian Rural Support Service

Latvian Rural Support ServiceLatvian Rural Support Service field inspectors gather precise agricultural data for EU Single Area Payment Scheme subsidies. With specific technology field teams can work in difficult GNSS environments. Built-in camera makes it easy to capture images in the field and maintain their correlation to data in the GIS.

Headquartered in the capital city of Riga, the Latvian RuralSupport Service (RSS) is responsible for implementing EuropeanUnion (EU) policy in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries,

and rural development across the Eastern European country that ishome to more than 2.2 million people.

One of the organization’s primary tasks is to oversee the EU’s SingleArea Payment Scheme, a subsidy program designed to provide directpayments to farmers who cultivate crops and maintain farmland in anenvironmentally friendly way.

For the Latvian Rural Support Service, this means carefully and continu-ally monitoring land parcels throughout the country, including identify-ing land borders and keeping track of precisely how much area isfarmed on a parcel of land.To do so, inspectors rely on GNSS technology to make on-the-spotchecks (OTS) for claimant farms.

Technology“We have been using Trimble GeoExplorer handhelds since 2003, and itsimplified our data collection and management work,” said Edgar Bordānsfrom Rural Support Service. “This summer, we upgraded again, purchas-ing 35 of the new Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 series GeoXT handhelds,with a larger screen size, longer battery life, and built-in camera.”

The Trimble GeoXT 6000 series is a rugged GNSS handheld receiverwith Trimble Floodlight technology for satellite shadow reduction that

dramatically improves position availability and accuracy in difficultGNSS environments, which is particularly important for Latvian RSSinspectors.

“Forests are one of Latvia’s natural characteristics,” said Bordāns.“Agricultural area measurements are very often made in difficult GNSSconditions near and surrounded by trees, woods, bushes and other sit-uations under canopy, and it’s important that we get accurate dataeven in these conditions.”

Data collection and postprocessingWith the GeoXT handhelds, field inspectors can collect data quicklyand easily in the field and achieve submeter accuracy with postpro-cessing.

“Farmers are getting financial support for agricultural activity, so it’simportant for both the farmer and the EU to have very accurate mea-surements of the land that is being farmed,” said Bordāns. “At the sametime, it’s important to us to have technology that is easy to learn anduse and is reliable and durable in the field.”

Each field inspector has a Trimble GeoXT 6000 series handheld, load-ed with Esri Shapefiles, reference parcel data from the Land ParcelIdentification System (LPIS), and land property boundary data (cadas-tre). Once they reach the farm in question, the field inspectors recordthe GNSS position, area, perimeter, shape, and size of the differentagricultural crops. As they move through the forms loaded on the hand-held, they record attributes such as parcel number, crop type, andremarks as necessary.

Using the Trimble GeoXT 6000 series handheld’s built-in camera, thefield inspectors can also add photos of ineligible features like roads,trees, ponds, ditches, bushes, and other land features that are exclud-ed from the agricultural footprint of the parcel. Once the field measure-ments and data collection are complete, the field crew proceeds to thenext location on the list of that day’s assignments.

Back in the office, postprocessing is done using Trimble GPS PathfinderOffice software, Trimble’s software package of GNSS postprocessingtools designed to develop GIS information that is consistent, reliableand accurate from GNSS data collected in the field.


A r t i c l e

Latvian Rural Support Service in action

By Cori Keeton Pope


Using the differential correction system available from LAPTOS—theGNSS reference station service provider in Latvia— the inspectorsare able to achieve submeter positioning accuracy. Once the datais postprocessed, it is checked for data quality and then transferredto the orgnization’s Agricultural Area Register GIS (AARGIS), and atthe same time, the updated Shapefiles are uploaded to the GIS.

“The entire system is streamlined and easy to use, which saves us timeboth in the office and in the field,” said Bordāns. “With the GeoXThandheld, we can gather data faster, with greater accuracy than ever

before, and we have the peace of mind knowing we’re working withreliable equipment that provides precise measurements.”One of the other benefits Bordāns and the rest of the RSS team are see-ing from the Trimble GeoXT 6000 series handheld include the new sun-light optimized display that makes it easier to use the handheld in out-door conditions, even in bright sunlight.

Internet: www.trimble.com/mgis

A r t i c l e



http://www.trimble.com/mgis


Improving the Road Network

Mapping England’s HighwaysThrough the development of a unique national geotechnical and drainage asset management systembased on Autodesk Infrastructure Map Server, the Highways Agency has created an effective tool toevaluate risk that could result in a staggering £2 million annual saving on road management operations.

The Highways Agency’s remit of operating,maintaining and improving the strategicroad network in England, is a complex

responsibility which requires an extraordinaryamount of organisational skill. “When theAgency was established, it was to enable thedevelopment of the road network,” says DavidPatterson, senior geotechnical engineer at theHighways Agency.

“Today, that network is substantially complete,so we’re more in the business of strategicallymaintaining and managing that network and

making sure it’s effective. The HighwaysAgency has moved from being primarily a roadbuilder to operating and maintaining a roadnetwork – roads still have to be built but the pro-portions of work and budgets have changed.”

Complex RequirementsIt is the organisation’s ability to analyse, pre-dict and evaluate future risks to the road net-work that lies at the heart of the innovativegeotechnical and drainage data managementsystem it has developed. The HighwaysAgency relies on a proprietary internet-based

geographical information system to inform keystrategic and operational decisions relating tothe road network known as the HighwaysAgency Geotechnical Data ManagementSystem (HA GDMS) and the associatedHighways Agency Drainage Data Mana -gement System (HA DDMS).

Based on the GIS data mapping softwareapplication, Autodesk Infrastructure MapServer (AIMS), GDMS and DDMS were devel-oped by Mott MacDonald in partnership withsoftware specialist Keynetix. The project was


A r t i c l e

By the editors

The GDMS has now become one of the largest geo-referenced geotechnical and drainage asset management tools in the world, with 220,000 observations on over 45,000 geotechnical assets and more than a milliondrainage assets.


instigated over a decade ago by DavidPatterson of the Highways Agency to meet thechanging needs of the Agency, with subse-quent specification and development beingdriven by the engineers at Mott MacDonaldand developers at Keynetix.

Rigorous analysis“The GDMS came about as a result of ourexperience as managing agents for theHighways Agency and knowledge of theevolving availability of web-based mappingsoftware in the late 1990s,” says Chris Power,engineering geologist at Mott Macdonald.“The organisation recognised that they wereholding a lot of information about theirgeotechnical asset which was not being capi-talised, at a time when online databases andmapping systems technology were starting tobecome available.

“Following a scoping study, we looked at allthe available technologies for putting togetheran internetserved GIS system that would meetthe Agency’s needs. Far and away the bestavailable was Autodesk Infrastructure MapServer – previously known as AutodeskMapGuide. Many of the technologies avail-

able at that time were clunky and datedwhereas AIMS was easy to operate, especial-ly for existing CAD users. You didn’t evenneed to teach people to use it.”

Innovative collaborationFollowing completion of a scoping study, thenext stage was to find a third partner to helpwith implementation, as Mott MacDonald’sChris Power explains: “We looked for anorganisation that would have the right skills andexperience to implement it – Mott MacDonaldhas the engineering knowledge but softwaredevelopment is not our core business, certainlynot in geotechnics. Keynetix really stood out ashaving the relevant expertise and immediatelywe could see we were a fairly obvious partner-ship.”

Using the prevailing Autodesk MapGuide 6.5– the partnership developed a live operatingsystem for a small section of a HighwaysAgency network pilot study in 2000. Followingevaluation, a national system was developedand implemented in 2002 and is still operat-ing in the present day, having been augment-ed annually and upgraded to AutodeskInfrastructure Map Server in 2010.

The innovative collaboration between theAgency, engineering design team and softwareengineers together with ongoing developmentsin the underlying Autodesk mapping applica-tion have led to a system that is being utilisedby both the Highways Agency and its sup-ply/partner communities - comprising up to1000 individual users from 300 offices acrossthe UK.

The GDMS has now become one of the largestgeo-referenced geotechnical and drainageasset management tools in the world, with220,000 observations on over 45,000geotechnical assets and more than a milliondrainage assets. The system provides access tonearly 200 mapping layers, 114,000 pho-tographs and sketches, 20,000 geo-referencedfiles and 15,000 downloadable reports.

Improved decision-makingThe Highways Agency’s system plays a fun-damental role in improving the decision-mak-ing and interpretation of those undertaking theday-to-day management of the network bymaking key data available to all members ofthe Agency’s geotechnical and drainage sup-ply chain.

A r t i c l e


An example of a flooding. The Highways Agency’s system plays a fundamental role in improving the decision-making and interpretation of those undertaking the day-to-day management of the network by making key dataavailable to all members of the Agency’s geotechnical and drainage supply chain.



It is highly valued by geotechnical anddrainage engineers along with a wider usercommunity of researchers and third parties,including emergency planning officers, struc-tural and pavement engineers, route man-agers, lighting engineers, project sponsorsand environmental scientists and the emergen-cy services. All of these groups require highlydetailed, reliable data which they can use asa base for their operational analyses andfuture planning.

Other significant third parties include scan-ning contractors, as they tackle the huge andongoing task of digitising the paper archives,and flood managers - who need to complywith new regulations relating to the nationalflood register. The system is also providingessential data to satisfy the growing legisla-tive demands emanating from the Freedom ofInformation Act, which demand that the rele-vant data behind road planning and safetyare publicly available.

Risk assessmentThe core function of the GDMS for theHighways Agency relates to risk assessment;by providing a single central data store thatholds, collates and interprets the Agency’s data,the GDMS essentially informs national budgetsbased on a rational assessment of asset condi-tions and risks posed to the network.

“A key driver for the Highways Agency is effi-cient budget allocation,” explains Carl Grice,Software Development Manager at Keynetix.“The GDMS supports a proactive, risk-basedapproach to managing the network based onthe data held within the systems. For example,previously, there was a systematic approach

to surveying each asset on the network, whereas now it’s proven more cost effective to iden-tify the high risk areas and so lessen the fre-quency of surveying low-risk assets. It’s muchmore risk based and supports a growing needto spend money wisely,” he says.

Cost savingsA comprehensive platform of data entry,search, visualisation and quality assurancetools is built into the GDMS and DDMS, vari-ous methods of data exchange are supportedincluding AGS (the electronic data exchangeformat for geotechnical and geoenvironmen-tal data). Together, these functions dramatical-ly reduce the time taken for users to gatherinformation for tasks undertaken throughout aproject lifecycle, from preliminary studiesthrough to construction and maintenance. Useof these systems facilitates the HighwaysAgency to achieve estimated cost savings ofover £2 million per annum.David Patterson says, “one of the Agency’sfar reaching objectives is to have long-term,predictable and reliable budgeting. By cen-trally collating both the historic and currentdata, the Highways Agency is far betterplaced to predict the future expenditure need-ed to maintain the network.”

Data qualityCarl Grice continues, “in the early days, thefocus was on initial data capture and popula-tion into the system. The Agency needed torecord the location and condition of geotech-nical and drainage assets, across the entirenetwork. As the system has progressed, it hassupported evolving business objectives andtoday, it is very much about data quality. Forexample, decisions need to be made based

on the accurate condition data held for theinventory at the current time, ultimately aidingthe Highways Agency with reporting on theoverall state of the network.

“The tools we’re currently developing focusstrongly around data quality assurance;assessing the condition of an asset in measur-able terms so more informed decisions can bemade regarding the network. For instance, ifthere are early indicators of an unstableembankment that’s at risk of failure and hasthe potential to cause road closure, it is vitalthat this asset is proactively monitored andappropriate preventative action taken, basedon accurate and reliable information”So what are the main areas in which the newrelease of Autodesk Infrastructure Map Servercan help achieve these objectives? “The keychanges from the previous versions of the soft-ware to AIMS are much greater control of thelegend layering – that’s made a big differ-ence,” says Mott MacDonald’s Chris Power.

“We’re now able to carry out searches whichgive us an output onto the map. At the moment,we can run lots of text based searches so userscan download data and export it into Excel.With AIMS, however, we can run spatial anal-ysis type searches which allow us to presentdata back to the map. There is also a muchmore modern look and feel to the way it ren-ders the mapping data which is essential asuser expectations are much higher – they’reused to a Google map type view now.”

A Living AssetThe Geotechnical and Drainage DataManagement Systems have now become amajor national project. HA GDMS and DDMShave become the means by which managingagents and concessionaires manage thegeotechnical and drainage assets of theHighways Agency as well as bid for the ten-ders; the systems are also used as a virtualdata room for information given to tenderersto understand the risks in the areas they’re bid-ding for. “GDMS has become recognized as a keyasset management system within the Agency,”reflects the Highways Agency’s DavidPatterson. “By assessing how our assets haveperformed over time, we can predict how theymight perform in the future and we have cometo rely on the data held in GDMS and DDMSto inform our key strategic and operationaldecisions relating to the future of the road net-works of England.”

Highways Agency: www.highways.gov.ukAutodesk Infrastructure:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=16594483&siteID=123112

A r t i c l e


The Geotechnical and Drainage Data Management Systems have now become a major national project.

I

[email protected]

[email protected].


http://www.highways.gov.uk

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?

ProMark: 3 Blends, 1 Brand

Choose ProMark for high-performance and the safety of high ROI. Features

ProMark: Now with Robust Flavor

ProMark: Now with Robust Flavor

3 Blends, 1 Brand

Blends, 1 Brand

Blends, 1 Brand

hTe rhT

karMor Peh ™ iere Srevr eon foituloS sSNt Ghgie r

sieyevruy srevr eod fnt aegduy b

.roy

amSworg

e PhTahcgpu

o wtceershA

e tsooh, cegrar lm ouide, mlla.kroMar Phit ww

l foot tsee bhs t0 i0k 1raMore PK sTy Rcneuqerf-itluo a me tgnu nof y. I00k 2raMoro a Pe tdargah, ttnemnorivnh esran hk iroo w

y oud bn, arellortns a cor aevice.ygolonche tedalB- Zchet

uos ytiut sset bahr teviceee rh

yevrud sessceorp-tso1 pr Lol fo bd teeo ns n’ereh, tnoituloK s

etsne coroo ms tscecd aeeu ng Pnitsixr euoe ys. Uooy tsas e’ta

t aram0 s0k 8raMore Phy tlny o

d ns adeer nu

s deer nuod yluoh. Ssyy lpmi, stinw uey a nuo bd eeu nof yr i, osnoitall

d lehdnak hraMorg Ph td wierewoa pnnetn

Features Exceptional post-processing

TKand R

Exceptional post-processing

orPtteb

orPgnar

ohC

ud mcenavd, aycarucck araMtilibatfiord pny ativitcudorr pet, Ssrevicee0 r0d 2n0 a0k 1raMt eeeo ms tnoituloS sSNf Ge og

mrofre-phgir hok fraMore Psoo

deggud rnn aoitagitih mtap-itlaMorw Pee nhh tti. Wuor yoy f

d snas lreffn ooisicera Prtcep, Seel naudividns i’royevruh scat e

h Rgif hy otefae shd tne acnam

o p ts udd, asseno n toitiddn a0 i0k 8ra

e telpme cohs troyevrud s. tegdud bne alyt, ssde

. IOh R

Flexible and scaleableRuggedized for professional useery lightweight and compact V

Extended built-in communications

Flexible and scaleableRuggedized for professional useery lightweight and compact

Extended built-in communications

02©sbus

rim TTrimble Spectra Precision Division10355 W

estminsterWPhone: +1 720 587 4700888 477 7516 (TEmail [email protected]

cep. Sdevreses rthgil rl. Adetimin Loitagiave Nlbmir2 T10htl ol. ASAh Scethsf Ak oramedars a th iceths. Aseiraidis

rimble Spectra Precision Divisionestmoor Drive, Suite #10010355 W

, CO 80021, USAestminsterPhone: +1 720 587 4700

oll Free in USA)8 477 7516 (T o Email [email protected]

.spectraprecision.comwww

Ashtech S.A.S. Rue Thomas Edison ZAC de la Fleuriaye, BP 60433 44474 Carquefou Cedex, FRANCEPhone: + 33 (0)2 28 09 38 00Email: [email protected]

.ashtech.comwww

amedare tro agon loisicera Prtcepe Shd tn anoisicera Prtrenwe ovitcepser riehf ty otrepore phe trs akramedarr te

Ashtech S.A.S. Rue Thomas Edison ZAC de la Fleuriaye, BP 60433 44474 Carquefou Cedex, FRANCEPhone: + 33 (0)2 28 09 38 00Email: [email protected]

.ashtech.com

str id oetimin Loitagiave Nlbmirf Ts okra.s



http://www.spectraprecision.com


http://www.012

http://www.012

GNSS Update

Interference & EinsteinSome of you may have heard about the experiment at CERN that seems to prove that things can actually go faster than light, something that Einstein said was impossible. So what does a physicalexperiment have to do with a GNSS update you may ask.

In order to get the results, scien-tists fired some neutrinos fromGeneva (Switzer land), where

CERN is based, towards GranSasso in Italy some 730 kilometersfurther away. The neutrinos traveledthrough the earth along a straightpath. The exact distance and traveltime was determined using,amongst others, GPS equipment.Septentrio PolaRx2eTR precisiontiming receivers were used for thetiming portion of the experimentand Leica receivers were used fordetermining positions.

Ever since the experiment was con-ducted (and repeated), there hasbeen a heated debate in the scientific community. Quite understand-ably, the results are controversial and could well have been the prod-uct of errors in the experiment (the actual result was that the neutrinosmade the trip about 60 ns faster than should be possible). Let us lookat some details of the timing and positioning.

The timing accuracy from an average GPS receiver is around 100 ns.In the test setup, local atomic clocks were synchronized using theSeptentrio receivers (which were synchronized by the clocks from GPSsatellites in common view). Septentrio claim their receivers performed alot better (accuracy < 5 ns), so this should not be the problem. Also,the scientists looked carefully into the spin effects of the earth and satel-lites, earth tides etc., so the timing seems to be quite well covered.

This brings up the next possibleerror that of the actual travel pathitself. A total of 60 ns would pro-duce a difference in travel path ofaround 18 meters, quite a lot forpositioning standards but not a lotover 730 kilometers. A publishedpaper states that the distance wasdetermined to 20 centimeters ofaccuracy. The positions of both thetransmitter and detector were deter-mined using a combination of GPSsurveys (outdoors) as well as con-ventional techniques (indoors). Bothpositions were computed on theETRF2000 geodetic framework. Asthis effectively excludes datum con-version/geoid errors other than

from WGS84 to ETRS2000 (decimeter level), this cannot be the (com-plete) source of error.

The positioning techniques seem solid except for a single point. ForCERN, established benchmarks were taken, for Gran Sasso they wereestablished using the permanent European Network. From the paper itseems that no complete network was built with both Gran Sasso andCERN included. This could lead to positional differences and seemsillogical. As only relative distances were required, why not do an adjust-ment with both endpoints included and distribute any local errors? Onthe other hand, this should not lead to errors of 18 meters when duringboth the determination at CERN and Gran Sasso the geodetic networkswere performing as required.


A r t i c l e

By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk

Setup of the neutrino experiment at CERN (source: CERN, published paper)

Solar flare and effect of earth magnetosphere (source: www.esa.eu) Sunspot cycle (source: www.nasa.gov)


http://www.esa.eu

http://www.nasa.gov

So maybe Einstein is still wrong? Who knows, until experiments aredone in other locations there can still be a position error in these results.My advice to the scientists: prove me wrong and do an adjustment withboth CERN and Gran Sasso included. Until then, let us trust Einstein...

Lightsquared interferenceRegular readers are by now aware of the battle in the US betweenLightsquared, a provider of broadband (4G) solutions and the GPSindustry. The main issue is still the interference of the GPS (and otherGNSS!) signal band at around 1500 MHz. For those of you outside the US thinking this to be a 'far away, not inmy personal backyard' story, you may need to revise (and read on) asLightsquared has plans to go global.

The effect will mainly hit precision receivers. Tests have shown that,with the proposed configuration, precision GPS receivers have effec-tively a 'denial of service' from between 1000 and 1800 meters awayfrom the transmission tower. With 40,000 of these masts planned inthe US this could be a serious issue. Furthermore, according to a studyby the European Space Agency (ESA), interference effects can last upto a 1000 km away, depending on the type of receiver. On top of the above, normal mobile telecommunications for safety ser-vice are also reported to be disrupted in areas close (200 - 350 meters)to a Lightsquared tower. Finally, aviation - which is international bynature - would be badly affected as the adoption of Lightsquared would rule out the use ofGPS/WAAS for aircraft use.The FAA has estimated it willtake about 10 years and atleast US$ 72 billion to devel-op, certify, and install modi-fied equipment.

Lightsquared has proposedtwo options to reduce interfer-ence. One is not to operatefor the next several (undeter-mined, possibly until 2014)years in the frequency banddirectly adjacent to the GPSbands but in a slightly lowerband. The other is to reducethe power output by 50%. Theopposition, combined in the'Save Our GPS Coalition' ishowever not too happy withthis solution as it does notmove the signal far enough

away from the GPS bands in the long run to prevent interference. Thiscoalition actually asked American surveyors to respond en masse tothe plans at the Esri and ACSM Surveying summit in July 2011.

In reaction to the Lightsquared problems, Javad Ashjaee, president andCEO of Javad GNSS appealed directly to president Obama to discon-tinue the encryption of the P-code signal stating that this could be apotential work-around as it would make the signal processing more effi-cient. Javad furthermore proposed that Lightsquared and GPS can coex-ist in the sense that Lightsquared communication can be used to trans-fer RTK correction data. To support this view, Javad has partnered withLightsquared and is implementing new filters in their Triumph LS (LS =Lightsquared) solutions to avoid most of the interference. The firstreceivers with enhanced filters (ceramic and surface acoustic wave fil-ters) are now on the market, with further enhancements expected bymid-2012.

A major question in the US is why the Lightsquared proposals are stillbacked by the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) evenwhen other government organizations such as the Departments ofDefense, the Interior and Transportation, NASA and the FederalAviation Administration (FAA) are against it. The situation is made evenmore political with the involvement of members of the Obama adminis-tration with Lightsquared. To make matters worse, it is rumored that ageneral has been pressured by the White House to change his testimo-

ny so that it appears morefavorable to Lightsquared.Finally, comments on theLightsquared proposal havealso come from the EuropeanCommission with regard to theinterference on the use Galileo(in the US).

At the moment the FCC is per-forming additional tests withLightsquared’s lower band-width which so far seems togive less interference. To becontinued.

Solar interferenceAs if man-made interference isnot enough, nature will bethrowing in its own interferencein the coming years as 2012-2014 heralds the next maxi-mum in the 11-year solar cycle.

A r t i c l e


New filter as implemented by Javad(source: www.javad.com)

Launch pattern of Galileo satellite(source: www.gpsworld.com)


http://www.javad.com

http://www.gpsworld.com


So far the sun has been kind to us, but the last couple of months has shownan increase in solar activity. The predicted height of this cycle is still lessthan that of 2001-2002 (which was quite bad). All GNSS systems will be affected by a solar outburst, though it is expect-ed that the 'high flying' systems such as Galileo will suffer slightly moredue to their being (slightly) nearer to the sun and further away from theprotective atmosphere of the earth. The effects that can be experiencedvary from degraded range performance on differential systems to greaterinaccuracies and in the worst case total disruption of signal reception.

GNSS developmentsSince the last update quite a few (11!) new satellites have beenlaunched (and one activated). The list below shows the various addi-tions to GNSS systems over the last half of 2011.• June 24: QZSS satellite Michibiki set usable giving Japan its space-based augmentation system.

• July 16: GPS IIF-2 (SVN 63) launched using a Delta rocket fromCape Canaveral. Second L5 capable satellite.

• July 25: 4th IGSO (ninth total) Beidou/Compass satellite launchedout of a total of five IGSO satellites required.

• October 3: Launch of 24th Glonass satellite. System is now upgrad-ed to 5 meter accuracy.

• October 21: First two Galileo In Orbit Validation satellites (calledThijs and Natalia) launched using a Soyuz Fregat rocket fromKourou, French Guyana.

• November 4: Launch of three Glonass-M satellites from Baikonur.• November 28: Launch of Glonass-M satellite from PlesetskCosmodrome. Glonass is now at full operational capability again(24 operational satellites).

• December 2: Launch of tenth Compass satellite. Beidou is now oper-ational over China at 25 meters accuracy (between 84°E

• 160°E and 55°S - 55°N). Further news on the various GNSS systems is listed below per system.

GPSIn June, the GPS constellation expansion that started in January 2010was completed. Mentioned in earlier updates, the new constellationgives a more robust coverage, especially in 'challenging conditions'such as urban canyons.

GalileoIn June 2011, the final two Galileo contracts were signed valued at335 million euros. The contracts covered the completion of the GroundSegment and the Ground Mission Segment. These contracts make initial operational capability with 18 satellites in 2014/2015 more

realistic, although most satellites still need to be built (and launched).The next two In Orbit Validation satellites are expected to be launchedby mid-2012.

BeidouThere were (strong) rumors that the Interface Control Document forBeidou would finally be available in October, but so far it is again ano show. The document is required for building receivers and applica-tions. Now that Beidou is operational over China, there are plans tolaunch an additional six satellites in 2012 to cover other parts of Asia.

Publications on choosing and using GNSSThe International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has publishedtwo important GNSS documents. The first is the 'Guidance on theSelection of Satellite Positioning Systems for Offshore Appli cations'(IMCA S 018). Though primarily aimed at the offshore market the book-let is also useful for other high precision/availability applications as itdescribes the various GNSS, augmentation techniques, serviceproviders etc.

Also published are the 'Guidelines for GNSS Positioning in the Oil andGas Industry' (IMCA S 015) and replaces the 1994 UKOOAGuidelines. The document was written together with the InternationalAssociation of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP), known for amongst otherthings, the EPSG/OGP geodetic reference register. Though the titlestates Oil and Gas industry, the document is applicable to all users ofGNSS as it describes installation, operational and geodetic issues onGNSS positioning. The main part of the document is (as in the 1994edition) devoted to measures for assessing the quality of GNSS posi-tion fixes using the Delft method of statistical testing.

Both documents can be downloaded/bought from the IMCA website: www.imca-int.com.

Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk [email protected] is a freelance writer and trainer in the fields of

positioning and hydrography.


Launch of GPS II-F satellite (source: www.launchphotography.com) Impression of Galileo satellite separation from launch vehicle (source: www.esa.eu)

A r t i c l e


http://www.launchpho

http://www.esa.eu

http://www.imca-int.com


R

kada

ster


Designing Alternative Futures

GeoDesign Summit 2012GeoDesign is an old concept that has been reinvigorated by digitized information, collaboration madepossible by the web, and new tools that allow for rapidly iterative designs. By combining geographicanalysis with the design process, the impacts of designs can be vetted using data describing physicaland social factors.

GeoDesign: Creating Our Future, thetheme of the 2012 GeoDesignSummit, aptly characterized the event

held January 5–6 at the Esri headquarters inRedlands, California. During two long days,160 attendees discussed GeoDesign not onlyconcepts, technology requirements, implemen-tation, and curriculum development, but alsohow it can be applied to address truly globalchallenges. In addition to Carl Steinitz, Thomas Fisher,and other leaders in this emerging field, par-ticipants included landscape architects, archi-tects, researchers, urban planners, environ-mental planners, civil engineers, developers,and academics. An ongoing goal has beenthe creation of a community, drawn frommany disciplines.The event’s focus has evolved from definingGeoDesign as a field of study and practice toapplying GeoDesign concepts and methodsto projects in many disciplines. This year thediscussion included the methods, tools, andworkflows that can enable more widespreaduse of GeoDesign.

The Other Half of the StoryDuring the plenary session, Esri presidentJack Dangermond noted GeoDesign isgoing to be regarded as “an evolutionarystep for humans. It’s going to be ‘the ah,finally we connected the dots’ moment whenwe realize the consequences of our humanactions.” Geospatial technologies have made greatcontributions to understanding problems,issues, and challenges. The web is enablingfar greater collaboration. But these trendsare only half of the story. Knowledge needsto be linked with the design process andtools and methods that can help create sus-tainable designs that are implemented.

GeoDesign in PracticeFollowing Dangermond’s opening remarksand demonstrations of GIS tools developed to


E v e n t

By Monica Pratt

In his keynote address, Braden Allenbyspoke on designing for an anthropogic

planet. (Source: Eric Laycock, Esri)


enhance design processes, Douglas Olson,president of 02 Planning + Design, describedGeoDesign methods that were applied tourban watershed management in Alberta,Canada. Next, nine 8-minute long LightningSessions provided snapshots of GeoDesignapplications in conservation, land-use plan-ning, and city modeling and remodeling. Following lunch, a dozen paper presentations,addressing GeoDesign in relation to academ-ic programs, applications, software develop-ment, and future directions for GeoDesign,were given at four locations across the Esricampus. Attendees reassembled in the main auditori-um for “Which Way of Designing?: theRedlands Workshop.” Steinitz, a leader inGeoDesign, spoke to attendees about thispractical experiment in applying GeoDesignprinciples to a landscape plan and transit-ori-ented development for the City of Redlandsthat he led.

Before describing the workshop, Steintzremarked on the current state of GeoDesign.Over decades of work projects that could beclassified as GeoDesign, he has come tobelieve that, owing to the “uniqueness amongall projects,” a certain amount of guessworkis inherent in this process. “Somehow or othermatching from thousands of methods to rela-tively efficiently attack any one problem is nota science, it’s not an art, it’s somewhere inbetween.” He posited that either lots of expe-rience or extensive experimentation were nec-essary to improve this situation. During his presentation at the first GeoDesignSummit, Steintz had suggested universitieswork together on practical experients. Whenno one responded to this suggestion,Dangermond asked “Why don’t we try it inRedlands?” The result was the Redlands workshop,cosponsored by the University of Redlands,the City of Redlands, and Esri. The four and-half-day event attempted to answer Steinitz’s

question “which project at which scale forwhich method assuming that singular is notthe answer, that selection has to be made.”Steinitz characterized the workshop as aninteresting first experiment that proved noth-ing but was an important step towardGeoDesign. However, he observed, the fun-damental question remains, “How the hell dowe design?”

Why GeoDesign Is NeededBraden Allenby’s keynote address moved thediscussion from “how do we design” to “whyGeoDesign is critcal.” He began by notingthat global has been a scale often omittedfrom GeoDesign discussions. “We are avoid-ing responsibility for a design that we havebeen implementing for at least two hundredyears,” he asserted.Allenby, an environmental scientist, environ-mental attorney, professor of civil and environ-mental engineering, and professor of law atArizona State University, emphasized theimportance of how challenges, such as declin-ing biodiversity, are defined. While the public and conservationists see thisas a crisis, synthetic biologists consider biolo-gy to be on a cusp, transitioning from a natu-ral science with evolved biodiversity to adesigned science with synthetic biodiversity.The difference between the two is that naturalbiodiversity evolves toward stability while syn-thetic biodiversity is being designed for “eco-nomic or some other throughput.”

Improving the existing system requiresacknowledging the challenges currently faced,deciding what real design objectives are, anddetermining real design constraints. Allenbyunderlined the urgent need for GeoDesign bysaying, “I think that the world we have alreadycreated is one that desperately needs newways of thinking, new imagination, and newtools to help it understand what we alreadyhave.”In conclusion, Allenby said “The way we think

about the world is profoundly broken and it’sbroken just at the time we need to be usingall the imagination and all the skill that wehave to try to break out of the obsolete barri-ers to thought that inhabit every one of us.” On the second day, attendees heard featuredpresentations by Paul Zwick of the Universityof Florida; Chris Drew of Smith + Gordon GillArchitecture; Keith Besserud of Skidmore,Owings & Merrill; Thomas Fisher of theUniversity of Minnesota; and Stephen Ervineof Harvard Graduate School of Design on thepresent use and future of GeoDesign.

Designing Alternative FuturesSince the first GeoDesign Summit was firstheld, the concept of GeoDesign has gainedtraction. The Saudi Planning and GeodesignWorkshops 2011, was held scarcely a monthbefore the Redlands summit. Books, newslet-ters, and articles on the subject have beenpublished. GeoDesign has been incorporatedinto academic curriculums and institutionshave also started GeoDesign masters’ pro-grams.

In the conference’s closing minutes, Danger -mond, Steinitz, and Fisher sketched out anaction plan for pushing along GeoDesign inprivate practice, academia, research, andenabling technologies. Finally, Dangermond reiterated his belief thatgeo problem solving is the way people canmet global challenges. “If we can incremen-tally get them to solve their problems better,using science, and information and rationalthinking and all the things we believe in, thenwe can actually create a sustainable future.”

Monica Pratt is the founding and current editor of Esri’s ArcUser magazine and oversees Esri’s two other major publications,

ArcNews and ArcWatch. She has written about GIS and related technology topics for the past 15 years and was a contributor to

Web GIS: Principles and Applications, published by Esri Press in 2010.She may be contacted at [email protected]. Twitter: @arcuser

E v e n t





Launch of Socium

Spatial Data Quality to the CSocium is a new Software as a Service (SaaS) company that seeks to open up the world of data quality to a broader audience, offering new, online data validation and management services in thecloud.

Geo information and GIS is movinginto the mainstream. The incorpora-tion of geo data within business

intelligence is a prime example of the accep-tance of spatial data within large enterpris-es that are not geo information businessesthemselves. But we are not quite there yet.Cloud computing has become acceptedbroadly, but less so in the world of geo IT.Typically with traditional GIS projects, therewill be a large cost in terms of buying thesoftware and hardware to run it, training,support, maintenance etcetera. That all goesaway in a cloud and SaaS model. Theinfrastructure is looked after by the provider,updates are made regularly and theprovider administers everything so that the

user doesn’t have to. A new cloud based SaaS company that hasrecently been launched is Socium, a whollyowned subsidiary of 1Spatial Holdings Plc.The brand name ‘Socium’ is Latin for‘Partner’ and represents the ethos of thecompany in wanting to work with organisa-tions across the world to help them with theirdata quality challenges.

Online Validation ServiceSocium’s first offering, the Online ValidationService (OVS) is an online cloud based datavalidation tool. The underlying technologybehind the service is 1Spatial’s powerfulrules engine, Radius Studio, which is usedby utilities, data providers and National

Mapping Agencies, such as the OrdnanceSurvey Great Britain. The Online ValidationService was designed to take this awardwinning technology and make it availablein the cloud and via a SaaS model so thateveryone would be able to benefit from itirrespective of budget or technical knowledge. Data is easily loaded into the serviceand validated against a set of standard oruser-defined business rules with all non-con-forming features being identified. Theoverview screen inside the service, shows asummary report of what and how many fea-tures failed and a report is created that canbe downloaded ready for users to load intotheir existing GIS application for visualisa-tion and correction.


A r t i c l e

By Remco Takken

Online Validation Service. The screen shows a quantitative analysis of the quality of the data that has been run through the service.


Chris Tagg, Head of Technology at Socium, says: “You don’t haveto be a GIS expert or have a broad technical knowledge to beable to use the Online Validation Service as it has been designedto be quick and simple for everyone to use. You just upload yourdata, select the rules you wish to validate your data against, hitthe validate button and in a matter of seconds you will be ableto see a quantitative analysis of the quality of your data.Interestingly, our users like the service because of its simplicity.They can now not only get non-GIS users to quality check data,but also ensure all users within their organisation are validatingtheir data before sharing it with others or before committing it toa central repository. This part of the service is all completely freeof charge too, so our users can gain a quantitative analysis oftheir data quality without it costing them anything.”

Data migrationOne of the industry trends, data-migration of large portions ofbusiness-critical geo data, comes with considerable quality issues.Particularly big enterprises have landed in a position where theyhave large portions of to-be-migrated geodata, waiting to be re-examined and/ or validated after many years of use in older GISsystems. Socium’s Online Validation Service can step in here tovalidate the data and enable the user to have confidence in thedata before they migrate it across. Chris Tagg said: “This is cer-tainly a scenario where the Online Validation Service can help.Data migrated and being used in different systems is a classicexample where data quality assessments and initiatives can be acostly and time consuming exercise. The OVS is a way whereassessments can be done very quickly without huge investmentsin infrastructure, software, training, administration etc.”

New user groupsAccording to a presentation shown during the launch of Socium,local councils and other regional governmental organisationshave often not been users of topology and quality assurance soft-ware before, because of the capex cost involved in getting thesoftware up and running and the on-going maintenance andupgrade costs.Tagg explains: “Ensuring data quality is often seen as an expen-sive and time-consuming undertaking, and one that all too easilyfalls down the priority list as a result. Complexity of software isalso a hindrance. However, because of data accessibility, shar-ing initiatives and using data for more purposes than the one itwas originally created for, there is a driver to ensure and quanti-fy data quality.” “What we at Socium believe is that giving people more confi-dence in the data they have and use every day, shouldn’t be a

A r t i c l e


Cloud



costly and complex exercise. By removingall the capex costs, making it easier toaccess via the cloud, providing a flexiblepay as you use pricing model and an easyinterface to use the service, data validationis no longer restricted to organisations withhigh budgets and technical knowledge, butinstead can be benefited by everyone.”

Tell you where the error isSome larger organisations are alreadyworking towards a data quality strategy andcould be doing so within their existing GISsystem, using Oracle tools or their existing1Spatial product suite. Chris Tagg feels how-ever that these organisations could still ben-efit by using the Online Validation Serviceas an independent and dedicated data qual-ity service. “Many of the in-house topologychecks and data quality tools available inGIS platforms and Oracle do not tell youexactly where the error is. They usually tellyou that a feature has failed, but not showyou where. Our Online Validation Servicepinpoints the exact location of the error. Forinstance, before we launched the OnlineValidation Service we worked with a num-ber of Government organisations to trial theservice so that we ensured it was developedin line with what our users wanted and need-ed. One of the trialists had some large poly-gons with thousands of vertices in them.These polygons were captured in one sys-tem, but needed to be used in another. Thefirst system said there were no problems withthe polygons. The second system kept com-

plaining that some of the polygons wereinvalid. The ID of the polygon was provid-ed to the user to help them identify whichpolygons were invalid, but the system didnot tell them exactly where. The user wasspending hours and hours searching thepolygon to see where it might be invalid.The OVS found the errors (self-intersections)in a matter of seconds and the user wastherefore able to fix them immediately sothat the second system would accept thedata. This is a great example of the valueof independently validating data utilising adedicated data quality tool.”What the Online Validation Service bringsis, according to Tagg, “A way to indepen-dently check the quality of your data.Particularly with data sharing and accessi-bility being high on most people’s agendathese days, being able to prove the qualityof the data is very important. Organisationsneed to know they can rely on their data tomake important decisions and when shar-ing it with others need to be confident thatwhat they are providing is fit for their pur-pose, hence the accuracy of data is becom-ing ever more critical.”

Business critical dataWhile there is no technical training neededto use the Online Validation Service; onemight expect that new users might need justa little bit of encouragement to shoot up theirbusiness critical data into the cloud. ChrisTagg agreed that security in the cloud issomething that some users have been keen

to investigate before using any cloud basedservice. “Security is naturally the numberone priority for anyone handling and work-ing with data. At Socium we take the issueof security very seriously and have thereforeput into place a truly trusted, secure cloudenvironment. In addition, the service doesnot actually store the data, so once the vali-dation process has finished, all data is com-pletely cleared from the system. As a resultof the security levels we have put in placewe are pleased to say that we have not hadany concerns from any of our users, but Iwould agree that security is an area thatusers should pay attention to when lookingat any cloud based services.”

FreemiumThere is also a free version of the OnlineValidation Service which is called ‘Free -mium’. The ‘Freemium’ version enables usersto load their data into the service, and inde-pendently quantify the errors in their data ina matter of seconds. Tagg explains: “TheFreemium version can be used to check thequality of the data against a range of pre-defined business rules. At the moment wehave a range of rules available, but are alsohappy to create additional rule sets free ofcharge for users that they can then accesswithin the service. Once the validation pro-cess is run, you will be provided with agraphical and numerical overview showingthe number of features in your data thathave failed each rule. This free service canbe accessed as many times and on as manydata sets as a user wishes. If there are errorsin the data and the user would like to seewhere they are located, they can simply pur-chase credits on a pay as you use basis anduse them to download the error report.”

Internet: www.socium.co.uk


A r t i c l e

Validation report loaded into local GIS. All non-conforming features in the data are identified with coloured arrows to pinpoint where the error is located.

at a fraction o

o

o

at a fraction


http://www.socium.co.uk

��

Outstanding performances at a fraction of the cost.

Outstanding performances of the cost.

brings RTK GNSS X91 The ultra-rugged technology, GNSS

seamless for modem 3.5G a collection software.versatile dat

of decades combiningBy

Outstanding performances of the cost.

leading world together brings with computer field ultra-rugged

management corrections RTK seamless a collection software.

surveying and positioning of

Outstanding performances at a fraction

channels 220 leading integrated with

and management

know-how, surveying

at a fraction

of decades combiningBy of one is GNSS X91 the

nt that every surveyors can afford.at a price poi

Dealer Opportunities Available

www.chcnav.com

surveying and positioning of GNSS powerful most the

nt that every surveyors can afford.

Dealer Opportunities Available

www.chcnav.com

know-how, surveying solution RTK GNSS


http://www.chcnav.com

’The World loves Spatial Data’

Recap of the FMEdays 2011It was not without reason that con terra and Safe Software, organisers of the FMEdays 2011, chose tohold this event under the somewhat sporty sounding motto of: START – MEET – STUDY. The meeting,which went on for a whole week from December 5 to December 9, centred on the Canadian company,Safe Software’s successful spatial data transformation platform: FME. Attended by 160 people from15 nations, the FMEdays constitute the largest single central event in Europe where FME users canexchange experiences and information.

The FMEdays was organised into mod-ules, comprised of so-called ‘tracks’ andworkshops, held in both German and

English. The event kicked off with the STARTmodule, which was held on the afternoon ofthe first day. This comprised a series of shortpresentations by users as well as the two hosts,and gave an interesting overview of the manyfields and applications in which FME can bedeployed: in publishing, in local government,as a desktop solution or in the Cloud, in 2Dor in 3D. Many interesting themes from the

first day were subsequently expanded on dur-ing a joint visit to Münster’s Christmas market.

FME 2012To begin the second module, MEET, UweKönig, CEO of con terra GmbH and ChristianHeisig, head of the Spatial ETL division at conterra, welcomed the participants to theFMEdays. The opening session which fol-lowed was presented by Don Murray andDale Lutz, and was as entertaining as it wasinformative. The two Safe Software co-

founders summed up the FME situation with asingle phrase: “The world loves spatial data”.What they were referring to was the constantrise in the number of different data formatswith which GIS and CAD users are confront-ed with in their day-to-day work. And so itcame as no surprise to hear that the numberof formats supported by the FME 2012 ver-sion, which is due to be launched in January2012, has risen yet again. The addition of 12new formats brings the total number of file for-mats, GIS and CAD formats, web services,


E v e n t

Christian Heisig, con terra, Don Murray, Safe Software, Dale Lutz, Safe Software, Uwe König, con terra (left to right)

By Reinhard Abke


databases and 3D formats supported by FMEto over 275. This impressive figure makes FMEthe most powerful and flexible spatial datatransformation platform in the world. Whenever a new version of FME is released,the publication of the design for the new startscreen is always something to look forwardto. This time, with their tongues firmly in theircheeks, Don and Dale presented the familiarlizard mascot dressed up to resemble afamous adventurer, right down to the floppyhat and whip. The new features offered by FME 2012 as aresult of the expanded range of formatsare no less exciting: these include inparticular Google Fusion Tables, OracleSpatial point clouds, the extremely flexi-ble Text reader, column-aligned text,and the inclusion of Version 1.1 of theCityGML format.In terms of functionality, FME Desktopfocuses above all on the additional pro-cessing features of XML/GML and pointcloud data. For instance, it is now pos-sible to transfer information from rasterfiles to point clouds. The new FME Server 2012 is alsoequipped with an easy-to-activate notifi-cation service and an expandedscheduling function, which can also beused to halt and edit processes.Moreover, FME Server 2012 will fea-ture an express option to make it con-siderably easier to install.

Concentration on the userAs ever, the core of the whole event wasthe many user presentations that wereheld in three simultaneous ‘tracks’, oneof which was solely in English. Thesetracks also gave people a chance to gointo more detail on some of themes intro-duced in the Lightning Talks. Speakers

from all over Europe took this opportunity togive more thorough insights into their day-to-day work and to take part in some engagingdiscussions. But what would a user meeting be without achance for personal discussion away from theofficial tracks, and away from the variousapplication fields and national boundaries.The unique Factory Hotel provided just theright amenities for exactly that. Whether dur-ing breaks in the proceedings or after the ses-sions, there were plenty of opportunities forgeneral networking and discussing the con-

tents of the presentations and talks, in arelaxed, lounge-style working atmosphere,which participants gladly took advantage of. In their presentation “Looking Past 2012: FMEFutures”, Don Murray und Dale Lutz broughtthe MEET module to a fitting conclusion on thethird day. The “Dynamic Duo” presented inter-esting views of up-and-coming developments(in the fields of usability, point clouds andraster data processing, to name but a few)including yet another sample of their unri-valled presentation style.

MEET and STUDY modulesFilled with numerous new experiences,stimulating discussions, and motivationfor the future of FME, some users tooktheir leave following the conclusion ofthe MEET module. However, nearly 70chose to remain and take part in theeducational STUDY module that fol-lowed. Six parallel two-day seminarswere on offer, covering such themes asFME Server, raster data processing andFME and Python, which concluded theFMEdays 2011 in Münster.To sum up, the FMEdays 2011 were ahighly successful event and featured avaried technical programme, to the sat-isfaction of a large number of partici-pants. The success was not only reflect-ed by the variety of the technicalcomponents and the large number ofparticipants, but above all by theextremely positive feedback receivedfrom the people who took part. We canalready start looking forward to the nextdevelopments to come in the world ofFME and wondering what the nextFMEdays in 2013 will hold in store.

Reinhard Abke, [email protected], Marketing con terra GmbH.

E v e n t


A well-attended opening session

Factory Hotel, Münster

Hootin’ the Blues played Goodtime Music




Monitoring and Control in Russia

Space Imagery Data and TRussian government institutions and business companies have been increasingly applying spaceimagery data and technology in their activities. Size of the country territory (Russia covers more than aninth of the earth’ land area), variety of natural and climatic zones, northern latitudes, and specifics ofsocio-economic development and structure of foreign trade – all this is the reason why a complex monitoring and control of the regions is required. This article reviews only several projects, implement-ed by ScanEx RDC specialists in 2011 in Russia using space imagery data.

Multiple use of space images for fires monitoringIn spring-summer period of 2011 satellite imagery of natural andhuman-induced fires was made in the interests of the EMERCOM ofRussia. Space images were used for control over fire situation on theRussian territories and on the territory of adjacent countries. An experi-mental work was carried out to detect low intensity fire blazes, an oper-ational imagery of fires and explosions on military ammunition storagefacilities was performed. Thus, for example, an experimental work todetect low intensity fires based on space images was conducted dur-ing the “Peat” project. High resolution SPOT 4/5 scanners operatingin short-wave IR band (SWIR, 1.58-1.75 micron) were used for thisproject tasks, as well as the images delivered from Landsat 5 satellite. The fact of insufficient probability of low intensity fires detectionbased on MODIS sensors of Terra and Aqua satellites, as well asAVHRR sensors of NOAA and METOP satellites with low resolution(around 1 km) was the reason for such an experimental work.SPOT 4/5 satellites were used to detect fire blazes on peat fields inform of thermal anomalies, confirmed by ground inspections. Theoperator detected low intensity fires, analyzing images using SWIRband, where thermal spots can be easily detected (fire plumes canbe seen on visible bands).As experience showed, some low intensity fires at early stages basi-cally do not generate smoke, so they are practically invisible on vis-ible bands and can be detected only in SWIR as bright thermal spots.Nonetheless, in a typical situation low intensity peat fires (includingsmoldering peats) can be detected by smoke plumes.

The received results allow us to speak about the possibility of a suc-cessful application of SPOT 4/5 high resolution scanners and thoseof Landsat 5 for detection of low intensity fires, including peat firesthat are sometimes cannot be detected by low resolution sensors (fig. 1).

Rivers ice formation and seasonal floods monitoringRivers are among the major transportation routes of Russia. The coun-try’s climate and weather characteristics include yearly river floods,and the average levels of the low-water channel and the floodplainare known. Annually starting from 2009 ScanEx RDC carries outspring floods monitoring. For the purposes of the project the technol-ogy of operational multi-satellite monitoring of objects, processesand phenomena was developed, the ScanNet. The key aspects in itare the universal space data receiving stations UniScan, operationaltargeting of the satellites’ sensors on the imaged areas, parallelstream processing in near real-time mode of images received from agroup of satellites with different equipment for detailed Earth obser-vation, and the application of on-line geoportals.For the detection of most problematic areas during the spring sea-son flooding river ice formation monitoring has been conducted fromthe autumn. Within the ice formation period in the ice jamming haz-ardous areas of rivers the ice hummocking occurs that may in springtime cause ice jamming and flooding of vast floodpain territory,including settlements and facilities.Starting in December 2011 ScanEx RDC carries out operational


A r t i c l e

By Artem Nikitsky, Natalya Filimonova and Anna Antonyuk

Fig 1: Peat fire near Ragovitsy village, Kingisep Municipal District, Leningrad Region. Above: Landsat 5image, acquired on June 10, 2011, fire detected based on thermal anomaly. Below: SPOT 5 image,

acquired on June 11, 2011, pan imaging mode, the fire is detected based on smoke plume (©SpotImage, ScanEx RDC)

Fig 2: One of stamukhas with land fast ice in Kara Sea – SPOT 5 image, acquired on April 29, 2011 (© SpotImage, ScanEx RDC)


satellite-based imagery of ice cover formation on the rivers of theNorthern European part of Russia and Siberia. The images are deliv-ered using SAR sensors of RADARSAT-1 and ENVISAT-1 satellites.Products of these satellites meet the criteria of operability, cost andcoverage of the territory.

Stamukha detection in the Arctic seas watersIn 2011 “Atomflot” Fleet Operations Board together with ScanExResearch & Development Center carried out a joint project onoperational satellite-based detection of large stamukhas in shal-low-water areas of the Kara and East-Siberian seas, used for nav-igation of commercial ships. Stamukha – is a hummocky ice for-mation that has run aground, usually formed in shallow-waterareas of freezing seas. Detection and mapping of stamukhas onseaways in shallow-water areas of the Arctic Region is an impor-tant task to ensure safety of ice channeling of ships through theNorthern Sea Route. Early detection of stamukhas on the futureships navigation routes is very important for ensuring sea naviga-tion in general.The information sources to do this work were 100 m radar images(ENVISAT-1, RADARSAT-1) and 250 m optical images (Terra andAqua). Only after positive detec tion of stamukhas imagery wasmade at higher resolutions (EROS B, EROS A, SPOT 5). As a resultof such an approach large stamukhas were detected with landfast ice around them of several miles in length and width (fig. 2).

Studying Atlantic walrus population in Barents SeaExtensive resources of hydrocarbons were found in the south-easternpart of the Barents Sea. Preparations for proved fields developmentare ongoing, offshore oil production platforms installation and coast-line infrastructure development is planned as well as an increase inseaway traffic is expected. As a consequence, the human-inducedimpact on eco-system of the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea ingeneral grows and in particular on the habitat of walrus– one of themost vulnerable species of the ecosystem, put in the Red Book of Russia. In June 2011 following the initiative and supported by WWF Russiaand the Marine Mammals Council the ScanEx Research andDevelopment Center launched the project to tune methods of inter-pretation of walrus habitat areas using space images on coast rook-eries of the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea. Highly detailedsatellite images were used for the first time in the history of Russiafor walrus groups detection and evaluation of their number. Theimagery was carried out during the important for the animals sum-mer-autumn period, when the Barents Sea is ice-free and walrus usethe coast as a platform for rest.Operational satellite-based monitoring was conducted in places ofpresumed walrus rookeries on the islands of Kolguev, Dolgiy,Matveev in May to September period of 2011. The first importantresult of the study was the imagery of the rookery on the island ofMatveev being part of the territory of the state natural park“Nenetsky”. The quality of the received image enabled to detect the

A r t i c l e


Technology

Fig 3: Colonies of the Atlantic walrus onthe Matveev Island on the EROS B image(to the left) from July 28, 2011. On the

right: GeoEye-1 image from July 4, 2010,no colony of walrus (©ImageSat, GeoEye,

ScanEx)



location of the groups of walrus and to count the approxi-mate number of the species.On EROS B image, acquired on July 28, 2011, the spe-cialists detected a group of around 200 walrus species onthe coastline of the Matveev island (fig. 3). The use of high-ly-detailed 0.7 m resolution images enabled to identify theanimals of 2.5 to 3 m in size.

Oil fields monitoring and their developmentin the Northern CaspianStarting 2007 annual monitoring of oil slicks in the north-ern part of the Caspian Sea has been conducted. The prin-cipal scientific and practical objective of such monitoring isdetection and localization with maximum accuracy of factsand areas of oil slicks (emergencies) on offshore facilitiesof oil and gas complex and along sea navigation routes. Within February 1 till December 31, 2011 monitoring peri-od oil slicks of human origin were detected on 52 radarimages. During the survey around 63 oil slicks (the totalacreage of about 216 sq.km), five of which (less than 4.4sq.km) were detected within the limits of a licensed area,where production facilities of an oil company are located. Slicks onthe sea surface, detected within licensed areas on 5 radar images,were in most cases related to seaway routes, crossing those licensedareas and as the analysis and slick drifting modeling results revealedthey have nothing to do with production activities on the oil field.

Geospatial analysis results show that the majority of oil slicks withinRussian and Kazakhstan sectors of the Caspian Sea grouped alongthe sea routes (fig. 4).

Artem Nikitsky, Natalya Filimonova, Anna Antonyuk, ScanEx RDC.

A r t i c l e

Fig 4: Ship oil spill of 67.9 sq.km in size, detected by ENVISAT SAR image within the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea 115km away from the licensed areas (14.06.2011, 07:04 UTC). (©ESA, ScanEx RDC)


A Premier Geospatial Industry Event

Geospatial World Forum 2012Geospatial World Forum 2012 scheduled to be held from 23-27 April at RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdamis one of the biggest and most comprehensive conferences in the geospatial domain for the year.

As the premium global geospatial industry event, GeospatialWorld Forum will bring the stakeholders —solution providers,policy makers as well as users— to a single platform, providing

unparalleled opportunities for discussion, debate and interaction.

Theme: Geospatial Industry & World EconomyIn recent times, the world has witnessed a large number of calamitiesboth natural and manmade, some major security issues, health andfood security issues, incredible expansion of urban infrastructure andthe resultant load on cities. Along with such socio-political problems,the world has also witnessed an upsetting economic crisis resulting inmuch upheaval across countries. While attempting to address each ofthe issues mentioned above, one common thread that emerges that canlend support and boost its growth is GEOSPATIAL technologies.Convergence and integration of geospatial technology with mainstreamtechnologies like IT, telecommunication, and Internet, has enabled theharnessing of true potential of geospatial information and technologyfor improving the productivity and efficiency of enterprises across dif-ferent industry domains including energy, mining, oil and gas, telecom-munication, infrastructure, transportation, water, agriculture, local gov-ernance and business enterprises.

At Geospatial World Forum 2012, the endeavour will be to touchupon the dimensions and directions of geospatial industry and anattempt will be made to bring forward and project its utility, contribu-tion and relevance to several important industries contributing to theeconomy of the world. Under this theme, a range of plenaries, sympo-siums, and panel discussions shall be organised involving the stake-holders from specific industries to appropriately project and steer thediscussions and deliberations to line with the theme of the conference.

Key Objectives of the Forum:

Raising the Profile and Addressing Global Challenges Geospatial World Forum 2012 shall attempt to raise the profile ofgeospatial industry to the political and administrative leadership of theworld to address global issues and challenges including land resources,climate change, environment, ecology, health, education and develop-ment. It shall engage and associate with geospatial experts and profes-

sionals dealing with global issues and enable them make effective usageof geospatial information and tools in addressing global concerns.

Connecting Communities Geospatial World Forum 2012 shall strive to connect communities andstakeholders. On the one hand it shall connect several constituents' ofgeospatial industry like GIS, Positioning, GNSS, Imaging andPhotogrammetry, and on the other hand, it shall be an occasion to con-nect geospatial community with other industry communities of globaleconomy. The conference shall be a platform to share and learn fromeach other and work together to serve each others' business interestsand purposes.

Business DevelopmentGeospatial World Forum 2012 shall serve as a platform for the indus-try players to develop linkages across different geographies for pros-pering their business interests. It will enable the local companies to con-nect with the global technologies, explore the opportunities thattransnational companies present for them. It will also serve the largermultinational companies to foster partnership networks across the globe.

Knowledge SharingGeospatial World Forum 2012 shall enable researchers, academiciansand think tanks of the domain to share their knowledge with each otherand thus further the domain. Through the various sessions, seminars,symposia and tracks professionals will learn about the latest develop-ments and applications using geoinformatics in various vertical seg-ments.

Registration Details

Registrations for the events are open and can be done online at http://geospatialworldforum.org/2012/registration/form.htm.

For more details, please visit www.geospatialworldforum.org or writeto us at [email protected]


E v e n t

By the editors

Participation Breakup: Geospatial Community Participation Regional Participation


http://geospatialworldforum.org/2012/registration/form.htm

http://www.geospatialworldforum.org


Surveying from above is increasing in popularity, and it’s the height of data capture that makes the difference, from just a few meters to severalkilometres. So, what is the link with soccer?

Future surveyors should learn how to play soc-cer before they start surveying. At the SIG-GRAPH Asia conference in Hong Kong, the

University of Berlin showed a special soccer ball,which is yet another way to survey from above. Thisball contains 36 cameras and an accelerometer.When the ball is at its highest point, all 36 camerastake a picture. For stereo photogrammetry you need2 pictures, but now 36 pictures are taken simulta-neously, but with a small base. When you kick theball twice, you have 72 pictures and a proper basedistance. The advantage of this ball is that picturesare taken in all directions, even straight down,which is always a problem when you use a tripod

for your camera. The problem is to get the ball at the exactlocation and height from which you want totake the pictures. Thus, that is why you firstneed to be a skilled soccer player beforeyou can start capturing image data.

Capturing DataAt the latest Intergeo several suppli-ers showed different ways of captur-ing data from the air. Aeroplanes,catapult systems, helicopters, hotair balloons and kites are all usedto capture data from above. Thetechniques used are mainly scan-ning and photo capture, andcombinations of the two. It ishard to believe that a decadeago aerial photogrammetry wasseen by many ground surveyorsto be a small business utilizing

dusty images. In their estimation, it wasnot as accurate as the ground techniques,and it took a long time to prepare and along time to process the data. However,

new technologies can change a business. Laserscanners and affordable digital cameras with highresolution ccd’s have created new markets. The present trend in surveying seems to be towardscapturing data of smaller areas from lower altitudes.The technology used in this type of application is ofcourse more interesting to show at exhibitions andcan be purchased by relatively small surveying com-panies, while a complete airplane with cameras andIMU/GPS etc., is a different kind of investment.Small-area observations from a relatively low heightmeans the preparation time is often shorter and dataprocessing faster. The new buzz word is working inthe cloud, but as mentioned before, the altitude isdecreasing and not rising into the clouds.

TenderDespite the trend to obtain data from lower heights,in the Netherlands a huge tender was put forwardto supply photo images of the entire country. Notonly aerial photos at a resolution of 7.5 cm, butalso with a resolution of 25 cm, and the addition of360 degree terrestrial photos too. After more thanhalf a year of discussion, the tender was cancelled,among other things, because the techniques toobtain a 7.5 cm resolution were not yet availableon the market. This tender has now been dividedinto two tenders and the required specificationshave been reduced. Thus, data acquisition fromhigher altitudes still continues.

Capturing data from above will become more com-mon in the coming years, both from higher altitudesand lower altitudes, such as those kickable heights.Next time I watch a Champions League soccergame and see midfielder Wesley Sneijder, I willwonder, given the chance, would he be a good surveyor.

By Léon van der Poel

Ing. Léon van der Poel is director at LEOP, a company which combines surveying and training of surveyors. For more information, have a look at: www.leop-bv.nl.

Playing Soccer and Surveying

C o l umn


COLU

MN

All rights reserved. All trademarks or servicemarks used herein are property of their respective owners. Hexagon m This document gives only a general descrip-t

d


http://www.leop-bv.nl

© Copyright Hexagon AB, 2011. All rights reserved. All trademarks or servicemarks used herein are property of their respective owners. Hexagon makes no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy of the information in this publication. This document gives only a general descrip-tion of the product(s) or service(s) offered by Hexagon and, except where expressly provided otherwise, shall not form part of any contract. Such information, the products and conditions of supply is subject to change without notice.

THINK OPPORTUNITIESJoin Leica Geosystems in Las Vegas, NV, 4-7 June for targeted sessions

and workshops, visionary keynote presentations, interactive technology demonstrations, unlimited networking and much more! Think forward with Hexagon and learn how you can begin solving tomorrow’s problems today.

For the latest Hexagon 2012 updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

REGISTER NOW! Visit www.hexagonconference.com/geo

See us on


http://www.hexagonconference.com/geo


February

07-09 February ImaginaGrimaldi Forum, MonacoInternet: www.imagina.mc/2012

08-10 February EuroCOW 2012Institute of Geomatics, Castelldefels, SpainInternet: www.ideg.es/page.php?id=1094

24-28 February AAG Annual MeetingNew York, NY, U.S.A.Internet: www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

28 February-01 March RIEGL LiDAR 2012Hilton Hotel, Orlando, FL, U.S.A.Internet: www.riegl.com

29 February GeoNext Conference 2012Australian Technology Park, Sydney, AustraliaE-mail: [email protected]: www.GeoNext.com.au

March

12-15 March 16th Annual GIS/CAMA TechnologiesConferenceSan Antonio, TX, U.S.A.Internet: www.urisa.org/gis_cama

20-21 March 11. Internationales 3D-ForumLindau 2012Lindau, GermanyE-mail: [email protected]: www.3d-geodaten.de

21-22 March GEO-12 a world of geomatics andGIS InnovationsHoliday Inn, London Elstree, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.pvpubs.com/events.php

21-22 March Network AnalysisNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/netanalysis.php

26-27 March Free and Open Source Tools for GISNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/osgis.php

26-29 March Esri Developer SummitPalm Springs, CA, U.S.A.Internet: www.esri.com/events/devsummit/index.html

26-30 March 6th GeoTunis 2012TunesiaInternet: www.geotunis.org/2011

28 March Introduction to Spatial DatabasesNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/osgis.php

April

12 April The International Civil UnmannedAircraft System Event 2012High Tech Campus, Eindhoven, The NetherlandsInternet: http://uasevent.com

15-18 April SPAR International, Conference on 3D Imaging & Positioning for Engineering/Construction/Manufacturing/SecurityThe Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & ConventionCenter, The Woodlands (Houston), TX, U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]: www.sparpointgroup.com/international

16-19 April Global Aerospace Summit 2012Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.E-mail: [email protected]: www.aerospacesummit.ae

17-18 April 6th International Satellite NavigationForum - NAVITECH 2012Expocenter Fairgrounds, Moscow, RussiaE-mail: [email protected]: http://eng.glonass-forum.ru

17-19 April 8th International Exhibition &Scientific Congress “Interexpo Geo-Siberia”Novosibirsk, RussiaE-mail: [email protected]: www.expo-geo.ru

23-27 April Geospatial World Forum 2012Amsterdam, The NetherlandsInternet: www.geospatialworldforum.org

25-27 April The European Navigation ConferenceGdansk, PolandInternet: http://enc2012.org

25-27 April VI International Conference “RemoteSensing - the Synergy of High Technologies”ATLAS PARK-HOTEL, Moscow, RussiaInternet: www.sovzondconference.ru/2012/eng

May

06-10 May FIG Working Week 2012 - Knowing tomanage the territory, protect the environment,evaluate the cultural heritageRome, ItalyInternet: www.fig.net/fig2012

07-09 May 4th International Conference onGeographic Object-Based Image Analysis - GEO-BIA 2012Windsor Barra Hotel and Conventions, Rio de Janeiro,BrazilE-mail: [email protected]: www.inpe.br/geobia2012

08-10 May 2nd International Conference andExhibition on Mapping and spatial Information(ICMSI 2012) and 19th National GeomaticsConferenceNational Cartographic Center (NCC), Teheran, IranE-mail: [email protected]: http://conf.ncc.org.ir

14-17 May Global Geospatial Conference 2012(GSDI 13 World Conference, GEOIDE AnnualScientific Conference and Canadian GeomaticsConference)Québec City Convention Center, Québec City, CanadaInternet: www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi13

14-18 May 8th Taipei International Digital EarthSymposium (TIDES 2012)Taipei, TaiwanInternet: http://deconf.pccu.edu.tw/2012TIDES/en-wel-come.html

21-24 May 32nd EARSeL Symposium “Advancesin Geosciences”Mykonos Island, GreeceInternet: www.earsel.org/symposia/2012-symposium-Mykonos/index.php

23-24 May Taza GIS_Days, InternationalSymposium of GIS usersTaza, MoroccoE-mail: [email protected]: https://sites.google.com/a/usmba.ac.ma/taza-gis-en/home

28 May-02 June 5th International Conference BALWOIS 2012 on Water, Climate andEnvironmentOhrid, Republic of MacedoniaInternet: www.balwois.com/2012

29-31 May MundoGEO#Connect 2012Frei Caneca Convention Center, São Paulo, BrazilInternet: www.mundogeo.com

30 May-02 June Geodetic Science and TechnologyConference EUROmatyka2012Poznan University of Technology / LOS Puszczykowo,PolandE-mail: [email protected]: www.euromatyka2012.pl

June

04-05 June Introduction to GISNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/giscourses.php

04-07 June HEXAGON 2012Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.Internet: www.hexagonconference.com

06-07 June Intermediate GISNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/giscourses.php

08 June Spatial AnalysisNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/giscourses.php

11 June Mobile GISNewcastle University, Newcastle, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/mobilegis.php

13-14 June Geo MaritimeLondon, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.wbresearch.com/geomar/home.aspx

17-23 June 12th International GeoConferenceSGEM 2012Congress Centre Flamingo Grand, Albena, BulgariaE-mail: [email protected]: www.sgem.org

Please feel free to e-mail your calendar notices to:[email protected]

C a l e n d a r 2 0 1 2 / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x

CHC www.chcnav.com 43DAT/EM www.datem.com 29ERDAS www.erdas.com 2Esri www.esri.com 9FOIF www.foif.com.cn 51GEO 12 www.pvpubs.com 26Geospatial World Forum www.geospatialworldforum.org 37HEXAGON 2012 www.hexagonconference.com/geo 53ITC Faculty www.itc.nl 27Leica Geosystems www.leica-geosystems.com 13

Microsoft UltraCam www.iFlyUltraCam.com 23Optech www.optech.com 17Pacific Crest www.pacificcrest.com/adl 13Remote Sensing Conference www.sovzondconference.ru 48RIEGL www.riegl.com 41Sokkia www.sokkia.net 55Spectra Precision www.spectraprecision.com 33SuperMap www.supermap.com 49Topcon Europe BV www.topcon.eu 21Visionmap www.visionmap.com 56

Advertisers Index


http://www.imagina.mc/2012

http://www.ideg.es/page.php?id=1094

http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

http://www.riegl.com


http://www.GeoNext.com.au

http://www.urisa.org/gis_cama


http://www.3d-geodaten.de


http://www.pvpubs.com/events.php


http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/netanalysis.php


http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/osgis.php

http://www.esri.com/events/devsummit/index.html

http://www.geotunis.org/2011


http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/osgis.php

http://uasevent.com


http://www.sparpointgroup.com/international


http://www.aerospacesummit.ae


http://eng.glonass-forum.ru


http://www.expo-geo.ru


http://enc2012.org

http://www.sovzondconference.ru/2012/eng

http://www.fig.net/fig2012


http://www.inpe.br/geobia2012


http://conf.ncc.org.ir

http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi13

http://deconf.pccu.edu.tw/2012TIDES/en-wel-come.html



http://www.earsel.org/symposia/2012-symposium-Mykonos/index.php

http://www.earsel.org/symposia/2012-symposium-Mykonos/index.php


https://sites.google.com/a/usmba.ac.ma/taza-gis-en/home



http://www.balwois.com/2012

http://www.mundogeo.com


http://www.euromatyka2012.pl


http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/giscourses.php

http://www.hexagonconference.com






http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/mobilegis.php


http://www.wbresearch.com/geomar/home.aspx


http://www.sgem.org


http://www.chcnav.com

http://www.datem.com

http://www.erdas.com

http://www.esri.com

http://www.foif.com.cn

http://www.pvpubs.com


http://www.hexagonconference.com/geo

http://www.itc.nl

http://www.leica-geosystems.com

http://www.iFlyUltraCam.com

http://www.optech.com

http://www.pacificcrest.com/adl

http://www.sovzondconference.ru

http://www.riegl.com

http://www.sokkia.net

http://www.spectraprecision.com

http://www.supermap.com

http://www.topcon.eu

http://www.visionmap.com

GNSS Rece i ve r

The entirely new Sokkia GNSS system provides unsurpassed versatility and usability for RTK,network RTK and static survey, enhancing efficiency in all types of field work.

www.sokkia.eu

Scalable - Affordable - Triple Wireless Technologies

ULTIMATEVERSATILITY


http://www.sokkia.eu

geoinformatics 2012 vol01

Documents