geoinformatics 2013 vol02

Mobile Mapping going Underground Big Data Analysis and LocationgvSIG and Quantum GIS Is the Tablet an Enabling Technology?

Magazine for Sur vey ing, Mapping & GIS Profess iona ls March

2 0 1 3Volume 16

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Are you a data scientist?In this issue you will find a number of contributions that examine the work of GISspecialists. First of all, there’s the big data trend, which has significant implica-tions for GIS. In a short time period, the geospatial industry has embraced the bigdata trend and added its forte to big data analysis: location. Since a lot of datahas a locational component, this makes sense. What is interesting for the future ishow geospatial software will be used next to big data analysis frameworks. Thebig data era also welcomes a new kind of specialist, namely the data scientists.These people are the result of a merger between big data analysis and softwaredevelopment.

Additionally, there’s the changing technology that’s used for current GIS work.The current GIS type of job is significantly different than those in the early days ofGIS, says Todd Schuble, author of the self-published book ‘Careers in GIS’. In aconversation with the author, he discusses many topics that are important for theGIS specialist of today and tomorrow. Learning how to push buttons to produce amap is not enough: programming skills are also necessary. In addition to this it’simportant to get acquainted with different GIS software packages in an educa-tional environment, so that students are prepared for a variety of working environ-ments. And now that budgets are being tightened, it might be possible to work inan environment that prefers open source software to proprietary software. Anexample of this is Intetics, a company who submitted an article on their use ofopen source GIS software.

James Fee has made a contribution in this issue about how the scripting languagePython is changing GIS. It’s no coincidence that Schuble writes thesame in his book. The industry is taking notice of a number ofpublications for Python and geospatial software packages thatare out in the market now – and there’s more to be expected inthe future.

New hardware is also changing the way work is done. In thisissue, you can find a number of articles on this topic. Not onlyis there a review on the latest Panasonic Toughpads, but alsoan investigation by Adam Spring about the possibilitiesoffered by tablets in geospatial workflows. Additionally,there is an extensive article from the Israeli companyDrakkar describing in detail their homemade LiDAR map-ping system. This is not all, of course. In the pipeline arearticles on mobile apps and new geospatial softwarereleases that will generate a lot of discussion duringupcoming user conferences around the globe laterthis year. Once again, I invite you to share yourthoughts and submit user stories regarding yourwork, so that we can share them in futureissues. Please get in touch and drop mean email at [email protected]

Enjoy reading,

Eric van Rees

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 EditorElaine Eisma

EditorRemco [email protected]

Contributing Writers:Faith Clark, Adam Spring, Aleksey Borodulin,Aleksandr Kleshnin, Patrick Collins, Job van Haaften,Gary Mullaney, Lisa Schoonmaker, O. A. Ryaboshapko, Evgeny Medvedev, Valery Gutman, Michael Weitsman, Andrew Myers.

ColumnistLéon van der Poel, James Fee, Matt Sheehan, Nadine Alameh.

[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

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Graphic DesignSander van der [email protected]

ISSN 13870858

© Copyright 2013. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.

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

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A r t i c l e sMobile Mapping Going Underground 6

Open Source GIS Software 10

Geospatial Imagery and Data 14

Rockland County, NY, Streamlines Storm Response 18

Big Data Analysis and Location 22

GeoPDF Based Services 26

From Survey Projects to Media Applications 30

Home-made LiDAR Mapping 34

Controlling Seismic Data in 3D 40

Rugged and Mobile 45

C o l umn sPython is GIS’ best friend 16

Offline Mobile GIS 28

Second hand GNSS Network 33

Open Geospatial Standards for Aviation 44

I n t e r v i ewThoughts on ‘Careers in GIS’ 42

News l e t t e rCLGE newsletter 46

C a l e n d a r / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x 50

On the cover:High resolution point cloud captured by ZEB1 handheld mappingsystem in just eight minutes. Source: 3D Laser Mapping. See article on page 6.


34

30

14The migration of data andanalysis tools to the cloud orenterprise is well underway.

10

The tablet computer is a versati-le device that continues to makean impact in many professional

sectors – survey markets included. This article focuses onthe latter and examines the va-rious ways in which consumerproducts like tablets are being

used in spatial informationworkflows.

Since the mid 2000s open GIShas gradually been attractingthe attention of businesses andgovernment agencies aroundthe world. In this article we

want to share the experienceof our implementation and theuse of open GIS software at

Intetics.

Drakkar is a service industrycompany providing Israeli

companies with extensive inter-national publications on LiDARas well as traditional geodeticmethods. Drakkar was the firstin Israel to start applying on-ground and then airborne la-

ser scanning in 2004.

22ArcGIS Server Product

Manager Marwa Mabrouk explains some of these initiatives and discusses some recent use cases of

big data analysis and location.

26This article is dedicated to successful projects of

geodata dissemination in avery simple PDF format,

which allows common usersto work intuitively with

geodata without GIS skills or special software.

42Todd Schuble, author of the

self-published book ‘Careers inGIS’, explains his motivationfor writing and publishing the

book.

6This article takes a look atwhat is thought to be the

world’s first, truly mobile, handheld, rapid laser mapping

system – Zebedee.


6Article

This article takes a look at what is thought to be the world’s first,truly mobile, hand held, rapid laser mapping system – Zebedee.By Faith Clark

Mobile Mapping Going Underground

Integral to the successful deployment of mobile mapping systems isthe ability to locate the system in real world context. In fact, it isprobably this ability that differentiates ‘mobile mapping´ systemsfrom simple measurement solutions. In outdoor systems the trajec-tory of the sensor can usually be determined from GPS / GNSS

measurements. For short periods of time, where there is a limited orlack of signal, local inertial measurements can be used to interpolatebetween satellite determined positions. An example of this can be seenin the highly accurate mobile mapping system StreetMapper whoseon-board navigation system includes a Global Positioning Satellite(GPS) receiver, a fibre optic gyro based Inertial Measurement Unit(IMU) and the latest Direct Inertial Aiding (DIA).

Once you move indoors, underground or into other environments wherethere is limited positioning information, such as dense forest and urbancanyons, the ratio of actual to interpolated positions becomes unbalan-ced. Some research has been undertaken and technologies developedthat use existing Radio Frequency infrastructures such as Bluetooth orWLAN. However, these typically have poor precision (>1m error),require significant amounts of additional equipment and tend to bemore suited to asset management, warehousing and logistics applica-tions. Researchers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, havetherefore been working to overcome this problem and believe theyhave achieved this vision with a handheld 3D laser mapping systemcalled Zebedee.

“The research team, from CSIRO’s Auto nomous Systems Laboratory,have taken their robotics localisation technology and cleverly adaptedit to enable hand held, real-time laser scanning in full 3D”, said Dr IanOppermann, Director of the Digital Productivity and Services Flagshipat CSIRO. “This technology will open up new areas for scanning suchas difficult to access and complex cultural heritage places.”

Zebedee consists of a lightweight LiDAR scanner with a 30m (100ft)maximum range together with an industrial grade MEMS (Micro-elec-trical Mechanical – the technology of very small devices or microma-chines) inertial measurement unit (IMU). These are both mounted on asimple spring mechanism that loosely oscillates as the operator movesaround the scanning environment. It is this rotation that converts theLiDAR’s inherent 2D scanning plane into a local 3D field of view. Usingproprietary software which estimates the six degrees of freedom (6DoF),these measurements can be projected into a common coordinate frameto generate an accurate 3D point cloud in real time.

So how does it work?The challenges of mapping and motion are well understood in the robo-tics community and it is from this field that the CSIRO team drew muchof their expertise. Zebedee uses the well documented robotic technolo-gy called Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM). To understand the principles of SLAM, consider a sensor movingtowards a flat surface such as a wall. As the sensor approaches the

Cha l l eng i ng Su r vey i ng Env i r onmen t s

March 2013

Zebedee mobile mapping system inaction in the Jenolan Caves, Australia


7

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

wall the measurements decrease in magnitude. The motion towards thewall can therefore be inferred. By integrating thousands of similar rela-tive observations of many surfaces over time, and making reasonableassumptions about platform dynamics, the 6DoF trajectory of the sen-sor can be estimated with considerable accuracy. The oscillatory natu-re of the spring mounted equipment ensures surfaces and objects wit-hin the survey environment are re-observed at sufficient frequency whilemoving at a normal walking pace.

Being handheld, Zebedee can access anywhere the operator can. It’slightweight and only requires a laptop and small battery for a full dayof surveying. The data capture device can also be mounted on a poleto extend its view beyond the reach of the operator and unlike wheel-ed devices Zebedee can be used on rough terrain and staircases.

“For the first time, users can reliably and cost-effectively map spaces in3D in real-time,” Dr Oppermann added. “SLAM enables a suite of 3Dmapping applications to be developed in wide ranging areas inclu-ding education, cultural heritage, security, environment, property, emer-gency services and safety.”

Going undergroundZebedee has already been used explore Aboriginal cave markings inSouth Australia. The strange markings, called finger flutings, werethought to have been left in the Koonalda Cave between about 30,000and 10,000 years ago. Created by hands being dragged along esta-blished grooves in the soft limestone walls the markings are extremelyfragile and crumble at the slightest touch. Using Zebedee researchershave been able to create a highly detailed 3D reconstruction of thecave that can be analysed by archaeologists from the SA Museum. The3D model of the caves will be analysed using specialist computer soft-

ware, the data can also be used to create physical reconstructions ofthe caves using 3D printers.

“It’s a fantastic research tool, the fact we can use the models in the labwhere we have really good light and good conditions to work under.Whereas in the cave, because it’s in complete darkness, it’s really hardto do the research,” said archaeologist Dr Keryn Walshe from the SAMuseum. Dr Walshe says she is keen to determine who made the mar-kings; men, women or children. “It is really tempting; it’s really hard,actually, not to touch the soft surface because it’s so inviting. It’s thisbeautiful pure white colour, like snow. It looks so lovely and soft you justwant to touch it, but you mustn’t.”

Experts from CSIRO and the Australian Nuclear Science andTechnology Orga nisations are also hoping to unlock details ofAustralia’s past climate. By studying the growth of stalagmites and stal-actites in the Jenolan Caves within the Blue Mountains National Park inNew South Wales they hope to understand what the climate was thou-sands of years ago. In order to do this the scientists needed to calcula-te the volume of air and measure CO2 isotopes & CO2 mass balancein order to understand the inorganic chemical reaction that producedthe mineral deposits, they can then compare the rate of growth againstknown records. But first they needed to know the exact size of the caves.

Using Zebedee the research team have been able to create a 3D repre-sentation of the World Heritage Site caves. Chris Waring, principalresearch scientist at ANSTO, is using this cave mapping to better cali-brate the climate-influenced growth of stalagmites. ‘’We can calibrateour measuring instruments against weather records going back to the1930s,’’ he said. “We could be able to assess what the climate wasdoing back hundreds of thousands of years.”

Examples of point clouds created using Zebedee


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What does the future hold?The Zebedee technology has been licenced to GeoSLAM, a UKbased start-up company, who have signed an exclusive, worldwidedistribution agreement with 3D Laser Mapping. 3D Laser Mappingis a global provider of LiDAR hardware and software solutions inclu-ding mine monitoring system SiteMonitor and mobile mapping sys-tem StreetMapper. They provide pre and post-sales support for RieglLMS and other third party products, including the Terrascan andPointools software suites, and offer consultancy services and trai-ning from experienced technical staff with expertise in surveying,geo-engineering, programming, project management and 3D model-ling and visualisation.

By partnering with 3D Laser Mapping, CSIRO and GeoSLAM hopeto benefit from their wealth of experience in the development and

real world application of laser scanning solutions. This partnershipalso ensures users of the Zebedee system can utilise 3D LaserMapping’s existing data processing facilities including remote ser-vers, sophisticated software solutions and dedicated support staff.

“Before we simply couldn’t imagine a scenario where you could arri-ve onsite and within five minutes your equipment is unpacked and isready to go,” Dr Graham Hunter, Executive Chairman, founder andhead of the research division of 3D Laser Mapping, commented.“Now, as you walk around, holding Zebedee in one hand, you cancapture millions of measurements of the environment, whether it bean office, warehouse, manufacturing facility, mine or even in a forestor at the beach. All with minimal set up and without the need foradditional equipment or personnel.”

Faith Clark, technology writer. Internet: www.3dlasermapping.com

March 2013

Examples of point clouds created using Zebedee Examples of point clouds created using Zebedee

THEIMAGING & GEOSPATIALINFORMATION SOCIETYINFORMAIMAGING & GEOSPTHE

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WE ARE UNITED. Whether it’s by desktop, server, web, or cloud – our integrated geospatial portfolio delivers what you need, where you need it. Less hassle. Complete work�ow. One partner.

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10Article

By Aleksey Borodulin and

Aleksandr Kleshnin

Open Source GIS Software

The idea of using open software atIntetics was first aired in May 2011.At that time the main working toolsfor Intetics’ specialists was propri-etary software provided by the client.

The volume of manual vectorization projectswas increasing along with the growing num-ber of employees. We planned to hire approx-imately 50 new employees; though the timespent using GIS software did not exceed 5-16% for a single employee. As an alternative

to purchasing extra proprietary licenses, adecision to use open software was made.

Briefly about the projectThe client provided us with shp-files contain-ing road graph and building geometry. In thecourse of the project, we had to clarify theclient’s road graph and buildings contoursspatial positions data. The first step was toclarify existing geometry, and then add thenew one. After completing this, we followed

the same procedure with the building poly-gons.

Choosing and implementing softwareAfter careful evaluation we chose gvSIG andQuantum GIS, mainly because these productsare widely available as desktop GIS software.Then we completed several test projects usingboth gvSIG and QGIS and compared theresults and the expert reviews. Generally,gvSIG performed better, although some tools

U s e r E x p e r i e n c e s a t I n t e t i c s

Since the mid 2000s open GIS has gradually been attracting the attention ofbusinesses and government agencies around the world. Nevertheless, the introduction of open GIS in business processes is hampered by the fact that atthe moment there is no ready-made method of implementation for open GISsolutions. In this article we want to share the experience of our implementationand the use of open GIS software at Intetics.

March 2013

Intetics employees


11


were less user-friendly. Among QGIS strengthsare nice and logical GUI, multiframe support,high pace of development, an active users’and developers’ community, lots of plug-insand rather good documentation. Weaknessesinclude slow data panning, slow raster render-ing and overall low performance and instabili-ty.Though QGIS performance was not so good,it was finally chosen as GUI as ease of mas-tering played a very important role for us. Dueto the specific features of the project, softwareperformance did not influence the overall workflow much. At the same time, software simplic-ity and GUI consistency is very important dur-ing the first exposure to open GIS software, asGUI ease minimizes users’ discomfort. The difficulties with Quantum GIS began withthe lack of network software installation tools.Initially users had to install and configure thesoftware all by themselves. It was time con-suming and initiated a torrent of questions fromusers. Beginning with the 1.7.3 release westarted using the portable QGIS version as itsconfiguration was set and all the necessaryplug-ins loaded by default. The portable ver-sion is distributed by copying.The 1.7.0, 1.7.3, 1.7.4, 1.8.0 QGIS releaseswere used in the project. Whilst preparing forthe project, the new releases were tested anda changes analysis made. The decision to useit or not was made based on the data collect-ed; evaluation of all the advantages and dis-advantages of new releases compared to thecurrent version. Assuming a positive decision,we performed pilot works using the newrelease of the software.Issues that appeared during QGIS utilizationand new version releases:• shp-files merge didn’t work in 1.7.4 (fixed

in 1.8.0);• snapping to segment didn’t work in 1.7.4

(fixed in 1.8.0);• Cyrillic symbols weren’t displayed in attribute

table in 1.8.0. We imported layers whichcontained Cyrillic attributes in DB usingQGIS version 1.7.4.

According to the requirements specification,the road graph should not have geometrygaps and overlaps. During the project our spe-cialists mainly worked on separate distancedterritories and the amount of geometry situat-ed on the borders of the neighboring workingareas was minimal. Vectoring data was storedas shp-files on the network drive. When theediting was completed, data from separateshp-files were combined into one, commongeometry on borders was checked and man-ual editing was performed if needed.As the project developed, we began vector-

ization of large urbanized territories andfaced the problem of users’ interaction inworking areas which had common geometry.The solution was to create a common infor-mation space using DB.Initially, we considered DB implementationusing SQLite/SpatiaLite or Postgre SQL/PostGIS. Some tests were done and we dis-covered SpatiaLite performance is significant-ly reduced when used by many users simulta-neously; this was the reason for declining it.PostGIS performance met our requirementscompletely. During the preparation process, databaseengineer imports pre-processed source datato the DB and editing rights were adjustedusing pgAdmin application and DatabaseManager Plug-in. PostGIS allowed us to coor-dinate the work on borderline areas and per-form quality control rapidly. It allowed us toevaluate current progress in particular work-ing areas and the overall project progress(SQL queries on the number of polygonalobjects and the sum of road graph edgeslengths), derive performance index, performstatistics calculation and stream monitoring

(project manager is able to see any work areaany time). The use of SQL queries allowed usto perform DB layers merge and copying andcreate intersection layer between two layers.Creating DB layer copies using SQL queriesand DB layer data unload to local drive usingOGR library is also possible.In the first stages of DB usage we performedvectorization for several large and geo-graphically distanced working areas. Tworoad layers were created in the DB – for thenew and amended geometry. Problems inthe QGIS work appeared when a large num-ber of objects were created in one layer(more than 60 thousand for a linear layer),for example, long data loading, delays inpanning, layer attributes table opening,object selection, operation performanceusing field calculator, etc. We decided,therefore, to create several layer pairs forevery working area instead of using two layers for all the areas. This meant that thenumber of records for every table in the DB remained supportable even at the endof the process and did not cause loss of efficiency.

Implementation process

QGIS Plugins


12

Our peopleFor Quantum GIS there is a fairly complete man-ual in Russian (translation done by gis-lab.infocommunity). However, for staff training onQGIS, an internal guide was prepared. Thisdescribed basic functionality and the processesof typical project tasks. A users’ and develop-er’s community support and official documenta-tion were used for the internal guide. We wantto express thanks to all who supported us andspecial thanks to the GIS-Lab community. Writteninstructions were tested by experts and wereamended in the process as a result of experi-ence gained.Due to the peculiarities of the technological pro-cess, vectorization (activity performed with thehelp of QGIS) is done at Intetics every quarter.The time in between was used for analysis andprocess changes introduction.Implementation and maintenance of the newprocess was lead by the leading experts (LE).LE duties included: analysis of the project expe-rience, working instructions development andimprovement, helping specialists in masteringsoftware and the whole process and solving anyarising problems.All the working documentation was uploadedto the team collaboration software, Confluence.LE edit and add documentation along with workinstructions to the Confluence. Employees useConfluence to ask for document clarification, toadd information (improvement suggestions, tipson dealing with issues) and share experience.Changes are reviewed and moderated by LE.Confluence enables the sharing experience on-line and minimizes the number of meetings.At first we faced employees’ resistance to theinnovation, which manifested itself as inaction.Some employees were not motivated enough tomaster new, sometimes unstable, software.

Often employees compared QGIS and com-mercial GIS functionality (in favour of the latter).The process actively developed, new tools andinstructions were introduced, but a number ofemployees continued working “as before.”These difficulties were not caused by specifictasks or software, however; all engineering com-panies face the same problems in the processof new working tools implementation. In orderto solve such problems, each quarter and priorto the project start, a list of innovations is creat-ed and e-mailed to the employees. Additionally,meetings are held allowing leading experts toexplain the peculiarities of the project. A sepa-rate section in the project info DB is created toshare experience with open source software,both positive and negative (such tips often pre-vent common mistakes being made).Our internal QGIS training is developed foremployees who have at least some experiencewith GIS software and with real-life projects.Normally, with some experience with GIS soft-ware, employees master QGIS to an adequatelevel in 1-2 hours. This was achieved by assign-ing a mentor to every junior developer.Subsequently, the assimilation process for newemployees was optimized.

Technical and organizational specifics ofthe project The preparation process included initial WMS-data quality check. If, for some reason WMScould not be used (slow data loading, bad qual-ity of the image), then pre-loaded satelliteimages in the form of tiles were used. Virtualrasters are created out of tiles, using moduleGDAL.To reduce time spent by the user on provision-ing, qgs-project templates were used. Templateswere created at the preparation stage. The tem-

plate contains all the necessary layers from thePostgreSQL/PostGIS DB (shp-files were suppliedtogether with templates before the DB was cre-ated), WMS layer added, styles/group views,coordinate systems, snapping options andoptions for displaying and editing attribute dataconfiguration set. Templates are distributed bycopying via the network.In the first stages of the project the topologyerrors correction was performed with the QGISGRASS module (snapping of the line vertex inthe nodes inside the specified tolerance, linesbreaking upon intersections, removing pseudo-nodes). We also tried the topology check usinggvSIG, but found it both inconvenient and timeconsuming. At the end of the day we decidedto do all the required checks with GRASS, as itgave us output acceptable to our customer. Thefollowing was done: search for lines notsnapped (dangled nodes), removing pseudo-nodes, lines self-intersection correction andremoving self-overlapped geometry.JIRA is a tracking system our company uses fortask tracking and time management. Territorypolygons marked by the client are divided intosmall-sized working areas. For each area arecord in JIRA is created by PM. Every recordcontains the following information: the name ofthe region, estimated time required for vector-ization, the deadline and name of the employ-ee assigned. JIRA allows ongoing monitoringdaily (status, readiness percentage and the timespent) and statistic gathering.

ConclusionWe successfully implemented the execution oflarge-scale works using open source softwarecombined with the proprietary software. Wenow have a well-established documented pro-duction process. We plan to develop this process by implement-ing the following steps:• Develop an efficient bug reporting process;• Implement topology processing using PostGIS;• Create local service of raster data on the

Geoserver basis;• Finalize the transition process to newer soft-

ware releases.Intetic’s example shows the real possibility ofsuccessful open source GIS software use forlarge scale projects. Thanks to very detailed pro-cess description and precisely defined teamroles, the project was completed on time andwith the quality level required by customer.

Aleksey Borodulin and Aleksandr Kleshnin are Intetics GIS Analystswith specialization in open source and multiuser database solutions.For more information please visit www.intetics.com/geo or send an

e-mail to [email protected].

Article

March 2013

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14Article

The migration of data and analysis tools to the cloud or enterprise is well under-way. And while there are many advantages to moving geospatial imagery, dataand analysis tools to a cloud system or an enterprise-based delivery model, themost compelling case for doing so is the ability to deliver what people want,when they want it, and where they need it most. By Patrick Collins

Geospatial Imagery and Data

Location, Location, LocationHistorically, geospatial analysis has tiedpeople to a desk and a desktop computer,yet the nature of the work is all about loca-tion. The proliferation of mobile devices hasmade providing remote access to all kindsof information a necessity to keep pace andstay competitive. While there are uniquechallenges for doing this with geospatialdata and analysis tools, there are also dis-tinct opportunities. What a cloud-basedmodel does is free up the image analyst todo their job in the field, rather than at theirdesk. In the case of a warfighter, gettingaccess to crucial GEOINT in theater can bethe difference between a successful missionor inadvertently walking into a dangeroussituation. For a first responder in a natural

disaster, having real-time access to timelyinformation about terrain conditions cansave lives. The decision to use a cloud-basedor enterprise-based model is dependent onthe different requirements that different typesof users have. For example, a geologist, warfighter, and a first responder will have dif-fering needs and priorities that will informthat choice.

The Cloud vs. The EnterpriseOne key difference between these two deliv-ery models, enterprise vs. cloud, comesdown to this: A controlled-access enterprisemodel can provide vetted , trusted, and con-figuration-managed image analytics forenterprise users; an open-access cloud sys-tem can streamline the process for attaining

the best-in-class services and data for cloudusers. With the cloud system, an enormous amountof data is funneled in from disparatesources. Over time, this high level of inter-action creates best-in-class options for users.One drawback with the cloud model is thatinitially, the data isn’t necessarily vetted andcan create errant results. An example of thisis what happened recently with Apple Mapsin central Australia. In this case, iPhoneusers who were relying on the app to reachMildura, a city of 30,000 in northwesternVictoria, found themselves miles away fromtheir destination in Murray Sunset NationalPark, where there is no water supply andtemperatures regularly reach 115 degreesFahrenheit. Some were stranded for 24

...Moving to a Location Near You

March 2013

Above you can see how results from a change detection analysis of the farmer’s field indicate that a crop was indeed planted and large portions of the field have now been ruined by drought, as indicated by the areas in red.


15


hours without proper food or water. Whilethis could have resulted in tragedy, luckilythe damage was contained to only being ablack eye for Apple. For a military or intelli-gence analyst, this sort of misstep isn’t anoption.That’s where an enterprise system has theadvantage. Within an enterprise implemen-tation, the data and services are directlycontrolled and managed by the organiza-tion. On an enterprise system of delivery,users can count on the fact that the compli-cated processes and analytics methods forgeospatial data analysis will have been vet-ted by the industry and fine-tuned by subjectmatter experts in the organization to ensureaccuracy and maximize intelligence value.Often with complicated image analytics,users can come to very different conclusionsbased on the approach that was used, butwhen you use an enterprise based system,like ENVI Services Engine, you can ensurethat all enterprise users will get reliable,repeatable results, regardless of their skill orunderstanding of the technology.

It’s Not Heavy, It’s My DataWith the enormous amount of geospatialdata that already exists and more that isconstantly being created, the job of manag-ing all this data has become an ever-increas-ing challenge. Along with the very real costof buying and maintaining hardware tomanage this volume of data, there is alsoinefficiency associated with moving largeamounts of data from system to system in atimely manner. The need to efficiently andcost-effectively manage big data has beena major driver in moving geospatialimagery to an enterprise or cloud-basedmodel since this represents the opportunityto centralize data, manage it from oneplace, and bring the analytics to the data. When data lives on a host server and isaccessed through a thin client like a webbrowser or a mobile device, imagery analy-sis commands are passed to the serverwhere the processing occurs. This condens-es processing time dramatically and allowsservers to easily scale to the computationaleffort required. The user can quickly searchmassive amounts of geospatial and intelli-gence data and centralized applicationscan easily be deployed for data discovery,dissemination, and fusion of data and prod-ucts. For example, various hyperspectralimagery datasets can be spectrally mergedfrom differing bandpasses providing full-spectrum, co-registered results, while theprocessing burden is placed on a server,

which can be scaled to handle the compu-tationally intensive processing requirementsin a timely manner. The output in this scenario is non-literal inter-pretation products, such as detection andidentification reports. These types of prod-ucts have less data volume than the inputand intermediate processing products thatgo into getting those results, and are there-fore smaller and easier to transfer. For exam-ple, complex processing tasks might includehyperspectral calibration and processingand the input and intermediate productscould include the raw and calibrated data,the calibration files and settings, the spec-tral libraries as well as the metadata prod-ucts. The non-literal output from this process-ing would contain only the results, andbecause of its relatively small data size,could then be fused with one of the othersources from the enterprise or cloud to giveliteral context to the decision enabling deci-sions makers to make better decisions basedupon scientifically proven methods.

Geospatial Analysis -- On the GroundFollowing are some scenarios of how thecloud and enterprise delivery models couldbe used for timely, efficient geospatial anal-ysis.

Protecting Natural ResourcesRoutine water sampling by a local govern-ment reveals high concentrations of pollu-tants in a waterway. Without knowingwhere the pollutants were introduced or inwhat quantity, there is no way to remedy thesituation. An analyst searches differentsources on the cloud for hyperspectralimagery taken of the waterway in recentweeks and also searches spectral librariesfor pollutant signatures. By running a spec-tral detection and then leveraging ENVIServices Engine to process the hyperspec-tral imagery against the spectral the library,the pollutant is identified and a map show-ing where illegal pollutants are entering thewaterway is created and handed off to localenforcement for monitoring and remedia-tion.

Fighting CrimeWhen effluent pools are detected outside acompound, hyperspectral analytics areemployed to identify the liquid. It is deter-mined through this analysis that the liquidhas significant spectral signature ties to acompound which is a byproduct of illegalnarcotics manufacturing. Within hours, therunoff path is located by looking at high res-

olution panchromatic images, and soon thebuilding where the runoff is originating fromis also identified. By monitoring the locationthrough full motion video, it is determinedthat there is significant activity within thecourtyard of the facility, as well as possiblesecurity positions that are posted along theparameter. By relying on workflows createdby internal subject matter experts, hyper-spectral imagery data is processed to gen-erate a detection map. Using ENVI ServicesEngine, this map is then fused with high-con-fidence detection layers from hyperspectralimagery to panchromatic imagery. Thisfused product of the map of the town, a highresolution path of runoff and hyperspectraldetection map is handed off to decisionmakers with areas of activity and securitycalled out. This fused product provides deci-sion makers with information to help deter-mine how and when to approach the facili-ty, as well as a good idea what to expectwhen they do.

Down on the FarmAfter a farmer applies for disaster assistancewith the Farm Services Agency of the U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA), a claimsagent visits the drought-stricken field toassess the situation. The agent notes that thefarmland is, in fact, dry and parched, andit has no visible vegetation growth. Beforepaying the claim, the agent needs to deter-mine if a crop was actually planted on thefield in question. The agent returns to his orher office, pulls up imagery of the field, andperforms change detection and vegetationhealth analyses for this same field two, fourand six months prior to the date of his or hervisit. Without having the imagery in a cen-tralized location, the task of locating theseimages would’ve been tedious and time con-suming. In this case, the cloud-computingmodel centralizes vast amounts of data forrapid consumption by those who need it.By offering a multitude of benefits includinglower capital investment, ease of manage-ment, quality control and the flexibility toscale up or down to meet demand, the enter-prise and cloud is quickly becoming the defacto model for delivering data and analy-sis tools to the workforce. This is changinghow and where we work, not to mention theway we do business.

Patrick Collins, Solutions Engineer. For more information on how ENVIServices Engine from Exelis Visual Information Solutions can help you

keep pace with the changing times go to www.exelisvis.com.


March 2013

16Co

lumn

The best thing any GIS Professional can do to make themselves more valuable is learn Python.

Years ago, when I first started in Professional GIS,there was no shortage of scripting methods for analy-sis. You had the standards; AML, then MapBasic andAvenue. I know I used Perl and there was always thatguy sending FORTRAN applications to you that wereglorified scripts. I recall the debates over beers at theend of the day as to which of us was smartest for theirscript choice. Scripting language debates usuallyended up with hurt feeling I recall.

But then GIS moved more consumer friendly, towardWindows desktops. This meant that VBA and VBScriptwere all of a sudden the choice with some .NET throwin (I guess that meant the FORTRAN guys became.NET guys). But something was lost, the new scriptingtools were not as powerful. GIS users became buttonpushers, clicking the next button on their wizard dia-log boxes. Productivity went down and everyonepined for the old days.

While this was all going on, a new (well new to GISusers) scripting language was taking over the scien-tific community. Python they called it and it had a littlesnake icon. It was dismissed by many but companiessuch as Esri saw it as their method to bring back theold AML days to GIS professionals. It took a couplereleases, but once Arc.py was given to the communi-ty, Esri users took notice.

But it wasn’t just Esri that got in on the wave. The opensource community immediately used it as their script-ing tools. QGIS, Mapnik, Mapserver, GRASS, andGDAL/OGR all embrace Python. Let’s think about thisfor a moment. GIS Professionals can learn one script-ing language, use it with the great Esri ArcGIS plat-form (Desktop and Server), then move into open sourceGIS applications without having to learn anything new.Thatvs quite the paradigm shift.

As they say on TV, “But wait, there’s more!”. Not onlycan you leverage all these great GIS libraries in yourscripts (yes, use Arc.py with GDAL in your analysis),but you can bring in other libraries to help you. NumPywhich gives you access to high-level mathematicalfunctions, matplotlib which essentially brings MATLABto your analysis, SciPy for great mathematical tools (Ilike to use it for plotting) and Beautiful Soup for pars-ing HTML documents (when you need to scrap datafrom a webpage). As I said earlier, this is a huge

change as you can pick and choose what best helpsyou get your geospatial analysis done.

But what about turning this around on itself? Ratherthan approaching geospatial analysis from the stand-point of opening ArcGIS Desktop, think about startingyour analysis from your favorite script editor. PyDevhttp://pydev.org is an Eclipse www.eclipse.combased Python IDE that has all the great IDE features(code completion, syntax highlighting, script debug-ging) that you’d expect from your development tools,but lets your work outside of any GIS GUI software.Just import arcpy and away you go. Now you canfocus on using the best libraries you need to get youranalysis done, rather than trying to figure out how todo it with the Esri Geoprocessing framework. Thisopens up so many doors to users, ArcPy becomes justanother library among thousands. The simplicity ofmany Python libraries can be leveraged, only whenyou absolutely need ArcPy (working with Esri propri-etary technology) do you need to bring Esri into thefold.

The magic of Python becomes clear when you sit backand think of the implications to GIS Professionals. Theynow have some of the best geospatial (ArcPy, PySAL),mathmatical (NumPy, SciPy), cartography (Mapnik)and data transformation (Safe FME) available to anyanalysis they may have.

At times I feel myself becoming nostalgic for the oldARC/INFO Workstation days when you had to usescripting to get anything done. I would tell my friendsthose were the good old days of GIS because GISAnalysts and Technicians knew how to make some ofthe most amazing scripting applications I’ve ever seen.But you know when you think about it, today is prob-ably the best opportunity for GIS Professionals to doamazing things with scripting.

Python itself is sparser and less-cluttered than other lan-guages. To me that makes it an easy language to pickup and an excellent opportunity for anyone to do morewith the tools they’ve been given. Throw in the hugeexpanse of available Python libraries and you’ve gota solution that will make our jobs that much easier.The best thing any GIS Professional can do to makethemselves more valuable is learn Python. There is nodiscussion about it, start today. Happy coding!

Python is GIS’ best friend

James blogs about geospatial technologyat his blog http://spatiallyadjusted.com

and has a weekly video hangouthttp://spatiallyadjusted.com/video

where he talks about what it means tobe a cutting edge GIS Professional.

His current focus is on helping GIS userslearn Python and improve their

productivity and workflows.

March 2013


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Lidar and Camera Integration


18Article

Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the US near Atlantic City, New Jersey, onOctober 29, 2012. As the storm approached the eastern seaboard, RocklandCounty, a Hudson River community 15 miles northwest of New York City,declared a state of emergency, activating the County Emergency OperationsCenter (EOC) and alerting residents to the impending high winds, rain and tidalsurge from the river. At this time, emergency personnel on the ground and in theEOC readied to test a newly deployed map-based tool that was to streamlineemergency communications and response in the hours and days to come.

By Gary Mullaney and

Lisa Schoonmaker

Rockland County, NY, Streamlines Storm Response

When Time Is of the EssenceWhen Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, Rockland County relied onan interactive online mapping tool to expedite emergency response dur-ing the storm and its aftermath. The tool, a mapped-based common oper-ating picture (COP), enabled County and State highway, fire, police,utility, the Red Cross and other emergency personnel to record, shareand view information on road obstructions and closures as events unfold-ed. The County, hardest hit by tidal surges and winds that downed treesand power lines, used this information during the storm to organize, pri-oritize and direct crews in clearing major highways and roads and toroute emergency vehicles and evacuations. After the storm, updatedinformation on changing road conditions was critical to restoring power,

managing cleanup, and re-opening schools and businesses.Douglas Schuetz, Rockland County GIS Director, explains, “During anevent of this magnitude, time is of the essence. In the past we focusedour efforts on collecting, compiling and verifying information from thefield. This time, local offices as well as EOC staff entered on the inter-net map precise, live data from field staff familiar with the situation,and emergency personnel could view accurate information at otherlocations. We were able to provide reports to local and state-levelstakeholders several times a day, to monitor fast changing conditions,and to direct emergency crews more efficiently and effectively. It’s afar superior way to do business and opens our eyes to what is possi-ble.”

H u r r i c a n e S a n d y Te s t s N e w G e o s p a t i a l To o l i n R e a l T i m e

March 2013

Obstructions on one road segment in Rockland County


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Proactive PreparednessThe County took proactive steps to improve their emergency pre-paredness last year. In the wake of Hurricane Irene and a rareOctober snowstorm, County officials recognized they needed an effi-cient way to manage, share, analyze and respond to informationon road blockages and closures in real time. With funding from theUS Department of Homeland Security, the County commissionedSewall, an international GIS, engineering and forestry consultingfirm, to assess the County’s needs and develop a solution. After meet-ing with County representatives and other stakeholders, Sewall pro-posed developing a web-based, distributed data entry module asan enhancement to the County’s existing online emergency GIS appli-cation.

Live Data Collection and SharingThe tool, a COP with a detailed County-developed base map, allowsa network of emergency personnel, volunteers, and other contribu-tors in the field to enter specific information on road obstructions—fallen trees, downed wires, downed poles/transformers, severe ero-sion or cave-ins, and flood waters—on an interactive online map asevents occur. “The tool distributes responsibility to local contributors,who are most familiar with the situation and the road network,”

Schuetz says. “As a result, the information is more accurate and pre-cise, and entered sooner.”

This information is then accessible to emergency managers at otherlocations, enabling them to make critical decisions on the fly—whereto route resources, repair crews and people out of harm’s way. “Withmore accurate road obstruction data, we could more effectively deliv-er a generator to the nursing home, to bus people from a floodedlocation, to dispatch fire and police to an incident,” says Schuetz.When a road is reported cleared, the map can be cleared quickly,providing updates to all users, who can view, print or download thecurrent status of road conditions in real time.

Data Entry for Road Obstructions (Points). The objectives ofthe data entry design are speed, simplicity and accuracy. Using oneof three search options (street address/road name, intersection, orlat/long), the user navigates quickly to the location of the obstruc-tion, selects the appropriate tool to click on the location (point) andassigns attribute information in one of seven types (trees down, wiresdown, trees and wires down, pole/transformer down, flood, col-lapse/erosion, other). The user receives prompt feedback on thedesired road segment, its name and other properties, and a pre-populated road obstruction form for editing information on hazardtype, time of report, name of user, road status, and assigned priori-ty. With training, this process takes 30 seconds or less.

Editing or Deleting Road Obstructions. With the editing tool,the user can click on any road obstruction point feature and option-ally drag or move it to a new location, and access a pop-up formwith editable attributes and a control for deleting the obstruction.

Printing a Road Obstruction. In a single click with the printtool, the user can highlight any road obstruction point feature andcreate a single-page, letter-sized pdf with a map focused on thevicinity of the obstruction, plus a separate table showing completeattribute data for the focused obstruction. This printable file isdesigned to hand to field crews and emergency responders.

Clearing a Road Obstruction. With the clear tool, the user canclick on any road obstruction to activate a pop-up form for enteringinformation on when the obstruction was cleared. Once the popupis closed, the feature disappears from the active road obstructionsmap layer.

GIS Director Douglas Schuetz working out of the EOC

GIS Analyst Scott Lounsbury testing the tool

Clustered view of active road obstructions in Rockland County


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Data Entry for Administrative Road Closures (Lines).Authorized GIS analysts are equipped to enter data on administra-tive road closures, identifying an entire road or linear road segmentsas necessary. Administrative road closure reports, normally fewer innumber than road obstruction reports, are entered using ArcGIS forDesktop, which enables the skilled editor to select a closed road

segment on the map and enter a brief narrative summary of the clo-sure (which segment is closed, why, since when, and when it isexpected to re-open). Other users of the COP can see the currentadministrative road closures as highlighted line segments.

Map Services and Downloads. The map data showing currentroad obstructions and closures can be incorporated into other interac-tive maps and exported to shapefile, geodatabase, KML, and spread-sheet formats. The County has incorporated the live obstruction mapservice into its Disaster LAN (DLAN) emergency management system.

Recruiting and TrainingAccording to Schuetz, recruiting and training the field network, includ-ing highway, police, fire, and public works departments; and elec-tric, gas and water utilities are critical steps to success. As it hap-pened, Sewall delivered a beta version for testing to the County intime to train a few key staff in advance of Sandy. Designed to be effi-cient to use and easy to learn, the application was tested before thestorm hit and used successfully during the storm and its aftermath.

“The interactive website was a tremendous tool that assisted emer-gency response agencies, including utility companies, in respondingto incidents throughout Hurricane Sandy,” says Christopher Jensen,Program Coordinator for the Rockland County Office of Fire &Emergency Services. “The information collected also played a signifi-cant role in implementing recovery efforts by local, county, state, andfederal agencies.”

The AftermathFor two weeks after the storm, the County updated the system, enteringinformation as obstructed and partially obstructed roads were cleared.“Real-time mapping proved invaluable as the County HighwayDepartment worked to clear the downed trees after the storm,” saysAndrew M. Connors, PE, Deputy Superintendent of Highways. “Wewere able to locate all work sites quickly, allowing for immediate dis-patch of labor and equipment to open our roads to traffic. With situa-tional awareness of the County’s road network, we were able to directour efforts to restore our infrastructure in a safe, timely and cost-effec-tive way.”

Months later, high-quality data of road obstructions is proving to bevery valuable, according to Schuetz. “Since each record has a dateand time stamp, we have been able to create a video time series ofroad obstructions and clearings for use in analyzing the timeliness andeffectiveness of our response. The goal here is to learn what we canand see where we can make improvements.”

Next StepsAgain proactive in approach, County officials are now consideringways in which to expand upon their use of geospatial technology inextreme weather events. “Our next steps,” says Schuetz, “will be todevelop a mobile version, so data and pictures can be recorded direct-ly from the field to emergency managers and other decision makers.”

Gary Mullaney has over 30 years’ experience in developing technology and information systems for a widerange of government and forestry applications. As Senior GIS Consultant at Sewall, he leads a team of

software engineers in software development, web services, database administration and systems integration.Lisa Schoonmaker is Sewall Director of Marketing and Communications.

For more information, see: www.sewall.com and https://rocklandgov.com.

Creating a road obstruction

Closing a road

Clearing a road obstruction

Exported KML file integrated with Google Earth

Article

March 2013



22Article

Esri is currently investigating the big data analysis field with new initiatives andits own resources. ArcGIS Server Product Manager Marwa Mabrouk explainssome of these initiatives and discusses some recent use cases of big data analysis and location. By Eric van Rees

Big Data Analysis and Location

Data growth has been a trend fora number of years now. Withcloud technologies becomingmore pervasive, data no longerneeds to be thrown away as

there are infinite storage capabilities. Thisdevelopment, combined with data growth,has fueled the big data trend, where com-plex and very large datasets are being ana-lyzed to search for correlation within manydifferent applications and industries.Software companies that have the capacityto handle such complex and very largedatasets are currently investigating how toapproach these datasets for analysis. Thegeospatial industry has a special role in allof this, since location is a very importantaspect of the data itself and can be animportant part of big data analysis. There’s a lot of exploration going on rightnow within Esri with regards to big data,says Marwa Mabrouk: “big data is abouthow to get intelligence out of your data

through visualization, identifying patternsand analyzing the data. From that perspec-

tive, what Esri is doing lies more on the ana-lytics side, where you can explore more ofthe capabilities that can enrich GIS or theother way round.”

Bringing GIS and big data togetherAlthough at the moment there’s no currentproduct that could be called ‘Esri’s big dataproduct’, there are some areas where Esriis starting to highlight that it can handle verylarge datasets. For example, with therelease of ArcGIS 10.1, ArcGIS Server nowsupports IBM PureData System for Analytics,powered by Netezza. There’s also EsriMaps for IBM Cognos for doing businessanalysis and Terradata. Mabrouk: “At Esri,we have been doing complex analysis withthis type of very large dataset for a longtime. What we’re trying to get increasinglyfamiliar with is how technologies likeNoSQL and the Apache Hadoop Big Data

L e v e r a g i n g B i g D a t a a t E s r i

March 2013

IBM Cognos viewer

IBM Cognos viewer


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platform are coming into play in that areaand how GIS can leverage that and inte-grate with that.”Hadoop is a really large framework andlooks at data that is non-structured and basi-cally consists of a lot of text, without any pat-terns identified within that text. Mabrouk:“this is the most challenging type of data toanalyze. You have to understand what toextract out of it and identify patterns that did-n’t exist beforehand.” As for NoSQL, thisrefers to broad database management sys-tems that are useful when working with ahuge quantity of data. Mabrouk: “NoSQLmight be a misnamed term. It supports SQL,but the definition of the relations betweenthe tables is where things are different.” By becoming more familiar with these tech-nologies, Esri can start to see what the bestway to bring GIS and big data togetherwould be. This is not something that is verywell-defined right now, says Mabrouk:“there is a question mark in the market atthe moment over big data itself; namely howit can play into different areas and there’salways a lot to learn and always new thingscoming up, especially in the GIS area.There’s a kind of merging of all the big dataaspects and the location, as well as how theanalysis will emerge which will enable us toput these things together. This means thatthere’s a lot to discover in that area rightnow.” There are multiple efforts going on withinEsri to investigate what is the best way toleverage the technologies that are availablefor NoSQL, Hadoop in conjunction with GISand how big data could be migrated alongthese different technologies. Additionally,they are investigating the kind of analysisthat is feasible – for example, performinggeospatial analysis inside Hadoop or spa-tially enabling it there, or performing analy-sis inside ArcGIS, with Hadoop just beingthe data source. Another example is a freeplug-in for ArcGIS Desktop, developed bythe Esri resource center, which lets ArcGISDesktop users search the Mongo database,an open source document-oriented databasesystem that is part of the NoSQL family ofdatabase systems. At the moment, Esri isinvestigating how to leverage social mediafor analysis in big data (more on this below).

A growing interest in big dataWhat is happening now and goes someway to explaining the hype around bigdata, is that more and more sectors arebecoming interested in big data problemsand how this issue can be solved. These

organizations are pouring a variety ofresources and skills into this so they cansolve these types of questions. Mabrouk:“now there’s a merge going on between thedeveloper talent and the talent how to under-stand and administer a framework likeHadoop and to the data analysis. They’renow being referred to as data scientists.” Discussing data itself, one thing is clear:data growth is definitely not going to slowdown. Mabrouk: “we’re seeing it’s justgrowing exponentially. The technologies tohandle that will continue to see a demand,because otherwise how are we going tohandle all this data? Data doesn’t getthrown away like it did in the past. I thinkthat’s the part where we’ll continue to seethe problem just get bigger and bigger.We’re going to see more growth aroundhow it will be handled.”Consequently, the question as to whether alldata is relevant for big data analysis popsup. And, also: is more data always betterthan less data? Mabrouk: “for big data anal-ysis, the same applies as with statistics: themore samples you have, the more accuratethe results are. Similarly, as the data grows,you will probably get more accurate results,and then the challenge to compute, handle,manage and make sense of it all also grows.The more data you have, the more the pat-terns will appear and become more appar-ent.” And, now that people are starting to realizedata can be used in so many ways, this isonly the beginning. Mabrouk: “the questionas to how this will be done and how effec-

tively we will be in handling this data needsto be closely monitored. In the future, weneed to ensure that we will be using the datathe right way, protecting people’s privacyand making sure it is handled in a way thatis morally correct.“

Location as part of big data analysis There are certain problems that are emerg-ing that tend to define themselves well-known use cases where big data analysiscan make a lot of difference. For example,information collected from sensors.Mabrouk: “there are certain devices andsensors that collect a lot of data. This is anarea where big data can offer a lot of solu-tions. Location is very critical to work withthose sensors, especially if these sensors aremoving around in vehicles, or monitoringsome kind of changing condition.” Another example is social media analysisand understanding the correlation betweenlocation and events that take place and howpeople feel about it online. Mabrouk:“we’ve done some analysis using socialmedia to highlight the correlation betweenthe impact of hurricane Sandy and certainareas that were affected the most by collect-ing information from social media.” Cloud analysis with social media as well isanother example, which was done in coop-eration with Gnip, who provides Twitterdata. Mabrouk: “for a hotel chain, wechecked the influence to social media whena person would put a specific negativereview of a hotel and checked what is therange of impact of that one person. We’ve

IBM Cognos viewer


24

provided heat maps to demonstrate theimpact of these mixed reviews based onwhat people are posting in social media.” There’s also some information around crimeanalysis, for example in San Francisco,based on the data provided by the city: “weused big data analysis to understand pat-terns across time and location. We’re ableto determine that there are certain days inthe week where crime is the highest and cer-tain times in the day. We’ll talk more aboutthe components that we’re working on dur-ing the Esri Developer Summit in April, anddemonstrate and talk heavily about the better integration between Hadoop andArcGIS.”

Marwa Mabrouk is Product Manager ArcGIS Server.

Hurricane Sandy and social media

Article



26Article

Use of geoinformation is growing rapidly. This article is dedicated to successfulprojects of geodata dissemination in a very simple PDF format, which allowscommon users to work intuitively with geodata without GIS skills or specialsoftware.By O. A. Ryaboshapko

GeoPDF Based ServicesU

se of geoinformation is grow-ing rapidly: nowadays real-ization of the fact that infor-mation in space is a vitalcomponent for efficient deci-

sion-making be comes obvious to manyand not just GIS pros. Geospatial infor-mation is released to public accessdespite remaining restrictions. One canalready receive information on land lotsfrom a public cadaster map as well asthat of the unified cartographic base inthe form of maps of the RF territory via theState Register portal. The Ministry ofEconomic Development prepares tolaunch the spatial data infrastructure por-tal. There are available online mappingservices. Citizens want to use geodata for efficientsolutions to everyday applications. Nodoubt they are individual for each user,however conventionally one could divideusers into GIS pros and users that requiregeodata for finding solutions to everydaybusiness applications. For the other group of users geodatausage is connected with difficulty in per-ceiving GIS information and learningtools for working with it. Working in GISon a daily basis, using imagery analysisand processing tools everything seemsobvious. But how hard is this for a userthat doesn’t do it every day? Many willrefuse using geodata just due to complex-ity of the tools and fear of novelty.However, since professionals managed tocreate complex data analysis and pro-cessing tools, they could provide users

with results of their efforts in an easy andsimple way. The idea of comprehensibleand simple in perception geodata wasrealized in GeoPDF: a result of profes-sionals’ work could be made comprehen-sible for all; one would be able to share,add new georeferenced user informationand return data to GIS.

The US Geological Survey OnlineMapping ServiceIn December 2009 the US GeologicalSurvey launched the next generationonline service providing maps for theentire territory of the USA in GeoPDF for-mat: each map board in GeoPDF formatcontain base layers of geographic data:orthoimages, maps, geographic names,topography, and hydrographic specificfeatures, which originate from theNational Map – the national collection ofdata from local, state, federal and othersources.The initial set of GeoPDF files was creat-ed by specialists of the TopographicCenter of the US Army Corps of Engineerswith the use of the existing digital rastergraphics (DRG) of the US GeologicalSurvey (250 pixels per inch scanning)being the source. In future the USGeological Survey plan to update all mapboards with 250 dpi resolution to greaterresolution files (from 400 to 508 dpi),which will allow using the same data forcreating high quality printing product.

When Geodata Become Ava i lab le to Users

March 2013

GeoPDF online dissemination via the USGS website


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Depending on detail and complexity of asource map individual size of GeoPDFfiles could vary from 3 to 30Mb, themajority being in the range from 10 to17mB. In most cases files in GeoPDF for-mat contain the latest version of a pub-lished map, and those that are not updat-ed regularly contain scanned in highresolution (508 dpi) archived hardcopymap. In essence each GeoPDF file is ageoreferenced scanned topographic map.GeoPDF files are not replacements of thesource GIS data. GIS specialists stillrequire original files for editing and updat-ing spatial data. Files in GeoPDF formatallow non-GIS specialists, technicians,enterprise managers and their counter-parts using spatial information.On the Map Locator and Downloaderwebpage of the US Geological Survey,users are prompted to locate, downloador buy maps. By specifying an area ofinterest user will view all maps availablefor this territory: some of them could bebought, and the rest could be receivedfree-of-charge via e-mail in GeoPDF for-mat.Users can view and print GeoPDF filesusing free and fully accessible AdobeReader. If using the free plugin TerraGoToolbar additional options become avail-able: to look up geographical coordi-nates, measure distances and areas, withGPS-receiver on – to find one’s locationon the map and add georeferencedentries on the map with description ofobjects.Before the GeoPDF service was implement-ed about 4,000 maps had been download-ed monthly. Once the GeoPDF service waslaunched the number of downloads grew onaverage to 75,000 GeoPDF files eachmonth, thus the information became moreaccessible and popular for a greater num-ber of interested users.

The Geoatlas of Carbon, Montana forPublic SafetyCarbon County (Montana) is located in thecenter of the southern part of the state andcovers more than 2,000 square kilometers,which is twice as large as Rhode Island. Thecounty includes the National Forest Custerand the north-eastern part of the YellowstoneNational Park, which along with picturesquerural areas are home to about 10,000inhabitants.In 2004 a new standardized address sys-tem was introduced in Carbon for fasterresponse to emergencies and in preparation

for launching the extended 911 service (E-911). Nevertheless, initially the new systemcaused confusion. The county turned out tobe too big for dispatchers to learn all dis-tricts by heart. Besides, not all parties hadenough PC resources or skills. In addition asingle location had several addresses andthe new system faced the problem of pro-viding public safety personnel and popula-tion with such data to ensure cost-effective-ness: both hardcopy and digital versionswere required.A firewatcher of the Red Lodge Fire Brigadeand GIS consultant Tom Coughly workingwith Department of Emergency Services(DES) and the fire brigade helped receivingthe grant for GeoAtlas project implementa-tion in Carbon. T. Coughly and DES startedwith base map files of the US GeologicalSurvey (USGS).

For preparation of base maps the team usedthe Esri ArcGIS 10 software. Then using

TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS, the teamproduced interactive, portable and intel-lectual GeoPDF maps and images, whichallow users that do not have access tomodern GIS or special skills, to receiveaccess, dynamically update and sharegeospatial compact-view information. After that maps in GeoPDF were integrat-ed in GeoAtlas – a detailed 400-pageroad and address atlas covering theentire Carbon County. GeoAtlas wasuploaded on www.carbogeoatlas.com,where atlas pages could be viewed anddownloaded by public safety specialistslike anybody else that have interest in it.GeoPDF maps from GeoAtlas could alsobe used for printing hardcopies, andworking offline with by field workersusing USB drives or DVD.

Viewing of GeoAtlas electronic maps sim-ply require users to download the freeTerraGo Toolbar, which enables any userat any location getting access and work-ing with maps and images in GeoPDF,created in the TerraGo Publisher andTerraGo Composer software applications.The toolbar also allows onsite users updat-ing maps in GeoPDF using georeferencedentries, pictures, videos and other infor-mation and then return updated data tothe ArcGIS database. Also this informa-tion turned to be in demand by otherorganizations as well: there are inquiriesfrom power companies, post offices andrealtors. TerraGo solutions used byCarbon County, Montana:

• TerraGoPublisher for ArcGIS;• TerraGo GeoPDF maps and images;• Survey results.Utilizing maps and images in GeoPDF for-mat the following achievements wereaccomplished in Carbon County:• E-911 county system introduction was

completed;• GeoAtlas was launched – a free web

resource for public and safety officers;• 150 essential maps containing over 400

pages of accurate maps for the entirecounty territory were produced at mini-mum cost;

• The product was released that could befurther updated, georeferenced informa-tion stopped being static and became eas-ily accessible to both officers and countypublic.

O. A. Ryaboshapko, Moscow Regional Marketing Manager of Hitachi;www.hitachi-solutions.com/ru/geopdf/sp

GeoAtlas of Carbon County could be accessed via the Internet by following the link www.carbongeoatlas.com.

GeoAtlas of Carbon County, Montana, USA


28Co

lumn

One of the more common requests we receive, as a mobile GIS softwaredevelopment company, is offline. In this month’s column, the use of GISmobile apps in a disconnected environment is discussed.

The BasicsOne of the advantages mobile devices bring isthe ability to work in the field, and to no longerbe dependent on pen and paper. Directly updat-ing a server is now possible using mobile GISapps. But field workers are often active in poorlyconnected or disconnected areas. That throws adegree of complexity to viewing and working withGIS data. Many GIS vendors are looking into thisproblem. Offline is apparently the second mostpopular question asked of Jack Dangermond atEsri. An integrated solution has its challenges, onewe know Esri are feverishly working on as partof ArcGIS.

Cloud Computing & Online Data AccessWhile online, mobile apps simply access GISservers directly; so basemap tiles, layers,geocoders, identify requests, edits. In offline modedata needs to reside locally on the device. We’vebeen building an online-offline editing mobile appagainst ArcGIS Online. This new cloud basedmapping platform has simplified both the consum-ing and updating of GIS data from mobiles. Webmaps are at the heart of ArcGIS Online. Theseare in essence mash ups of geo-data, so ArcGISserver endpoints, hosted ArcGIS Online services,KML, WMS, shapefiles etc. While online GIS datais directly accessed via ArcGIS Online.

Offline Data AccessThe use of local storage is required for offlinemobile access to GIS data. ArcMap 10.1 nowprovides the ability to generate tile packages(tpk); or a package of basemap tiles which canbe loaded on a mobile device. In the ArcGISworld, feature editing is done with the use ofFeature Layers. These are similar to WFS layersin the open source world. Feature layers are dif-ferent to tiled or dynamic layers. They provide inessence the raw data which makes up a layer. Sonothing is pre-generated by the server, the appli-

cation itself draws these layers. The key to offlineediting is to store these feature layers (or WFSlayers) on the mobile device itself. Once offline,the applications loads the stored tpk, and featurelayers. Edits are then updates to the local (stored)features layers. When back online, these edits canthen be pushed to the server directly.

Multimedia AttachmentsOne area we saw as essential to a robust online-offline editing solution was the ability to add mul-timedia attachments. Mobiles come equipped withstill and video cameras, and audio recordingdevices. Attaching images, video, text or audiofiles to a feature is part of the ArcGIS Feature ser-vice. The process required to attach multimediaelements to features while offline was similar tofeature editing; attachments were tied to the fea-tures id. When back online the data and featureid are pushed back to the server.

Simplified Workflows Traditionally online-offline GIS data collection andediting has often been provided by a combina-tion of Trimble mobile hardware and ArcPad soft-ware. Though both excellent products, these solu-tions are both expensive and are targeted at userstrained in GIS. Often field workers do not havethis training. They want mobile apps which pro-vide simple workflows to get their jobs done, withno need for specialised skills. Similarly, organiza-tions would also like to avoid staff training, andthe expense of purchasing these solutions. Thepopularity of iOS and Android devices, and abil-ity of companies such as ours to build simplemobile apps, using the cloud and local storageopens new possibilities. We will integrate our online-offline work with Esri’sintegrated solution once released. But with online-offline functionality now fully realised, mobile GISmay finally have come of age.

Offline Mobile GIS

Matt Sheehan is Principal and SeniorDeveloper at WebmapSolutions. The com-pany build location focused mobile applica-tions for GIS, mapping and location based

services (LBS). Matt can be reached [email protected].

March 2013

1 1 2:13 PM


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2:13 PM


The number of sensors included inproducts like tablet computers,along with the accuracy at whichdata can be collected, continue toincrease. Companies like Broad -

com, for instance, have produced a GNSSchip for consumer technologies - theBCM4752 – 10x more accurate than its pre-decessors. Given the role such devices con-tinue to play in spatial information work-flows this article explores smart technologiesand their use as tools on and off site.

The iPadThe launch of the iPad kick started the tabletmarket in 2010. A driving force of develop-ment for both Apple and Android – who hadbeen working on their OS system around asimilar timeframe -was the integration ofexisting technology into emerging consumerproducts. Based on ideas considered byAlan Kay in 1968 the iPad and other tabletsrepresented a slight departure from thevision he would outline later in A PersonalComputer for Children of All Ages. Releasedafter the iPod Touch, the iPad was the thirdApple product to feature the iOS operatingsystem designed for the iPhone.

An active learning toolThe concept for the “Dynabook” was exploredin more detail in a paper written by Alan Kayin 1972. Described as an active learning tool

for children its design was somewhere betweena laptop and a tablet, though the latter wasmore in line with his ideas. Thirty eight yearslater, the development of a lucrative mobile

30Article

The tablet computer is a versatile device that continues to make an impact inmany professional sectors – survey markets included. This article focuses on thelatter and examines the various ways in which consumer products like tabletsare being used in spatial information workflows. Initially proposed as a learningaid for children by Alan Kay in 1968, its development actually came about dueto the growing number of uses for mobile phones and a more considered approachto the integration of technologies across consumer product lines. Examples weregenerated using a Google Nexus 10 and free applications. By Adam Spring

From Survey Projectsto Media ApplicationsI s t h e Tab l e t a n E nab l i n g Te c hno l o gy ?

March 2013

Geo Cam turns a tablet into a Theodolite


31


phone market and the miniaturisation of tech-nologies like touch screens made tablet com-puters a viable product to bring to market. Bythat time Kay’s ideas had made their way intoprecision measurement marketplaces too. Forinstance, a quote often used by the Presidentof Hexagon Geosystems, Juergen Dold, actual-ly came from Kay (see Geo matics World,January/February 2011: pp. 32-34): ‘The bestway to predict the future is to invent it!’

Enabling technologyWhether used on its own or in line with othersolutions the tablet has become an enablingtechnology - an innovation that brings dynam-ic change to a workflow or user community.The emergence of hybrid ‘laplets’ like theMicrosoft Surface Pro on the one hand andLinux based operating systems like Tizen onthe other continue to broaden the concept ofthe tablet.

In fact, the developers of Tizen are currentlylooking at technology integration. Firstly, theyare integrating technologies centred on ubiq-uitous platforms like the markup languageHTML5, which provides the instructions forhow text and media are displayed. Designedto accommodate for other developments likecloud computing and an increased sharedexperience through the Web, HTML5 is look-ing to standardise the way information is pre-sented to browsers.

Secondly, Tizen is able to integrate itselfthrough hardware. Companies like Sam sungare looking to include it in devices like TVs aswell as tablets and mobile phones. The appli-cations or “apps” that continue to be shapedby such processes unlock the potential of theincreased number of sensors incorporated intohardware. There are even free system diag-nostics tools like Sensor Kinetics that givedirect access to the sensors inside a device,as discussed later in this article.

Combined technologiesBringing together components, such as GNSSchips and motion sensors, into one affordablesystem has led to intuitive developments likethe app. It is the app that makes the tabletmore than a tool for ‘old’ media consumption,such as books, and gives users an opportuni-ty to be creators. They provide a level ofaccessibility to and interaction with hardwarethat is reminiscent of the Homebrew computermovement of the 1970s. Such movementswere integral to the personal computing revo-lution, as well as the consumer markets creat-ed off the back of it.

Flexible user interfacesSuch developments have created flexible userinterfaces, which take into account the advan-tages and limitations of using consumer prod-ucts for tasks otherwise specialist in nature.For instance, there is an active learning expe-rience for general users working with appslike Geo Cam and Image Meter. In order touse the information collected to its fullest, theyare encouraged to understand basic princi-ples of survey like triangulation or that pho-tographs contain x, y coordinates and canmake vector modelling more accessible andeasier. The iOS app Hunter Theodolite Proeven provides easy to follow instructions thatoutline basic principles of survey. The apps created to permit wide scale flexi-bility at application stages turn tablets into adigital prospection tool - one that can be used

in most workflows to perform numerous tasks.The Google Nexus 10, for instance, is pre-packaged with its own suit of tools that aredesigned with spatial information sharing inmind . This is to the point where the photo andvideo interface allows for longitude and lati-tude information to be added to file propertytags. Otherwise separate entities like GoogleEarth, Google + and Photo Sphere are clear-ly interlinked and can be used to augment andshare experiences with anyone around theworld even before the first app is download-ed. Google’s strategy includes the experien-tial side of mapping - it accommodates forwhat Aristotle saw as the five senses of vision,sound, touch, smell and taste. Much like theAutoCAD WS app where plan drawing canbe infused with videos, images or commen-tary, social media like Facebook can feed intofree GIS systems like Google Earth too.Information flows that otherwise seem setapart from one another in analogue work-flows fit seamlessly together through digitalmedia and easy to use devices like the tablet.

Hexagon 2012At the Hexagon 2012 conference tablets andsmartphones were used to explore the socialinteractions of its user community. Appsformed part of the social experience and rein-forced ideas pertaining to non-linear work-flows. Attendees were given the opportunityto build their own event using the Hexagon2012 app while QR coded name tags pro-moted networking opportunities and peer topeer learning (see Geomatics World,July/August 2012 : pp. 26-28). For the samedevices used to do this a photo dehazing appfor iPhone and iPad was introduced too.Derived from Geomedia based technologythis example was described by the Presidentand CEO of Hexagon AB, Ola Rollen, as aproduct born out of specific applications thatis now being used in everyday life.

Free applicationsThe free Android apps selected have beenchosen as examples that feed into differentaspects of documenting a scene digitally.Included are apps designed for connectivityto the Web, surface mapping, 3D imagingworkflows and augmented reality.

ImageMeterImageMeter was designed as an easy to usevector modelling tool by the TechnicalUniversity of Eindhoven based programmerDr Dirk Farin. The app lets users add horizon-tal and vertical values to x and y pixels. Oncea reference plane has been created dimen-

Alan Kay imagined the Dynabook as a cross between a laptop and tablet in 1972

ImageMeter takes the x and y coordinates in a photograph and usesthem for vector modelling

Hotspotting means you can find an internet connection anywhere onthe map


32

sions and angles can then be placed in thescene automatically. Thus making plan draw-ings and scene analysis much easier. Greateraccuracies can be achieved by importing highresolution images into Image Meter.

TopoPLANNERDeveloped by Certainty 3D, TopoPLANNERuses Bing, Yahoo and Google maps to helpusers plan mid-range laser scanning work-flows. Primarily for tripod based scanningunits the Florida based company alsodesigned TopoTRANSMISSION for mobilemapping systems. TopoPLANNER is particu-larly useful for projects carried out in built upurban areas.

The Reader ARThe Reader AR is available for iOS andAndroid. It was developed for the phase shiftlaser scanner manufacturer Zoller andFroehlich by the Italian company G-maps. Anaugmented reality viewer, the app demon-strates the way in which tablet and smart-phone technologies can used an alternativemedia for viewing 3D models. Similar to theUS company Zebra Imaging - who turn pointclouds or meshes into holograms - G-maps isusing augmented reality to give data anadded sense of dimensionality. Something stilloverlooked in workflows where a reduction to2D is required.

MeshlabMeshlab is an open sourced 3D modellingpackage that stemmed from a course assign-ment at the University of Pisa in 2005. Idealfor small 3D imaging data sets and decimat-ed point clouds in terms of larger files, it hasbeen repackaged for iOS and Android sys-tems as a free viewer. The viewer can be usedto support work flows derived from the com-

plete package which is available as a freedownload also.The easy to use app is deceptively versatile -especially in markets currently driven by theInternet of Things and Third IndustrialRevolution. With the desktop versions ofMeshlab supporting export formats for 3Dpdf, rapid prototyping and standard CAD for-mats like .dxf the app can be used as a sim-ple and effective way of showing off pointclouds, as well as flat and meshed surfaces.The interactive light functionality accentuatesthis further.

3D CameraThough current 3D capture apps for Androidand iOS have some way to go to be of valuein professional workflows, ease of use and theubiquitous nature of the product make 3DCamera a useful tool for teaching basic prin-ciples like projective geometry. One of the bet-ter depth camera apps available 3D camerauses stereo pair images to generate the miss-ing z coordinate from standard photos. This zaxis can be turned off or extended in the view-er, which enables users to share resultsthrough Picasa too. Photos can be importedor taken by the device running 3D Camera.The app does, however, require an internetconnection to process results through itsservers.

AutoCAD WS and AndCADBoth these apps can be used to work withCAD files. An extension of its desktop equiva-lent AutoCAD WS enables users to work with2D and 3D files anywhere as well as incor-porate social media functions designed to pro-vide commentary and feedback. AndCAD isa standalone CAD package that retains func-tionality in its demo version at the expense ofnot being able to save data.

Sensor KinecticsSensor Kinectics lets users monitor all sensorsinside an Android device. This includes GPS,accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, dig-ital compass, magnetometer and barometer.With a series of help files it also provides infor-mation that encourages users to perform theirown tests, as well as turn sensors off and on.

HotspottingHotspotting is an app that scans for free wifiall over the world. With a growing communi-ty and database, users are encouraged toshare new finds in order to make Hotspottingself-sustaining.

Photo SphereGoogle’s Photo Sphere falls somewherebetween the idea of an Internet of Things andaugmented reality mapping. In the same wayPTgui can be used to generate 360º panora-mas, Photo Sphere gives users the opportuni-ty to add their own Street View to GoogleEarth and Maps. Google + and Hang Outmembers can geotag these panoramas (thisincludes an external camera workflow forNexus devices). Another advantage of usingNexus running Android 4.2 is the cameraoperating software. It is easy to use and isdesigned to optimise what can be achievedwith the internal camera.

Geo Cam and Theodolite DroidGeo Cam and Theodolite Droid turn Androiddevices into a Theodolite by using the sensorsavailable (see Geoinformatics 7, Vol. 15: pp.32-34). Similar in function and design bothapps can be used as range finders, GNSSloggers and to perform functions like eleva-tion measurement and landscape mapping.Geo Cam can be used in North America andthe NAFTA region, while Theodolite Droid canbe used in Europe and surrounding countries.

ConclusionIt is impossible to separate out the discussionof tablet computers from that of mobile phonetechnologies. The size of the tablet, however,is what separates it out in terms of applicationand use. Based on an ancient format - i.e. thebook - it has stood the test of time because itis the right size for human interaction andengagement. Whilst the tablet itself has goneand will continue to go through a series of iter-ations and changes, its role as a receptacleand communicator of knowledge will not.

For more information, have a look at:www.broadcom.com/products/features/GNSS.php

Article

March 2013

Photo Sphere creates 360° panoramas that can be used in Street View and Google +


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Colu

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Surveyor and trainer Léon van der Poel discusses the price, use and necessity of additional GNSS networks.

Working in the Netherlands as a survey-or means that when I need a GNSScorrection signal, I can choose from a

number of networks. The first network was established around 2002.This was a commercial network, which was soonfollowed by a second commercial national net-work.

Some time later, the Dutch government also estab-lished a national network. So how many RTK net-works do we have nowadays in the Netherlands?This depends on how you count them, becausesome networks have different names for differentusers, whilst using the same base stations. Theagricultural users not only get a different name fortheir network, but sometimes also pay a different(lower) price.

Currently we have around six national GNSS cor-rection signal networks. Most GNSS suppliershave their own network, the government has theirown network and two commercial companies alsohave their own network, so there are plenty tochoose from. In Belgium the government, ratherthan a commercial company, was the first to estab-lish a network. Belgium still only has one network(actually divided into two areas; one for the north-ern part of the country and one for the southernpart). As the government supplies the correctionfree of charge it isn’t of interest from a commer-cial point of view to build another correction net-work.

Additional Networks?Is it likely that we will create additional networksin the Netherlands? In the agricultural business,the use of GNSS is still growing and suppliers ofmachines like to have their own network, andsince there is no free of charge network available,they build their own. However, they realise nowa-days that making a deal with an already existingnetwork can be easier and cheaper.

So yes, the number may still increase, but suppli-ers may also fall by the wayside. I should men-tion at this point that one of the suppliers willcease broadcasting the correction signal nextmonth. According to their website they are stop-ping due to changes in their business objectives.

Last week I was giving training in the Caribbean.The training included many aspects of surveying,including GNSS. It is sensible before starting train-ing such as this to be aware of the current localsituation. So, for example, investigate the networklayout. On arrival at the airport there were lots ofadvertisements for 4g mobile phone coveragearound the island, but when you ask about a net-work for GNSS correction, you find out that thisdoes not exist.

A single base has to do most of the work and, ifthe baseline gets too big, a mobile base must beused. Is the island too small for a network? Theisland is not as big as the Netherlands, but witha distance of almost 70 km to travel from one sideof the island to the other, I think it is too big for asingle base. Around seven base stations wouldgive good coverage all over the island.

So let’s make the governmental correction signalin the Netherlands free of charge, and ship theobsolete networks to areas which do not have anynetwork at all.

Second hand GNSS Network

Ing. Léon van der Poel is director atLEOP, a company which combines

surveying and training of surveyorswww.leop-bv.nl.


34Article

Drakkar is a service industry company providing Israeli companies with extensive international publications on LiDAR as well as traditional geodeticmethods. Drakkar was the first in Israel to start applying on-ground and thenairborne laser scanning in 2004. The company has done a lot to encourage thepopularization of the LiDAR survey technologies and in persuading governmentalagencies and private companies of their applicability. Now Drakkar has developed a mobile lidar mapper of its own for mobile on-ground, marineand airborne applications. The company believes its experience in this field could be of interest for other service- providing companies working in the geoinformatics arena.

By Evgeny Medvedev,

Valery Gutman and

Michael Weitsman

Home-made LiDAR Mapping

The current technological situation in the geoinformatics mar-ket makes it possible even for small, but pro-active compa-nies (like Drakkar) to start designing and then producingtheir own mobile LiDAR device. This article details Drakkar’sexperience as it developed its own system, which can be

used as an on-ground mobile, as an aerial survey or a combinedtool.

Case studyThere are a number of reasons that would cause a geodesy compa-ny to start developing their own laser scanner, rather than buyingan ‘off-the-peg’ one from one of the known producers:

• Economical factor. In some cases, it is significantly cheaper togo down this route rather than investing in a universal mobilescanner. This is even more the case if the company already pos-sesses one or, at least, a few of the components which could besuitable for a new device. For example, in Drakkar’s case itlooked like a good idea to use its “classical” static laser scannerRIEGL LMS Z420i, which has been in use for many years anddemonstrated perfect functionality. After limited additionalimprovements were carried out and implemented at the manufac-turer’s factory (relatively inexpensive), this type of device can besuccessfully integrated with INS Novatel SPAN. This had actuallyworked perfectly well in the past.

• Adaption for the companies’ needs. While designing andproducing a mobile LiDAR from scratch a company always hasthe opportunity to adapt it for the specific needs of their compa-ny. Very often, “universal” (design from Optech or Leica for exam-ple) systems in similar conditions would be much less efficient.Grouping, dimensions, weight and power consumption charac-teristics are all aspects which should be taken into account.

T he M i dd l e E a s t e xpe r i e n c e

March 2013

Fig. 1. Functional scheme of Drakkar’s mobile lidar scanner PolyScan

Fig. 2. Typical PolyScan grouping in on-ground configuration


35


Peculiarities of the system control, powering and a number ofother aspects can often be very significant to one extent or anoth-er in specialist areas, such as power engineering, mine survey,road construction etc. In all of these cases it is important to choosea platform properly and to combine the LiDAR with anotherremote sensing source (including developing specialized meth-ods and software for different kinds of data fusing and mutualcalibration).

It is obvious today that creating a mobile scanner in such “domes-tic” conditions is wide spread and a well defined phenomenon.Many servicing companies are doing this with great success. A goodexample of this are Riegl’s scanners, which are often used in combi-nation with INS. It is Drakkar’s positive experience of this that willbe of interest to the topography and engineering community. Carrying out projects for automobile, rail road agencies, and powerengineering companies, which are all work environments wheregeospatial accuracy is of great importance, is a major part ofDrakkar’s activity. We believe that for all these tasks, Riegl productsare world leaders and this was yet another argument for using themin the Drakkar mobile mapper.

The criteria detailed below explain how Drakkar prioritized the activ-ity, whilst creating a mobile mapper:• We set out to create a universal device which, without any com-

plicated modification of its configuration, could be used as static,mobile (on-ground, marine) and airborne.

• We wanted to guarantee dimension, weight and power con-sumption values, which would make it possible to mount the sys-tem on light and super light flying platforms. In addition, the totalweight of the devise should not exceed 20 kg and the durationof uninterrupted operation should be at least 6 hours; being pow-ered from a standard car battery.

• We needed to achieve maximum usability for fulfilling specific topo-graphical and civil engineering tasks. These tasks are the main areasof the company’s activity, as mentioned above. The “maximumusability” here is understood as the option to choose appropriatemodes of scanning, scanner block position and attitude, combiningstatic and mobile methods of survey, applying photogrammetricaland direct (by means of GNSS/IMU) methods of geopositioning ortheir combination (depending on survey object type).

• Finally, Drakkar regards its device as a prototype for further devel-opment of technologies of geospatial data acquisition and pro-cessing for various topographical applications. In particular,Drakkar’s next possible move will be to create a portable mobilelaser scanner (weighing about 5 kg), which will be used for minesurveying requirements without any need for GNSS.

Functional scheme and main technical parametersThe system is made by a classical functional scheme as shown in Fig. 1.As mentioned above, the core of the system is the Riegl laser scannerLMS Z-420i. It is specially equipped with a module which allows thesynchronization of each scanner measurement (oblique range andcorresponding angular parameters of horizontal and vertical scan-ning - φ and θ) with GPS time. PolyScan INS SPAN-SE works as a direct geopositioning module, pro-viding and generating an output of all six values of the complete nav-igation solution, which is needed for the ultimate geopositioning ofthe scanner data. Additionally, the digital camera is included into the standard PolyScanset. It acquires digital photos along with the full set of the externalorientation parameters for each photo. The camera VA-29M fromVieworks Co., Ltd with a 6576 × 4384 pixel matrix was selected foruse with the LiDAR. The chosen camera is fully metrical and, withoutany qualifications, can be used in photogrammetrical and LiDAR-grammetrical applications. The camera has a central electronic shut-ter and the aforementioned system for triggering signal registration. Itis also provided with high-aperture lenses and has a wide dynamicrange and high sensibility.An IR-scanner can also be added to the PolyScan standard set. It isused mainly in power engineering applications.PolyScan basic technical parameters are shown in Table 1. Theparameters are given for the aerial survey configurations of PolyScan.

Pulse repetition rate 24 kHz Productivity 11 kHz (oscillating mode )

8 kHz (rotating mode)Range finder accuracy Better than 5 cm (at flight altitude less than 300 m)

Better than 10 cm (at flight altitude less than 1000 m)Better than 20 cm (at flight altitude less than 2000 m)

Planimetric (X,Y) accuracy 1/5000 * H, where H is a flight elevationReply registration mode First, LastField of view 80 ° across the flight direction Power consumption 350 WtWeight 19 kg

Fig. 3. Variants of scanner block mounting

Table 1. Basic technical characteristics of PolyScan


36Article

The general grouping of PolyScan is anon-ground configuration, as shown inFig. 2. All necessary equipment ismounted on a special platform, whichis designed to be easily put on the roofof any car, truck, rail road coach orany other moving vehicle. Another plat-form is used for airborne applications.As well as considering the use of twoantennas, the PolyScan designers fore-saw possible reception problems withboth GPS and GLONASS signals,which significantly increased the prob-ability of getting acceptable resultswhilst working in urban conditions withmany radio obstacles. Generally, while working in urban con-ditions where GNSS signal is usually weak, the designers undertooka number of additional measurements to guarantee normal opera-tion:• Free location of the GPS/GLONASS

antennas on the platform (sometimeswith special brackets) is necessaryin order to avoid any extra shield-ing while receiving a satellite signal.Extra shielding can be caused bythe scanner and car bodies.

• Usage of proven and very sensitiveTrimble antennas with maximumaperture.

The scanner has a 360° field of viewfor planer (horizontal) scanning and±40° field of view for vertical scanning.Quick scanning (by prism oscillation orrotation) is available only for verticalangles. At the same time the horizontalscanning is implemented relativelyslowly and is due to the scanner’s headown rotation. Therefore, the uses for horizontal scanning in PolyScanis limited and applied only for certain special cases. Taking thispeculiarity into consideration, from a practical point of view, it isvery important to have the option to set the scanner’s head to anarbitrary position, depending on the desired survey mode (type ofobject of survey). The approach adopt-ed by Drakkar was as follows:• Possibility of a front-face tilt of the

scanner head within ±90° rangewith a 5° step.

• A similar approach was developedby the PolyScan designers to ensurethe option for the plan rotation of thescanner head (Fig. 3) was available.The special precisely positionedholes (corresponding to plan tiltangles with 30° and 45° steps) weremade on the scanner support byRiegl. This makes it possible to imple-ment the plan rotation without anyproblems and the accuracy of fixingis ensured at the same level of 0.05°.

The ability to realize a front-side tiltand plan rotation is very important forpractical reasons. As a result,PolyScan can cover the whole upperhemisphere and a major part of thelower hemisphere. This can be done infield conditions and without any sig-nificant time delays, which is of greatimportance since it increases the sys-tem’s effectiveness. This option, i.e.wide full angle of coverage, is espe-cially useful when making repeatedsurvey s of the same object. The questions pertaining to the GNSS(GPS/GLONASS) receiver mode havea special significance, since the cor-rect choice of mode directly influences

the final output accuracy. It is important to note that we should dis-criminate between Real Time Kinematic (RTK) and stand-alone mode. The consideration of choosing a proper PolyScan mode as present-

ed below is done under a narrow setof circumstances. It’s limited by suchfactors as choosing the scanner headposition with regards to the goals ofthe project to be accomplished. Whilesuch an approach is accepted, we cansay that from a pure mathematicalpoint of view, the PolyScan workingmode is fully defined by such parame-ters as scanning prism frequency andits behavior (rotating or oscillating) rel-ative to the vector of carrier motion.

The mode of static survey shown below(Fig. 4) includes a car carrier in a staticposition. The carrier remains in placewhilst acquiring lidar and photographydata. This kind of survey can be done

only in start-stop mode and is, therefore, not very productive. However,this mode can be of assistance in cases when maximum accuracy isdemanded. The External Orientation Parameters (EOP) can be definedeither automatically (by Novatel SPAN output) or photogrammetricallyby the 4 special marks located on the 4 corners of the roof of the car.

While making a real mobile survey (thescanning is being implemented whenthe platform moves) the scanner head ispositioned towards one of the positions(relative to the vector of drive) shownbelow.When the classical scheme is in use (Fig.5), the scanner head is placed vertical-ly and scanning is implemented on thevertical surface. The scanner head ismoving clockwise, anticlockwise or itcan be at any fixed angle φ position(profiler mode) or it can periodicallymove within a certain range of φMIN –φMAX . Each of these modes can be setby an operator. The variation φ mode

March 2013

Fig. 4. Static survey mode

Fig. 5 Classical (vertical) scanner head mounting

Fig. 6. Horizontal scanner head mounting


37


is very useful in an urban environment, because it allows the minimiza-tion of the “dead zones” and consequently reduces the amount of pass-es along the same route. Horizontal scanner head mounting (Fig. 6) is used mainly for the sur-veying of automobile routes and railroads. Scanning is done “fromabove” with a small vertical angle. Due to a very short range (usuallyno more than 10 m) maximum accuracy (first mm) and resolution canbe achieved. An example is shown in Fig. 7, where PolyScan has beenused for the Israeli Rail Road service. The project included a precisesurvey of rails and all other essential components.Also, the combined mounting scheme is possible (Fig. 8), which, in asense, combines the advantages of both the previous schemes. Such ascheme combines both the possibility of dense (detailed) survey “fromabove”, whilst receiving the full coverage in the left (right) hemisphere.Using this sort of mode the detailed survey is carried out with short andultra short laser ranges for achieving maximum accuracy and density.

Software and methodological supportThe designers have done their best to get a full-scale survey device,which is fully equipped with all the necessary tools for mission plan-ning and result analysis, convenient user interface, metrological sup-port and various tools for the resulting data control. In order to ensure that the system would be the ultimate device fortopography and geodesy data collection, the following measureswere taken:

• The entire complex control was conducted through a single per-sonal computer. Its calculation capacity is sufficient for control-ling all three basic components: - laser scanner Riegl LMS Z-420I,INS SPAN and digital camera.

• Laser scanner control was managed by means of RiEGL’s stan-dard program RiSCAN PRO. The Novatel CDU program wasused for INS SPAN control. Special software for the digital cam-era control was also used. It will be discussed below.

• The special software ensured that the synchronization processbetween the INS and the laser scanner could take place. The syn-chronization was maintained by the precise PPS pulse generatedby INS every second.

At the laboratory processing stage joint processing of GNSS andIMU data was implemented. The Waypoint Inertial Explorer programwas mainly used for that purpose. Riegl’s RiWORLD program wasused for laser point cloud generation. The final data was presentedin an arbitrary geodetic coordinate system.

In addition Drakkar has created some software of its own. This soft-ware was used at the laboratory processing stage and has the fol-lowing functions:• To ensure the exact determination of the off-set parameters (param-

eters of mutual position and orientation) inside the Scanner– IMU–GNSS antennas. To provide such accuracy the special procedureand software are made within Drakkar ltd.

• Additionally, special software for measurements of camera off-setparameters was developed. This gave the full set of mutual param-eters of position and orientation in the IMU-Camera system andalso that of the camera calibration parameters (principal point,focal length, and distortion).

• Drakkar ltd. has also developed a number of utilitarian softwareproducts, which facilitate survey making and post processing.The following products also deserve a mention: photo framepackage processing routine, matching pictures and their EOP’s(acquired by SPAN CPT) making photo transformation (project-ing into DTM surface) and data segmentation (classification) pro-grams. Preparation for the further stages of processing was donewith packages such as AutoCAD, Micro Station, TerraScanandSocket SET, amongst others.

ResultsAt the initial stage of its life cycle (first half of 2012), the PolyScanequipment was used mainly for topography and geodesy projectsfor a number of Israeli companies and governmental agencies. The preliminary conclusions derived from these projects and theexperimental exploitation of Polyscan were as follows: • Its high effectiveness in the use of multistoried urban area survey-

ing (Fig. 9) was confirmed.

Fig. 7. Example of horizontal scanner head mounting in the project for the Israeli Rail Road service

Fig. 8. Combined scanner head mounting

Fig. 9 City interior survey in Modiin


38

• Really good results were achieved for inside yard territories wherea large number of obstacles to GNSS signaling existed (for exam-ple, a great number of densely located buildings, a lot of vegeta-tion, etc.). In Fig. 10-A, we can see a survey configuration (tra-jectory) of a yard. In this case backward movement was alsoused. In Fig. 10-B, the same object is depicted on a larger scale.In spite of a great number of overlapping passes, the final match-ing of all the passes was done with an accuracy of no worse than3 cm (for all three coordinates without ground control points).

• Survey of autobahns and transmission power lines of 220 kV volt-age and higher, can be carried out at a speed of up to 50 kmper hour (Fig.11).

• While conducting rail road surveying (Fig. 12-A), the geoposi-tional accuracy of 3 cm was achieved for both rails and sleep-ers. Another significant result was obtaining very detailed datawhich provided automated recognition and geopositioning ofeach rail and sleeper as well as all other substantial elements ofthe road’s infrastructure.

PerspectivesDrakkar is going to proceed with the development of its mobile scan-ning technologies in the following directions:• Widening commercial range of mobile LiDAR scanning technolo-

gy applications. Drakkar is going to use the system in such areasas coastal line surveying (along with lidar bathymetric survey),forest inventory, archeology, cultural heritage and so on.

• More active use in aerial survey applications, in particularinstalling the system on light and ultra light flying apparatuses.

When discussing the development of mobile scanning technologiesthe following guidelines should be taken into consideration:

• There will be further improvement of Drakkar’s software andmethodology for surveying data processing and new informaticscharacteristic extraction. For example: the detection of super lightterrain and engineering communication deformations and objectrecognition under dense tree foliage.

• Special attention to be paid to perspective works related to jointprocessing of LiDAR data and photo imagery. Beside traditionalapplications, Drakkar will carry out investigations on making sub-pixel resolution imagery by means of photo sets with ultra highoverlap and an automated tie point detection and making phototriangulation.

• There are plans to make a portable laser scanning device whichwill be based on the experience and results gained duringPolyScan designing and building. Such a portable device can beapplied in a number of applications, including traffic accidentspot inspection, and mine surveying without GPS.

• In power engineering Drakkar is planning to present a newresearch proposal within the next few months. The research pro-posal, will be based on PolyScan and include an IR-scanner (ther-movision system). Such a complex system will make it possible tomeasure and survey all the important power line parameters atonce – sags, clearances, and wire thermodynamic temperature.

Article

March 2013

Fig. 10 Inside yard survey in Ramat Gan

Fig. 11. Autobahn #2 near Netanya and a bridge and adjacent power line


39

ConclusionThe creation of the mobile lidar scanning system, PolyScan was aresult of from the hard work of Drakkar’s engineers. During this pro-ject they proved their extreme professionalism and devotion to inno-vation. Today, the system is in operational use. Construction of thePolyScan initiated a number of Drakkar’s own developments, includ-ing software and the procedures of metrological support. Drakkar’sexperience demonstrates a number of essential advantages in build-ing its own mobile scanners in comparison to buying a ready-madeone. The main advantages are significant financial savings and theoption to adjust the device for solving particular tasks which are spe-cific to small, specialist companies. In addition this sort of projectprovides a challenge and intellectual stimulus for the staff.

Dr. Evgeny Medvedev, Research and Development Manager. Valery Gutman, General Manager. Michael Weitsman, Chief Photogrammetrist.

For more information, go to www.drakkar.co.il

Fig. 12 Inside yard survey in Ramat Gan


40Article

A new software tool from Maptek, Eureka allows almost unlimited control overexploration data, enabling large, feature-rich datasets to be explored in a single3D environment.By Andrew Myers

Controlling Seismic Data in 3D

We live in a visually richworld. Most of what weknow comes through oureyes. There is a stronglink between seeing and

understanding. What do you say when youunderstand something, even abstract con-cepts? “I see!”, “I understand!” Internally wevisualise, try to work things out. We are curi-ous about how things fit together. We like tofind patterns.

If you are using software to process geospa-tial data you need to present it wherever pos-sible in a visual way. The computer and thesoftware will not solve all your problems ormake sense of all that data for you. Our see-ing, interpreting and intuiting features of thedata is more powerful than a camera. Youwant the software to assist your curiosity. Ourbrains are processing all the time, even whenwe are not aware of it. A computer can takea picture but has difficulty making sense ofwhat it sees. That’s where you come in.

Consider Figure 1. On face value it is just aseries of black blobs. It emphasises how muchsense we can make of the world and howhard it is to expect a computer to understand- pattern recognition is inherently intuitive. Thepoint is that the software tool can’t solve the

puzzle for you. What it can do is present theinformation in the best way for you to under-stand it yourself.

A lot of data starts out as a text file withcolumns of numbers. For example, consider asurvey of sub-surface conductivity, in effectmeasuring salt content, in Figure 2. Each lineis a single measurement in space. You can seesome coordinate data, but it is not alwaysobvious what it is. How can you look at dif-ferent data types at the same time and gain asense of what’s going on? The key is goodsoftware.

Maptek EurekaEureka was developed to solve one particularpuzzle. Several years ago an Australiangeothermal exploration company was interest-ed in re-evaluating seismic surveys. The com-pany had 2D sections which could be viewedindividually, but the geologists really wantedto see where those sections were placed in 3Dspace. A prototype was quickly developedbased on existing Maptek I-Site software.Seeing the seismic sections in 3D highlightedall the detail in the strata, faults, and non-con-formities – all the things that excite geologists. Viewing seismic data in 3D was just the start.Other large datasets with millions of points,such as airborne magnetic and radiometric sur-

veys, and the space shuttle topography datasetand imagery, also came into the picture.Eureka is now an integrated platform for view-ing and analysing all exploration project data.Collaborating with industry gave Eureka apractical headstart, and exploration prioritiescontinue to drive development.

Eureka can load massive datasets consistingof tens of millions of points. For preliminaryexploration you might want to look at data ata wider spacing. You can then zoom in to anal-yse specific target areas, and tilt, rotate andpan to see the geological features emerge.Moving between different scales is seamless;the big picture and the fine detail are equallyaccessible.

3DEven to untrained eyes, the data forms pat-terns. But show it to someone who understandsthe geology of the region and immediatelydeeper connections become ap parent.“There’s this feature”, “There’s where we are”,“What’s that over there?”, “That looks interest-ing”. In the same way that we see the dalma-tian, the geologist can identify the structures inthese pictures.Looking at all these survey sections in relation-

ship to one another, puts the features in the cor-rect context. Tools that make the most of 3D

V i s ua l i s a t i o n and C on t ex t

March 2013

Figure 1: Because we know about the world, about dogs, we know that some dogs are white with black spots and are called

dalmatians.

Figure 2: Survey sub-surface conductivity conducted by GeoscienceAustralia in 2010.

Figure 3: Viewing the drillholes in context allows exploration teamsto see the trend of the high grade ore and reveal the extent of the

deposit.


41


visualisation are essential in any geologicalmodelling software. Core samples from explo-ration drilling are logged to show the divisionsbetween different rock types in each drillhole.These are differentiated by colour in Eureka,which displays the drillhole along with tablesof all other related data, including ore grades.But one hole is not enough - we need to seethe other holes in context to see the trend ofthe high grade ore. Viewing all the holesreveals the extent of the deposit.

Loading the magnetic data gives you furtherconfirmation of the prospectivity of an area,when the magnetic responses match the drill-hole data. Loading the gravity survey addsmore dimensions to the picture. Eureka datapoints can have multiple attributes so we canfilter, colour and model any of these attributesto highlight subtleties in the data.

Eureka can import topographic information,such as space shuttle radar topography andcolour it by height to reveal trends. Overlaythat with the photographic image to show therelationship between the topographic and sur-face features. Eureka features smart line toolsto digitise along horizons of interest to aid inter-pretation. Eureka solved the issue of convert-ing seismic time readings into depth to allowseismic data to be used alongside drillholeinformation. The velocity editor tool shows avisualisation of the time surface in the seismicview, which is combined with a depth surfacefrom the drill data to create the velocity model.Interpreted data can be used to create detailedstructural models. The current Eureka release

handles high resolution imagery, seismic, grav-ity, magnetic and other geophysical surveydata which can be displayed in the samespace as drillhole data. It includes interactivedisplay and editing tools for drawing, georef-erencing of imagery, drillhole editing and sur-face modelling.

For more information, have a look at: www.maptek.com/eureka

Figure 4: Because seismic data is in time, the features do not matchthe drillhole which indicates features at the right depth. At the end ofthe Eureka depth conversion process, the detailed seismic interpreta-

tion is visualised at the correct depth.

Figure 5: Displaying and analysing seismic, gravity, drillhole andother geospatial information together provides a better understandingof the complex geological relationships and leads to smart decisions

about an exploration project.


42In

terv

iew

Todd Schuble, author of the self-published book ‘Careers in GIS’, explains hismotivation for writing and publishing the book. Find out why GIS programmingskills are indispensable for a GIS graduate, as well as a passion for GIS, andhow the GIS market forces employees to expect the unexpected for the future,which can be both scary and exciting. By Eric van Rees

Thoughts on ‘Careers in GIS’

Todd Schuble is currently GISManager for the University of Chi -cago’s Division of Social Scien ces,Social Sciences Com puting Divi -sion. Last year, he self-published a

book under the title ‘Careers in GIS: AnUnfiltered Guide to Finding a GIS Job’. Inthis book, he offers job search strategies forrecently graduated GIS students looking fortheir first job and explains which skills youneed in the current GIS working environ-ment. Particularly of interest are his obser-vations on the GIS market itself, which hasundergone a lot of change in the last fewdecades and is frequently changing, some-times from day-to-day. His information isbased on his own experiences with job-hunt-ing students and work experience in theindustry.

Searching in the wrong wayThe idea of writing the book came whenSchuble noticed how people were search-ing in the ‘wrong way’ for GIS jobs; i.e. theywere taking a passive rather than an active

approach. Schuble: “students, but also col-leagues who were out of work because ofthe recession, kept using the same strategyover and over again: they’d make a resumeand put in on the internet or do a search forjob postings. But that’s a very passive wayof looking for a job; you need to be moreactive. And that’s really what the book isabout: it’s really about taking an active rolein trying to find a job.” Rather than just sit-ting and hoping for the best, Schubleencourages people to make effective use ofthe web and social media to stand out fromthe masses. He suggests promoting oneselfand one’s work, for example, by posting avideo presentation on YouTube or by takingan active role in discussions on popular webforums.

Working experienceThe book is focused on finding one’s first jobin GIS, rather than ‘the next job in GIS’. Thereason for this is that finding that first job inGIS is hard, since most jobs require somesort of experience; the proverbial chicken

and egg situation. Schuble: “if you have noexperience, no one wants to hire you. Onceyou get that first job, you can get the sec-ond, third or fourth job because now youhave some experience, but for your first jobyou have probably very little backgroundexcept your education”. Schuble suggestsfinding an internship may help some peopleon their way, but the trouble with that is thatinternships are very few and far betweenand they pay badly, if at all.

Programming skillsSchuble distinguishes between a variety ofdifferent GIS jobs on offer, and talks aboutthe backgrounds that are required to suitthat type of job. He stresses the necessity ofcomputer programming skills for GIS jobs inthis day and age. Does this mean that GISstudents and IT students are competing forthe same jobs? Schuble responds that thisall depends on the job: “in some cases,employees may be offering a position thatmay need someone with more of a develop-er-type background, and some others that

March 2013

Today’s GIS Education and Tomorrow’s GIS Jobs

Todd Schuble


43


need more of a GIS background and theremay be some jobs that need a combinationof both. There may not be competition fromdevelopers, but you do need some comput-er programming skills if you’re looking fora GIS job in the current market. In order tocreate a GIS product, you need to know theprinciples of GIS, geography and spatialanalysis. You can get someone else to engineer that, but it may not be very user-friendly.”There has been a good deal of interest fromIT people in general just because they’relooking for jobs, says Schuble. But there’s alearning curve to GIS, and it does take asignificant amount of effort and time tobecome a GIS professional: “you could bea GIS user, but there’s a difference betweena GIS user and being a GIS professional.You do need to clarify what level of use youneed to get out of GIS, because I knowmany users who just, say, need a map, butthere are others who need to get a lot moreout of GIS, such as regressive analysis, dataarchiving or data mining on a much largerlevel. They need more education and expe-rience in order to reach the sort of levels thatare required in order to achieve thosegoals.”But there’s a little more to it than that, saysSchuble: “I entitled one of the chapters inthe book ‘Passion of the GIS’. I think in orderto get a job in the current job market youneed to have a passion for what you do. Isee a lot of students and people who havelost their jobs in the past few years and arelooking for new jobs. If you ask them ‘doyou really love GIS?’ Often the answer is‘well, it’s ok’. Well, you really can’t say that,especially when you have a room full of peo-ple who are all competing for this job; Ineed you to love it.”

Open Source GIS Open source and proprietary source arethemes that are discussed in detail in thebook, including the benefits and drawbacksof both – without being biased. Now thatopen source has gained a worldwide popu-larity close to that of proprietary software, Iasked Schuble what job searchers canexpect in their education as well as the jobmarket when it comes to the use of opensource. Schuble: “in a corporate environment, opensource software is very rarely used. The rea-son for this is that if there’s a problem withthe software, you’re on your own and it’snot necessarily someone else’s problem.That’s why they prefer a manufacturer they

can refer to rather than using open sourcesoftware. In the public sector, such as a city,country or provincial government, peoplewill usually use proprietary software, butthey’ve been looking into open source soft-ware, because they realize it can save themmoney.”At the University of Chicago campus,Schuble includes open source software aspart of the curriculum, but there are manyother universities that don’t. That has to dowith a lack of familiarity with the software,says Schuble: “if professors are not veryfamiliar with it, they won’t feel comfortablewith it, so they’re less likely to teach it totheir students. I use both and I do that onlyto be as versatile as possible. I encouragemy students to do this as well. You reallyneed to become a GIS chameleon and beable to adapt to different situations veryquickly, otherwise you may get left behind.” The choice for working with proprietary oropen source software is, in the end, a per-sonal preference, says Schuble: “I know ofquite a few GIS professionals out there whoI look up to and see things that they createdwith open source. They would not beallowed to create something like that in aproprietary environment, so if they want todo it they go ahead and do it on their own.At the same time there may be those whoreally love proprietary software and usethat. With regards to money, I have seenpeople happy making no money at all andother people who are driven by money. Italso depends on the incentives as to whogets the best software developers”.

Customizing existing softwareIn the book, Schuble discusses the advan-tages of GIS programming in detail. WebGIS, mobile applications and customizingexisting software are areas where GIS pro-gramming comes in. Web GIS and mobileapplications are well-known examples, butthe customization of existing software lessso. And why is this so important? Schubleexplains that is has everything to do withbeing flexible, cost-effective and well-pre-pared for the future: “Once data userschoose a platform to go with, they sort ofhave to stick with it, because it’s becomingtoo expensive for them to keep convertingtheir data, as they used to in days gone by.Allowing for the customization of their plat-form is extremely powerful and extremelynecessary in a lot of cases, because howyou use your data now may be very differ-ent than how you use your data five yearsfrom now.”Schuble reminds his students daily that whatis taught in class will be different than whatthey’ll need to know in a few years fromnow. This is both scary and exciting, sincethe industry is always changing. Schuble:“I’ve been hearing for years now that desk-top computing is dead and I qualify that andsay that to my students and tell them thatdesktop is not going to die in a researchenvironment. The only reason for this is thatin a research environment people like toown their data and like to have control overthe analysis, so they need to be in their ownlittle analytics world more or less or with thecomputer. Making development availablefor more mobile users is definitely what thefuture is all about. It’s really going in thatdirection, so that there will be less use ofdesktop computers than now.”

Updating the book The author is planning to write a second ver-sion of the book with more pages and top-ics. Schuble:”the main reason why I self-pub-lished the book in first place, is because alot of the information is very time-sensitive.So I’m planning on possibly writing a sec-ond edition where I will change the existingchapters a little bit, update the informationand possibly add new information sometimethis year; only because there are things thatpeople need to be up-to-date on in order tobe competitive in the GIS job market.”

Todd Schuble, [email protected]: www.careersingis.com

Twitter: @CareersInGIS

‘Careers in GIS’ book cover


44Co

lumn

EUROCONTROL and European companies participate in international testbedactivities to help develop a platform of open international standards fornext generation aviation information systems.

The global aviation community is quickly movingforward on the adoption of an internationalframework of standards that enable communica-

tion in a net-centric, global interoperable Air TransportSystem (ATS). Because location information is criticalin virtually all aviation activities, location interface andencoding standards from ISO Technical Committee211 (ISO/TC 211) and the Open GeospatialConsortium (OGC), an international consensus stan-dards organization, play an important role in the ATSstandards framework.

Working with other agency sponsors and with privatesector aviation industry leaders, EUROCONTROL andother organizations such as the US Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) are now far along in the devel-opment and adoption of the Aeronautical InformationExchange Model (AIXM 5). An international standard,AIXM 5 is a model and encoding standard designedto enable the management and distribution of digitalAeronautical Information Services (AIS) data. AIXMtakes advantage of existing and emerging informa-tion engineering standards to meet aeronautical infor-mation system requirements, particularly those relatedto the spatio-temporal nature of aeronautical informa-tion.

AIXM 5 is encoded using OGC GML (GeographyMarkup Language), a standard developed and main-tained by the OGC membership. GML is also an ISOstandard. AIXM 5’s GML foundation enables align-ment with other international standards for expressinglocation information and facilitates adoption by tech-nology providers that already support GML.

In support of aviation meteorology (MET) domainrequirements, the Weather Information ExchangeModel (WXXM) is being developed as a standard forthe exchange of weather information. WXXM is alsoencoded using GML and the OGC/ISO Observationand Measurement Model (O&M) Encoding Standard.WXXM development is harmonized and coordinatedwith the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) and the World Meteorological Organization(WMO), the organizations traditionally responsiblefor standards in aviation and weather.

OGC Interoperability ProgramThe OGC has been assisting the aviation communityin the evaluation, advancement and adoption of AIXMand WXXM by leading a series of rapid prototypingtestbeds and pilot projects focused on these standards.These OGC initiatives, managed under the OGC

Interoperability Program, help advance, align and pro-file existing OGC standards as well as defining newstandards that meet the needs of aviation data pro-ducers, users and managers. Sponsors of OGCInteroperability Program initiatives provide require-ments, use/business cases and funding for these ini-tiatives. Technology development is performed byteams of technology providers.

OGC testbeds typically involve multiple technology“threads.” With sponsorship from FAA and EUROCON-TROL, the first Aviation thread was introduced in theOGC Web Services Phase 6 testbed activity (OWS-6) (2009). Work continued and progressed in OWS-7 (2010), OWS-8 (2011) and OWS-9 (2012). Thiswork has led to a closer alignment of OGC standardsto the needs of the Aviation community and resultedin significant contributions to AIXM and WXXM.

As a result of the rapid prototyping activities, FAA andEUROCONTROL are gaining a better understanding ofhow to leverage OGC Web Services standards in nextgeneration air traffic management systems to supportEuropean and US aviation modernization programs.Best practice recommendations coming out of thetestbed initiatives are already driving these agencies’acquisitions for data and platform interoperability.

The outcomes of OWS initiatives include EngineeringReports detailing the technical achievements and finaldemonstrations based on realistic scenarios. Seewww.opengeospatial.org/projects/initiatives/ows-9.

Calls for sponsorship and participationThe OGC recently issued a call for sponsors for the10th OGC Web Services Testbed (OWS-10). OWS-10 will build on the outcomes of prior OGC initiative,particularly the 2012 OWS-9 Testbed, which pro-duced advances in Aeronautical Information Servicesand in areas such as Cross-Community Interoperability(CCI), Security and Services Interoperability (SSI), andimproved interoperability for mobile device applica-tions.

OWS-10 will also explore new areas, such as:Decision Fusion (including Augmented Reality, ModelInteroperability, Provenance in Workflows, and LinkedData); Sensor Web Enablement (including Internet ofThings concepts); and Mobile Solutions, Points ofInterest, Semantic Mediation and Intelligence. OWS-10 scenarios will explore technical solutions that willbe useful in addressing critical issues such as locationprivacy, data access policies and pricing.

Open Geospatial Standards for Aviation

Nadine Alameh, Ph.D., ExecutiveDirector, Interoperability Program Open

Geospatial Consortium (OGC), [email protected]/contact

March 2013


45


The Toughbooks from Panasonic are well known to engineers all over the world.In November they introduced their first Toughpad; the FZ-A1 with the Android4.0 operating system. Now the range has expanded with the introduction oftwo more Toughpads which were presented to the European press in Munich. By Job van Haaften

Rugged and MobileA

number of the characteristics typi-cal of the Toughbooks also applyto the Toughpads. They canstand heat up to sixty degreescentigrade and cold down to

minus twenty degrees centigrade. They arewaterproof, shockproof, resistant to dust andwater, lightweight and with a battery that lastslong enough for a full work day without theneed for any cables or other connections. As well as excellent screen brightness, thescreen is easily visible due to the lack of reflec-tion: very handy when working outside, wherethe harsh sunlight can cause annoying reflec-tion on other types of screens.

The Toughpads are meant for anyone workingunder extreme circumstances. You can leavea Toughpad in the car without worrying aboutwhether the bright sunlight is heating up yourcar (and everything in it) or whether it is free-zing all night. No other tablet will survivethese extreme circumstances according toPanasonic. For anyone who works outdoorsin the field and has to collect data or consultdata for work a Toughpad is a great solution.In a dust covered factory-building, in ship-buil-ding at a dock, for cabling outdoors or in buil-ding construction a Toughpad can offer greatsolution.

Tablet FZ-G1”The Toughpad FZ-G1 has a 10.1” screenand is the first rugged tablet which functionswith Windows 8 as its operating system wit-hout the need of an external connection”,according to Jan Kaempfer from Panasonic.During the development of the tablet there wasclose cooperation with Microsoft and Intel. Itis a high resolution tablet (with a PPI of224),the reflection is reduced to four percent andthe brightness is increased to 800 cd/m2.“The competition does not achieve any better

than a reflection of 5.3% and a brightness of261 cd/m2”, tells Jan Kaempfer. The edgesof the tablet stick out and the corners are enfor-ced so the tablet won’t fall on the screen butalmost always on its corners; really rugged.For the cast they used plastics and magnesi-um so the tablet will survive a fall from about120 cm height and still work. All together thisallows it to be used reliably in almost any situ-ation.The software in the tablet can digitalize handwritten text that has been written with a batte-ry-free digitiser pen. The tablet’s battery takesup about half of the reverse side and lasts afull working day. With built-in battery savingtechnology, such as its ambient light sensor,the Toughpad FZ-G1 can operate for 8.0hours on its standard 6-cell battery and withan optional 9-cell battery can run for 16hours. Batteries can also be switched in thefield to ensure the device is operational aslong as the user requires it. On the whole itoffers businesses better value than traditionaltablets.The ports of the tablet are covered with aprotection for dust and fluid. Apart from rug-gedness, the tablet offers full functionality wit-hout the requirement for an external memoryor other connections. It has a stand aloneGPS that operates swiftly and does not needany connection with other equipment. Theaccuracy of the GPS is up to a meter, whichis very important for several GIS applica-tions. There are two additional options; oneis that it is possible to connect to an externalantenna, for instance, for use with the GPSinside your car and the other is a 3MP came-ra on the reverse side of the Toughpad . Youcan easily replace the battery without uns-crewing it by opening some combinedlatches. There is a larger battery availablethat lasts up to 17 hours and protrudes byabout 20 mm. A smartcard reader is option-

al. This sticks out a bit but is also resistant todust and water.

Little brother JF-B1The JF-B1 is the little brother version with a 7”screen. This is very handy because it fits inone hand leaving your other hand free to ope-rate it and it fits in your pocket. It is as ruggedas its big brother, but a lot lighter in weightand has a brightness of 500 cd/m2. It hasthree programmable buttons for quick accessto specific frequently used software.

Network securityAccording to Goran Mataic from Microsoft,Windows 8 operates without compromise onthe Toughpad FZ-G1 and with full functiona -lity thanks to the cooperation betweenPanasonic and Microsoft during the develop-ment. It is safe to connect to secure networks,including at a distance and it can connect witha smartphone. The system has been develo-ped with specific security features which willdisable unauthorized persons if they attemptto connect to the network. Explorer 10 offersmore protection for malice and malware andfor surfing the internet it has advanced antimalware software.

For more information, have a look at: www.panasonic.comand www.toughbook.eu.

Tab l e t s i n t r o du c ed c a l l e d Toughpad s

The toughpads FZ-G1 and JT-B1.

Article


Interview with the confirmed CLGE President(seasoned?), Jean-Yves Pirlot.

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At the general assembly in Hannover October 2012, Jean-Yves Pirlot was chosen once again to lead CLGE, the European geodetic surveyors’ organisation.This will be his second term. Prior to taking over this most senior position, hewas Secretary General of CLGE for two terms, which means that he is veryknowledgeable about the European surveying situation. At 50 years old, he isthe same age as the organisation! He is full of energy and has many ideas abouthow to increase the visibility of the geodetic surveying profession. Those of uswho are following his trail are aware that he has regenerated the work of thisEuropean organisation, which is steadily gaining influence and visibility withinthe Euro-administration circles in Brussels. This man, who finds immense pleasure in his work, is also an interesting person to talk to. His CV informs usthat he held the rank of colonel in the Belgian army, that he is employed as adeputy director general of the Belgian Mapping Agency (Institut GéographiqueNational), and that he is also president of the Belgian surveyors’ organisation inhis “free” time. In short: enough material for an interesting discussion.Matjaz Grilč

March 2013

Matjaz Grilč, Slovenian delegate to CLGE and interviewer


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Can you give us a short summary of CLGE, what kind oforganisation it is, what are their strategic goals and who isunited in this European organisation?The Comité de Liaison des Géomètres Européens (CLGE) or Council ofEuropean Geodetic Surveyors is a non-profit organisation based inBrussels, in the House of the European Surveyor and GeoInformation.It is the leading association of Surveyors in Europe. Our members arenational liaison groups, i.e. groups of associations or associations whichrepresent the profession as a whole in their country.In 2010 we defined strategic goals which could be summed up as thefollowing: Pro-activity, Visibility, Renewal and Member Satis faction.This means that we want to be pro-active, not reactive, and influencethe European law-making process, instead of waiting and finding outlater that new directives have been adopted, which will govern ourprofession without us having made any input. We want to raise ourprofile to appear on the radar of the European and national policymakers, but we also want to be recognized for what we are doing bythe general public. We need, therefore, a clear professional image.We want to renew our profession and present it in a way that will makeit attractive to our associations, and finally, as is the case in many otherorganizations, we want to make sure that our members are satisfied byour policies.

How many countries and persons are represented in CLGE, andwhat are the conditions for membership?We are present in 36 European countries, amongst them the 27, andin a near future 28, EU member states. The basic requirement is thatour members represent the majority, if not all of the surveyors, in theircountry. Therefore, we ask members with several surveying associa-tions in the same country to build a national liaison group. The numberof individual surveyors CLGE represents is about 100.000.

How do you see CLGE in relation to other organizations in thesurveying profession? (FIG, Euro Geographics, EGOS, ...)Only one or two European citizens in 10.000 are surveyors. We haveto realize that we are a very small profession. This means that it isessential to have a clear message if we want to gain visibility amongstthe general public and the authorities. It also means that we have towork hand in hand with other GI and sister associations.

Of course we have a preferential cooperation with some of them. FIGfor instance is our worldwide counterpart. Fifty years ago, CLGE wasborn in the cradle of FIG. For many years the relationship wasn’t veryclose, but during the last decade, we’ve decided to re-establish ourties. We are cooperating more and more. Common projects could belaunched soon. For instance I would like to create a worldwideSurveyors’ Day, with the aim to raise awareness about our not so wellknown profession. Young Surveyors are another essential part of ourpolicy. It makes no sense to create an FIG Young Surveyors Networkas well as a CLGE Young Surveyors Network. We only need one com-mon structure for Young Surveyors, in which European youngsters areaware of their role in CLGE and FIG.Eurogeographics is another natural partner, since a lot of surveyors areworking either directly or indirectly for their members, the EuropeanNational Mapping and Cadastral Agencies. We are very happy aboutour relationship with them; we share the House of the EuropeanSurveyor and Geo Information for our respective headquarters inBrussels. We have cooperated on several projects in the past and Iexpect that we will probably do so again in the near future.EGoS, our “little sister” is, of course, very close too, since several impor-tant members are in both organizations. We have created a commontask force to compare our organizations and to find out their similari-ties and differences, allowing us to avoid projects being ‘forgotten’ ordoubling up on work. Our final goal must be to find the best way tocooperate or integrate both organizations.

As an expert in the field of the surveying profession in themember states of EU, do you believe that the time has cometo start thinking of the »European surveyor«?As I said before, I am wholly convinced that we are lacking visibility.When you know that 80% of national regulations are prepared inBrussels, you understand that you need to be recognized by theEuropean bodies i.e. the Council, the Commission and the Parliament.We are suffering from the ‘Baker Syndrome’, as I referred to this prob-lem during the 3rd CLGE Conference of the European Surveyor inHanover. We all know in a general way what bakers do, but most bak-ers cannot describe what happens in the surveying profession, despitethere being more or less the same number of bakers as surveyors. And,of course, we believe that we are as significant for society as they are.

Jean-Yves Pirlot opening the INTERGEO in Hanover (©DVW – INTERGEO 2012)


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It is essential, therefore, for us to become betterknown. A precondition is that we should get toknow ourselves better too and,therefore, we’vestarted an important project called: ‘DynamicProfessional Knowledge Base’. This databasewill enable us to compare the profession in our36 member states, to learn from each other andfinally, to show the outside world what we standfor.

Can you evaluate the impact of the cur-rent economic crisis on the surveying pro-fession? Is the current situation typical forall member states, or does it affect somecountries and regions in different ways?It is not easy for us to make such an analysissince we are lacking hard figures. Of coursewe are aware of general trends. Everybody knows that someSouthern European Countries are badly hit; they are in our newspa-pers every day. In these countries, the situation is very difficult forsurveyors too. Even if we can see that our profession as a whole suf-fers from the crisis, we also recognize that some countries, especial-ly in Western Europe are threatened by another problem: a lack ofyoung people choosing the profession. This decrease in the numberof professionals means that in some parts of Europe, Surveyors areless troubled by falling work opportunities, since they are not numer-ous enough to handle all the work they get.

Can you put down three main problems that the European surveying community is facing at the moment?Our strategic goals are tailored to the challenges and problems we arefacing at the European and National level: our Council, as well as ournational counterparts, should be more involved in the law-making pro-cess related to our profession. We should have a clear and homoge-neous visibility in Europe and we should be able to regulate the influxof young Surveyors.

What plans does CLGE have for improving the current situation?Too many people are focused on the crisis. We strongly believe that itisn’t a good idea to get caught in this negative spiral. On the contrary,when times are hard, we have to invest in bold actions with the aim toimprove the visibility of our community. We have to prepare ourselvesfor better times, improve our skills, train hard, know more, optimize ourprocedures, educate our staff, rethink our behaviour … CLGE has theambition to help its members to achieve these goals.

What is your evaluation of understanding and cooperationbetween members of CLGE and how do you evaluate the roleof social networks in the field of mutual communication?Surveyors are used to highly technical and precise work. They have toget better acquainted with softer skills: with the need for networking,with the advantage of patient negotiations and painstaking prepara-tions for future successes,… CLGE offers an ideal platform for leaders ofthe European and national surveying associations. With our new wayof engaging, based on smaller working groups, and in spite of the lan-guage barrier that has hampered a lot of interaction in the past, I daresay that the cooperation within CLGE has improved a lot over the lastfew years. CLGE is now a genuine networking platform. We have thefeeling that delegates attend the General Assemblies, because they real-

ly do get added value out of it. The funny thingis that the most valuable output of CLGE is whatour members are ready to invest in it. The inter-action of many ideas – sometimes conflictingideas – is really enriching us all.CLGE has understood the power of social mediaand derived networks too. We’ve invested inthese new approaches and have even appoint-ed a special board member (and now VicePresident) to take care of these aspects. We areconvinced that such networks are the future.They help us to reduce our ecological footprintbut, and there is a “but”, nothing replaces theface to face contacts that we develop during ourmeetings. I see the social networks as an idealtool to support our interaction, but not as a sur-rogate for traditional ‘one-to-one’ engagement.

What is CLGE planning for the near future? Maybe some newprojects, meetings etc.?We are fighting the baker syndrome: we raise our profile wheneverwe can. We apply our strategy as mentioned before: do not underin-vest in your marketing when times are hard: do the opposite.On the 22nd March 2013, we will celebrate the Second Day of theEuropean Surveyor. The main ceremony is planned in Budapest. TheEuropean Commission supports us and will install the European SpaceExpo in the Hungarian capital city during that week exactly. Such ini-tiatives provide us with the opportunity to improve the recognition ofour profession. During this week, namely from 16th to 24th March, thewhole of Europe will celebrate the Surveyor of the Year 2013. AfterMercator in 2012, the CLGE General Assembly has decided to honourGalileo Galilee in 2013! I hope that a lot of member associations willmake a success out of these festivities. In Budapest we will put a greatdeal of focus on the CLGE Students’ Contest [read Geo Infor matics 20128 and 2013 1].Our cooperation with the European GNSS Agency will allow us to takepart in the Space Expo in several other cities. We were looking for pos-sibilities to demonstrate our profession to the general public and young-sters: here it is!Moreover, we will pursue our efforts to build the Dynamic ProfessionalKnowledge Base with the aim to improve the fluidity of professionalaccess [read GeoInformatics 2012 7].Whenever possible, CLGE will wave the flag; appealing to the publicto entrust us with specific tasks. A recent example in that field is ourwww.euREAL.eu initiative (European Real Estate Area Label). We’velaunched a new code for the measurement of buildings. This code isnow part of the INSPIRE Directive, annex III for buildings. As well asshowing that it is in Europe’s interest to get this normalization, it alsoshows that whenever these sorts of measurements have to be exact,one should only entrust a surveyor with the job. We are convinced thatCLGE is creating new opportunities for its members. The members, ofcourse, have to seize them: rather today than tomorrow.

You can ask questions to Mr.Pirlot by e-mail at [email protected], and you can follow him on twitter @CLGEPresident,

as well as at the Council @_CLGE.Matjaž Grilc

March 2013

The full CLGE Executive board elected in October 2012 (from left toright): Vice President Pedro Ortiz (ES), Secretary General MichelleCamilleri (MT), President Jean-Yves Pirlot (BE), Vice President LeivBjarte Mjøs (NO), Treasurer Dieter Seitz (DE), Vice President Danko

Markovinović (HR).



March

11-13 March “Wavelength 2013”Glasgow, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.rspsoc-wavelength.org.uk/wavelength2013

19-20 March MapInfo Professional Foundation LevelTraining CourseCDR Group, Hope, Derbyshire, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.cdrgroup.co.uk/train_mi2info.htm

19-20 March 12. Internationales 3D-Forum LindauLindau, GermanyInternet: www.3d-forum.li

24-28 March ASPRS 2013 Annual ConferenceBaltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.Internet: www.asprs.org/Conferences/Baltimore2013

25–28 March Esri Developer SummitPalm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.Internet: www.esri.com/events/devsummit/index.html

April

03-07 April 11th Vespucci Institute “SynthesizingPopulation, Health, and Place”Catalina Island, CA, U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]: www.vespucci.org

08-10 April 8th EARSeL IMAGING SPECTROSCOPYWORKSHOPNantes, FranceInternet: www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/lpgnantes/earsel-is-2013

15-17 April 19th Annual CalGIS ConferenceWestin Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.Internet: www.calgis.org

16 April FME World Tour 2013Park Plaza Hotel, Leeds, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.1spatial.com/news-events/events/fme-world-tour-2013

16-17 April MapInfo Professional Foundation LevelTraining CourseCDR Group, Hope, Derbyshire, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.cdrgroup.co.uk/train_mi2info.htm

17 April FME World Tour 2013Venue TBC, London, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.1spatial.com/news-events/events/fme-world-tour-2013

17-19 April International Forum “IntegratedGeospatial Solutions - the Future of InformationTechnologies”Atlas Park-Hotel, Moscow, RussiaInternet: www.sovzondconference.ru/2013/eng

18 April FME World Tour 2013Dublin, IrelandE-mail: [email protected]: www.imgs.ie/index/FMEWT2013

21-23 April Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event(JURSE 2013)Sao Paulo, BrazilInternet: www.inpe.br/jurse2013

23-25 April ENC 2013 ‘The European NavigationConference’Vienna, AustriaInternet: www.enc2013.org

25-26 April 3D Documentation ConferenceMarina Mandarin Hotel, SingaporeInternet: www.3d-documentation-conference-2013.com

May

01-02 May GEO-SouthHoliday Inn, Elstree, U.K.Internet: www.pvpubs.com/events.php

13-16 May Geospatial World ForumBeurs/World Trade Center, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsE-mail: [email protected]: www.geospatialworldforum.org

13-16 May Be Together 2013, The Bentley InstituteInternational LEARNing ConferencePhiladelphia, PA, U.S.A.Internet: www.bentley.com

14 May FME World Tour 2013Milan, ItalyE-mail: [email protected]: www.gesp.it/FME2013.html

14-15 May MapInfo Professional Foundation LevelTraining CourseCDR Group, Hope, Derbyshire, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.cdrgroup.co.uk/train_mi2info.htm

15-17 May The fourth China Satellite NavigationConference (CSNC 2013)Wuhan, ChinaInternet: www.beidou.org/english/news.asp

20 May FME World Tour 2013Manchester, U.K.Internet: www.surveymonkey.com/s/FMEUserGroup2013

21 May FME World Tour 2013Birmingham, U.KInternet: www.surveymonkey.com/s/FMEUserGroup2013

21-22 May Location Intelligence + Oracle Spatialand Graph User Conferences 2013Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center,Washington, D.C.Internet: www.oracle.com

21-24 May ISPRS Workshop “High-Resolution EarthImaging for Geospatioal Information” Hannover, GermanyInternet: www.ipi.uni-hannover.de/isprs_hannover2013.html

22 May FME World Tour 2013Bristol, U.K.Internet: www.surveymonkey.com/s/FMEUserGroup2013

22-24 May FOSS4G North America 2013Marriott City Center, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.Internet: http://foss4g-na.org

23 May FME World Tour 2013Fribourg, SwitzerlandE-mail: [email protected]: http://fmeworldtour2013.insersa.ch

28 May FME World Tour 2013Brussels, BelgiumE-mail: [email protected]: www.gim.be

29-31 May UDMS 2013, 29TH Urban DataManagement SymposiumUniversity College London, London, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.udms.net

30 May FME World Tour 2013Malmö, SwedenE-mail: [email protected]: www.fmedagarna.se

June

03-06 June Hexagon 2013 (ERDAS, Intergraph,Leica, Metrology)Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.Internet: http://2012.hexagonconference.com

03-07 June 11th Vespucci Institute “Ontologies andmodels for integrated assessments of multiple-scale processes”Fiesole, ItalyE-mail: [email protected]: www.vespucci.org

04 June FME World Tour 2013Barcelona, SpainE-mail: [email protected]: www.fme-wt.es

06 June FME World Tour 2013Madrid, SpainE-mail: [email protected]: www.fme-wt.es

11-12 June MapInfo Professional Advanced LevelTraining CourseCDR Group, Hope, Derbyshire, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.cdrgroup.co.uk/train_mi3info.htm

12-14 June FOSSGIS 2013Gelände der HSR Hochschule für Technik, Rapperswil,SwitzerlandInternet: www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013

16-22 June 13th International MultidisciplinaryScientific GeoConference & EXPO SGEM2013Albena Resort & SPA, BulgariaE-mail: [email protected]: www.sgem.org

17 June FMEdays 2013Berlin, GermanyE-mail: [email protected]: www.fmedays.de/index_en.shtm

17-21 June FMEdays 2013ABION Hotel, Berlin, GermanyE-mail: [email protected]: www.fme-days.com

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

ASPRS www.asprs.org 8

ERDAS www.erdas.com 9

Esri www.esri.com 21

Geneq www.geneq.com 39

Global GEO Supplies www.soft-mouse-3d.com 51

ITC www.itc.nl 49

Leica Geosystems www.leica-geosystems.com 52

Microsoft UltraCam www.iFlyUltraCam.com 25

Optech www.optech.com 17

Pacific Crest www.pacificcrest.com/adl 29

Racurs www.racurs.ru 41

Riegl www.riegl.com 13

Spectra Precision www.spectraprecision.com 2

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geoinformatics 2013 vol02