Geoinformatics 2009-4

4
Magazine for Sur veying, Mapping & GIS Professionals
G Multi-vendor GIS Interview G Sonar Data for Sea Floor Mapping

G Cicade & DIMAC Systems G Lithuanias INSPIRED SDI
June 2009
Volume 12
Simply Powerful.
THE NEW EPOCH 35 GPS/GLONASS

Quality and value are engineered into every EPOCH 35 GNSS. Built to handle any field condition,
the EPOCH 35 GNSS will exceed your survey requirements with maximum precision, reliability
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2008 Spectra Precision. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. SP-006
GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis and

commentary with respect to the international surveying,
mapping and GIS industry.
Publisher
Ruud Groothuis
rgroothuis@geoinformatics.com
Editor-in-chief
Eric van Rees
evanrees@geoinformatics.com
Building Mashups
Editors
Frank Arts
fartes@geoinformatics.com
Florian Fischer
ffischer@geoinformatics.com
Job van Haaften
jvanhaaften@geoinformatics.com
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com
Remco Takken
rtakken@geoinformatics.com
Joc Triglav
jtriglav@geoinformatics.com
Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop on building mashups. Having no

programming experience myself, I was curious to see how technical this workshop would be
for someone like me. Also, I was curious to find out about the background of the other workshop participants. As soon as the workshop started, it was clear that programming today is
not what it used to be. Instead of writing endless and complex scripts, GIS users themselves
can create simple mashups by copying and pasting script from others. Before I knew it, I had
created my own GIS mashup and was looking at the results on the screen in front of me. I
was asking myself, If creating mashups is this easy, what does this mean for the role of the
GIS professional in the future?
Columnist
James Fee
Contributing Writers
Geoff Zeiss
Andrew Hoggarth
Lee Blacklock
David Piekny
Gary Sherman
Remco Takken
Wei-Che Chuang
Mary Jo Wagner
Johann Jessenk
Gordon Petrie
Robert Wick
Dominic Jukes
Jim Baumann
I decided to ask this same question (and a few others as well) to three large GIS vendors in
the industry. For me, it seemed important that you, the reader, should make up your own
mind on how these vendors approach the different challenges facing the GIS industry today,
whether it be CAD-GIS integration or creating nationwide SDIs. I also asked how these vendors see opportunities in the current economic downturn. In relation to this, Geoff Zeiss from
Autodesk contributed an article on creating digital infrastructure for a sustainable economy.
In his article, he offers a long-term view on how new technology can create a sustainable
infrastructure worldwide. In this and other contributions you can read how a crisis creates
many opportunities for the GIS industry, whether in the short term or the long term.
As for creating mashups, the workshop I visited was just the tip of the iceberg. What is clear
to me though is that the world of REST, Flex and Silverlight offer exciting possibilities for
spreading the message that geography and GIS matter.
Account Manager
Wilfred Westerhof
wwesterhof@geoinformatics.com
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Enjoy your reading,
Eric van Rees

evanrees@geoinformatics.com
Graphic Design
Sander van der Kolk
svanderkolk@geoinformatics.com
ISSN 13870858
Copyright 2008. GeoInformatics: no material may
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June 2009
Articles
Sonar Data for Sea Floor Mapping
Ping to Chart
Page 28
From Silos to Open Data Fields

Lithuanian agencies have taken their ad hoc collection and use of
geospatial data into a new era of access and interactivity. Find out how
they successfully created a unified spatial data infrastructure (SDI)
to meet the INSPIRE directives impending deadline to develop a
European-wide infrastructure for spatial information, and in the process
also decreased duplication and improved efficiency to the tune of
nearly $5 Million Euro in cost savings.
t
6
Land-use Mapping in Australia

Satellite Imagery and Property Management
10
PCI Geomatics ProLines GeoImaging Server

Faster Project Completion with GPU
Processing and Automation
14
MobileMapper 6 and LTI Rangefinder

Making Alaskan Airfield Approaches Safer
16
Desktop GIS
Mapping the Planet with Open Source
18
HP expands Portfolio Large Format Printers

Faster 1120-Series for CAD/GIS-use
22
Digital Documentation 2009

A Report on the Glasgow Conference
24
From Silos to Open Data Fields

Lithuanias INSPIRED SDI
28
GNSS Update
Frequenting Frequencies
34
Paving the Way for European Spatial Data Infrastructure

Intergraph Solutions and integration of
Diverse Geospatial Data
42
Cicade & DIMAC Systems
An Interesting Mother & Daughter Combination
44
Map Production at the National Geographic Society

Past, Present and Future Importance
of Maps explained
48
Creating the Digital Infrastructure for
a Sustainable Economy
Harnessing the Stimulus
50
Avoiding the Overload

Autodesk on saving our Cities
60
Page 36
ESRI, Bentley and Intergraph on the Todays GIS Industry

The GIS world is constantly changing and expanding: on the one hand we see the increasing
software and hardware technology, on the other hand we see the spread of WebGIS and a further
going integration between different disciplines, such as CAD. Every company has its own view and
solutions to some of these challenges that face the GIS industry. Thats why we asked three major
GIS vendors to share their views on topics as DeskGIS versus WebGIS, GIS-CAD integration and the
current economic downturn, to name a few.
June 2009
4
Interviews
ESRI, Bentley and Intergraph on Todays GIS Industry
Why We have to thank Neogeographers like Google 36
Column
Licensing on the GeoWeb
By James Fee
59
Events
3rd Inspire Conference and local SDI Conference
GSDI 11 World Conference
56
Calendar
62
Advertisers Index
62
Page 44

In line with its standing as a country having one of the worlds most
diversified and globalized economies, Belgium has a successful
commercial aerial survey industry with several companies that are able to
operate successfully in the markets of Belgiums neighbours, besides being
able to do so at home. One of these companies is Cicade, which has
further distinguished itself by setting up a subsidiary company, DIMAC
Systems, that has entered the fiercely competitive international market for
the supply of digital aerial camera systems.
Page 60

By 2010 its expected that half the worlds population will be living in cities;
Page 28
a trend that is putting phenomenal pressure on the worlds infrastructure.

Consequently, there is an acute need for better ways to address the need
On the Cover:
to create and renew infrastructure and to understand and manage it in a
The cover image illustrates the integration of raster, CAD, GIS and BIM data,
more efficient way. New technologies now being used in the architectural,
showing the 3D model at a larger scale to emphasize its detailed textures.
engineering and construction industry can go a long way to address these
Todays GIS professionals can use spatial ETL tools like Safe Softwares FME
challenges and help cities become more sustainable and effective com-
to perform this kind of spatial data integration, overcoming the
munities.
interoperability barriers of data types, formats and data models to provide

end users with access to the geo-referenced data they need in a structure
that is immediately usable to them.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
June 2009
Article
Ping to Chart
Over the last twenty years sonar technology has become a commonly used tool in hydrographic survey operations.
The sonar ping and returning echo can be used to determine sea floor and sub-sea floor geology, measure the
water depth and more recently, to analyse the water column for biomass or dangerous obstructions.
By Andrew Hoggarth
Figure 1 Multibeam sonar data collected by the

Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture
Science under contract to Natural England. The
bathymetric DEM created in CARIS HIPS and
SIPS(TM) software shows a rocky reef and adjacent
sandbank.
Current Status
Compared to modern day sonar surveys, traditional sea floor surveying techniques would
have been much slower and more prone to
error. Additionally, they would have resulted
in a sparse representation, describing trends
rather than the accurate, high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) which can be the
result of a sonar survey today.
Only small portions of the worlds oceans are

currently mapped at a high-resolution but this
is continually increasing as sonar becomes
more and more affordable and more widely
used. The high-resolution data returning from
ongoing survey activities is finding its way
into the hands of geographic information
experts for further analysis and integration
with other datasets and soon even into the
public realm through initiatives like Google

Ocean.
Sonar Mapping Basics

Sonars are most commonly mounted on a
ship or on a towfish that is attached to the
stern of the ship by a cable. They can also be
mounted on a Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle (ROV) or increasingly be included
June 2009
Article
Figure 2 Side scan sonar data collected for the 2005 Shallow Water Conference showing differences in sea floor sediment in Plymouth Sound.
as one of the sensors on an Autonomous

Underwater Vehicle (AUV).
The frequency of the sonar and the configuration of the sound producing transducers
determine its mapping purpose. For example,
high frequency, wide swath angle side scan
sonar returns a sea floor image where the
pixel shade describes the acoustic intensity.
This image can be used to determine sea floor
geology or to identify potential targets that
could pose a threat to security or navigation.
Lower frequency multibeam sonar results in a
dense coverage of bathymetric measurements
over a wide swath area and is used to map
sea floor depth and geomorphology. The
deeper the water, the lower the frequency that
is required. Very low frequency sonar, with a
narrow swath angle also returns images or
profiles and is used to determine sediment
thickness or sub-sea floor geology for engineering purposes or oil and gas exploration.
The geographic position of the sonars source,
the transducer, is accurately tracked using differential global positioning system (DGPS).
The movement of the survey platform, e.g.
the ship, is measured using sophisticated
motion and heading sensors and is taken into
account when calculating the sonar measurements. The effect of sound being refracted
as it travels through water also needs to be
measured and removed in order to get and
accurate map of the sea floor. Erroneous
measurements need to be identified and
removed and vertical adjustments for tide, if
applicable, need to be made. These geodetic
and algorithmic calculations are typically
applied in specialist sonar processing software, like CARIS HIPS and SIPS, which takes
all the raw measurement information calculated by the sonar and converts it into geographically positioned measurements. After
processing, the resulting measurements
make-up a bathymetric sea floor DEM (see

Figure 1) or a geo-referenced intensity image
or mosaic (see Figure 2).
Users and Uses of Sonar Data

Many different agencies and companies are
using sonar technology as a mapping tool. A
nations Navy or Hydrographic authority will
conduct sonar surveys for military purposes
or to fulfill their SOLAS (safety of life at sea)
requirements.
These agencies will create tactical and navigational charts, which will include bathymetric contours and soundings that have been
derived from sonar surveys.
Engineering companies often involved in oil
and gas exploration or in building ocean
infrastructure use sonar to map areas for suitability prior to rigs being deployed or wind
farms, for example being built.
Ports and waterways use sonar to chart their
channels to ensure that they are clear from
obstruction or to initiate dredging operations
if sedimentation has occurred.
These activities enable waterway navigation,

cargo to be delivered safely and ships to be
reloaded in a timely fashion (see Figure 3).
Agencies involved in geological (see Figure 4),
environmental, oceanographic and fisheries
research are increasingly using sonar. The
coastal zone is an increasingly important area.
By fusing bathymetric DEMs from multibeam
sonar together with topographic DEMs, perhaps from LIDAR, scientists can better analyse such things as the impact of sea level rise,
coastal erosion and the effect of tsunamis.
Advancement in synthetic aperture sonar technology will allow more information about the
marine environment to be uncovered and
potentially mapped. This technology is able
to produce higher resolution datasets, which
gives rise to new applications of sonar data,
such as monitoring fish movements and
stocks.
Another sea floor mapping activity that utilises sonar technology relates to issues of
national sovereignty and ownership of subsoil and mineral wealth. Bathymetric and
Figure 3 Channel reference model overlaid with Bathymetric DEM to determine location of sedimentation
within a Port.
June 2009
Whether I need imagery

over a small area or a large
region, for highly accurate,
global coverage, I go to
SPOTMaps.
PEMA2b - Photographer: Jean-Franois Damois
PEMA 2b - Photographer: Jean-Franois Damois - Copyright CNES Distribution Spot Image
Or rather SPOTMaps
comes to me. Online.
Streamed directly into
my GIS.
Ask us for the Earth

http://spotmaps.spotimage.com
www.spotimage.com
Article
Figure 4 Multibeam sonar data collected by Geoscience Australia. The bathymetric DEM created in CARIS HIPS and SIPS(TM) software shows a fifteen
million-year-old, 2500 metre, flat-topped seamount.
geophysical surveys are used to determine

the continental extent of a nation. Through
location of the foot of the continental slope
by analysing bathymetric profiles and by
determining the origin of the sea floor sediments, a nation can submit a claim to the
United Nations to extend their territory
beyond 200 nautical miles.
Increasingly the users of sonar technology are
utilizing the web as a mechanism to allow
users to easily interact with bathymetry, and
other sonar derived data products. Web mapping technologies have advanced in recent
years allowing data providers to distribute
these large volumes of data via the web in
an efficient manner.
be displayed through the web using specialised web services, allowing interoperability with other GIS systems via Open Geospatial
Consortium, (OGC) standards. Thus the final
stage in the CARIS Ping to Chart workflow is
the distribution of the bathymetry, either internally with and organization or externally to
other organizations (or the public). Drawing
bathymetry directly from the database allows
user to interrogate the data via the web,
receiving attributes such as depth values and

surface boundaries, and also allows the
bathymetry to be overlain with other data
sources for analyse and mission planning.
Andrew Hoggarth andrew.hoggarth@caris.com,
marketing and Sales Manger, CARIS.
Website: www.caris.com.
Software for Sea Floor Mapping

CARIS is an example of a software company
operating in the GI realm that has specialised
its geospatial solutions for sea floor mapping,
management, analysis and discovery. The
CARIS Ping to Chart workflow allows raw
sonar data to be processed in an efficient and
robust manner with the resulting DEMs being
managed in a dedicated bathymetric database.
Analysis such as surface differencing, volume
computation, DEM extracts and vertical datum
adjustment can all be performed. Contours,
profiles, images and sounding sets can be
derived and used to create posters, maps and
charts, and in addition highly visual 3D flythrus can be produced. Finally high-resolution bathymetry residing in the database can
Figure 5 Hypothetical territorial boundaries in the Artic created in CARIS LOTS(TM) software.
June 2009
Article
Satellite Imagery and Property Management
Land-use Mapping in Australia

A collective of Queensland Natural Resource Management (NRM) Groups established the Spatial Imagery Project to coordinate
the state-wide purchase of SPOT 5 satellite imagery to support regional projects. A project steering team including representatives from regional groups and state and federal government departments was formed to coordinate the data purchase.
By Lee Blacklock
range of organizations, the imagery has been used in many different ways. This purchase represents the largest single statewide acquisition of satellite imagery ever undertaken in
Australia, providing a base-level source of imagery to support
property planning and regional resource condition monitoring.
There are very few available datasets for Queensland, and those
offer only very coarse resolution. Distributing SPOT 5 imagery
throughout the state has enabled various groups to map different regions and themes at a large scale. These maps are being
used for monitoring and evaluation of natural resources and as
a tool supporting managerial decisions.
Property Mapping and Land Management

The Northern Gulf Resource Management Group has distributed
10-metre-resolution SPOT 5 imagery to 88 family properties and
5 company properties. The use of satellite imagery as a primary component of property management and natural-resource
mapping has been widely accepted throughout the region.
Figure 2 is an illustration of some of the data captured from
the imagery. The new imagery has dramatically improved mapping times and detail for the graziers. Initial estimates have indicated that some properties will capture 90-95% of infrastructure from the imagery, which will represent a substantial cost
saving to all involved.
The SPOT 5 imagery, in conjunction with the Queensland
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F), has
greatly improved the ability of graziers to interpret, classify and
map land types at the paddock scale used in the GLM [Grazing
Land Management] (Savanna Plan) process, which results in the
establishment of on-ground monitoring sites to determine pasture yield, ground cover and land condition.
Whilst this SPOT 5 imagery was purchased primarily for property mapping and to support projects across each region, additional benefits were soon evident.
Supporting Safety
In the Northern Gulf region, Queensland Police and State
Emergency Services have used the SPOT imagery for terrain and
topography interpretation, planning, monitoring and coordination in three successful land searches for missing persons in the last six
months. Furthermore, the imagery has also been used for interpretation
and analysis of terrain and topography by the Australian Transport Safety
Bureau (ATSB) and Queensland Police Forensic Crash Investigators currently investigating a fatal survey plane crash near Georgetown.
Geoscience Australia is using the SPOT imagery to update topographic
maps. These maps can then be used in emergency management situa-
Fig. 1.
Widely Shared Database

SPOT 5 imagery was purchased over Queensland by the Regional Groups
Collective in 2006/2007. Queensland covers 1.72 million sq.km, stretching
from the Torres Strait in the north over 2,000 km south to the New South
Wales border (Figure 1). This imagery has been distributed to a broad
range of users from landholders and research groups to local, state and
federal government departments. As one could expect from such a diverse
10
June 2009
Article
The SPOT 5 imagery of the State of Queensland has served multiple

applications:
Investigation of land-clearing extents, both legal and illegal, on

public and private land
Permit evaluations in state forests
Identifying suitable land to offset loss of endangered ecosystems
through mining
Assessment of biodiversity values for nature refuge proposals and
potential park acquisitions
Biodiversity assessment of mining and other development proposals
and tenure renewals
Assessing development applications, tenure dealings and state land
assessments
Determining whether subject parcels are triggered for assessment
Park planning and infrastructure development (roads, fences, building
locations etc.)
1. NR&W uses the imagery to support the development of Property Maps

of Assessable Vegetation (PMAV), to help rural land holders better
manage their land holdings and observe government regulations on
land clearing.
2.EPA uses the imagery to support the wetlands mapping project.
3.EPA uses the imagery to assist regional ecosystem update and validation.
4.Geoscience Australia uses the imagery to update topographic maps.
5.Emergency services use the imagery in disaster management and investigations.
6.Regional Groups use the imagery for property management and landuse/land-cover mapping.
The recipients of the SPOT imagery have benefited greatly from the purchase. As a result, many new datasets have been created,
providing NRM managers with the tools to better manage their
natural resources.
Other uses of SPOT imagery around the state include:

Pest management at Kroombit Tops National Park
Fig. 2. Property-scale data captured from SPOT 5

imagery
tions in conjunction
with state authorities.
Selected theme updates are also being
undertaken, including
vertical obstructions
(towers),
electricity,
buildings and roads.
The imagery is also
being used by modellers in the critical
infrastructure
team
wanting to fine-tune
their disaster scenarios.
regional
ecosystem
data. SPOT 5 satellite
imagery is being used
with SLATS imagery
and aerial photography
to capture this data. In
the Fitzroy region, the
imagery is also being
used to validate the
regional
ecosystem
mapping.
The datasets obtained
from these projects are
valuable for a state that
has very little largescale data. Spatial
datasets are especially
important for a state as
large as Queensland,
Fig. 3. Land-cover map of Hughenden developed by
where it is a lot more
Southern Gulf using SPOT 5 imagery
efficient and cost-effective to use remote sensing as a tool for NRM management rather than field inspections.
Rural leases are using the SPOT imagery to create Property Maps of
Assessable Vegetation (PMAV), which are required by the government
before land can be cleared. The SPOT imagery has been used to obtain
information on the land management conditions of leasehold land and
also in the assessment of PMAV applications, and has proved to be a lot
more accurate than previous methods.
Southern Gulf Catchments commissioned Terranean Mapping Technologies
to assess the potential of using SPOT 5 imagery to map land cover within
the Southern Gulf region. The land-cover maps were derived using supervised spectral classification of two 10-metre SPOT images over Mount Isa
and Hughenden. High-resolution data and field observations were used to
verify the results of the classifications and increase accuracy. The resulting
maps (Figure 3) have a resolution better than 30 metres, suitable for mapping at a scale of 1:25 000. The conclusion of this study was that supervised classification of SPOT 10-metre imagery, supported by field observations, is an efficient method for land-cover mapping. The resulting maps
are valuable for assessing resource condition, provide a means for com-
Monitoring High-risk Zones

The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used the SPOT
imagery to assist the wetlands mapping and classification project. This
project provides comprehensive coverage of wetlands, mapped at an
appropriate scale and level of detail to guide the implementation of management actions and to support management decision-making. Mapped
areas of beach scrub along the Queensland coast were a priority for many
groups. Beach scrub is an endangered coastal community that supports
many important ecosystem processes. As a result of the mapping project,
funding has been allocated to 12 priority remnant beach scrub areas in
order to protect and improve their condition. Field project work such as
fencing, weed control, revegetation and interpretive activities has also
been funded.
Another theme that has been mapped is riparian land use in the
Condamine catchment. In collaboration with the University of Southern
Queensland, the Condamine Alliance group used SPOT 5 imagery along
with relevant spatial datasets (e.g. QLUMP land-use map, recent thematic
maps and field data) to extract information for land-use/cover maps, woody
vegetation maps and land-use maps of the riparian buffer area. Similarly,
as part of the Qscape project, NR&W in collaboration with the University
of Queensland are investigating the use of SPOT 5 imagery to map and
monitor riparian attributes (water body extent, bank stability, woody vegetation extent and density, overhanging vegetation in the South-East
Queensland and Fitzroy Basin regions).
The Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM has funded the update of the Brigalow Belt
11
June 2009
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you deploy modern Web maps that are relevant to your entire enterprise, visit www.esri.com/whatsnew.
For ESRI locations worldwide, visit www.esri.com/distributors.
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Article
Spatial Imagery Project

Spatial imagery acquisition and management has been identified as a key issue by the Queensland
Regional NRM Groups Collective (RGC). The capacity of NRM bodies to use spatial technology
(GIS) varies across the state, with some NRM bodies having more advanced systems in place
than others. As part of a conscious effort to enhance spatial analysis capabilities and coordinate
the acquisition of satellite imagery, RGC initiated the Spatial Imagery Project in 2005/06.
The specific goals of the project are to:
strengthen spatial data management skills within regional bodies

improve knowledge and use of spatial data and technology in the community
facilitate integration of spatial analysis into planning and investment strategies
support improved monitoring of resource condition
coordinate acquisition of critical spatial imagery to support regional delivery.
Spatial data managers within regional NRM groups maintain spatial data and provide services to
distribute products to various stakeholders within their NRM region. These spatial data relate to a
range of generic NRM themes in a variety of forms to support improved delivery of NRM programmes. Thanks to the RGC Spatial Imagery Capture Project, regional groups now have access
to high-resolution SPOT 5 imagery and have invested in spatial information technology and GIS
software. The training has provided an excellent opportunity for regional NRM Groups to increase
their spatial data management skills and pass these skills onto the community. Landholders that
have attended the training have continued using the technology to assist in the running of their
properties and managing their land. To ensure the achievements of the last two years are continued through future regional arrangements like Caring for Country, the Regional NRM Groups and
RGC have developed the Spatial Imagery Capture Project Strategic Plan. This plan documents
many of the achievements from the project and provides guidance for initiatives, such as training
and data standards. As well as providing future strategies and actions, Regional NRM Groups,
industries and government can use the strategy to guide future sustainable investment in spatial
technologies and data management.
Fig. 4. Fitzroy basin
paring different areas at a specific time and

assist in assessing change in land cover and
condition at times of similar environmental conditions. Graziers also benefit from these products, as knowing the land cover per paddock
can enhance stock management and stocking
rates.
Lee Blacklock
lblacklock@regionalgroupscollective.com.au,
Co-ordinator Spatial Imagery Capture Project.
For more information, have a look at
www.spotimage.fr.
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Jane Schafer-Kramer, GIS Analyst,
California Department of Water Resources
Register today at
www.esri.com/uc.
Copyright 2009 ESRI. Alal rights reserved. The ESRI globe logo, ESRI, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions.
13
June 2009
Article
Faster Project Completion with GPU Processing

and Automation
PCI Geomatics ProLines

GeoImaging Server
A conservative estimate puts the number of new, earth-imaging satellites in operation around the globe at over 100, in
less than ten years. Add to this the increasing number of digital airborne sensors, and the result is a massive increase in
volume of data that requires new efficient and economical processing. PCI Geomatics has responded with an automated
image processing system capable of handling up to 10 terabytes (TB) of data per day.
By David Piekny
Job Automation
Regardless of the type of geo-imagery that

an organization is currently processing, the
range, amount, and availability of both orbital
and aerial sources will increase. Concurrently,
global coverage is becoming increasingly frequent, and the trend for precision moves
towards smaller pixels and more finely tuned
bandwidths. This is great news for anyone who
needs access to spatial information, but daunting for those who have to process it, whether
to accommodate shrinking timelines or the creation of more diverse products in an effort to
grow or remain competitive.
Production increases are frequently found

through automation. One of its benefits, aptly
demonstrated by Henry Ford, is consistency;
whether youre working with an orthophoto or
odometer, consistency allows for increased levels of production, a higher level of quality assurance, and a reduction in process management
and training costs. Further, profitability generally increases in proportion to output. Another
benefit of automation is more effective use of
resources, both human and technological.
Automating a manual process allows knowledge workers to transfer their skills from menial
tasks to value creation (increased productivity
and profitability) by managing quality assurance
or product creation.
Automation also ensures the effective use of
processing hardware. Batch processing and limited automation are included in many image
processing packages. The ProLines GeoImaging
Server is no exception. However, automation is
just the first step in a high-performance system
designed to meet throughput measured in
Terabytes per day. The next step is the nature
of the work being done.
Increasingly massive volumes of imagery are
proving to be a severe challenge to traditional,
more manually based production and process
flows, says Trevor Taylor, Director of Business
Development at PCI Geomatics. Simply put, in
order for an organization to ensure that it
remains cost-effective and gain a production
advantage, automating the processing of raster
segments is clearly the direction to take. The
result of this direction is the ProLines
GeoImaging Server, which combines job control and processor optimization with more than
25 years of geomatics industry experience.
14
Modular Components
Scalability is essential for an organization to
grow, either through the production of new
products or an increase in legacy business.
What may work for one sensor may not apply
to another for example, multispectral and
panchromatic bands from a single platform. On
the other hand, QuickBird and GeoEye-1 both
produce high-resolution colour images and may
be subject to similar, if not identical, processes. Geomatica 10 (desktop) and GeomaticaX
(customized solutions) both provide modular
June 2009
Article
algorithms (ProPacks) for all types of image processing. Instead of a single, monolithic,
stovepipe process, all modules may be easily
arranged and connected into logical workflows
called ProLines, an off-the-shelf PCI Geomatics
product. An off-the-shelf approach reduces
implementation time and increases the flexibility of any image processing system. The following four workflows were released with the
launch of the ProLines GeoImaging Server at
the ASPRS 2009 Annual Conference on March
9th, 2009:
Orthorectification: Satellite and air photo
sensors
Pansharpening: Pan and multispectral data
to produce high-resolution color output
Mosaicking: Orthophotos, including tonebalancing and cutline selection
DEM extraction: Stereo imagery
ProLines can be run in a fully automated fashion while allowing breakpoints for quality assurance and process control. ProLine workflows
are managed by a Job Processing System (JPS),
which handles both data ingest and output formatting. It is configurable to handle the varying data and product requirements expected as
new imagery becomes available. However, the
JPS does much more than orchestrate ProLines.
Distributed Processing
Just as off-the-shelf ProLines provide flexibility,
so does a distributed processing environment
in which any number of computers at various
locations can be managed and controlled in a
coordinated fashion from a simple interface.
This is critical as greater throughput is only of
value if the increased number of projects can
be effectively managed. The Job Processing
System (JPS) developed by PCI Geomatics
offers easy control of multiple jobs in a distributed process by managing batching, user
and job priority for pre-defined jobs, job classes, logging, and, most importantly, load balancing and availability for new tasks. Job classes
are given not only a priority, but also a resource
flag indicating relative ease of processing of a
particular class of job. For example, IKONOS
orthorectification can be assigned to specific
machines for further optimization or released
into the greater resource pool for the first availLatest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
able processor. The JPS is light enough to use

with any mix of hardware (laptops to racks) and
the off-the-shelf ProLines can scale to enterprise
processing levels by taking advantage of multithreading and processing on Graphical
Processing Units (GPUs).
Processor Optimization
When dealing with multi-terabyte projects or a
small but crucial task like re-running a mosaic
subset with tweaked parameters, speed is of
the essence. To that end, two advances make
their appearance in the ProLines GeoImaging
Server: multi-threading and GPU-based processing.
Multi-threading allows a single job, once
assigned to a computer by JPS, to be further
distributed between the multiple cores of modern Intel processors, typically dual-core or quadcore. Because of the way in which the processors handle the threads, optimization is not a
simple two-fold or four-fold increase in processing speed. The increase is, however, significant.
Even more impressive gains are achieved
through the use of GPUs. Using microchips dedicated to performing graphical operations,
speed tasks such as orthorectification and pansharpening can be increased ten-fold or more.
For instance, calculating a Rational Polynomial
Coefficient (RPC) model and producing an ortho
from a 1 GB WorldView-1 Level 1b scene takes
less than one minute. The advantages of this
acceleration are multiplied when packaged in a
rack-mount blade server with fast switching,
two available optimizations for high-performance computing. Like ProLines, multi-threading and GPU-based hardware is available off
the shelf. These optimizations result in lower
total cost of ownership and faster implementation. Increased speed means a production
house can increase revenues through increased
project output.
ways. The company has adopted standards of

mainstream IT and hardware communities and
uses OpenMP for multi-threading and parallel
computing architecture (CUDA) for GPU optimization. System components and server architecture have guaranteed development
roadmaps. As these industries change, new
technologies will be introduced to provide a
smooth transition for geo-image processing.
PCI Geomatics is continually dedicated to developing and commercializing geo-imaging processes and methods. For over 25 years, PCI
Geomatics has provided expertise to the geomatics industry
Risk Mitigation
A question many organizations are asking is
how best to respond to their customers, markets, and internal constraints given the increasing number, type, and complexity of geo-image
products becoming available in the coming
years. Simply put, positioning an organization
to meet increasing processing demands provides a stable foundation for predictable
growth. The ProLines GeoImaging Server
addresses these demands through automated
processing that increases consistency of product and volume, which leads to faster product
availability and reduced operational costs.
Modular component workflows (ProLines) can
easily be built and configured without the need
for complex development or extensive training.
JPS offers distributed processing and load balancing for large batch processes of orthorectification, pansharpening, mosaicking, and DEM
extraction. Distributed processing offers processing power that is flexible and cost-effective,
both of which are absolute requirements.
Finally, multi-threading and GPU processing
yield huge speed increases for geo-image processing and allow all projects to be completed
more quickly, whether in a desktop, rack, or distributed environment.
System Sustainability
Massive throughput is attractive. Processing 50
TB weekly will become ever more common.
Until then, hardware infrastructure must be flexible enough to accommodate new frameworks
and upgrades as easily as it does new sensors
and processes. PCI Geomatics recognizes this
and therefore protects its customers in several
15
David Piekny piekny@pcigeomatics.com

PCI Geomatics.
www.pcigeomatics.com.
June 2009
Article
Making Alaskan Airfield Approaches Safer
MobileMapper 6 and
LTI Rangefinder
Approaching Alaskan airfields can be an aerial obstacle course for jets making descents and landings. Often surrounded
by challenging mountainous terrain, air corridors into and out of the airfields may be hemmed in by pinnacles,
towering conifers and even cell towers. Approach procedures, called Required Navigation Performance (RNP), rely on
onboard avionics to keep an aircraft away from obstacles and within a tightly specified airspace corridor. Among the
stored data inputs to the onboard avionics are three-dimensional fixed
waypoints to help aircraft navigate the approach and departure corridors.
By Robert Wick
Alaska Airlines, a recognized leader in developing safer and more efficient approach and
departure operations through FAA-certified RNP,
is continually gathering data about potential
approach and departure obstacles. The more
than 30 RNP procedures at the eight airfields
currently served by RNP in Alaska are being
updated to reduce aircraft track miles. In addition, eight new airfield locations currently without RNP procedures are slated to have multiple RNP procedures by 2010.
The Eagles are steadily watching the Airport team mapping the dumpsters
around the airport runway
16
June 2009
Article
A calm day for Aleutian Island weather. One minute
the sun was extremely bright, then the next minute
you found yourself in a mini snow squall brushing
the snow off the MobileMapper 6 keys.
dancy. King uses the Magellan Professional

MobileMapper 6 GPS/GIS receiver data collector with integrated camera to snap and tag
photos of the mapped obstructions. The
MobileMapper runs ArcPad software and is
loaded with both orthographic and topographic maps. Its connected via Bluetooth to a Laser
Technology, Inc. (LTI) TruPulse 360 reflectorless
rangefinder, which provides the necessary raw
values to calculate a remote GPS location, for
mapping offsets of otherwise inaccessible
points. With the MobileMapper 6, King continuously tracks and keeps a complete log of
where he has been. With its 2-5 meter realtime and sub-meter post-processed performance, the MobileMapper offers the accuracy
King requires.
When mapping inaccessible obstacles, such as
hard-to-reach obstructions across rugged and
steep terrain, King logs the bottom and top of
the obstacle with the TruPulse 360, which provides object height and distance data fed via
Bluetooth to the ArcPad database onboard the
MobileMapper 6. For redundancy he also takes
and logs a photo of the obstruction with a text
description using the MobileMapper 6 and its
integrated camera.
Robert Wick robertwick@verizon.net
For more information, have a look at:
http://pro.magellangps.com
MobileMapper 6 is made for

intensive outdoor use, it
provides a complete set of all
necessary features required
by a mapping device for
anyone who needs
productive data collection
and efficient asset
management in the field.
Since mapping and collecting obstruction

data in the remote areas surrounding the airfields can be a major undertaking, its important that the collected GIS data be right the
first time. Maintaining accurate air corridor
maps is one of the jobs of Matt King, manager of RNP development for Alaska Airlines.
When King goes into the remote areas to make
a full ground obstacle assessment, he requires
highly reliable equipment that can collect the
data completely, accurately and with redun-
Mapping all the obstacles around the runway is critical for the airport security.
Article
Mapping the Planet with Open Source
Desktop GIS
"Desktop GIS" is a book that explores the tools and capabilities of open source desktop GIS (OSGIS) software. Today
there are many excellent open source tools and applications that can be used to both create maps and perform GIS analysis. Often times it appears there are too many choices. While the tools are powerful, the hurdles for the both the newcomer and seasoned professional can at times be intimidating. "Desktop GIS" begins at a high level and then drills down into
specifics of tools to smooth out some of the bumps on the road to open source success.
By Gary Sherman
cations and tools available in the open source arena. The challenge to
getting started was readily apparent. "Desktop GIS" attempts to lower
the barrier to get the new user started and expand the knowledge of the
GIS practitioner by providing practical examples.
The Landscape
The OSGIS landscape is wide and varied, providing many solutions for
both desktop and web based GIS. Based on the interface, one can
divide the desktop applications into GUI and command-line categories.
In "Desktop GIS" we survey the major tools available:
GDAL/OGR
GMT
GRASS
Jump/OpenJump
OSSIM
OpenEV
Quantum GIS
Thuban
gvSIG
uDig
Given the expanse of the landscape, it is impossible for one book to provide exhaustive treatment of all the OSGIS software packages. For the GUI
applications, we focus on GRASS, QGIS, and uDig. On the command line
we take a look at the GDAL/OGR utilities and GMT.
The other exciting capability provided by many OSGIS applications is the
ability to automate tasks and perform geoprocessing using scripts. This
provides an easy way to extend and customize the tools. "Desktop GIS"
provides several examples of using scripts written in shell (Linux and OS
X), Python, and Ruby to convert, process, and transform data.
Why the Book

Interest in mapping with open source GIS is continually increasing as
evidenced by press coverage, conferences mentioning or dedicated to
the topic (for example FOSS4G), and by the increasing number of open
source GIS projects and contributors. This interest comes from both
established GIS users looking for alternatives and neophytes attracted
to the possibility of mapping their neighborhood, latest trip with the
GPS, or just an area of interest. Driving this expansion of interest is
the attraction of open source solutions as opposed to the high priced
software based on closed and/or proprietary standards.
GUI Applications
In "Desktop GIS" we discuss three classes of users: casual, intermediate,
and advanced. In brief, a casual user likes to primarily visualize data by
viewing, doing minor digitizing or editing, and creating simple maps. The
intermediate user uses GIS to not only visualize but to create data-sometimes lots of it. The intermediate user typically creates data by digitizing
and/or converting it from other sources and may do a limited amount of
analysis. The advanced user uses GIS in the same way as the previous
While interacting with new users on various IRC channels it became apparent that many were struggling trying to get a grasp on the various appli-
18
June 2009
Article
Geoprocessing
Figure 1 - Some Open Source GIS Applications in Relation to Class of User
users, but has greater needs. Beyond viewing, data creation, and map
production, this class of user uses GIS to answer questions based on spatial relationships, does cell-based analysis, and perhaps even routing and
geocoding. She also may need to write programs and scripts to accomplish her tasks.
With these needs in mind, Figure 1 shows some of the major GUI applications and where they rank.
As you can see, the majority of applications have something to offer for
nearly everybody. More information on the pros and cons of each can be
found in the survey of OSGIS applications appendix of the book.
Command Line Applications

"Desktop GIS" examines a couple of very handy command line (CLI) applications for manipulating raster and vector data as well as creating cartographic output.
GDAL/OGR provides both a programmers API and utilities for converting,
transforming, and manipulating raster and vector data. For example, a
vector layer can easily be transformed from one coordinate system to
another. A raster can be converted from TIFF to PNG. These utilities provide a powerful CLI toolset, as well as being integral components of scripts
to perform geoprocessing on large quantities of data. In just a few lines
of code, a simple shell (or python, ruby, perl, etc.) script can easily warp
thousands of rasters from one coordinate system to another.
GMT, the Generic Mapping Tools, provide the ability to create high quality
maps used for printing or inclusion in documents and reports. GMT
includes high resolution worldwide data for coastlines, rivers, and political
boundaries. GMT can easily be incorporated into scripts to generate customized maps. Figure 2 is an example of a GMT generated map of the
world with an overlay of Quantum GIS users.
For many people, viewing and importing existing data is all the functionality they will need in an OSGIS application. For others, the ability to create data (by digitizing or programatically) and perform analysis is important. Fortunately OSGIS is up to the task. The heavyweight in this arena
is the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, better known as
GRASS (http://grass.itc.it).
GRASS has been maligned in the past for a variety of reasons. In fact,
GRASS is a highly proficient GIS which is capable of sophisticated analysis. Much of the past criticism has centered around its user interface (UI)
and perceived difficulty of use. To be certain there is a learning curve---a
manageable one, however things have improved with respect to the UI
issues. Quantum GIS (QGIS) can be used as a front-end for GRASS and
provides access to a large number of GRASS modules. Work also continues on a new native UI written in Python and WxWindows. These projects
have made GRASS available to a wider audience.
That said, what can be accomplished with GRASS? In addition to viewing
data GRASS provides:
Projection of raster and vector data between coordinate systems

Cell-based (grid) analysis, including grid algebra
Line of sight (visibility) analysis
Hydrologic modeling
Creation of hillshades
Merging rasters
Clipping of vector and raster data
Of course, this is not a complete list of all that can be done using
GRASS. The other nice thing about GRASS is that it is fully scriptable,
using shell, Python, Ruby, and Perl, among others.
Projections and Coordinate Systems

In "Desktop GIS" we take a look at projections and coordinate systems from
a practical standpoint. This topic can be confusing when first starting to work
with data that needs to be transformed prior to use. Fortunately there are
some good open source tools available for working with projections, including the suite of utilities that are part of the PROJ.4 projections library
(http://trac.osgeo.org/proj).
For simple calculations you can use proj, invproj, and cs2cs to interactively
transform coordinates. To use a PROJ.4 utility you must specify the projection
parameters in the proper format. The parameters for a projection can be
found in the "epsg" file that is installed with PROJ.4. Another good way to
find lots of information about a projection is the Spatial Reference website
found at http://spatialrefe rence.org. If for example, we had data in UTM
Zone 6 that we wanted to transform to Geographic, we could get the needed parameters by entering nad27 utm zone 6n as the search string to
quickly find the projection. The parameters can then be copied from the website in a number of formats, including PROJ.4:
+proj=utm +zone=6 +ellps=clrk66 +datum=NAD27 +units=m +no_defs
Using this information, we can convert projected coordinates to Geographic
using the invproj utility:
$ invproj +proj=utm +zone=6 +ellps=clrk66 +datum=NAD27 +units=m
+no_defs
312244.49 6795460.41
150d30'W 61d15'N
Figure 2 - Quantum GIS Users Plotted on a Robinson Projection Using GMT

Entering the coordinate pair 312244.49, 6795460.41 results in the geographic coordinates 150 degrees 30 minutes west, 61 degrees 15 minutes
north. This is fine for singular use, but in many cases you may want to
19
June 2009
Article
transform an entire dataset. This can be accomplished using ogr2ogr for

vector data and gdalwarp for rasters. Both of these utilities are part of
the GDAL/OGR suite we mentioned previously. For example, to warp a
GeoTIFF to a new coordinate system, the command is simply:
GDAL/OGR: Shell, Perl, Ruby, Python

PostGIS: Any language that works with PostgreSQL, such as Perl,
Python, PHP, and Ruby
A number of applications provide bindings that allow you to write a custom standalone application using a language such as Python. These features provide a lot of possibilities when it comes to customizing and
extending your GIS toolkit.
gdalwarp -t_srs EPSG:2964 i61149c6.tif i61149c6_albers.tif

This "warps" the raster from its current coordinate system to EPSG 2964,
which happens to be the Alaska Albers equal area projection, creating the
new raster named i61149c6_albers.tif. The ability to use these utilities in
scripts provides a powerful means of transforming a large number of
rasters or vectors with ease.
Gary E. Sherman gsherman@mrcc.com has extensive experience

in application development and GIS.
He lives and works in Alaska and, in 2002, founded the Quantum GIS project.
GIS Scripting
Links:
Desktop GIS - http://pragprog.com/titles/gsdgis/desktop-gis
Desktop GIS Book Blog - http://desktopgisbook.com
GDAL/OGR - www.gdal.org
GMT - http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu
GRASS - http://grass.itc.it
OSSIM - www.ossim.org
OpenEV - http://openev.sourceforge.net
OpenJump - http://openjump.org
PostGIS - http://postgis.refractions.net
PostgreSQL - http://postgresql.org
Quantum GIS - http://qgis.org
Thuban - http://thuban.intevation.org
gvSIG - www.gvsig.gva.es
uDig - http://udig.refractions.net
Most GIS users that I know end up doing a bit of programming, regardless of the software they are using. There is always some little task that
is easier done with a script or a bit of code. In "Desktop GIS" we take a
look at some methods for automating tasks in open source GIS software.
You don't have to be a programmer to do a bit of script writing, especially when you can get jump-started by downloading examples and snippets. The script languages available will depend on the application you
are using.
Applications and tools with a command-line interface (CLI) can be scripted with most any language available. Others have bindings for specific
languages. Some examples include:
GRASS: Shell, Tcl/Tk, Perl, Ruby, Python
QGIS: Python
20
June 2009
I believe in precision.
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surveying is a fine example of our uncompromising
dedication to your needs. Precision: yet another
reason to trust Leica Geosystems.
Precision is more than an asset when your

reputation is at stake, its an absolute necessity.
Zero tolerance is the best mindset when others need to rely on
your data. Thats why precision comes first at Leica Geosystems.
Our comprehensive spectrum of solutions covers all your measurement needs for surveying, engineering and geospatial applications.
And they are all backed with world-class service and support
that delivers answers to your questions. When it matters most.
When you are in the field. When it has to be right.
You can count on Leica Geosystems to provide a highly precise
solution for every facet of your job.
Leica Geosystems AG
Switzerland
www.leica-geosystems.com
Article
HP expands Portfolio Large Format Printers
Faster 1120-Series for

CAD/GIS-use
HP is expanding its large-format portfolio with a host of new products, some of which are meant for the CAD/GIS-market.
Were talking Multi-functionals (MFPs), workgroup printers, software-solutions and new types of paper.
By Remco Takken
HP Designjet T1100
This
spring HPs large-format division

launched three new printers (T1120, 4020,
4520), three multi-functionals (T1120 SD-MFP,
T1120 HD-MFP, 4520 HD-MFP), a scanner
(4520 Scanner), and four new software-applications (SCP Reprocontrol, Serif Poster
Designer Pro, HP Instant Printing Utility 2.0,
HP Accounting Excel 2.0). In addition, there
are four media-related products, which can be
described as more environmentally friendly
and sustainable, and more reliable (ie. The
paper stays flat) under all print circumstances.
T1120/ SD and HD MFP

The stripped-down version of the T1120 can
be seen as the faster successor of previous
models (Designjet 800, j900, T1100 and
1000-series). The higher printing speed will
be felt especially during peak times.
The more elaborately dressed-up Designjet
T1120 SD-MFP is a user-friendly and affordable solution for small to middle-size organizations, GIS-divisions, and military and
government organizations that wish to scale
down their expenses on outsourcing with an
22
in-house machine for print, copy and CIS

(contact image sensor) scanning.
The SD-version is still fairly lightweight in
the 1120-product line, but you can keep
everything in your own hands with this
remarkably complete one-vendor solution.
The all-new HD-version is more expensive,
as it is better equipped for graphic environments. The HP Designjet T1120 Printer series
is compatible with the industrys key CAD
and GIS applications, such as AutoCAD,
ESRI, Bentley and Dassault Systmes
June 2009
Article
HP Designjet 4020
Designjet 4020/4520
This updated version is meant for big companies, public sector and repro/ copy shops producing large-format drawings, ground plans,
maps, presentations, renderings and posters.
The larger capacity of the 4000 printer series
makes it possible to continue printing without the necessity of personnel watching over
the process. HPs Double Swath'-technology
can produce up to 100 A1/D-prints per hour
without loss of quality, accuracy or stability.
New Software
Alongside the new printers, HP also presents
four new software Solutions. Serif Poster
HP Designjet T1120
HP Designjet T1120 MFP Printer
Designer Pro for HP is an optional solution,

great for architects or GIS-specialists who
make their own poster presentations. An intuitive interface leads the user through professionally designed templates and a wide range
of tools and effects to help them develop
posters.
HP Instant Printing Utility 2.0 enables fast preview and single-click batch printing of HPGL/2, Adobe PDF and Microsoft PowerPoint
files. HP Accounting Excel Tool 2.0 enables
users to remotely create and view reports of
the advanced usage tracking information of
the printer. This includes supplies, media, user
information, account information and the
types of print jobs, making it much easy for

administrators to invoice or cross-charge
departments, projects or clients at periodic
intervals for the correct amount of printer
usage. Especially for the large 4000 series,
SCP Reprocontrol allows the operator more
flexibility in production workflow through
automation, standardization and consistent
colour management.
Remco Takken rtakken@geoinformatics.com is editor

of GeoInformatics. For more information:
www.hp.com/go/designjet/supplies
We turn game plans into goals.

Winning solutions from INPHO.
See the world with

different eyes.
To play in the premier league of photogrammetry, you need just the right system provider. That partner is INPHO, well-known
for its first-class systems of exceptional performance level. Our high-quality software and our devoted customer support
ensure that your team is outstandingly positioned to hit the mark so that your projects culminate with the winning scores.
GEO-REFERENCING
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www.inpho.de
23
June 2009
Conference
A Report on the Glasgow Conference
Di g i t a l Do c u m e n t a t i o n 2 0 0 9
The second international conference concerned with the digital documentation
of historic buildings and other heritage structures and sites was held in
Glasgow, Scotland on 22nd and 23rd April 2009. The conference was organised by
the Digital Design Studio of the Glasgow School of Art in association with the
conference sponsors Historic Scotland, Leica Geosystems, Hexagon Metrology,
the CyArk Foundation and Glasgow City Council.
By Gordon Petrie
Over 200 persons participated in the conference, which took place in the Old Fruitmarket,
located in the heart of Glasgows historic
Merchant City. The building, which abuts on to
the City Halls, has been reconstructed and refurbished to act as a venue for concerts and other
public events. With its vaulted roof, cast iron
columns, galleries and cobbled walkways, and
with numerous individual caf tables and chairs
set out across the floor of its hall to accommodate the participants [Fig. 1], it certainly provided an unusual setting and a very relaxed atmosphere for the conference though without the
acoustics needed to match the setting! The conference was opened by a welcoming address
, the Scottish governments
from
Culture Minister. This was followed by the first
contribution, which was a dual presentation by
, the technical director of Historic
Scotland (the Scottish governments historic
conservation agency) and
,
the head of visualization at the Digital Design
Studio. They reported on various cooperative
projects concerned with the conservation of the
Fig. 1 A laser scanned image of the interior of the

Old Fruitmarket which was used as the venue for the
Digital Documentation 2009 conference. (Source:
Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art)
countrys historic environment. Their examples

of structures that have been measured in detail
recently employing terrestrial laser scanning
techniques included (i) the Linlathan East
Bridge, an old iron bridge in the city of Dundee
that was built between 1802 and 1804 and has
been badly vandalized; (ii) the Grand Fountain
in the town of Paisley; (iii) Rosslyn Chapel
(which features in the Da Vinci Code fictional
novel) [Fig. 2]; and (iv) a pre-restoration survey
of the Royal Palace at Stirling Castle [Fig. 3].
The next contribution came from
of Queens University, Belfast. His examples of
terrestrial laser scan surveys using a Leica HDS
3000 scanner included the Church of the Good
Shepherd in Belfast and the Giants Causeway,
a UNESCO World Heritage site in Northern
Ireland with its 40,000 interlocking basaltic
columns. However most of his other examples
concerned historic buildings built of limestone
blocks, (including three of the famous colleges
of Oxford University), whose walls are suffering
considerable erosion and, in some cases, catastrophic decay. These latter examples had all
been surveyed at very close range using a
Konica Minolta Vivid scanner with revealing
results.
The contributions that followed came from
much further afield. The first of these was due
to be given by
of the Monte
Alban project in Mexico. Unfortunately she had
to cancel her trip to Scotland at the last
moment. However she had sent a copy of her
presentation which was delivered by her scientific collaborators, Larry Weiss of the U.S.
Fig. 2 A perspective view of the composite image of Rosslyn Chapel produced from 3D terrestrial laser scan data.
(Source: Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art)
24
June 2009
Conference
he has carried out, in this case, involving the

generation of both the external and internal
plans of buildings with over 300 rooms. After
which, he discussed the democratization of 3D
databases that could be shared by a wide
group of professionals, each of whom could
interpret the same data sets in different ways.
Finally he discussed the use of photometric
techniques based on the reflectances from the
different materials that are present in the
facades of buildings.
Fig. 3 A perspective view of the entrance to Stirling Castle with the Royal Palace behind it produced from
terrestrial laser scan data, with a superimposed image rendering being applied to the 3D model.
(Source: Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art)
National Park Service and Elizabeth Lee of the

CyArk Foundation. Monte Alban is a large
archaeological site in the southern Mexican
state of Oaxaca located on the flattened top of
a mountain ridge (mesa) at an altitude of 2,000
m, which has also been designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the capital
and holy city of the Zatopec cloud people
between 500 BC and 750 AD. Besides the actual survey of the extensive site (which housed
30,000 people at its peak), the author discussed in detail the dangers that are threatening the buildings on the site, including the
decay of the limestone structures; the earthquakes that are a common occurrence in the
area; frequent brushwood fires; and landslides.
All of which only emphasized the need for a full
record and documentation of the site before
parts of it are destroyed or damaged. After
which,
delivered his own presentation, which was concerned with the laser scan
surveys of the extensive cliff dwellings of the
Ancestral Pueblo people [Fig. 4] that are located in the Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado yet another UNESCO World
Heritage site - again using terrestrial laser scanners.
, the well
The next speaker was
known professor of photogrammetry (and former rector) at the University of Stuttgart, who
presented an account of the outstanding work
that has been undertaken at his Institute. First
he outlined the work that has resulted in a 3D
model of the city of Stuttgart through a combination of airborne and terrestrial imaging and
laser scanning. After which, he outlined the projects that have been undertaken to create 3D
models of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra
and the Roman city of Jerash in Jordan, both of
which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Next
came a comparison of mobile and static terrestrial laser scan surveys carried out over a test
area in Stuttgarts city centre. The results from

the StreetMapper mobile mapping system combining multiple laser scanners and cameras
showed an astonishing gain in speed with little
diminution in the accuracy of the final results.
Prof. Fritsch also discussed the progress that is
being made with the automated extraction of
features from the recorded facades a procedure that can work well with regular features.
Finally he ended his excellent and informative
presentation with a discussion of the architecture of a Web GIS that is suitable for use with
the digital documentation of large urban areas.
The first day of the conference was completed
with a presentation given by Professor
, the head of the DIAPReM (Development of Integrated Automatic Procedures for
Restoration of Monuments) laboratory in the
Department of Architecture at the University of
Ferrara in Italy. First he described two of the
many architectural, archaeological and urban
surveys based on terrestrial laser scanning that
The second day of the Conference opened with

a most intriguing contribution from
, newly graduated with a Ph.D.
degree from the Cambourne School of Mines in
Cornwall in south-west England, which forms
part of the University of Exeter. With sponsorship from Jobling-Purser Ltd. and support by
the 3D Laser Mapping company (which also
builds the StreetMapper), he has devised and
built a robotic, wireless-controlled Remote
Surveying Vehicle (RSV) equipped with a laser
scanner for use in underground surveys [Fig. 5].
To everyones delight, the vehicle was demonstrated live running over the floor of the conference hall. While the vehicle is designed for
underground mining surveys, it has obvious
potential for surveys of underground caverns
containing human remains or rock art, as
demonstrated by its use in the Sterkfontein
caves in South Africa, which are also listed as
a UNESCO World Heritage site. More details can
be found on the Web site www.rsv.eu.com
of the new company, Jobling Purser RSV LLP,
that has been set up to develop the vehicle further.
The next presentation, given by
who was returning to the city for the first time

since he gained his Ph.D. in photogrammetry
at the University of Glasgow in the mid-1980s
Fig. 4 The cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people in the Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, U.S.A.
(Source: Wikipedia)
June 2009
25
Conference
[a]
[b]
Fig. 5 (a) The JP Remote Surveying Vehicle (RSV) equipped with a Riegl terrestrial laser scanner that is used for
the survey of underground mine workings and caves.
(b) The RSV vehicle entering a mine under wireless control. (Source: Jobling Purser RSV LLP)
was quite outstanding. Professor Baz outlined

the work that he and his team from the Istanbul
Municipality have carried out in documenting
the Historic Peninsula of Istanbul, comprising
48,000 individual buildings and 9.5 million sq.
m of faade. While the initial work started with
the use of a battery of static (tripod-mounted)
terrestrial laser scanners from Leica and Optech,
this methodology proved to be too slow for the
purposes of the survey. So latterly a mobile
mapping system utilizing a combination of laser
scanners and digital cameras mounted on a van
operated by the Visimind company from
Sweden was used to complete the survey within a period of three months. The processing of
the staggering amounts of data collected by this
mobile system took a huge amount of time and
effort, with 120 technical staff, including land
surveyors, data processing technicians, solid
modellers and architects, being engaged in the
task. The results are really spectacular [Fig. 6]
and have led to a team from Istanbul being
asked to undertake a similar survey of the historic town of Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina
yet another UNESCO World Heritage site that
was so badly damaged during the wars that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia.
[a]
Still another contribution from a photogrammetrist was that given by

of
the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain.
Professor Lerma is already well known for his
surveys of historic buildings conducted using
close-range photogrammetry and terrestrial
laser scanning and he proceeded to give numerous examples from the work that he has conducted both in Spain and elsewhere, e.g. in Italy
and Belgium. He concluded his presentation
with further examples showing the valuable
information on building structures that can be
obtained from multi-spectral and thermal infrared imagery.
The remaining presentations were more concerned with organisational than technical matters.
, who is a preservational
architect from the U.S.A. and the current president of the International Council of Monuments
& Sites (ICOMOS), spoke about the documentation that is needed for various conservation
activities. These include (i) the arousal of public awareness about the need for the conservation of historic buildings and sites; (ii) the
requirements for the monitoring of these sites,
since often the existing documentation is inadequate; and (iii) the role of documentation in
[b]
Fig. 6 (a) A perspective view of a 3D wire-frame model of the Suleymeniye Mosque in the Historic Peninsula of
Istanbul - based on data generated from terrestrial laser scanning.
(b) A 3D model of a historic grave in Suleymeniye Mosque. (Source: Bimtas)
26
planning the recovery of buildings and sites

from natural or man-made disasters. He also
spoke about the need for the new surveying
technologies to come down in price so that they
could be utilized worldwide and not only in the
richer and more highly developed countries. He
was followed by
from California,
who is the former owner of the Cyra
Technologies company that devised the early
Cyrax terrestrial laser scanners and which was
taken over later by Leica Geosystems. He and
his wife set up the CyArk Foundation as a nonprofit organisation in 2003 with the objective
of archiving heritage information in digital form,
including that captured by laser scanning, and
of disseminating it to a wider audience. He was
supported by
, who is the director
of projects for the CyArk Foundation and supervises the field work and the data capture, processing and archiving that is carried out by the
Foundation. This has included the work at
Monte Alban and the Mesa Verde National Park
mentioned above.
The final presentation was delivered by
, who is a research fellow
at the University of Durham. She is a specialist
in Near East archaeology and is currently the
Director of the Digital Nineveh Archives [see the
Web site www.digitalnineveharchives.org].
Nineveh was the ancient capital city of the
Assyrian empire and is sited adjacent to the
modern city of Mosul in Northern Iraq. The site
with its extensive ruins covers a huge area and
has suffered considerably both from neglect and
from the wars that have taken place in the
country over the last 30 years. Dr. Wilkinson
gave a most interesting account, both of the
citys history and of the problems of documenting the results of all the numerous expeditions
and projects that have been exploring and excavating the enormous site since 1820. Much help
has been given in the task of documenting and
archiving this material by the British Museum
and by the CyArk Foundation Ben Kacyra having originally come to the U.S.A. as an immigrant from Iraq.
Digital Documentation 2009 was an undoubted
success and has made a real contribution to
the implementation of digital heritage documentation for the benefit of future generations
by getting some of the leading practitioners to
come to Glasgow and providing them with a
platform to publicize the advances that are taking place in this field.
Gordon Petrie is Emeritus Professor of Topographic
Science in the Dept. of Geographical & Earth Sciences
of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.
E-mail - Gordon.Petrie@ges.gla.ac.uk
June 2009
One 4 all
grafit-werbeagentur.de
Handheld with GPS & GLONASS

from meter to cm RTK
www.topcon.eu
Article
Lithuanias INSPIRED SDI
From Silos to Open

Data Fields
Lithuanian agencies have taken their ad hoc collection and use of geospatial data into a new era of access and interactivity. Find out how they successfully created a unified spatial data infrastructure (SDI) to meet the INSPIRE
directives impending deadline to develop a European-wide infrastructure for spatial information, and in the process also
decreased duplication and improved efficiency to the tune of nearly $5 Million Euro in cost savings.
By Mary Jo Wagner
A view of Trakai, the ancient capital of Lithuania, situated about 30 kilometers west of Vilnius. Photo credit: Ivana Chudikova
28
June 2009
Article
A perspective view of the composite image of

Rosslyn Chapel produced from 3D terrestrial
laser scan data. (Source: Digital Design Studio,
Glasgow School of Art)
eospatial information used to be one of

Lithuanias best-kept secrets, thanks in large part
to what Saulius Urbanas calls the silo effect.
Urbanas, a geospatial department director with
the countrys National Land Service (NLS), is referring to the tendency of Lithuanias public organizations to collect geospatial information in ad hoc
isolation rather than in coordinated, open-data
strategies. And that has created an environment
of ad hoc access and ad hoc use - all of which
had turned geospatial data into an unknown entity. However, a high-level initiative designed to
put geospatial data in the foreground has now
turned that spatial data into a well-known quantity for the masses.
Lithuanian agencies have indeed amassed a
wealth of spatial information, including cadastres,
address registers, topographical maps, road networks, orthophotography, hydrographic surveys
and forest inventories, and developed geographical information systems to store it. But the siloview of geospatial data management, says
Urbanas, meant that a tremendous amount of
information flowed in, but very little flowed out,
bounding the knowledge of that spatial information solely to within the respective agencies. Each
GIS then became an island unto itself with no
shared gateway, systematically locking away the
inherent benefits of a united, harmonized data

infrastructure for sharing and exchanging spatial
data.
That all began to change, however, in 2005, when
a small group of GIS professionals launched a
rather bold initiative that challenged the previous
GIS status quo. With the help of European Union
funding, the aim of the Lithuanian Geographic
Information Infrastructure (LGII) project was to
seamlessly connect a host of dispersed geospatial databases into one central Web portal system, and enable users to harvest the productivity, efficiency and economic gains from the
unfettered access to this shared geospatial system. And it succeeded.
Combining the immediacy and interactivity of the
Web with the data transformation strengths of
The LGIIs project partners:

State Land Service
State Enterprise Center of Registers
State Forest Survey Service
Environmental Protection Agency
Vilnius City Municipality
Geological Survey of Lithuania
Fire and Rescue Department
Lithuanian Road Administration
State Service for Protected Areas
29
spatial ETL software, the LGII unites years of

geospatial information held within nine diverse
public agencies and one municipality into one
centralized spatial data infrastructure (SDI) with
one common interface. A truly inspired project,
the LGII has not only made geospatial information as mainstream and common as desktop
business-application software, it serves as an
inspirational SDI success for the EUs INSPIRE initiative, which aims to establish a European-wide
infrastructure for spatial information.
Creating an abundant information society based
on public sector information (PSI) and e-government products and services is a top priority for
the Lithuanian government, says Urbanas, director of the cadastres and geodesy department
within the Ministry of Agricultures NLS.
Geographic information is absolutely fundamental to that endeavor. With the LGII, the Lithuanian
public and private sector now have the platform
to access diverse databases, view the data on
offer, specify their needed datasets in the format
they require and download them. And in the near
future, that platform will be the gateway for other
European countries as well, helping the European
community better care for the environment while
bringing tremendous economic opportunities to
Lithuania.
June 2009
Article
To manage the challenge of unifying all the project partners data together, HNIT-BALTIC used FME to create master data harmonization models from which they could develop 38 customized models to meet their data conversion and delivery needs.
A Unified Goal
Though the three-year, 6-million-euro LGII project officially began in May 2005, its true beginning dates back to 2003, when the GIS group
at GIS-Centras, a state-run enterprise established by the NLS to manage the state geospatial framework and principal geodatabases,
envisioned a collective geospatial network at
the state level. With the tacit approval and support of the NLS - Lithuanias recognized national mapping agency - a GIS-Centras project team
commissioned an exhaustive eligibility and feasibility study to define core GIS challenges,
which included limited accessibility, significant
data redundancy and incompatible datasets,
and to determine the likelihood of such an
endeavors success.
A team surveyed more than 300 institutions in
which they probed their interest level in the LGII
and asked them to identify and prioritize the most
important data layers to include in the SDI. Based
on that feedback, the feasibility team developed
a prioritized list of spatial data to incorporate in
the system and then began inviting the individual
state agencies that own the critical datasets to
participate in the project. To the surprise of no
one at GIS-Centras or the NLS, every selected data
provider readily agreed, and by 2005, the nine
core project partners (see sidebar), along with
Vilnius municipality, were on-board to work together to build the LGII.
Lithuania is a small country and the GI community is even smaller, explains Urbanas. I could
probably name nearly every senior GI specialist in
Lithuania, and everyone wants to extend the use

of geospatial data, which makes collaborating
much easier. We were surprised, however, that by
the end of the first meeting with all the key stakeholders we had already reached consensus on
some common infrastructure elements.
The timing of the project was also opportune
since the development of the LGII framework
coincided with the launch of INSPIRE, which not
only availed GIS-Centras and the project partners
to European funding of the project, its principles
also provided a detailed and needed guide to
help develop the SDI. Particularly helpful were
the INSPIRE directives clearly defined principles
regarding data collection, management and interoperability - many of which addressed the same
specific data issues that have dogged Lithuanias
GIS community and that the LGII team aimed to
resolve. For example, INSPIRE requires that data
be collected once and then easily shared among
different users, be combined seamlessly with dif-
ferent data sources across Europe, be easily

searched and be easily viewed in the format that
users prefer.
Unlocking the Data Doors

Taking those initial concepts on paper and
transforming them into a practical reality was
the task of a four-company consortium led by
Vilnius-based HNIT-BALTIC, a leading ESRI GIS
software supplier and developer in the Baltic
states. To develop the national geospatial
source as well as meet INSPIRE requirements,
HNIT-BALTIC, in conjunction with Germanys con
terra, needed to create a back-end system that
could effectively manage, integrate and manipulate a multitude of diverse data layers and a
user-friendly front-end Web portal to view and
distribute the data. Of critical importance was
that the power and the efficiency of the new
SDI would lend itself to eager participation and
would enable users to continue to work in their
Before the LGII, GI staff could spend 70 percent of their time just
searching for or acquiring needed data that another agency often
already had, explains Urbanas. By unifying the available data, we
estimate that the LGII will reduce this search and collection time by
40 percent. That decreased duplication and improved efficiency equals
a cost saving of nearly 5 million euro.
30
June 2009
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Article
Vilnius is on track to become the first municipality to participate in the LGII. Photo credit: Thomas Weihermller.
native GIS software and formats, leaving the

data interoperability legwork to a software solution. In this case, that software is FME, a spatial ETL solution from Vancouver, British
Columbia-based Safe Software that enables GIS
professionals to translate, transform, integrate
and distribute spatial data from more than 225
formats.
To succeed, the LGII had to simultaneously
handle many spatial data formats and coordinate systems and readily transform data layers
by user request - at the click of a mouse, says
Laimonas Liskauskas, a software specialist with
HNIT-BALTIC and the LGII FME expert. That was
key for the LGII and the INSPIRE initiative. We
surveyed several ETL packages, but FME
impressed us as a complete spatial ETL solution that offers data integration, translation and
transformation of customized datasets as well
as an electronic delivery mechanism.
Unifying all of the project partners data together was one of the first challenges for the HNITBALTIC team to resolve. Using FME, Liskauskas
built four geo-referenced data harmonization
models for integrating and converting the existing, distributed geospatial databases and a
general template model for the LGII portals
transformation and download functionality. As
the LGII structure took shape, the template
model served as a master blueprint for
Liskauskas to easily create 38 other customized
models to meet other specific service requirements.
Though the volume of data, differing levels of
data quality, diversity of formats and workflows
presented a complex data environment, it did
not, however, translate to a complex modelbuilding environment, says Liskauskas.
FME has a very intuitive authoring environment, he says. You can create very generic
models and then customize them to meet specific functionality. That reduces duplication
efforts and simplifies transformation workflows
because you build the model once and then
you can repeat it, apply it and customize it as
needed. To devise conversion rules, for example, I simply needed to choose the relevant FME
transformer for my conversion goal and con-
32
nect it to the data flow diagram, and it automatically controls the specified data conversion.
FME also served as an effective control tool to
ensure the LGII was built on a solid data foundation - a critical INSPIRE principle. Whether it
was verifying the proper data schema, the completeness of data or identifying data duplicates,
FME would alert the HNIT-BALTIC team to possible data issues, enabling them to resolve specific questions and ultimately bring the quality
control effort for a notable volume of data down
to a manageable size.
Equally critical to the LGII was the ability to provide an open window to the geospatial data
and efficiently deliver needed datasets on
demand. As the majority of public agencies use
ESRIs ArcGIS tools, Liskauskas needed to
ensure the LGIIs Web portal supported the
ArcGIS environment. FME technologys support
of this platform made it an easy choice, says
Liskauskas, enabling them to customize FME
Server to the ArcGIS Server environment and to
use FMEs API to tightly integrate powerful data
June 2009
Article
To manage the challenge of unifying all the project partners data together, HNIT-BALTIC used FME to create master data harmonization models from which they could develop 38 customized models to meet their data conversion and delivery needs.
transformation and distribution capabilities

within the portal architecture.
Without FME, the LGII would still be just a
good idea, says Liskauskas. Instead, we have
a centralized portal to a wealth of viewable,
interoperable, repeatable, customizable and
downloadable datasets that users can acquire
any time of day. And we have met INSPIREs
principles as well, proving that the initiative is
achievable with the right software tools.
The End of the Silos

Arranged in a distributed environment in GISCentras, the LGIIs central spatial node now
seamlessly connects the nine project partners
remote GIS nodes, opening up a two-way data
pipe of spatial information to a host of users.
Available at any time of the day, users can
access the LGII portal to peruse the data offerings and acquire whatever specific dataset they
may need for their business tasks. Once in the
system, they simply select their desired area
from a map view, choose the data layers they
need, and specify their particular GIS output
parameters by selecting from 18 different data
formats and 10 coordinate systems. Based on
their data selection, FME automatically requests
data from one or more of the connected data
providers, compiles the selected data layers and
exports them into the requested format. The
system then automatically sends users an email
with a link to the data for them to securely
download at their convenience.
The LGII partners have wasted little time in discovering new data layers and using them in
their operations. For example, the fire service
can now integrate the NLS georeferenced data
into their own geodatabase to better plan dispatch and response efforts. The forestry service
is using NLS data as a backdrop to its forestcover maps and inventories. The State Service
for Protected Areas is incorporating georeferenced cadastral, property ownership and road
data to better map the spatial relationship
between protected regions and the surrounding environment to proactively plan protection
strategies for future development.
Non-project partners are also capitalizing on the
LGII. Academic institutions are accessing the
LGII portal to incorporate a variety of spatial

data into their curriculum planning. The
Environment Protection Agency is using the
data for territorial planning and environmental
projects.
Previously, public authorities as well as private
customers needed to inquire and request data
from multiple sources - thats if they even knew
the datasets existed - and then wait weeks to
receive their data products, says Urbanas.
With the LGIIs unique interface, users can now
view topo maps, property registers, satellite
imagery, forest inventories, road networks and
other spatial data from nine different agencies.
And they can request specific data layers and
receive them in minutes. Its a far more efficient
and productive service for everyone.
Though the ability for users to acquire a specific subset of entire datasets is complex by
nature, Liskauskas says the LGIIs intelligent
back-end makes it easy for providers and customers to use, which helps foster loyalty to the
SDI system. Since FME handles all data conversions automatically, data providers can upload
new datasets or data updates into their existing databases and the software will store them
to the right nodes of the shared server database
in the right coordinate system. That automation
reduces a significant amount of their data processing burden and ensures that users view and
acquire the most up-to-date information available.
Creating a one-stop shop also reduces the isolationist tendencies of the past - data collection and creation among the LGII partners can
now be transparent and coordinated, significantly reducing data redundancy and positively
impacting their bottom line, says Urbanas.
Before the LGII, GI staff could spend 70 percent of their time just searching for or acquiring needed data that another agency often
already had, explains Urbanas. By unifying
the available data, we estimate that the LGII
will reduce this search and collection time by
40 percent. That decreased duplication and
improved efficiency equals a cost saving of
nearly 5 million euro.
A more streamlined and accurate data house
also enables GIS-Centras, the NLS and the pro-
33
ject partners to open their data doors to myriad private-sector houses in Lithuania, and eventually across Europe, creating a wealth of valueadded data services opportunities.
People in Lithuania have new-found knowledge now, and that knowledge is power, says
Urbanas. Rather than being consumed by trying to find data, public and private users can
now focus on how to capitalize on that data
and develop revenue-generating applications or
services. Thats working smarter and ultimately
leads to economic growth.
The Secret is Out

With the data-services movement in full swing
among LGII users, the LGII team is now focused
on providing those same opportunities to
Lithuanias municipalities. Using the City of
Vilnius as a prototype, Liskauskas is customizing the same FME models to connect its various databases to the portal as well. Based on
that success, Urbanas is confident that more
cities will join the national SDI, providing even
more detailed spatial depth to users.
Given the positive response and future plans
for the LGII, Lithuanias geospatial information
will clearly not be a best-kept secret for long.
Mary Jo Wagner is a Vancouver-based freelance writer
with more than 15 years experience in covering
geospatial technology. She can be reached by phone
at: +1 604 221 4540; or e-mail: mj_wagner@shaw.ca
June 2009
Article
Mr. Fotis Karamitsos
(www.autoandsociety.com)
Frequenting Frequencies
GNSS Update
On March 24 the modernization of GPS finally entered a new era. On that day, at 4:34, another GPS IIR-M satellite was
launched from Cape Canaveral (USA), this time with the L5 demonstration payload on board. The L5 demonstration
payload is needed to comply with International Telecommunication Union requirements and will pave the way for the third
generation of GPS. The start of the transmission for the new L5 signal was on April 10 around noon (UTC time).
By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
The launch of the L5 demonstration payload has been delayed quite
the last edition of this series we wrote about the launch of new satellites, predicting that the improvements had begun. And they have: almost
three months later there are still 19 operational satellites with an additional one undergoing maintenance at the time of writing.
The bad news is that users who bought their receiver a while ago may
have faced an unpleasant surprise. On March 11, the Glonass authorities
decided to change the operating frequencies on two pairs of satellites.
Those who bought their Glonass or GPS / Glonass receivers quite recently shouldnt have a problem even though there was no advance warning
at all. Older receivers may have experienced some problems after that
date. Glonass, in contrast to GPS, uses Frequency Division Multiplexing
(FDMA) where every satellite is assigned its own frequency and channel.
During the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, however, the Russians
were still positive about changing Glonass from an FDMA system to Code
Division Multiplexing (CDMA), the multiplexing system used by both GPS
and Galileo.
a few times over the last few years (see also earlier editions of this
series). With the new L5 frequency (1176.45 MHz) a new, third civil signal will be transmitted as well, the other two civil signals being the L1
C/A code and the L2C code. From GPS III onwards, all GPS space vehicles will include an operational L5 signal. With this third frequency, the
accuracy of GPS should increase and be available for high-end, surveygrade receivers to better cope with ionospheric delays as well as increase
carrier-phase GPS performance such as in RTK GPS.
Another advantage of the L5 demonstration payload is that researchers
and manufacturers have the ability to test combined GPS / Galileo
receivers on two common frequencies (L1 and L5 / E5a). If, that is, satellites from both constellations transmitting that signal are available at
the same time. So far only GIOVE-B and the new GPS IIR-M (20) satellite have this capability.
Glonass
Galileo
Those who purchased a Glonass receiver in the past can now start enjoying the full merits of an additional system. Over the last few years we
have had to note repeatedly that the number of satellites was falling. In
There is still little progress on Galileo. During the Munich Satellite

Navigation Summit, Fotis Karamitsos, director of the European
34
June 2009
Article
Beidou
According to one of the participants, it also appeared during the Summit
that the dispute between Europe and China over the proposed Compass
signals has not been resolved. The core of the problem is the intention of
China to overlay Compass signals on the two L1 frequency bands planned
for Galileos Public Regulated Service (PRS).
So far it has been rumoured that in this matter China is ignoring all international rules about frequency allocation. Normally the first country that
applies for allocation of a frequency from the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) receives a preliminary allocation of the frequency. There have been rumours as well, however, that the first country
to start using the frequency is the first that is granted priority status. Since
Chinas satellites are expected to start transmitting before the Galileo satellites, this could reverse the story.
It is not possible for Galileo to change the frequencies, in particular for
the Public Regulated Service, since there has been an agreement with the
United States since 2004 over the use of this frequency.
Delta II satellite (source: www.navigadget.com)
Commissions Galileo & Intelligent Transport unit, said "If all goes well,
we will be able to conclude the contracts for most of the [seven] work
packages starting from the middle of the year.
During the same summit someone also asked Karamitsos about the
prospects of Galileo Lite, a reduced system comprised of only 20 satellites broadcasting an Open Service signal. The idea was completely repudiated by Karamtisos, and he added that Member States have a legal obligation to deliver the full system. The discussion, however, was rekindled
by Anne Sta, Head Galileo Programme Division, Department for Transport
(UK), who stated that it was difficult to see the need for the Public
Regulated Service (PRS). According to her, a study identified a grand total
of five actual users (not user groups!) for the PRS, and the UK military
has no need of the PRS. Richard Peckham, business development director for EADS Astrium in the UK, added in a later presentation that "PRS is
very strongly French today."
ELoran
Years ago, the USA published the Volpe report that stated that GPS as
the sole means of navigation would present many vulnerabilities. From
then on the USA has included the terrestrial navigation system, Loran, in
their radio frequency plans. The latest plan, from 2008, still includes
eLoran, the modernized version. Over the last few years eLoran has been
operational as well, although there is little improvement over basic maintenance.
So, in all honesty, intentions seem to be good. In practice, however, there
is some unwillingness to really provide this backup to GPS. This is evident in the lack of structural funding from either the US Department of
Homeland Security or the US Coast Guard. So far the system has been
funded operationally, meaning that the agency in question decides if it is
willing to put up the money.
Receiver Developments
Launch of the GPS IIR-M (20)

satellite (source: pnt.gov)
In this series we do not normally talk about new GPS developments; however, some have come to our attention that represent a significant change
from the current navigation systems and therefore, in our opinion, require
a mention.
The first is the development of a micro GPS receiver that includes an
antenna on the circuit board. The circuit board measures 12 mm x 2 mm.
The antenna, which is 10 mm wide and 4 mm high, is soldered to the circuit board at a 90 degree angle so that when it is built into a telephone,
for example, it is pointing towards the sky. The small size and integrated
antenna should improve reception and allow it to be incorporated into
the smallest telephones and other units.
On the other end of the navigation spectrum, Trimble has presented its
latest version of the R8. Now the R8 is no stranger to this magazine; we
tested one a while ago. Whats new, however, is the ability to remotely
configure and connect to the R8 rover and base receivers from the office.
The unit can be accessed over the internet where it can be configured
and monitored through a web interface. It is even possible to download
post-processing data through the interface, eliminating trips to the field.
hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com
is project manager at IDsW and freelance writer and trainer.
This article reflects his personal opinion.
35
June 2009
Interview
ESRI, Bentley and Intergraph on Todays GIS Industry
Why We have to thank

Neogeographers like Google
The GIS world is constantly changing and expanding: on the one hand we see an increase in hardware and software
technology development, and on the other hand we see the spread of WebGIS and the continued integration between
different disciplines, such as CAD. Every company has its own views on the challenges that face the GIS industry, and also
the solutions. With this in mind we asked three major GIS vendors to share their views on some of todays hot topics,
such as DeskGIS versus WebGIS, GIS-CAD integration and the current economic downturn. The interviewees are:
ESRI president Jack Dangermond, Ton de Vries, Bentleys Cadastre and Land Development Solution Executive,
Richard Zambuni, Bentleys Global Marketing Director, Geospatial, and Halsey Wise, Intergraph President and CEO.
By Eric van Rees
What will be the role of GIS specialists in the future? Will GIS-specialists rather be professionals in
informatics or does it more to
make a GIS-specialist? Or do we
rather need geo informationeconomists with broad knowledge
about technology, information
economy, information society and
legal issues of geo information?
bilities in their organizations. Some of their

staff members will have the technical skills
needed to perform geocentric applications
that support mission-critical applications.
This will lead to a better understanding of
the many complex issues and more holistic
approaches to decision making.
The industry is broadening its view,
and we see geospatial information popping
up in both business and general public situations where we didnt see it five or ten years
ago. Traditional GIS companies need to thank
the neogeographers like Google, Microsoft,
TomTom and Garmin for that. GPS devices
and internet mapping lifted the use of
geospatial information to a higher level. In
our own profession, we see a growing need
to use geospatial information in engineering
workflows beyond the traditionally GIS-intenESRI President
sive industries like electric and gas utilities,
Jack Dangermond
and communications service providers.
Nowadays, infrastructure engineers such as
road design engineers, railway engineers, facilities managers, mining
experts etc. all require immediate and integrated access to the corporate
GIS database. They need to use intelligent geospatial information in their
engineering and maintenance workflows. So we see a growing need for
geospatial data and geospatial experts in infrastructure projects and operations. And, we see a growing need for GIS technology to be deployed
within mainstream IT infrastructures and organizations.
First, we are seeing continued expansion of GIS into many fields, requiring many
people who really know geographic information science as well as the technology that
can evolve its application in various fields.
Driving this is an increasing understanding
among senior leaders in both government
and industry of the pivotal role that the application of geospatial knowledge can play in
the decision-making process. This knowledge
is created by specialists from many fields
often brought together by GIS professionals
who focus on the broad subject of integration and providing access. This
latter set of skills is the most critical and, ultimately, requires real experience coming from practicing the trade in many forms. The key to the exponential use of the technology will be education.
GIS education at the university level is still primarily found in geography
and GIS departments; we are beginning to see the spread of spatial science. In part, this is supported with institutions setting up centers for GIS
and spatial science. On ESRIs side, we have been supporting these efforts
by providing campuswide GIS site licenses,
which provide greater accessibility to the
ESRI: Desktop GIS will continue to grow as it
technology. University libraries are also proserves as both a fundamental authoring
viding new portals for access to GIS systems
to students and faculty for reference and
platform for geographic knowledge and a
research.
solution for spatial analytics and individual
In the future, we will see more senior execuproject efforts.
tives supporting the application of GIS capa-
36
There are many roles and disciplines occupied by geospatial or GIS specialists today. Certainly there are many GIS specialists on the IT side of the equation,
implementing and managing geospatial systems. However, there are also many examples of GIS or geospatial specialists working
in areas such as urban planning and land
June 2009
Interview
management. The field of economic geograour desktop products, and we are aggresphy is already well established, and represively growing the functionality of this softsents a melding of geospatial and economic
ware platform to support them.
knowledge. We are also seeing an increase
in the use of geospatial technologies in areas
There is no doubt that server-based
such as public safety and security and enviGIS usage will grow, but there will always be
ronmental monitoring.
a need for desktop GIS as well. Web 2.0 GIS
As the use of geospatial information becomes
is just the beginning. Interactive GIS via web
more widespread, there is certainly the
technology will increase and at Bentley were
opportunity for geospatial expertise to furahead of it. Where everybody can serve maps
ther expand into other areas. This can hapto the internet, the interaction and managepen in one of three ways: 1) geospatial proment of the data behind the web GIS
fessionals move into other fields, 2) other
becomes the critical factor. This also brings
fields begin to incorporate geospatial knowlus to the next level of expanding geospatial
edge into their education, training and best
information into mainstream IT environments.
practices, or 3) geospatial professionals work
Geospatial information is increasingly supin a collaborative manner with other disciporting mainstream business workflows
plines. For example, we can point to lawyers
through service oriented architectures, servwho have become experts on the rights to
ing up geospatial data seamlessly via web
government-owned data sets such as
services. However, data acquisition, precise
geospatial information, and can also identify
parcel editing, and map creation are still activRichard Zambuni, Bentleys Global Marketing Director,
geospatial experts who have morphed into
ities carried out by a lot of individual profesGeospatial
city managers. All three of the above
sionals, not to mention the need for these
approaches are already happening and will
desktop activities in emerging economies.
continue to become more prevalent.
Academia has a significant role to play here in educating more disciplines
The real crux of this question is how thin or thick a client
on the basics of GIS capabilities. Many undergraduate programs today,
will be required in the future? The answer varies depending upon what
such as business programs, include an exposure to data management
type of workflow or role in the organization the application is designed to
and information technology. Exposure to GIS capabilities seems to be a
support. Operations such as basic queries, map viewing and repeatable
logical extension as the use of geospatially-based information becomes
workflows are all well supported today by thin clients, with most of the
more ubiquitous.
processing being performed on the server.
Where there is still a role in the foreseeable future for a thicker client is in
The second question wed like to ask you is about
what we refer to as the organizational heavy lifting. These are seats that
Desktop-GIS: do you think there will still be Desktop-GIS
perform complicated design, data creation and maintenance, as well as
in the future or will we all use server-based GIS?
sophisticated analysis. In these cases, a thicker client provides a better
user experience and supports workflows and operations in a manner that
At this time, desktop GIS continues to grow and be the primary
thin clients still have difficulty emulating.
platform of choice by GIS professionals for their efforts in creating and
Its also important to state that even thick clients of the future will leverapplying geographic knowledge. Cloud computing is continuing to expand.
age server-based capabilities as appropriate. For example, a future smart
This platform allows organizations to leverage their GIS people and their
client being used for design and data maintenance in an electric utility
geospatial knowledge with a minimal investment.
could use a server side operation to perform geocoding or tracing. This
ArcGIS Desktop has been engineered so that it can consume cloud/Web
really represents the software plus services model, which makes a lot of
services from a variety of sources, including ArcGIS Online, which can then
sense for these heavy lifting seats in the organization.
be mashed up with local content (MXD) and integrated into applications
that can be made available for subsequent
What is your companys response
use. The service-oriented model for GIS will
to the current economic downfall?
allow distributed sharing across an organizaDoes it create opportunities for
Bentley: In our own profession, we see a growtion.
using GIS, and if yes, which
ing need to use geospatial information in engiDesktop GIS will continue to grow as it serves
opportunities?
neering workflows beyond the traditionally GISas both a fundamental authoring platform for
geographic knowledge and a solution for intensive industries like electric and gas utilities,
Our business has continued to grow
spatial analytics and individual project efforts.
steadily in spite of the economic conditions.
and communications service providers.
We have hundreds of thousands of users of
GIS has become a key part of many busiLatest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
37
June 2009
Interview
ness operations including the decision-making process. In the United States, the government's plan to stimulate our economy with
a variety of capital infrastructure investments
will require geospatial information in many
forms. In addition, there is a sense among
some economists that the economy will
rebound the quickest in the housing, construction, energy, and infrastructure sectors
all GIS-related industries.
Today, the business value of GIS is often justified on the potential return on investment.
This process is helping justify the implementation of a GIS even in difficult times, pointing to costs avoided, additional revenue
gained, and improvements in efficiency.
The efforts by the European Union in

implementing large-scale GIS systems that
support spatial data infrastructure, environmental monitoring, satellite navigation, and
similar applications are important and highly
commendable. Successfully implementing
these projects at this scale is challenging,
particularly when considering the number of
countries involved.
The United States has similar national initiatives in many of our national and state agencies. While not as high profile, they are nevertheless evolving in a less-coordinated
manner unique to our government organizations. While the consumer-oriented map visualization applications have significantly contributed to increasing the general
understanding and appreciation of geography, their main focus has been less on proTon de Vries, Bentleys
fessional applications and more on spatializCadastre and Land
Development Solution
ing search. Similar to Europe, we certainly do
Executive
not see these systems as a substitute for
authoritative source-based Web systems.
Nevertheless, they do provide a kind of narrow view of what the future
may hold. At ESRI, we have been working on a new cloud-based GIS program, ArcGIS Online, that focuses on agencies and users sharing their content, services, and applications on the Web. This promises to provide a
model for how SDI will emerge.
Bentleys approach is threefold; we

allow organizations to increase their productivity by advancing their current GIS investments and therefore making them more suitable for infrastructure projects; we integrate
GIS into mainstream IT, increasing the value
of the GIS professional and we continue to integrate more GIS functionality into our mainstream software products. To summarize; Bentley helps
organizations to maximize the ROI on their GIS investments. Even in an
economic downturn, there is still substantial investment in infrastructure
projects both in those that were ongoing before the downturn, and in
those that are newly funded as part of the plethora of national economic
stimulus packages. Within specific industries there are also disruptive
changes underway that are making user organizations review the role of
GIS technology such as the advent of Smart Grid technologies in the
electric utilities industry. Bentley is well placed to take advantage of these
changes.
On both sides of the Atlantic organizations are looking for interoperability; whether this is channeled by legislation and standards or by
de-facto industry standards. The goal is the same; the unification of silos
of information into accessible formats and interfaces, allowing the integration and sharing of valuable data to support business workflows.
Integration and interoperability have been the two cornerstones of
Bentleys infrastructure and GIS product portfolio; so our users are well
prepared for these initiatives.
Certainly we have seen an increased focus on return on investment as a primary factor when organizations are determining which projects will move forward. This is true whether in a government organization
where return on investment is driven by providing new capabilities for
citizens or in the private sector, which is typically driven by the bottom
line. Now more than ever in the current economic downturn, we must
work closely with our customers to show how the application of geospatial technologies and geospatial best practices can help them realize a
return on investment that allows them to fund new projects. We see this
creating opportunities in areas as diverse as public safety and electric utilities.
In public safety, Intergraph offers advanced analytical tools that allow public safety agencies to better understand their response patterns and ultimately better deploy their resources to meet those demands. In electric
utilities, Intergraph is actively participating in the Smart Grid initiative by
providing an integrated command-and-control center that allows utilities
to run more effectively both in terms of the manpower necessary to operate the utility and in terms of better managing the energy consumption of
the utility and its customers. Both of these areas show strong returns on
investment that make sense even in these difficult economic times.
What we are really analyzing here is an apparent difference in

focus between large government initiatives with substantial geospatial
components versus adding value to private sector geospatial platforms.
Regarding Google and Microsofts commercial geospatial platforms, we
see demand for organizations to exploit these platforms in both the United
States and in Europe. In Europe, they are used not as a replacement for
initiatives such as INSPIRE, but simply as a complementary set of data
and technology to those managed by the organization.
In terms of commercial geospatial platforms like Google Maps or Microsoft
Virtual Earth being adopted to create a de facto SDI, technologically it is
possible. However, there are fundamental control issues and certainly data
licensing and usage policies that need to be worked through before many
organizations would consider turning this role over to the private sector.
In the case of significant EU initiatives such as INSPIRE, GMES and SEIS,
any difference in focus between Europe and the U.S. is simply a function
of the emphasis and funding that is behind these EU initiatives. With
INSPIRE being a formal EU directive now being transitioned to law in the
EU, member states are obviously having a great impact on the geospatial
sector in the EU and on any companies that participate in the EU market.
INSPIREs directives surrounding Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and data
harmonization across EU member states are forcing data and technology
providers to react to these requirements.
In the U.S., while there have been some top down and bottom up efforts
directed toward the creation of a national SDI for some time, this hasnt
In Europe the GIS-industry is very focused on INSPIRE,

GMES, SEIS and GALILEO at the moment. In the U.S. no
one cares about that, but I have the feeling that GISindustry is much more focused on what Google, Microsoft
and Yahoo does and how to integrate their products.
What is your opinion on this statement?
38
June 2009
Interview
yet manifested itself in laws and regulations

that must be followed by geospatial players
such as federal departments, states or counties. As such, we have not seen the uptake
of the creation of a multilevel SDI to the
extent that is currently taking place in the
EU.
weve invested a lot in bringing these two

disciplines together.
And were proud to say that we have done
it. We launched Bentley Map (based on
MicroStation) in September 2007 and with
the latest release, Bentley Map V8i, weve set
new standards in CAD/GIS integration on the
desktop. But probably more importantly,
CAD-GIS integration is an issue
Bentley Geospatial Server V8i provides native
that is becoming more and more
access to Oracle Spatial database, ArcGIS and
important. What is your companys
ArcSDE database, as well as a variety of engicurrent solution to integrating both
neering drawings and document formats like
CAD and GIS, and how do you see
DGN, DWG, Microsoft Office documents,
the future: will we always have
Adobe PDFs, etc. The Bentley Geospatial
these two techniques or can we
Server integrates not only the data on the
expect a full integration of both
desktop, but also unifies CAD, GIS and busione day?
ness data to support CAD and GIS workflows
at an enterprise level. So, for us and for our
GIS and CAD are fundamentally differusers, CAD/GIS integration reaches beyond
ent technologies: a graphic drafting system
the desktop, addressing the workflow with a
versus a database-driven system about geoserver solution that unifies CAD, GIS and
Halsey Wise, Intergraph President and CEO
graphic knowledge (graphics versus geograbusiness data across the distributed enterphy). While there is overlap in both functionprise. So, to answer your question; the inteality and application, the two systems were developed for different
gration of CAD and GIS is available today and is called Bentley Map V8i
purposes, with different information models and applications. Nevertheless,
and Bentley Geospatial Server V8i!
there is a growing need to connect these two worlds and a need for
greater compatibility between the two technologies.
At Intergraph, we integrate CAD and GIS today by providing
While ESRIs efforts to achieve this integration began about 15 years ago,
direct access to CAD data sets. This direct access allows our users to bring
it is only recently (at ArcGIS 9.3) that our software has achieved a tight
these CAD datasets into the GIS environment as intelligent features that
integration between the CAD workstation and GIS desktop and server
can be used in the full range of GIS functionality, be it basic viewing and
technology. The integration involves three basic applications described
plotting or sophisticated spatial analysis.
below:
In terms of future integration, it is important to look at the different roles
and workflows in GIS and engineering design and determine the logical
1. Data Conversion
integration points. For example, its important for an engineering designer
The ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension directly reads and exports many
to be able to have access to GIS data as the foundation for a design prodata formats including all the leading CAD formats, such as Autodesk
ject. In todays era of 3D models, its important to be able to bring modDWG/DXF, MicroStation Design, and Intergraph GeoMedia Warehouse. This
els into the GIS environment for visualization and analysis.
software supports complete integration with building information modelHowever, it is not in either disciplines interest to deliver a single integrating (BIM) for 3D integration.
ed platform that can be used for both designing an oil refinery and performing land management for an entire country. In Intergraphs experience,
2. Direct Read of CAD Data
such an approach requires either too many compromises or introduces
ArcGIS directly reads and uses the data formats of all the popular CAD
unnecessary complexities into everything from the basic structure of the
systems.
data model to the way various tools are used to manipulate the data.
Ultimately, being able to easily share the data is the most important thing.
3. CAD/GIS Software Extension
Technologies such as Oracle Spatial have certainly made the sharing of
ESRI has recently released a free software extension called ArcGIS for
enterprise data - whether created by a CAD system or a GIS system - much
AutoCAD. This product is a downloadable tool that provides seamless
easier. Standards such as CityGML are also certainly making it easier to
interoperability between AutoCAD and the ArcGIS platform. Users are proaccomplish this type of data sharing by providing a standard way to move
vided with quick and easy access, within the AutoCAD environment, to
CAD models into a GIS environment.
the full geodatabase and application server
Eric van Rees is editor in chief of GeoInformatics.
supported by ArcGIS Server. In addition,
Intergraph:
In
terms
of
commercial
geospatial
ArcGIS for AutoCAD gives users the ability to
www.esri.com, www.bentley.com and
prepare data for use in a GIS while working
platforms like Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual
www.intergraph.com
within existing CAD standards.
Earth being adopted to create a de facto SDI, tech-
We are so glad that you have asked

this question. At Bentley Systems, CAD and
GIS have always been the two cornerstones
of our company and our users businesses.
We are the largest privately held CAD software vendor and according to Daratech, the
#2 worldwide GIS software supplier. Therefore
nologically it is possible. However, there are funda-
Wed like to thank all interviewees

for their kind and cooperation.
mental control issues and certainly data licensing

and usage policies that need to be worked
through before many organizations would consider turning this role over to the private sector.
40
June 2009
Article
Intergraph Solutions and Integration of Diverse Geospatial Data
Intergraph and European SDIs

The four-year EU HUMBOLDT project contributes to the implementation of an
ESDI that integrates the diversity of spatial data available for a multitude of
European organizations. It is the aim of this project to manage and advance the
implementation process of this ESDI. Intergraph is now engaged in the HUMBOLDT research project to explore advanced solutions and define operational
processes in applying spatial data infrastructures.
By Johann Jessenk
hether its providing protection from natural disasters or establishing administrative

boundaries, accurate and usable geospatial
information is crucial for decision makers. As
administrative boundaries play a less important
role in the face of complex international relationships or natural phenomena, a seamless
exchange of geospatial information is crucial in
making better decisions. However, geospatial
data is often provided in different formats and
systems. For example, the continued development of the European Union (EU) and its 27
member states brings together a wealth of
geospatial information. Without data harmonization, international cooperation to support
monitoring and planning is difficult. The information is often not accessible, and if it is accessible, various system platforms and even language and semantic differences can create more
barriers. To support its policies and environmental objectives, as well as citizen security
and economic growth, the EU is focusing on
making digital spatial information more easily
accessible and usable. The creation of the
European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI) is
at the core of these endeavors.

The Project Objectives are as follows: Conform
geospatial data to the Infrastructure for Spatial
Reform in Europe (INSPIRE) standards and
major European initiatives, harmonize data to
improve decision making in security and environment applications, and provide users with
access to accurate, current, and reliable data.
The Solution
With the INSPIRE directive as the driving legal
force, the EU is seeking means to promote the
creation of the ESDI. One approach is to enable
and support cooperation among research firms,
various industries, academia, and geospatial
data users to pave the way for implementing
the ESDI by developing best-practice examples.
Intergraph is leveraging this pan-European
cooperation and is now engaged in the HUMBOLDT research project to explore advanced
solutions and define operational processes in
applying spatial data infrastructures. Data harmonization is the primary issue addressed by
the project. The HUMBOLDT project manages
key parts of the ESDI implementation process,
42
with the primary goal of enabling organizations

to document, publish, and integrate their
geospatial information. Common HUMBOLDT
data models include land cover and vegetation,
water resources, ocean and marine environments, atmosphere, risk management, and
security. These data models will be based on
the upcoming INSPIRE data specifications. The
project relies on a technical infrastructure that
is based on standards and services, and that
provides the means to harmonize multiple spatial information sources and fuse them into an
application-specific information source.
Intergraph, with more than 20 partners from 14
European countries, investigated how data and
service providers, as well as users such as
regional planners, will profit economically from
the ESDI. Part of this state-of-the-art analysis
included existing processes and tools for data
harmonization. Now Intergraph and the two
consortia are establishing the steps needed to
achieve interoperability for data and metadata.
A software framework and diverse tools will
support the development and integration of
standardized geospatial information, including
data models, formats, quality, availability, services, and languages. HUMBOLDT plans to
develop, validate, and provide open and flexible software frameworks.
The Future
An essential element of the HUMBOLDT project is the development of scenarios in which
different components of the framework are
applied and tested under realistic conditions.
Intergraph is involved with two of the scenarios. The European Risk Atlas scenario collects
and combines existing data concerning risks
and vulnerabilities, including severe weather
phenomena that cause natural hazards such
as floods. The objective is to support risk
management in a cross-border flood event by
making integrated data sources easily available. The Border Security scenario aims to
enable effective border control and security
on the EU external border by providing the
tools to analyze hot spots of illegal trespassing. Integrating new sensor technology is a
further challenge in this scenario.
Johann Jessenk, Global Industry Manager,
Government & Transportation, Intergraph Corp.
Web site: www.intergraph.com
www.esdi-humboldt.eu
June 2009
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Article
An Interesting Mother & Daughter Combination

In line with its standing as a country having one of the worlds most diversified
and globalized economies, Belgium has a successful commercial aerial survey
industry with several companies that are able to operate successfully in the
markets of Belgiums neighbours, besides being able to do so at home. One of
these companies is Cicade, which has further distinguished itself by setting up
a subsidiary company, DIMAC Systems, that has entered the fiercely competitive
international market for the supply of digital aerial camera systems.
By Gordon Petrie
For its aerial

, Cicade
operates two twin-engined aircraft a
Beechcraft King Air [Fig. 1] and a Cessna 303
Turbo Crusader that are based at Charleroi
Airport, located 20 km west of Namur. Both
aircraft are capable of operating over a long
range and at a high altitude. They can be fitted either with a conventional Jena LMK2000
metric film camera or with a DiMAC airborne
digital camera system. Each of these cameras
can be inserted into a standard Somag
GSM3000 gyro-stabilized mount and operated in conjunction with an Applanix POS/AV
510 GPS/IMU position and orientation system.
Both aircraft are also equipped with the
CCNS4 flight management system that has
been supplied by the German IGI company.
For its
, formerly
Cicade operated four Zeiss Planicomp analytical plotters. However it has now changed over
completely to the use of Intergraph (Z/I) digital photogrammetric workstations (DPWs) in
conjunction with various standard software
packages (ISAT, ISAE, ISSD, OrthoPro) that
have also been supplied by Intergraph.
Furthermore an Intergraph (Z/I) PhotoScan film
scanner is available to digitize the films
exposed by the LMK2000 film camera. The
OrthoVista software from Stellacore in the
U.S.A. is utilized for the production of
orthophoto mosaics.
DiMAC Systems
Fig. 1 This twin-engined Beechcraft King Air 90 turbo-prop aircraft that is operated by Cicade has a ceiling of
30,000 ft. (9.1 km) and an endurance of six hours to provide long-range and high-altitude photographic flights.
Cicade
Cicade is an aerial surveying and mapping
company that was founded in 1985. It is
based in the city of Namur in Wallonia, the
southern French-speaking part of Belgium. It
is one of a group of small interconnected
companies that are controlled by the Louis
family, the others in the group being concerned with architecture, construction and real
estate. Mr. Pierre Louis is the founder and
managing director of the Cicade company,
while his daughter, Florence, is the companys
administrator and marketing director. In many
ways, Cicade is a fairly conventional aerial
mapping company, offering its clients a com-
plete range of services from aerial photography through to the supply of finished geospatial data in the form of orthophotos, vector
line maps and digital terrain models (DTMs).
Besides its operations within Belgium, the
company is very active in France where it now
supplies a substantial part of the market. It
does this through the operations of its subsidiary company,
, which is based in
the city of Nancy in the north-eastern part of
the country. However Cicade has also undertaken substantial aerial photographic and
mapping contracts in Italy and Romania within Europe and in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia
overseas.
44
What really distinguishes Cicade from other

aerial surveying and mapping companies is
that, through the activities of its subsidiary
company,
, it is also a camera
systems manufacturer and supplier. Thus,
when Mr. Louis decided that Cicade should
enter the field of airborne digital photography, he did so by recruiting a team to design
and construct the companys own digital
frame cameras. This resulted from his dissatisfaction with the airborne digital imaging
devices that were on offer at that time. In particular, he wanted to have a modular system
that was very flexible and could easily be reconfigured to suit the circumstances of a particular project. When such a system was not
forthcoming from any of the existing system
suppliers, he decided to have a modular system built to his own specifications for use by
Cicade.
June 2009
Article
Fig. 2 This combined Cicade and DIMAC Systems facility is located at Charleroi Airport.
Development of the system for Cicades own

use began in 2003. Then, early in 2004, Mr.
Louis decided to offer the new modular camera system to other service providers and
formed the DIMAC Systems company for this
specific purpose. The present Chief Operating
Officer of the company, Julien Losseau, joined
shortly afterwards. The company is based in
a specially constructed facility at Charleroi
Airport [Fig. 2] that also includes the hanger
that houses Cicades two aircraft. The prototype camera system was first shown publicly
in 2004 at the ASPRS Annual Conference held
in Denver and at the ISPRS Congress held in
Istanbul. The development of the system was
undertaken in parallel with its use in production mapping projects that were being undertaken by Cicade. During 2003, it had already
been used to acquire image data for the city
of Tours in France. In 2004, it was deployed
in Saudi Arabia for the acquisition of digital
photography that was used for the production of orthophotos and DTMs for the proposed North-South Railway in that country.
Since these initial projects, DiMAC digital cameras have been used routinely by Cicade in
the mapping projects that have been undertaken for many French towns and cities such
as Brest, La Rochelle, Toulouse, Rochefort,
Nancy, Agen, Alencon, Reims and Perpignan.
Technical Aspects
From the purely technical point of view, the
modular structure of a DiMAC camera system
comprises three main units:
(i) either a single or multiple camera modules;
(ii) a cylindrical drum in which up to four individual camera modules can be accommodated, together with an integrated GPS/IMU position and orientation unit; and
(iii) an electronics and IT cabinet that houses
the electronic components and computers
that control the operation of the camera modules and the data acquisition procedures,
together with a set of removable data storage units on which the image data is recorded.
With regard to each individual
[Fig. 3 (a)], this comprises a CCD area
array with its associated digital back; a forward movement compensation (FMC) unit; a
lens with its supporting aluminium structure
(or cone); a between-the-lens shutter; and a

filter that can be placed over the lens. The
CCD arrays and digital backs, which employ
the standard Bayer interpolation for the production of colour images, are customized
units that have all been supplied by the
Danish company, Phase One. These arrays
have grown steadily in size from the original
16 Megapixels to the current 39 Megapixels.
The new P+ digital backs that will generate
images that will be 8.9k x 6.7k in format size
giving a 60 Megapixel image are just starting
to be delivered by Phase One. A range of
interchangeable lenses (built by Schneider or
Linos) is available with focal length values of
55 mm, 80 mm, 120 mm and 210 mm to provide customers with the specific angular coverages that they require. The filters are also
supplied by Schneider, while the electricalmechanical shutters are built by Rollei. The
forward movement compensation (FMC) is
provided through the controlled mechanical
movement of the CCD array in the focal plane
during the exposure of each image. The FMC
design has in fact been patented worldwide
by DIMAC Systems. The company places a
special emphasis on the fact that its camera
products are the only affordable medium-format airborne digital cameras that have this
FMC feature.
The
[Fig. 3 (b)] in which
the larger-sized DiMAC camera systems are
housed is made of carbon fibre with a steel
base plate to support the camera modules,
including a vibration dampening mechanism.
There are four openings in the base plate that
[c]
[b]
[a]
Fig. 3 The main modular components of the DiMAC digital frame camera system showing (a) an individual camera module; (b) the cylindrical carbon-fibre drum into which
the camera modules and the GPS/IMU unit are placed; and (c) the electronics and IT cabinet.
45
June 2009
Article
Fig. 4 This diagram shows the geometric

arrangement and ground coverage of
the DiMAC WiDE twin-camera system.
allow between one and four camera modules

to be mounted and operated simultaneously.
Internally within the drum, there is also a
small support structure that can accommodate a GPS/IMU unit. The drum lid or cover
contains the electronic controls that are needed to operate the camera modules. When the
lid is closed, it ensures a temperature-controlled environment for the contents of the
cylinder, the requisite warmth being generated by a built-in heating element. The cylindrical drum is designed to fit into a standard
gyro-controlled mount. The cylinder also has
a removable front carbon-fibre cover plate or
cap that protects the lenses while the camera
system is not in use in the air or on the
ground.
The
[Fig. 3 (c)]
has been designed by DIMAC, but is manufactured in the U.S.A. It contains the computers that carry out specific functions during the
operation of the camera modules. It also
includes the control board that provides the
signals to the actuators for the FMC mechanism, based on the information about the aircraft speed over the ground that is provided
by the systems flight management system.
The cabinet also contains the removable storage unit that comprises a number of ruggedized and pressurized hard drives. Associated
with the cabinet and its contents is a touchscreen display monitor that is used by the
camera operator to check and control the
operation of the camera modules. The socalled
software is provided to control
the operation of the camera and the image

data acquisition and to generate pre-view
images for checking purposes. Once the
images have been exposed and stored on the
hard drives, the data can then be downloaded via an external docking station. The
software that is provided by
Phase One is then used to convert the raw
image data into TIFF format.
Latest Configurations
In its original form, the DiMAC system could
be used in a twin oblique camera configuration in order to provide a wide swath of coverage of the ground in the cross-track direction. In 2006, it was decided to re-configure
this particular arrangement. The two cameras
still sat side-by-side within the cylindrical drum

but both were set in a vertical pointing position, so dispensing with the tilt blocks that
were used previously to obtain the oblique
pointing of the individual camera modules.
The CCD arrays with their digital backs were
then offset with respect to the optical axes of
the camera lenses within the camera modules
so that they covered the areas on the ground
to the left and right of the flight line [Fig. 4].
Thus the wide cross-track coverage could still
be maintained without the need to rectify the
images. The two images are then merged
using tie points in their common overlap in
conjunction with the DiMerge software.
At the same time as this change was made,
DIMAC Systems entered into a business relationship with VX Services of Longmont,
Colorado, which manufactures and supports
the Vexcel VX 4000 film scanners. A new company, called DIMAC Systems LLC, was set up
to sell the newly re-configured twin camera
system - which is now called the
in the North American market. In this respect,
it has been quite successful with several customers located in the U.S.A., Canada and
Mexico. Within Europe, there is a customer in
Croatia, besides the two systems that are
being utilized by Cicade.
Another very new configuration is the
system [Fig. 5]. This employs six camera modules to generate the combination of
vertical and oblique photography that gives
rise to the Maltese Cross form of coverage
of the ground that has become popular as a
result of the activities of Pictometry and its
partners and competitors. The central vertical
photograph is acquired using twin paired camera modules operating side-by-side as in the
DiMAC WiDE system. The four oblique images
are captured using four additional camera mod-
Fig. 5 CAD drawings of the DiMAC OBLiQUE camera system showing (a) the cross-track arrangement with the
twin vertically pointing cameras in the lower part of the diagram and, mounted above them, the two oblique
cameras pointing in opposite directions on either side of the flight line; and (b) the along-track arrangement
showing the two oblique cameras pointing in opposite directions along the flight line.
46
June 2009
Article
Calibration & Certification
Fig. 6 The DIMAC Systems ULTRALiGHT camera system with the single camera module enclosed in its cylindrical
case (at left), together with its accompanying IT Cube (at right).
ules, with two pointing in opposite directions

cross-track and the other two pointing in opposite directions along-track. All six camera modules are housed in a specially-built cylindrical
drum. The DiMAC OBLiQUE system has already
been used by Cicade in two contracts to obtain
systematic oblique photographic coverage of
the towns of Nancy and Poitiers in France. The
DiMAC OBLiQUE is a special design that has
been developed for Cicade and has not been
commercialized so far.
At the other end of the complexity range, DIMAC
Systems now offers its simplified

camera system [Fig. 6]. This comprises a single camera module which is housed
in a much smaller purpose-built case with a
cylindrical barrel that can be fitted into the
upcoming Somag SSM250 gyro-stabilized
mount, which is designed specifically for use
with small- and medium-format cameras. The
much more compact size of the cylindrical case
is paralleled by a much smaller electronics cabinet, which is called the IT Cube by the DIMAC
Systems company.
Fig. 7 The large indoor

calibration range with its
250 well defined targets,
which is used for the
geometric calibration of
the different DiMAC
camera systems.
The calibration of the camera modules is of

course a vital matter if they images are to be
used for photogrammetric work. For geometric calibration, DIMAC has built a large indoor
calibration range which is housed at the back
of the aircraft hanger in the Cicade facility at
Charleroi Airport [Fig. 7]. It comprises 250 well
defined and very accurately positioned targets, combining a mixture of systematically
and randomly located points. An outdoor test
field with 75 ground control points is also
available locally for in-flight calibration and
accuracy testing. For
,
a separate lab houses a collimator, a suitable
reference light source (using an Ulbricht
Sphere) and appropriate targets. Since North
America is an important market,
is being sought for the camera systems. With this in view, DIMAC Systems manufacturing and calibration facilities will shortly
undergo a thorough inspection by a USGS
team. The DIMAC company is also contributing one of its camera systems for use in the
tests that are being undertaken by the
University of Stuttgart under the EuroSDR certification effort. It is worth noting that,
although the lenses of the camera modules
can readily be interchanged, the module
needs to be shipped to Charleroi or Longmont
for the new lens to be fitted and for re-calibration to be undertaken.
Conclusion
The development of the DiMAC airborne digital camera systems has been quite a fascinating story with the company following its own
highly independent development path. This
has resulted in a range of camera products
with different configurations that have been
built around the modular concept originally
envisaged by Mr. Louis, along with the patented method of implementing FMC. It will be
very interesting to see how this concept will
be developed further in the future.
Gordon Petrie is Emeritus Professor of Topographic
Science in the Dept. of Geographical & Earth Sciences
of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, U.K. E-mail Gordon.Petrie@ges.gla.ac.uk
47
June 2009
Article
Past, Present and Future Importance of Maps explained
Map Production at the National

There are few people that can easily put down a National Geographic magazine once they have opened it.
The maps, stories, and photos of distant places are captivating, bringing a sense of wonder and adventure to
both young and old. In this article, Jim Baumann explains the importance of maps for the
National Geographic Society and how their map production continues.
By Jim Baumann
The latest World map was inserted into the November 2004 National Geographic magazine. Using the Winkel Tripel projection,
this map fulfilled the long-honored purpose of a Society map to be an accurate portrayal of the world and a reliable reference in classrooms,
government chambers, boardrooms, and homes.
Published with permission of the National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS) was

founded in 1888 in Washington, D.C., by 33
explorers and scientists including Alexander
Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, and
explorers John Wesley Powell and A. W. Greeley.
Among its many activities, the society sponsored expeditions to the Arctic by Robert E.
Peary and financed the rediscovery and exploration of Machu Picchu in Peru by Hiram
Bingham III. The NGS's historical mission is "to
increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,"

which in recent years has focused increasingly
on promoting the conservation of the world's
cultural, historical, and natural resources.
Eye-catching graphics have traditionally been a
major part of National Geographic magazine,
starting with the publication in 1889 of its first
photograph, a half-tone photoengraving of a
topographic map of North America, reprinted
from Butler's Complete Geography, an early
48
geography textbook. The photograph accompanied "Topographic Models," an article by field

anthropologist Cosmos Mindeleff that explained
methods of representing relief on maps.
In 1915, a cartographic staff was formed as a
division of NGS. Printing plates for the maps
were originally created by means of a chemical
process that allowed ink to adhere only to
those parts of the image on the plate that were
to be printed. The finished plate was then transJune 2009
Geographic Society
ferred to a continuous rubber blanket for printing on an offset press.
Later, the plates were created by using finetipped tools to scribe lines on Mylar sheets.
Separate sheets were used for each different
layer or theme depicted on the map such as
boundaries, streams, roads, and land use. The
sheets were combined photographically to create color separates for offset printing. Though
time-consuming, this created a superior final
image.
Allen Carroll, executive vice president and chief
cartographer for National Geographic Maps, has
been with NGS for 25 years and remembers the
laborious scribing procedures done by hand.
"We had to make every map pretty much from
scratch, so updating and changing them was a
very difficult and cumbersome process."
The Present
The mapping division first purchased a Scitex
system in an attempt to automate its map production. Says Carroll, "This was a big rudimentary prepress and image processing system that
required its own climate-controlled room."
In the mid-1980s, the division incorporated
ESRI's ArcInfo into its map production process.
Carroll continues, "The implementation of
ArcInfo provided an enormous improvement in
the productivity, utility, and versatility of our cartographic production. In addition, with the
release of tools such as Maplex and other
enhancements found in ArcGIS, we have been
able to replicate our traditional artistic styles
such as curved text placement in crowded locations on a map."
Carroll was instrumental in launching the
National Geographic MapMachine in 1999. This
was NGS's first interactive atlas on the Web.
Observes Carroll, "MapMachine was very successful, and one of the two or three most popular parts of our Web site."
Prior to the publication of the seventh edition
of its Atlas of the World in 1999, NGS implemented its long-awaited GIS-centric workflow
using ESRI software products. In some cases,
satellite imagery and shuttle radar mapping
were used for data collection. This allowed NGS
cartographers to put together a precise and
technically advanced atlas, which was its first
fully digital edition.
Since publication of the eighth edition of the
world atlas in 2004, NGS has developed a

series of seamless global geodatabases, all
sharing the same schema and linked to a common place-names gazetteer, which allows NGS
to produce many maps of varying scale, coverage, and projection from the databases. The
databases support not only the world atlas but
also many other products, projects, and services. In addition, the database can be easily
updated whenever there are changes in the
world that must be included in the atlas or
other NGS publications, allowing these projects
to benefit from the most current information.
The global databases also underpin a number
of special projects for NGS including custom
mapping and licensing agreements. NGS is now
in the process of Web-enabling the atlas for
online viewing.
Currently, NGS is a sponsor of BioBlitz, an annual 24-hour event in which teams of scientists,
volunteers, and community members join forces
to find, identify, and learn about as many local
plant and animal species as possible. The 2008
BioBlitz was held in the Santa Monica
Mountains in Southern California.
Concludes Carroll, "One of the challenges in
society today is interpreting the increasing
amount of information that constantly bombards us. So, rather than helping us make better decisions, the sheer amount of information sometimes causes us to tune it out. We
see maps as storytelling devices. Approaching
them from that point of view editorially is one
of the things, I think, that is distinctive about
the National Geography Society. Through our
maps and other media, we attempt to filter
and interpret information so that we can tell
stories that help the general public develop
a keener perception of the world, which leads
to better understanding and, we hope, a commitment to make our world a better place."
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Jim Baumann jbaumann@esri.com writes about

international GIS-related topics for ESRI.
He has written articles on various aspects of
the computer graphics industry and information
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jas@jena-optronik.de
49
June 2009
Article
Harnessing the Stimulus
Creating the Digital Infrastructure

for a Sustainable Economy
One the important impacts of the economic downturn is a massive increase in infrastructure spending by all levels of
governments which is creating a unique opportunity is take advantage of this moment in history to create a sustainable
infrastructure for energy, water, transportation, communications, and buildings, as the foundation for a new energy
efficient, sustainable world economy. An essential part of this worldwide infrastructure transformation is
creating the digital infrastructure required to operate and manage sustainable infrastructure.
By Geoff Zeiss
In the US the American Society of Civil

Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for American
Infrastructure for 2009 awarded American
roads, bridges, and transit a grade of D. To
put this in context, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHwA) reports that outdated
and substandard road and bridge design,
pavement conditions, and safety features are
factors in 30% of all fatal highway accidents.
The ASCE estimates that motor vehicle crashes cost U.S. citizens $230 billion per year, or
$819 for each resident for medical costs; lost
productivity; travel delay; and workplace,
insurance and legal costs. The ASCE estimates
that a total investment of $2.2 trillion over
five years is required to bring US infrastructure to an acceptable condition.
New Design Technologies
Gendarmenmarkt Berlin in 3D
State of the Worlds Infrastructure

Worldwide there is a growing concern about
the state of infrastructure including roads,
highways, railways, water and wastewater,
pipelines, power, waste, telecommunications,
and other types of infrastructure. In the UK
the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) publishes an annual State of the Nation report covering infrastructure issues. In the US the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has
published a Report Card on American
Infrastructure produced in 2003, 2005, and
2009. In Canada Infrastructure Canada has
produced a review of methodologies for
assessing the state of infrastructure. In Japan

the Japanese Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE)
has assessed Japanese infrastructure. In
Australia, Engineers Australia has published
the 2005 Australian Infrastructure Report Card.
In New Zealand the Ministry of Economic
Development has published an audit of New
Zealand infrastructure (Infrastructure Stocktake: Infrastructure Audit). In South Africa the
South African Institution of Civil Engineering
(SAICE) has published a report card on the
status of South African infrastructure (The
SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South
Africa: 2006).
50
To enable architects, engineers, and owners

and operators of buildings and infrastructure
to address these challenges, architects, designers, and engineers are adopting new technologies. The business drivers for these transformative technology advances are productivity
and efficiency in the entire lifecycle from
design, build, through operate and manage.
Geospatial Enabling
Another important trend in IT in the last five
years is geospatial enabling, which simply
means making applications location aware.
For example, all the major search engines
from Google, Yahoo, and others now incorporate location so that searches almost always
result in an option to view a map using
Google Earth, Google Maps or Yahoo Maps.
Virtually all of the major relational database
management systems including Oracle,
June 2009
Article
Investment in Infrastructure
In Australia the Australian parliament passed a A$42 billion dollar

stimulus package, the Nation Building and Jobs Plan , which includes
A$28.8 billion on infrastructure including schools, housing and roads.
In the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reassured the construction industry that billions of pounds of publicly funded projects such
as the 45 billion Building Schools for the Future project are safe
and will not be reduced to pay for the bailout of the banking sector.
Furthermore, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has
announced plans to fast-track billions of pounds of public spending
on infrastructure projects to give the economy a boost. Mr Darling
is planning to transfer money from planned 2010/2011 budgets to
fund projects now. It is believed that the Government intends to bring
forward projects, estimated to be about 3bn in infrastructure spending, that would specifically boost the construction sector. Of the
3bn, 2bn is earmarked for schools, hospitals and housing and
1bn for transport. In addition, contractors working on major infrastructure projects such as the M25 widening and London 2012
Olympics are being asked to accelerate their programmes.
According to the EWEA the energy committee (ITRE) of the European
Parliament has voted on the Energy Recovery Plan which includes
3.98 billion for energy projects through 2010, including a new power
supergrid.
In other parts of the world the problem is booming infrastructure,
the rapid development of new infrastructure.
According to the
research firm Proleads the value of Gulf construction projects has
been estimated at US$2.4 trillion. The Indian construction sector is
now worth over US$50 billion per annum and it is growing at over
10% annually.
In June 2008 Senator Obama, then the presumptive Democratic candidate for President, made a speech to the US Conference of Mayors
annual meeting in Florida where he talked about "rebuilding
Americas essential but crumbling infrastructure", that the US needs
"to do more, not less," and promised to "launch a National
Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten
years and create nearly two million new jobs." Obama said that
Federal money should be invested in a world-class transit system,
green energy technology, ports, roads, and high-speed rail.
Since becoming President Obama has publically announced that he
is targeting creating 3.5 million jobs through infrastructure spending.
In February of this year President Obama signed the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which includes $111 billion
for infrastructure and science to create a framework for clean and
efficient American energy, to transform [US] economy with science
and technology, and modernize roads, bridges transit, and waterways and includes $30 billion for energy efficiency initiatives including the smart grid and $20 billion for renewable energy and energy
efficiency. It is estimated that every $1 billion invested in infrastructure creates 34,000 jobs.
The 2009 budget released by the Government of Canada includes
an economic stimulus plan called the Economic Action Plan, which
outlines almost C$12 billion in new infrastructure funding. It is intended to create or maintain up to 190,000 jobs for Canadians by the
end of 2010 and provides a total stimulus of 1.9% of the Canadian
GDP this year. In Canada according to the Globe and Mail the total
amount of public and private funding that is expected to flow into
infrastructure projects this year is estimated to be C$61 billion.
MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server now support spatial data types. Architectural and
engineering design applications are now able
to support real world coordinate systems.
The important drivers for integrating geospatial with engineering and architectural design
are local government regulation, for example,
right to light, noise abatement, and view protection, and sustainability objectives such as
maximizing green space, reducing impervious
cover, eliminating heat islands, maximizing
natural lighting, and reducing energy use and
emissions.
also significantly reduce the downstream

costs associated with operation and maintenance. The economy also is having an
effect on the adoption of BIM technology.
As times become more competitive, contractors are leveraging the technology as a differentiator. Historically, economic slowdowns have had a positive impact on
Model-driven Design
Most of the worlds buildings and infrastructure such as roads and highways, power,
water and waste water, telecommunications,
and oil and gas pipeline networks were
designed using CAD desktop applications.
The objective of the traditional CAD
approach to design is a paper drawing, but
increasingly architects and engineers are
adopting a model-driven approach to design
that results in an intelligent representation
of a building, bridge or other structure. In
architectural design this is referred to as
building information modeling or BIM, and
many people in the industry are convinced
that BIM not only reduces the cost of design
and construction for new structures, but can
Building Information Modeling. Courtesy Parsons Brinckerhoff
51
June 2009
Article
Electric Substation in 3D
efficiency and contractors are increasingly

seeing BIM as a way to improve their productivity. Recent surveys have shown that
40% of the ENR top 400 contractors are
using BIM on more than 10% of their work.
BIM also facilitates sustainability analysis
for buildings helping engineers and architects to understand in the early design
phase how the environment will impact
building performance. Accurate predictions
can be made for energy performance, carbon footprint, building code compliance,
operating costs, and construction costs. For
example, a sustainability analysis application can analyze the proposed building
design as a BIM model and provides a baseline report on the proposed buildings net
consumption of fuel, electricity, water, and
other resources. It provides a summary for
the buildings carbon output and, to make
that figure easier to understand, provides
an equivalent in the number of Hummer
automobiles it would take to produce as
much carbon. The types of analysis that can
now be performed digitally include shadows
and reflections, shading design, solar analysis, photovoltaic array sizing and load
matching, lighting design, right-to-light,
acoustic analysis, thermal analysis, and ventilation and airflow.
3D Visualization
Once the preserve of gamers, 3D simulation
technology is now an important tool used by
architects and engineers to experience a
building or other structure during the design
phase, before it is built. 3D simulation relies

on many of the same 3D visualization and
simulation technologies underlying computer
games, and allows architects and engineers
to convey their designs more effectively,
Green Build Utility
52
June 2009
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Article
already exists in precision digital form, in the

form of CAD drawing files, BIM models, utility
and telecommunication network infrastructure
databases, and geospatial data. The objective
is to re-use the precision data that was created when a facility is designed. This involves
integrating precision engineering data to
deliver a precise synthetic environment that
can be used to simulate the inside (utilities,
HVAC systems, furniture, elevators, walls,
doors, windows, and structural details), outside (aerial utilities, full city blocks of 3D
detail, road access), and under (underground
water, wastewater, gas, power, and telecommunications systems) of an urban environment and to make this available in a seamless, easy-to-use, interactive model familiar to
digital gamers that allows the user to visualize and analyze all aspects of the facility,
inside, outside, and underneath.
LandXplorer Urban Utility Network
reduces the risk of major modifications to

built structures, and enables optimization of
buildings and infrastructure for their full lifecycle including operations and maintenance.
3D visualization technology enables stakeholders to experience a building or structure
during the desing phase before it is constructed. It enables integrating building information modeling (BIM) data, scene elements
from multiple applications, real-time sun and
sky, vegetation and simulated people and
vehicles from an integrated content library. It
gives designers an instant, high-fidelity visual
validation reference and allows the addition
of narrative to designs with camera animations and walkthroughs to help communicate
the proposed design to stake holders.
Convergence enables Sustainable

Digital Infrastructure
Convergence refers to the integration of these
key technologies including model driven
design, geospatial enabling, and 3D simulation and provides a high quality visual environment and analytical framework that
enables seamless access to architectural and
engineering design, traditional GIS, new data
sources such as laser scanning and high resolution photogrammetry, and transportation,
utility, and telecommunications network data
inside, outside, and under a facility.
Convergence breaks down the barriers
between architectural design, engineering,
land development, civil engineering, construction, geospatial disciplines, and 3D visualization and simulation technology. Convergence
provides a framework of interoperability
across the lifecycle of building and infrastructure investment involving design, construction, and operation. It also enables seamless
access to architectural, engineering design,
and geospatial data inside, outside, and
under a facility. The data that is required for
a seamless view of an urban environment
Sustainable Design
By creating interoperability between different
disciplines, we are creating a much more
holistic view of the built world that not only
look realistic but offer the depth of information required to do meaningful sustainability
analyses. One discipline that is seeing incredible growth right now is sustainable design,
at a building level or a city level. By being
able to bring people together from different
disciplines and create a seamless digital environment for sustainable design would not
have been possible in the past, when architects, civil engineers, and utility designers had
to work within non-interoperable technology
silos.
This means that these new technologies are
not only changing how we design, build, and
operate and manage buildings and infrastructure, but are enabling the intelligent 3D precision simulation of entire urban environments. The data that is required for a
New York Port Authority
54
June 2009
Article
Utility Design Intelligent
seamless view of an urban environment

already exists in precision digital form, in the
form of CAD drawing files, BIM models, utility
and telecommunication network infrastructure
databases, LIDAR, and traditional GIS data.
Integrating precision engineering data to
deliver a precise synthetic environment that
can be used to simulate the inside (utilities,
HVAC systems, furniture, elevators, walls,
doors, windows, and structural details), outside (aerial utilities, full city blocks of 3D
detail, road access), and under (underground
water, wastewater, gas, power, and telecommunications systems) of an urban environment creates an intelligent model that can be
used for visualization, analysis, and simulation. For example, urban simulation can be
used to analyze the load impact of a new
building on a utility network, how the building will shade the surrounding area at different times of the day and year, how much daylight will be available in interior spaces at
different times of the day and of the year, how
noise from a nearby sports stadium will
impact residents of the building, and how the
building will affect traffic patterns. A 3D simulation of a major urban development before
it is constructed enables citizens to experi-
ence in a much more intuitive way than is now

possible how the development will impact
them; whose view will be obstructed, who will
have less sun, less privacy, and so on. Cities
trying to attract new business are finding that
a 3D model is able to demonstrate in an intuitive manner the advantages of a particular
location in terms of proximity to services such
as transportation networks and hubs, recreation, and educational facilities. Over the
past twenty years many of the worlds largest
cities like the City of Vancouver and engineering firms like Parsons Brinckerhoff have developed 3D models using applications like 3ds
Max, but developing these models has
required sophisticated modeling skills and
experience which are not accessible to smaller municipalities.
The Digital Foundation of Urban

Environments
Technical advances are now making 3D urban
modeling available to a much broader market
including medium to small municipalities. New
software applications for integrating engineering design data, utility, transportation, and
communications networks, traditional GIS
data, and data captured using high resolution
55
photogrammetry and laser scanning are making it possible for a much broader range of
users to create and deploy 3D urban models
to the desktop and across the web.
The integration of model-driven design, and
geospatial technology with 3D simulation
technologies is breaking down traditional
islands of information and technology. The
immediate drivers are the challenges facing
the construction industry especially stagnant
productivity. New technologies including
model-driven design, geospatial-enabling, 3D
simulation are dramatically improving the productivity of the construction industry. And
these technology advances will also impact
other areas benefitting from a cross-disciplinary approach such as urban planning,
urban redevelopment, emergency planning,
and first response.
The coincidence of technical advances and
stimulus spending motivated by the economic downturn has created a unique opportunity to replace crumbling infrastructure in the
developed world and to create new infrastructure in the emerging world. Governments
around the world are already undertaking a
massive investment in infrastructure of capital into infrastructure. There is a unique
opportunity is take advantage of this moment
in history to create a new sustainable infrastructure for energy, water, transportation, communications, and buildings, as the foundation
for a new energy efficient and emissions
reducing world economy. The new technologies that engineers, architects, and designers
are increasingly using to design new infrastructure including geospatial-enabling, modeldriven design, and 3D visualization, provides
the digital foundation for infrastructure modeling of entire urban environments.
Geoff Zeiss, Director of Technology at Autodesk
www.autodesk.com or Geoffs blog
http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial
June 2009
Conference
3rd INSPIRE Conference and Local SDI Conference
GSDI 11 World Conference

The GSDI 11 World Conference takes place in Rotterdam from June 15th to 19th.
This special edition of the yearly conference offers unique opportunities.
The conference is combined with the 3rd INSPIRE Conference and with a
local SDI conference. Over 600 leading SDI experts will meet in
Rotterdam to address how Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) can help
in solving global challenges like climate change.
create a climate-proof and sustainable delta

society. The importance of the conference is
emphasized by the presence of the European
Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez
Potonik, the Dutch minister of Housing,
Spatial Planning and the Environment,
Jacqueline Cramer, and the Mayor of
Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb.
Topics that will be addressed during the conference range from service-oriented architecture to mash-up SDIs, and from voluntary
geographic information to national SDI stories. The last day, Friday June 19th, is special
because hundreds of students will attend the
Rotterdam Geo Youth Capital 2009 event for
a custom-made program. The conference is
held in the World Trade Center in Rotterdam
and offers plenary presentations, interactive
workshops directed at the application and use
of geographic data, side events, sessions for
in-depth discussion about specific topics,
extensive exhibits, and an attractive social
program of cultural and technical tours.
The conference is jointly organized by the
GSDI Association, the Joint Research Centre of
the European Commission, Geonovum, RGI,
EUROGI, TU Delft, and Kadaster. The GSDI
Association is an international association for
geo-professionals that promotes the use of
geographic information and spatial data
infrastructure concepts. The GSDI Association
exchanges knowledge and information on an
annual basis through the GSDI World
Conferences. The Netherlands is host country
for the 11th GSDI World Conference.
Geonovum and RGI are host organizations.
Geonovum and RGI are host organizations.
The complete program of the GSDI 11 World
Conference can be found at www.gsdi.org/gsdi11
he theme of the conference is Spatial Data

Infrastructure Convergence: Building SDI
Bridges to Address Global Challenges. A great
example of building bridges can be found in
the implementation of the European INSPIRE
Directive. Each Member State now has to initiate the process of transposing the Directive
into national law. The progress of INSPIRE

implementation is therefore a major topic of
the conference, as are the national SDI stories of non-European countries. For the
Netherlands, the conference is an excellent
opportunity to share SDI innovations such as
the way the country uses geo-information to
56
June 2009
2009 ESRI
Survey & Engineering
GIS Summit
Building New Opportunities

Enhance your business practices and expand your capabilities with the
technology that is shaping the future of geospatial data management and
analysis. Join other surveyors, engineers, and geographic information system
(GIS) users at the 2009 ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit.
t Further develop your business with GIS.
t Hear from Juliana Blackwell, director of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey (NGS).
t Collaborate with your peers and ESRI staff and business partners.
t Take away important ideas and tools you can implement right away.
July 1114, 2009

San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
Learn more and register at

www.esri.com/segsummit.
Copyright 2009 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI
in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
Column
Licensing on the GeoWeb

OK, love or hate the term GeoWeb it does reflect the reality of our workflows today. We are taking our applications off of the desktop and running them on the web, we are combining data silos right inside the
browser and we are giving tools to that used to be reserved for technicians on UNIX workstations to users via their mouse. It is truly a new
way of working, but I see it running directly in a wall.
does Microsoft. Why does this make sense for Office applications and
not Geospatial software? Now these efforts of course dont replace desktop Microsoft Office and that isnt their mission (well at least Microsofts).
But what do they do is allow users to extend their collaboration further
than the office conference room. Geospatial software is well set up to
take advantage of services. Pay for what you use and spend the savings
on tools that benefit the end users and not tools that youd never need.
Here we are at the tip of the iceberg changing the world but weve got a
chain around our necks limiting our potential. Google and Microsofts
(among others) APIs are sold the same way IBM sold software before
there was the world wide web, large companies can cut great deals,
smaller users are left paying full price because we dont matter. ESRIs
ArcGIS Desktop and Server licensing doesnt reflect how users are using
the applications in the real world (sure, allowing editing on ArcGIS Server
Standard instead of Advanced is a step, but it is just one in a long list of
problems with the licensing model). Arbitrary levels of licensing that have
no real world basis are killing innovation and requiring consumers of the
services to look elsewhere or limit what they can do with technology. Im
not advocating abandoning any of these companies here because there
are great business cases to use their software, but their customers are
not able to leverage their services.
So what do we need here? Google offers their products as SaaS and so
la carte GIS is on its way because customers demand it. GeoWeb applications combine so many different APIs and servers that licensing them
all is way too expensive. For developers to continue delivering products
that clients are willing to pay for, the licensing must change. Expecting
people to pay $40,000 for a Google Maps Mashup because they want
geoprocessing is crazy and wont fly. Thus
if we are to enable data models in our
applications, we need la carte pricing.
James Fee james.fee@rsparch.com is Geospatial Manager at RSP Architects Ltd.

Have a look at his blog www.spatiallyadjusted.com
59
June 2009
Article
Autodesk on saving our Cities

By 2010 its expected that half the worlds population will be living in cities; a trend that is putting phenomenal pressure
on the worlds infrastructure. Consequently, there is an acute need for better ways to address the need to create and
renew infrastructure and to understand and manage it in a more efficient way. New technologies now being used
in the architectural, engineering and construction industry can go a long way to address these
challenges and help cities become more sustainable and effective communities.
By Dominic Jukes
But in the background theres not just the cold

wind of recession, but also the forceful blasts
of several other global trends to contend with
not least, the continuing challenge of climate change and global warming. Theres
also the problem of finding enough workers
with the right qualification
In 2008, the Confederation of British Industry
(CBI) discovered that sixty percent of employers were having diffficulties recruiting graduates for technical positions and evidence
shows that situation is mirrored elsewhere in
Europe and beyond. Its true the financial
situation may encourage more students to
choose to study subjects such as engineering
but it will take time for these to come on
to the market.
Also, theres a distinct lack of investment in
research and development (R&D) in construction compared to other industries.
Expenditures on R&D in construction range
between 0.01 and 0.04 per cent of construction value-add for OECD countries, compared
to 3-4 per cent in manufacturing or 2-3 per
cent for all industries. However, there are
signs that this is changing.
Chaos in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia
ronically, this recession has found us in the

midst of an infrastructure boom. Worldwide,
theres the need to build the infrastructure
such as airports, railways and roads to support rapid industrialisation and urbanisation
in places such as China, India, Saudi Arabia
and Eastern Europe.
In Western Europe, we are all busy replacing
outdated piping networks and other structures, some that have even been there since
the industrial revolution. And in the UK in
particular, there are major initiatives such as
Building Schools for the Future, Crossrail, the
widening of the M25 and last but not least,
the Olympics and the regeneration of parts of
East London.
But as well as these huge one-off projects

theres a general global trend thats making
our cities both larger and denser. In the
West, the population is still migrating to the
suburbs for a better quality of life, abandoning inner cities. However, in general the flow
is towards the cities and by 2010 its expected that half the worlds population will be living in them.
As a consequence of all these factors, infrastructure has been high on the political agenda recently, with Barack Obama pledging hundreds of billions of dollars for public works
to help revitalise the US economy - and the
UK government encouraging the industry to
bring forward regeneration plans.
60
Framework of Interoperability
To enable architects, engineers, construction
firms and owners and operators of buildings
and infrastructure to address these challenges, the industry has been pushing forward
a number of technologies. These include
building information modelling which facilitates the visualisation, simulation and analysis of buildings and infrastructure, geospatial
enabling and the convergence of all the disciplines involved in these sectors.
This provides a framework of interoperability
across the lifecycle of building and infrastructure investment involving design, construction, and operation and enables seamless
access to architectural, engineering design,
June 2009
Article
and geospatial data inside, outside, and

under a facility.
By integrating architectural and engineering
design, geospatial, and aerial and underground infrastructure data in an interactive 3D
visualisation, designers can simulate an entire
urban environment.
In fact, the data that is required for a seamless view of this environment already exists
in precision digital form, in the form of CAD
drawing files, BIM models, utility and telecommunication network infrastructure databases,
and geospatial data. And, the objective now
is to re-use this precision data that is created
when a facility is designed.
This involves integrating precision engineering data to deliver a precise synthetic environment that can be used to simulate the
inside (utilities, HVAC systems, furniture, elevators, walls, doors, windows, and structural
details), outside (aerial utilities, full city blocks
of 3D detail, road access), and under (underground water, wastewater, gas, power, and
telecommunications systems) of an urban
environment. This can be made available via
interactive model that allows the user to visualise and analyse all aspects of the facility.
For example, this type of urban simulation can
be used to analyse the impact of a building
on a utility network, how the building will
shade the surrounding area at different times
of the day and year, how much daylight will
be available in interior spaces at different
times of the day and of the year, how noise
from a nearby sports stadium will impact residents of the building and how the building
will affect traffic patterns.
It can be used to help utilities record and
manage assets and maintenance and,
importantly, involve citizens more closely in
the development of their environments.
Dominic Jukes:
Ironically, this recession has found us in the midst
of an infrastructure boom.
Salzburg
In Europe, Autodesk recently announced that
it is working with Salzburg in Austria as one
of the first pilots in its new Digital Cities
Initiative.
Autodesk will help Salzburg integrate their city
data into a highly detailed 3D model of their
city. This combination of data with realistic
visualisation and simulation tools will allow
those involved to view and interact with the
landscape, as well as analyse the impact of
future urban planning, tourism and economic
development projects before they are built.
Scientific personnel from Salzburg Universitys
Centre for Geoinformation who are also
involved called it: One of the most ambitious, innovation projects worldwide.
It seems that the true potential of digital cities
is immense. Suggested applications include
the measurement of traffic and its flow, an
analysis of energy patterns within a city or
simulation of flooding possibilities. Todays
animation tools enable users to actually get
inside a model using fly throughs and other
methods and see the impact of, say, a new
transport route from different perspectives.
These methods could help secure funding for
regeneration projects or, on a more practical level, help minimise clashes underground
or ensure construction firms avoid locating
buildings where infrastructure is not up to the
job.
Since the Salzburg initiative, Autodesk has
also begun to work with the Incheon Free
Economic Zone and the Incheon Urban
Development Corporation in Korea to create
Asias first digital city and further announcements are expected shortly.
If our cities are to survive and, furthermore,
cope with the intensifying demand on infrastructure something radical needs to be done.
Its evident that that something is already
happening in a number of cities and looks set
to spread.
61

www.autodesk.com
June 2009
Calendar 2009
June
01-02 June EUCI's GIS: Real Business Value
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Tel: + 303 770 8800x270
E-mail: arhodes@euci.com
Internet: www.euci.com
02-05 June ISPRS Hannover Workshop
2009 - High-Resolution Earth Imaging for
Geospatial Information
Hannover, Germany
Tel: +49 511 762 2482
Fax: +49 511 762 2483
E-mail: boettcher@ipi.uni-hannover.de
Internet: www.ipi.uni-hannover.de/
ipi-workshop.html
02-05 June 12th AGILE International
Conference on Geographic Information
Sience - Advances in GIScience
Hannover, Germany
Tel: 511 762 3465
Fax: 0511 762 2780
E-mail: Birgit.Elias@ikg.uni-hannover.de
Internet: www.agile2009.de
03-05 June Insights 09 User Conference
Orlando, Fl, U.S.A.
Internet: www.spatialinsights.com
05-09 June URISA's 2nd GIS in Public
Health Conference
Providence, RI, U.S.A.
Tel: 847 824 63 00
E-mail: wnelson@urisa.org
Internet: www.urisa.org
09-11 June The International Emergency
Management Society TIEMS 16th Annual
Conference
Istanbul, Turkey
Tel: +90 (212) 285 3782
Fax: +90 (212) 285 3782
E-mail: sahin@itu.edu.tr
Internet: www.tiems2009.org
11-12 2009 FME International User
Conference
Whistler, BC, Canada
Tel: 1 604 501 9985
Fax: 1 604 501 9965
E-mail: fmeuc@safe.com
Internet: www.fmeuc.com
14-19 June International Multidisciplinary
Scientific Geo-Conference and Expo - SGEM
Albena sea side and SPA resort, Bulgaria
Tel: 359 2 975 3982
Fax: 359 2 817 24 77
E-mail: sgem@sgem.org
Internet: www.sgem.org
15-18 June Intergraph 2009
Washington, DC, Gaylord National Resort &
Convention Center, U.S.A.
Internet: www.intergraph2009.com
15-19 June 11th GSDI World Conference
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 334 604 100
Fax: +31 (0) 334 656 457
E-mail: a.riedijk@geonovum.nl
Internet: www.gsdi11.nl
17-19 June The British Cartographic Society's
Annual Symposium: Mapping At Work
Newport Pagnell, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 880077
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 880097
E-mail: nikkij@citiesrevealed.com
Internet: www.cartography.org.uk
22 June First Open Source GIS UK
Conference
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Internet: www.opensourcegis.org.uk
22-23 June Berlin Open 2009
Berlin, Germany
E-mail: contact@berlin-open.org
Internet: www.berlin-open.org
22-25 June Sixth International Conference

on Remote Engineering and Virtual
Instrumentation (REV 2009)
Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Internet: www.rev2009bridgeport.org
24-26 June UDMS 2009, 27th Urban Data
Management Symposium
Ljubljana, Slovenija
Internet: www.udms.net
E-mail: info@umds.net
25-29 June MAPPS 2009 Summer
Conference
Brewster, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
E-mail: info@mapps.org
Internet: www.mapps.org
29 June - 10 July 7th Annual Vespucci
Summer Institute on Geographic
Information Science
Florence, Italy
Internet: www.vespucci.org
September
21-22 July Geospatial Analysis and

Intelligence for Homeland Security
Workshop
Arlington, VA, U.S.A
E-mail: cusomerservice@homelanddefensejournal.net
Internet: www.homelanddefense
journal.com
07-09 September The Society of

Cartographers Annual Summer School
Southampton, United Kingdom
Tel: 0208 411 5355
e-mail: steve8@mdx.ac.uk
Internet: www.soc.org.uk/southampton09
27-31 July GeoWeb 2009

Vancouver, Canada
E-mail: chiebert@galdosinc.com
Internet: http://geowebconference.org/
09-12 September 6th International

Symposium on Digital Earth
Beijing, Peoples Republic of China
Internet: www.isde6.org.
28-30 July MultiTemp 2009 - Fifth

International Workshop on the Analysis of
Multi-temporal Remote Sensing Images
Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Internet: http://clear.uconn.edu/
multitemp09/index.html
16-17 September GIS in the Rockies 2009

Loveland, CO, U.S.A.
E-mail: chair@gisintherockies.org
Internet: www.gisintherockies.org
August
02-06 August SPIE Optics + Photonics
2009
San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
E-mail: media@spie.org
Internet: www.spie.org
July
01-03 July 9th Conference on Optical 3-D
Measurement Techniques
Vienna, Austria
Internet:
http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ingeo/optical3d/
04-07 August 10th South East Asian

Survey Conference (SEASC'09)
Bali, Indonesia
E-mail: dkirana@bakosurtanal.go.id
07-09 July GeoSpatial Africa 2009

Johannesburg, South Africa
E-mail: peter@b2bsolutions.co.za
Internet: www.b2bsolutions.co.za/events/
GeospatialAfrica.html
12-14 August 17th International Conference

of Geoinformatics 2009
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.A.
E-mail: info@geoinformatics2009.org
Internet: www.geoinformatics2009.org
07-10 July GeoInformatics Forum Salzburg

(GI_Forum2009)
Salzburg, Austria
E-mail: office@gi-forum.org
Internet: www.gi-forum.org
28-29 August iGEOMAP2009, Urban

Infrastructure and GeoInformatics
Bangalore, India
E-mail: info@igeomap.org
Internet: www.igeomap.org
11-12 July ESRI Homeland Security GIS

Summit
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 2894
E-mail: kshearer@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/hssumit
31 August - 04 September Geodesy for

Planet Earth IAG2009
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Internet: www.iag2009.com.ar
11-14 July ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS

Summit
Tel: +1 909-793-2853, ext. 4347
E-mail: segsummit@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/segsummit
21-23 September ESRI Health GIS

Conference
Nashville, TN, U.S.A
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 3743
E-mail: ctveten@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/healthgis
21-25 September Conference on Spatial
Information Theory (COSIT '09)
Aber Wrac'h, France
E-mail: claramunt@ecole-navale.fr
Internet: www.cosit.info
22-24 September InterGeo 2009
Karlsruhe, Germany
Internet: www.intergeo.de
31-August - 03 September SPIE Europe

Remote Sensing 2009
Berlin, Germany
E-mail: peterb@spie.org
Internet: www.spie.org
11-14 July ESRI Education User Conference

San Diego, CA, U.S.A
Tel: +1 909-793-2853, ext. 3743
E-mail: educ@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/educ
21 September International Workshop on

Presenting Spatial Information: Granularity,
Relevance and Intergration (in cojunction
with COSIT '09)
Aber Wrac'h, France
Tel: +61 3 8344 7875
Fax: +61 3 9347 2916
E-mail: winter@unimelb.edu.au
Internet: www.sfbtr8.spatial-cognition.de/
cosit09-psi
23-27 September International Summer

School for Cultural Heritage Documentation
Mrida, Spain
Tel: + 34 666 278 798
Fax: + 34 924 314 205
E-mail: administracion@gavle.es
Internet: www.doparex.com
Please feel free to e-mail your calendar notices to: calendar@geoinformatics.com
Advertisers Index
12-15 July 2009 ESRI Business GIS Summit

Tel: +1 909-793-2853, ext. 2894
E-mail: kshearer@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/bizsummit
Advertiser
13-17 July 29th ESRI International User

Conference
San Diego, CA, San Diego Convention
Center, U.S.A.
Internet: www.esri.com
Page
Spectra Vision
http://spectraprecision.com
Spot Image
www.spotimage.com
ESRI
www.esri.com
12, 13, 58
Racurs
www.racurs.ru
20, 59
Leica Geosystems AG www.leica-geosystems.com
13-17 July Sommer School and Conference

for Applied Geoinformatics for Society and
Environment AGSE 2009
Stuttgart, Germany
E-mail: agse2009@hft-stuttgart.de
Internet: www.applied-geoinformatics.org
18-21 July Society for Conservation GIS
Annual Conference
Big Bear Lake, CA, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext 4347
E-mail: conference@scgis.org
Internet: www.esri.com/scgis
62
2
8
21
Inpho
www.inpho.de
23
Topcon
www.topcon.eu
27
Magellan
www.magellangps.com
31
Foif
www.foif.com.cn
39
Earth From Space
www.transparentworld.ru/conference 41
SuperGeo
www.supegeo.com.tw
Jena-Optronik
www.jena-optronik.com
49
Sokkia
www.sokkia.net
53
43
Cardinal Systems
www.cardinalsystems.net
55
ITC
www.itc.nl
57
ETH
www.ethz.ch/index_en
61
Trimble
www.trimble.com
63
Safe Software
www.safe.com
64
June 2009
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Geoinformatics 2009-4

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Geoinformatics 2009-4

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4

Magazine for Sur veying, Mapping & GIS Professionals

G Multi-vendor GIS Interview G Sonar Data for Sea Floor Mapping

THE NEW EPOCH 35 GPS/GLONASS

GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis and

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop on building mashups. Having no

Enjoy your reading,

Eric van Rees

From Silos to Open Data Fields

Land-use Mapping in Australia

PCI Geomatics ProLines GeoImaging Server

MobileMapper 6 and LTI Rangefinder

HP expands Portfolio Large Format Printers

Digital Documentation 2009

From Silos to Open Data Fields

Paving the Way for European Spatial Data Infrastructure

Map Production at the National Geographic Society

Avoiding the Overload

ESRI, Bentley and Intergraph on the Todays GIS Industry

Cicade & DIMAC Systems

Avoiding the Overload

a trend that is putting phenomenal pressure on the worlds infrastructure.

to create and renew infrastructure and to understand and manage it in a

showing the 3D model at a larger scale to emphasize its detailed textures.

engineering and construction industry can go a long way to address these

to perform this kind of spatial data integration, overcoming the

interoperability barriers of data types, formats and data models to provide

Figure 1 Multibeam sonar data collected by the

Only small portions of the worlds oceans are

public realm through initiatives like Google

Sonar Mapping Basics

as one of the sensors on an Autonomous

make-up a bathymetric sea floor DEM (see

Users and Uses of Sonar Data

These activities enable waterway navigation,

Whether I need imagery

PEMA2b - Photographer: Jean-Franois Damois

PEMA 2b - Photographer: Jean-Franois Damois - Copyright CNES Distribution Spot Image

Ask us for the Earth

geophysical surveys are used to determine

receiving attributes such as depth values and

Software for Sea Floor Mapping

Satellite Imagery and Property Management

Land-use Mapping in Australia

Property Mapping and Land Management

Widely Shared Database

The SPOT 5 imagery of the State of Queensland has served multiple

Investigation of land-clearing extents, both legal and illegal, on

1. NR&W uses the imagery to support the development of Property Maps

Other uses of SPOT imagery around the state include:

Fig. 2. Property-scale data captured from SPOT 5

Monitoring High-risk Zones

Use Fast, Intuitive Web Maps to Share Your Geographic Knowledge

Belgium and Luxembourg

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Greece and Cyprus

Spatial Imagery Project

strengthen spatial data management skills within regional bodies

Fig. 4. Fitzroy basin

paring different areas at a specific time and

ESRI International User Conference

This is the most value-packed