From Plane Table to

Satellites:

The Changing Role of

Technology in Military

Mapping over 100years Dr Dennis Puniard

Lecturer

Faculty of Business Government and Law

University of Canberra

Major(R), Royal Australian Survey Corps

RA Svy 1915 -1996

Chronology

100 years of Military Mapping

Era Key Activities

1915-18 WWI , Formation of RA Svy Corps ex Engr Corps

1920-1939 Early Australian Mapping

1939-45 WWII - Middle East and the Pacific

1946-1970 Mapping Australia, Vietnam War

1971-1996 Mapping Australia , PNG, Indonesia

1997-2015 RA Svy absorbed into Engr Corps

Retains mapping capacity through 1 Div Topo and AGO

Timor Leste, Iraq, Afganistan

Technology Milestones

100 years of Military Mapping

Era Technology

1915-18 Plane Table, Triangulation Surveys

1920-1939 Field mapping , first air photos(RAAF)

1939-45 Emergency wartime mapping, Australia and the

Pacific (especially PNG)

Aerial photography

1946-1970 Photogrammetry, Start of digital mapping, Electronic

Distance Measuring(EDM) (Tellurometers)

1971-1996 Satellite Positioning (Geoceivers), Automated map

production (AUTOMAP), orthophotos, Geographic

Information Systems, Satellite imagery

1997-2015 RA Svy absorbed into Engr Corps

Retains mapping capacity through 1 Div Topo and AGO

Military GIS, Remote Sensing and image analysis

Technology Milestones

100 years of Military Mapping

Era Field Survey/

Topo Mapping

Cartography Reproduction and

Distribution/Litho

1915-18 Plane Table,

Triangulation Surveys

1920-1939 First Air photos, Photo

mosaics

Mulitplex plotters,

Fair drawing

Early Litho

(outsourced?

1939-45 Emergency mapping,

aerial photogrpahy,

Fair drawing

Large format reproduction

cameras

Lithographic presses

1946-1970 Aerodist,

EDM,

Photogrammetry, Start of

digital mapping

Full litho capability

from cameras to

printing

1971-1996 Geoceivers

GPS

Automap I, II, Parare

GIS, Satellite imagery

Paper and Digital

1997-2015 RA Svy disbanded Military GIS, Remote

Sensing and image analysis

Mostly digital

Early Survey

Technology

Vernier theodolites,

Gunter’s chain

by Bicycle!!

Quinn’s Post - Gallipoli Sketch map

Compass and tape in the field?

World War I per Lt Col Peter Jensen ACT Survey Corps Newsletter 2015

Technical methods were:

trigonometric survey by geodetic triangulation,

topographic survey by plane table,

colour separated fair drawing by ink draughting on linen from the plane table sheets,

lithographic photography print preparation and printing by the Victorian Government Printer supervised by the draughting sub-section.

In the operational areas Intelligence updates were routinely overprinted on the operations maps by the deployed GHQ Printing Section which used hand-powered lithographic presses for printing panoramas, sketch maps and diagrams before the landings and topographical and trench maps afterwards.

Plane Table

Mapping

Plane Table Mapping Display at Military Engineering Museum Holdsworthy NSW

Warrant

Officer Vic

Aldred

and military

trainees

1940 near

Kilcoy Qld

Plane Table field work

required survey marks of

known coordinates

Accurate base lines

(gunter’s chain/steel

band)

and

triangulation with vernier

theodolites

supplemented by

Astronomical observations

Plane table worked on intersection

methods of field survey

Detail points observed from several

survey stations

Large Vernier

Theodolite

used for triangulation

and astro fixes

Engineer corps museum donated to

RA Svy from Indonesian Mapping

Bakosurtanal

Early Trig stations

Australia and

Turkey WWI

Height determination by first order

leveling and aneroid barometers First order level Engineer Museum Holdsworthy

Aerial photography

Those magnificent men in their

flying machines!

Early RAAF Aerial

Photography

1925 onwards Lines(1992) and SME Museum

Air Photos

Box Hill Melbourne

RAAF 1930 Eagle IV Camera and 1990 (RC 10?)

RAAF Air Photo Sydney Mar 1928 No Bridge – no Opera House

Capt Thomas Alexander Vance

1938

Visited many civilian and military mapping organisations in

the United States and Canada,

formed the view that the Australian Survey Corps work

compared very favourably ‘both in accuracy and cost’ to

anything done in North America.

noted the range of knowledge and competence of

Australian Survey Corps personnel was much broader

than their counterparts in North America

Early Photogrammetry

Photo mosaics

and

Multiplex plotters

Mulitiplex Plotters

Multiplex plotters in Bendigo

1950’s

Sale 1 mile

1936

First RA Svy

Map produced

completely

from Aerial

Photography

World War II

The Homeland

Middle East

PNG

Kokoda

Rabaul

Wewak

Australian Mapping

1” to 1 Mile pre War 1939

Coverage in1945

WWII Aerial Photography

Wartime in

Bendigo

1960-1996 Adjutant’s Office

Middle East Mapping 1940

Far

Eastern

Horizon

WWII Engr Museum

Storyboard

Kokoda

1942

Kokoda:100 000 1974

RC10 Photography (Skai Piksa)

Rabaul 1943

1:63 360

Rabaul Photo map 1:30 000

Insert on 1:63 360 Map

17 June 1943 - still under Japanese control

1942 North Australia

PNG

Preparing to

repel the

Japs

1:63 360

Produced 1945

Wewak

13 September

1945

General Adachi

surrenders to

Maj Gen Robertson

COC 6th Australian

Division

Only 11000 jap

soldiers survived out

of 104 000 deployed

Centre for Tourism Research

42

Moem

1:25 000 Feb

1946

Home for

8 Fd Svy Sqn

1975 -1980

Moem 1:25 000 1946

Print Troop Bendigo 1943

Post WWII Australia

Typesetting direct to film New 5 colour printing presses

Post war

1948

mobile

printing

press

Heildelberg

Single

Colour

Printing

Press Now at Engr Museum

R504 1:250 000 series completed

1968 - 56% by RA Svy Corps

Vietnam 1966

Extract From: DET 1ST TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY TROOP

OPERATION ORDER 1/66

3.EXEC a. General outline

NUI DAT is to be co-ordinated by tellurometer measurement

and angle observation from the 1st order point"NOUVEAU

PHARE CAP ST JACQUES" GR 279 428.

In carrying out this task, the reliability of the control point is

to be tested by connexion between three known control

points in the VUNG TAU area and by the introduction into t h

e observed figure of astronomical azimuths.