t magazine for surveying, mapping & gis professionals c · 2018-06-11 · skytech is b3 ack for...

7

www.geoin

forma

tics.com

UAS SPECIALArcheology meets UAS TechnologyCloud-control for DronesSurveying a Mountain Highway with UAS

Magazine for Survey ing, Mapping & GIS Profess iona l s Octob

er/No

vemb

er 20

15 – vo

lume 1

8

© 2015, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. Spectra Precision is a Division of Trimble Navigation Limited. Spectra Precision and the Spectra Precision logo are registered trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited or its subsidiaries. CenterPoint, RangePoint, RTX and StepDrive are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited. Windows Mobile is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation, registered in the United States and/or other countries. Ashtech, the Ashtech logo, Z-Blade and ProMark are trademarks of Ashtech S.A.S. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (2015/06)

SP60The most versatile GNSS solution

Have you ever dreamed of a product that would grow with your needs? The Spectra Precision SP60 is a new generation GNSS receiver offering a high level of !exibility to cover any survey demand from simple post-processing, through UHF or Long Range Bluetooth base and rover systems to sophisticated RTK and RTX rover solutions. Combining the unique all-signals-tracking and processing Z-Blade GNSS-centric technology and L-band capability for satellite-delivered CenterPoint® RTX service, the SP60 GNSS receiver provides the most reliable measurements and the highest possible accuracy under any conditions, anywhere in the world.

SP60 : Simply Versatile

Grow with Your Needs

AMERICAS

Spectra Precision Division10368 Westmoor DriveWestminster, CO 80021, USA

+1-720-587-4700 Phone888-477-7516 (Toll Free in USA)

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Spectra Precision DivisionRue Thomas EdisonZAC de la Fleuriaye - CS 6043344474 Carquefou (Nantes), France

+33 (0)2 28 09 38 00 Phone

ASIA-PACIFIC

Spectra Precision Division Singapore PTE Limited. 80 Marine Parade Road #22-06, Parkway Parade Singapore 449269, Singapore

+65-6348-2212 Phone

FeaturesExtended survey scalabilityNew 240-channel 6G ASICZ-Blade GNSS-centricCenterPoint® RTX capable Internal TRx UHF radioLong Range Bluetooth

Anti-theft protection

Visit www.spectraprecision.com for more information or to "nd your nearest distributor.

GeoInformatics is the leading publication for Geospatial Professionals world-wide. Published in both hardcopy and digital, GeoInformatics provides cover-age, analysis and commentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry. GeoInformatics is published 8 times a year.

Publishing Company:CMedia BV

Editor-in-chief:Eric van Rees [email protected]

Copy Editor:Elaine Eisma

Editor:Remco [email protected]

Contributing Writers:Matteo Luccio, Matthew Wren, Andrea Sangster, Linda Duffy, Huibert-JanLekkerkerk, Faith Clark, Aidan Mercer.

Columnist:Matt Sheehan

Advertising:Yvonne [email protected]

Finance:[email protected]

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

Website:www.geoinformatics.com

Graphic Design:Sander van der [email protected]

ISSN 13870858

© Copyright 2015. GeoInformatics: no material may be reproduced without written permission.

P.O. Box 231 8300 AEEmmeloordThe NetherlandsTel.: +31 (0) 527 619 000 E-mail: [email protected]

GeoInformatics has a collaboration with theCouncil of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE)whereby all individual members of everynational Geodetic association in Europe willreceive the magazine.

As you can see from the cover of this issue, this edition is dedicated to UAS. It was tempting to use the word“drone” instead of UAS, as everyone knows what a drone is, but as UAS (or UAV for that matter) is the term whichis still the most frequently used by professionals, we´ll stick to that. This issue features a number of UAS projectstories, from vendors such as Trimble and Aeryon. UAS data processing in the cloud is the core business ofDronedeploy from San Francisco, who were present at both the Esri UC and Intergeo in Stuttgart, held lastSeptember.

It came as no surprise that UAS would form a major part of the Intergeo event. What started with a spe-cial flight zone for UAS at last year´s event, has now grown into a major part of Intergeo, namelythe “interaerial solutions platform”. This is a cross-industry platform for all topics related tounmanned aircraft systems, combining a joint exhibition area, accompanying forum and dedicat-ed outdoor flight zone. Of course, UAS are perfect exhibition materials (more so than software atleast) and a special area where they can be seen in action is of great interest. Once they becomemore commonplace and lose their novelty value, I guess people will move on to the next new devel-opment – a product can only be hip for a certain amount of time. Timing is everything and Intergeorightly decided that this was the best moment to focus heavily on UAS, as well as next year’s eventwhen the market will most probably have become more professional.

As was to be expected, there were also critical observations from event visitors. Competition may begood for consumers, but maybe there’s a UAS oversupply right now? With so many differentsystems to choose from, comparing them isn´t always easy. A short success story mayclarify a few things. Chinese drone maker DJI is said to be dominating the market now(the company was valued at 8 billion dollars last May). What makes their products sopopular? From a buyer´s perspective, they’re an attractive option: they´re low-cost,easy to use and offer capabilities that competitors may not have. They were also thefirst to manufacture a truly integrated multi-rotor copter and camera, which gave theman advantage over competitors. They´re also known for high-quality products, makingthem the “Apple of the drone world”. Unfortunately the reality of “easy-to-use” oftenbecame synonymous with ‘irresponsible use’ from drone buyers, leading to accidents.

While these systems are popular with consumers, DJI’s latest product releases (displayed atInterDrone in Las Vegas recently) are aimed at more professional users and come with profession-al-grade cameras, resulting in a higher price-tag. They’re not for everyone - not everyone is interest-ed in producing 3D maps or thermal imaging-, but professionalization might just be what the mar-ket needs.

Enjoy your reading,

Eric van Rees Photography: www.bestpictures.nl

The Perfect UAS Edito

rial

October/November 2015

A r t i c l e s

Surveying a Mountain Highway with UAS 6

3D Laser Data for Life 14

Revealing a Buried Historic Fort 18

Maximum Flexibility 20

Addicted to Accuracy 22

Creating Aerial Drone Maps Fast 24

Technology Trends 26

Virtual Reality 28

Creating an Authoritative NSDI 32

B o o k r e v i ew

Essential Earth Imaging for GIS 30

C o l umn

Is new GIS walking before it runs? 41

E v e n t s

Intergeo 2015 34

SkyTech 2016 37

I n t e r v i ew

Imagery as the Foundation of GIS 10

News l e t t e r s

CLGE 38

C a l e n d a r / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x 42

Conte

nt

On the cover:Digital Terrain Map from Western Heritage.

4

See article on page 18

6On a mountain highway project in the Republic ofMacedonia, a Greek company is saving time andmoney by using an unmanned aerial system (UAS)to collect aerial imagery and produce high-value

deliverables.

14The latest intelligence reports on the laser

scanning industry suggest continued levels ofgrowth over the coming years supported by

ever-advancing technology alongside increasedadoption and application. LFM Software havebeen providing open and powerful laser scan-ning software solutions to the industry for the

past seventeen years and have a unique visionfor the future to support this growth.

34The 21st Intergeo was held this year in September.This three-day geospatial event drew 16,500

visitors and featured 545 international exhibitors from 30 nations. A number of product releases from

major exhibitors are covered in this article.

26Don Murray, Co-CEO of Safe Software, discussestrending technology areas that are important forthe company and gives a sneak-preview of the

upcoming release of FME 2016.

37SkyTech is back for 2016, returning to London onthe 27th & 28th January. Now in its second edition

SkyTech is more than doubling in size, featuring 70 exhibitors, 50 speakers and over 3000

attendees.

Article

Article

Article

Event

Event

On a mountain highway project in the Republic of Macedonia, a Greek company is savingtime and money by using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to collect aerial imagery andproduce high-value deliverables.By Matteo Luccio

Surveying a Mountain Highway with UASGe t t i ng A c cu ra t e Re su l t s i n a Rough A rea

6

Article


In the steep canyons of the Republic of Macedonia—a landloc-ked Balkan nation of mountains, lakes and ancient towns—AKTOR ADT, a large international construction company basedin Athens, Greece, is building a highway for the national gover-nment. It will run 28.2 km (17.5 mi) from the village of Demir

Kapija to Smokvica, traversing a natural gorge and crossing theVardar River. The highway will help complete Corridor X, the mostimportant north-south route through the country, which provides aconnection to the region’s modern, multi-national transport network. Due to the area’s very challenging geomorphology—including steepslopes, ravines, rivers, forests and protected areas—the survey pro-ject was designed and is being undertaken with great regard for theenvironmental conditions and protection of the local flora and fauna.

The effort, which began in March 2013 and is projected to continuethrough the end of 2016, requires construction of millions of cubicmeters of earthworks as well as heavy structures. The project includestwo twin tunnels, six bridges (four of which are balanced cantileverbridges), more than 100 culverts, five overpasses, seven underpas-ses, two interchanges, high embankments and deep cuts. As a result,the work requires regular monitoring of the amount of material remo-ved, landslides after heavy rain falls and other such variables, as wellas progress reporting to government ministries.

To conduct the survey, AKTOR ADT has contracted with AVIATOP pc,a company it has collaborated with for many years. AVIATOPdeploys various unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to provide aerialmapping and surveying services for corridor mapping and monito-ring the progress of construction projects. For this project, the firm isusing a Trimble UX5 UAS to fly over the project corridor and collectdata every two months for the entire project timeline. Equipped witha high-resolution camera, the UX5 captures images needed to meas-ure the slope edges of cuts and fills and the surface of the roadway.George Papastamos, a surveying engineer and AVIATOP’s founderand CEO, is the lead on the project.

The ChallengesThe highway’s path snakes through deep gorges, reaching an eleva-tion of about 500 m (1,600 ft) above sea level with a six percentgrade and crossing bridges up to 90 m (300 ft) in height. Followinga river, the gorges’ corridors produce winds with speeds greater than90 km/hr (60 mph). These conditions make aerial surveying verychallenging. “It is a quite large and demanding project,” saidAKTOR ADT Civil Engineer Konstantinos Simou. “Our quantity sur-veys and 3D geometry need to be accurate within a few centimeters.The project’s shape is constantly changing and we are alwayslooking for the most updated information. Anyone who tried to achie-

Trimble UX5

Mrs. Mato Basa, using a Trimble TabletRugged PC as controller for the UAS.

ve this with conventional methods [e.g. land surveying] would realizethat monitoring a project of this scale is expensive. However, usingUAS we manage to have a full view of the activities and the progressin near real-time.”

According to Papastamos, the most challenging part of the project isthe very rough surface and mountainous area through which the cor-ridor passes. “This is very dangerous even for the aircraft itself,” hesaid. “The big differences in ground elevation can cause turbulenceanytime, and the narrow passages make the landing procedureextremely difficult. Additionally, the limited line-of-sight minimizes therange of the radio link (loss of radio communications can initiate thefail-safe procedure, which automatically directs the aircraft to returnimmediately to its designated landing site). Finally, there’s the chal-lenge of keeping the image resolution relatively homogeneous whilebeing productive.”

In spite of the challenges, AVIATOP has been able to conduct theUAS aerial survey by closely monitoring wind conditions and careful-ly choosing takeoff and landing zones—thanks to the UX5’s remarka-ble performance.

The First Five FlightsThe corridor’s edges are up to 400 m (1,300 ft) higher than its centerand some of the cut slopes are more than 100 m (330 ft) high. Inorder to clear the tops of the hills along the project’s path,Papastamos flies the UAS just above the edges, which yields aground sample distance (GSD) of around 12.8 cm (5 in).

Due to the flight’s elevation and the corridor’s length, each surveyrequires at least six flights, and Papastamos needs to find a suitablelanding area for each one. Therefore, each aerial survey takes two to

three days, with each flight lasting 30 to 40 minutes. So far, AVIA-TOP has conducted five flights and captured roughly 2,050 images.

The very rough terrain also requires densely-spaced ground controlpoints (GCPs). Papastamos sets them every 250 m (820 ft) on eachside of the flight area, for a total of about 150 points. He sets up hisGCPs using Trimble R6 and R8 GNSS receivers and re-uses them,except in those very few cases when the benchmarks are destroyedby the progress of the project. In areas with sharp elevation differen-ces, he installs as many as needed to produce a correct model. Hesets the camera’s shutter speed to somewhere between 1,600 and3,200, depending on the lighting conditions, with an 80-percent for-ward and side overlap.

The DeliverablesProject deliverables include georeferenced orthophotos of the pro-ject, aerial videos, a 3D surface model, profile sections, quantity sur-veys, horizontal plans and virtual reality videos. To produce therequired information, AVIATOP uses the collected point cloud dataand break lines, as well as situation maps of areas where materialcan be deposited, and locations of planned access roads and streamor utility diversions. The firm also produces situation maps to docu-ment landslides after heavy rains and show break lines, boundaries,top and bottom banks, crests, houses, structures, volumes and otherfeatures.

It typically takes Papastamos about ten days to post process the datausing Agisoft PhotoScan and create the required deliverables. Fromthe 3D models, he makes volumetric calculations. The survey so farshows that AKTOR ADT has been removing about 500,000 cubicmeters (650,000 cubic yards) of dirt every month.


The project includes two twin tunnels, six bridges (four of which are balanced cantilever bridges), more than 100 culverts, five overpasses, seven underpasses, two interchanges, high embankments and deep cuts.

7

Advantages of Using UASThe new highway is not visible from the existing roadway, Simou explai-ned, so people driving by do not realize the progress being made onthis big investment of their tax money. “Using the UAS, we are able todocument the progress of our project month-by-month with photo-graphs,” he said. “The virtual reality videos we produce and publish viathe local media have greatly helped to inform the public that the projectis progressing and their money is not wasted.”

In addition, the UX5 has significantly expedited the surveying of areasindirectly involved with the project—such as streams, rivers, ditches forlarge irrigation areas, dumping and depositing areas and access roads.This would typically be very expensive and time consuming to documentby conventional methods. “It is also very helpful that whenever we needto measure, evaluate or investigate the project further, we can do it fromour laptops, without spending time and effort to conduct a site visit,”Simou added.

Lessons Learned“This project taught us how to optimize the installation of benchmarksto get accurate results in such a rough area,” says Papastamos. “Italso taught us how to land the aircraft in very narrow and difficultareas and to pay close attention to weather and lighting conditions.The project area is very rugged and varied terrain is a good school.We are doing several other projects like this one. However, becausewe have been working on this one from day one, it is our guide.”

Simou explained that by providing clarity and transparency, the UASsurvey enabled AKTOR ADT to reinforce the trust and the confidenceof all the stakeholders and the public. It also saved time for the com-pany’s top managers, because the videos minimized their need tovisit the project in person. “From my experience, I estimate that aUAS survey is at least three times cheaper than a conventional surveyand eight to ten times faster for large-scale projects,” he said. “Inaddition, we are getting all the other products—orthophotos, a dense

3D model, videos, and virtual reality—as wellas the ability to zoom in on any area and getdetails up to a 1-2 cm resolution.”

Given that the project requires repeating theUAS survey every two months until completion,that’s a lot of savings.

For more information, have a look at: www.trimble.com.

Article


Aerial image of the project area.

8

3D surface model image

FINALLY, A MAP THAT UNDERSTANDS YOU

INTRODUCING THE HEXAGON SMART M.APP®

Hexagon Smart M.Apps are streamlined and lightweight market applications that solve unique business problems. Each Hexagon Smart M.App combines multi-source content, sophisticated analytics, and tailored workflows, fused together into a dynamic user experience.

Launching:

© 2015 Hexagon AB and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved.

REGISTER!hxgnlive.com

[email protected]

hexagongeospatial.com/smartmapp

Imagery has become a fundamental part of the ArcGIS platform, offering foundation lay-ers of GIS and changing the appearance of maps. Lawrie Jordan, Director of Imagery andRemote Sensing at Esri, discusses the past and future of imagery and GIS.By Eric van Rees

Imagery as the Foundation of GIS

From software vendor toplatform technology providerLawrie Jordan is theDirector of Imagery andRemote Sensing at Esri. Asa member of the corporateteam, he plays a key role inestablishing the company'sfuture strategy and visionfor how Esri users can utili-ze imagery successfully.Over the years, he has wit-nessed a transformationwithin Esri, whereby theyevolved from being a majorsoftware vendor to beco-ming a platform technologyprovider, with imagery con-tent playing an importantpart in what they offer.Jordan explains how thistransformation has takenplace: “In the early versionsof the technology, Esrioffered a very diverse set ofsoftware products that, col-lectively, were part of a'System of Record'. We'veevolved that forward into anew vision and a newarchitecture, where the Arc -GIS system is now a Web -GIS platform, with a geo-information model at itscenter, accessing dynamic,distributed services throughWebApps. This platform is really an ecosys-tem of relationships that connect to a numberof things, one of which is content. Part of theArcGIS platform is ArcGIS Online, whichincludes massive imagery and map content.Content is very important to our users, as itenables them to start their projects immedia-

tely. The bigger picture here is that WebGIShas become a 'System of Engagement', brin-ging together many different constituents.”

Imagery and GISArcGIS Online is now one of the largest, ifnot the largest online collection of digital

maps in the world, andima gery is a key part ofthat offering as well:“Imagery is a fundamentalelement of GIS. It's wherethe foundation layers ofGIS originate from: terrain,elevation, roads, buildings,rivers, cultural features,even subsurface featureslike geology and soil are alleither directly or indirectlyderived from imagery andimage processing technolo-gy. You can think of image-ry as the foundation ofGIS.”

He continues by stating thatall of the new sources ofimagery in the form of obli-que imagery, mini andmicro imaging satellites,panoramic street-view ima-gery, 3D technology anddrones etc. are all movingimagery forward to beco-me the new face of GIS:“Imagery is now changingthe nature of what a maplooks like. The map of thefuture is really not at all likethe map of the past. Themap of the future is rapidlyrevealing itself as a photo-realistic, 3D intelligentimage that we can flythrough, interrogate, analy-

ze, and at some point soon have with us allthe time as part of a wearable app. “

The necessity of fresh imagery contentThe availability of more imagery has led to alarger demand for updated information,which in itself is a driver for acquiring more

The Chang ing Image o f Mapp ing

10

Inte

rvie

w


Lawrie Jordan

imagery. Jordan explains: “Refresh ratesare really important. Dynamic imagery andimagery-derived information products areaccelerating the value of GIS significantly.This provides GIS users with not only situ-ational awareness, but also current insightinto how the world works, how the naturalsystems behave, and how we can worktowards protecting them. Further, it allowsus to model these natural systems and pre-dict what they are likely to look like in thefuture. The on-the-fly image processing capa-bilities within the ArcGIS platform are a keypart of enabling this understanding.”

Imagery types and toolsFor people interested in historical imagery,Esri offers Landsat data going back overforty years, and will soon release historicalUSGS maps & imagery going back severaldecades. Esri, in cooperation with theUSGS’ EROS Data Center and AmazonWeb Services, is also introducing all of thenew Landsat 8 data as dynamic image servi-ces on a daily basis: “As Landsat 8 circlesthe globe, it collects a few hundred scenes aday. These are captured and managed byArcGIS and then posted online the next day,so it's very fresh imagery.” Recently, Esriand Leica/Hexagon have teamed up tomake high resolution (30cm) imagery avai-lable for the U.S. and other selected areasthrough the Hexagon Imagery Program inArcGIS Online.

Another type of imagery that Esri hasrecently introduced support for is scientificdata in several different formats. These for-mats include NetCDF, HDF and GRIB,which are multi-temporal formats used forscientific data including climate and oceantemperatures. Jordan explains that there isa very active collaboration between Esriand the science community and this is anexample of Esri bringing GIS to the remotesensing world: “Scientific data sources giveus frequent time slices throughout the day ofbroad area coverage, including continentalscale data. We’re providing a new set ofdynamic image services based on NASA’sGLDAS data sets that give the GIS commu-nity unique time-lapse views of precipita-tion, evapotranspiration, soil moisture,runoff, and snowpack. These services con-sist mostly of lower resolution, broad areacoverage imagery, but this information isevery bit as important as other hi-resolutiondata and it's all a fundamental element ofGIS.”

Not only has content become a central partof the ArcGIS platform, but also over 100new tools and WebApps for working withimagery are now a key part of Esri’s evol-ving WebGIS. This is something that GISusers have been asking for, and we are deli-vering, says Jordan: “Now, the imagerytools are thoroughly populated throughoutthe entire GIS platform at every level, evenon phones and mobile devices, up anddown the entire stack. It's a seamless integ-ration and the information products thatcome out of the image processing tools areautomatically GIS layers. This is really thepower of having an architecture like theArcGIS platform and WebGIS which allowsus to do that. “

PartnersEsri has over two thousand business part-ners, and a large number of these partnersare in the imagery space. These imagerypartners are both content and software pro-viders who add capabilities and servicesthat may be beyond the scope of in-houseresources at Esri. Jordan explains why part-ners are key: “Partners are fundamental toour success, extending our platform andadding value. One of our key strategic part-ners is a company that was formerly knownas Exelis VIS, now part of Harris Cor -poration. They are very strong in hyper-spectral and LiDAR analysis tools. We alsohave good partners at BAE Systems whobuilt the SOCET SET package. That's a veryrigorous photogrammetric package. PCI isanother good partner who has their GXLproduct for massively scalable cloud proces-sing of imagery. The PCI software also sup-ports a large number of imaging sensors.”

One imagery provider that Esri is recentlyworking with is EarthCast, who offers amotion video stream from space. Thenthere´s Skybox Imaging, as well asPlanetLabs, who have recently acquiredRapidEye. “We're collaborating with allthese companies to provide fresh imagery ofdifferent spatial, spectral, and temporalresolutions and coverages. This is reallybringing the surface of the earth to life andis setting the stage for our 'Living Atlas' ofmaps in ArcGIS Online to further evolve andbecome 'The Living Planet'. We will soon beable to map, measure, and monitor everyt-hing on the surface of the earth that movesor changes. It's a very compelling concept,all managed in the cloud and readily availa-ble online. This integration of dynamic multi-

source imagery and maps will revolutionizegeography.”

Drones and GISThe next logical step for Esri is to create anew app specifically for drones. The com-pany recently announced and demoed adrone app during the Esri UC in July,showing how drone data can be loaded intoArcGIS in order to create high-resolution 3Dimagery. The idea behind this is to createsimple solutions that allow GIS users to getall the benefits from UAS without having tobecome photogrammetrists, says Jordan:“Simplicity and speed will be key to the suc-cess of drone apps. That´s why we havesome new one-button photogrammetry toolsthat will seamlessly take a UAS collectionand very quickly put it into a mosaic dataset,generate a Digital Surface Model (DSM), doortho-rectified maps, and also do essentiallya 3D point cloud.”

Evolving new technologiesDiscussing the Esri imagery available at dif-ferent scale levels for end users, Jordan sta-tes that the strength of a having a robustplatform is that it is scale-independent, withArcGIS Online, for example, offering mil-lions of maps available at every possiblescale. Now that Esri is moving into 3D, itcomes with a new language of scale calledLOD (which stands for Level of Detail). Thereare currently four popular and recognizedLOD’s: Level of Detail One consists of justblock buildings; Level Two consists of blockbuildings with accurate roofs: Level Three ismade of photo-realistic texture rendered buil-dings with windows and doors; LOD Fouruses terrestrial LiDAR and goes inside thebuilding like a BIM model with the samelevel of detail.

Esri is evolving these new technologies now,with 3D and remotely-sensed imagery emer-ging as natural partners: “Now we have atrue 3D architecture and because it's time-enabled, it’s actually in 4D and beyond that.You’ll see these new remote sensors collectinformation which will empower this level ofdetail and bring this 3D vision to life.” Thisvision extends beyond making a pretty pictu-re that looks like a nice 3D model. There isa growing realization that some problemscan only be understood, analyzed, and sol-ved in 3D; and therefore 3D analytics beco-me very important to GIS: “That to me is theinteresting part of some of the analytics thatwe do; it is about deriving meaningful infor-

11


mation to solve a problem, such as findingthe best place to put a solar roof in a densecity, or where to construct a power plant soit doesn’t obstruct the view from an historicsite.” This is one of the more powerfulaspects of Web Scenes and WebGIS.

Discussing these evolving technologies, it´seasy to forget there´s more to it than justtechnology and content: “It’s about integra-ting not only data and content, informationand analytics, but also integrating organiza-

tions and people by breaking down the bar-riers between the work groups and stovepi-pe systems, so that people are allowed tocollaborate using a common shared geo -graphic understanding. WebGIS reallybrings people together. It is available nowon all these devices, phones and tablets, wit-hin connected and disconnected environ-ments. WebGIS is a very interoperable sys-tem and it’s advancing the science ofgeography. What was once a complicatedenvironment has been made simple and

easy to understand. It’s changing society aswe speak, awakening the world to the bene-fits of applying geography everywhere.”

For more information, have a look at: www.esri.com.

12

Inte

rvie

w

“Imagery is a fundamental element of GIS. It's where the foundation layers of GIS originate from: terrain, elevation, roads,

buildings, rivers, cultural features, even subsurface features like geology and soil are all either directly or indirectly derived

from imagery and image processing technology. You can think of imagery as the foundation of GIS.”

[email protected] l www.datem.com +1 907.522.3681 l 800.770.3681Anchorage, Alaska, USA

3D STEREO MAPPING SOLUTIONS

www.riegl.com

RIEGL LMS GmbH, Austria | RIEGL USA Inc. | RIEGL Japan Ltd. | RIEGL China Ltd.

Stay connected with RIEGL

The High-Performance RIEGL VZ-400i: Redefining Productivity!

NEW

RIEGL's proven VZ-400 ultra-versatile 3D Laser Scanner – now even better and 3x faster! It is the evolution of laser scan engine technology based on its new, innovative processing architecture. With this advanced processing technology, data acquisition and simultaneous geo-referencing, filtering and analysis become real-time. The new VZ-400i is the fastest end-to-end Terrestrial Laser Scanning System on the market, setting the benchmark in 3D Laser Scanning, again!

1.2 MHz laser pulse repetition rate | 800 m range | 5 mm accuracy | real-time registration | user friendlytouchscreen interface | MEMS IMU for pose estimation | advanced flexibility through support for externalperipherals and accessories | high end camera option

RIEGL VZ-400i

» Ultra High Speed Data Acquisition

» Survey-Grade Accuracy

» Extremely Robust & Reliable

» Real-Time Registration & Processing

» Cloud Connectivity via Wi-Fi and 4G LTE

3D Laser Scanner

The latest intelligence reports on the laser scanning industry suggest continued levels ofgrowth over the coming years supported by ever-advancing technology alongside incre-ased adoption and application. LFM Software have been providing open and powerfullaser scanning software solutions to the industry for the past seventeen years andhave a unique vision for the future to support this growth.By Matthew Wren

3D Laser Data for Life

The history of photography has takenus from a costly, cumbersome ‘one-off’ process for special occasions inour lives, through the digital revolu-tion to where images are pervasive;

they are not only part of our daily lives, theycapture almost every aspect of our lives. Thelaser scanning revolution has followed a simi-lar, if much more rapid, progression. But, eventoday, scanning is still regarded as a specialevent for a particular purpose, like ‘taking aphotograph’. So where do we go from here?

With continuing advances in technologyand increased accessibility, scanning willinevitably become more universal, but befo-re we consider the next step it is important to

understand the challenge ahead. Laser scan-ning initially solved a problem in automatingthe surveying process and greatly facilitatingthe processes of change. But this presents anew set of problems in how to manage eng-ineering change and the ‘big data’ thataccompanies it, and how to maintain trust inthe information that scanning provides. LFMis leading the way to solve these challengeswith what is perhaps a surprising approach- to scan more, not less. LFM’s vision is tocontinually capture an asset and deliver aTrusted Living Pointcloud that always reflectsthe current true state of the physical asset.

But what is the driver for this? After all, assetssuch as buildings, chemical refineries, air-

ports or power stations do not change likepeople do, so surely one scan should be suffi-cient? The answer, of course, is that theseassets do change; continually and often quiteextensively. Equipment degrades, facilitiesexpand or are repurposed, items arereplaced and upgraded; ultimately almostevery asset comes to the end of its life and isdemolished. The biggest challenge in the lifecycle management of today’s assets is mana-ging their sheer complexity in the face of suchcontinual change. For over fifteen years in thelaser scanning industry, LFM have witnessedthis ongoing challenge, working with sur-veying professionals, engineers, constructioncompanies and asset owners the world overas they utilise hundreds of thousands of scans

LFM i n t r odu ce s t he T ru s t ed L i v i ng Po i n t C l oud

14


Data Fusion. A recent scan of the Eaton training facility in Houston which was scanned using Dot Product, FARO, Leica, Trimble and Z+F scanners. Each colour represents data captured from a different scanner demonstrating data fusion in a single dataset.

Article

and the trusted information that stems fromeach project. And this involves far more thanjust the visual information obtained from laserscanning; every asset has an incredible volu-me of construction and operational informa-tion.

The Digital Asset approachContinual modifications exacerbate the infor-mation management challenge; you have tokeep your information assets in step with thestate of your physical assets as they continu-ally change. This leads us to the concept ofthe Digital Asset, an information ‘mirrorimage’ of the physical asset. To be useful, theDigital Asset must be like our own mirrorimage, reflecting the true current state of itsphysical counterpart. It is created by the useof data-agnostic information mana gementtechnology that aggregates and brings struc-ture and context to all types of informationfrom many different sources. Changes to thesource data are immediately published to,and validated by, the technology.

Laser scanning fulfils an important role wit-hin the Digital Asset by acting as the ‘3Dglue’ that connects and presents all of thisdata in a visual, true-to-life representation.Particularly so, given the extraordinarilyhigh quality of scan rendering available.Many years ago LFM pioneered theBubbleView, a game-changing advancewhich combined the accuracy of the familiar3D point cloud with photorealistic rende-ring, made possible by innovative technolo-gies that can process unlimited sizes ofdatasets quickly and efficiently. Building onthese advances, LFM more recently introdu-ced the HyperBubble which enables users to‘step out of the bubble’ into a completeimmersive rendering, enabling them to flyaround an entire ‘virtual asset’, instead ofbeing restricted to the viewpoints of the indi-vidual scans.

There has never been such a range of choi-ce in task-optimised tools for 3D visualisa-tion of an in-service asset. Allied to this

advance in software capabilities has beensustained progress by the hardware vendorsin making scanners smaller, cheaper, easierto use and more versatile. In fact, a primarydriver for the HyperBubble is the need forthe same high-quality visualisation of mobileand handheld laser scan data as offered viathe BubbleView on static scan data.

LFM have always promoted an open appro-ach to taking in scan data to enable thefusion of various scan formats into a singledataset. By exploiting mobile and handheldscan data alongside existing scans in a pro-ject, users can quickly update any part of anasset from a local scan without having to re-scan the entire facility. And it is these recentadvances in hardware and software whichreally set the stage for the Trusted LivingPointcloud.

The Trusted Living PointcloudAimed squarely at customer demand, LFM’svision is that, instead of using laser scans asone-off ‘3D snapshots’ to carry out specificmodification projects, after which the data isdiscarded, scans should become an intrinsicand important part of the living DigitalAsset. An asset operator should be able tohave a complete, accurate, finely detailedand navigable 3D view of the completeasset, easily updated whenever a change ismade and accessed by powerful, intelligentand intuitive software.

Adoption of this vision will promote furthergrowth in the data capture industry by mee-ting a very real and widely expressed desireamong asset owners to operate more effi-ciently and safely by providing greatlyimproved access to critical information.

The potential benefits are obvious. Whenplanning, say, a major asset modification,the owner and contractor can have the dataavailable to perform a virtual walk-throughof the area involved, a particularly valuablecapability when the physical asset may beon the other side of the world in a hostileenvironment. Once the project is approved,the contractor can be issued with the rele-vant portion of the laser dataset for use wit-hin their design system to create accuratenew design and generate demolition dra-wings. And once the new piping, structureand equipment are installed, the fusion ofexisting and new data captured from anydevices will enable a re-scan of the area tobe accurately registered into the laser scan

15


A recent project to scan Eaton’s training facility in Houston.

LFM NetView 4.0 allows users to take data offline with remote,tablet access for on-site inspection and maintenance tasks.

project as part of the documentation pro-cess, mirroring the physical asset and thusbreathing life into the laser scans.

Such high-quality laser data has other usesas well. Intelligence can be added to pro-jects in the form of hotspots which can beapplied to selected objects in the laser data,either manually or by importing existing 1D,2D or 3D asset information. This processidentifies the objects by their tag identifierand links them to all related information inthe Digital Asset. This can avoid the need tocreate an intelligent as-operating model byreverse engineering a laser scan into a 3DCAD design, something which is prevalentin the industry today as part of asset lifecycle management strategies but which maybe disproportionately costly in some cases.The value proposition of the Trusted LivingPointcloud is that it facilitates ‘on-demand’modelling as and when needed, and is com-plementary to intelligent 3D scan data.

Information qualitySo far, I have described the ‘living’aspect of the Trusted LivingPointcloud; what about the ‘trusted’bit? Evidently, asset managementmust be based on reliable and com-plete information, whatever its type.Within the context of laser scanning,the basis of reliable information is ini-tially in data capture accuracy to ens-ure that what you see really is whatyou’ve got. Enabling skilled surveyorswith powerful tools to complementexisting work processes and deliverrobust quality analysis delivers thefoundation for the Trusted LivingPointcloud. Almost invariably, a laserscan of an in-service asset will proveto have a great many discrepancieswith the 3D design model that it wascreated from – if indeed there is one.Many assets pre-date the 3D CADrevolution and it is common to findthat 2D drawings bear only passingresemblance to an asset with decadesof accumulated modifications. Laserdata therefore becomes an essentialtool in establishing a 3D representa-tion of the plant that you can trust, andcontinue to trust as it changes overtime.

This is where we introduce a furthercomponent of the Trusted LivingPointcloud: time, the fourth dimension.At the start of this article I mentioned

that laser scanning solved one problem butcreated more challenges with increases incapabilities and ‘big data’. LFM are essential-ly proposing the use of more scanning toupdate a laser scan project in the same waythat you would update a drawing or datas-heet. In doing this however, we are creatingadditional information to manage. The demo-lition of data, whereby points are ‘hidden’from view and removed from any potentialclashes with CAD data, has been availablefor a number of years, but now by adding‘new’ scans into an existing project we canprovide the ability to actually view the evolu-tion of an asset. Currently, this ‘time machine’is undertaken as a work process and it is anarea in which LFM are focused on deliveringincreased functionality to access not only thevisual changes but date-related operationalinformation and change history.

The ‘big data’ issue is not a concern usingLFM technology, as it has always supported

the handling of unlimited sizes of datasetswithout loss of data quality or any infringe-ment on consumption. Many solutions selec-tively ‘thin out’ laser data to bring the datas-ets down to more manageable sizes, withthe result that much valuable information canbe lost. By avoiding the need for this, LFMsolutions retain the full information value of ascan; why throw away something that youhave paid for?

UsabilityEvidently, the tremendous power offered bylaser scanning technologies must be madereadily accessible and easy to use. Animportant requirement for creating andsustaining the Trusted Living Pointcloud isthat it should be both hardware and soft-ware independent, enabling the widest pos-sible choice of data capture devices andbroadest consumption applications availa-ble. Interoperability has always been a cor-nerstone of LFM’s technology development.

Equally important, the Digital Asset must beeasy to share and access across an entireenterprise, even where it is globally distribu-ted. Here, web-enabled technology achievesthis, while the rapidly developing Cloud ismaking it even easier to share informationassets.

Creating new capabilitiesCapital-intensive industries are thus presen-ted with a step increase in their ability toexploit laser scanning. LFM’s vision of theTrusted Living Pointcloud is taking laser scan-ning into a new era where the industry movebeyond simply ‘taking photographs’. By pro-viding surveyors, asset owners and contrac-tors with revolutionary technology, LFM arepromoting greatly improved collaborationand more efficient working practices to cap-ture and confidently consume intelligent,living, information-rich assets that are thecornerstone of successful construction andoperations.

For more information, have a look at: www.aveva.com.

16


LFM software allows users to ‘demolish’ areas of point cloud data. Removing itfrom visual and clash checking without permanently deleting it allowing laser scan

projects to be kept up to date with an asset.

Article

Western Heritage Services was founded in 1990 to serve the growing need for spe-cialized heritage services. Today, Western Heritage is a premier provider of heritageservices in Canada and around the world. They revealed a buried historic fort throughan image resolution from an Aeryon Scout sUAS.By Andrea Sangster

Revealing a Buried Historic Fort

The image of archaeology that per-sists in the public mind is of studentsand professors on their hands andknees painstakingly brushing dirtfrom buried artifacts. But while such

manual activities remain essential, archaeolo-gy has been revolutionized by technology.Today, a single scientist using ground-penetra-ting radar, magnetometry, or soil analysis cangenerate vast quantities of data about whatlies beneath the surface.

Getting a clear picture of the surface itself,however, remains a challenge. For manyyears, the only way to obtain a detailed mapof the surface in a timely manner has been tohire a qualified pilot to fly over the site andtake photographs. This method for collectingimages tends to be expensive and yields reso-lutions of only about 4 in. (10 cm), which typi-cally isn’t detailed enough for smaller, more

recent sites, where archaeologists are facedwith much subtler variations in surface featuresand elevations.

To obtain an aerial map of the relatively remo-te Original Humboldt site (a strategic outpostof the Canadian military during the NorthwestRebellion of 1885, shown in Figure 1), WesternHeritage (1) faced the prospect of hiring apilot to fly an airplane from Alberta intoSaskatchewan and take photographs of anarea much larger than the site itself. With fun-ding available for only one week of work onthe site each year, Western Heritage had toforego aerial mapping and rely on existing,much less detailed ground-based surveys to tryand identify where excavations could yield thebest results.

Then, at an archaeology conference in 2011,Carmen Finnigan, Western Heri ta ge's remotesensing scientist, listened with increasing exci-tement to a presentation about the recent bre-akthroughs in surface mapping provided bysmall unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). She

learned that UAS can provide aerial photo-graphs and a digital terrain map in as little asa few hours, and at a lower operational costthan traditional methods.

RequirementsIn 2013, Western Heritage approached LesKlein, President of Civil Works Consulting,with its requirements. Civil Works Con sul tingInc. provides aerial imagery (using the AeryonScout) and construction services for its clients,so Klein had the knowledge and expertise tocapture the required images and data.

Western Heritage needed a UAS that could:• Be transported easily and inexpensively to a

remote site;• Be safely and efficiently operated without

requiring the experience and training of acommercial pilot;

• Provide a stable platform for an aerial came-ra in the high winds of the Saskatchewanprairie;

• Accurately, repeatedly, and autonomouslyfollow a survey grid;

Ar cheo l ogy mee t s UAS Te chno l ogy


Article

Figure 1: Aeryon Scout at Original Humboldt

Figure 2: The Scout sUAS.

18

Figure 3: With the live feed from the GoPro camera displayed on the Scout's control tablet, the archaeologists were able to see the aerial view.

• Operate at an altitude of 164 ft. (50 m);• Capture thousands of images in a few

hours;• Take photographs with a ground resolution

of at least 4 in. (10 cm) and an overlap of60 percent to ensure the accuracy of the 2Dand 3D outputs;

• Provide the data required to create a digitalterrain map with sub-meter vertical elevationaccuracy and sub-meter horizontal posting(the distance between each elevation meas-urement).

The SolutionIn August 2013, Klein drove to Humboldt,Saskatchewan, the city closest to the OriginalHumboldt site, with the Aeryon Scout sUASand all of its components packed in its case inhis truck. Upon arrival at the site, he neededonly a few minutes to set up the Scout sUASand its base station, and create the flight plan.After two hours of data capture, the windexceeded 25 mph (40 kph) and the gustsbecame too strong to operate safely.

During the five hour flight on the second day(wind speeds were approximately 15 mph(24 kph), the Scout followed a tight grid pat-tern across the site, taking photographs withthe Aeryon Photo3S camera payload. TheScout automatically returned to base for freshbatteries every 20 minutes, each time resu-ming its flight plan exactly where it left off.Using portable generator, Klein was able torecharge the batteries even though the sitewas in such a remote location. Ms. Finniganwas surprised by how small and quiet theScout was when she saw it in operation, “Lestold me he had seen birds fly right up to it inthe sky.”

With the photomapping complete, Klein deta-ched the Photo3S payload, snapped on aGoPro HD HERO3 payload, and re-launchedthe Scout (Figure 2). With the live feed from

the GoPro camera displayed on the Scout'scontrol tablet, the archaeologists were able tosee the aerial view (Figure 3) of the site in realtime, and could advise Klein where to positionthe Scout to capture the best images.After downloading nearly 1230 images fromthe Photo3S payload, Chun Chen, WesternHeritage's geomatics manager, used Pix4 -Dmapper software to stitch together the over-lapping images into a single, geo-referencedorthomosaic (Figure 4), and then generated adigital terrain model.

ResultsBy combining the aerial photographs and thedigital terrain map (Figure 5), Western Heri -tage has been able to produce a highly accu-rate base map that it can use to tie in all of thecurrent work on the site and help confirm theirhypothesis that the low sandy hill was the loca-tion of Original Humboldt. Understanding theshape of the hill helped determine how the hillwas formed, how the site was used and forti-fied. This information will also help theWestern Heritage team plan their work on thesite each year going forward.

In addition, the high level of detail in the ima-ges has enabled Western Heritage to identifyall of the grid stakes and excavation units atthe site. This will assist in correlating all of theprevious work done on the site. “The imageresolution we achieved using the Scout was

incredible,” says Ms. Finnigan, “Five cm,much better than the ten cm we can get froman airplane.” The orthomosaic image produ-ced with Pix4D was 1.5cm/pixel resolution.As seen in Figure 3, the aerial photographsalso revealed an intriguing feature that couldnot be detected from the ground: discoloura-tion of the soil at the fort. The origin of this dis-colouration is not known at the current time butmay represent a new area for exploration.

For Ms. Finnigan and Ms. Chen, using theScout to obtain aerial images has literallyadded a new dimension to archaeologicalscience. They look forward to obtaining aerialthermal images using the near infrared spec-trum sensors of the Scout’s Thermal FLIR came-ra option.

For Jennifer Hoesgen, director/curator of theHumboldt District Museum and Gallery, theaerial images will help the public understandthe layout and features of Original Humboldt,and to make the site more accessible. “Visualsgive museum visitors something to get excitedabout and that translates into more public sup-port for learning about the history of Sas -katchewan and western Canada”, she says.

www.westernheritage.ca

For more information, have a look at: www.aeryon.com.


19

Figure 4: A geo-referenced orthomosaic

Figure 5: Digital Terrain Map

To address the specific data requirements and unique challenges of diverse aerial surveyprojects, exchangeable camera lenses offer the flexibility to acquire high-quality imageryat different altitudes and speeds to expedite project fulfillment.By Linda Duffy

Maximum Flexibility

Aerial surveying compa-nies are increasinglyunder pressure to maxi-mize the volume ofdata collected in the

shortest time possible to reduce costs,while delivering data that meets theexact specifications for the intendedapplication. As a new participant inthe aerial mapping market, AdvanceAviation Group (AAG), headquarte-red in Queensland, Australia, nee-ded a photogrammetric digital aerialcamera to help distinguish itself fromthe competition. The 25-year-old firmcarefully weighed its options beforeinvesting in just the right camera tojump-start its new line of business.

New to the Aerial Survey MarketAAG is an airline charter company that provides corporate travel,freight services, and special-purpose charter flights across Australia.Previously a large part of its business consisted of flying specializedchartered flights for Queensland’s coal mining operations; however,demand for charter services declined as the world price for coal decli-ned. At the same time, Trans Wonderland Limited (TWL), the parentcompany of AAG, was working on a large project in Papua NewGuinea that involved supporting the drilling rigs and supplying transportservices to companies. TWL desired to add aviation services to its landbusiness. This was a perfect fit for its subsidiary’s air charter experienceand provided an opportunity for AAG to grow internationally by suppor-ting the Papua New Guinea operations.In addition, TWL recognized a need for better mapping services due torapid development of the energy industry in Papua New Guinea anddecided to enter the aerial survey market. The company began lookingfor a camera that would provide AAG the highest quality images at dif-ferent altitudes, as well as one that could capture large amounts of datain less time and a system to process that data very quickly. Due to theremote operations and challenging flying conditions in Papua NewGuinea, as well as in parts of Australia, AAG also put a high emphasison technical support and training from the manufacturer.

The Right Technology for the ConditionsMany unique surveying challenges come along with the exciting oppor-tunity to assist with infrastructure development for the primarily rural pop-ulation in Papua New Guinea. Much of the country is in need of upda-ted imagery to support future planning efforts; however, the

mountainous terrain, in addition todense rain forests, make surveying onthe ground very difficult. After researching several analog anddigital options, TWL purchased aMicrosoft UltraCam Eagle digitalaerial camera with two exchange-able lenses—80mm and 210mm—tobe operated by AAG. The cameraoffers a pan image footprint of morethan 20,000 pixels across the flightstrip, in addition to an image capturerate of 1.8 seconds, which exceedsthat of most traditional large-capturecameras. All system components areintegrated into the sensor head, inclu-ding UltraNav, a flight managementand georeferencing system that inclu-

des GNSS-Inertial technology, pilot displays, and flight-planning soft-ware.

The camera collects multispectral imagery in four bands—red, green,blue, and near infrared, which allows for enhanced analysis using infra-red for certain applications. AAG’s UltraCam Eagle is the only digitalaerial camera based in Australia that collects four band imagery.

The UltraCam Eagle can be mounted on either of AAG’s two aircraftmodified for camera operations. The company has been able to produ-ce high-quality imagery at speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour. Dueto the difficult ground conditions, one flight with the UltraCam Eagle canproduce data that would take surveyors on the ground weeks, if notmonths, to perform.

Exchangeable Lens SystemThe UltraCam Eagle Lens Exchange System was an important factor inTWL’s purchase decision. The exchangeable lens system allows AAG tocapture high-resolution digital images at different altitudes by switchingout lenses of different focal lengths. The company uses the 210mm lensfor high-volume, high-altitude flying, particularly valuable in restricted airspace such as military zones and central business districts, and the80mm lens to capture higher resolution imagery at low altitudes, downto 5cm resolution if necessary. A 100mm lens is another option to addif the need arises in the future.

“The ability to change lenses assists the client and enables the aircraft tobe utilized to the maximum, saving time on location, which is great forour bottom line,” says Alec Mercer, Managing Director, AAG. “We cur-

One Ae r i a l Camera , Two Len se s

20

Article


Figure 1: High resolution imagery collected by AAGwith an UltraCam Eagle over Port Moresby, the capitalof Papua New Guinea.

rently have a project with resolution specifications that require flyingpart of the area at an altitude of 25,000 feet and other parts at six oreight thousand feet, and we need different lenses to meet the require-ments.”

Efficiency and reliabilityEfficiency of collection, quick processing, and reliability of the entire sys-tem were also requirements that influenced the purchasing decision. Theultra-wide footprint of the UltraCam Eagle and significant capacity fordata storage on board make large area data collection very efficient.“The camera’s in-flight exchangeable solid data units can each storemore than 3,900 UltraCam images,” said Mercer. “This allows opera-tors to fly for six or seven hours and capture all the images they need wit-hout landing the plane to download data.”

Once the plane returns to base, AAG is able to process the data withina few hours with the fully integrated UltraMap workflow software sys-tem. UltraMap offers features such as high-density 3D point cloud creation, highlyaccurate and detailed digital surface model(DSM) generation, and ortho mosaicingcapa bilities.

“We were attracted to the leading-edgeaerial photogrammetric technology develo-ped over the past twenty years, but also wefeel that Microsoft is a company that we cantrust,” stated Mercer. “We often operate inremote areas and under difficult environ-mental conditions, so installation and opera-tion needed to be straightforward and verydependable.”Mercer continued, “Our whole premise is to

have the very newest and best equipment that we can possibly have toavoid maintenance problems and costly delays—the UltraCam technolo-gy meets our criteria.”

Building the BusinessThe ability to capture high-quality data consistently and efficiently anddeliver imagery that meets project specifications has helped AAG suc-cessfully enter and compete in the aerial survey market. Thus far, custo-mers have been very receptive to the end results produced by theUltraCam Eagle. Inquiries are being received specifically asking aboutthe new camera’s availability to work on a variety of projects. TheUltraCam product line also offers AAG a cost-effective upgrade path asthe company continues to grow.

“The UltraCam Eagle has given us a completely new revenue stream thathas already increased our income by 30 percent,” Mercer says, “Weare now able to serve customers who have very different needs, ranging

from stockpile measuring to road surveyingto environmental analysis.”

“We see Papua New Guinea and theWestern Pacific as an area of great opportu-nity for aerial surveying,” concludedMercer. “We are pleased to contribute tothe development of the area by providingaccurate, up-to-date imagery to our custo-mers, and offering employment and trainingto local people in the fields of photogram-metry and data processing.”

Linda Duffy, Apropos Research, www.aproposresearch.comAll information provided by Microsoft.

21


Figure 2: The UltraCam Eagle photogrammetric digital camera works with exchangeable lenses in three different focal lengths—80 mm, 100mm and 210mm.

Figure 3: The UltraCam Eagle’s integrated housing concept reduces sensor headsize and balances weight.

The third quarter of 2015 saw the launch of a number of satellites. One of thesewas a ‘regular’ GPS IIF (10), which was launched on July 15th. Although just asimportant in terms of navigation, but more significant in terms of a milestone, wasthe launch of two Beidou-3 satellites (M1 and M2) on July 25th. These are thefirst two medium earth orbit Beidou satellites. By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk

Addicted to Accuracy

On September 11th two new Galileo satellites (9 and10) were finally launched from French Guiana. BothGPS and Galileo have another launch planned forlater this year, which will improve upon their currentconstellation. All these launches are important steps

towards a seemingly much required quest for higher accuracies from thesurveying industry as a new report from GPS World recently identified.

According to this report it is “remarkable how quickly the pro -vided accuracy in successive new survey products over the yearshas increased the required accuracy from users and customers inthe field and consequently, the desired accuracy in a feedback loopto the product developers.” In simpler terms, accuracy is contagious!At the moment minimum acceptable GNSS accuracy is crossing the 1cm mark for over half its users (in comparison to 8% in 2013).Probably just as significant is that more than 95% of all users requirean accuracy greater than 5 cm with the remaining users being satis-fied with a few decimetres…

BeidouThe Beidou launch marks an important moment in industry history as,with effect from July 25th, the Beidou signals can be received outsidethe China-Asian region. Also of interest is thefact that in August the first satellites wereacquired at the Joint Research Centre in theEU in Ispra (Italy). Scientists have tried toidentify the various signal components recei-ved from these two satellites. So far their con-clusions are that, as well as a legacy signal(Beidou 1l) there are three signals beingtransmitted; a civil signal on L1, a signal verysimilar to the GPS L1C signal and a data sig-nal (possibly the navigation message). As nofurther interface control document is availablethe results have not been verified.

GlonassIn the case of Glonass the building of newsatellites continues with an additional satellite(M61) joining the stock on the ground andawaiting a launch between now and 2017.When the last Glonass M satellite is launchedan additional 11 Glonass K1 satellites will belaunched up until 2020. After 2020 it will be

fully replaced by the Glonass K2 satellite currently being built and ofwhich the first one is expected to be launched early 2017.

GalileoWith the latest two additions to the Galileoconstellation, there are now four Full Opera -tional Capability (FOC) satellites in operationand an additional three In Orbit Validation(IOV) satellites. This brings the total to sevensatellites out of a planned total of 30 by2020. Three satellites are currently serviceable to acertain extent. The first of these is IOV-4,which suffered a power failure in May 2014and can only transmit on the E1 frequency.The other two are the pair which were laun-ched into the wrong orbit (FOC-FM1 andFOC-FM2). For the latter two the ground segment is cur-rently adapted in such a way that the naviga-tion messages for the deviant orbits can beproduced. As the navigation almanac cannotbe modified to contain the orbital parametersfor these satellites, the signals can only be

GNSS Upda te

22

Article


Figure 1: Beidou-3 signal spectrum (source: gpsworld.com)

Figure 2: Glonass-M satellite in the factory (source: gpsworld.com)

used by a receiver obtaining orbital information from a separatesource and not directly from the satellites.

Leap secondOn the evening between June 30th and July 1st another leap secondwas added to the UTC making that day precisely 1 second longer.The latest leap second might well be the last as the InternationalTelecommunications Union (ITU) is considering a proposal inNovember 2015 to stop using the leap second. The main reason forthis is the wide spread use of GNSS in time-dependent infrastructure.During a previous meeting of the ITU in 2012 the use of the leapsecond was also discussed, however, at that time there was noagreement about the discontinuation of using the leap seconds.

AugmentationThe Egnos constellation, providing GPS corrections over Europe, hasrecently been upgraded with a new satellite (SES-5) replacing the cur-rent satellite. SES-5 is expected to provide augmentation serviced upuntil 2026 and has the advantage of multi-frequency corrections (L1and L5).

As a result of the success of WAAS in America and the limited avai-lability of consumer grade receivers, the US government is now con-sidering shutting down 62 stations from the national US DGPS netw-ork. The exception will probably be 22 coastal stations, which arestill being used. If the plan goes ahead, the termination of signal bro-adcast on the 62 sites is planned for January 15th 2016.

eLoranWith the abundance of GNSS satellites being launched, one mightbe forgiven for overlooking the fundamental weakness of any GNSS;namely its relatively weak signals. The main alternative, which hasbeen on the table for years already, is the widespread implementa-tion of eLoran, the successor to Loran-C. Loran-C, an earth boundpositioning system developed in WWII as a guidance system forbombers, uses high power signals which are not easily disrupted.

Starting on June 19th, the eLoran signal will be available in theUnited States from a single station in Wildwood (New Jersey). InEurope the situation is a bit further advanced with a prototype capa-bility in the UK giving positioning data at the 10 m level within a radi-us of 30 – 50 km from so-called Differential Loran stations. Thesefunction in a similar way to GNSS augmentation systems. In additionto the use of dLoran stations a propagation model is used to compen-sate for signal delays. An enhanced version of dLoran (eDLoran) wastested in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and found to give accuraciesup to 5 m using the cellular infrastructure to deliver correction signals.

LocataFor users who require an alternative to GNSS and consider eLoran tobe too inaccurate, there is an alternative terrestrial positioning systemcalled Locata. NASA is currently planning to install such a system atLangley (Virginia, US). The system will give centimeter level positio-ning information for testing safety-critical Unmanned Aerial Systemssuch as the hexacopter, which delivered medical supplies to a clinicin June.

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

23


Figure 3: A relatively rare occasion; the leap second introduces a 61 second minute (source: gpsworld.com)

Figure 4: Egnos SES-5 satellite in orbit (source: esa.eu)

Figure 5: US Nationwide dGPS network (source: insidegnss.com)

Acquisition, processing and mapping of drone data in the cloud is the core business ofDroneDeploy, a San Francisco-based company. Through an easy-to-use app, drone userscan program a drone and upload the data to the cloud, where it then is being processedand a final map is returned, even before the drone has landed.By Eric van Rees

Creating Aerial Drone Maps Fast

DroneDeploy is a San Franciso-based cloud softwarecompany, offering a cloud-based solution which allowsanyone to create on-demand aerial drone maps in asingle click. “Lots of the expensive, high end dronesaren't easy—they require lots of money and training.

We offer a simple-to-use tool so people can do better things with theirdata”, says Sales and Business Development Manager Ian Smith.

He continues: “The idea behind our tools is to remove the barrier toentry of doing useful things with drones. We want to make it just twoor three taps on your cellphone for generating powerful and usefuldata.” To make this happen, the company offers a free app, that isconnected to the drone and offers the user to do some simple plan-ning. Then, the drone is launched through the app, flies and acquiresthe imagery of the area as specified by the user and finally uploadsthe imagery after landing to the company´s cloud services where it isstitched together automatically.

Although the app can be downloaded for free, there´s a softwaresubscription rate that generates revenue for the company. Smithexplains: “until now, you could try the app for 30 days and generatemaps with it. After that, a monthly subscription rate applied, allowingto generate up to 5000 acres of map every month. Our pricing struc-

ture has changed since September 15th though, removing any acre-age restrictions and now there’s be a totally free, unlimited maps and3D models tier. Also, we will now be able to process maps from anytype of drone or aircraft, not just DJI’s, as long as there is embeddedGPS EXIF metadata on the photos, you can use DroneDeploy to pro-cess them to create maps, 3D models, and take advantage of ourcloud-based features like annotations, measurements, and easy sha-ring.”

Need for speedIt´s the smart application of the cloud that sets the company apart,yielding in fast results, says Smith: “we use multiple cloud servers toprocess all this drone data. They´re optimized to process the data asfast as possible, so that you can get your map on your phone half anhour after you land the drone. By putting and processing the data inthe cloud, you can dramatically limit the amount of processing timecompared to if you would have to do it yourself. We have users whohave done fifteen to twenty flights in a day.”One sector where speed is important is agriculture. Here, Drone -Deploy booked a lot of success already, says Smith: “having instan-taneous data is incredibly important for farmers. With our partners inthis sector, we now have a device on board which puts us on theinternet. As the images are being taken, they´re sent to the cloud

24

Article


Figure 1: Digital Surface Model

C l oud - con t r o l f o r D rone s

immediately. That enables us to stitch the map and generate whilethe drone is still in the air.” Another agriculture application is monito-ring, with a modified camera attached to a drone that can generatevegetation indices to monitor crop health. Smith states that this solu-tion is already paying dividends to farmers who are using it.However, a necessary condition for using the system this way is theavailability of cellular Wi-Fi, or some kind of online service if youhave a hotspot. Smith admits there are places with limited opportuni-ties for data capture, but says that people are making maps everyw-

here: “we have offline versions so that you can go out and do themapping, and generate the data in an area where there is internetconnectivity available.”

PartnershipsThe company has partnerships with lots of drone companies. Themost recent one is Chinese drone maker DJI, which is the world’s cur-rent largest manufacturer of drones says Smith: “they sell like 2000units per day, all over the world.” Another important partnership is

with Esri and the company participates inits Startup Program. Smith explains: “Thecooperation with Esri is ongoing. Ourgoal is for the culmination to result in aneasy, one-click ArcGIS import, straightfrom the DroneDeploy dashboard intoArcGIS.”

For more information, have a look at www.dronedeploy.com.

25


Figure 2: Orthophoto

Figure 3: 3D quarry

Don Murray, Co-CEO of Safe Software, discusses trending technology areas that are impor-tant for the company and gives a sneak-preview of the upcoming release of FME 2016.By Eric van Rees

Technology Trends

MinecraftSafe Software counts as one of the early adopters in the geospatial indus-try of Minecraft, a 3D computer game. The game consists of a 3D worldwhere users have to search for blocks in order to build a living environ-ment. In just a few years, the game has become a huge success and isnow used for more things than just entertainment. Don Murray explains itssuccess thus: “With Minecraft it´s easy to quickly build things. It´s a creati-ve environment where you can pretty much build anything”.

What used to be a fun thing for children is now serious business for grow-nups as well, as it is now being used to create community awareness bygovernmental agencies and municipalities. Don Murray explains thatthese agencies engage the public in an interesting and fun way by puttingup a Minecraft world that the people can download and build whateverthey want with it, showing the desire of the general public to access anyt-hing that looks like the real world. An example of this happened nearwhere Safe Software is located, in Port Moody (Canada), where a bigindustrial site was torn down and a new community plan was laid out inMinecraft and made public. Safe Software is doing a lot of work concer-ning 3D data and Murray expects interesting things to happen once it real-ly takes off: “we see the excitement that people have with Minecraft and

the 3D environment there. Now, imagine you start taking buildings withtextures and put them in gaming systems, maybe this augmented realitything we´ve been talking about for a long time will hit off big. WithMicrosoft buying Minecraft and its upcoming HoloLens, that´s pretty inte-resting too.”

At the Esri UC exhibition, Safe Software showed a Minecraft 3D demo.This is because the next version of the Data Interoperability Extension forArcGIS Desktop will have the ability to work with 3D data, LiDAR dataand building data. Lately, Esri has been focusing a lot on 3D, not in theleast with ArcGIS Pro. Logically, one of the extensions for ArcGIS Pro isgoing to be the Safe Software’s Inter opera bility Extension.

Big data and IoTBig data continues to be an important area for Safe Software, saysMurray: “We´re continuing to add and leverage Amazon Web Services,and add different types of databases like MongoDB. Real-time data fromsensors is another area we´re getting more and more.” The next release of FME, scheduled for January 2016, promises somebig announcements in the area of the IoT, the Internet of Things. Murray:“Obviously when more things are connected to the internet, security

26


An I n t e r v i ew w i t h Don Mur rayArticle

Minecraft imagery of Easter Island, generated using FME.

Don Murraybecomes more important. Some of these things that are connected are cars, industrialequipment. OAF is a security-authentication technology that´s used for the IoT fortrying to make these things secure. So if you connect to my device, and you sayyou´re you, I know it´s really you.” Other important areas for Safe Software are spatial data within enterprises andLiDAR :”We bump into Tableau a lot, as people want to be able to put all sorts ofdata into Tableau. This is a business decision analytics tool which it has greatreporting with dashboards and all that sort of things. LiDAR is also pretty big forus. We’ve seen people take LiDAR and the resolution is so high that it looks like aphoto and people building faces with textures from LiDAR, taking it completely theother way.”

FME CloudThe company´s cloud is growing pretty quickly too. The explanation for this is thatAmazon Web Services now has some data centers in Europe, such as in Frankfurt andIreland: “That definitely helps. Three years ago we went on the road and everybody wastelling us that they were not planning to go into the cloud, but now everything haschanged completely. The whole idea of data in the cloud is insecure is a foulthing. Amazon has an army of people working on security. There are somany ways to tie the data down. Even if you´re on premise, probably bythe time the data has gotten on premise it has gone through the cloudsomewhere.”

Safe Software’s biggest cloud adopters are in North America rightnow. The pattern that has emerged is that people are using it forsimple prototypes and proof of concepts, resulting to more FMEServer usage: “you can easily spin things up in the cloud, becauseyou don´t have to punch a new hole in your firewall, or put any ofyour internal systems at risk. You can demo it from the cloud andthen from there people will either deploy on the cloud if they likewhat they´ve done, or just move it on premise. We really didn´tappreciate how big that would be.”

Minecraft imagery of Easter Island, generated using FME.


FME 2016 will be out in January 2016. Safe Software will organize a User Conference in Vancouver, June 2017. For more Information, have a look at: www.safe.com.

27

Virtual Reality is firmly rootedin the entertainment sector,with early incarnations designedto delight and even titillate.However, modern day VR isexperiencing a revolution, notonly in terms of technologybeing launched to market, but, more importantly, in the applications of this technology.This article takes a closer look at some recent projects and future developments.By Faith Clark

Virtual Reality

The conceptThe term Virtual Reality is attributed to French playwright Antoin Artaudin his book ‘The Theatre and Its Double’ which was published in 1938.However, earlier attributions include 360 degree murals – trending in the1860s, ‘What the Butler Saw’ erotic mutoscope machines in the early1900s and the first goggle based VR system – called ‘Pygmalion’sSpectacle’s – mooted in the 1930s in a science fiction work of the samename by Stanley G Weinbaum.

The modern concept of VR is really not much different. Often referred toas immersive multimedia or computer simulated life, VR replicates anenvironment – simulating physical objects – either in the real or imagina-ry world. VR can also include additional sensory experiences such assmell, sound and touch.

The deliveryTechnology has moved on dramatically for VR delivery mechanisms fromthe early devices, with the eagerly awaited Oculus Rift due to launch tomarket in early 2016. One of the first consumer targeted virtual realityheadsets, the Rift has been described as ‘the first really professional PC-based VR headset’. Albeit a definition by its creators, it raises an interes-ting opportunity beyond the gaming and general consumer applications.The use of the word ‘professional’ can be applied not only to the techno-logy but the perhaps the application?

Other Head Mounted Displays (HMD) are, of course, available with theSamsung Gear VR leading the way in wireless communication. Poweredby Oculus, the Gear turns the Samsung GALAXY Note 4 smartphoneinto, again in the words of its creators, a ‘portable next generation virtualreality system’. The Sony Morpheus is also currently in development andis also due to be launched early next year. Designed to be fully compa-tible with the Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita games systems, theMorpheus remains true to its gaming origins, only claiming to offer a‘radical new dimension in virtual reality gaming’.

There are, however, other options for Virtual Reality viewing, including360 degree theatre experiences. For mass audiences, VR content can beprojected within a dome-like construction, giving an immersive experien-ce for the gathered spectators. One pioneer of such systems is Igloo

Vision, a UK company that has worked around the world with organisa-tions such as the British Army, Nissan, Colgate and the United ArabEmirates Government, to name just a few, creating and delivering simu-lations, visualisations and events.

The contentVirtual Reality content is already readily available, with even the Duchessof Cambridge, Kate Windsor, captured sporting a Develop ment Kit 2 ver-sion of the Oculus Rift during the summer. Spotted at the America’s CupSailing Race when bad weather caused the day’s competition to be can-celled, no one is quite sure who was behind the sailing simulator nor quitewhat the Duchess made if it. It is, however, thought that ‘what the Duchesssaw’ was an example of an emerging type of VR content known as videoVR or 360 degree video. Also known as spherical VR, it was this type ofcontent, rather than gaming, that supposedly convinced Facebook’s MarkZuckerberg to buy Oculus for a reported $2 billion in July 2014.

360 degree video in the entertainment and event sector is not really anew thing. Companies such as Shepperton Studio based Arithmeticahave built on their locational heritage to develop a suite of hardware andsoftware solutions to record, process and play back 360 degree videos.360 video systems like SphereVision are able to record a real-world envi-ronment in all directions at the same time, capturing every aspect of thescene in one go. When the video is played back – on a laptop, mobiledevice or over the Internet – viewers can pan around the image, movingthrough and exploring the site as if they were there. Footage can be inte-grated with floor and site plans using innovative software and the high-resolution 360 imagery can also be integrated with online mapping, forexample.

ApplicationsWorking with specialist production companies, such as UK based TX,Arithmetica has already completed a number of high profile mediadeployments of their SphereVision solutions. Previously published pro-jects include an interactive DVD of an award winning heritage railwayand popular tourist attraction in Wales, and an educational yet entertai-ning 360 degree interactive theatre experience for the Historical RoyalPalaces in England. Other ventures with big brands like Porsche and Philips have also been completed.

F rom Games Room t o Boa rd Room and Beyond

28

Article



More recently, Arithmetica has moved into more ‘professional’applications of the technology. Working with Dutch creative servicesagency Twain, SphereVision has been used to reveal the amazing jour-ney of a suitcase at one of the world’s busiest airports. The three-minute360 degree interactive video has, to the surprise of the project team,gone viral – with thousands of hits on YouTube and Facebook as well asinternational media coverage on CNN, Fox8, Al Jazeera and the DailyMail and Telegraph.

Despite such obvious consumer popularity, there is a serious conceptbehind the hype. The original film was commissioned by the SchipholAirport Authorities following a multi-million dollar refurbishment andupgrade of their luggage handling system. First debuted to an audienceof the personnel involved in the project, a limited edition iOS app wasalso created. Designed to give an insight into otherwise inaccessibleareas and processes, the video shows the complexities faced by the air-port which handles more than 50 million pieces of luggage every year.

Another project due to be released by the end client soon is the use of360 degree videography for personnel training. An international leaderin the provision of critical industrial services, primarily to the energy andnatural resources sectors, has engaged with Arithmetica, usingSphereVision, to create and roll out a health and safety training program-me for workers in high risk environments. Using 360 degree video, expe-rienced through Gear VR Headsets, classroom based staff can interactwith a range of environments and simulated scenarios. Designed to pro-mote situational awareness and risk evaluation, the experience is easy todeploy, provides repeatable and therefore standardised training with norisk to personnel or potentially expensive site shut downs.

Arithmetica’s Business Development Manager Mark Senior sees applica-tions like these, and others in the pipeline, as the way forward for VR, inparticular 360 degree videography, “Gaming will continue to innovateat vast rates and will eventually move onto the next big thing. However,it is the day to day professional applications that will show the true poten-tial of VR and 360 degree video. As we move from media and eventsinto training and risk assessment, so the jump to facilities management,BIM, emergency planning and response become even easier.”

The futureWhile gaming – the spiritual home of VR – will continue to develop evermore extreme graphics, building no doubt on its heritage of theatre andcinema, professional applications are embracing other influences.Moving on from 360 degree images and videography, work is alreadyunderway to integrate map accurate representation of real world envi-ronments and constructions. Using high density laser scanners, millionsof highly accurate measurements can be taken from a survey aircraft, inthe case of LiDAR, or from terrestrial or vehicle mounted devices.

These measurements, collectively referred to as a point cloud, are thenprocessed using specialist software such as Pointfuse, to create highfidelity 3D vector models. New functionality, recently launched to mar-ket, allow for these models to be made to look photorealistic with auto-matic and accurate texturing. Using the original RGB, Intensity or statis-tically derived values from the original point cloud, Pointfuse canautomatically add real world context.

So, not only are the 3D models truly accurate representations of the realworld, they now look and feel like the real world. Place this content withinthe VR environment, and a new era really is dawning. Not only does theimmersive content look and feel real, but the user now has the ability totake measurements and record or map detail in its true spatial location.

In terms of VR development, this is an important step forward as itbrings together, for possibly the first time, the accuracy of geograp-hic modelling with the visual impact of real world simulation. This hasimportant and possibly far reaching implications for the mappingand modelling worlds. To conclude, it may be said that, in the caseof professional VR, the whole truly may be greater than the sum of itsparts, and it’s going to be an interesting ride. (But don’t worry; some-one will record it in case you miss anything!)

For more information, have a look at: www.arithmetica.com.

29

This book offers a basic education in imaging technology and management, promoting theeffective use of imaging tools in GIS. The companion exercises supplement the theorywell, making it an effective book for self-study.By Eric van Rees

Essential Earth Imaging for GIS

IntroductionThis new Esri Press book discusses thecharacteristics of images obtainedfrom aircraft and spacecraft andinstructs how to enhance, register andvisually interpret multispectral image-ry and point clouds. The book is tar-geted at GIS professionals who wishto learn about basic imagery techno-logy, and students who might want touse it as a reference for introductoryGIS courses which include multi-spectral image display and analysis.

The book includes five companionexercises (available as a 46-pagePDF file), exercise data and accessto a free 180-day trial of ArcGIS, allavailable for download on the EsriPress “Book Resources” webpage.The author is an emeritus (retired)professor of forest remote sensingand geographic information systemsat Humboldt State University andhas been a remote sensing consul-tant for twenty years.

ContentsAs the author writes in the prefaceof the book, imaging technology israpidly advancing and so is the pro-cessing functionality of GIS softwarein an endeavour to keep up with thetechnology. This book is meant as a“basic education in imaging technology and management, promo-ting the effective use of imaging tools”. Rather than a chronologicaldescription of imaging technologies, the author chose to organize thechapters by image data type and the method of image formation.

The book is divided into eight chapters and, except for the first chap-ter which discusses a brief history of Earth imaging, contains discus-

sions organized by image types,and method of image formation. Theauthor starts off with a description ofthe physical basis and generalmethods of remote sensing, descri-bing the concept of electromagneticradiation and the difference be -tween passive and active remotesensing. A handy table concludesthis chapter describing the generalmethods of remote sensing by sensortype (optical, thermal, laser andradar). After this, the effects of theatmosphere and cloud cover onimage quality are discussed, as wellas how remote sensing systems workto minimize atmospheric interferen-ce. Next, the author covers how pas-sive and active sensors influence theattributes of imagery, rather than theengineering details of the sensors.This chapter is about instruments thatcreate two-dimensional images,including cameras, multispectral sen-sors and imaging radar and conclu-des with a summary of the two-dimensional imagery types ge -ne rally available for input into GIS.Of even greater importance is theexamination of the four differentcharacteristics of image resolution.These allow practitioners to evaluatedifferent types of remote sensingimages for a variety of applications

regardless of the sensor technology used to produce them – namelyspatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution.

The display and enhancement of multispectral imagery in grey scale,natural color and false color with GIS is discussed next. The twopenultimate chapters cover what used to be the territory of photo-grammetry specialists, namely the generation of three-dimensional

Imag ing Te chno l ogy and Managemen t

30

Boo

k rev

iew


Title: Essential Earth Imaging for GISAuthor: Lawrence Fox IIINumber of pages: 128Language: EnglishPublisher: Esri PressYear published: 2015ISBN: 9781589483453

data with photogramme-tric measurements andactive sensors (chapter6) and image proces-sing (chapter 7). Thesechapters are comprisedof image restoration,rectification, and enhan-cement and have beenexpanded for this occa-sion to include conver-ting brightness values toradiance and atmosphe-ric correction of bright-ness values. A schemeof a typical workflowshows which image pro-cessing procedures are normally performed by image providers,image analysts and GIS software users.

The book concludes with a chapter on extracting information fromimages, such as manual image interpretation and feature deline-ation, both of which can be done with GIS software. The author sta-tes that although advanced image processing functionality will likelycontinue to require specialized image processing software, some ofthat software will be integrated with GIS as an add-on product ratherthan a stand-alone software suite. This will allow GIS professionals todo more image analysis within a GIS environment.The exercises illustrate the concepts of the book by applying them inEsri’s ArcGIS Desktop software. The user learns how to assign colorsin multiband images, working with global brightness and contrastmanipulation with histograms, as well as color-coding of a single-band image and a vegetation index image. The last exercise showshow to extract information from a multispectral image by digitizingpolygons on screen.

VerdictThis short book can be seen as a crash-course on imaging technologyand management for GIS users. This sort of publication is very muchwelcome, as Esri Press has not published anything on this topic for along time. Although the book is short, it´s packed with information,especially if you´re not familiar with the subject. It is, however, some-times quite complex, especially when you start to work with colorbands and channels in ArcGIS for the first time. The fact that it’s a short book means that choices have been madeand some information on the topic has had to be omitted, whichmight limit its audience (as the author states, there´s no info on eng-ineering details of sensors, for example). There’s also little informa-tion on LiDAR and interferometric radar sensors. Another omission isthe lack of a discussion on data types and formats, thus avoiding anydiscussion on open source and commercial vendor formats. This is,however, to be expected from a book from Esri Press as its targetaudience are ArcGIS users. There are a number of occasions in thebook when the author compares specialized imaging processing soft-ware capabilities with those of ArcGIS. More of that would certainlyhave been welcome, as it would have broadened the discussion onthese software packages and would have given the reader an over-view of what´s available. Unfortunately, this falls outside the scope ofthis book.

The exercises providedwith the book can bedone with access toArcGIS software andexercise data providedonline with the book,covering mostly Landsatimagery. The five exerci-ses cover most of theinformation presentedwith the book (LiDAR isconspicuous by itsabsence; probably omit-ted as Esri Press is plan-ning a separate booktitle on this topic soon). Iused ArcGIS 10.1 to

complete the exercises and encountered no problems (the PDF with exer-cises states that they were produced using ArcGIS 10.2.2 for Desktopand tested in ArcGIS 10.3 for Desktop). Apart from instructions on howto do the exercises, they include goals and learning objectives, which isquite handy from an educational perspective. In the exercises, you most-ly work with the Image Window and the Symbology tab in the LayerProperties. Working through these exercises, I found that some of themwere quite lengthy, for example the second one covers 20 pages. Asthere are no indications as to how much time might be spent on them, itwould have been more logical to subdivide them into smaller chunks inorder to make them more manageable.

Another thing that struck me was that throughout the exercises certainthings are explained that aren´t found in the book, making the inclu-sion of them a necessary part of the book. The basic idea behindworking through the exercises is that you are advised to read a cer-tain part of the book and then start a particular exercise, which beco-mes a problem when you find out that the explanation of the theorybehind an exercise comes later in the book. This, of course, is notlogical. I found, therefore, that it´s better to read through the entirebook and then begin the exercises. There was a bit of a disappoint-ment at the end of exercise two, when I discovered that it could onlybe done with an ArcGIS Online subscription (which is not free ofcharge). I´m not sure why this part of the exercise was included and,as I didn´t have the appropriate subscription, I was unable to finish it.There´s also no info about what sort of image services ArcGIS Onlineoffers, which is also curious given the scope of the book. And how doArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Pro compare when it comes to imageryand 3D? Again, this line of enquiry is overlooked in this book.

Although the book is not perfect, it does succeed in illustrating thatGIS and remote sensing are no longer separate entities, but arebecoming increasingly integrated. With the aid of an increasingamount of sensors, imagery will increase in significance, making thiscrash-course all the more important. It´s well-written, informative andthe exercises supplement the theory nicely. It is an interesting addi-tion to the Esri Press catalogue as the exercises cover parts of ArcGISthat I haven´t come across in other ArcGIS workbooks.

For more information, have a look at: http://esripress.esri.com.

31


Figure 2: Natural-color composite creation with ArcGIS Desktop.

Bentley Software helps to connect physical and digital worlds accurately with a geo-context to integrate and reference national data.By Aidan Mercer

Creating an Authoritative NSDI

A Visionary FrameworkOrdnance Survey Ireland (OSi), Ireland’s national mapping agency,has developed a standardized, authoritative digital referencing fra-mework that enables consistent referencing and integration of nation-al data related to location. This visionary framework, known asPrime2, allows GIS data users to accurately integrate and use multip-le data sources for improved analysis and decision making, resourceoptimization, and efficiency gains.

More than six years in the making, the new spatial data referencingplatform is an object-oriented, digital mapping data model that ena-bles the maintenance and development of the underlying physicalinfrastructure of Ireland. It adds a geo-context to objects such as utili-

ties, land parcels, roads, and buildings so that they can be uniquelyidentified and referenced. Bentley Map, along with OSi-specifiedcustom tools, allowed the agency to manipulate the re-engineereddata as part of their remote sensing flowline. The EUR 4 million pro-ject has already saved more than EUR 600,000 in operating costsand established OSi as a leader in spatial data infrastructure.

Common Reference SystemHeadquartered in Dublin and with six regional offices, OSi has beenmapping Ireland in detail since 1824. Core products and servicesare in the vector data captured at a scale of 1:1000 in urban areas,as well as full coverage of the entire country and an authoritativeboundary dataset. The agency’s products and services are widelyused in all sectors of Irish society. OSi data supports the social, eco-nomic, legislative, and administrative functions of the state in Ireland.To fulfill these responsibilities, OSi must update core data in a timelymanner. At the same time, OSi strives to meet three challenges: makethe data more useable by using open formats, make the data moreaccessible to users, and integrate and share spatial data through acentral publishing node.

Government officials increasingly recognized that adding a geo-con-text to existing data for effective decision making would result in sig-nificant benefits to customers and users. The true value of informationis realized when it is combined, integrated, or overlaid with otherrelevant information to gain a better understanding of the combineddata, especially as it relates to a common location or geography. Itbecame apparent that using a common data environment for spatialdata is essential to achieving quality results and that ensuring inter-operability would be key to a successful project.In 2011, OSi began development of the spatial data infrastructure(SDI) in a common data environment that would provide a standardi-zed coordinate referencing system as well as a standardized digitalmapping reference system that meets European Commission stan-dards. The SDI would provide a consistent format for storing andmanaging data so that it can be more easily integrated with otherdata for enhanced interoperability.

Reengineering DataThe strategic SDI initiative commenced by populating a new data sto-rage model that would be available to OSi customers. The key chal-lenge was to determine a detailed set of automated rules that couldbe applied to the data set. Once the rule definition set was in place,it was possible to reengineer and populate the data remotely from anoutsourced resource based in India.

Bentley Map, in combination with OSi-specified custom tools, allo-wed the project team to manipulate the reengineered data. Schema

Conne c t i ng Phy s i c a l and D ig i t a l Wor l d s A c cu ra t e l y

32

Article


were developed to extract Prime2 data from Oracle and encodedata in geography markup language (GML). Topology validationtools checked all data changed by the user prior to exporting thedata to GML. The changed GML data was then imported back toPrime2.

This authoritative spatial reference framework was delivered in 2014and has so far ensured consistent and unique referencing of topologi-cal state information, both in terms of location and in terms of ID tagreferencing. The Prime2 data model reengineered 80 million carto-graphic items into 50 million real-world features.

Prime2 is an object-oriented digital mapping data model designedand developed based on industry standards. Each mapping objectsuch as buildings, land parcels, roads, and utility infrastructure is uni-quely identified and referenced throughout the object lifecycle via ageographic unique identification code. The 3D data models multi-story buildings, parking lots, subterranean utilities, and other featu-res.

Seamless Data NetworkThe rules-based approach to Prime2 was integral to quality control.The new data platform enables the joining of multiple national datas-ets, which allows for better analysis, more informed decision making,and greater work efficiencies in both the public and private sectors.The service-oriented architecture used to manage data workflowbetween the home office and field-based operators provided qualitycontrol via the rules-based approach. This highly efficient solutionalso provides significant cost and resource savings, as well as impro-ving the accuracy of the data.

The seamless database of roads, rail, and rivers allows users toquery the data based on network connectivity themes. This modelingapproach also negates the need for repeat surveys, providing consi-derable cost savings.

OSi data will not only help the government improve services to citi-zens but also report on European Union directives pertaining towater usage, climate change, and other initiatives for EuropeanCommission standards compliance.

Three-year ROIThe efficiencies introduced by the Prime2 spatial data referencingplatform have already saved OSi more than EUR 600,000 in opera-ting costs. Prime2 introduced production workflow efficiencies thatallowed OSi to reduce staff. Meanwhile, Bentley software has redu-ced ongoing database administration overhead as well as potentialcapital expenditures.

OSi projects a three-year return on investment based on productionefficiencies and resource savings. As new products and servicesbecome available, the agency will also see future business growth.Ireland’s geospatial information industry contributed more than EUR69.3 million in terms of gross value added to the economy in 2012,and that contribution is expected to grow with the accessibility ofquality spatial data.

Aidan Mercer is a Senior Industry Marketer at Bentley Systems with 6 years’ experience in high-technology environments.


The Prime2 data model is based on industry standards.

33

The 21st Intergeo was held this year in September. This three-day geospatial event drew16,500 visitors and featured 545 international exhibitors from 30 nations. A number ofproduct releases from the major exhibitors are covered below.By the editors

Intergeo 2015

Intergeo is an annual event for geo-desy, geoinformation and landmanagement. The event consists ofa conference and a trade fair andis held at a different venue each

year in Germany. The conference dealswith current issues from politics, admini-stration, science and industry and antici-pates around 1,200 participants. The21st Intergeo was held in Stuttgart thisyear. This is the capital city of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and the eventtook place from 15th-17th September.This time the exhibition drew 16,500visitors and the event showed a fifteenpercent growth in exhibitors and floorspace. There were 545 internationalexhibitors from 30 nations spreadacross more than 30,000 square metersat the exhibition.

Conference highlightsIt was good to see that the conferenceorganizers had decided to offer keynotespeeches and plenary talks in English, aswell as providing simultaneous interpre-ting for one strand of the conference onthe second day. This is a clear break with past conferences, where themajority of information was delivered in German. Hopefully, this shiftwill attract more international conference visitors in the future.

The conference was opened with keynotespeeches by Chris Cappelli (Esri) on “TheAge of the Location Platform: HowMapping and GIS are Transforming theWork Environment” and Prof. GeorgGartner (TU Wien, Vienna University ofApplied Sciences), President of theInternational Cartographic Association,on “The Future of the Map – the Map ofthe Future”. A panel discussion held onthe second day on “Geospatial informa-tion – a key element for emerging mar-kets” included Bengt Kjellson (UN-GGIMEurope), Ola Rollen (Hexagon), SteveBerglund (Trimble) and Chris Cappelli(Esri). A further key topic at the conferen-ce, which will undoubtedly have a pro-found effect on the working world, wasgeoinformation and mobility. Anothercouple of topics covered at the conferenceof particular interest were geodata as abasis for construction management andland development and big data.

DronesIn line with international trends, droneswere destined to be a significant part of

this year´s exhibition. The trend in these unmanned aerial systems(UAS) is moving towards integrated surveying solutions that coverboth the complete workflow; from flight planning to data evaluation

Con fe ren ce and T rade Fa i r News

34


(source: HINTE GmbH/INTERGEO)

(source: HINTE GmbH/INTERGEO)Even

t

and which can be fully integrated into geodesy work processes. Asannounced at last year´s event, this year´s edition brought togetherdrone exhibitioners in a joint exhibition area and a flight zone outs-ide of the venue. This was next to Stuttgart’s airport where livedemonstrations were provided showing the integration of flight plan-ning, flight mission, data recording and later data processing, inclu-ding transfer to a full range of software solutions for GIS and sur-veying purposes.

In order to integrate drones into the event, the Intergeo organizationteamed up with UAV-DACH e.V., the trade association for UAV sys-tems in the German-speaking region. The association hosted a spe-cialist forum that was part of the interaerial solutions exhibit andmade key contributions to establishing the aforementioned flightzone. The interaerial solutions forum featured a three-day programconsisting of presentations from exhibitors such as Trimble, senseFly,MAVinci Gmbh, DroneDeploy and Aibotix Gmbh.

Exhibition product releasesThe following section provides an overview of major exhibitors’recent hardware and software releases at the event.Leica Geosystems released the SiTrack: One, a highly-accurate railtrack maintenance and refurbishment system incorporating the LeicaScanStation P40 to generate 3D point clouds, which ensure completecoverage of the entire rail infrastructure surface without the need toreceive GNSS signals for position information. The total solution forrail maintenance and refurbishment produces synchronized enginee-ring, survey-grade 3D point clouds for accurate as-built drawings.Also on display were the Leica Captivate and the LeicaPegasus:Backpack, which had been presented earlier this year at HxGN LIVE in Las Vegas.

Riegl released the RIEGL VZ-400i 3D Laser Scanner, which is the evo-lution of RIEGL’s VZ-400 terrestrial laser scanner. The VZ-400i offersultra-high speed data acquisition at up to 1.2 MHz Pulse RepetitionRate, an accuracy of survey-grade 5mm and delivers reliable scandata based on RIEGL’s proprietary know-how in laser scanning tech-nology.

A second new offering was the RIEGL BathyCopter, the world’s firstSmall-UAV-based surveying system capable of measurements throughwater and is suited for generating profiles of rivers or water reser-voirs. The platform design integrates the topo-bathymetric green laserdepth-meter, an IMU/GNSS unit with antenna, a control unit and adigital camera.

More product news from Riegl included the introduction of the VQ-880-G Topo-Bathymetric Airborne Laser Scanning System now beingequipped with an optional infrared channel to supplement the dataacquired by the green laser and to further increase data reliabilityand quality. There were also some software releases, such as thenew RIEGL Database (RDB) Format 2.0 now offering one Level ofDetail (LOD), additional point attributes, metadata information, andSDK for 3rd party support.

Trimble presented its range of geospatial solutions, including UASimaging solutions, laser scanning solutions and mobile data captureand mapping solutions. Trimble announced the availability of thefixed-wing Trimble UX5 HP, a fully automated, high-precision system

capable of capturing aerial photography with resolutions down toone cm with its 36 megapixel full-frame high-resolution camera.Flight demonstrations were given for Trimble’s ZX5 Multirotor, whichcaptures and processes geo-referenced photo and video data formapping, volumetric and inspection applications. The ZX5 comple-ments the Trimble UX5 fixed-wing system with the ability to reachsmaller, remote environments faster, while providing accurate map-ping data. Other announcements included the Trimble MX7 mobileimaging system; new versions of Trimble Business Center,eCognition, Inpho UASMaster, RealWorks and Trident software, andapplication examples demonstrating the integration of multi-sensordata.

Intergraph launched a new Green GIS initiative in Europe, whichoffers a more energy-efficient and, therefore, climate-friendly IT pro-cess. With the patented ECW (Enhanced Compressed Wavelet) datacompression format, in combination with the new version of theERDAS APOLLO application, Intergraph and its Hexagon Geospatialsoftware offer a solution package that drastically reduces the volumeof raster data and point clouds. This minimizes demands on storagecapacity and the associated operating and cooling power require-ments. ERDAS APOLLO also minimizes the demand for servers, com-puting power and data transfer rates.

Teledyne Optech launched Lynx SG-S mobile surveying solution; awelcome addition to its line of Lynx mobile survey systems. The LynxSG-S is built for surveyors conducting demanding, high-performanceprojects. It combines a high-performance lidar sensor combined withthe Optech LMS Pro software, a high performance inertial navigation

35



system, and deeply integrated Ladybug 5 camera. The software suitedelivers real-time data display and survey control with Optech LynxSurvey and trajectory optimization with Applanix POSPac. The LynxSG-S system is positioned between the mapping-grade Lynx MGmodel and Lynx SG mobile survey systems.

FARO announced a more accurate version of their Freestyle3D hand-held scanner and a group of updated software offerings. TheFreestyle3D X is accurate to less than one mm and has an IP rating ofIP52, which means it can be used in harsh environments with dustand water protection. The scanner also includes an “auto-mode”automatic flash, which measures existing light conditions and turnson an LED light when necessary. Also announced were versions 16.5of the PointSense laser-scanning software and VirtuSurv, as well asnew AutoCAD plug-ins.

Topcon announced three new 3D scanners in their GLS line. The GLS-2000S is rated for short-range applications, at distances of up to 130m.The GLS-2000M is rated for mid-range applications, up to 350m. TheGLS-2000L is rated for long-range applications up to 500m. The scan-ners are designed using Topcon’s Precise Scan Technology II, whichcan emit pulses up to three times faster than previous GLS scanners.Each scanner includes two five megapixel cameras, one equipped

with a 170-degree wide-angle lens for high-speed imaging, and theother with 8.9-degree telephoto lens that is aligned with the measu-ring axis. The scanner quickly switches focal length settings depen-ding on the scan.

Microsoft’s UltraCam business unit introduced two new versions ofthe UltraCam Osprey. First came the UltraCam Osprey Prime II, withbigger nadir PAN, nadir RGB, nadir NIR and oblique RGB footprintsand secondly, the UltraCam Osprey Prime Lite as a new entry-levelcamera system. Both combine a high performing photogrammetricnadir camera with oblique image capture capabilities. The UltraCamOsprey Prime Lite features five RGB color cones in total for nadir andoblique collection and an optional nadir NIR cone can be integrated.Also introduced was an updated version of the UltraCam Eagle, pro-viding UltraCam customers with increased operational efficienciesthrough an enlarged PAN image footprint, expanded storage capaci-ty, and reduced weight and power consumption.

Intergeo 2016 will be held in Hamburg from 11th to 13th October.

For more information, have a look at: www.intergeo.de.

36

Even

t



SkyTech is back for 2016, returning to London on the 27th & 28th January. Now in its second editionSkyTech is more than doubling in size, featuring 70 exhibitors, 50 speakers and over 3000 attendees.

SkyTech 2016

European Drone Marketplace Discover the latest in cutting edge technology & services at this must-attend marketplace for the European drone industry. Gain access toinformation, connections and marketing solutions through 3 confe-rences, workshops, product launches, live demonstrations, networ-king events and a free-to-attend exhibition.

New for 2016 SkyTech will also include breakout workshop sessionsfor new drone users and three packed conference programmes:

• UAV Industry Conference: Over the course of two days seni-or level speakers will present on matters of regulation, safety,data protection & privacy, next generation technology, research& development, investment and funding support.

• The Survey Industry Conference: SkyTech will also featurea two-day conference dedicated to the rapidly expanding use ofdrones for the surveying, remote sensing, mapping and geospa-tial professions. Innovative uses for drones within the fields ofagriculture, the environment, oil & gas, mining, utilities, energy,asset management, infrastructure and construction will be addres-sed through a combination of academic, industry and case studyled sessions.

• Applications Conference: SkyTech’s applications conferencewill take place on the second day of the event. Manufacturers,solution providers and end users will present the latest advancesand applications for drones within the fields of policing, searchand rescue, fire service, sport, security, real estate, media andbroadcasting.

• Workshops: SkyTech’s breakout workshops are must-attendsessions for new and prospective drone users. These free-to-attendinteractive sessions will give you everything you need to knowabout drones; get to grips with regulation & safety, meet withqualification providers and discover the next steps for incorpora-ting drones into your business.

Entire Drone Supply ChainSkyTech will be attended by experts from across the drone industry,bringing together manufacturers, software developers, suppliers,component & sensor developers, service providers, government,academia, investors, trade associations and regulatory bodies.SkyTech will also bring together buyers from a range of targetedindustries including agriculture, environment, oil & gas, infrastructu-re, utilities, construction & property, policing, fire service, search &rescue, media, broadcasting and mining.

Unmanned Air Systems Technology & Innovation Awards 2016 SkyTech 2016 will also host the inaugural Unmanned Air SystemsTechnology & Innovation Awards. With the unmanned aviationindustry developing at such a great pace the awards have beenestablished to recognise innovation, excellence and growth acrossthe industry. The awards are open to all organisations involved inthe unmanned aviation industry, with entries welcomed from acrossthe globe. The awards will honour those organisations which havepushed at the boundaries of unmanned aviation, serving as an end-orsement of determination, hard work and a celebration of success.The awards are now open for submissions, with the final closingdate for entries set as the 20th December 2015. Entries will be ana-lysed by a select panel of judges. Winners will be announcedduring a ceremony hosted at SkyTech 2016 on 27th January.

This year’s awards will select four winners:• Start-up of the Year 2016• The Innovation Award 2016• Service Solution of the Year 2016• The Award for Business Growth 2016

For more information or to register for your tickets to attend visit the event websitewww.skytechevent.com.

37

even

t pre

view


C L G E n ew s l e t t e r

The final event of the GeoSkills Plus project took place on 17th September 2015 at the House of EuropeanSurveyors and Geoinformation in Brussels, Belgium. Organised by the Council of European Surveyors and the

Ordre Belge des Géomètres-Experts asbl in cooperation with the partners of this Leonardo Transfer of Innovationproject, the conference discussed the situation regarding geospatial careers, skills and education in Europe.

Geoskills Plus Final Conference

The conference hosted a keynote presentation by João Santos,Head of Unit of the Directorate General for Employment, Socialaffairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, entitledMedium and Long Term EU “Vocational Education and Trainingpolicy” priorities. It was a very interesting presentation, paving the

way for other possible projects in the field of Sector Skill Alliances. Sector Skills Alliances aim at tackling skills gaps; enhancing the responsive-ness of initial and continuing Vocational Education and Teaching systems tosector-specific labour market needs and responding to the demand for newskills with regard to one or more occupational profiles.

These objectives will be achieved by:• Modernising Vocational Education and Training and exploiting its potential

to drive economic development and innovation, notably at local and region-al levels, thus increasing the competitiveness of the sectors concerned.

• Strengthening the exchange of knowledge and practice between voca-tional education and training institutions and the labour market by inte-grating work-based learning.

• Facilitating labour mobility, mutual trust and increased recognition ofqualifications at European level within the sectors concerned.

The Final GeoSkills Plus Conference also included a special session on

geoskills in Belgium. Representatives of all the com-ponents of the “golden pyramid” – academics,public authorities, business sector, professionalassociations – offered an overview of the quantita-tive and qualitative gaps affecting the geospatialmarket and other issues that affect this sector.

It was very worthwhile to unite all these players inan official and structural way. Most of the time, thesame kind of issues are discussed in informal ways.Unfortunately, it is often the case that during thesesort of occasions even important breakthroughs typ-ically reach no concrete resolution. In conclusion, itwas decided to go on with the discussions duringthe forthcoming BeGeo event, in March 2016.

The conference participants were invited to sign theBrussels Declaration on GeoSkills in Europe; a doc-ument that makes a series of recommendations forestablishing a spatially enabled society and meet-ing the growing needs for “geoskills” at nationaland European level.

About GeoSkills Plus Under the Digital Agenda for Europe, the European Commission has iden-tified the need for 21st Century e-skills as a key determinant for the futuregrowth and development of the European economy. The European markethas to deal with a range of specific e-skills shortages, gaps and mismatch-es. The GeoSkills Plus Project created opportunities to address the quantita-tive and qualitative gaps in relation to the demand of Geospatial specialistand to offer solutions to bridge the gaps.

The main outcomes of the project include:1. a cooperation model to be used across the geospatial marketplace,2. strategies for raising awareness of the subject and approaches for solv-

ing the mismatch between the market requirements on labour force andthe numbers of students provided by the geospatial vocational educationand training institutions and

3. the identification of ways to bridge the gaps that exist in the geospatialmarket, which currently prevent the system from working properly.

The GeoSkills Plus project is a Transfer of Innovation Project funded by theLifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission. The House ofthe European Surveyor and GeoInformation is located at 76 Rue de Nord,1000 Brussels, Belgium.

38


Karl Donnert and Jean-Yves Pirlot

CLGE President Maurice Barbieri signs the Brussels GeoSkillsPlus Declaration


39

For more information, please contact:• Jean-Yes Pirlot, e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] • Paula Dijkstra, e-mail: [email protected]• Karen Levoleger, email: [email protected]

• Follow GeoSkills Plus on the Web: www.geoskillsplus.eu, Twitter: @GeoskillsPlus and Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/1484458188448204The final declaration was not only signed by major participating associa-tions, but also by many individual participants attending the conference.The full text of the Declaration can be read here.

From left to right: Eric Bayers (Associations), Tanguy de Lestré (Labour market), Kris Lentacker (Government), Rolan Billen (Academics) and Eric Auqière (Government)

Thursday 17th September 2015, Brussels Manifesto on GeoSkills in EuropeThe GeoSkills Plus Project has developed a platform that can be used toimprove skills for geospatial vocational education and training in Europeand encourage cooperation between the geospatial academic domainand the world of work.

The GeoSkills methodology was developed and used to identify and anal-yse key factors responsible for the mismatches in education, training andemployment in Belgium, Bulgaria, Lithuania and The Netherlands.

The final meeting of GeoSkills Plus demonstrated the methodology thatwas developed to define the gap between key players in the geospatialsector within a country. Results on how to establish a golden pyramid at national and regionallevel have been presented. For future success, one of the key elementsidentified is to create a solid foundation for the pyramid. GeoSkills Plus has produced an overview of the opportunities for aware-

ness raising activities that countries might use in their efforts to raise aware-ness about the importance of ‘geoskills’.

RecommendationsIn order to establish a spatially enabled society and meet growing needsfor ‘geoskills’ at national and European level, we make the following rec-ommendations: Measures to monitor, identify and address the qualitative and quantitativegaps in the geospatial labour market in all European countries should bea European priority to be developed, supported and resourced. In order to exchange strategies and best practices between countries andassociations, raise awareness of the relevance and importance of geospa-tial education in Europe, and the need to recognise surveying and geo-careers.Resources must be provided to encourage joint cooperation between alllevels of education, government, the labour market and professional asso-ciations.

For many years there were two profes-sional bodies representing surveyorsin Ireland. The older of the two institu-tions, The Society of CharteredSurveyors, Ireland had a very strong

representation amongst quantity surveyors,building surveyors and other similar constructionoriented branches of the profession, whilst themore recently established of the two institutions,The Irish Institution of Surveyors, was exclusivelyrepresentative of geodetic surveyors. In recentyears integrations took place between the SCSIand various other surveying institutions, particu-larly property management surveyors, resultingin a society with a membership of over 5,000representing practically every branch of the sur-veying profession in Ireland.Some two years ago, a number of members of thesmall geomatics professional group within SCSI,put forward the idea, during informal encounterswith members of the council of IIS, that there mightbe considerable merit in exploring the possibility ofa merging of the membership of the two institutionsto the mutual benefit of all members. IIS sawadvantage in the suggestion and a more formalprocess of discussion and negotiation wasembarked upon. This continued over a period oftwo years, until finally, after many vicissitudes, anagreement, mutually acceptable to all parties, wasreached. The process reached its culmination inlate June of this year with the signing of an assettransfer agreement between IIS and SCSI, whichallowed for the transfer of all existing members ofIIS to SCSI, with agreed levels of membershipgrade, and the wind-down and disbandment of IISas an institution.

This event marks a new dawn in the representationof geomatics surveyors in Ireland. For the first timeall practitioners are members of a single, stronginstitution. No longer alone are the geomaticistsunited, but they share an institutional body with the

full range of other surveying disciplines providing asynergy and degree on interaction, that never exist-ed before. The strength and comprehensive cover-age of SCSI allow it to speak with a powerful andcoherent voice, particularly to government andother representative bodies, on all matters that con-cern surveyors and surveying.

IIS members are justly proud of what they haveachieved over the years. IIS was in existence forexactly 25 years, and during that time representedgeodetic surveyors in Ireland on the councils andcommittees of CLGE and also, jointly with SCSI, onFIG. A great deal of good work was achieved,including the production and publication of manykey papers on aspects of surveying in Irish life, themost important of which were the papers dealingwith boundary issues in land registration. IIS, givenits small size, also punched above its weight in itscontribution to CLGE. Paddy Prendergast and sub-sequent presidents were enthusiastic participants inEuropean surveying affairs. Many of those fromother European countries, who were active inCLGE affairs over the years will know Paddy, as hewas the primary Irish representative, both as secre-

tary or president of IIS, during the early years ofIIS and CLGE.

IIS started in a very small way, with eight mem-bers and grew over the years to an impressive540 members; at its highest point, representingpractically the entire geomatics profession inIreland. Our membership now look forward totheir new future with SCSI. We have every con-fidence that geomatics will grow and prosper inits new home and that the influx of new andactive members to SCSI will guarantee a geo-matics community that will be vibrant and ambi-tious. In both the Irish and European spheresthere are a great many issues where surveyorscan play a beneficial and constructive role. It ismy earnest hope that the Society of Chartered

Surveyors Ireland will play such a role and that theprofession of surveying will advance to the benefitof the practitioners and to the benefit of their clientswho stand to gain so much from the application ofthe surveyors professional expertise, not to mentionthe government and administrative agencies inwhich surveying plays such a key operational part.

The constant advances in technology opens up lim-itless opportunities in surveying and its related disci-plines. It is up to us, as members of the profession,to identify these opportunities and to develop themfor the benefit of all. Surveyors have a unique set ofskills and qualifications which allow them toengage in such projects and bring them to fruitionespecially when such knowledge and expertise issupported by a high level of ethical and profession-al behaviour. Of course, we should not forget thelong standing focus of geomatics surveying, overthe years, on cadastre, property registration andcivil engineering. The new technologies also makepossible advances and improvements in these tra-ditional areas.

C L G E n ew s l e t t e r

40


The merger of the Society of Chartered Surveyors, Ireland with the Irish Institute of Surveyors is now a fact andheralds a new beginning for the Geomatics Sector in Ireland.

The End of an Era and a New Beginning for Geomatics in Ireland

Muiris de Buitleir

The Irish Institute of Surveyors was well represented at CLGE. Here you can see itssuccessive Presidents. Back row left to right: Paul Burke, Brendan Sweeny,Eugene McGovern, Paddy Prendergast; Front row: Mike Flynn, John Dixon,

Muiris de Buitléir, Paul Corrigan.

CO L UMN

Three worlds define new GIS and what is nowpossible:1. Mobile – Suddenly with low cost mobile devi-

ces – smartphones and tablets – location beca-me important to everybody.

2. Cloud – Location (GIS) services hosted in theamazon cloud etcetera became available atany time (without the need for expensive, com-plex set ups). And with releases like ArcGISOnline, GIS was suddenly accessible and easyto use for all.

3. Vision/Process – Finally visions can becomereality. Intransitable problems now have poten-tial solutions. Finally the closed narrow “mapexpert” world we had lived in is going away.To be replaced by a new exciting use of GISand location technology to answer questions.An endless stream of location based questions.

But, I’m confused. I’m reading, talking, listening,running a location technology company and letme tell you I do not understand. Not at all.Everything seems to be moving slowly. Is that justour experience? And if is not then why?

New GIS is ConfusingLet's consider mobile GIS. Today there are threepopular patterns or approaches:1. Linked Native Mobile GIS Apps These are native mobile apps which provide a

fixed set of tools with pre-designed workflows.They are light-weight and focused, increasinglylinked with other apps. For example Esri’sCollector for ArcGIS opening Navigator forArcGIS.

2. Configurable Mobile GIS Apps Configurable apps can be styled to fit with an

organizations branding, with the option toadd/remove map tools as required. Custo -mization is less easy, but these are more flexi-ble than linked native apps.

3. Mobile GIS Web Apps Mobile GIS Web apps offer maximum flexibili-

ty, and in many ways provide the best of allworlds: configurable, customizable with

advanced functionality. They run on any deviceand any platform, and can be converted to anative-like app using Phonegap.

There are good arguments to choose one of otherof the above patterns based on requirements. Butdeciding which is the best choice for your particu-lar problem takes understanding, time, and care-ful thought.

Is new GIS walking before it runs?If new GIS is truly walking before it runs, my suspi-cion is this slowness is driven by the new world ofGIS being confusing, and a little threatening. Thevalue message has yet to be fully realized. Cloudbased mobile GIS turns our world on its head.Maybe that is just it. For those familiar with thetechnology it is such a huge change, many are stillwary. Those new to GIS are struggling to see theadvantages this technology brings to their organi-zations. GIS is far more than simply publishing aspreadsheet to ArcGIS Online. Or indeed justabout a map.

Part of our service offering at WebMapSolutionsare GIS fast tracks; low cost jump start implemen-tation packages. Helping organizations quicklyget up and running or advance their use of GIS.Simple, focused, accelerated help. I’ll be honest,this area of our service business is slow. Quite theopposite of what we expected. Such huge chan-ges take time. It truly feels like GIS is walking befo-re it runs.

For me, what I always wanted from my workinglife was to apply geography (using GIS) to solveproblems. Location based problems. And thereare so many. With cloud and mobile technologywe now have all the pieces in place to add incre-dible value to organizations. But revolutions donot happen overnight. Looking to new non-tradi-tional approaches to solving GIS problems, and adegree of patience, would appear to be today’sreality.

Is new GIS walkingbefore it runs?

41

Matt Sheehan is Principal and SeniorDeveloper at WebmapSolutions.

The company build location focusedmobile applications for GIS, mappingand location based services (LBS).

Matt can be reached [email protected].


20-21 October CyArk 500 Global SummitBerlin, GermanyInternet: http://archive.cyark.org/500_2015/index.php

21-22 October Geospatial Techniques in GeosciencesTaza, MoroccoInternet: https://sites.google.com/a/usmba.ac.ma/gt-geosciences

22-23 October High Precision GNSS using Post-ProcessingNewcastle University, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, U.K.Internet: www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/gnsspostprocess.php

26-29 October 15th International Scientific and Technical Conference “Fromimagery to map: digital photogrammetric technologies”Yucatan, MexicoInternet: www.racurs.ru

28-29 October DroneShow 2015São Paulo, BrazilE-mail: [email protected]: www.droneshowla.com

28-30 October Geoadvances 2015, 2nd International Workshop onGeoInformation Advances & ISPRS WG II/2 WorkshopKuala Lumpur, MalaysiaInternet: www.geoadvances.org

28-30 October 10th International 3D Geoinfo conference Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaInternet: http://3dgeoinfo.comwww.geoinfo.utm.my/jointgeoinfo2015

2-5 November Bentley The Year in Infrastructure 2015Hilton Metropole, London, U.K.Internet: https://app.certain.com/profile/web/index.cfm?PKWebId=0x58649397e7

5 November GeoDATA SeminarBelfast, U.K.Internet: www.geoinformationgroup.co.uk/training/geoDATA

10-12 November Esri Developer Summit EuropeBerlin, GermanyInternet: www.esri.com/events/devsummit-europe

12 November GeoDATA SeminarEdinburgh, U.K.Internet: www.geoinformationgroup.co.uk/training/geoDATA

16-19 November Pacific Islands GIS\RS User Conference 2015 ‘BridgingInformation Gaps by Creating Smarter Maps’ Suva, FijiInternet: http://picgisrs.appspot.com

16-20 November Joint Workshop and Annual Meeting on Crowdsourcing of LandInformation of FIG Commission 3, Commission 7 and Malta institution ofSurveyorsSt. Julians, MaltaInternet: http://com3fig.wix.com/fig-commission3-2015

18-20 November HxGN LIVE 2015Hong Kong, Hong KongInternet: http://hxgnlive.com/hkg.htm

19-20 November Geography 2050: Exploring Our Future in an Urbanized WorldColumbia University, New York, NY, U.S.A.Internet: www.geography2050.org

23 November UDMV 2015 - 3rd Eurographics Workshop on Urban DataModelling and VisualisationDelft, The NetherlandsInternet: https://3d.bk.tudelft.nl/events/udmv2015

23-25 November Capturing Reality forumSalzburg Congress, AustriaInternet: www.CapturingRealityForum.com

23-25 November 4th International Geoscience and Geomatics ConferenceManama, BahrainE-mail: [email protected]: http://arabgeomatics.com

23-25 November GeoCom: Resilient FuturesChesford Grange, U.K.Internet: www.agi.org.uk/events/geocom

3 December GeoDATA SeminarLondon, U.K.Internet: www.geoinformationgroup.co.uk/training/geoDATA

9-11 December 9th International Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology(MMT2015)Sydney, AustraliaInternet: www.mmt2015.org

9-11 December SPATIAL the un-conference - Spatial Information for Human HealthUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.Internet: http://spatial.ucsb.edu/spatial2015

10-11 December GeoBIM Amsterdam, The NetherlandsInternet: www.geo-bim.org/Europe

27-28 January SkyTech 2016Business Design Centre, London, U.K.Internet: www.skytechevent.com

18-19 February 7th International Conference “Geodesy, Mine Survey and AerialPhotography. At the turn of the centuries”Moscow, RussiaE-mail: [email protected]: www.con-fig.com

11-15 April ASPRS 2016 Annual Conference Grand Sierra Hotel, Reno, NV, U.S.A.Internet: www.asprs.org

26-27 April 2nd International Conference on Geographical Information SystemsTheory, Applications and Management - GISTAM 2016Rome, ItalyInternet: www.gistam.org

24-25 May GEO Business 2016Business Design Centre, London, U.K.E-mail: [email protected]: www.GeoBusinessShow.com

31 May - 2 June Hexagon Geospatial Defence Summit Western EuropeVaalserberg, The NetherlandsInternet: http://2016.hexdefsummit.eu

DAT/EM Systems www.datem.com 12

Hexagon www.hexagongeospatial.com/smartmapp 9

KCS TraceME www.trace.me 17

Leica Geosystems www.leica-geosystems.com 43

RIEGL www.riegl.com 13

Spectra www.spectraprecision.com 2

Topcon www.topconpositioning.eu 44

Advertisers Index

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

C a l e n d a r 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 16 / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x

October


November

42

December

2016

Leica Geosystems AGHeerbrugg, Switzerland

scanstation.leica-geosystems.com

Leica ScanStation P30/40 Because every detail matters

The right choice

Whether you need a detailed as-built representation of a façade,

a 2D floor plan or 3D data for integration into Building

Information Modelling (BIM), real-time planning of architecture

and building projects with fast and accurate deliverables is

important. The new ScanStation laser scanners from Leica

Geosystems are the right choice, because every detail matters.

High performance under harsh conditions

The Leica ScanStations deliver highest quality 3D data and HDR

imaging at an extremely fast scan rate of 1 mio points per

second at ranges of up to 270 m. Unsurpassed range and angular

accuracy paired with low range noise and survey-grade dual-axis

compensation form the foundation for highly detailed 3D colour

point clouds mapped in realistic clarity.

Reduced downtime

The extremely durable new laser scanners perform even under

the toughest environmental conditions, such as extreme

temperatures ranging from – 20°C to + 50°C and comply with the

IP54 rating for dust and water resistance.

Complete scanning solution

Leica Geosystems offers the new Leica ScanStation portfolio as

an integrated part of a complete scanning solution including

hardware, software, service, training and support. 3D laser

scanner data can be processed in the industry’s leading 3D

point cloud software suite, which consists of Leica Cyclone

stand-alone software, Leica CloudWorx plug-in tools for CAD

systems and the free Leica TruView.

t magazine for surveying, mapping & gis professionals c · 2018-06-11 · skytech is b3 ack for...

Documents