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I N D U S T R Y
M A G A Z I N E
GEOSPATIAL
WORLD
TM
MAY 2015 » VOLUME 05» ISSUE 10 | ISSN 2277–3134
www.geospatialworld.net
CONVERGENCE
INTEGRATION of TECHNOLOGIES
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INSIDE
CONTENT
5
ARTICLE
16 Understanding legalities
and tech convergence
Kevin Pomfret, Editor – Policy, on
legal and policy challenges associated
with tech integration
VOLUME : 5 ISSUE : 10
32 Adapting to the New Normal
Simon Thompson, Director of
Commercial Industry, Esri
INTERVIEW
24 Infrastructure—>GDP—>
Funding—> Infrastructure
Paul A McRoberts, Vice President –
Infrastructure Modelling and Platform
Product Group, Autodesk
36 Mapping the globe,
3mx3m at a time
Steven Ramage, Strategy Director,
What3Words
CASE STUDY
28 Tech alliance for greater
opportunities
Ron Bisio, General Manager, Surveying
and Geospatial Division, Trimble
40 Sticking together:
GIS and cement industry
Reliance Cement Company’s holistic
technological roadmap
REGULAR FEATURES
Data Talk and Geospatial
CONVERGENCE
P | 20 Prof. Arup Dasgupta,
Managing Editor, Geospatial World
Disclaimer
Geospatial World does not necessarily subscribe to the views
expressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue
are those of the contributors. Geospatial World is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.
7 Editorial
45 Product Watch
8 News
48 Picture This
14 Vertical News
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May • 2015 • Geospatial World
International
6
Advisory Board
Ahmad Fauzi Bin Nordin Sr
Director General of Survey
and Mapping (JUPEM), Malaysia
Aida Opoku-Mensah
Special Advisor: Post 2015
Development Agenda,
UN Economic Commission for Africa
Prof. Josef Strobl
Chair, Department of Geoinformatics,
University of Salzburg, Austria
Kamal K Singh
Chairman and CEO, Rolta Group
Kumar Navulur
Director, Next Generation Products,
DigitalGlobe
Barbara Ryan
Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations
Christopher W Gibson
Vice President & Executive
Committee Member, Trimble
Mark Reichardt
President and CEO,
Open Geospatial Consortium
Mladen Stojic
Derek Clarke
President, Hexagon Geospatial
Dorine Burmanje
Asst Deputy Minister for Land & Surveying,
Ministry of Municipal & Rural Affairs,
Saudi Arabia
Chief Director-Survey and Mapping & National
Geospatial Information, Dept of Rural Development &
Land Reform, South Africa
Chair-Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and
Mapping Agency (Kadaster), The Netherlands
Ed Parsons
CEO, Bentley Systems
Jay Freeland
President & CEO, FARO
Sandeep Singhal
General Manager, Bing Maps and Geospatial, Microsoft
Geospatial Technologist, Google
Greg Bentley
Mohd Al Rajhi
Stephen Lawler
Vice-President, Direct Traffic,
Amazon
Vanessa Lawrence
Secretary General,
Ordnance Survey International, UK
The Team
CHAIRMAN
M P Narayanan
Executive Editor
Bhanu Rekha
Publisher
Sanjay Kumar
Product Manager
Harsha Vardhan Madiraju
Publications Team
Associate Editor
Nitika Bajpayee Jha
Managing Editor
Prof. Arup Dasgupta
Editor — Building & Energy
Geoff Zeiss
Editor — Mining (Hon)
Dr. Hrishikesh Samant
Editor ­— Policy
Kevin Pomfret
Editor — Latin America
Dr Tania Maria Sausen
Geospatial World • May • 2015
Senior Assistant Editor
Ishveena Singh
Sub Editor
Sanskriti Shukla
Senior Graphic Designer
Debjyoti Mukherjee
Circulation Manager
Ashish Batra
Executive — Posting
Vijay Kumar Singh
Editorial
7
“Better services are provided by municipalities through
the use of geospatial technology to rationalise taxes and
provide better maintenance of utilities.”
Prof Arup Dasgupta
Managing Editor, [email protected]
Technology: Converging
together for a better future
T
he cliché that the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts is applicable to the geospatial
world. Taken in isolation, various geospatial
technologies show limited versatility in their
own domains, but when used in an integrated manner,
this versatility improves by orders of magnitude. For
example, a 3D cityscape rendered using CAD, located
on the earth in a GIS, on a background of a remotely
sensed imagery has a far greater impact than each of
the elements considered separately.
As technology progresses, users have found value in
using it in an integrated manner, such that the benefit
of different technologies to serve a common purpose
is enhanced. Thus, in their time, remote-sensing, GIS,
GPS, EDM, Total Stations, LiDAR, Cloud Computing
and Big Data Analytics have all become a part of the
arsenal of spatial analysts. The recent earthquake in
Nepal has already spawned several studies using geospatial techniques, which show the changes in the geography of the area. Another study uses the 3D models
of the Durbar Square before and after the event, to estimate the damage. While these are preliminary studies, they will ultimately lead to a better understanding
of the causes leading to the quake and the associated
damage estimation. More importantly, it will also lead
to the adoption of better building technologies.
What has building technologies got to do with
geospatial systems? Consider the fact that in the Nepal
quake, the major damage has been caused to heritage buildings made in the Newari style, while modern
buildings show less damage. The Newari method of
building employed empirical methods to make them
quake tolerant by using sun-dried bricks, mud mortar and wooden supports. But, they required constant
maintenance, in the absence of which, they degenerated to a point where they became unstable. Modern
buildings, on the other hand, are designed to take into
the quake factors in a more systematic manner through
intensity zoning and appropriate building codes for
each zone. We can say that geology and geo-tectonics
have converged with building technologies to create
safer buildings.
Convergence is happening in many other domains
as well. More efficient power distribution and asset
management is the result of the convergence of GIS and
SCADA. Better services to communities are provided by
municipalities through the use of geospatial technology to rationalise taxes and provide better maintenance
of roads, street lights, transport facilities, water and
sewerage. Municipalities are joining hands with the
police to provide better illumination in crime prone
areas. These areas are being defined by the police
through spatial analysis of crimes.
Ultimately, such isolated examples of convergence
will come together to create smart cities and towns,
which in turn, will be stitched together with rural areas
into a seamless fabric through the Internet of Things
(IOT). This convergence of technologies is the key to
Marshall McLuhan’s Global Village.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
8
NEWS
AMERICAS
Dude Solutions has acquired
Mobile311, a GIS and mobile mapping
solution provider. The acquisition will
allow Dude Solutions to address the
growing requirements of state and
local governments, particularly those
with public works needs, as well as
universities and other entities that
manage spatial and distributed assets. Mobile311 clients will have access
to Dude Solutions’ product delivery
and support.
Courtesy: USGS
US researchers test Smartphones
for earthquake warning
Smart can detect
earthquakes before
they even happen
A study, led by scientists at the USGS,
has explored the possibility of using
sensors in Smartphones and similar devices for building earthquake
warning systems. It is believed that GPS
receivers in a Smartphone can detect
the permanent ground movement (displacement) caused by fault motion in a
large earthquake. Using crowdsourced
observations from participating users’
smartphones, earthquakes could be
detected and analysed, and customised earthquake warnings could be
transmitted back to the users.
Geospatial World • May • 2015
NASA, USGS begin work
on Landsat 9
NASA and the US Geological
Survey (USGS) have started
work on Landsat 9, which will
Landsat 9
extend the Earth-observing
programme’s record of land images to half a century. The satellite is scheduled for a launch in 2023. With data from Landsat satellites, ecologists have
tracked deforestation in South America, firefighters have assessed the severity of wildfires and scientists have mapped the retreat of mountain glaciers.
TerraGo unveils new version of
OpenGeoPDF software
LISTECH Neo 2015 launched
TerraGo has unveiled the latest
version of OpenGeoPDF software that
gives end users new spatial database
features, including the ability to
search and update feature attributes,
and an interactive OpenGeoPDF map
accessible to the end user without
requiring them to purchase any
software. Another benefit is that the
GeoPDF maps with embedded feature
attributes can be accessed, searched,
updated and extracted as an Open
Geospatial Consortium GeoPackage.
LISTECH has launched Neo, a
new-generation geospatial software
that designs and tailors attribute definitions to suit client needs. Attributes
can also be set to automatically populate with default values and optionally
increment as objects are created. Neo
seamlessly transfers information to
and from GIS, BIM, CAD, Google Earth,
Leica DBX, XML, LISCAD and many
other systems, making it extremely
versatile for combining, manipulating
and moving data between various
office systems and/or the field.
Geosystem ING to enhance field
survey solution with SuperSurv
Website relaunch: Geospatial
crop data for food policy
Supergeo Technologies’ SuperSurv
GIS app for Android and iOS handheld
devices has assisted Geosystem ING,
Colombia, in expanding mobile
GIS solutions. SuperSurv has been
designed for spatial information
collection, and provides multiple
functions, such as data capture, map
display, on-screen measurement,
query, and so on. The unique mapping
app is also capable of online and
offline GIS editing, and supports
users to apply OpenStreetMap as free
survey base map.
The International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI) and the
International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA) have improved and relaunched an interactive website that delivers essential
components for ensuring adequate,
sustainable food production and
food security through satellite-based
maps. The website, called Spatial
Production Allocation Model (SPAM),
includes maps that were produced
using satellite images and then finetuned on the ground.
Courtesy: NASA
Dude Solutions acquire mobile
mapping provider Mobile311
NEWS
Hemisphere GNSS announces
RTK-capable GNSS Compass
Hemisphere GNSS has announced a
top-of-the-line, RTK-enabled Vector
V320 GNSS Compass. The first of its
kind, the Vector V320 smart antenna
supports multi-frequency GPS,
GLONASS, Galileo (future firmware
upgrade required), and BeiDou.
Designed for the professional marine
and marine survey markets, the
Vector V320 is the only multi-frequency, multi-GNSS smart antenna
capable of both RTK-level positioning
accuracy and better than 0.2° heading accuracy in a simple-to-install
package.
Esri and Safe Software release
CIM for data exchange
Esri and Safe Software have come
together to develop and openly share
a Common Information Model (CIM)
template for data exchange. The
template supposedly demonstrates
one approach to translating network
data from an Esri ArcGIS database
into CIM XML format. The XML can
then be shared with other enterprise
systems. The model also promotes
faster decision making internally
when data can be moved quickly
from GIS technology to destination
enterprise systems.
Congress members want NASA to
fund the programme at the national
level, so the local facility can use its
money on other projects to benefit the
community.
Navy awards $30m GIS
surveying contract
The U.S. Navy has awarded NAVGeo
a $30 million contract to provide
geographic information systems,
surveying and mapping services.
NAVGeo is a joint venture between
national geospatial firms Woolpert,
Magnolia River and Quantum Spatial.
The work
will be
performed
surveying contract at Navy,
$30 mn
9
Marine Corps and other government
facilities. The contract is not to exceed
60 months, and the work is expected
to be complete by April 2020.
Honduras and Colombia share
disaster risks knowledge
Honduran and Colombian
authorities have participated in an
exchange of knowledge to reduce
disaster risks. Representatives from
both countries met in Colombia for a
study visit, preparatory sessions and
workshops to share their experience.
The South-South exchange provides
a substantial increase in the knowledge and skills on how to consolidate
policy and institutional frameworks
with an integral emphasis on natural
hazards.
NOAA: Interactive storm surge map for flood risks
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is preparing
an application to help people determine at a street-level where water could
rise in a storm surge. This experimental storm surge simulator will let people
Ohio Congress members, whose
districts abut Lake Erie, want the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to keep funding a
new satellite-based system to track
algal blooms that can contaminate
drinking water. Last summer, an algal
bloom rendered Toledo-area water
undrinkable for several days. The
A static example of the
experimental Potential
Storm Surge Inundation
Map
get a look at what kind of storm surges can take place in their surroundings
and which can be the possible damages. The preliminary model is based on
Charleston, South Carolina.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
Courtesy: NOAA
Ohio asks NASA to fund algal
bloom warning system
10
NEWS
EUROPE
INSPIRE GWF 2015 launches
online networking platform
With less than a month until the highly-anticipated geospatial gathering,
Geospatial Media and Communications has launched the INSPIRE
Geospatial World Forum 2015 online
networking platform. The platform
will allow delegates to initiate contact
with other registered delegates prior
to the conference. It aims to build momentum towards the conference and
maximise networking opportunities
for all delegates. Scheduled between
May 25-29 in Lisbon, the forum expects
2,000 delegates from 80+ countries
around the world. The online networking platform can be accessed at
www.geospatialworldforum.org
Copernicus Master competition
now accepting submissions
The European Space Agency (ESA) has
announced that the Copernicus Masters
competition is now open to accept
submissions. Entrepreneurs can submit
their ideas for services, business concepts and applications based on satellite
Earth observation data. In addition to
over €3,00,000 (over $3,21,000) in cash
prizes, the winner will get support in
bringing the winning idea to market,
and the chance to enter the incubation
programme of one of Europe’s 11 ESA
Business Incubation Centres (BICs).
Submissions will be accepted till July 13.
Bluesky’s NTM helps London
Council clear up fallen leaves
EuroGeographics announces
new Chair for C&LR KEN
EuroGeographics has named
Cadastral Surveying expert
Daniel Steudler as the new Chair
of its Cadastre and Land Registry
Knowledge Exchange Network
(C&LR KEN). Dr Steudler, who holds
a PhD degree from the University of
Melbourne, Australia, is a scientific
associate at the Swiss Federal Office of
Topography, and works for the Federal
Directorate for Cadastral Surveying.
He also has extensive international experience consulting for land
Enhanced spill detection and SAR comes to UK
Courtesy: oedigital
A consortium of three companies has joined forces to bring enhanced oil
spill detection, and search and rescue capability to the UK North Sea. Using
technology developed in Norway, and working with Aberdeen’s Briggs
Environmental Services,
The camera is part of Aptomar’s
Aptomar has introduced an SECurus technology
enhanced TCMS (tactical
collaboration management
system) on an Atlantic
Offshore Rescue-operated
emergency response and
rescue vessel. The system
brings a high-capacity,
motion stabilised IR camera
together with geo-referencing technology using radar and AIS data with live streaming capability.
Geospatial World • May • 2015
administration and cadastral projects
in Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and Kosovo.
A detailed map of more than 280
million trees across England and
Wales is helping the London Borough
of Bromley prioritise its autumn
street cleansing programme. The
National Tree Map (NTM), created
from Bluesky’s high resolution aerial
photography, colour infrared data and
detailed height datasets, helps the
Council locate trees with close proximity to roads and pavements and identify
large leaf species that have a greater
contribution to the annual leaf fall.
Smart city mapping site
launched in Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Institute for Science
and Technology (LIST) has introduced
Smart City Logistics, a decision
support mapping software to help authorities tackle the complex challenge
of urban freight transportation. Using
GIS technology, the tool provides
online information to help minimise
congestion, CO2, and air and noise
pollution in the city when developing
sustainable freight plans. Currently,
the tool gathers data across the whole
of three European capital cities: London, Brussels and Luxembourg.
NEWS
11
GSDI announces death of former
President, Prof. Bas Kok
The JASON-2 satellite is helping
to predict floods in Bangladesh.
Courtesy: RadioHam
Prof. Bas Kok helped to find the initial
GSDI Conference series.
Courtesy: Delta
GSDI announced the recent death of
former GSDI President, Prof. Bas Kok.
Bas, who died battling cancer, was
known to many members of GSDI
for his long support for developing
Spatial Data Infrastructures both in
Europe and globally. He helped to
find the initial GSDI Conference series,
attending the very first conference in
Bonn, Germany, in 1996, and remained
directly involved in the global SDI
initiatives up to his death this month.
Prof. Kok was GSDI Association
President from February 2008 until
June 2009 and remained a member
of the Board of Directors and the GSDI
Executive Committee for several years
thereafter.
Airbus Defence and Space
unveils Proximity M2M
Airbus Defence and Space recently
launched a Machine-to-Machine
(M2M) management solution called
Proximity M2M, designed to simplify
the integration and management of
satellite communication components
within standard M2M networks and
applications. Proximity M2M helps
maintain real-time data delivery
Satellite boosts flood prediction in Bangladesh
Backed by a new satellite observation system officials at Bangladesh’s Flood
Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) are confident of staying ahead of
flood-related disasters in the country this summer. Experimental trials conducted last year by FFWC using data from the JASON-2 satellite — that was
developed by SERVIR and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development — proved that an eight-day advance warning of floods was
possible against the earlier three or four days.
ASIA PACIFIC
Commission for Survey (GCS), the
two day event attracted senior
delegations from Algeria, Bahrain,
Egypt, Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman,
Qatar, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates
and GCC-Stat.
UN-GGIM: Arab States
inaugurated
Nepal raises awareness to fight
fires through satellite imagery
The inaugural meeting of the United
Nations Committee of Experts on
Global Geospatial Information
Management (UN-GGIM) Regional
Committee for Arab States has
been held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Organised by the Secretariat of
UN-GGIM, in partnership with
the Government of Saudi Arabia
represented by the General
The SERVIR-Himalaya Initiative of the
International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and
Regional Support Office of UN-SPIDER,
in collaboration with the Department
of Forests (DoF) of Nepal, has conducted an awareness campaign in the most
fire prone districts of Nepal — the
Terai region. The system generates and
disseminates three products: short
in an M2M network using devices
ranging from low data rate lightweight M2M (LWM2M) systems to
high-speed Very Small Aperture
Terminal (VSAT)-based IP terminals.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
NEWS
message system (SMS) alerts, email
notifications, and a web application for
visualising the latest fire data as well as
historical data.
New countries line up to India
for satellite launches
While ISRO has put India in global
limelight because of its low-cost mission
to Mars, its commercial wing, Antrix,
has started witnessing a robust growth
with more countries approaching it
with offers to launch their satellites. One
such proposal is due for June, in which
three DMC-3 earth observation satellites
along with one micro and one nano
satellite built by UK’s Surrey Satellite
Technology (SSTL) will be launched into
space. There is also a plan to launch a US
satellite in 2016.
Makani to be compatible with
Google and HERE maps
Dubai’s satellite location address
Indonesia: Fujitsu
announces
app-based disaster
information-sharing
tool
Fujitsu and PT. Fujitsu
Indonesia have announced
the completion of a participatory disaster information-sharing system, created for Jakarta’s Regional
Disaster Management
Agency, BPBD DKI. The smartphone application receives real time information
from individuals as well as from BPBD DKI. People can upload pictures and
comments, which the app will assign to their locations, using the associated
GPS data. In case of a disaster, it also sends out warnings to all smartphones
that have the app installed.
Makani smartphone app. Google and
HERE compatibility is expected to
be online by 2016. Around 125,000
buildings in Dubai will be registered
with Makani.
Courtesy: Propertyfinder
International Charter activated
for flooding in northern India
Makani assigns a 10-digit number to
every building in Dubai
and navigation system, Makani, will
soon be compatible with Google
and HERE maps, as revealed by an
official. Dubai Municipality’s Makani
(My Location) assigns a 10-digit
number to every building in Dubai
on a digital map and helps users find
the desired location using the free
Geospatial World • May • 2015
The International Charter: Space
and Major Disasters was activated
in April to support response efforts
in Jammu and Kashmir State with
satellite-based maps. The region
experienced flooding and resulting
landslides following several days
of heavy rain. The mechanism
was triggered by the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
The project management of the
activation will be handled by India’s
National Remote Sensing Centre
(NRSC).
Abu Dhabi showcases interactive
GeoDecisions map
The Abu Dhabi Housing Authority
(ADHA) in Abu Dhabi, the capital
of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
demonstrates geospatial innovation
to UAE and international dignitaries
through a new map-centric portal
called Complete Emirati Communities
(CEC). GeoDecisions, an IT company
specialising in geospatial solutions,
developed CEC in conjunction with
its business partner, GeoLinks, to
aggregate Abu Dhabi GIS data at the
community, district, municipal, and
Emirate level. Built on the Esri® ArcGIS
platform, CEC illustrates pie charts
and gauges that integrate Abu Dhabi
loan, housing, land, infrastructure, and
utility data in an easy-to-understand
spatial display.
Smart maps necessary for
smart cities
As India gets on course to develop
100 smart cities, a report titled
‘Smart Maps for Smart Cities’ claims
that smart maps can save $1.6
billion in productive time and fuel
Courtesy: ABC
12
NEWS
in commuting, save 13,000 lives by
helping ambulances locate callers
better, and increase revenues to local
retailers by $2.2 billion. Released
by strategy and policy consulting
firm, Dalbert Global Development
Advisors, in partnership with CII, the
report is based on detailed analyses of
nine high potential uses of maps.
Courtesy: Ifwn
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and French President Francois
Hollande.
India, France sign remote
sensing MoU
India and France have signed 17
agreements, including on the stalled
nuclear project in Jaitapur in 5, after
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
held wide-ranging talks with French
President Francois Hollande. An MoU
was also signed between ISRO and
French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) on the Indo-French MeghaTropiques satellite which was launched
on board the Indian launch vehicle PSLV
on October 12, 2011.
New Delhi begins 3D mapping in
preparation for smart city
The New Delhi Municipal Council
has approved a project to start
three-dimensional mapping as a
precursor to planning for their Smart
City initiative. The work will include
the mapping of buildings, streets,
trees and water and sewer lines. The
agency will hire a private firm to
conduct the project. New Delhi’s Smart
City efforts include WiFi connectivity,
intelligent parking systems and energy
conversion.
AFRICA
Tanzania: New agency for
disaster risk reduction
Tanzania will create a new agency
for emergency response and disaster
risk reduction, both for man-made
disasters and disasters triggered
by natural hazards. The Tanzanian
Parliament has passed an according law establishing the agency.
The Disaster Management Agency
(DMA) will oversee efforts to prevent
damage, and deal with the impacts
of floods, drought, hail, storms and
hunger, as well as manage the stock of
supplies to aid effective response.
GLTN promotes GeoInformation
for mapping land rights
GLTN and Nairobi’s Regional Center for
Mapping Resources for Development
(RCMRD) have co-facilitated a
training workshop on Social Tenure
Domain Model (STDM) and Quantum
Geographical Information System
(QGIS) for three IFAD supported
projects in Mozambique, PRODIRPA,
PROSUR and PROMER. The orientation
aims at creating awareness of STDM
and QGIS, including its principles,
practice, use and application to
mitigate conflicts.
South Africa plans to launch
EO satellite in 2019
South Africa will launch an Earth
observation satellite in 2019, as the
head of the South African National
Space Agency, Sansa, announced to a
13
newspaper. In doing so, South Africa
would like to have their own data
readily available instead of relying on
international satellites. The new satellite, EO-Sat1, will be part of the African
Resource Management Constellation,
a network of African nations that
plan on launching a common Earth
observation satellite system.
Ghana Parliament approves
$43 million for ECG projects
In spite of the numerous challenges
facing the energy sector and the slide
in crude oil, Ghana’s main power
distributor, the Electricity Company of
Ghana (ECG) will benefit from a $42.9
million loan facility from government
to support the electricity distribution
system, reinforcement and extension
project.
The
project
loan facility
comprises
of three main components, such as the
distribution system reinforcement and
extension under component A, which
will see the construction of a new
161/33kV, 4x50/66 MVA Bulk Supply
Point (BSP) Substation.
$43 mn
South Sudan goes live with new
Mining Cadastre System
The Minister of Petroleum and Mining
in South Sudan, Stephen Dhieu Dau
Ayik, launched South Sudan’s new
Mining Cadastre System at an external
stakeholders workshop held in Juba
on April 28. The project included the
implementation of FlexiCadastre to
meet the requirements of the Mining
Act of 2012 and the Mining Regulations
of 2015 as well as the launch of a view
only map portal.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
14
VERTICAL NEWS
AGRI
AgWorks Software partners with CDMS
Lehmann Aviation unveils LA300 UAV system
AgWorks Software has announced a new partnership with
CDMS Inc. to provide crop protection compliance information within AgWorks’ new unified agronomy software.
The partnership will allow AgWorks to better serve their
customers by providing the most accurate and current
product information.
Lehmann Aviation has launched an aerial system for
precision agriculture: LA300 drone coming with the
MicaSense RedEdge multispectral camera. To get
multispectral images of the crops, the user just has to
set way-points on the touchscreen map of the area, and
Lehmann OperationCenter software will automatically
calculate all mission parameters.
Topcon acquires Digi-Star
In a huge expansion of their precision agriculture
presence, Topcon has acquired Digi-Star, a global leader
in agricultural solutions involving weight sensors and
control systems for feeding, planting, fertiliser, and harvest
equipment manufacturers. Digi-Star supplies electronics,
sensors, displays, position verification, and software for
data analysis and measurement – for use in both the
livestock and grain markets.
UAVs help combat poppy mildew in Tasmania
Agricultural UAVs could help Tasmania’s poppy industry
fight mildew that has wiped hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the 2015 harvest. Poppy grower and co-owner
of Drone Ag, Will Bignell, flew drones over poppy crops last
season and saw the extent of the damage on his own crops
and others. He is investing in a $20,000 custom-built drone
camera and will map the disease this coming season.
INFRA
India’s first smart city under construction
in Gujarat
Even as India awaits the guidelines on what constitutes a
‘smart city’, the country’s first-ever meticulously planned
metropolis is in the making in Gujarat. The Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), as it is called, is being
constructed in collaboration with IL&FS Engineering and
Construction. The Indian prime minister has declared that
500 Indian cities will be revamped, heritage cities will be
restored and refurbished, and 100 ‘smart cities’ will be built
in the country by 2022.
Demand of BIM for quantity surveyors on rise
in Middle East
BIM adoption is gaining immense traction for large
projects in the UAE. Quantity surveyors are increasingly depending on BIM to prepare scheme designs with
Geospatial World • May • 2015
detailed specifications and costing, which helps them
to formulate competitive bids and tenders. BIM 5D also
allows extraction of the most accurate quantities to be
used for cost estimation. Aided with BIM capabilities,
quantity surveyors produce work of higher and
accurate standards.
New Zealand’s Christchurch Hospital being rebuilt
in 3D
Some of the biggest buildings of the new-look Christchurch
Hospital in New Zealand are being put together virtual
piece by virtual piece, courtesy remarkable 3D technology.
More than a decade after BIM made its debut in the
construction industry, a team at architectural firm Warren
and Mahoney is using the technology to tackle several
large-scale operations, including three buildings of
40,000sq m, covering a city block.
VERTICAL NEWS
15
ENERGY
EnWin Utilities to use GIS to improve
operational efficiency
EnWin Utilities has received an Award of Excellence from Esri
Canada for its adoption of GIS technology to drive operational
efficiency throughout the organisation. Embracing GIS as a
key business system, EnWin has transformed the management of its hydro and water network assets by consolidating
data from numerous systems into the GIS. This has significantly improved the visibility and quality of data across the
utility and enabled them to better understand where to focus
maintenance and capital expenditures.
Big data tech helps finding river locations
to generate hydro-power
A technology being developed in the United Kingdom has the
potential to revolutionise the sourcing of renewable energy
from rivers. A software app, developed collaboratively by the
University of Leicester and High Efficiency Heating, automatically selects appropriate locations in Britain’s rivers to identify
a large range of micro renewable hydro-power turbines and
determines the environmental sensitivity of the location. This
innovative prototype software saves a lot of money in initial
survey costs.
Smart metering: Ikeja Electric begins
consumers’ enumeration
To address customer complaints over outrageous billing, the
management of Ikeja Electricity Distribution, in conjunction
with its technical partner, Korean Electricity Company, has
concluded plans to carry out enumeration of customers to
drive efficiency and effective metering within its network.
The project would involve mapping the location coordinate
of each of the electrical network entities from 132KV/33KV
System, 11KV system, distribution transformers and poles.
LAND
The Netherlands assists Colombia to register
properties on land
Together with ITC (University of Twente), The
Netherlands’ land registry and mapping agency, Kadaster,
plans to assist Colombia to formally register their land
rights. The assistance consists of providing a method that
measures parcel boundaries and registers the properties
much faster. The method uses aerial photos and population surveys. Furthermore, a mobile phone app will
help owners to track the boundaries of their land parcel
themselves.
New sourcebook on Water-Smart Agriculture
in East Africa
The sourcebook is the result of a collaboration between
the Global Water Initiative East Africa (GWI-EA), the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and
Ecosystems (WLE). The collection of case studies from soil
conservation to building resilience — including farmers’
own innovative practices — aims at helping development
managers, educators, local administrators and
policy makers.
The fight over India’s land laws continues
The Indian government is trying to pass amendments to a
2013 land-acquisition bill through its Parliament’s upper
house, where it lacks a majority. Under the existing bill, any
forced sale of land requires the consent of at least 70 per
cent of affected owners and must also pass a social-impact
test. Compensation is set at double the market value for
urban plots and quadruple for rural land.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
16
ARTICLE
Legalities and Tech
Kevin Pomfret,
Editor – Policy, Geospatial
World, highlights the legal
and policy challenges
associated with
technology convergence
in the geospatial industry
T
The integration
of geospatial
technology and
geoinformation
with other
technologies
opens up a number
of business
opportunities
Geospatial World • May • 2015
he geospatial industry has
undergone a series of significant transformations
since its evolution. Initially, only the government agencies
and large industrial sectors – such
as utility and telecommunication
– were the primary customers. But,
over the past decade, the customer
base has shifted to include a much
broader set of industries as well as
the consumer market.
However, for the most part,
geospatial technology has tended
to exist as its own silo within a service or solution. This is beginning
to change as geospatial technology and geoinformation are being integrated into and with other
technologies.
A practical requirement
This integration allows companies
to provide a more complete solution
to end users and further expands
the power of ‘where.’ Unfortunately,
such convergence of technologies
also raises a number of new legal and
policy challenges that the geospatial
community needs to address.
Though the geospatial industry
is facing numerous challenges, one
such challenge is that the community will have to deal with additional
legal and regulatory bodies. A simple
example is the migration of geospatial sensors to unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs), commonly known
as drones. While sensors have been
deployed on satellites, manned aircraft, and ground-based geospatial
technology for years, their deployment on drones has caused a great
deal of concern around the world. As
a result, traditional geospatial providers and users like engineers and
surveyors are now forced to consider
decisions being made by the regulatory bodies that regulate the national airspace. The primary concern of
ARTICLE
these regulatory bodies is safety, and
therefore, the importance of geoinformation to a society is often not understood. In addition, due to privacy
and homeland concerns associated
with drones, geospatial professionals
will soon have to deal with agencies
that address these issues too. Many
of these see the collection and the
use of geoinformation more like a
threat, than a value, to the society.
Legalities involve
understanding
Another issue that is likely to arise
is that many of these new legal
and regulatory bodies often do
not have an understanding of
geospatial technology or the value
of geoinformation. As a result, they
are more likely to introduce laws,
policies and regulations that are
overly restrictive or have unintended negative consequences for the
broader geospatial community. For
example, companies such as Uber
and Lyft are capturing and using
geoinformation in innovative ways.
Their Smartphone apps allow users
to locate, order and follow private
drivers to take them to their destination. Such business models are
17
proving to be quite disruptive to
the traditional taxi industry. At the
same time, lawmakers and regulators are struggling to adapt the existing laws and regulations pertaining to taxis to Uber and Lyft drivers.
As a result, some regulators have
suggested prohibiting Uber and
Lyft from including maps on their
Smartphone apps, thereby making
it difficult for a user to know when a
private driver is nearby. While such
an approach might limit Uber and
Lyft’s competitive advantage over
the traditional taxi, it would be a
misguided fix to the larger probMay • 2015 • Geospatial World
18
ARTICLE
lem, that the legal and policy communities have been unable to keep
up with technology.
Taking the legal route
Moreover, when lawmakers do try
to address a legal or a policy issue
involving geoinformation, the trend
has been to introduce new laws
and policies rather than adapt existing laws or policies. This trend
is the result of several factors. First,
lawmakers often receive more publicity from stakeholders and their
constituents by creating new legislation rather than amending or
broadening existing legislation.
Also, regulatory bodies tend to focus on particular industry segments
or technologies, such as energy,
transportation,
telecommunications, etc. These bodies have limited
ability to change laws and policies
subject to other bodies. And often
such issues cut across a number of
Geospatial World • May • 2015
legal and policy disciplines, such as
privacy, intellectual property rights,
homeland security, data quality,
and technology domains. As a result, it is sometimes easier to create
something new rather than modify a variety of otherwise unrelated
laws and regulations. For instance,
members of the International Bar
Association proposed a convention to address a variety of legal and policy issues associated
with the collection and use of
geoinformation concerns.
An associated risk is that these
new bodies will develop new laws
and policies that are difficult for the
industry to conform. Numerous
lawmakers and regulators have already expressed their concerns over
the privacy issues associated with
the collection, use and distribution
of geoinformation. However, in
many cases, each legal and regulatory body has developed its own
definition of what geoinformation
should be protected and how. 
In many countries, different regulatory bodies are responsible for
mobile devices that collect geoinformation, smart grids and intelligent
transportation systems. Each is developing their own definition of protected geoinformation. In many cases, these definitions do not conform.
Requirements also differ as to how
long the information can be stored
and whether it can be distributed
to third parties. These differences,
however, will not have a greater impact on companies that work in one
industry sector. They will, though,
become increasingly difficult for geospatial companies that are trying
to develop products and services to
be used across industry sectors. The
companies will need to spend time
and money, making sure they identify and comply with diverse and, in
some cases, divergent regulations.
Geospatial companies that wish to
integrate geoinformation from different industry groups also need to
identify, understand and comply
with each set of applicable regulations or laws. 
The way forward
The convergence of geospatial
technology and geoinformation
with other technologies opens up
a number of different business
opportunities. However, it will also
result in a number of new challenges. Some of the most difficult
challenges will deal with addressing new legal and regulatory bodies and regimes. Companies that
understand and prepare for these
challenges will have a significant
advantage over those that wait.
20
COVER STORY
Integration and
convergence are
two very important
processes for
the successful
implementation of
geospatial systems,
suggests Prof. Arup
Dasgupta, Managing
Editor, Geospatial
World. Read on to
gather more…
Data Talk
and Geospatial
Convergence
G
eospatial
technology,
as we know today, has
evolved from many different sources. Surveying
is the core activity in geospatial
data acquisition, which has been
augmented by many new technol-
Geospatial World • May • 2015
ogies as they have evolved. Simple
levels have given way to theodolites to EDMs and Total Stations to
Differential GPS. Geographical Information Systems, GIS, grew out of
the efforts of the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics which
sought to apply digital techniques
to the analogue art of cartography.
Initially, the efforts were to just
automate cartography, but soon,
it became apparent that a digital
map and database make a versatile
combination for city planning, and
21
Courtesy: pointclouds
COVER STORY
An example of 3D point cloud
thus was born Automated Mapping
and Facilities Management or AM/
FM. Landscape architects moved
this a step forward and added analytics to find spatial patterns, bringing GIS to life.
Evolving further
The addition of analytical capability
took GIS to a new level where it could
be used in many fields from simple
mapping and decision support systems to modelling and prediction.
In this journey, GIS integrated with
many systems, such as statistics,
remotely sensed data, GPS location
data, 3D data from stereoscopic
imagery and LiDAR point clouds.
Today, any GIS worth its salt must
seamlessly use data from a wide variety of sources and provide analytical tools which can make best use
of such data, and derive meaningful
spatial patterns to aid decision makers and planners. Standards and
interoperability considerations have
helped to provide strength to integration of data sources and services.
This is not only the biggest opportunity for geospatial systems, but also,
its biggest threat.
A versatile GIS can be used not
only in surveying and mapping,
but also in many fields, as diverse
as anthropology, business, climate
change, finance and political
science to name a few. If there is a
spatial pattern, then it is amenable to GIS analysis. Integration
with the Web has made GIS accessible to
the common
person. One
of the new
application
areas is the
use of GIS to harvest information
from social media in order to analyse the human situation in events
such as epidemics, disasters and
other major events that impact
communities and nations.
Challenges and more
The main weakness is the silos
that each technology seems
to operate in. For long, remote
sensing scientists considered GIS
to be ‘something else’. Only in
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
COVER STORY
Courtesy: Google, Digital Globe, Infoterra Ltd, Bluesky, GeoEye, Getmapping
and/or the GeoInformation Group
22
Google’s aerial photography for London
2014 did the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing recognise ‘Spatial
Information Science’ as worthy of
a Commission! Please note the
marked avoidance of terms like GIS
or geospatial. Surveyors swore by
aerial photography for stereo imaging and consigned satellite stereoscopy to small-scale mapping. These
silos become more pronounced
when one leaves the traditional
arena of mapping. For example,
Business Intelligence (BI) may use
maps, but does not consider it to
be a geospatial application. The
matter is not helped by geospatial professionals themselves who
Geospatial World • May • 2015
tend to think in terms of geospatial
and domains such as agriculture,
defence, etc., rather than a converged solution for an application
like infrastructure planning or
smart cities. For example, there is
much talk about e-Governance and
g-Governance where the ‘e’ prefix
indicates the use of IT and ‘g ’ indicates the use of geospatial technology. In reality, these prefixes
draw attention away from the main
task of governance and focus on
the enabling technologies. Those
on whom the task of governance
falls, tend to consider them as external impositions rather than the
facilitating technologies that they
really are, thereby losing out on the
advantages to be gained.
Opportunities galore
Herein lies the opportunity. The
Smartphone is perhaps the best
example of the kind of opportunities that exist, some apparent,
some dormant and many undiscovered. Using a Smartphone, a
person can navigate to a point of
interest using a digital map and
GPS, take a picture, geotag it and
share it with friends and perhaps
even link it to the digital map for
public viewing. The Smartphone
is not called a GIS phone or a GPS
phone, though it uses GIS and GPS
COVER STORY
put aside the hang-ups of what is
and is not GIS and BIM, and discover what really deserves our focus”.
What really deserves our focus are
end goals like smart cities, sustainable development, climate change
management, to name a few, which
ultimately have a positive impact on
human existence. Some domains are
already picking up convergence of
technologies; for example GIS and
SCADA for better power distribution
management; BIM and GIS for better
decisions in infrastructure management; and BI and GIS for business efficiency. This is not the end. Any and
every domain can benefit, provided
we leave our silos and start thinking
out-of-the-box.
Channelising the opportunities
Since we have covered strengths,
weaknesses and opportunities, let
me conclude with threats. Apart
from the silos, the biggest threat
is slow and restrictive regulatory
environment. There are regulations that pose challenges to the
Courtesy: microaerialprojects
for navigation and geotagging. It
is called ‘smart’ because it adds
on features and widens the range
of communications possibilities
from just a voice call, which is
what a phone is supposed to do,
to a multimedia message while
using GIS and GPS as facilitating
technologies for information location, acquisition and dissemination. A Smartphone is the epitome
of Information and Communications Technologies in action as
an integrated service. The ‘I’ in ICT
stands for multimedia information encompassing voice, text, image and spatial data.
Anne Kemp in her article on
‘Geospatial and BIM’, (Geospatial
World, February 2015) puts it neatly
when she writes, “The convergence
of the various methodologies and
technologies for managing data,
taking the best of each, and boldly
ditching the worst or superfluous
of the rest, must surely be for the
common good of developing and
managing a better planet. So, let’s
Assessing damage from fire and pollution using UAVs
23
The addition
of analytical
capability took
GIS to a new
level where it
could be used in
many fields from
simple mapping
and decision
support systems
to modelling and
prediction
applications of technology, which
can upset the best of applications.
UAVs are being used to survey
the earthquake-hit areas of Nepal
where access is difficult at normal
times and has become well nigh
impossible with landslides.
Yet, UAV usage is not allowed
in most countries in the light of
perceived dangers to aviation,
secrecy and privacy. The rapid
growth of technology has outpaced
regulations and this sometimes
restricts meaningful applications.
Given the level of integration
achieved within the geospatial
ecosystem and the convergence
with many applications, geospatial
systems should become a major
component of the Internet of
Things (IOT). Let it remain IOT and
not g-IOT.
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
24
INTERVIEW
Infrastructure
GDP
Funding
INFRASTRUCTURE
In conversation with Paul A McRoberts, Vice President –
Infrastructure Modelling and Platform Product Group, Autodesk
Inc., Geospatial World’s Executive Editor, Bhanu Rekha, understands why
an agnostic approach to data is healthy for the industry...
W
hat according to you are the
technology trends in the
infrastructure space?
It’s the access to information that is held
in silos. The files, formats and setups, have all been available in spaces such as GIS, BIM, CAD, aerial imagery, LiDAR
and so on. They have all been disparately available, but
the aggregation of information together was not possible. Now, newer ways of collecting and aggregating information are coming up, and these are a lot cheaper too.
Technologies are blending together – in GIS, BIM and CAD
environment – to utilise the already available information.
Geospatial World • May • 2015
How important do you think BIM is for the entire
infrastructure life cycle?
The building space is evolving and BIM for
infrastructure is catching up. BIM for infrastructure
started doing the rounds at Autodesk three or four
years ago. BIM, in the context of infrastructure design,
is about an aggregate of fetching the information and
understanding its context in the real world scenario. By
aggregating all the information, we can generate a 3D
view of what an entire city might look like – each and
every aspect of the city is noted fundamentally, and the
existing information is aggregated further. Through
INTERVIEW
a BIM process, and today’s BIM
cloud, desktop and mobile solutions, you can actually make better
decisions early on about what the
future might look like and how we
can enhance it in a constructive
way. The BIM environment allows
you to rapidly prototype options
for future and run analytics against
those options to see if they actually
are viable and make any sense. And
equally important, it enables you
to visually communicate design intent to technical and non-technical
project stakeholders.
Could you please cite an
example?
Let’s talk about the Carbon
Disclosure Project, wherein 40 cities
around the world got together
to measure carbon footprints. In
a span of few years, about 280
countries joined in. To understand
what carbon disclosure is, and to
find ways to reduce it, you ought
to start using the information and
make sustainable decisions. There
is a need to identify where a city is
going, how it is doing currently – in
terms of its dynamics – and what is
its vision for the future. We check
with the city authorities about their
mission and vision about the future
of their respective cities and explain
to them what GIS is and how it can
contribute to the overall well-being
of the infrastructure space.
How do you think public
perception of infrastructure has
evolved over the years?
People are socially active and
social media is impacting all aspects of modern life, including the
civil infrastructure world. When
a project is taking shape initially,
there is a strong design for better systems, better utilisation of
limited resources and better liveability. When it comes to public
infrastructure, most people had
no way to participate in design decisions, but with social media, all
that has changed, giving even the
general public an outlook to share
opinions via social media. Today,
forward-thinking government and
civil infrastructure professionals
are offering their project stakeholders such things as drone-based fly
overs, animations, photo realistic
3D images, you name it. Users can
go to websites, click a picture and
tweet it for others to see. Since the
25
industry involves spending of a lot
of money, it becomes instrumental
for the public to participate and see
where their money, that they pay as
taxes, is going.
There is always a need for
solutions as far as efficiency of
systems is concerned. How is
Autodesk gearing up to provide
solutions, especially in the urban
framework of city planning?
While developing the latest technology, we created a really strong
Application Programme Interface
(API) for being able to connect.
Definitely, there is a lot of information out there and we, of course,
don’t own it. Our objective is to
Paul A McRoberts
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
26
INTERVIEW
re-represent the data. Bringing in
the CAD, BIM, GIS, federated and
non-federated data together in
context of the real world scenario
gives us an advantage to explain it
to people who are not necessarily
from this segment of the world.
is GIS information, we represent it,
and if it is an architectural building
coming in, and we have the information, we re-represent that as well.
In both cases, it’s about information,
and what we are doing is breaking
down the barriers between them.
To assimilate the data and
re-represent it within a BIM
workflow, how is it done?
As far as the big information (or
big data) piece is concerned, we
try remaining as agnostic as possible, both in what we aggregate and
what we create. We don’t necessarily have to own the data; we only
need to make it possible for our users to be able to re-represent data
they collect from public records or
capture in the field. We are helping to move away from a ‘data silo’
environment to a data aggregation
translation approach for being able
to re-represent the information
quickly, and use that information
to expedite the decisions. I strongly
believe that the agnostic approach
to data is healthy for the industry.
But is such trend not opening up
in most emerging markets?
In the future of the smart city scenario, having access to data is essential since it leads to generating
a model and do creative things. All
data is created equal. Most countries wouldn’t put sensitive data on
their websites, but there is still a lot
of data that they do. For example,
through our Model Builder solution via Autodesk InfraWorks 360,
we can pick a location anywhere in
the world and generate a pretty decent representation of what exists
there today, just from the GIS information that is available through
the Web. Then additional information can be layered in to improve
accuracy. Talking about the emerging markets, China has really good
building and GIS information. India, however, has the ability to scan
– through LiDAR or a UAV, etc. The
processing cost and manageability
of it is cost-effective.
Do you think it is absolutely
important for BIM and GIS to
come together and synergise the
data? How is the trend catching
up to use both BIM and GIS
capabilities together?
We are putting it in under the whole
BIM for Infrastructure concept. If it
How do you see BIM being used
effectively in the operations and
the maintenance of the large
We are helping to move away from
a ‘data silo’ environment to a data
aggregation translation approach
to re-represent the information
Geospatial World • May • 2015
infrastructure, especially in
utility networks?
Utilities and the public go hand in
hand. In an emergency situation,
or when a natural disaster strikes,
public support becomes apparent.
In such a situation, people can snap
pictures of the location and tie it
to a model based on location and
then enter the information. They
are not relying on hand notes being
put in around the particular GIS object. Instead, they can capture information at the location with mobile
devices and submit directly to the
model. This way, I can have the information directly fed in to my BIM
infrastructure model and send it
out or have people on the field look
at the heat map and understand
where the problems are and go directly to access that information.
What is the roadmap of
Autodesk to address the massive
business opportunity available?
I believe infrastructure improves
GDP and GDP improves funding.
Increased funding automatically
leads to improved infrastructure. So,
the best thing we can do is to actually help improve the economy to improve the infrastructure. Take China
for instance — their GDP growth
has less to do with export and more
to do with fetching raw material
from the rural environment and
bringing it to the cities, manufacturing the complete product and
trading it off to some other country.
If you look at their transportation
plans, the amount of roads and rail
and everything else, you feel the
growth of the country. Getting into
the macro and micro dynamics of
the economy is the key.
ConneCting geospatial
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MINING
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28
CASE STUDY
Tech alliance
for greater
opportunities
W
orking day and
night, a group of
machines
races
to harvest a farm’s
crops, before an approaching storm
damages the plants. In precise
formation, the automated harvesters
steer themselves, freeing the operator to monitor the onboard systems
that gather the crop and record the
yield. The yield data, combined with
location, soil conditions and other
information, is wirelessly delivered
into a software that the farm operators use to create detailed plans
for seeding, fertilisation and water
needs for future crops. The plans
then support automated machine
guidance and control for plant-
Geospatial World • May • 2015
The demand for information is increasing constantly.
Through the use of innovative tech combinations,
geospatial professionals can now support their clients’
increasingly complex needs and processes
ing, spraying, monitoring and —
completing the circle — harvesting.
Tech convergence
This scenario is not an imaginary or
futuristic view. Rather, it describes
the functions of precision agriculture – very much in use today
across the world. It is just one of
the many examples of how multiple technologies work together to
collect, process and utilise geospatial information. Certainly, a new
technology can be exciting and can
even open doors to applications
far beyond its developers’ original
vision. Only rarely, however, does a
single technology address a complex need or a problem.
Today’s most successful solutions are the products of carefully
crafted combinations of multiple
– sometimes disparate – technologies. Some problems can be
straightforward, such as the need
to reduce the time required to
CASE STUDY
collect survey data and compute
earthwork volumes on a road construction project. Other solutions,
such as precision agriculture, often
involve many people performing
different tasks at different times
and locations.
In either case, the solutions require thorough design, which can
come only from deep knowledge
of a client’s needs. To put it simply, technology is the means to the
end. If you don’t understand the
problem at hand, then, even the
newest, shiniest technology may be
of little help. Conversely, by working
closely with clients and customers,
technology companies can create
streamlined solutions for some
very difficult challenges.
Simplifying workflow
Drawing on its long history of working relationships with numerous
transportation agencies and contractors, Trimble has developed a
deep understanding of their processes, needs and challenges. For
example, road and highway departments conduct regular inspections
of their bridges and other infrastructure. A thorough bridge inspection
might require several hours of field
work by engineers, surveyors and
technicians. During the inspection,
the teams conduct measurements,
take photographs and make written notes. The inspection may entail
closing traffic lanes and accessing
difficult or hazardous areas on and
around the bridge structure, adding time and cost to the job. After
the field work, the data and notes
are compiled and entered into the
appropriate logs and databases.
Managers and engineers need to sift
through the data to extract the information needed to determine and
prioritise maintenance and repairs.
While several stages of the inspection process can be improved,
let’s focus on how blended technologies can simplify the field work. By
using an imaging rover such as the
Trimble V10, field crews can capture georeferenced, high-resolution
panoramic images of the bridge. Individual points can be collected with
survey accuracy and tied to forms to
capture detailed data on a feature or
object. To eliminate clipboards and
handwritten notes, additional information, including photographs, can
be collected using interactive customised forms on tablet or handheld computers with built-in digital
cameras. When highly detailed information is needed, teams can use
3D scanning to capture dense point
clouds in minutes. They can also use
imagery data captured with the V10
to reconstruct point clouds in the
office. Data from the field systems
can be uploaded to the cloud to be
accessed and shared with downstream users including engineering,
management and finance teams.
Solutions that address just this
one example represent a blend of
many technologies. The imaging
rover combines digital photography with positioning via total
station or RTK GNSS (each a remarkable blend of technologies
on their own). WiFi, Bluetooth and
cellular communications enable
rapid movement of information,
instructions and inspection results. Rugged, high-performance
field computers control the field
sensors, store data and provide
the platforms for additional notes
29
working closely
with clients &
customers,
tech companies
can create
streamlined
solutions
for difficult
challenges
and photos. In the office, blended
solutions combine software-based
technologies ranging from 3D po-
Guided by GNSS, an automated sprayer applies
pre-determined amounts of fertiliser. Precision
farming combines multiple technologies in
positioning, machine control, communications and
data management
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
30
CASE STUDY
sitioning and adjustment, image
processing and photogrammetry to
point cloud management and 3D
modelling. Software, like field hardware, is evolving to blend more functionality into single packages. For
example, Trimble Business Center
software (TBC) handles traditional
survey measurements via GNSS and
optical instruments. The software
also performs image processing and
photogrammetry (including dense
point cloud reconstruction) using
photos from a total station, imaging
rover or airborne solutions, such as
the Trimble UX5 aerial imaging rover. In addition to providing a standard user interface and workflows,
multifunctional software, like TBC,
reduces time and data loss when
transferring data between specialised software programs.
In applications for infrastructure
inspection and asset management,
combined technologies do more
than save time in the field and office. The blended solutions can also
improve safety, reduce the need for
lane closures and help to prevent
An in-vehicle display for precision farming provides
position and operator guidance together with data from
yield monitors
Geospatial World • May • 2015
costly return visits. And by moving
inspection results into downstream
applications for design, planning
and economic analysis, the integrated solution enables management teams to make timely, informed decisions.
Technological blending and
evolution is not limited to the systems that gather and process geospatial information. In recent years,
the approaches used to move and
share information has advanced as
well. Like hardware and software,
the most effective new solutions
are designed to address the needs
of geospatial professionals and the
clients they serve. Many of these
approaches leverage the power and
flexibility of the Internet.
Cloud-based productivity
When the first cellular phones
came to the market, many companies recognised the potential
of wireless technologies and used
SMS (text messaging) to communicate among field and office teams.
As wireless Internet connectivity
emerged and the volume of data
grew, organisations began to incorporate cloud solutions into their
enterprises. In addition to providing communications among stakeholders, Internet technologies offer
tremendous power and flexibility
in data processing, information
management and enterprise operations. The result? The lines between field and office have blurred.
Cloud technologies can play a
key role in fulfilling the needs of
an enterprise or organisation. In
addition to data transfer and storage, cloud services can provide
streamlined access to geospatial
Software like
field hardware
is evolving to
blend more
functionality into
single packages,
leading to reduced
transfer time and
data loss
databases and enterprise management tools. By using Web interfaces, stakeholders in multiple
disciplines and locations can access
project data and collaborate on design and project decisions. With
cloud-based tools and services,
changing field conditions are visible to design teams, and field crews
are confident that they are working
with up-to-date project data. This
smooth movement of information
is a large step in the effort to create
streamlined processes and represents a major advantage of blended technologies.
There are other benefits as well.
Some of the most difficult problems
an organisation faces stem from long,
complicated workflows. By blending
technologies, solutions can combine
multiple steps in a workflow or value
chain, saving time and eliminating
potential sources of error. For example, wireless Internet technologies
can automate the seemingly simple
step of transferring geospatial data
CASE STUDY
Using images captured from aerial or land-based cameras, Trimble Inpho
software produces data on structures, vegetation, change detection and more. The
information can be shared for use by public and private agencies
from the field to an office system.
Not only can the data be put to work
almost immediately, automated
transfer reduces and simplifies the
work of the field crew. Rather than
spending time to upload their data,
the field crew’s time and energy can
move to their next task.
Blended systems for
complex operations
As the complexity of work processes increases, so does the value of
blended technologies. Because
complex processes offer greater opportunities for savings and efficiency, companies with complicated operations stand to gain the most from
blended systems. To illustrate this,
consider the operation of an open
pit mine, where frequent measurements are needed to produce
data on production volumes, mine
planning, reclamation and other
operations. The solution is to combine ground positioning and aerial
or terrestrial photography with software for image processing, feature
extraction, change detection and 3D
modelling. This blended approach
produces more accurate data captured at shorter intervals, with lower
cost and less disruption to mine operations. As a result, mine engineers
and management are able to make
timely, informed decisions.
In creating blended solutions,
developers must be able to take advantage of a broad range of technologies. The work to design a complete
combined technologies improve
safety, reduce the need for lane
closures and help to prevent costly
return visits
31
solution begins by understanding
the decisions and processes fuelled
by the information from the worksite. From there, the equipment,
software, workflows and interactions are defined to optimise the
efficiency and accuracy in collecting
and utilising data. These solutions
can cross — or eliminate — traditional technological boundaries.
For example, automated earthwork
construction calls on geospatial
technologies for positioning and
terrain modelling. It also uses wireless communications, high-speed
field computing and direct control
of a machine’s mechanical and hydraulic systems. Similarly, enterprise
solutions for water utilities combine
GNSS field positioning and data
collection with technologies for GIS,
asset maintenance and customer
call management. Technicians may
access information via specialised
field computers, tablets or even
their personal Smartphones.
Many geospatial professionals
enjoy talking about their technology.
But, it’s critical to remember that the
value of information does not come
from the technologies that produce
and deliver it. As long as information
is complete, accurate and usable, the
people using the information have
little interest in how it got to them.
A successful blend of technologies
will deliver information in such a
way that the underlying effort and
complexity is unseen. Like the automated farm, organisations that embrace these solutions will reap new
benefits in efficiency and profits.
Ron Bisio, General Manager,
Surveying and Geospatial Division,
Trimble
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
32
ARTICLE
Adapting to the
Climate change is here. Simon Thompson, Director of Commercial Industry,
Esri, shares how geospatial tools are helping us adapt to the ‘new normal’
I
t is hard to believe that this year, as the Polar Vortex
returned to North America, bringing snow and subzero temperatures, meteorological offices in the UK,
Australia and other countries around the world announced that 2014 was the hottest year on record. Records dating back to 1659 tell us that eight of the UK’s
top 10 warmest years have occurred after 2002.
Soaring temperatures and high winds in Australia
last year fuelled some of the worst bushfires in more
than 30 years. According to a recent report by Climate
Council, a climate change research group based
in Australia, changing weather, a growing population, and the proximity of vulnerable assets in bushfire-prone areas have increased the risks to lives and
property. The cost of these bushfires is estimated to run
into hundreds of millions of dollars each year. It is expected that Australia needs to double up the number
of firefighters by 2030 to cope with this threat. Ironically, record warm weather like Australia’s dry spells
Geospatial World • May • 2015
and the recent drought in California are mirrored with
increasingly severe wet weather, including cyclones in
the Pacific and Atlantic hurricanes. The tropical storm
- Jangmi - led to flooding and landslides in the Philippines and more than 50 people lost their lives. Jangmi
comes fast on the heels of Malaysia’s worst flooding in
decades, which killed 21 people and destroyed about
two hundred thousand homes. It seems that lately,
weather is getting more extreme.
The role of GIS
As climate change brings in stability to short-term
weather patterns, weather events are becoming more
severe. This is challenging our understanding and the
ability to respond. Given this ‘new normal,’ how can we
best protect lives and better prepare for future events?
Many reports make recommendations on how countries and communities can become more resilient to
extreme events. Important decisions about adaptation
ARTICLE
33
e New Normal
and risk reduction need to be made
at all levels: global, national and local. To do this, we need a framework
that can provide consistent, aligned
information for better understanding. Concepts like geodesign —
designing with nature in mind —
are already in place to help forge
consensus and negotiate the path to
implementing action. GIS and spatial analytics can help.
GIS is the most powerful and
intuitive tool for making reasonable, informed and congruent decisions that balance the needs of
all individuals and actors from the
wealthiest nations to the poorest,
and those most likely to be impacted as booming populations flock to
coastal cities.
At its core, GIS helps people to
discover, make, use, and share geographic knowledge. Esri’s ArcGIS
platform lets people connect with
anyone, anywhere, and on any device. It provides sophisticated, highly accurate and scientifically robust
tools which precisely quantify and
categorise risk, yet, are intuitive and
provide easy-to-author templates
to communicate and inform.
If we are to protect our lives and
livelihoods, our infrastructure and
financial assets, we need a tool like
this to test, compare, and evaluate
all available options. Better account
for risks in financial systems can be
taken into consideration through
such tools. We can make information about extreme weather more
usable and suitable for users’ needs.
Web-mapping services from the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency, USGS, and NOAA were
integrated with Coastal Resilience
data to help users assess risk and
vulnerability to flooding across the
eastern seaboard of the US
This encourages collaboration and
ongoing dialogue between producers and users of knowledge.
Improved risk understanding
provides more accurately modelled
impacts and provides relevant information for decision-makers,
particularly at regional and local
levels. As a result, we can inform
valuations and investment decisions, as well as incentivise organisations to reduce their exposure.
Leading the charge
A number of organisations around
the world are already using these
tools to make better decisions in
the face of changing climate. Only
six years ago, the idea of mapping
sea-level rise based on emission
scenarios was novel in the US, and
proposing to combine these with
storm surge models was considered absurd. Despite awareness
Improved risk
understanding
provides more
accurately
modelled
impacts and
relevant
information for
decision-makers,
particularly at
regional and
local levels
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
34
ARTICLE
Visualising models with apps based on ArcGIS, like WSN’s XtremeGIS, gives risk managers
a better idea of what may happen during and after a storm
of growing coastal hazards, local
governments and decision makers
do not have the capacity to map
and plan for future climate projections, let alone identify coastal
management scenarios to address
these threats. Today, decision
makers often have only limited
access to the critical information
necessary to support choices for
managing social and economic
vulnerability, and specifically, to
understanding the role natural
habitat can play in reducing risk.
As a consequence, they are unable to comprehensively integrate
coastal hazard risk and sea-level
rise into their decision-making in
order to increase the resilience of
human and natural communities.
Enter Coastal Resilience, an
approach led by The Nature
Conservancy to assess risk and
vulnerability while identifying
restoration and adaptation choices.
The backbone of this approach is an
online mapping decision support
tool, based on the ArcGIS platform.
Geospatial World • May • 2015
The Coastal Resilience decision support tool is well-positioned to support a vast array of local and regional
governments and institutions that
are either responding to disasters, or
preparing and planning for current
and future climate conditions.
Coastal Resilience helps users
assess risk and vulnerability to
storm surges and erosion along
the coastlines of the United States,
Mexico, and Central America and in
the Caribbean. It also gives them
ways to identify how to restore
damaged or eroded land and
adopt new techniques to protect
vulnerable communities. Local
and regional government officials, as well as the general public,
can use Coastal Resilience to respond to and prepare and plan for
changing climate conditions and
coming disasters.
Insurers are on the GIS bandwagon as well. Aon eSolutions uses GIS
to help companies take steps to mitigate loss and develop contingency
plans. Aon eSolutions is the client
technology arm of Aon, a leading
global provider of risk management
services, insurance and reinsurance
brokerage, and human resource
consulting and outsourcing. Aon eSolutions provides cloud-based and
on-premises business solutions the
specific needs of this community.
Aon staff integrated GIS into the
company’s RiskConsole solution,
a global risk management information system used by many of
the world’s leading corporations.
Organisations can show a comparison of business measures, such
as counts of reported claims by
organisational unit, visually on a
map. Displaying these measures on
maps allows users to interactively
validate locations, visualise loss
patterns, and identify hot-spots.
Adding natural-hazard data, such
as weather, earthquake, and fire,
helps customers view properties
likely to be impacted by an event so
they can take steps to mitigate loss
and develop contingency plans.
And this scenario is being played
out in thousands of locations all over
the world. There are many tough
decisions to make on fire, drought,
heatwaves, landslides, and severe
storm risk; GIS is making this process easier with purpose-driven
tools and templates that are readily
customisable and easily adaptable
to users’ needs.
GIS helps us in easily sharing
and coordinating information,
so we can make more prudent
decisions on the risk and returns
on investment of development.
Together, we can leverage these
tools to build better long-term resilience to extreme weather and
climate change.
36
INTERVIEW
Mapping the globe,
3mx3m at a time
Steven Ramage, Strategy
Director, What3Words,
shares how his start-up
has simplified the world’s
addressing system by
splitting the globe into
titled squares.
H
i! I’d like to get this
package
delivered
to
purely.dips.dent,
please.’
Now, that may have sounded
unintelligent. But, what if we were
to tell you that it was just a request
made at a courier company, asking
for a parcel to be delivered to Fifth
Avenue, Manhattan, New York, US?
A new global addressing system,
called What3Words (w3w), has
divided the world into 57 trillion
Geospatial World • May • 2015
3mx3m squares, and given each one
a three-word address. So, while Paris’
Champs-Élysées becomes ‘gushes.
cracker.fronted,’ London’s Oxford
Street boils down to ‘tube.gates.leave’
under this novel system.
And while you may find yourself
searching for what your address is
called under what3words’ umbrella for fun, let’s not forget that we
still don’t have unique addresses for
a major chunk of planet Earth. It’s
these four billion unaddressed people
around the world, what3words really
wants to focus on.
The company’s motto is
‘addressing the world.’ Is the
global addressing problem
something we really need to
worry about?
Around 75% of the world suffers from inadequate addressing
systems. In the remaining 25%, a
large number of national addressing
systems are plagued with problems,
INTERVIEW
causing widespread inefficiency.
And while poor addressing is costly
and annoying for some developed
countries, in developing nations
around the world, it is responsible
for hampered growth and progress.
How can a unique address
change the world?
A unique address means that the
four billion unaddressed people of
this planet can now be visible. They
are able to get deliveries and receive
aid, report diseases and exercise
their rights as citizens, because they
have a simple way to communicate where they live or work. It also
means that in remote locations,
water facilities can be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, hospitals, refugee camps and informal
settlements can be managed. It
means that microfinance can scale
up, and local businesses and e-commerce can grow. On the other hand,
in countries with advanced systems,
a precise and simple address means
that people don’t get lost, packages
are delivered efficiently, utilities are
managed and businesses get found
by customers. This can add billions
to the economies.
How successful have you been in
trying to allocate three words to
any and every location in
the world?
Since what3words is based on a
grid of 57 trillion 3mx3m squares,
we have been able to give everyone
a unique, fixed, three-word long,
simple and usable address. Anyone,
including countries that have poor
or inadequate addressing, can get
started immediately, quickly and
cost effectively.
But, why are you working against
the coordinate system?
Latitude and longitude continue
to be the basis for our system.
And while they are brilliant for
computers and trained professionals, three-word addresses are more
human-friendly in everyday use.
There are a few alphanumeric addressing systems out there, but they
are all hard to memorise. The use of
words means that non-technical
people can find any location accurately, and communicate it more
quickly, more easily and with less
ambiguity than any other system.
Words can easily be remembered,
written, said, printed or shared
digitally. And let’s not forget that
three-word addresses are available
37
A unique address
means that
the 4 billion
unaddressed
people of this
planet can now
be visible
in multiple languages, including
English, Russian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Swahili and
Arabic. And more languages are on
the way.
Steven Ramage, Strategy Director, What3Words
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
38
INTERVIEW
in an address and navigate to
it easily in an app, like Google
Maps or Apple Maps?
Currently, we have in excess of
25 partner integrations from
organisations offering taxi services
to UAVs. Out of these, the most notable is Navmii, one of the world’s
leading navigation apps, which
now allows its 23 million users to
specify a three-word address. Our
goal is to become a globally accepted standard, so you can just use
your Apple device or search word.
word.word on Google, but we are
not there yet.
‘Table.chair.lamps,’ ‘curiosity.
peach.deconstructs’ — aren’t
these sets of words quite strange
in a world which relies on
latitude and longitude?
Each of our wordlist is curated to
ensure that the words are meaningful and used daily in local
language. There are, occasionally,
some odd combinations, but we
believe the benefits of a precise and
simple address outweighs these.
Can you tell us about the
technology and related infrastructure behind w3w?
An algorithm and wordlist underpin our service. The system is
not a database, but an algorithm
of less than 10Mb in size, so it fits
on any device. The wordlists have
25,000 words in each language,
and 40,000 in English. We have
covered the sea, as well as the land.
The lists go through multiple automated and human review processes to remove homophones (like
Geospatial World • May • 2015
sale and sail) and offensive words.
The words are then sorted by the
algorithm, taking into account the
word length, distinctiveness, frequency, and ease of spelling and
pronunciation.
Simpler, more common words
are allocated to more populated
areas that speak that language,
and the longest words are used in
unpopulated areas. The algorithm
also shuffles similar-sounding
three-word combinations around
the world to make it obvious if
you have made an error in typing.
For example, ‘table.chair.lamp’ and
‘table.chair.lamps’ are purposely on
different continents.
We have an error detection
system that makes intelligent
suggestions on where it thinks you
mean as you type, even if you make
typos. We are currently working on a
voice recognition system.
How do navigation devices
comprehend w3w? Can I type
How is w3w working with various
organisations across the world to
tackle the addressing problem?
We recently attended a number
of key events, including the United Nations Universal Postal Union
(UPU) Strategy Conference in Geneva, and the World Bank Land
and Poverty Conference in Washington. Our goal has been to explain to these global organisations
how much of an impact a simple
and precise three-word address
can have on the global population.
Numerous governments from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East
and South East Asia have now contacted us about addressing entire
countries. And some developed
countries are already using threeword addresses, such as, Statens
Kartverk in Norway. We also have
several tie-ups at the community
level, including a delivery franchise
operating in the Brazilian favelas,
called Carteiro Amigo; a mapping
and spatial collection app called
Geospago; and a car sharing app
called Gocar share.
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40
CASE STUDY
Sticking together
GIS and Cement industry
A holistic technological roadmap that encompasses IT, automation
and geospatial technology is empowering Reliance Cement Company
to efficiently monitor and manage its mining operations
T
he indigenous Indian
cement industry is almost
a century old. By virtue of
the ever-increasing demand for infrastructural growth in
the nation, our limestone resources
are depleting at a rapid pace. Con-
Geospatial World • May • 2015
sequently, it has become imperative for the industry to make effective use of process innovations,
technology and automation to
create a scalable and sustainable
business model. And that is exactly what Reliance Cement Company
Pvt Ltd (RCC), India, has done. The
subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, RCC has proactively designed
and implemented a holistic operations management system using
available geospatial data, industry
standard processes and state-of-
CASE STUDY
prise Resource Planning — are all
seamlessly integrated to help RCC
efficiently monitor and manage its
entire mining operations.
The roadmap
the-art automation and IT systems.
These data, systems and processes
— ranging from high-resolution
satellite imagery, DGPS and GPS,
GIS, Mine Modelling, Mine Planning and Scheduling, Quality Information Management and Enter-
A broad understanding of the critical business challenges, technology and interrelated disciplines has
enabled RCC to create a comprehensive technological roadmap
for managing mining operations
at its various plants. This roadmap
comprises of interrelated components contributing to the overall
proposed solution, which (as illustrated in the schematics) follows
a holistic approach involving incorporation and integration of the
following:
• High-resolution satellite image
(Cartosat-2) interpretation and
analysis.
• Differential GPS (DGPS) based
surveying and mapping.
• GIS-based map data creation,
overlay and plotting.
• 3D subsurface modelling, geological correlation and block
model creation.
• ERP (SAP PP and PM) based production planning, monitoring
and maintenance.
• High-precision GPS (HGPS)
based real-time asset location,
equipment scheduling and synchronisation (for example, shovel
and dumper coordination), and
dispatch monitoring.
• Electronic Control Module (ECM)
integrated equipment health
monitoring and maintenance.
• Algorithm based automated
mine planning, scheduling and
blending.
• Automated sampling and re-
41
al-time quality testing and analysis via cross-belt analysers and
robotic arms.
• Laboratory information system
based real-time quality monitoring and management.
• GPS-based tracking and field
force automation using mobile
devices.
• ERP (SAP BI/BO) based reports
and analytics.
• Browser based Web-GIS and real-time dashboards and decision
support systems (DSS).
Integration between these systems is achieved at the data layer
as well as at the end-user layer
using industry standard hardware and application interfaces, service oriented architecture,
standardised exchange protocols
and workflow-defined custom
developments.
Advantages of the integrated
approach
A piecemeal approach towards
technology and automation makes
efficient decision-making almost
RCC has designed
and implemented
a holistic
operations
management
system using
available
geospatial data
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
CASE STUDY
42
Reporting & Decision Support
Dashboards
Visualisation
Analytics
(Production &
Web GIS
Quality)
Production
Blast hole
Planning
Excavation &
Blending
Short-Term
Planning
SAP-PP
Enterprise
Data
Long-Term
Planning
Geological
mapping &
3D
Geoprocessing
Spatial
Database
Hi-Res Satellite
Images
DGPS Survey
Data
Monitoring
and Mgmt.
Geology & Mining Software
Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP)
SAP-QM
Automatic
Sampling
Crushing
& Transport
Topographic
Data
Periodic Review Update
Pit Planning
Quality
Block
Modeling
GIS
Application
Ancillary Maps
& Attributes
Bore-hole
data
Third-party
Map Data
Intregated quality information management workflow at plant
impractical for the end-user. The
business user frequently struggles to
grasp the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the myriad applications and
data formats, thereby rendering him
cynical, if not hostile, toward future
Geospatial World • May • 2015
technological implementations and
subsequently growth.
RCC acknowledges that any process or application is only as good
as the base-data that is provided
as input to it. High-resolution,
multi-temporal,
panchromatic
and multispectral satellite images, geo-referenced topographical
map data, DGPS based precision
surveys and accurate geo-tagging have helped RCC to create
44
CASE STUDY
and maintain a comprehensive,
up-to-date and accurate spatial
repository for all its sites. This acts
as the crucial base-data for all applications and initiatives, including legal and statutory clearances,
socio-environmental monitoring,
mine modelling, mine planning,
asset tracking and other operations
related activities at RCC.
A seamlessly integrated decision support system, driven by
precision and accuracy of the data,
process automations and intuitive user interfaces has helped the
company cut through the clutter
and emphasise on attention-worthy data. A well-rounded approach
toward implementation and integration has enabled:
• Automatic and real time data acquisition, validation, consolidation, and long term storage.
• Comprehensive calculations, temporal analysis and trends mapping.
• Near-zero human intervention,
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unbiased, unsullied and meticulous sample logging, sample
status reporting, querying, correlation and reconciliation.
• Efficient and timely management of critical equipment and
resources.
• Improved productivity, effective
skills, and personnel mapping
and monitoring.
• Reduction in waste and reduced
overburden and material handling, etc.
Additionally, it has also helped
RCC in adhering to its vision of
sustainable growth by minimising
environmental impact, reducing
inefficiencies, improving productivity and enhancing the overall life
of the mines.
• RFID based in-plant truck management system.
• Spatial data and algorithms driven Logistics Planning and Optimisation system.
• GIS and mobile apps based sales
and marketing management
system.
• Last-mile mapping and customer relationship management system (CRM).
Realisation of these initiatives
will help the company efficiently
monitor and manage the entire
product lifecycle, right from planning and exploitation of raw materials, through the various value
add-on processes, customer order
fulfilment and right up to postsales support.
Going forward, RCC seeks to incorporate the following components:
• GPS-based vehicle tracking system for inter-plant transfers and
outbound dispatch.
Anand Budholia, Vice President
& CIO - Cement & Power, Reliance
Group
Sumantra Naik, General Manager,
Reliance Cement Company
The road ahead
PRODUCT WATCH
45
Improving visual quality
FARO Technologies has released the newly designed PointSense for Autodesk’s Revit® building design
software. PointSense significantly improves the evaluation and conversion of point cloud data to BIM. Laser
scanning is the most efficient method to capture existing field conditions for buildings. It speeds up and
simplifies the analysis and design of this data directly in Autodesk Revit®.
PointSense for Revit® provides tools for fast and precise creation of walls. Varying wall types and thicknesses
can be generated automatically. It also provides numerous 3D design utilities. The application allows for
creation of 3D model lines and construction points via an all new 3D point snap within the point cloud.
Users can snap freely to point cloud points in 3D space independent from the Revit® working plane.
Features
• Creates 3D models directly in the point cloud
• Provides photo-like, planar scan views to supplement the raw Revit® point cloud data
• Offers tools for fast and precise creation of walls
• Creation of digital ground models (so called Toposurface)
Surveying made easy
Topcon Positioning Group recently added to its line of reflectorless total stations
for the construction and mining market — the GPT-3500LNW. The GPT-3500 is
designed to measure further than any non-prism instrument in its class and has a
measuring distance of 2,000 meters (6,560 ft.).
Along with its onboard data collector, the GPT-3500 has the ability to connect to
an external field controller via built-in Bluetooth technology, enabling field to office connectivity with the MAGNET suite of software solutions. It can also be paired
with a prism to allow for a measurement range of up to 3,000 meters (9,842 ft.).
Features
• Rugged IP66 environment rating
• Powerful EDM, with confident distance measurement to 2,000m (non-prism) or
3,000m (prism)
• Convenient visual laser pointer for rapid, reflectorless measurement and layout
• On-board TopField application software
• A rugged IP66 rated design
46
PRODUCT WATCH
Delivering big benefits
Leica Geosystems has released the 8th generation of versatile, high performance laser scanners, the Leica ScanStation P40, P30,
and P16. Advances in LIDAR and imaging for these new, ultra-high-speed scanners let users take advantage of the productivity
and safety benefits of laser scanning – or High-Definition Surveying (HDS) – for even more types of sites, scenes and as-built
projects. The P40 and P30 provide users with increased, long range capabilities (to 270m) and advanced scanner controls for
additional versatility, while the ScanStation P16 acts as a short range, introductory model.
With the Leica ScanStation C10 and ScanStation P20 scanners as a reference point, the new family of scanners integrates
the best-in-class features of those two scanners into a single scanner.
Features
• High-resolution camera
• Built in HDR imaging capability
• Maximum target range is specified at 75m (Leica ScanStation P40 and P30)
• Maximum target range is specified at 40m (Leica ScanStation P16)
• Improved field productivity
Less rework, better decision-making
Trimble has introduced Trimble SitePulse System, an affordable and
easy-to-use Site Positioning System designed for superintendents,
foremen and field engineers on heavy civil construction sites. The new
SitePulse System attributes field managers with the same 3D constructible model
and digital information that construction surveyors, grade checkers and machine
operators’ use. This can result in less rework, better decision-making and improved
communication.
Using the Trimble SitePulse software with the new Trimble SPS585
GNSS Smart Antenna, field managers can take photographs that are
tagged with GNSS position, date and time to create an audit trail of
day-to-day activities, and provide thorough documentation of work completed
over the course of the entire job for invoicing and payments.
Features
• Real-time digital information
• Reduce the dependency on the surveyor by performing simple positioning tasks
• Access up-to-date data to support decision-making
• Increase production, reduce rework, and document work quality
• Improve communications between the field and office by connecting more
people on the jobsite
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PICTURE THIS
Maps come to aid:
Before
After
1
1
2
2
A 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck central Nepal on April 25 and reduced it to rubble. The quake
caused major damage in Kathmandu and remote, rural parts of the country. Acting immediately
after the disaster, the geospatial and mapping communities started mapping Nepal to identify the
damage and assist humanitarian organisations.
The first set of satellite images released by DigitalGlobe and Airbus Defence and Space
have helped the world to understand the level of damage and human displacement.
Images 1: Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu, as seen from DigitalGlobe WorldView-3 on Oct 25, 2014,
and the Tower Reduced to Rubble as seen from DigitalGlobe WorldView-3 on April 27, 2015.
Images 2: Tundikhel area from Kathmandu, as seen on Oct 25, 2014; the same area as on April 27,
2015, where relief camps after the earthquake can be seen.
The background map depicts the earthquake affected areas in Nepal and North of India.
Map credits: European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Geospatial World • May • 2015
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49
Nepal Earthquake
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team [HOT] has initiated its
mapping tasks related to identifying major and minor roads,
residential areas, including buildings, leisure spots and camp
areas. The mapping activities are aided by imagery data from
various sources, such as Bing, DigitalGlobe, MapBox and
MapGive HIU. The maps come as handy help in aiding delivery and search and rescue efforts by identifying earthquakedamaged buildings and displaced populations. The first image on the left shows village areas and the houses mapped as
part of the task, where the map data was missing.
DigitalGlobe’s Tomnod mapping projects — Earthquake in Nepal
and Help locate remote Nepali villages — have started to take pace.
Around 39,914 taggers have searched over 97,436 sq km area to assess
the damage on Tomnod platform, as part of the first project that took
off immediately after the earthquake. The second image on the left
shows damaged houses in rural Nepal, identified by a volunteer.
A 3D model of the earthquake damaged Durbar Square,
Kathmandu, is shown below. The model was created using aerial
video, shot by with a drone by Kishor Rana and Matthew Schroyer
of the Professional Society of Drone Journalists
You got to be
Image courtesey: freepik
HERE
www.geobuiz.com