Geoinformatics 2009 Vol01

www.geoinformatics.
com
G Bentley V8i G Trimble VX
G ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 G ASPRS Pecora Symposium
Magaz i ne f or Sur veyi ng, Mappi ng & GI S Pr of es s i onal s
Jan./Feb. 2009
Volume 12
1
How to make use of
New Technologies?
First of all, Id like to say Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2009 to every reader of this
page. Also, Id like to thank all those contributors who shared their experiences and ideas in
columns, reviews and articles. Well try to make 2009 an even better year by providing you
with the latest market developments, trends and opinions. As always, readers are encour-
aged to react to the contents of the magazine and to submit articles by emailing me on
evanrees@geoinformatics.com.
One of the main themes that runs through this first issue of 2009 is the role of Desktop GIS
and that of the GeoWeb. In a review of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3, the question is asked if we still
need Desktop GIS in a time when everyone speaks of the possibilities the GeoWeb offers.
But the GeoWeb also has its shortcomings: in his column, James Fee takes a look at what
happens when GeoWeb Services go down, and what can be done to avoid the problems
that arise when this happens. Before we start to make use of a new environment (like the
GeoWeb), it is wise to think about how it can (or cant) be used. Similar ideas are put for-
ward in an essay by Nick Chrisman, which can be found in an ESRI publication on Geography
and GIS. In his contribution, called Living Inside Networks of Knowledge, Chrisman states
that people tend to use technological improvements in a conservative way: ...the network
technology offers some new possibilities, but we have barely begun to figure them out our
conceptual models have not evolved as fast as our infrastructure. In other words the tech-
nology is there, but we dont think about how best to use it, so we approach it in much the
same way that we have with previous technologies.
Seen this way, the question, is Desktop GIS still needed as opposed to the GeoWeb?, takes
on quite a different slant. Both platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses and it
becomes a matter of how the two can be combined with smart technologies in order to sup-
plement each other. The possibilities of the GeoWeb have put the use of past technologies
in a new perspective, and the industry is now making a concerted effort to ensure both new
and old technologies can work together. Of course, we want to keep you informed on all of
this in GeoInformatics in the new year. At the moment it is clear that Desktop GIS is here to
stay. But its role, as part of a bigger platform that makes up a GIS, is changing. How? Read
all about it in this issue.
Enjoy your reading,
Eric van Rees
evanrees@geoinformatics.com
Jan./Feb. 2009
3
GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis and
commentary with respect to the international surveying,
mapping and GIS industry.
Publisher
Ruud Groothuis
rgroothuis@geoinformatics.com
Editor-in-chief
Eric van Rees
evanrees@geoinformatics.com
Editors
Frank Arts
fartes@geoinformatics.com
Florian Fischer
ffischer@geoinformatics.com
Job van Haaften
jvanhaaften@geoinformatics.com
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com
Remco Takken
rtakken@geoinformatics.com
Joc Triglav
jtriglav@geoinformatics.com
Columnists
Andy Coote
James Fee
Contributing Writers
Florian Fischer
Gordon Petrie
Job van Haafte
Carolyn Gordon
Remco Takken
Rani Hellerman
Petr Dvoek
Luigi Colombo
Barbara Marana
Mary Jo Wagner
Lon van der Poel
Account Manager
Wilfred Westerhof
wwesterhof@geoinformatics.com
Subscriptions
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To subscribe, fill in and return the electronic reply
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GeoInformatics can be found at:
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Graphic Design
Sander van der Kolk
svanderkolk@geoinformatics.com
ISSN 13870858
Copyright 2008. GeoInformatics: no material may
be reproduced without written permission.
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c r o s s m e d i a l p u b l i s h e r
Trimble VX
GeoInformatics is presenting a new series on user tests of robotic total
stations. To gain more insight into the day-to-day use of a robotic total
station, GeoInformatics has asked Lon van der Poel, a surveyor and
educator in the Netherlands, to put a number of robotic total stations
from different international manufacturers through their paces. The fourth
and last test is of a Trimble VX.
C o n t e n t
Jan./Feb. 2009
Articles
The Key to managing our Future 18
ImageSats Vision on Geospatial Information
Improving the usability for Web Mapping Services 23
New Portal for Czech Land Survey Office
Building Geo-knowledge 24
Scanning and Imaging in the City of Bergamo
The Middletown-Norwalk Transmission Project 40
Project Management Electrified
SOCET GXP v3.0 44
Geospatial-intelligence Software
Product Review
Multi-brand Test Robotic Total Stations Part 4 6
Trimble VX
Review of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 12
Do we still need a Desktop GIS?
Interviews
Interview with Kevin Ison from Autodesk 17
Digital Prototyping is the Trend
Extending the Utilization of Geodata throughout
Organizations 28
Erdas Apollo 2009
Columns
What happens with GeoWeb Services go down? 48
By James Fee
A UK Location Strategy - for the Public Sector 57
By Andy Coote
Page 6
Bentley V8i
In November 2008, Bentley launched V8i, the most comprehensive
software portfolio for infrastructure professionals ever delivered in a
single release. Encompassing products for all of the solution communi-
ties served by Bentley, the V8i portfolio leverages and extends the
core capabilities of its interoperability platform to enable integrated pro-
ject delivery.
Page 36
Courtesy Henning Larsen Architects
4
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
5
Jan./Feb. 2009
On the Cover:
Surveyor and educator Lon van der Poel is performing a test with
the Trimble VX. Read the review at page 6.
ArcGIS Desktop 9.3
The new release 9.3 of ESRIs ArcGIS has a multitude of new features and
improvements. Florian Fischer has a look on some of the improvements
and address the question why we still need ArcGIS Desktop in the age of
the GeoWeb and its service-based geospatial applications.
Page 6
Navitec 2008
For the fourth time the European Space Agency (ESA) held a workshop on
satellite navigation user equipment technologies at Estec in Noordwijk, the
Netherlands. The conference centre was filled with around 200 scientists
from all over Europe from Finland to Portugal from the tenth to twelfth of
December.
Page 50
Events
Report on the latest ASPRS Symposium 32
on Remote Sensing
Pecora-17 The Future of Land Imaging
The Continuing Story of MicroStation 36
European Launch of Bentley V8i
4th ESA Workshop on Satellite Navigation 50
User Equipment Technologies
Navitec 2008
A Report on the Moscow 2008 Conference 52
Laser Scanning & Digital Aerial Photography:
Today & Tomorrow
Calendar 58
Advertisers Index 58
Page 12
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Multi-brand Test Robotic Total Stations Part 4
GeoInformatics is presenting a new series on user tests of
robotic total stations. Each of the next several issues will
include the results of testing a different robotic station.
The same structure will be used for every test so that com-
parisons can be made between the different instruments.
The fourth and last test is of a Trimble VX.
By Lon van der Poel
Choosing a total station is not an
easy job. Depending on the type of sur-
vey and the circumstances in which the
survey has to take place, a potential
user will select a certain brand and
type of total station. To gain more
insight into the day-to-day use of a
robotic total station, Geo Informatics
has asked Lon van der Poel, a sur-
veyor and educator in the
Netherlands, to put a number of
robotic total stations from different
international manufacturers through
their paces. The tests will all be car-
ried out under the same conditions
and the same structure will be used
for every test so that the different
instruments can be compared. The
instruments have been provided by
their Dutch distributors.
Every instrument will be tested on:
1. delivery and instructions for use
2. overall impression of the instru -
ment and controller (field book)
3. user friendliness
4. stake out routine
5a. surveying one man
5b. surveying reflectorless
6. additional functions
Pr oduct r evi ew
Trimble VX
6
Box 1.
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Jan./Feb. 2009
The Trimble VX
Testing Method
We have chosen to do a user test, which means that standard devia-
tions and so on will not be considered. Each manufacturer is asked to
provide a robotic total station that can be operated by one person,
along with accompanying software, for two days. We have also asked
the manufacturer to provide operating instructions. A test survey is then
performed. Of particular interest is user friendliness during the survey-
ing and pegging out. The test factors are listed in Box 1. (see page 6)
The fourth test is of a Trimble VX.
The configuration as supplied is as follows:
Instrument: VX
Controller: TSC2
Prism: MultiTrack Target
Software: Survey Controller 12.42
Delivery and Instructions
The complete kit was supplied in 2 cases with 2 small bags and of course
a tripod and a prism pole.
The first case contained the instrument, the second case all chargers, the
first bag the MultiTrack prism and the second bag the datacollector. Printed
manuals of software version 12.41 in Dutch and of the instrument in English
accompanied the instrument.
Instrument
Inside the first case with the instrument was also another 360 degree
prism. The MultiTrack target does not fit into the case
at this moment, but I was told that a new case
coming soon will solve this. Beside the instru-
ment is some space, but not sufficient for the
TSC2. The instrument case, including instru-
ment, prism and batteries is not light. The
case has carrying belts, which I did not test.
The VX is based on the S6 but has a video
mode. The Tracklight in the telescope of the
S6 has been replaced by a special digital cam-
era. The instrument has unique motors which are
not servo driven, but magnetically driven. This
makes the instrument rotate without making
any noise, which is weird the first time you
see it because you are used to hearing servo
motors. In one-man robotic mode, the noise
is not important since you are not behind the
instrument, but for reflectorless measure-
ments from behind the instrument it is nice.
The lack of noise is also a benefit for moni-
toring jobs in urban areas.
According to the manufacturer, other benefits
of these motors include that a much faster
rotation speed is possible, so it can track
much faster moving targets, and that there is
no friction which means lower power con-
sumption, and less wear and tear. One bat-
tery should last six hours depending on the
configuration. During my tests it was more like
four hours. The instrument was delivered with
three batteries so sufficient for a full days work
anyway. (the temperature can have an influ-
ence here, because it was freezing cold).
The instrument has an optical plummet (laser
plummet optional), which you need to pull out
to be able to focus. The first time I used it, I
did not manage to get a clear field of view when looking through the
optical plummet and it took a long time to figure out that the optical
plummet had to be pulled out.
When you forget to push it back in, the instrument it looks fragile and
likely to be bent when placing the instrument in the case.
The handle is not in the centre of the instrument. This makes it possible
to use a diagonal eyepiece without removing the handle, which is user
friendly, but when you pick up the instrument it means that it is now a
little bit tilted, which makes it slightly more difficult to put the instru-
ment back in the case.
Standard on the VX is one small screen which makes it possible to do
some settings directly on the instrument such as change the radio chan-
nel and adjust the bubble. Although there is no physical plate bubble
or circular bubble on the instrument, there is a digital one on the instru-
ment display and a circular one in the tribrach, which is clearly visible
when the instrument is in the correct position.
The camera is located under the objective lens in the telescope. This
means that the camera is not coaxial. But once a distance has been mea-
sured the software calculates the offset on the video and adjusts it.
Field Book and Remote Control Unit
The TSC2 is a windows mobile datacollector/fieldbook with colour touch
screen. It has a full numeric and alphanumeric keyboard. The keys have
some resistance and need to be pressed firmly. The ESC key is not at
the location that I expected it to be, so every time, my finger went first
to the top left of the keyboard. During the test a compact flash GPS card
was inserted at the top, making it possible to use
GPS for finding the prism.
The Radio is built in, and the unit can be
attached to the pole or kept in the hand.
During data transfer from the datacollector
to the pc, I had a CF on my desk, so I insert-
ed this into the datacollector. Immediately, I
realized that there is no eject button and I
needed tweezers to get the card out again.
So next time I used the USB stick, which is eas-
ier anyway since you dont need to remove the
top cover to insert the USB stick. The manu-
facturer comments that users are supplied
with pull tabs to attach to cards which elimi-
Pr oduct r evi ew
Jan./Feb. 2009
Prism
Field book
nates the need for an eject button, and agrees that most people want to
use USB sticks to transfer data anyway.
Two keys on the datacollector are user definable, so the functions most
used can be assigned to those two keys.
User Friendliness during Stake out
Staking out is very intuitive. The voice of a lady tells you in which direc-
tion to move. It is easy to load 500 points for a stakeout job and the
software also has functions to increment the point with any number or
decrease the point number. When I tried to use decreasing point numbers
and store the point I ran into some problems. I staked out point 55 and
stored it as point 10055, so the next point to stake out was 54, but the
automatically stored point number was still increasing so it wanted to
store the point as 10056. Probably there is an option to count down some-
where, but I was not able to find it. Storing the measured point with the
same number as the design point was the option I used later. Of course,
after checking if the design point was not overwritten. All was OK.
User Friendliness during Surveying
After turning on the instrument and the field book they automatically con-
nect, which is user friendly, but can take almost 20 seconds. The first
screen you see on the data collector is the digital bubble screen, so in
one hand I had the pole with the data collector on it and with the other I
had to level the instrument. Moving two screws simultaneously is not very
easy with one hand. The instrument does not have a physical bubble so
the only other solution is to use the digital bubble on the small screen of
the instrument. The third option would be to attach the data collector to
the tripod, using the tripod bracket (which was not supplied to me). The
manufacturer tells us that most surveyors level the instrument using the
bubble on the instrument itself, before picking up the pole.
In the main screen of the data collector you have six icons (File, Key in,
Configuration, Measurement, Cogo and Instrument), which is pretty straight
forward and in most cases you will select the correct option. Sometimes I
was unsure of the choice between Instrument and Configuration, especial-
ly when I wanted to change an instrument configuration. But I started
anyway with Measurement. The options that are available depended on
what I had done until now. In this case it was the start of a new job, so I
only got the Station Establishment menu, which lets you tell the instru-
ment about its location and orientation. I selected stationing. Optionally
you get a screen with all ppm settings, but you can turn this option off if
you want.
The Station point name can be entered, selected from list, or taken from
the map. If you want to select it from the map, you must first go to the
map and select the point (or several points) in the survey area. After that
is done, when you go to the select from map option, you will get a list
with all the points you had selected on the map. After entering the sta-
tion point info and the Backsight point info, you can take a measurement.
On the screen you can immediately see, and change if needed, whether
you measure angles and distances or only angles. After this has been
accepted you return to the main screen with the six icons. When you now
select Measurement, you get different options from previously offered.
Now they include things like topo measurement, stake out and scanning.
The tracking of the prisms works well, also at short distances. During the
test the MultiTrack Target was used, so the instrument is not only tracking
the MultiTrack Targets prism, but at the same time constantly checking if
the lights on the Target are also present. It only tracks the prism if the
lights are also found. This has advantages when surveying near unwant-
ed reflective objects, like cars or road signs. The MultiTrack Target needs a
battery for the lights and therefore it is heavier than a normal 360 degree
prism.
Basically there are 3 different screens you can use for topo survey when
you are in robotic mode with the prism. You can use the normal screen,
Pr oduct r evi ew
Jan./Feb. 2009
8
The handle is not in the centre of the instrument. This makes it possible to use a
diagonal eyepiece without removing the handle, which is user friendly, but when
you pick up the instrument it means that it is now a little bit tilted, which
makes it slightly more difficult to put the instrument back in the case.
which shows name, code, offsets, measurements etc. You can also survey
from the map. In the map there is a button MEAS which measures the
point and than you automatically get the normal screen to enter code
etc. The third option is to use the video screen. In the video you can see
the points which have already been surveyed. This is very useful for check-
ing if heights are measured correctly. If there are lots of points on a road
however, the points clutter up due to the perspective and the function of
displaying already measured points on the screen is not very helpful. You
can also store the picture for selected points or for every point. In this
case, you may need to manually adjust the contrast and brightness of
the video because otherwise you may get over exposed or under exposed
pictures.
The extra time taken to store the image depends on the zoom and the
jpg settings. When the camera is completely zoomed in, it is very fast
and you hardly notice that it takes additional time. When the camera is
completely zoomed out, it takes from 3 seconds up to more than 10 sec-
onds to store the point and the image. The video can also be used for
aiming the instrument, such as when an obstruction between the instru-
ment and prism causes it to lose lock on the prism. This works best with
completely zoomed out camera. Otherwise you have to keep tapping on
the screen to move the instrument in the right direction.
So here is a conflict. For storing images you want to zoom in, for aiming
the instrument you want to zoom out. Zooming in or out 1 step takes
approximately 2 seconds, so continuously zooming in and out is also not
a good way.
I wanted to use the video for collecting inaccessible points such as trees
and lamp posts, while surveying the side of the road in one-man mode.
So I tried doing it by measuring the distance while standing next to the
tree and then aiming at the centre of the tree to measure the angle.
Basically back to the system used in 2 man surveying. On my test loca-
tion, the trees are between 20 and 100 meters from the instrument. I
found that it was difficult to aim to the centre of the tree on the video
when the tree is 100 meters away. You need to zoom in fully and still the
tree is not big and sharp on the screen. By tapping on the screen you
need to aim to the centre, but in practise you tap a bit too far to the right
or a bit too far to the left. The arrow keys of the controller did not solve
this. So basically this way of surveying was not as user friendly as I expect-
ed and I found it was better to measure those points with a distance off-
set or from behind the instrument in reflectorless mode.
In Robotic mode, the instrument can be aimed via the control unit in a
number of different ways.
Using the arrow keys, which is very useful when the instrument is point-
ing in completely the wrong direction:
Using Search, which will start the search in a predefined area, so the
prism has to be in that area, otherwise it will not find it. You can also
tell the instrument where to start searching based on the GPS position
of the small CF GPS card. This does not always work if you are too
close to the instrument because the position of the GPS may not be
accurate enough and the total station would then start searching in
the wrong place.
Using click and move. Here, you guide it by just tapping the location
it should turn to on the display of the data collector. It turns immedi-
ately.
Depending on the situation, I used different methods to guide the instru-
ment to the prism.
Reflectorless Measurement
The reflectorless measurement works well. Measuring to black gravel works
up to around 75 meters. This is one of the most difficult targets to mea-
sure since the angle of inclination is small and the colour of the object is
dark, which means that it absorbs most of the signal. Although a black
chimney could not be measured at a distance of a bit over 100 meters,
signposts and lighter objects could be measured at this range. Measuring
a cable above the highway at 218 meters was not possible.
With reflectorless measurements to corners of buildings, you still need to
be very careful. Aiming at the centre of a pole might give the distance of
the trees behind the pole if you are in TRK mode. For reflectorless mea-
Pr oduct r evi ew
Jan./Feb. 2009
9
The instrument was delivered with
three batteries so sufficient for a full
days work anyway.
GPS
WOULD BE LOST
WITHOUT US.
IMPROVEYOURGPS.COM
surements to corners, I still prefer to use special offset functions of soft-
ware. For example, by measuring two points on the wall, then aiming to
the corner, measuring only angles and finally storing the intersection. The
software has several offset functions, but I could not find the one to use
for this application. According to the Trimble support person the one that
I wanted is available as a COGO function.
One of the software functions I thought that might do the trick is called
RefLine (reference line). By making the building a ref line, I thought that
the software should be able to calculate an intersection on this refline.
After selecting this option you need to select Measure or Stakeout, so I
selected measure. The next question you get is if you want to use line or
arc. Strangely enough after selecting line I ended up in the stakeout line
menu instead of the measure line menu. The manufacturer explains that
RefLine is a separate survey program. It is very useful, but used for some-
thing completely different, which is why it is located in the Survey menu
instead of COGO.
Scanning (Additional Function):
The VX has the possibility to be used as a basic scanner. In combination
with the video, this opens new possibilities. One of the objects that had
to be surveyed during the test was an earth wall. The shape of this wall
was round and the slope was different on different locations so several
breaklines would have to be measured in case of a normal DTM measure-
ment. With the scanning option the DTM could now be made from one
station, without walking across the area several times. First pictures from
the area were taken, then on the video the scan area was drawn by mak-
ing a polyline around the area. The next step was to define the density of
measurements, which I set to be 20 cm. Based on a measured distance,
somewhere on the object, the rotation angle steps for the instrument are
calculated. In the data you can see that the distance between the points
at the far end of the area is a lot more than the specified 20 centimeters,
so it is important that if you want 20cm as a minimum density you should
measure the distance to the furthest point of your object. The slope of
the area you survey also influences the density of the point cloud (see
Figure 1).
The vertical distance was also set to 20 centimeters, but of course the 20
cm height difference on surface B needs much less of vertical angle rota-
tion than on surface C.
The area was around 100 meters long, but still the total time needed to
scan this area was acceptable. Not hours, but more like 5 minutes. The
instrument is able to take between 5 and 15 points per second.
The result looks nice, the DTM does not have the sharp break lines from
a normal DTM survey but sufficient to see the break lines in the point
cloud of over 3000 points and use the data for volume calculations.
Software
The field software, called Survey Controller, has no modules, so all options
are always available. The software is really multitasking. Not only between
different applications, but also between different parts of the software,
such as the video mode and the normal topo mode, or the edit code
library or the stake out mode or cogo. At the beginning I was sceptical
because you are measuring topo or you are staking out, so I thought,
why would you need multitasking? But during the survey I found myself
switching application every now and then. Not so much between survey
and stake out, but more between surveying and file maintenance, cogo
and code library kind of applications. The export function supports differ-
ent file formats. Looking through the list I not only saw the formats of all
major hardware brands, but also local formats like the Norwegian KOF
format. The software crashed once and the system needed to be reboot-
ed. In general if you are looking for an option, it is located on a logical
place and is easy to find.
Summary
Instrument follows the prism very well, also at short distances
Several search options available. Depending on the situation you can
select one or combine more than one search option
The software is very user friendly
Reflectorless measurement to corners needs attention
The Data collector is fast, can be on the pole, or carried in you hand
The video / image function can be useful but is not a solution for all
types of survey work
Scanning adds an additional function to this instrument which can be
useful in specialised cases.
Lon van der Poel geoinformatics@leop-bv.nl is a
professional surveyor and educator.
This article represents his own opinion.
For more information, have a look at trimble.com.
Many thanks to Trimble for providing the reviewed instrument.
Reaction of the Manufacturer
Nice report. Its really great to read the first response of someone that
is unfamiliar with Trimble Total Stations who has just taken the instru-
ment out of its box and started to use it. We are pleased that the Survey
Controller software was found to be user friendly and that the reviewer
liked the multitasking. Many of the benefits of the scanning and video
technology in the VX come from the use of the data in Trimble RealWorks
office software, which was not included in the review.
There are a couple of points which we should clarify for the readers.
1 It sounds like the auto exposure setting for the camera was switched
off. If you have this on, it eliminates the need to change the
exposure all the time.
2 RefLine is a special survey method for surveying and staking out using
a line as the local reference. Its not a COGO function. Introduced in
the Geodimeter 400 series back in 1986, RefLine has many uses, and
we would like to show the reviewer some more about it.
The Trimble VX has created a revolution in the use of video assisted
surveying. Users have found that their surveying methods have been
re-defined and that their productivity has improved.
Pr oduct Revi ew
11
Jan./Feb. 2009
Figure 1.
In the video you can see the points which have already
been surveyed.
A review of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3
The release 9.3 of ESRIs ArcGIS has a multitude of new features and
improvements. This article will take a look at some of the improvements
and will address the question of why we still need ArcGIS Desktop in the
age of the GeoWeb and its service-based geospatial applications.
By Florian Fischer
The Revenge of the GIS
Professionals
The concept of Spatial Data Infrastructures
(SDI) resounds throughout the land. In the
age of the internet, GIS systems are dissol -
ving as monolithic pieces of software, hard-
ware and geo data dissolved into interopera-
ble, service-based Spatial Data Infrastructures
(SDI) that continuously provide geo data and
geo functionality over the web. Whereas GIS
systems were efficient only in the hands of GIS
experts, SDIs allow the deployment of geo web
services by non GIS experts within organiza-
tions and enterprises. A multitude of regional,
national and international SDI initiatives will
make the handling of geo data easier than ever
before and grant almost everyone access to
geo web services. When every workflow can
be server based, why do we still need a desk-
top GIS like the new ArcGIS Desktop? The
answer is simple: because we still need GIS
professionals to create, manage and analyse
content and to design the workflows! Or as
ESRI puts it, a powerful desktop GIS is still the
basis for working with spatial data.
ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop Whats New?
ESRI has integrated a multitude of improve-
ments into the new release, ArcGIS 9.3
Desktop. A quick glimpse at Whats New in
ArcGIS 9.3 immediately discloses some
dozens of improvements. It is clear that I can
present only some of them here. But after a
second look at Whats New in ArcGIS 9.3 it
becomes evident that ArcGIS Desktop is not
considered a stand-alone product but one
brick in ESRIs service-based GIS infrastruc-
ture. Today geospatial technology is one com-
ponent in common IT architectures but not
the only component. And while we are mov-
ing toward server-based infrastructures, desk-
top components are essential parts of the
overall architecture: because of performance
issues due to increasing amounts of data, as
design machines for complex workflows, and
as high-end analysis or processing systems.
Cartography
Cartography is definitely a highlight in the 9.3
release of ArcGIS Desktop. A new feature in
release 9.2 was the introduction of carto-
graphic representations. That is, a cartograph-
ic model could be designed to create a true
cartographic workflow which is integrated into
ArcGIS Desktop but still a component sepa-
rated from the geo database. Before, the com-
mon workflow was different. Data capturing,
data management and analysis was done with
ArcGIS. The cartographic production was then
carried out by a piece of software more spe-
cialized in symbolization and cartography.
Troublesome data transfer was necessary
which placed a break line in the workflow.
12
Revi ew
Do we still need
a Desktop GIS?
Application Message in a Bottle using the ArcGIS JavaScript API
Jan./Feb. 2009
As in release 9.2 the editing of geo data and
cartographic representations can be done sep-
arately or connected, but in 9.3 ESRI has
introduced a WYSIWYG technique that allows
editing of geo data by manipulation of the
cartographic representation itself.
Cartographic representations ease and auto-
mate the cartographic workflow, as an exam-
ple from Swiss Topo demonstrates. Swiss
Topo, the Swiss national mapping agency, was
able to revolutionize its workflow for map pro-
duction by integrating the cartographic pro-
cess into ArcGIS. It could make use of many
features of ArcGIS like representation rules,
overrides, geo-processing and cartographic
editing. The advantages are clear. Geo data
for cartography is more flexible to use, and
maintenance of official maps is faster and
more efficient due to automated processes.
More actual data and lower production costs
are the result.
A Kind of OSM Deluxe
This kind of automated cartography is already
deployed in Open Street Map (OSM), a virtu-
al community that collectively gathers and
shares geo data created by GPS devices under
a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
2.0 license. They also offer sophisticated
maps that are automatically derived from the
raw geo data. The idea is simple. The world-
wide user community gathers around the plat-
form, collects geo data and uploads it.
Professionals design the cartographic work-
flow that creates maps, map-tiles and even
shape files out of the raw data. Although they
use a very simplistic data model at the
moment, it is considered likely to gain com-
no special GIS knowledge is necessary to han-
dle a geospatial PDF. As well, there is no need
for special viewers, and the files are still small
and can be combined with a document and
transmitted easily. With its introduction of
geospatial PDF, Adobe is finally supporting the
diffusion of geospatial products, and we can
expect more in the future.
ESRI Mash-ups
ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 also plays an important
role in a geo browser environment. It is ArcGIS
Desktop that is best used by professionals to
create tasks for a service-based environment.
What is denoted task by ESRI is usually
called service when talking about Service
Oriented Architectures (SOA). That is, tasks
are everything from geo-processing to geo-
statistics. Created by ArcGIS Desktop, a task
can be offered by ArcGIS Explorer. The utiliza-
tion of APIs permits the combination of ESRIs
geo web services with a multitude of visual-
ization platforms as well, such as Google
Maps and Adobe Flex. That way ArcGIS func-
tionality is capable of being integrated into
websites, and thus ESRI mash-ups are made
with ease. Message in a bottle is one exam-
ple of this way of creating ESRI mash-ups (see
Figure 1).
This simple website allows you to track the
path a bottle will take if thrown into the
ocean. If you pinpoint the location where the
bottle was dropped, a task on an ArcGIS
Server is started and processed server-side.
The result is sent back to the website and
shows the track of the bottle calculated on
plexity in the future. The aims of Swiss Topo
are similar. However, they are a kind of OSM-
deluxe as they have even more sophisticat-
ed requirements, a more complex data model
and a higher need for immediate implemen-
tation. The design of OSM maps will certainly
be enhanced in the future but probably at a
slower pace and with the steady credo of
keeping a high level of convenience and
usability. That is not necessarily an aim of
Swiss Topo.
Geospatial PDF
Last year ESRI started to work closely with
Adobe Systems to enable seamless work-
flows. In Acrobat Reader 9 Adobe introduced
the geospatial PDF that, it is assumed, will
be proposed to the ISO Standards group as
well. A geospatial PDF contains information
that is required to geo-reference location data.
When geospatial data is imported into a PDF,
Acrobat retains the geospatial coordinates.
Geospatial data can be either vector or raster
based or a combination of both. One can then
find and mark location data and measure dis-
tance, area and perimeter. Acrobat 9 makes
use of the ESRI Projection Engine to provide
this functionality. By allowing PDF to work
with geospatial information Adobe has pro-
vided a document platform for GIS customers
to use. No special tools and no special exten-
sions to geospatial PDF are needed. Suddenly
all the Acrobat document features have
become available to customers working with
geospatial documents. Traditional document
work flows that could only include flat image
maps can now include fully functioning PDF
Maps. Thus no GIS software is required and
Revi ew
13
Jan./Feb. 2009
Application Solar Boston demonstrating the use of ArcGIS Flex API
the basis of ocean currents. The Solar Boston
project demonstrates the integration of tasks
with the Adobe Flex platform. The Solar
Boston map allows you to see active renew-
able energy installations within the City, and
to calculate the solar potential of building
rooftops (see Figure 2).
Data Interoperability
In addition to creating tasks that are pub-
lished, ArcGIS Desktop integrates these ser-
vices as well. Connecting to an OGC-compli-
ant Web Map Service (WMS) became a matter
of course a few releases ago. But WMS are
just too limited when it comes to represent-
ing raster data. In the end they only show
images because it is a visualization service.
Styled Layer Descriptors (SLD), an XML
schema specified by the Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) that is capable of describ-
ing the rendering of specific WMS layers, is a
way to spice up the OGC WMS. Release 9.3
can now work with these SLDs, but the
release can connect to Web Coverage Services
(WCS) as well. WCS allow requests for geo-
graphical coverages, that is objects or images
in the age of the GeoWeb. In fact, ArcGIS
Desktop is an integrated part of the ArcGIS
environment, contributing to ArcGIS Server,
ArcGIS Explorer and to the GeoWeb. Its
strength is definitely the design of workflows,
the handling of large amounts of data and the
ease of handling computationally intensive
geo-processing. As long as we need a profes-
sional GIS we will need ArcGIS Desktop. And
finally, internet bandwidth is still an issue to
be considered. We are quite spoiled by enor-
mous bandwidth but have to realize that not
every place is connected by similar band-
width. Thus while geography matters, ArcGIS
Desktop rules.
Florian Fischer ffischer@geoinformatics.com,
GIS Editor and Research Assistant at the Austrian
Academy of Sciences GIScience research facility in
Salzburg, Austria.
Links to web-applications.
Message in a Bottle:
http://resources.esri.com/help/9.3/arcgisserver/apis/
javascript/arcgis/demos/geoprocessor/gp_bottle.html
Solar Boston: http://gis.cityofboston.gov/solarboston
in a geographical area. This answers the call
for the deployment of geo-processing func-
tionality and spatial analysis using geo data
from web services. Thus the capabilities of
ArcGIS Desktop can be extended by using
WCS, like doing a classification.
A stepchild in the GIS domain is still the Web
Feature Service (WFS), a service that allows
requests for geographical features. So far the
WFS has not made good concerning its adop-
tion but that might change in future. ArcGIS
Desktop is already primed for WFS. However,
finding out how to start using WFS is not very
easy. It can only be done via ArcCatalog, and
there are still some dialog boxes that do not
say anything about a WFS. Nevertheless the
connection to WFS works fine and completes
the interoperability capabilities of ArcGIS
Desktop 9.3.
Bandwidth is important
The 9.3 release of ArcGIS Desktop has many
new features and improvements in carto-
graphic representation, geo-processing and
data interoperability. But what is more impor-
tant, it shows that a desktop GIS is still key
Revi ew
15
Jan./Feb. 2009
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An interview with Kevin Ison from Autodesk
Digital Prototyping is the Trend
Kevin Ison is Marketing Director
Northern Europe for Autodesk.
He shares his vision of recent
developments and trends in the
market and at Autodesk, both in
software and in the increasing role of
the companys policy on sustainability.
By Job van Haaften
CAD and GIS seem to be converging
and each makes use of the others
data. What are your expectations on
the convergence of CAD and GIS?
A fast-growing contingent of CAD users needs
GIS information: they ask for the data and work
with it. That data must be accessible and
importable for CAD applications. GIS users need
a lot more information and generate more data
than CAD users. The Autodesk vision is self-ser-
vice access to the core data in GIS as with
AutoCAD Map, which can import data from all
known GIS systems.
Does the market for CAD and GIS soft-
ware differ between Western European
countries like Germany and the UK?
There are no fundamental differences. The only
variation is in the speed of acceptance of differ-
ent types of software, which can be faster in one
country in Western Europe than another.
Designers and engineers everywhere want to
move forward. The difference is greater in Norway
and Sweden where they accept new technolo-
gies faster and implement them earlier compared
with the rest.
The biggest difference is found with countries in
the Far East where they dont have a history of
2D AutoCAD and where moving to Digital
Prototyping is rapid. The Western world should
not forget to invest in those new developments
and should even be concerned about it.
Over the past several years Autodesk
has acquired some successful smaller
software developers like, recently,
Navisworks. Is that according to
spe cific company policies? Do you
expect other acquisitions in the near
future in certain sectors of the industry?
Yes, there is a vision behind those acquisition
policies. The acquisitions we have made show
our commitment to Digital Prototyping. They
allow our users to experience it before its real
through visualization, simulation and analysis.
Navisworks, Moldflow, Alias and Opticore all fit
into this vision and make their contributions to
what we develop. They are not all small: Alias is
a company of hundreds of employees and rep-
resents an investment of 200 million dollars.
Navisworks is an important acquisition concern-
ing simulation. Moldflow is specialized in simu-
lation and analysis concerning plastics. Parts of
the Swedish company, Opticore, that work on 3D
visualization and presentation in real-time ren-
dering, were taken over by Autodesk.
The add-on Sustainable Materials
Assistant for Autodesk Inventor has an
obvious and intentionally sustainable
character. Can we expect more efforts
like this for Inventor or other CAD
software or in general from Autodesk?
Certainly, sustainability is a key concept in our
users minds. They need to be aware of the effect
their designs have on the environment when the
product is being disposed of and at the end of
its life cycle. We will begin to see more tools like
this from Autodesk Labs and appearing in our
products. Also, the acquisition of Moldflow fits
very well into our sustainability strategy regard-
ing the use of plastics. Plastics can be used not
only cosmetically for smoothing and putting on
the finishing touches but also sustainably. Digital
prototyping and visualization also fit in well
because they allow designers to show and test
their products before they are real, preventing the
unnecessary production of physical prototypes.
Remember that reducing the number of physical
prototypes helps reduce our carbon footprint.
Visualization software is being used increasingly
in TV commercials and for illustrations for print-
ed materials advertising cars; they no longer use
an actual vehicle being driven in front of the cam-
era. Within the company itself sustainability is an
important issue. We are committed to decreasing
CO2 emissions by travelling less and making
more use of new techniques for meetings and
other communications. An example: this interview
was carried out by conference call.
Job van Haaften job.van.haaften@cadmag.nl is
editor of GeoInformatics. For more information
on this subject: www.autodesk.com.
I nt er vi ew
17
Jan./Feb. 2009
Digital Prototyping is the trend now and
our mission is to make it accessible to
designers and engineers.
The acquisition of Moldflow fits very well into our sustainability strategy regarding the use of plastics. Plastics
can be used not only cosmetically for smoothing and putting on the finishing touches but also sustainably.
ImageSats Vision on Geospatial Information
A formative decade has passed, during which the civilian high-resolution satellite data business has reached a critical
level of maturity. The timing is auspicious, as the industry applies itself to the growing challenges of managing our
world and its resources. ImageSat International is playing a key role in this trend.
By Rani Hellerman
Adapting Military Technology to
Civilian Needs
It was not even a decade ago when geospa-
tial information professionals began to evalu-
ate the possibility of augmenting their high-
resolution aerial photography with data from
high-resolution satellites. The United States
clearly dominated the industry and set out to
pave the way for global adoption of high-res-
olution satellite data for commercial use.
In the years since the launch of Space
Imagings IKONOS satellite (now owned by
GeoEye) in September 1999, we have wit-
nessed a marked improvement in the variety
and competitiveness of imaging satellites.
Their upgraded sensors not only create high-
er resolution imagery, but they also have more
efficient platforms and technologically superi-
or ground systems. The improved capabilities
and compatibility of data processing software
ensure that customers can concentrate more
on extracting value from the data, rather than
the mechanics of processing them.
While military and homeland security applica-
18
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
to managing our Future
The Key
Agriculture monitoring and cadastre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
tions still account for the majority of commer-
cial satellite data consumption, a vast civilian
industry has emerged. Only now are we begin-
ning to tap the potential of high-resolution
satellite imagery to address the problems of
managing our communities, our natural envi-
ronment and the unprecedented pace of
change experienced by both.
There has also been a significant improve-
ment in the competitiveness of international
high-resolution sensors, among them EROS A
and EROS B, developed by Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI) and owned and operated by
ImageSat International. EROS B is currently
the only non-American satellite with standard,
sub-meter resolution, marking the achieve-
ment of one of ImageSats founding princi-
ples.
ImageSats Vision: give Global Clients
more very High-resolution Access
ImageSat was established with the vision of
serving the national security and civilian mar-
kets with more direct control over the satel-
lites sensors and offering competitive, top-
quality, high-resolution imagery.
The company commenced commercial service
of its Earth Remote Observation Satellite
(EROS) with the successful launch of its first
satellite, EROS A in December 2000. The satel-
lites sensor provides 1.9 meter resolution
imagery.
EROS B, ImageSats second satellite, was suc-
cessfully launched on April 25, 2006, thereby
opening the door for the companys entry into
the elite club of sub-meter satellite imagery
providers. Both EROS A and EROS B have an
operational life anticipated at more than 10
years.
EROS systems, based on IAIs operationally-
proven Ofeq family of military satellites, are
designed to maximize operator flexibility. The
high maneuverability of the satellites allows
them to be quickly pointed to image cus-
tomer-specified sites at Nadir or at oblique
angles of up to 45 degrees, enabling more
revisit time for an area of interest.
Catering to the homeland security and mili-
tary market, ImageSats flagship programs
the Satellite Operating Partner (SOP) and
Exclusive Pass on Demand (EPOD) Program
are a dream-come-true for governments that
do not have a domestic satellite imaging
capability, and a caliber reinforcement for
those governments that do. They can pur-
chase exclusive local tasking and confidential
reception of imagery at their own ground con-
trol station, enabling autonomous, secret use
of one or more dedicated EROS high-resolu-
tion satellites over a specific geographic area.
Customers of these programs are taught to
operate the sensor over their footprint and to
Erdas and PCI, EROS imagery is becoming a
power tool among experts whose processed
Earth observation data helps monitor and
manage our communities, our environment
and its resources, in addition to keeping
abreast of the rapid changes among them.
Urban mapping is one of the fastest growing
applications of EROS imagery, providing infi-
nite value for planning, management, compli-
ance and change detection. With the rapid
expansion of metropolitan areas, it is essen-
tial to calculate their evolution and to plan
accordingly, whether for adding roadways,
neighborhoods, infrastructure, public services
or contingency plans. Among ImageSats
clients, for instance, are municipalities which
use EROS data to monitor illegal construction
work with the resulting data for both military
and civilian applications, as well as dual-func-
tion applications, such as mapping, infrastruc-
ture planning and change detection.
In recent years, ImageSat has found a grow-
ing interest in its satellites imagery among
civilian users, who appreciate the flexibility of
the Companys services and the improved res-
olution and accuracy offered by EROS B,
which is comparable to the data of the U.S.-
based industry leaders offering sub-meter res-
olution.
EROS Imagery: A Multi-Functional
Power Tool
Supported by most of the photogrammetry
software in the market, including Socet Set,
Ar t i cl e
19
Jan./Feb. 2009
through change detection.
Although Campania meaning countryside
sounds pastoral, the Campania Region of Italy,
located south of Rome, is one of the most
densely-populated areas in Europe, with near-
ly six million inhabitants. The Mediterranean
Agency for Remote Sensing and Environ -
mental Control (MARSEC) initiated a program
in early 2007, which employs EROS B imagery
to monitor illegal construction in the most crit-
ical areas, comprising 193 municipalities, or
about the 25% of the whole territory. By uti-
lizing change detection techniques, authori-
ties in each municipality can compare new
developments with their licensing authoriza-
tions to monitor and curb this problematic
trend.
Forestry is high on the photogrammetry agen-
da too, including mapping forests for moni-
toring and management of growth, replant-
ing, fire safety, regional development, wildlife
and illegal logging.
ScanEx R&D Center contracted ImageSat for
its Exclusive Pass on Demand (EPOD) pro-
gram, which assures a customer exclusive
tasking, imaging and downloading rights on
an agreed percent of passes of a given EROS
satellite. In this case, the private Russian com-
pany employs both EROS A and EROS B to
assist in mapping and monitoring illegal log-
ging activities in large mountainous areas that
would otherwise be an expensive and treach-
erous undertaking to monitor by aircraft or
other means. In addition, ScanEx is taking
sub-meter resolution images of cities in
Russia for a range of applications.
Infrastructure planning has gained momentum
during the last few years and is expected to
be among the leading applications in the
coming decade particularly in the United
States, where bridges have been found to be
in need of urgent reinforcement, and in
Europe, where the subterranean water infras-
tructure is so old, there are enormous prob-
lems with water loss
and seepage of sewage.
Other prevalent infras-
tructure projects include the planning and
monitoring of gas and natural gas pipes. As
countries share resources, such as electricity
and water, satellite imagery will become more
and more useful for ensuring accurate imple-
mentation and security of these installations,
as well as the transport of their resources.
With the rash of more than 40 instances of
piracy of oil tankers, cargo vessels and even
cruise ships on the high seas in 2008 alone,
governments and private companies could
consider the use of very high-resolution
imagery to identify their ships locations and
to maintain monitoring and surveillance of the
respective area, as contingency plans are set
into motion.
Since EROS B became operational, ImageSat
has responded to the increasing demand for
very high-resolution satellite images for mon-
20
Jan./Feb. 2009
Ar t i cl e
Hydroelectric Dam, Xing Brazil
Santander, Spain.
itoring purposes. The European Union, the
United Nations, and other international
alliances have set regulations for their mem-
bers and their beneficiaries, to ensure fair-
ness, human rights and worthiness of fund-
ing. For instance, by using EROS Bs sub-meter
imagery, Amnesty International monitors the
migration of refugees in Africa, in the hope of
better protecting their human rights.
With regard to all of these applications, when
things go wrong such as natural disasters,
terror attacks or other tragedies it is help-
ful to have baseline imagery in order to con-
duct disaster assessment. Change occurs fast,
especially with regard to disasters. For this
reason, police forces and municipalities are
sharing data with city planners and national
guard forces to ensure that all are on the
same page before disasters strike.
ing tools of both trade and hobby. In the com-
ing years, we will achieve greater sophistica-
tion of our processing capabilities; improved
interoperability of software and hardware,
yielding new applications; and increased shar-
ing of processed data, providing greater value
from satellites and their data.
The geospatial information professional will
play a significant role in this evolution, which
will be instrumental in helping governments,
private businesses and individuals to manage
and protect our communities, resources and
environment.
Rani Hellerman is Director of Business Development
at ImageSat International Ltd. and has experience
working with military and civilian satellite imagery
data for more than 15 years.
For more information, have a look at
www.imagesatintl.com
More traditional GIS applications, including
employing remote sensing for agricultural
monitoring and management, continue to be
in demand globally. For the past five years,
the European Commissions Joint Research
Centre (JRC) project has relied upon imagery
from all major commercial sensors, including
EROS A and EROS B, to image farmland across
the continent. The imagery is used to produce
orthophotos and to confirm farmers declara-
tions regarding growth type, volume and
health of their crops.
Forging New Competencies in GIS
During the past decade, we have seen the
power of satellite imaging harnessed by the
military, then passed from the professional
civilian market to the popular market, with
Google Earth and NASAs Visible Earth becom-
Ar t i cl e
21
Jan./Feb. 2009
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Improving the Usability for Web Mapping Services
New Portal for
Czech Land Survey Office
The Czech Land Survey Office was looking for a better way to share accurate
government data to comply with new legislation, that required free distribution
of governmental data to central, regional, and local authorities. The measure
also called for the office to better support commercial access to nationwide
geospatial data. To meet these requirements, the Land Survey Office wanted a
new service for users of map data, one that would provide the support needed
for map publishing in an Internet environment. The solution was a Web portal
that is now used by hundreds of government agencies and thousands of users
taking advantage of easier access to spatial data.
By Petr Dvor cek
Governments are increasingly sharing data
with other service agencies as well as the
community. Thats particularly true when it
comes to collecting and disseminating land
information. This data can provide informa-
tion for land ownership, land valuation, sur-
veys, agriculture, and natural resource man-
agement. The Czech Land Survey Office was
looking for a better way to share accurate
government data to comply with new legisla-
tion. The legislation required free distribution
of governmental data to central, regional, and
local authorities. The measure also called for
the office to better support commercial access
to nationwide geospatial data. To meet these
requirements, the Land Survey Office wanted
a new service for users of map data, one that
would provide the support needed for map
publishing in an Internet environment.
The Project Objectives were as follows:
1. Create a Web portal that offers easy
access to mapping services for govern-
ment agencies, commercial businesses,
and the public
2. Provide up-to-date and accurate data to
regional offices
The Solution
With help from Intergraph technology, the
Land Survey Offices GEOPORTALAL ZU Web
portal is improving communication and the
ordering process for digital and paper maps
via the Internet. Emphasis is put on the max-
imum usability of provided map services for
customers, particularly in the geographic
information systems (GIS) of regional offices.
The geoportal contains a set of Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) map services
and clients, making data accessible to a wide
variety of users.
The geoportal includes the Commercial
Module and the Portal of Map Services. The
Commercial Module makes available the
offices complete portfolio of products. It
issues data in separate files in existing vector
and raster formats, as well as in geography
markup language (GML) and analog forms.
The module provides the solution for manag-
ing the entire process for purchase orders and
transactions. Its unique feature is the auto-
matic export of digital data according to spec-
ifications from the purchase order. The map
services portal offers online access to map
data collected by the Land Survey Office. The
GeoViewer Web Mapping Service (WMS) appli-
cation provides users an opportunity to try
the service with demonstration data for free.
The Land Survey Office also started publish-
ing metadata information as a map service
through the GeoViewer Metadata.
The Czech Land Survey Offices GEOPORTAL
ZU Web portal is based on Intergraphs
GeoMedia technology. Using Web mapping
services, GEOPORTAL ZU features an Internet
store where customers can order digital and
paper maps. The portal also provides Web
services for agencies needing to download
geospatial datasets of the Czech Republic.
Intergraphs GeoMedia technology is used for
integrating the various formats in which geo-
graphic data is stored, the publication of vec-
tor and raster data to meet the WMS specifi-
cation, and the automatic export of the data
in desired formats. Intergraph developed the
portal solution and provides support services.
The data sources seamlessly cover the entire
Czech Republic.
The Web portal makes examining, ordering,
and using geographic data easier for the pub-
lic, commercial businesses, and government
agencies. The Czech Land Survey Office can
also quickly provide up-to-date and accurate
data for regional state administration offices.
Hundreds of government agencies use the
portal, while thousands of users take advan-
tage of the easier access to spatial data. The
Web portal was recognized by a board of
independent industry experts as The Geo-
application of the Year in 2004.
Petr Dvor c ek, Head of department for geodata
management and application at
Czech Land Survey Office.
For more information on Internet:
http://geoportal.cuzk.cz
The English Web site for the Czech Land Survey Office
is: www.cuzk.cz/english
More information on Intergraph solutions for
governments can be found at:
www.intergraph.com/govt
Ar t i cl e
23
Jan./Feb. 2009
The Czech Land Survey Office teamed with Intergraph to develop a Web
portal that provides mapping services and nationwide geospatial data to
government agencies, commercial business, and the public.
Building Geo-knowledge
Scanning and Imaging
in the City of Bergamo
Laser and image geo-technologies can record in a digital way the spatial reality of a building, with its shape and
dimensions, colours of materials and decay (geo-knowledge). The different cultural aspects of these topics are
examined here in detail and pointed out with the support of a test case regarding a historic building in the city of
Bergamo (Italy).
By Luigi Colombo and Barbara Marana
Pictures and Survey
An ancient Chinese saying asserts that a pic-
ture is better than a thousand words and pic-
tures, in the form of a drawing before, and an
image afterwards, have become the main tool
to create an effective syntheses for metric and
thematic interpretations of reality (geo-knowl-
edge). In fact, it is possible to document and
render built environments, according to their
shape, size, colors and condition of decay.
Typically, spatial features of buildings have been
geo-coded through different representation tech-
niques: first of all drawing, a meta-language
which allows you to read the spatiality of an
object and communicate its evolutionary dynam-
ics; then, imaging which can definitively
record, by means of electronic sensors, quanti-
tative and semantic information documenting
geometry with its changes and object details,
even the smallest ones. Finally, spatial model
which offers a reconstruction of planned or real
spaces, with or without surface photo mapping,
allowing a more complete reading of the formal,
structural and functional values of the building.
Thank to the informatics revolution and process
automation, current measurement technology
provides more automated and coded models
for geo-knowledge this has caused the replace-
ment of typical subjectivity of the final docu-
ment with a new objectivity, both in recording
and drawing entities.
In general, it could be said, by paraphrasing
the pictorial themes proper of Picassos reality
decomposition, that modern geo-technologies
record a model of existing scenes through the
Cartesian research of their shape.
Spatial Techniques
Nowadays, the graphic representation of virtual
reality models is much more oriented towards
3D visualizations, with a wide description of
textures and colors, such as in Matisses paint-
ing. A spatial reading, at different levels of
knowledge, is required for sensible structures
and is the basis for the construction of Building
Information Systems.
The spatial representation approach starts from
the methods of solid constructive geometry in
which a 3D model is created by combining ele-
mentary primitives (such as cubes, spheres,
cones, cylinders or pre-defined objects) accord-
ing to well-known Boolean operations (addi-
tion, subtraction, intersection, etc.). However, if
surfaces of interest show irregular shapes, a col-
lection of 3D points, applying non-contact pas-
sive or active techniques, is requested: these
methods can be classified as Image and Range
Based Modeling.
Spatial visualization is performed in a wire-
frame way (feature hedges only) (fig. 1), as flat-
shading models, with low-level texturing, or
through photo-rendering of point or surface
models; the last approach is a solution of great
24
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 1 - Wireframe representation of an ancient building
Fig. 2 - Spatial modelling and geo-techniques
effectiveness which really can point out the inte-
gration between imaging and scanning geo-
technologies.
The photo-texturing process of an object needs
a sequence of steps: first of all, it is necessary
to know the geometric parameters of both inter-
nal orientation (camera constant, principal point
position, radial distortion of the lenses, etc.)
and external orientation (camera position, angu-
lar attitude and scale factor), in order to solve-
back the perspective relationship between
images and 3D model.
External orientation can be achieved on-line just
during acquisition, like in photogrammetric
laser scanning, or calculated off-line thanks to
pairs of homologous points located and recog-
nized over the object and each image. Once the
geometric relationship has been fixed, images
are projected, pixel by pixel, over the model.
Finally, a balancing process is performed to opti-
mize chromatic levels of texturing.
It is possible to export model geometry and
related thematic details through suitable graph-
ic interchange formats like VRML 1-2, 3DS from
Autodesk or vector standard DXF (2D-3D).
Models can be explored inside spatial viewers
that allow the user to rotate, zoom and pan,
together with lightening and shading.
Automated extraction of point positions, dis-
tances, areas and sections can also be quickly
carried out, via software.
Kinds of Spatial Modeling
Spatial models, which represent a surveyed
building, can be classified (El Hakim et al.),
according to the adopted geo-techniques (see
figure 2), as IBM, RBM and IRBM.
IBM
Known as Image Based Modeling, it is linked
to the image and produced through non-con-
tact methods supported by passive sensors.
The creation of the model can be done using
photogrammetric multi-image software. The
stations) which collect single points or point
clouds over the object; clouds are recorded and
visualized in real time point by point while
measuring. With laser acquisition, an optical
beam is projected over a selected scene and
all its movements are controlled by servo-
mechanisms. It is then possible to collect polar
coordinates of the object points and then
transform them into Cartesian positions for an
established reference system.
Laser devices of the latest generation have a
built-in digital camera (synchronized to laser
scanning) that represents a significant tool for
the direct texturing of surfaces. In fact, the tech-
nological trend shows a progressive amalga-
mation among surveying technology, scanning
solutions and imaging. In addition, direct geo-
referencing with advanced control technolo-
gies, such as GPS and inertial measurement
units (IMU), can be carried out in dynamic
acquisitions.
New spatial imaging devices (like Leica
ScanStation, Trimble Spatial Station VX, Topcon
GLS 1000, etc.) provide the user with a set of
point clouds (with RGB information) which
locally describe the object and must be linked
(through common points or common features)
afterwards in a RBM.
The precision of this model mostly depends on
data processing software, and the geometric
complexity of surfaces and their reflectivity.
RBM can record together object geometry,
decay data and photo-textures.
Well known packages for range data process-
ing are: 3D Reconstructor (Eu-JRC), Polyworks
(Canada), RapidForm (South Korea), Geomagic
Studio (USA), PointCloud (Germany), in addi-
tion to those developed by laser scanner man-
ufacturers (Leica Cyclone, Riegl RiscaPro,
Trimble RealWorks, Zoller&Froehlich Light
FormModeller, etc.).
All this software is useful for object descrip-
tion, even if the shape is very complex and
irregular.
photos of the scene allow the object-point
determination, starting from pairs of conjugate
image-points selected via semi-automatic
matching techniques; all data are processed
according to a multi-image bundle adjustment,
with geometric constraints. Well known pack-
ages for this are: PhotoModeler (Canada),
ImageModeler (Germany), Australis (Australia),
ShapeCapture (USA). These programs allow the
construction of a point model by means of pro-
cedures useful to describe simple objects.
The level of automation offered by an image-
based approach is strictly connected to the
requested threshold for precision. If the aim is
only a multi-medial visualization the level is
high, but it is lower when the purpose is a good
photo-realistic representation.
RBM
These spatial models (Range Based Modeling)
are produced with terrestrial laser systems
(active sensors, like spatial stations and scan
Ar t i cl e
25
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 3 - IBM, RBM and IRBM of a test building
Fig. 4 - IBM of St. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, inside
PhotoModeler, together with the location of image
taken-points.
For more information, visit www.esri.com/image or call 1-888-373-1353.
For ESRI locations worldwide, visit www.esri.com/distributors.
Copyright 2008 ESRI. All rights reserved. The ESRI globe logo, ESRI, ArcGIS, ESRIThe GIS Company, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the
United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
Quickly get imagery to people who need it with the ArcGIS
Server Image extension.

Maximize the Value of Your Imagery
The ArcGIS
Server Image extension helps organizations

manage large catalogs of rasters and imagery to make
imagery available to more people in less time. Dynamic
mosaicking and on-the-y image processing allow users
to quickly serve multiple imagery products from one
set of source imagery, reducing data redundancy and
storage requirements.
When we tested ArcGIS Server
Image extension, we found designers,
technicians, and digitizers were all very
pleased with the processing
time. It was twice as fast, in
some cases even faster,
than previous systems.
Cindi Salas
GIS Manager
CenterPoint Energy
Croatia
www.gisdata.hr
Czech Republic
www.arcdata.cz
Denmark
www.informi.dk
Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania
www.hnit-baltic.lt
Finland
www.esri-nland.com
France
www.esrifrance.fr
F.Y.R.O.M.
www.gisdata.hr
Germany
www.esri-germany.de
Austria
www.synergis.co.at
Belgium and Luxembourg
www.esribelux.com
Bosnia and Herzegovina
www.gisdata.hr
Bulgaria
www.esribulgaria.com
Georgia
www.geographic.ge
Greece and Cyprus
www.marathondata.gr
Hungary
www.esrihu.hu
Iceland
www.samsyn.is
Israel
www.systematics.co.il
Italy
www.esriitalia.it
Malta
www.geosys.com.mt
Moldova
www.trimetrica.com
The Netherlands
www.esrinl.com
Norway
www.geodata.no
Poland
www.esripolska.com.pl
Portugal
www.esri-portugal.pt
Romania
www.esriro.ro
Russia
www.dataplus.ru
Slovak Republic
www.arcgeo.sk
Slovenia
www.gisdata.hr
Spain
www.esri-es.com
Sweden
www.esri-sgroup.se
Switzerland
www.esri-suisse.ch
Turkey
www.esriturkey.com.tr
Ukraine
www.ecomm.kiev.ua
UK/Ireland
www.esriuk.com
IRBM
Image and Range Based Modeling represents
the hybrid reconstruction carried out with the
support of both imaging and laser acquisition
techniques. This joined approach (Fig. 3) allows
the integration of all the survey techniques for
the production of 3D models at a better level
of quality in geometry description and textur-
ing.
realized at 1:200 scale usint photogrammetric
techniques (data processing with the support
of a simple package like PhotoModeler from
Eos Systems) and with a dense laser scanning
integration using Riegl technology (data man-
agement with 3D Reconstructor from EU-JRC).
The aim was just the acquisition of geometry
and the documentation of decay.
It is possible to observe in figure 4, the large
number of points (remote and close) adopted
for image collection, and in figure 5, the extract-
ed 2D (vector-raster) elevations, together with
the 3D point model and a photo-texturing appli-
cation.
Model Comparison
The Image Based Model of the cathedral has
been exported from PhotoModeler (VRML2 for-
mat) into 3D Reconstructor, georeferenced
inside the assigned reference system and final-
ly superimposed to the Range Based Model, at
a scale of 1:200. This way, small deviations were
identified, together with a generally good cor-
respondence. Quality assessment has been per-
formed through metric comparison of distances
(the ones extracted from the models and those
previously measured over the object): the tol-
erance value fixed for discrepancies (150 mm),
according to variance-covariance propagation
law, has never been exceeded.
Figure 6 deals with the 3D integration (IRBM)
between the two models and shows a detail of
distance testing over the models of the belfry
of the cathedral.
Final Remarks
The panoramic laser devices, adopted for point
acquisition, scanning and imaging, provide new
and valid perspectives in documenting and rep-
resenting historic and civil buildings.
Little has been done in Italy until now for build-
ing geo-knowledge, and most relevant preser-
vation activities have been carried out without
the use of preventive survey and geometric
analysis. However, moving forward, the elec-
tronic eye of technology has been able to record
the features of a building and reveal the har-
mony of its shapes, even the most hidden and
secret.
Luigi Colombo luigi.colombo@unibg.it is a professor
of surveying and geomatics and building monitoring
geo-techniques at the University of Bergamo, faculty of
Engineering; Barbara Marana works as researcher at
the same faculty.
A Case Study
In the past few years some meaningful experi-
ences with 3D modeling have been performed
by Geomatics group at the University of
Bergamo, using scanning and imaging. An
example of this activity is shown in figure 4,
which presents the hybrid point model for the
exteriors of St. Maria Maggiore, the ancient
cathedral of Bergamo. This model has been
Ar t i cl e
27
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 5 - RBM of the cathedral, 2D elevations with orthoimages of doorways, photo-textured views
Fig. 6 - The integration (IRBM) between the two models (IBM and RBM) and an example of the metric
comparison among laser model (left), image model (right) and measured building (centre).
Extending the Utilization of Geodata throughout Organizations
Erdas recently released three products under the name of Erdas Apollo 2009,
a new geospatial business system for extending geospatial data to
business applications throughout an organization. These products include Erdas
Apollo Server, Erdas Apollo Image Manager and Erdas Apollo Solution Toolkit.
In the interview below, Mladen Stojic, Senior Vice President of Product
Management and Marketing explains these unique products,
and the problems they solve.
By Eric van Rees
Can you elaborate on the need for
Erdas Apollo 2009, as seen from the
enterprise side? What kinds of
pro blems do organizations' face
when managing geospatial data?
Driven by the changing Earth, organizations
make a substantial investment in their data.
The Earth is changing at a rapid pace, and
instead of producing new geographic datasets
every five years, organizations are producing
new data sets every year, or every six months
and in some cases every day. As a result, the
volume of data and information within the
organization is increasing. Unfortunately, with
data alone, the return on investment (ROI)
cannot be fully realized. This data is usually
contained within departments, making it
extremely difficult for people in other areas
of an organization to find the data, directly
access the data, and know which data they
need in order to do their jobs.
Many of these organizations need to aggre-
gate and understand where data is located.
Erdas Apollo is a business system that goes
beyond a departmental deployment of pho-
togrammetry, remote sensing and GIS. Erdas
Apollo connects departmental deployments of
geographic data and allows users across an
organization to securely find, view and get
geographic information. Erdas Apollo offers
organizations the ability to successfully man-
age their data, thereby minimizing data redun-
dancy, IT costs and offering a greater return
on investment by extending the utilization of
data throughout an organization. This means
organizations dont have to produce or buy
redundant data and they can now maximize
the use of the data. Erdas Apollo increases an
organizations ROI, enabling both traditional
and non-traditional users to find data, with-
out necessarily understanding the specifics of
the data that is needed to complete a work-
flow.
What kinds of problems does Erdas
Apollo solve?
First, Erdas Apollo finds the data. We have
crawler technology that securely crawls a net-
work, finding GIS, remote sensing and pho-
togrammetry data throughout departments
and offices distributed across a business.
Once that data is found, Erdas Apollo
describes the data. We harvest metadata and
map that metadata to an interoperable pro-
file or standard. The end product is a central-
ized catalog. By cataloging the data, metada-
ta is subsequently stored in an open
database, thereby allowing users the ability
to securely discover the data. Once you have
that metadata within a relational database,
people can search, find and subsequently
access the data as a web service or a data
streaming protocol. The fourth problem is
rapidly serving the data directly to users: get-
ting the data in a variety of different ways,
whether it's through OGC web services, or
ECW-P and JPIP, and getting it directly into the
client application (CAD, GIS, remote sensing,
photogrammetry, web or mobile client). Once
the data is catalogued, Erdas Apollo also ser-
vice enables the data, which means we cre-
ate a web service for data delivery. This hap-
pens automatically. Finally, Erdas Apollo
exploits the geospatial data in its raw form.
We look at things like geoprocessing, where
a company or user can query an information
product that has been created by an analyst
using Erdas Imagine, then published and sub-
sequently cataloged in Erdas Apollo as a web
processing service. Geoprocessing finds the
data, processes the data on the server and
subsequently delivers that information prod-
uct in a usable form for the end user to uti-
lize within their application of choice. You can
see that we are now extending geographic
information to the masses and moving away
28
I nt er vi ew
Jan./Feb. 2009
United Nations Erdas Apollo 2009 Integrated Client.
Erdas Apollo 2009
from the historical barriers that GIS, remote
sensing and photogrammetry have artificially
created. Erdas Apollo brings down those
walls.
Erdas Apollo is about managing and
organizing data. But isn't data orga-
nization a responsibility of compa-
nies themselves?
Typically, organizations need a data manager
or someone that organizes data, whether it is
for public works applications, GIS applica-
tions, large photogrammetry projects or
national remote sensing initiatives.
Companies will always have the responsibili-
ty of managing and organizing data, but it is
our responsibility to help them do their jobs
and overcome the many hurdles they have in
centrally managing and securely delivering
geographic information to key stakeholders.
Erdas provides the tools organizations need
to be successful in authoring, managing, con-
necting and delivering geospatial information
throughout the entire life-cycle of information
which all begins with change on the Earths
surface.
Which Erdas Apollo products are
now available?
Erdas Apollo 2009 includes Erdas Apollo
Server, Erdas Apollo Image Manager and Erdas
Apollo Solution Toolkit. Erdas Apollo Server
provides an out-of-the-box standards compli-
ant and OGC/ISO interoperable Spatial Data
Infrastructure (SDI). With Erdas Apollo Server,
either through Erdas Apollo Server or
other geoservers on the market. It is
extensible, customizable and built
on an open development environ-
ment. Our customers use Erdas
Apollo Solution Toolkit to build geo-
portals.
Can you elaborate on your
future plans in terms of soft-
ware releases and integrating
different solutions and prod-
ucts into Erdas Apollo?
We are extending Erdas Apollo to
support additional geoprocessing,
location based service applications
tracking Earth-based information and
more. Were also extending Erdas
Apollo to a variety of different verti-
cal market applications for multi-user
topological editing of feature data,
particularly in the Defense and utili-
ty sectors. The plan is to integrate
the Erdas ADE technology into Erdas
Apollo. Erdas ADE currently operates
within the Oracle stack, utilizing the
Oracle application server and the
Oracle Map Viewer technology for rendering
geographic information.
Can you elaborate on why there is a
need to break down the walls of
GIS, photogrammetry and remote
sensing? What is Erdas approach in
breaking down these walls and how
does your approach in doing this
differ from other software vendors /
platforms?
organizations have the ability to find geoda-
ta, including raster, vector, terrain and map
data. After finding the data, organizations can
also describe, catalog, and subsequently
serve the data through OGC services. Erdas
Apollo Image Manager aggregates and cata-
logs very large volumes of gridded data, and
quickly delivers this information to a variety
of clients. Erdas Apollo Solution Toolkit is a
geoweb toolkit for building client-side web
applications that consume data and services,
I nt er vi ew
Jan./Feb. 2009
Manage massive volumes of heterogenous gridded data from any dataset store as a secure, hierarchical data model.
Register your Erdas Apollo services or any OGC-compliant services to the Erdas Apollo catalog,
to enable smart data retrieval by the users.
29
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Erdas Apollo is open to all types of content.
We are not just utilizing photogrammetry data
or remote sensing data, or GIS data, or other
types of data. Erdas Apollo is open and
agnostic to supporting data from airborne,
satellite and terrestrial sources. Erdas Apollo
transforms and extends the utilization of geo-
content throughout an organization. If you
look at other server applications in the GIS
sector, theyre focused on GIS or CAD or just
OGC web services. Erdas Apollo focuses on
the whole lifecycle of managing and deliver-
ing geographic information both statistically
and dynamically through intelligent on
demand geo-processing. Erdas holds a very
unique position in the market place. Given
our tradition and our vision within Hexagon,
Erdas understand our customers lifecycle of
desktop authoring systems, the lifecycle of
data production and information extraction
and delivery cannot be realized. Products like
ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS will continue to grow
because they are needed to author data,
maps and spatial models. Once data is cap-
tured from a sensor, the next step in the value
chain of information is authoring the data and
preparing it for other people to use it. We will
continue to have very interactive desktop
client applications that enable users to author
maps, spatial models, images, terrain, 3D
models, etc. After the data has been authored,
it then needs to be managed so that it can
be shared, and subsequently delivered. For
Erdas, the desktop is a vital component of
the entire lifecycle of geospatial information,
and a critical step in ensuring that data can
be properly used throughout an organization.
Mladen Stojic is the Senior Vice President of Product
Management and Marketing at Erdas. For more
information on Erdas Apollo, please visit:
www.erdas.com.
information when derived from airborne, ter-
restrial and satellite acquisition sources. We
know about data and we know how to author,
manage, connect and deliver the right data
and information directly to the customers that
ask for it.
There seems to be a shift away from
the desktop PCs and extending the
use of web services to distribute
geospatial data. A similar trend is
noticeable with other companies
who deal with data distribution. How
do you see this trend in relation to
the release of Erdas Apollo?
The desktop environment will continue to be
very important and a vital component, in fact
the first component of any enterprise. Without
I nt er vi ew
31
Jan./Feb. 2009
Build a spatial and alphanumerical filter to a vector layer and export the results to Shapefile, GML or KML.
Event
Report on the latest ASPRS Symposium on Remote Sensing
The ASPRS Pecora Symposium is only held once every three years. Without doubt, it is one of the most important
conferences on remote sensing that is held in the United States. The 17th edition of the Pecora Symposium was held at the
Sheraton Hotel in Denver, Colorado between 16th and 20th November, 2008.
By Gordon Petrie
This marked the return of the Symposium
to the city where it had been held previously
in 1999 and 2002. In this respect, Denver is
a major centre of the industry with Lockheed,
Raytheon, Ball Aerospace, DigitalGlobe and
GeoEye (formerly Space Imaging) all having
major facilities located either in or close to
the city. Besides which, many of the sponsors
of the Symposium were the major U.S. Federal
government agencies that are involved in
remote sensing. They included NASA, NOAA,
USGS, NGA, USDA, EPA and the National Park
Service (NPS) most of which also have oper-
ational centres or units located either in the
Denver metropolitan area or in the adjacent
towns of the Front Range of the Rocky
Mountains. The sponsorship of the
Symposium by these Federal agencies under-
lined the special importance of the meeting
to the government sector.
The same agencies also contributed strongly
to the Symposiums programme of activities,
especially in terms of providing speakers and
in swelling the overall number of participants
(which reached a total of 550).
Overall Programme
The first two days (16th and 17th November)
of the Symposium were really a preliminary to
the main event, being devoted to a series of
concurrent workshops. These were concerned
with the processing, analysis, interpretation,
classification and measurement of remotely
sensed imagery. The remaining three days
(18th to 20th November) comprised the main
part of the Symposium. They included a series
of general sessions, that were held on their
own with no competition from other presen-
tations. These plenary sessions were separat-
ed by a series of technical sessions, which
comprised numerous lectures on specific
themes or subject areas than ran simultane-
ously in six parallel streams. The various oral
and visual presentations given in these gener-
al and technical sessions were further supple-
mented each day by various poster sessions.
All of which provided plenty of choice for the
participants, enough to satisfy every type of
interest. However this also meant that it was
impossible for anyone to attend more than a
small fraction of the overall lecture pro-
gramme. Besides these sessions, there was
also a fairly substantial technical exhibition
running simultaneously over two days of the
Symposium (on the 18th and 19th of
November). This featured not only the large
stands of the many Federal government agen-
cies mentioned above, but also the booths of
numerous prominent commercial system and
software suppliers and service providers.
These included BAE Systems (SOCET GXP soft-
ware); Leica Geosystems (ADS80 pushbroom
scanner and RCD105 frame camera); Applanix
(DSS camera); DiMAC Systems (digital airborne
cameras); ITT Systems (ENVI software); Optech
(with its new Lynx and Orion laser scanners);
Riegl (with still more scanners!); Cardinal
Systems (with its Vr line of digital photogram-
metric software); Overwatch Geospatial
(Remote View + Feature and Lidar Analyst soft-
ware}; ESRI (GIS software); and many more!
General Sessions
All five of these general sessions were held in
the impressive Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton
Hotel that had been converted for the purpose.
Fig. 1 AE: The Operational Land Imager (OLI) that will be utilized on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM).
Fig. 1A: A drawing of the imager mounted in its supporting frame. Fig. 1B: The pushbroom scanner concept of the OLI imager.
32
Jan./Feb. 2009
Pecora-17
The Future of Land Imaging
Fig.1E: The detailed layout of the spectral bands within an individual focal plane
General Session I was held on the morning of
18th November and acted as the opening ses-
sion of the main part of the Symposium. It had
the title From a Vision in the 60s to an
Operational Program in the 21st Century. The
keynote speaker was Berrien Moore, who was
the leader of the Inter-governmental Panel on
Climate Change, and a shared recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Dr. Moore spoke
lucidly about the complexities and instabilities
of climate change, the effects of atmospheric
carbon and the melting of glaciers and ice-
sheets and the steps needed to try to stabilize
the situation. He was followed by Gene Whitney,
who formerly worked in the White House Office
of Science and Technology and gave a really
insightful account of the steps that need to be
taken to educate and persuade politicians
about the value of a fully operational Landsat
programme. In this, he was backed by the third
speaker, Kass Green, the president of ASPRS,
who set out the case for the planned National
Land Imaging Program (NLIP) to be implement-
ed.
The next General Session II, which was held in
the afternoon of the 18th, was devoted to the
and the German TerraSAR-X with their X-band
SAR systems (besides the existing ESA and
Radarsat-1 satellites), the situation regarding
the availability of radar imagery has been total-
ly transformed over the last two years.
Furthermore, in the near future, the remaining
COSMO-SkyMed and TerraSAR-X satellites will
be coming into operation, together with the
Indian RISAT with its C-band SAR. For the longer
term, various Russian radar satellites, the ESA
Sentinel-1 and the SAOCOM satellites from
Argentina are all currently under construction
and will be added to the fleet. Judging from the
remarks from the audience that followed the
presentations, all of this information made
rather painful listening for the majority of the
audience since there are no American civilian
SAR satellites in orbit. All the various propos-
als, such as JPLs LightSAR, have not been
implemented due to lack of funding on the part
of NASA.
General Session IV, which was held in the after-
noon of the 19th, was entitled Availability of
Multi-Spectral Spatial Data from Non-US
Providers. This gave the platform for John
Ahlrichs of RapidEye; Nicolas Strassi of the U.S.
branch of SPOT Image; David Hodgson of
DMCII; and Tim Puckorius of EOTec, represent-
ing the Indian Antrix Corporation, to provide
interesting information on their respective medi-
um-resolution satellites and image products.
Again it was easy to discern and understand
the frustration expressed by some of the audi-
ence regarding the current U.S. situation in this
area. Landsat-5 is nearing the end of its opera-
tional life after 25 years of very successful ser-
vice, while Landsat-7 is limited in its data col-
lection capabilities by the failure of its scan line
corrector mechanism. For the American remote
sensing community, the forthcoming Landsat
Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) cannot come
into operation soon enough. However, it will be
Insights and Visions of Land Imaging as Seen
Through the Eyes of Past Pecora Award
Recipients and was given by four of these
past recipients. This was followed by the pre-
sentation of the 2008 Pecora Awards. The indi-
vidual award was made to Prof. Sam Goward
of the University of Maryland for his leadership
in ensuring the continuation of the Landsat
Program. The group award was given to the
QuikSCAT Mission team comprising individuals
from NASA, Caltechs JPL laboratory, Ball
Aerospace and the University of Colorado. The
global measurements of microwave backscatter
and surface wind speed and direction that are
being made by the satellites instruments over
the worlds ocean surfaces have greatly
improved weather forecasting, especially over
oceanic areas.
General Session III, which was held in the morn-
ing of 19th November, was concerned with
Satellite-borne Radar in Todays Remote
Sensing Community. As the speakers showed,
with the advent of the Japanese PALSAR L-band
radar (mounted on the ALOS satellite); the
Canadian Radarsat-2 with its C-band SAR; and
the two new Italian COSMO-SkyMed satellites
Fig.1C: The layout of the focal plane modules in two banks of seven modules within the focal plane.
Fig.1D: Diagram of the small parallax that results from the twin bank layout of the
focal plane modules.
Fig.1E: The detailed layout of the spectral bands within an individual focal plane
module. (Source: Ball Aerospace)
33
Jan./Feb. 2009
Event
Event
2011 at the very earliest before it can be
launched and brought into service. Furthermore
a commitment to building another satellite in
the series needs to be made soon if data con-
tinuity is to be assured for the future.
General Session V, which also acted as the clos-
ing session of the Symposium on 20th
November, had the title Entering a New
Landsat Era the Future is Now. In this
respect, it had already been preceded by two
technical sessions on the LDCM, each compris-
ing four papers, that had been held on 18th
November. These gave very detailed informa-
tion about the satellite which is due to be
called Landsat-8 after it has been launched. The
contract for the construction of the satellite plat-
form has been awarded to General Dynamics
Advanced Information Systems; the Operational
Land Imager (OLI) is already being built by Ball
Aerospace; the Atlas-5 launcher will be supplied
by the United Launch Alliance (of Lockheed +
Boeing); while the contract for the Mission
Operational Element (MOE) has been awarded
to the Hammers Company based in Greenbelt,
Maryland. NASA is responsible for the provision
of the spacecraft, imager, launch vehicle and
support services using these contractors. The
USGS will then take over the operation of the
satellite after its successful launch and check-
out. Thus USGS is providing the mission oper-
ations centre and ground processing systems,
as well as the flight operations team.
Of special interest to the audience were the
details of the [Fig. 1 (a) & (b)] All
the previous Landsat missions had used an
optical-mechanical whiskbroom scanner for the
acquisition of their ground images. By contrast,
the OLI imager on the LDCM will be a pushb-
room line scanner. However, instead of this
using a set of parallel CCD linear arrays for the
acquisition of its multi-spectral imagery (as in
the SPOT and IRS satellites), the OLI will utilize
two sets of focal plane arrays (FPAs) which
are essentially area arrays. Since these arrays
cannot be butted together to form a continu-
ous line, they are arranged in two banks, each
of seven arrays, that are offset relative to one
another to ensure that a continuous swath
image of the ground
will be produced by the
OLI imager in the cross-
track direction [Fig. 1
(c)]. This arrangement
will result in some com-
plications during the
subsequent processing
of the image data. In
particular, when the
individual images are
merged together, a
small parallax may be
present between the
images of specific
ground objects that will
be recorded by the two
separate banks of FPAs
[Fig. 1 (d)]. This effect
will need to be eliminated during the image
processing operations that will be carried out
by the ground processing system.
Compared with the ETM+ imager on the previ-
ous Landsat-7 satellite, the OLI imager will fea-
ture two additional spectral channels [Fig. 1 (e)].
The first is an ultra-blue band centred at 443
nanometres for use in coastal and aerosol stud-
ies, while the second is a band centred at 1,375
nanometres in the short-wave infra-red (SWIR)
that is intended for cirrus cloud detection. At
the present time, no thermal-IR bands will be
acquired during the mission.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Besides the general and technical sessions on
the LDCM, I also attended those on UAVs. In
total, the various sessions on this particular
subject area virtually constituted a special sym-
posium on UAVs within the overall Pecora-17
Symposium since it continued as an overflow
meeting or workshop that 58 of us attended at
the USGS facility in Denver on the day (21st
November) after the main Symposium at the
Sheraton Hotel had formally closed! In total, 13
Fig. 2A The NASA Ikhana UAV, which is a modified Predator-B unmanned
aircraft, is shown in flight.
Fig. 2B The NASA Ikhana UAV is being checked out on the ground note the under-
wing pod which houses the imager.
Fig. 2C The Autonomous Modular Scanner (AMS)
thermal-IR imager is being loaded into the
under-wing pod prior to being mounted on the
wing of the Ikhana UAV.
Fig. 2D NASA engineers check out the planned flight paths prior to the take-off of
the Ikhana UAV on a fire monitoring mission in California. (Source: NASA-DFRC).
34
Jan./Feb. 2009
papers on UAVs were given in three technical
sessions in the main Symposium held at the
Sheraton, while a further 9 presentations were
delivered at the follow-on workshop held at the
USGS facility. The authors of these 22 papers
on UAVs came almost exclusively from U.S.
Federal government agencies and armed forces.
The biggest player by far in all of this non-mili-
tary UAV activity is NASA. The agency has
acquired a Predator-B UAV from General
Atomics, the manufacturer of the standard
medium-altitude military Predator-A UAV. The
NASA aircraft has been christened Ikhana,
which is the Chocktaw Indian word for intelli-
gent or aware. It is fitted with longer wings;
a distinctive Y-shaped tail; and a turbo-prop
engine to provide greater control, a higher oper-
ational altitude and a longer range than the
standard military reconnaissance version of the
Predator [Fig. 2 (a)]. The aircraft has already had
considerable involvement in the monitoring of
the wildfires and firestorms that are an annual
occurrence in California. Indeed the Ikhana air-
craft flew four long-duration missions over
Southern California during the 2007 fire season
and a further three missions over both the
northern and southern parts of the state in
2008. For these missions, the Ikhana UAV is fit-
ted with a special pod that is attached to one
wing of the aircraft [Fig. 2 (b)]. This contains the
Autonomous Modular Scanner (AMS), which is
a modified and re-built version of a Daedalus
multi-spectral scanner that is used as a thermal
imager during these fire monitoring missions
[Fig. 2 (c)]. The Ikhana UAV also has an on-
board image processing facility. The processed
data is sent via a radio link through a commu-
help detect illegal immigrants and drug smug-
glers. Two more Predator-B aircraft are now
entering service with the CBP, for the monitor-
ing of the northern border with Canada. Still
further UAV activities have involved the use of
military Global Hawk and Predator aircraft to
provide assistance to the civilian emergency ser-
vices by monitoring and imaging the after-
effects of disasters such as floods, earthquakes,
hurricanes and wildfires. At the other end of the
scale, there was a delightful and informative
presentation by Dana Sullivan of the USDA
about her routine use of a small model aircraft
to acquire thermal-IR imagery of research plots
in irrigated areas of Georgia and Alabama. It
was a pity however that there were no presen-
tations from any of the commercial operators
of low-altitude robotic mini-helicopters who
now appear to operate quite substantial num-
bers of these tiny UAV aircraft to acquire aerial
photography, even though the regulatory side
of this activity is far from clear.
Summary
I benefited greatly from my participation in this
excellent and well organised Symposium. It fully
reflected the facts that, in the United States, (i)
civilian use of UAVs for remote sensing purpos-
es is now becoming a reality, and (ii) the
Landsat programme is getting back on track
through the implementation of the LDCM.
Gordon Petrie is Emeritus Professor in the Dept. of
Geographical & Earth Sciences of the University of
Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.
E-mail - Gordon.Petrie@ges.gla.ac.uk
nications satellite to different command centres
that can then pass the resulting information to
the fire-fighters on the ground [Fig. 2 (d)].
NASA has also acquired two flyable Global
Hawk UAV development aircraft from the USAF
that can fly at altitudes greater than 50,000 ft.
with an endurance of over 30 hours. It plans to
use these aircraft on very long-range and long-
duration missions to carry out research over the
oceans and the cryosphere (glaciers, ice sheets
and ice caps) in partnership with NOAA. The
first flights in this collaborative programme will
be made from NASAs Dryden Flight Research
Center (DFRC) at the Edwards Air Force Base
located in the Mojave Desert of California,
where NASA is building a special ground con-
trol station for the Global Hawks [Fig. 3]. The
planned flights from the Dryden DFRC include
long-range flights carrying out oceanic and cli-
matic research over the Pacific Ocean and flights
to Alaska and onwards over the Arctic Ocean to
monitor the extent of sea ice. Later flights from
the NASA flight facility in Wallops Island, Virginia
are planned over the Greenland ice cap and
over the tracks of the hurricanes that ravage
the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.
Still further flights are planned over Antarctica
based on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
air base located at Edinburgh, near Adelaide in
South Australia.
Besides NASAs activities, the Customs & Border
Protection (CBP) agency of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security is also operating two
long-endurance Predator-B UAVs equipped with
imagers that are used routinely to patrol parts
of the countrys southern border with Mexico to
Event
Fig. 3 One of NASAs Global Hawk UAVs is being
pushed back into its hangar at the Dryden Flight
Research Center (DFRC) in California.
(Source: NASA-DFRC)
35
Jan./Feb. 2009
The Continuing Story of MicroStation
The main news from the Bentley contingent seems to be enhancements in
design modeling, dynamic views, geo-coordination, and project performance
within an integrated platform. The V8i software portfolio is built on those five
core capabilities. Specific capabilities found in MicroStation V8i that Bentley
found noteworthy include the integrated print organizer and the iterative
Luxology rendering.
By Remco Takken and Eric van Rees
In November 2008, Bentley launched V8i, the
most comprehensive software portfolio for
infrastructure professionals ever delivered in a
single release. Encompassing products for all
of the solution communities served by Bentley,
the V8i portfolio leverages and extends the core
capabilities of its interoperability platform to
enable integrated project delivery.
V8is interoperability platform enables Bentley
applications to persist, share, and visualize
infrastructure asset data in a common way, pro-
moting collaborative workflows. The resulting
project environment offers engineers, architects,
GIS professionals, constructors, and owner-
operators choices across discipline-specific inte-
grated software and of course, services incor-
porated in Bentley solutions. Developed as a
collective whole, the V8i software portfolio facil-
itates workflows among multiple disciplines and
across project teams throughout the infrastruc-
ture lifecycle.
Interoperability
The latest developments within V8i are meant
to give the user increased information quality,
enhanced infrastructure asset quality, improved
operational safety, reduced project costs, and
shortened delivery times.
The focus of the V8i portfolio is on interoper-
ability. Used together, the components enable
broader reuse of project and asset information
generated during the design, construction, and
operation of infrastructure, and enhances the
ability of project teams to choose among mul-
tiple software offerings.
Intra-operability occurs across and between
closely-coupled Bentleys V8i products without
loss of information. Inter-operability comes into
play when dealing with necessarily distributed
projects where participants reuse their work
with that of other practitioners using software
based on DGN, PDF, DWG, SHP, ISO 15926, IFC,
and other industry or de facto standards.
Core V8i Capabilities
During Bentleys European launch of V8i, the
core V8i capabilities within the portfolio were
emphasized. They kept coming up in all pre-
sentations. These are intuitive design model-
ing, interactive dynamic views, intrinsic geo-
coordination, incredible project performance
and of course the interoperability platform.
Specific capabilities found in MicroStation V8i
that Bentley found noteworthy include the inte-
grated print organizer and the iterative Luxology
rendering.
36
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
European Launch of Bentley V8i
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Impressive Real-life Example
One of the most impressive examples seen during the launch events in Europe
was a project designed by Henning Larsen Architects. The genesis of this
unique building executed in the Middle East, in the form of a rose, was
described showing how the five core capabilities of the V8i portfolio benefit-
ed the designers. (see Imagery) The challenge for Henning Larsen Architects
was to create a sustainable design highlighting passive energy, natural venti-
lation and re-use of water. Added to this, local materials had to be used.
The project team had to do research for alternative designs, decide between
form and function and make thoughtful decisions. For this, they used
GenerativeComponents, an associative, parametric modeling system for archi-
tects and engineers to automate the design process and to speed up itera-
tions. GenerativeComponents can be used as a stand-alone application, or
within a MicroStation 3D workflow or with other Bentley interoperable appli-
cations like BIM, Civil and Plant.
Intuitive Design Modeling
Intuitive design Modeling in V8i lets users seamlessly transition from conceptu-
al modeling and visualization to complete architectural and engineering mod-
els in a single environment. These innovations help solve processes that involve
disparate software tools, which can waste time and result in errors and data
corruption. For example, the new GenerativeComponents, surface, and push-
pull modeling tools enable teams to capture innovative thinking and transition
rapidly from concept to completion. In addition, the parametric and associative
modeling tools allow users to iterate more easily on design alternatives and
answer more questions earlier in the process. Through this flexible toolset,
infrastructure professionals can explore and embrace innovations to improve
the performance of the projects and assets their teams deliver.
Interactive Dynamic Views
V8is interactive dynamic views make working in 3D more interactive and more
informative. V8i builds on and extends existing approaches to solving the
problem of drawing coordination for complex models by actively supporting
the workflows of distributed multi-disciplinary teams all working on the same
project. These capabilities help users avoid the time consuming and costly
activities associated with coordinating changes between 2D and 3D docu-
ments. V8i will help users simplify the 3D model creation process. Employing
something called display sets, V8i users can easily change the way different
parts of a 3D model are displayed in the same working view to interactively
visualize and re-symbolize 2D and 3D designs in real time.
Pulse Repetition
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RIEGL Japan Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, info@riegl-japan.co.jp
RIEGL LMS GmbH, A-3580 Horn, Austria, office@riegl.co.at
For more information www.riegl.com
Revolutionary :
Digital Signal Processing,
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airborne terrestrial
Innovation in
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RIEGL VZ-400
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One of the most impressive examples seen during the launch events in Europe was a
project designed by Henning Larsen Architects. The genesis of this unique building
executed in the Middle East, in the form of a rose, was described showing how the
five core capabilities of the V8i portfolio
Intrinsic Geo-coordination
Infrastructure projects need collaboration
between many disciplines, and also, different
coordinate systems to locate them accurately
in the real world. This capability lets infrastruc-
ture professionals synchronize and coordinate
true and projected coordinate systems, use a
single interpretation system for universal and
industry-standard reference sources, reducing
the risks of errors on site. Geo-coordination is
an interesting example of technology developed
by Bentleys geospatial development teams
making its way back into the desktop platform
- MicroStation. Bentley talks a lot about
Advancing GIS for infrastructure and this is a
good example of the strategy being put into
action.
Incredible Project Performance
According to most software vendors, project
performance will always be incredible when
you buy their stuff, and Bentley makes no
exception in using this claim. During the launch
of V8i we were told that all kinds of users will
work faster and collaborate more effectively
when using V8i to make the process of work
sharing across multiple, distributed offices easy
and efficient, even for the worlds largest infras-
tructure projects. V8i delivers a series of pro-
ductivity and accessibility gains through accel-
erated file transfer between locations with ten
times performance gains being the norm for
average files sizes and full read/write integra-
tion with Microsoft SharePoint provided for
improved overall usability. Bentley has tradi-
tionally focused on larger user organizations so
performance in distributed work environments
is a hot issue for them.
Iterative Luxology Photorealistic
Rendering
The new Luxology rendering engine, incorpo-
rated in MicroStation software and available to
all MicroStation-based applications, provides
near-real-time rendering in the design applica-
tion. From now on, there will be no more data
transfers needed to external renderers. This
saves time and improves the quality of ren-
dered images for stakeholder review and buy-
in. Most importantly, the integration of the
Luxology rendering engine within MicroStation
widens the practical use and application of ren-
dering for organizations, because high-quality
renderings and visualizations may be devel-
oped in a fraction of the time it takes in other
third-party applications.
The inclusion of Luxology dates from August
2008, when Bentley licensed Luxologys photo-
realistic rendering technology. There will be an
even deeper integration with Luxology in future
releases says Bentley.
Integrated Print Organizer
The print organizer presented during the
European launch in November 2008, seemed
to be aimed at users who still invest a lot of
time in preparing and producing single sheet
prints. The integrated organizer streamlines
publishing workflows and reduces manual
steps, thus accelerating workflows. Some of the
time saved, can instead be used to enhance
the quality and consistency of the needed plots.
For users who require batch and scheduled pro-
duction of paper deliverables and/or electronic
and intelligent work packages from CAD files
and Microsoft Office documents, Bentley offers
ProjectWise InterPlot V8i.
ProjectWise Project Team
Collaboration
Bentleys ProjectWise software connects people
and information across project teams, wherev-
er they are located. This project collaboration
system provides OnLine and OnPremise deploy-
ment options to ensure the right fit for teams
of all kinds and sizes that may be tightly inte-
grated with existing Microsoft SharePoint imple-
mentations
Richard Zambuni, Global Marketing Director
Geospatial says Any company that shares work
across offices should take a close look at
ProjectWise; you dont have to be a very large
organization to benefit from the benefits of a
collaboration environment. If you want to ban-
ish data silos and ensure consistent, auditable
workflows in multi-office organizations, then
you need ProjectWise. We are seeing a steadily
increasing penetration of ProjectWise across all
of our different addressable markets and our
users always see a payback on ProjectWise
implementations.
Bentley offers both OnLine and OnPremise
deployment options for ProjectWise right now.
Regarding the OnLine option, Zambuni said:
Bentley provides this as a managed service to
help organizations that dont have the resources
to administer a ProjectWise implementation,
take full advantage of the benefits of
ProjectWise.
ProjectWise Delta File Transfer
Now, with ProjectWise V8i, only the changes
within a file will be transferred when a file is
extracted a second time or repeatedly. Zambuni
explains: This makes file transfers much faster
and this is a real benefit for complex models
where the file size will be substantial - down-
load times are shortened by several orders of
magnitude.
Geospatial Capabilities in
ProjectWise
With the release of ProjectWise V8i, ProjectWise
Integration Server now ships with a standard
map-based interface this is another example
of Bentleys geospatial technology enriching
platform technology this time on the server
side.
For more advanced component indexing, and
spatial indexing and navigation there is
ProjectWise Geospatial Management. At the
top of the hierarchy, Bentley Geospatial Server
which bundles several server side products to
deliver an enterprise GIS platform to organi-
zations. Bentley Geospatial Server includes
ProjectWise Geospatial Management,
ProjectWise InterPlot and the ProjectWise
Connector for Oracle.
38
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
ProjectWise is the perfect environment through
which to manage heterogeneous engineering
documentation, says Zambuni. How are all
these different file formats being managed?
Zambuni explains: Were not doing file extrac-
tions or transforming them in any way. In that
respect, were not doing ETL (Extract, Transform,
Load). There would be data loss. A better
answer is working with your current data. Were
not changing the original format at all. We sup-
port heterogeneous file types and they dont
require file transformation. Our approach is a
federated approach. We accept the data in its
original form and federate it at a higher level.
No matter what geospatial data store or other
database is being used, youll be able to search
and find engineering documentation through
ProjectWise. Weve moved away from the
database approach. We believe that federated
databases are the future and better than the
mother of all databases approach.
The Economic Situation
COO Malcolm Walter seems well aware of the
current economic situation. He cites Dennis K.
Berman in one of his Wall Street Journal arti-
cles, saying: Perhaps America would do well
to have a few more people thinking about engi-
neering actual structures rather than the struc-
hand: too much engineering would also be a
waste. According to Walter, we are ready for a
new term: ROI -cubed (ROI3), with the three Is
standing for Interoperability, Innovation and
Investment.
Bentleys Joe Croser takes this up when he runs
through the main facts concerning V8i. He
emphasizes that no DGN file format change
takes place in the process, and that, just as
with earlier developments within Bentleys port-
folio, theres still a seamless connection with
earlier versions of MicroStation. Also,
ProjectWise deals well with earlier versions of
applications. In line with what Malcolm Walter
said about the global economy, Croser thinks
there never was a better time for an upgrade.
He sees that during peak periods, organizations
are simply lacking the time, while there is the
need to innovate their business cycles and pro-
cesses. Croser concludes During the quieter
periods, theres still the need, but theres also
more time.
Remco Takken rtakken@geoinformatics.com is
contributing editor of GeoInformatics.
Eric van Rees evanrees@geoinformatics.com is
editor in chief of GeoInformatics.
For more information visit www.bentley.com/v8i.
tured products of Wall Street. The market has
indeed spoken. Its message is clear: It is time
to get back to work. Real work.
He also points out to his audiences that gov-
ernments all over the world consider investing
in infrastructural projects in order to keep the
economy running.
Sustaining Infrastructure
Keeping in tune with the current drive within
organizations to become sustainable or even
green, Bentley not only wants to sustain our
environment, but also sees an opportunity to
sustain our society, our profession. This might
sound a bit pompous, but it is especially true
when you think about the dual challenge which
Bentley users face these days. There are not
only environmental sustainability requirements
but also global economic developments and an
ageing infrastructure to deal with. The need for
more and better infrastructure all over the world
clashes with a workforce that is diminishing due
to mass retirement and a shortage of young
blood.
Walter says: It isnt hard to imagine a world
infrastructure without Information Modeling.
You can see examples of bridges and buildings
where not enough engineering intelligence was
applied. They failed and fell apart. On the other
Event
39
Jan./Feb. 2009
For decades the information management group (IMG) at engineering company Burns & McDonnell has been successfully
solving customers IT challenges through its conservative and methodical approach to software development. That is, until
the $1 billion Middletown-Norwalk Transmission Project (MNTP) buzzed to its door, sparking this 100-year-old veteran to
redefine its IT-development formula and to deliver an electric software solution with lightening speed.
By Mary Jo Wagner
One of the largest transmission projects in the country, the MNTP
involves constructing a new 345-kV transmission line that stretches
nearly 70 miles, crossing 18 Connecticut towns, affecting 1200 residents
and requiring 60 different prime contractors. Though project owner
Northeast Utilities (NU) tasked program manager Burns & McDonnell to
implement a robust project management solution based on the
Primavera suite of products, much of the data-distribution channel was
still paper-based and teams relied on printed reports to communicate
critical information. With pockets of activity increasing in the field, that
data-sharing method was causing the project to short-circuit. Burns &
McDonnell turned to its IMG to transform NUs paper-based data man-
agement and distribution system into an automated, real-time system
that would connect all components of the project into one seamless
circuit of information.
With only three people, two software tools and a hefty wattage of inge-
nuity, IMG created ONETouchPM, a real-time GIS mash-up in just three
months. Anchored by Safe Softwares FME spatial ETL software, the
Google Earth dashboard tool streams together project management
data, design files and GIS software to create a holistic, real-world view
of the entire project in real time. Launched in February 2007, the new
ONETouchPM project management tool has not only greatly improved
decision-making, efficiency and productivity, it has reengineered the
mechanics of project management from NUs head office to the field.
The Organization
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Burns & McDonnell is a 110-
year-old engineering and design firm composed of more than 3,000
employees and offices located across the globe. The GIS backbone of
the company is the 45 members of the information management group
(IMG) who support the spatial information management initiatives
throughout the company. As part of its mission, the team adopts tech-
niques and tools that will allow them to efficiently and accurately cre-
40
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
A helicopter surveys the construction progress on
just one of the many stretches of overhead transmis-
sions lines being built for the Middletown-Norwalk
Transmission Project - one of the largest transmis-
sion projects in the country. The MNTP involves
constructing a nearly 70-mile stretch of new 345-kV
transmission line in southwest Connecticut.
The Middletown-Norwalk Transmission Project
Project Management electrified
ate customized,
yet open data layers and systems that are repeatable
and easily shared. This build it once, share it multiple times principle
was put to the ultimate test when Northeast Utilities (NU) needed a
robust, spatial data integration and distribution tool for its $1.04 bil-
lion Middletown-Norwalk Transmission Project (MNTP) in southwest
Connecticut.
The Challenge
Though NU readily collected a host of field data that was integrated
into its project and scheduling databases, project managers and field
crews were dispatched to the site with reams of paper work assign-
ments, maps and anecdotal information. That disconnection to the dig-
ital database and lack of a holistic view of activity made it difficult to
coordinate 20 different crews, and to troubleshoot and construct with
confidence. With only 32 months to build nearly 200 circuit miles of
overhead and underground transmission line, NU needed to transform
its project management system to enable workers to maintain a con-
tinuous flow of accurate, efficient and productive construction energy
in the field.
The project owner established a comprehensive database of critical
project details, but it didnt have an effective method to disseminate
that data in a format that people could readily use and make impor-
tant decisions from, says Wes Hardin, a project manager in Burns &
McDonnells IMG. Trying to coordinate 60 different contractors and
monitor their work with tabular reports is very difficult and can lead to
mistakes in the field. The lack of an interactive spatial view of project
activity also made it difficult for customer relations personnel to ade-
quately respond to frequent inquiries and requests from affected prop-
erty owners and relate any issues to crews.
The Solution
To remedy the projects unsustainable, paper-based project manage-
ment system, IMG developers needed to quickly create a real-time spa-
tial data delivery and communication tool to maintain construction
deadlines. The system needed to integrate disparate data sources and
data formats into one centralized mechanism, automatically update
data layers and provide data to the project owners and subcontrac-
tors in real-time in 3D. With the breadth and depth of data collected
daily, the group needed robust data-transformation software that
would allow crews to work in their native data formats and readily
share their data quickly and easily. Having used FME for several
years as a CAD translation tool and been impressed with its adapt-
ability and flexibility, IMG chose it to serve as the spatial data transfor-
mation core for the ONETouchPM.
One power of FME is that data formats are a non-issue - it can trans-
form data into whatever format you need, says Jamie Katz, an infor-
mation management specialist in the IMG. This was a critical element
in the solution because we needed to incorporate a significant amount
of data. In addition, the ease and quickness of FMEs interface and
inherent tools enabled us to develop an unprecedented, real-time pro-
ject management tool for this massive project in just three months and
with only three people. FMEs flexibility and adaptability, in fact, are
the only reasons this system was even feasible.
With only a Web-connected computer, users access the dashboard sys-
tem via their validated log-in information. Once in the system, project
managers, construction managers, contractors and subcontractors alike
can zoom into any area of the construction site and immediately see
the status of any given point along the 3D model of the transmission
line. And depending on their data-access rights, they can also take note
of any pending issues regarding land use or customers. Construction
features such as overhead and underground utility lines, poles and
vaults are color-coded for easy identification and provide instant knowl-
Ar t i cl e
41
Jan./Feb. 2009
The ease and quickness of FMEs interface and inherent tools enabled the IMG to develop
the OneTouchPM real-time project management tool in just three months and with only
three people.
As FME continually updates the databases connected to OneTouchPM, users can
zoom into any area of the construction site and immediately see the status of any
given point along the 3D model of the transmission line. Construction features such
as overhead and underground utility lines, poles and vaults are color-coded for easy
identification and provide instant knowledge of their installation status.
Color-coded flags alert users to any important issues pending or information relat-
ed to a particular asset or parcel of land. Here construction managers and field
crews are alerted to a customer concern that requires follow-up.
SuperGIS Mobile Engine is a set of Software Development Kit
(SDK) developed under .NET Compact Framework
architecture. It can be used to rapidly create the various
Mobile GIS applications installed to .NET CF supportive
mobile devices.
The developers can design and create the required Mobile
GIS applications using Visual Studio .NET, Delphi 2005 or
other .NET Compact Framework development environments,
and can utilize all .NET CF built-in libraries and various
controls and components provided by SuperGIS Mobile
Engine to create a set of powerful Mobile GIS applications. In
addition, when designing, the developers only need to directly
drag the controls to the table, and the basic-functioned map
browsing program will be rapidly produced, which can reduce
the developers burden of writing those codes by themselves.
SuperGIS Mobile Engine 3
For more information and download free trial,
visit www.supergeotek.com
From nothing to anything
5n// /ookinq for on ideo/
Mobi/e 6l5 opp/icotion?
creote one.
Copyright 2001-2009 SuperGeo Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. SuperPad, SuperPad Builder, SuperPad Suite, SuperGIS, and SuperWebGIS are registered trademarks of SuperGeo Technologies Inc.. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
Main Features
Supports to develop Mobile GIS applications under
.NET development environments on desktop PCs.
Authorizes to deploy Mobile GIS applications on
mobile devices supporting .NET Compact Framework
2.0 SP2 and higher, such as PDA, smart phone, tablet
PC and so on.
Developed Mobile GIS applications are allowed to run
on Windows Mobile 5.x and above.
Provides various GIS components.
With the provided express tools of application
program development, the various commonly-used
GIS tools can be rapidly applied.
The component architecture with high flexibility can
support plug-in extensions.
Develop on desktop PCs
Deploy to mobile devices
edge of their installation status - clicking on any of the features pro-
duces attribute data. Color-coded flags also appear to alert users to
any important issues pending or information related to a particular
asset or parcel of land.
Behind this seamless 3D view is the GIS mash-up centerpiece: FME,
which serves as the data connector for disparate databases storing
data layers such as environmental, field, real estate, customer relations,
design, parcels and project management/scheduling information. Since
all data leads to FME, any changes made to a connected database trig-
ger the software to first check that the data was entered correctly. It
then automatically integrates the updated data element, transforms it
and regenerates it into the appropriate color-coded spatial component
for real-time viewing in Google Earth.
The Results
With such a holistic view of the MNTP, the two overriding assets of this
new communication tool are knowledge and coordination, both of which
have sparked dramatic increases in efficiency and productivity through-
out every junction of activity connected to the project.
Unlike in the past, when crews suffered from a short-circuited commu-
nication line, teams now have instant knowledge on any aspect of the
construction project with a simple mouse click. And they have all the
pertinent details they need to fulfill their assignment, to troubleshoot
and to comply with any customer request.
With the live information source, construction managers are no longer
disconnected from the dispersed crew teams, allowing them to better
coordinate multiple crews, assign work schedules and monitor the
progress of any field team. They can also re-assign work on the fly
because of unexpected issues.
Project managers at NU no longer feel in the dark, waiting for emails
or paper status reports. They simply view a large flat-screen TV in their
meeting rooms to see at a glance how the project is progressing. Moving
into any point along the site from their own desktop brings the scope
into a detailed 3D view, complete with any attribute information rela-
tive to a pole, underground vault or real estate negotiation.
Customer relations personnel can shed the telephone game, hoping
the right information moves down the line to the right person. Now
they have both the knowledge to respond to customer inquiries about
the construction project in minutes rather than hours, and the tool to
communicate those calls to construction managers and field crews who
may need to follow-up or avoid working near that property until an
issue is resolved.
All of this knowledge and coordination has garnered a notable increase
in field productivity, an estimated $15 million in scheduling productivi-
ty savings and has significantly mitigated project risk.
This tool is providing real power to the person in the field or in the
boardroom because it provides the knowledge to both construct and
to make informed decisions in real-time, says Hardin. It has created
such undeniable efficiencies that traditional project managers and 20-
year-construction veterans now dont want to manage these projects
any other way.
The Future
With FMEs data-adaptability strengths firmly proven, the IMG is plan-
ning a number of enhancements to the ONETouchPM tool such as new
data layers and the ability for crews to both update field data from the
job site and request specific types of information or map views.
With NU ahead of schedule in meeting its operational deadline in early
2009, Burns &McDonnells innovative dashboard tool has quickly
become a productivity buzzword - soon it will be providing the same
real-time knowledge and coordination strengths for a $3.2 billion trans-
mission construction project in California.
Mary Jo Wagner mj_wagner@shaw.ca is freelance writer, editor, media consultant
in Vancouver, BC.
Ar t i cl e
43
Jan./Feb. 2009
The MNTP requires 24 miles of underground construction - the status of which can
be checked any time using the FME-based OneTouchPM system.
Project managers at NU need only view a large flat-screen TV in their
meeting rooms to see at a glance how the project is progressing.
44
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
SOCET GXP v3.0
Geospatial-intelligence Software
In the past few decades, the GIS industry has feasted on a proliferation of specialty software packages designed to
accomplish every task imaginable to increase productivity. Technology has taken the tradecraft from tenured profession-
als, leaving them little choice but to become proficient with a myriad of computer-based tools and devices to stay
competitive. With so many options, new paradigms to digest, and long hours logged to learn new products, it was
only a matter of time until a next-generation software package would make its debut, eclipsing those that came
before it to introduce a new way of working with geospatial data: SOCET GXP v3.0.
By Carolyn Gordon
The Ribbon user interface provides access to additional options related to the functional group on which it is
located, with advanced functionality related to that group.
eXtreme Analysis with
SOCET GXP v3.0
BAE Systems SOCET GXP v3.0 software repre-
sents the convergence of image analysis and
geospatial analysis in one software package
for diverse uses from finding beach landing
sites for combat troops to helping land the
Mars Rover. It moves away from a task-based
model that requires individual specialty prod-
ucts to a comprehensive solution that facili-
tates the completion of end-to-end workflows.
The company calls this fusion of functionality
eXtreme Analysis, or XA.
XA empowers individuals to satisfy multiple
analysis and mapping tasks quickly and effi-
ciently, reducing the dependency on multiple
tools. SOCET GXP makes it possible for a broad
range of personnel, trained and untrained, mil-
itary and civilian, to use the same product to
build, view, and analyze geospatial-intelligence
information. It consolidates image exploitation,
geospatial production, and mapping tasks, and
establishes the basis for future feature extrac-
tion and analysis.
A customizable interface and extensive network
of user-defined preferences allow individuals
and system administrators to organize the
desktop environment according to specific
workflows. Users can connect to Google Earth
and the ESRI geodatabase to create, store, and
share geographic information, and to export
geographically-rich image data and finished
map products such as PowerPoint slides and
GeoPDF files directly from the SOCET GXP
workspace. The GeoPDF format, gaining popu-
larity in the GIS and geospatial-intelligence
communities, is an invaluable resource. Anyone
with access to the Adobe Reader can view,
mark up, or configure geographic attributes
contained in an image or map generated with
SOCET GXP from a desktop computer. The PDF
document maintains predominant features and
coordinates, yet compresses the file to a size
suitable for transmission via email, portable
drive or shared network. With this technology,
customers can share geospatial assets with
users in the field, regardless of their physical
location and technology, facilitating interoper-
ability and collaboration.
SOCET GXP is designed to simplify workflows
and make the software easy to use for new
and veteran users. Tools for image analysis, 3D
simulation, and targeting are particularly help-
ful for homeland defense or military intelli-
gence missions, while pushbutton functionality
for orthorectification, triangulation, mosaicking,
and digital terrain model generation benefits
geospatial analysts and photogrammetrists.
The software processes data from a variety of
image sources and creates products that can
be compressed and saved in multiple formats.
Data and reports can be e-mailed and accessed
from mobile laptop computers, relay stations,
and ground control centers. Products generat-
ed from SOCET GXP include topographic image
maps, 3D models with realistic geographic con-
text, and target charts.
Another advantage of SOCET GXP that is criti-
cal to many customers is that it offers the same
appearance, performance, user experience, and
software baseline for both UNIX and Windows,
for ease of use among multiple workstations.
By providing all of the required functionality in
one product with a single user interface, BAE
Systems empowers organizations to consoli-
date resources and increase productivity. The
SOCET GXP architecture is scalable and highly
Ar t i cl e
45
Jan./Feb. 2009
configurable so that customers can buy specif-
ic functionality to meet their requirements.
While a particular organization may have sev-
eral configurations or software bundles in
place, all of the software functions with the
same underlying architecture and user inter-
face. The single user interface eliminates the
problem encountered by customers today, who
have to use several different software pack-
ages to accomplish their tasks. Some of them
use as many as six packages, often unrelated
or loosely integrated, and cannot possibly be
trained well enough on each one to take full
advantage of its capabilities. By minimizing the
number of software packages required, SOCET
GXP users can streamline training, reduce inte-
gration and O&M costs, simplify licensing and
customer support, and increase productivity.
The Transformation of an Industry
Several years ago, BAE Systems observed a
transformation in the geospatial-intelligence
and GIS disciplines. Image analysts who tradi-
tionally used electronic light tables for analyz-
ing satellite and aerial images needed a user-
friendly software application for extracting
accurate geospatial information, while pho-
togrammetrists, cartographers, and geospatial
production teams were looking for an image-
analysis tool to simplify rigorous processing
tasks, and improve productivity. With success-
ful software products in both markets, the
company forged ahead to develop a compre-
hensive, scalable application to satisfy image
analysis and geospatial production require-
ments.
At that time, BAE Systems offered two distinct
software products the VITec electronic light
table (VITec ELT), a UNIX-based system for
image viewing, analysis, and exploitation, and
SOCET SET, a versatile photogrammetry suite
for precision 3D mapping, feature collection,
and digital terrain generation. The close asso-
ciation BAE Systems had with VITec ELT and
SOCET SET users was instrumental in under-
standing the needs of each audience. In 2004
the vision became a reality with the release of
SOCET GXP, a next-generation image analysis
minute information to make critical decisions.
Real-time image analysis, automated geospa-
tial production, mapping, and 3D visualiza-
tion can be accomplished using SOCET GXPs
pushbutton functionality. Sophisticated new
algorithms, developed by BAE Systems
research and development teams, automate
complex tasks. Typically, these end-to-end
workflows require several specialty packages
and a series of manual operations. However,
SOCET GXP manages tedious image process-
ing steps automatically. The rigorous mathe-
matical calculations are executed behind the
scenes, freeing users to focus on other tasks.
SOCET GXP v3.0 replaces a traditional menu
and toolbar system with The Ribbon, the main
component of a new user interface that orga-
nizes tools by tabs that correspond to each
task. The Ribbon displays tools when need-
ed, and hides them when not in use to avoid
cluttering the desktop environment. It uses
contextualization to simplify the number of
choices available at any given time, The
implementation of this flexible interface is
based on the Microsoft Office Fluent user
interface, designed to save time, help individ-
uals access all functionality available in an
application, and provide a scalable platform
to build on for the future.
SOCET GXP v3.0 is the first commercial, end-
to-end geospatial information management
application to implement the Microsoft Office
Fluent user interface. Users who have tested
the software like the increased flexibility,
workspace customization, and accessibility to
SOCET GXPs versatile toolset.
Microsoft invested more than three years of
research and development and millions of
dollars in the new user interface design. They
analyzed over 3 billion data sessions collect-
ed from Microsoft Office software users; con-
ducted surveys and usability studies; built
hundreds of conceptual prototypes; and
experimented with new designs through cus-
tomer site deployments and beta programs.
Today, most of the software Microsoft devel-
and geospatial production application. SOCET
SETs photogrammetric strengths are being
transferred to SOCET GXP and enhanced by
SOCET GXPs fresh architecture and productive
user interface. The combined strengths of
VITec ELT and SOCET SET are the basis for
eXtreme Analysis. Rigorous sensor modeling,
a hallmark of the SOCET SET application, is
available in SOCET GXP, which makes it possi-
ble for users to combine imagery from several
sensors commercial, defense, airborne, and
customer-defined plug-in sensor models in
one project for comprehensive analysis. With
the implementation of a new graphical user
interface, most tasks are initiated with a few
mouse-clicks, and the workspace can be orga-
nized according to individual or organizational
preferences for maximum ease of use.
SOCET GXP a Closer Look
SOCET GXP uses imagery from numerous
image sources to identify and analyze ground
features. Analysts can automatically measure,
annotate, store, and retrieve the features in a
series of images to expedite geospatial pro-
duction, image analysis, and map creation.
The information is used to monitor changes
over time, aid in disaster relief and recovery,
develop transportation, utilities and commu-
nications networks, coordinate surveillance
missions, and designate troop maneuvers.
In field or crisis situations, first responders
and deployed forces depend on up-to-the-
SOCET GXP v3.0 features an updated interface designed to simplify workflows and make the software easy to use for every kind of task.
Some tabs are contextual and appear only when relevant to the current task.
By minimizing the number of
software packages required,
SOCET GXP users can streamline
training, reduce integration and
O&M costs, simplify licensing and
customer support, and increase
productivity.
46
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
ops includes the new user interface, and a
number of other companies have adopted it
for their applications. Thus, the Microsoft
Office Fluent user interface is well on its way
to becoming the standard user interface for
large-scale applications.
With eXtreme Analysis tools for detecting
changes from one day to the next, analysts
can anticipate conditions such as rough ter-
rain or collapsed bridges and pinpoint opera-
tional routes more accurately. The application
produces image graphics such as roads,
buildings, and targets using a ground coor-
dinate system that records latitude, longitude,
and elevation data, eliminating the need for
manual registration.
SOCET GXP provides a direct connection to
the ESRI geodatabase, the Environmental
Systems Research Institutes common data
storage and management framework. The
Spatially Enabled Exploitation add-on module
uses familiar tools and universal file formats
to edit, store, and retrieve information, avoid-
ing time-consuming searches for hard-copy
reports. Analysts use this module to identify
an object, define, annotate, and classify that
object, and then store a record of its pixel
composition directly in an ESRI geodatabase.
These smart vectors can then be queried in a
variety of ways.
Ordinarily, vector data is collected when text-
based reports are created, but not saved in a
format that facilitates quick retrieval based on
temporal and geographic attributes. To ensure
accurate image alignment over time, it is crit-
ical to store data using ground coordinates,
resulting in ground space graphics using
precise image coordinates and sensor mod-
els to reference graphics to their correspond-
ing geographic locations. Therefore, graphics
are always aligned properly on sequential
images captured over time. As new imagery
arrives, it can be registered in the same coor-
dinate system as previous images, so fresh
information can be exploited in time series
analyses with earlier collections. This func-
tionality makes SOCET GXP unique in the mar-
ketplace.
Other advantages of direct SOCET GXP and
ESRI geodatabase connectivity include remote
access by multiple users, versioning, and
security. The availability of this online connec-
tion to a geospatial database within a soft-
ware environment provides analysts with a
wide range of powerful tools including coor-
dinate systems and sensor models, image
import, and photogrammetric functionality
such as triangulation, elevation extraction,
orthorectification, and visualization. Con nec -
tion with the database allows users to work
with data over secure networks for accurate,
timely analysis.
Google Earth is a popular 3D color visualiza-
tion and discovery tool used in tandem with
SOCET GXP to aid change detection and sit-
uational awareness. Google Earth synchro-
nizes with the location of an image open in
the SOCET GXP application to provide geospa-
tial context. Alternating between the applica-
tions, views update dynamically. Large geo-
graphic regions are scanned for an area of
interest or specific location. Next, annotations,
features, and graphics are added to form the
basis of an intelligence report. The informa-
tion can be exported as an image footprint
for Google Earth, a PowerPoint slide, or a
GeoPDF file.
A digital terrain model (DTM) is one of the
most important 3D geospatial data types. One
of the key automation technologies in soft-
copy photogrammetry is to generate a DTM
automatically. The most reliable and widely
used algorithm for DTM generation is normal-
ized image correlation. However, this algo-
rithm has limitations when dealing with ele-
vation discontinuities such as building edges,
because it is based on the assumption that
elevation within a window rarely changes.
SOCET GXP includes Next-Generation
Automatic Terrain Extraction (NGATE) function-
ality, an image processing innovation devel-
oped by BAE Systems that can decrease man-
ual editing time significantly. NGATE uses a
hybrid matching process to create precise ele-
vation data for 3D terrain and surface mod-
els. Its unique combination of image match-
ing techniques offer clear improvements over
earlier digital photogrammetric mapping pro-
cedures for generating elevation data from
imagery.
NGATE is particularly useful for mapping
urban areas, large geographic landscapes,
mountainous or rough terrain, and areas with
little contrast, such as road surfaces on large
scale imagery and vast deserts.
In addition to tools for terrain model genera-
tion, pushbutton triangulation, and mosaick-
ing, SOCET GXP has an automated process for
orthorectification. The Ortho On-the-Fly tool
orthorectifies and mosaics raw images in real
time to produce continuous, accurate imagery
of an expansive area. The results can be used
for immediate product generation or future
analyses. Orthorectification removes geomet-
ric errors or displacements in an image caused
by the orientation of the sensor or variations
in the terrain elevation. The result has a con-
sistent scale, allowing accurate measurements
of position, distance and direction. Ortho On-
the-Fly enables first responders and analysts
in the field to view and analyze orthorectified
imagery without delay, or revert to the raw
data. Raw images are available for extended
processing such as automatic terrain genera-
Users can connect to Google Earth in real time to locate and preview images geospatially. Feature layers can be
toggled on and off as needed.
Ar t i cl e
Jan./Feb. 2009
tion, 3D feature extraction and mensuration,
and stereo visualization. This innovative
development is an important component of
geospatial production workflows. It offers
image analysts, geospatial analysts and map-
ping professionals an easy- to-use applica-
tion, as well as a visual conduit into advanced
capabilities within the software. Real-time pro-
cessing allows for the creation of a variety of
products that were once created in advanced
or extended processes. SOCET GXP v3.0 pro-
vides tools for do-it-yourself users, from
data analysis to product generation. A do-it-
yourself user can improve the accuracy of an
Ortho On-the-Fly solution when the georefer-
encing information of the input imagery and
the underlying terrain model is inaccurate.
Access to tools such as triangulation, and ter-
rain generation and editing allow higher lev-
els of accuracy when the input data needs
improvement. These processes are still part
of advanced or extended batch solutions, but
they are easily accessible from SOCET GXP.
System Architecture and Building
Applications
The SOCET GXP architecture is based on more
than 20 years of research and development.
The system architecture is built to provide
high-performance image processing from com-
mercial hardware. It has a common software
baseline, look, and feel for both UNIX and
Windows operating systems. A robust API
eases integration of the application into larg-
er system architectures and provides a solid
prototyping tool and third-party development
platform. This gives customers and systems
integrators the capability to create complex
commercial and government off-the-shelf solu-
tions for specific programs and missions.
tion, BAE Systems is among the first to
include this advanced technology in a com-
mercial product a notable accomplishment
that is likely to transform the GIS and geospa-
tial-intelligence communities. As a result,
SOCET GXP is becoming the tool of choice
among mapping professionals, image ana-
lysts, geospatial analysts, and photogram-
metrists.
SOCET GXPs technically advanced functional-
ity serves government and civil customers
needs for photogrammetry, rapid mapping,
visualization, image exploitation and analy-
sis, precision targeting, intelligence, simula-
tion, and mission planning.
The software currently is used on the front-
lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and systems
integrators working on intelligence programs
are using it to produce GEOINT products. In
addition, the U.S. Army has procured SOCET
GXP for Army-wide implementation into its
Imagery Workstation baseline for operational
units, establishing the software as its primary
GEOINT exploitation tool.
SOCET GXP v3.0 is available for PC (Microsoft
Windows XP, Vista) and UNIX (Sun
Microsystems Solaris 10) operating systems.
Carolyn Gordon, marketing and communications,
BAE Systems. For more information,
have a look at www.baesystems.com/gxp.
Conclusion
BAE Systems owes much of its success to its
customers. Year-after-year, feedback is gath-
ered, evaluated, and implemented in software
updates. Annual user conferences and beta
testing programs provide a collaborative
forum for engineers and product development
teams to meet with users to gain a realistic
understanding of workflows and to test
usability. It is equally important to document
feedback from troops on the front lines.
Deployed forces using SOCET GXP in the oper-
ational environment often rotate in and out
frequently and different people are doing the
work from one week to the next. This is also
true of large organizations that employ shift
workers. Being aware of these conditions is
helpful in BAE Systems efforts in developing
a product that is relevant and useful to a
diverse user community.
For individuals with little or no photogram-
metry or image analysis experience, SOCET
GXP offers a wide range of analysis and pro-
duction capabilities wrapped in a flexible user
interface that provides
visual cues for quick
ramp up. Novice users
can learn the basics,
and continually build
on prior knowledge as
time permits. On the
other hand, skilled pro-
fessionals are pleased
with the depth of func-
tionality and user pref-
erences that can be tai-
lored to specific
workflows. Add-on
modules are available
for specialized function-
ality.
As an early adopter of
the Microsoft Office
Fluent user interface
technology in its SOCET
GXP software applica-
For individuals with little or no
photogrammetry or image
analysis experience, SOCET GXP
offers a wide range of analysis
and production capabilities
wrapped in a flexible user
interface that provides visual
cues for quick ramp up.
The automated triangulation process adjusts satellite or airborne sensor models to
improve the accuracy for coordinates and measurements derived from imagery.
It simplifies the triangulation process so that users who are not familiar with
photogrammetry can be assured that all objects in an image, such as buildings,
bridges, roads and other features, are represented accurately.
47
We ran into a problem just the other day, one of our critical data layers we use is a geospatial web service. Weve always
liked this web service because of its cost (much cheaper than buying data outright) and it is regularly updated. Of course
this all matters not when the web service becomes inaccessible. Nothing is more unpleasant when everyone is standing
behind you watching you frantically try and reconnect to the GeoWeb service because your map is the last part of the
report. Lucky enough for us, it came back up in time to get our product out the door, but it brings up the biggest draw-
backs to web services, lack of control.
So how do we protect ourselves against such chinks in armor? Well first
off, if the work is mission critical, you probably cant rely on web services
at all (at least ones that cant guarantee six nines or greater in availabili-
ty). Caching web services also can help for those times the service drops
but this can open you up to out of date data. Also making sure the
provider of the web service has policies in place that outline what hap-
pens when the service goes down (Ive rarely seen these in the market-
place).
As we move to a service based GeoWeb, the weak links are going to
become much more apparent. Services open up datasets to us that we
couldnt gain access before due to cost or data rights, but they open
users up to service reliability problems. Before rushing into migrating to
web services, make sure you understand the service availability promises,
the policy the provider has to resolving downtime and what you can do
to cache some of the service local to minimize interruptions (if allowed
by the service agreement). A little planning can go a long way in utilizing
GeoWeb services effectively.
Column
What happens with GeoWeb
Services go down?
48 48
Jan./Feb. 2009
Admission to the exhibition and workshops
is free of charge
Evening dinner
On the evening of 22 April, a dinner will be held which is open to visitors. The dinner is
sure to be a highlight of XCES and consists of a special guest speaker, fine dining and top
class entertainment that is not to be missed.
Tickets are priced at 47.50 each or 450.00 for a table of ten.
Guest Speaker: Bill Tidy MBE
Phenomenally talented and highly respected cartoonist, author, writer, TV and radio pre-
senter Bill Tidy is our guest speaker. A former Royal Engineer, stationed in Germany,
Korea and Japan, Bill will deliver a unique presentation which incorporates his wit, expert-
ise and indomitable style in every sense of the word.
Entertainment: Blond
The Blond String Quartet was formed in 2001 as an innovative ensemble to perform
music outside of the standard string quartet repertoire. As the resident string quartet at
the Ritz Hotel, London, Blond enjoyed playing music from different genres, including pop,
jazz and easy listening, as well as an extensive classical collection.
XCES
Land, building and engineering surveying
Topographical and hydrographic surveying
Photogrammetry, laser scanning and remote sensing
Geographic information systems (GIS)
Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)
Cartography and visualisation
Register now at www.surco.uk.com/xces.php
Co-sponsors
SURCO Limited is the trading company of the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors.
t: +44 (0) 161 972 3110 e: xces@ices.org.uk
EXHIBITION FOR
CONSTRUCTION AND
ENGINEERING
SURVEYING
An exhibition for the construction and civil engineering industry, includ-
ing engineers, architects, surveyors, contractors, local authorities, aca-
demics and anybody who is involved in geospatial information.
YORK RACECOURSE
22-23 APRIL 2009
James Fee james.fee@rsparch.com is Geospatial
Manager at RSP Architects Ltd.
Have a look at his blog
www.spatiallyadjusted.com
Sokkia understands that todays surveyors, more than ever,
need to rely on their equipment no matter how rough the
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ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD
4th ESA Workshop on
Satellite Navigation User Equipment Technologies
Navitec 2008
For the fourth time the European Space Agency (ESA) held a workshop on satel-
lite navigation user equipment technologies at Estec in Noordwijk, the
Netherlands. The conference centre was filled with around 200
scientists from all over Europe from Finland to Portugal from the tenth to
twelfth of December.
By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
The papers presented varied from receiver technologies and develop-
ments to carrier phase algorithms and indoor and urban navigation. In
general this is the type of conference without big lunches, promotion
stands or give-aways. It is however the place to be if you want to know
what is coming to the user in say 5 years time. In this article a few devel-
opments that may be of interest to the surveying and mapping specialist
are highlighted.
Sensor Fusion
The title of the workshop was sensor fusion in the sense of aiding GPS
measurements with those of other sensors to enhance the integrity or
precision of the position solution. Of course this technology is not new as
there are already commercial applications that integrate e.g. inertial sen-
sors and GPS measurements. The main problem with these applications
is however that they, in general, rely upon expensive parts creating a solu-
tion that can only be used for specialized applications.
The topics during the workshop focussed on small, cheap of the shelve
sensors that could be integrated with GPS in e.g. mobile telephones or
other Personal Navigation Devices.
The majority of workshops on sensor fusion focussed on the use of small
inertial sensors or WIFI as aids for indoor / urban use. Both have their
own disadvantages and the papers presented give some insight to poten-
tial solutions. For example, when using WIFI, the exact location of the
transmitters has to be known. This is not a big problem, only one that
needs constant maintenance (as wireless points are re-located etc etc). A
bigger problem is that for accurate positioning the distance to an access
point needs to be determined. This is usually done using the signal
strength received from the access point, but when the signal has to travel
through e.g. walls, doors etc it will reduce in strength. One of the papers
demonstrated how these could be predicted and mapped based on the
existing structures n some indoor location. The resulting position accura-
cies were indoors, without GPS reception, in the order of 2 meters.
Inertial sensors are used to monitor the motion of a device. Given a known
starting point they will determine position based on the double integra-
tion of the measured accelerations. Direction comes from angular rate sen-
sors in a similar way. The disadvantage of using cheap sensors as pro-
posed for personal navigation use is that they will drift considerably over
small periods of time. For example, the angular sensors proposed have a
drift of between 900 and 1800 per hour or 15 30 per minute! Over
very short amounts of time (within a second) they are however very sta-
ble and can help a GNSS device initialize with much higher accuracy and
precision. Similarly it may help mitigate multipath effects as the heading
50
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
Estec space centre in
Noordwijk,
the Netherlands
(source: www.esa.int)
Navitec 2008 promotion poster (source: www.esa.int)
and speed of the inertial sensor can be correlated to that of the GNSS.
Examples of sensor fusion put into (research) practice were for example
the building of a train position system (simulator) where information on
the railway track, GPS position, inertial navigation and regular on train
positioning systems were combined to determine the position of a train
along its track.
Another solution presented was a personal navigation device for disabled
people. With this system a GPS, inertial unit and RFID tag reader were
combined. The RFID tag reader together with the inertial unit is for use
indoors whilst the GPS and inertial unit are combined for outdoor, urban,
use. The idea behind this concept was that wheelchair bound people need
to be able to navigate to e.g. the nearest emergency exit without assis-
tance from other people. This can be done with an accurate map and
positioning such as presented in the paper.
Remote Sensing using GNSS
A small part of the workshop was devoted to GNSS-R or GNSS Remote
Sensing, an up and coming branch of GNSS science. The idea is that,
since a GNSS system such as GPS, transmits radio waves, these can be
used for other things than just positioning. The concept revolves around
the reception of multi-path waves, something usually unwanted with posi-
tioning.
Three different concepts were presented. The first was the determination
of ocean levels and roughness using the reflection of Galileo and GPS sig-
nals of the ocean surface and their reception in a so-called Low Earth
Orbit satellite (LEO satellite). These are small satellites that can be build
and launched relatively cheap (compared to big satellites in high orbits)
and that can be used for a relatively short amount of time to gather spe-
cific data. The LEO satellite used in this
case was the UK DMC satellite from
Surrey Satellite Technology who also
build the first Galileo satellite (GIOVE-A).
The other two examples were both from
the Spanish Starlab. The first dealt with
wave heights and water levels as did the
example from Surrey. The major differ-
ence however was that the GNSS receiv-
er was no longer mounted in a satellite
but was placed on earth just like a reg-
ular water level gauge. The main advan-
tage of this set-up over regular tide
gauges or wave sensors is that, due to
the reflection of the signals, there is more flexibility in the sensor posi-
tion. It can e.g. be placed directly next to a dam and still measure the
water level giving accuracies of better than 10 cm on average.
The final example was that of measuring soil moisture levels. The princi-
ple behind measuring soil moisture content is that the resistance / con-
ductivity of the soil changes with the amount of moisture (water) in soil.
This in turn results in a change in the so-called Fresnel reflectivity coeffi-
cient of the signal that is than compared to the original signal. The
receivers in the example were mounted on a helicopter. There are howev-
er still a few uncertainties in this technique resulting in a 5% uncertainty
level in the amount of soil moisture. The advantage is however that a
large area can be quickly sampled against relatively low costs.
Wide Area RTK
An interesting development for precise positioning applications was that
of Wide Area RTK (WARTK). In the research project presented the regular
monitoring stations for Egnos were used to create a WARTK system. The
main problem over long distances (hundreds of kilometres) is the correc-
tion of of the ionospheric delays. With WARTK a real time ionospheric as
well as a real time geodetic model was built. Problems encountered were
errors in the Egnos stations themselves as well as the fact that some parts
of Europe (e.g. the Netherlands and Spain) are not fully covered. Overall a
test in Delft (the Netherlands) at 400 km resulted in typical errors of less
than 10 cm.
Receiver Technology
Other papers presented were more technical and dealt with subjects such
as the mitigation of interference, multipath and signal propagation in
receivers. Although highly interesting,
these papers were also highly technical /
mathematical in nature. They do show
however that there is still ongoing
research into these subjects, which in
turn gives a promise for receivers with
better performance to appear in the real
world over the next few years.
hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com is project
manager at IDsW and freelance writer and
trainer. This article reflects his personal
opinion.
Event
51
Jan./Feb. 2009
Estec conference centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Principle of GNSS for Remote Sensing (source: paper presented by Jales, J)
A Report on the Moscow 2008 Conference
Laser Scanning & Digital Aerial Photo
The 8th Conference on Laser Scanning & Digital Aerial
Photography was held, as in the previous two years, at the
President Hotel in Moscow on 10th and 11th December
2008. The Conference attracted over 200 participants,
principally from Russia and the CIS countries. However
there were 20 or so participants from Western countries,
mainly from the system and software suppliers, most of
whom made presentations at the Conference, besides
promoting their products in the Conference exhibition.
By Gordon Petrie
The Conference was organised by the Russian Society of
Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (RSPRS) with the Russian Society
of Mining & Sub-Surface Surveying acting as co-organisers. The general
sponsors of the Conference were Geokosmos and its associated com-
panies, Geolidar, Geopolygon and TerraImaging. As usual, staff mem-
bers from this group of companies played a large part in the excellent
organisation and running of the Conference. The other sponsors came
from abroad in the form of Microsoft Vexcel and Trimble.
I Plenary (General) Sessions
The opening plenary session included a series of short welcoming
addresses that were given by Prof. Tyuflin, the President of RSPRS, and
Professors Savinykh and Malinnikov, who are currently the two most
senior officers of the Moscow State University of Geodesy & Cartography
(MIIGAiK). These welcoming addresses were followed by two papers
given by S. Melnikov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Geokosmos Group of Companies, and S. Miller, the President of the
Russian GIS Association both of whom gave their personal assess-
ments of the current geoinformatics market within Russia and their pre-
dictions for the future. In particular, Mr. Melnikov provided some inter-
esting information about the adoption of airborne digital imaging and
laser scanning technologies by Russian companies and agencies. With
regard to large-format airborne digital imagers, there are now 8 Vexcel
UltraCam and 2 Intergraph DMC frame cameras and 3 or 4 Leica ADS
pushbroom scanners in current operation within Russia. As for airborne
laser scanners, there are 16 Optech ALTM scanners, 5 Leica ALS
scanners and 2 Riegl-based scanners currently in use. Seven of these
scanners are being operated by Geokosmos and five by the OPTEN
company.
These initial presentations were followed by three more that were deliv-
ered by V. Gritzkov, Chief Executive of the Russian Society of Surveyors;
L. Kushnir, President of the Russian State Association for Engineering &
Construction Surveying; and E. Kisilevskiy of Gasprom. All of them had
much to say about the inability of the regulatory side of the profession
covering matters such as licensing, accuracy specifications, instru-
ment calibration, and the standardization of documentation to keep
pace with the rapid adoption of digital surveying and mapping tech-
nologies within Russia. Judging from the strong reaction to these three
presentations, both from the Conference audience [Fig. 1] and later at a
press conference [Fig. 2], these matters appear to be of such high con-
cern that they need fairly urgent attention both at government level
and on the part of the appropriate professional bodies and those fed-
eral agencies that are concerned with surveying and mapping within
Russia.
Finally, within this general area, S. Vatslid who is the Managing Director
of TopoSys, the German laser scanning systems supplier and service
provider that has recently been acquired by presented
Trimbles global strategy for the development of geospatial imaging.
First he outlined Trimbles strength and depth in terms of supplying
systems and solutions to the closely related fields of surveying, pho-
togrammetry, mapping and GIS. After which, he announced the forma-
tion of a new Geospatial Division within Trimble. This will comprise the
four companies Inpho, Geo-3D, Rolleimetric and TopoSys that have
been acquired by Trimble since 2007. Giving my own personal com-
ments on this particular development, it was noticeable that this new
division does not include the Applanix and Mensi companies that also
operate within this general area and had been acquired by Trimble ear-
lier in 2003. Matters that will need to be sorted out by the top man-
agement within Trimble include the fact that, up till now, Applanix with
its DSS products and Rolleimetric with its AIC series have been strong
competitors against one another in the field of medium-format airborne
digital cameras.
52
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 1 Part of the Conference audience seated in the lecture theatre at
the President Hotel. (Source: RSPRS)
Today
II Laser Scanning
Turning next to the technology side and, in particular, to laser scanning,
the main focus for the system suppliers who serve this area was the pre-
sentation of several recently introduced products that are designed specif-
ically for airborne and mobile (ground-based) mapping applications.
Airborne Laser Scanners
Dr. V. Ussyshkin of first discussed her companys new and very
compact ALTM Orion airborne laser scanner [Fig. 3 (a)] that is designed
specifically for corridor mapping from lower altitudes. With a volume of
one cubic foot, the system is seven times smaller and three times lighter
than the companys larger ALTM Gemini model that is designed for wide
area laser scanning from higher alti-
tudes. A. Ekelund of also intro-
duced a new and similarly compact and
lightweight airborne scanner product in the form of his companys
DragonEye topographic laser scanner [Fig. 3 (b)]. This generates an ellip-
tical (Palmer) scan pattern over the ground with the laser having a pulse
repetition frequency (PRF) of 300 kHz when operated from a low altitude
of 200 m. A complete DragonEye system which comprises the scanner;
control electronics; twin small-format cameras; the positioning and orien-
tation system; and data storage units weighs only 25 kg. Next N.
Studicka of gave some details of his companys new lightweight
and compact VQ-480 airborne laser scanner [Fig. 3 (c)]. Again it is
designed for use from lower altitudes with the laser rangefinder having a
PRF of up to 200 kHz. It utilizes the typical Riegl arrangement of a con-
tinuously rotating multi-faced scanning mirror to generate a parallel pat-
tern of measured scan lines over the ground. It also features the contin-
uous digitization of the complete waveform of the signal returned from
each successive pulse that strikes the ground objects, while analyzing
the waveforms online to provide data with properties that are quite sim-
ilar to those produced by full waveform analysis sytems. Finally, Dr. E.
Medvedev of Geolidar, in his presentation on the products of the German
systems supplier, , (which is represented in the Russian market by
Geolidar) gave the latest information on the well known LiteMapper 5600
airborne laser scanner.
Mobile Mapping Systems
Regarding mobile mapping systems, Dr. Ussyshkin also gave details of
the new Lynx Mobile Mapper [Fig. 4 (a)]. Each laser scanner unit
that is incorporated into a Lynx system generates a 360 degree field of
view in the vertical plane, allowing the continuous measurement of pro-
files of the surrounding road or railway surfaces, adjacent structures and
overhead objects. The Class 1 lasers used in the Lynx scanners are of
course designed specifically to be eye-safe, yet they are still capable of
measuring ranges up to 100 m.
Event
53
Jan./Feb. 2009
graphy:
Fig. 2 The top table of speakers from the plenary sessions, comprising from right
to left - E. Kisilevskiy (Gasprom); S. Melnikov (Geokosmos); E. Medvedev (Geolidar);
S. Vatslid (Trimble): and P. Goellner (Geokosmos) answering journalists
questions during the press conference. (Source: RSPRS)
Fig. 3 Three of the new compact airborne laser scanners that were introduced to the participants of the Conference (a) the ALTM Orion (Source: Optech); (b) the DragonEye
(Source: AHAB); and (c) the VQ-480. (Source: Riegl).
& Tomorrow
[b]
[c]
[a]
Mr. Studnicka in his presentation also mentioned the VQ-180 and
VQ-250 2D laser scanners that are designed specifically for use in mobile
mapping systems: the former with a 100 degree field of view; the latter
has a full 360 degree rotation. However he also showed how the new
Riegl VZ-400 3D terrestrial (ground-based) laser scanner has been mount-
ed experimentally on a vehicle to form the basis of a mobile mapping
system [Fig. 4 (b)]. Within this context, he outlined a bore-sight align-
ment method that is based on the analysis of the laser pulse data that
is being reflected from common planar surfaces.
Finally, also falling within this area of mobile mapping systems, both V.
Egorov of Geokosmos and Dr. Medvedev of Geolidar covered the
system [Fig. 4 (c)], which has been developed by the 3D
Laser Mapping company from the U.K. in collaboration with IGI, the
German system supplier. This system has been operational for two or
three years, combining three or four of the earlier Riegl Q120 short-range
(up to 150 m) laser scanners with the TERRAcontrol GPS/IMU positioning
and orientation system from IGI. However, what was a real surprise for
most of the Conference participants was the appearance of an actual
StreetMapper system mounted on an SUV vehicle that had been parked
at the front door of the President Hotel in order to demonstrate its capa-
bilities. This particular StreetMapper system has already been used by
Geokosmos to survey over 1,000 km of roads in the Moscow area since
its arrival in Russia in September 2008.
III Airborne Digital Photography
Within this second main declared area of
interest of this Conference, on this occa-
sion, the focus was more on medium-for-
mat digital cameras rather than the large-
format digital imagers that had been
highlighted in the previous three confer-
ences in the series. The present writ-
er (G. Petrie) gave an overview of
the numerous systems that have
been and are being developed for
the acquisition of systematic oblique
photography for mapping, reconnaissance
and visualization purposes using multiple
small- and medium-format digital cameras.
They include fan, block and five-camera
Maltese Cross configurations, the main sup-
pliers of these systems being European system houses such as TrackAir,
Rolleimetric, IGI and . Then J. Losseau of DiMAC Systems
presented an account of his companys current offerings comprising its
single-camera Ultra-Light [Fig. 5 (a) & (b)] and Light systems and the
twin-camera Wide system. He laid special emphasis on the fact that these
are the only medium-format airborne digital cameras that are available
with forward motion compensation (FMC). Also interesting from his account
was the prospect that all the cameras in the DiMAC range will soon be
utilizing the new P+ digital backs that are becoming available from the
Danish supplier, Phase One. These will offer images that will be 8.9k x
6.7k = 60 Megapixels in size in the case of the Ultra-Light and Light
systems; and 8.9k x 13k = 116 Megapixels in the case of the twin-camera
Wide system.
In his overview of s products, Dr. Medvedev also drew attention to the
several IGI systems that utilize multiple DigiCAM medium-format cameras
[Fig. 6]. These include two (Dual-DigiCAM), three (Triple-DigiCAM), four
(Quattro-DigiCAM) and five (Penta-DigiCAM) camera systems. Indeed Dr.
Medvedev was by far the busiest person in the Conference, not only chair-
ing most of the sessions, but giving a whole series of presentations on
the products of the various companies that are represented by Geolidar.
In this latter role, he also delivered a separate presentation on Microsofts
Virtual Earth products, a large part of which was concerned with a detailed
description of the characteristics and per-
formance of the UltraCam
large-format digital frame camera, of
which the 100th example has recent-
ly been delivered to Geokosmos. In
yet another paper, Dr. Medvedev also
covered the pushbroom line scanners
that are being built by the Canadian
company. Besides
the established CASI (VNIR) and SASI
(SWIR) hyperspectral scanner sys-
tems, he discussed the new MASI-
600 hyperspectral scanner that
operates in the medium-wave infra-
red (MWIR) part of the spectrum
[Fig. 7]. This generates a 600 pixel
wide swath over the ground and
provides 64 spectral samples for
each pixel. In prospect for 2009 is
54
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 4 Three of the mobile mapping systems that were discussed at the Conference (a) the Lynx Mobile Mapper (Source: Optech); (b) an experimental system based on the
VZ-480 terrestrial laser scanner (Source: Riegl); and (c) the StreetMapper. (Source: 3D Laser Mapping).
Fig. 5 Components of the DiMAC Ultra-Light medium-format airborne digital camera system,
showing (a) the camera housing; and (b) the electronics case and display screen. (Source: DiMAC
Systems)
[a]
[b]
[c]
[a]
[b]
the ITRES companys new TABI-1800 single-channel thermal (LWIR) line
scanner with a ground swath that is 1,800 pixels wide. Attention was also
drawn to the capability to carry out geo-correction processing of the record-
ed imagery in-flight that has also been developed by ITRES Research.
IV Software Developments
Closely associated with the hardware and system developments that have
been discussed above were a series of presentations about the parallel
developments in software.
Terrain Modelling
O. Kolesnikova, who heads the software division of which is
one of Russias leading companies in the field of remote sensing spoke
first about her companys general activities within this field. However the
rest of her presentation was concerned with the photogrammetric soft-
ware products from , for which Sovzond is the distributor within the
CIS countries. In particular, she discussed the SCOP software that can han-
dle DTM projects of any size and the DTMaster system that can be used
for the editing and quality control of laser scanned data. Of especial inter-
est were the results that have been obtained by Sovzond in the process-
ing of the three-line PRISM pushbroom stereo-scanner imagery (with 2.5
m GSD) from the Japanese ALOS satellite, which now covers virtually the
whole of Russia [Fig. 8]. The company from Finland is also very
well established in the area of software that can be used in the process-
ing of airborne laser scanned data. H. Korpela described the extension of
this software to the processing of data obtained from mobile mapping
systems. With these systems, the frequent interruptions in the measure-
ment of position that is caused by buildings, trees and other obstructions,
when using GPS satellite receivers, are a special problem. Data calibration
is a key issue in order to achieve an acceptable accuracy in the final data
that is delivered to the customer.
M. Doghali of the Lupos3D company, which is based in Berlin, described
the LupoScan software that has been developed by his company to ana-
lyze the 3D laser scanned data that is derived from terrestrial (ground-
based) laser scanners. In a second (later) presentation, he showed exam-
ples of projects that have been carried out by his company in Vienna,
Berlin and Hamburg using this software. Finally, within this particular sub-
ject area, there was a joint presentation by T. Ivanov and K. Saraev. The
former described a terrain mapping and modelling project which has been
carried out by Geokosmos for an area that is being considered for the
development of a hydro-electric plant, while the latter described the new
3D Modeller software package for terrain elevation modelling and visual-
ization and the generation of cross-sections that has been developed by
Geokosmos.
GIS Software
The Conference also received two presentations from I. Wetzel of .
The first covered the TITAN network software. This provides users with a
single personalized and secure space that can be used to share geospa-
tial data, Web services and location-based content with other TITAN net-
work users, if permission is granted by the owner of the space. Her sec-
ond presentation was a more general coverage of the ERDAS
photogrammetric software products including LPS, PRO 600, APM
(Automated Point Measurement) and ATE (Automated Terrain Extraction)
that can be used to generate 3D data for input to a GIS.
V Production & Applications
This is an area that is always of much interest to Western participants in
the Conference since it allows them to see and hear something about
how imaging and mapping are actually being carried out inside Russia
and the CIS countries.
Starting with those located furthest from Moscow, there was a rather sur-
prising presentation by A. Okhotin about the activities of the
. This organisation seems to have strong links with a local uni-
versity in Irkutsk, whose students appear to man many of the companys
operational systems. The latter comprise several state-of-the-art systems,
including an Optech ALTM laser scanner; a Vexcel UltraCam-D large-format
camera; and a Riegl LMS-Z420i terrestrial scanner, plus a number of Trimble
GPS receivers and total stations. Using this equipment, a large range of
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 6 This multiple camera system
comprises four IGI DigiCAM medium-
format digital cameras. Each camera
is acquiring oblique aerial photos at
angles of 45 degrees to the vertical.
Two of the cameras point in opposite
directions cross-track, while the other
two point in opposite directions along
the flight line. In the background is a
Vexcel UltraCam large-format digital
camera that acquires vertical aerial
photography simultaneously.
(Source: Geokosmos)
Fig. 7 The new MASI-600
pushbroom line scanner
produces hyperspectral imagery
in the medium-wave infra-red
(MWIR) part of the electro-
magnetic spectrum.
(Source: ITRES Research)
Fig. 8 This map shows the coverage of Russia that has been acquired by the
PRISM three-line pushbroom stereo-scanner which is mounted on the Japanese ALOS
satellite. (Source: Sovzond)
55
surveying and mapping tasks are being undertaken in the eastern part of
Siberia. There were also two presentations from aerial mapping compa-
nies based in Kazakhstan. The first was given by N. Khatiev of
and described the use of a Leica ADS40 large-format
imager in an aerial imaging and mapping project carried out for the capi-
tal city, Astana, and the adjacent district of Tselinograd in Northern
Kazakhstan. The second was given by N. Fomenko of
, which is based in the countrys largest city, Almaty, located in
Southern Kazakhstan. He gave an interesting account of (i) the airborne
imaging and mapping operations that his company carries out using a
Vexcel UltraCam-X camera and an ITRES Research CASI-1500 hyperspectral
scanner; and (ii) its ground surveying operations using a ScanStation from
Leica Geosystems. Truly the new airborne digital photographic and laser
scanning technologies are reaching into what most people from Western
countries would regard as rather remote parts of Asia. What also took my
attention was the fact that these very modern instruments are in the
case of the Baikal and Astanatopografiya companies being mounted
and flown in examples of the ultra slow-flying Antonov An-2 biplanes [Fig.
9 (a), (b)] that were first produced and operated in the late 1940s and
have long since gone out of production!
Turning next to those mapping companies that are based in European
Russia, A. Mikheev from the large company described the gen-
eration of true orthophotos within urban areas using airborne digital
imagery that had been captured using Intergraph DMC and Leica ADS40
large-format imagers in conjunction with laser scan data. Then A. Akopov
from the company which is based in Krasnodar
in Southern Russia and was only formed in the Spring of 2008 gave an
account of its initial operations using Vexcel UltraCam-X and Rolleimetric
frame cameras; an IGI LiteMapper laser scanner; and a FLIR ThermoVision
A40 thermal imager. I. Danilin of the Forestry Institute of the
described the monitoring of forested land in the
Krasnoyarsk area of Central Siberia for management and research purpos-
es using airborne digital photography and laser scan data. The final paper
in this section was contributed by A. Skripkin of , which,
in spite of the company title relating to the German town famed for its
optical technologies, is based in Moscow. This particular paper was very
different to all the other presentations on applications. It involved the
detailed survey of an existing large aluminium refining plant located in
Guinea, West Africa, using ground-based surveying techniques in order to
reconstruct the missing documentation and drawings for this plant [Fig.
10]. This difficult task was undertaken successfully using a wide variety of
instruments, including Optech ILRIS and Faro LS-880 terrestrial laser scan-
ners, Topcon tacheometers and NovAtel GPS receivers.
The remaining papers included one on s training programmes,
which was contributed by the indefatigable Dr. Medvedev. Another was a
highly controversial contribution by E. Eremchenko of , which
is a popular on-line portal in Russia [http://rnd.cnews.ru/] that provides
information on innovations in science and technology, including those
relating to the geoinformatics sector. He spoke about the concepts of
Neogeography (involving tools and techniques that do not adhere to those
used in a traditional GIS) and Situation Awareness (involving the percep-
tion of the environment that is present within complex and dynamic situ-
ations). His presentation certainly stirred up the audience and incited a
battery of very vocal sceptics and critics to offer their doubts, especially
regarding the first of these two concepts.
Conclusion
It was a busy two-day Conference that, as usual, provided a very interest-
ing and revealing insight into the rapid adoption and widespread applica-
tions of airborne laser scanning and digital aerial photography that are
taking place within Russia and the CIS countries, together with a valuable
update on the technologies from the Western countries that underlie these
developments and applications.
Gordon Petrie is Emeritus Professor in the Dept. of Geographical & Earth Sciences of
the University of Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.
E-mail - Gordon.Petrie@ges.gla.ac.uk
Event
Jan./Feb. 2009
Fig. 10 Showing some of the CAD drawings of the Friguia aluminium refining
plant in Guinea, West Africa that have been derived from a ground-based laser
scan survey. (Source: Jena Instrument)
Fig. 9 (a) This Antonov An-2 biplane is being used as a photographic aircraft by the Astanatopografiya mapping company from Kazakhstan. (b) The interior of the An-2
aircraft with a Leica Geosystems ADS40 large-format three-line pushbroom stereo-scanner in the foreground. (Source: Astanatopografiya)
[a] [b]
56
57
Jan./Feb. 2009
There are few that would argue against the value of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) initiative, so the publica-
tion of the UK Location Strategy with its implied commitment to creating an NSDI for the UK is to be welcomed.
However, it is disappointing that its strategy actions are populated by more statements of should do than will do and
an absence of timescales. That said, the Strategys core intentions are sound. The overall objective ... to maximise the
value to the public, government, UK business and industry of geographic information is an aspiration all would support
and its embracing of INSPIRE, which is heavily referenced throughout , is reassuring.
As with most documents of this type the devil is in the detail, so lets
look into some of the key aspects more deeply.
Is this a strategy for the public sector or for the entire nation? The title
suggests it is inclusive of all sectors of the economy, including the pri-
vate, voluntary and academic communities. However, it states (para 11)
It will be a cooperative effort owned by central, local and devolved gov-
ernment .... If it is in fact a public sector strategy that will also impact
other parts of the economy, then it should explicitly say so.
There are also concerns that the intention that In most cases, it would
be appropriate for a Core Reference Geography to be owned by a public
sector body, ... could lead to de facto nationalisation of some
datasets currently created and maintained by private sector organisations.
The governing body, the Location Council, is composed solely of govern-
ment officials. This is a missed opportunity. Looking at other success-
ful NSDI initiatives, such as in Canada, they have found mechanisms for
embraced the private and academic sectors at an executive level, rather
than marginalising them.
It is unclear whether maximising value means that, for instance,
Ordnance Survey will no longer be required to make a profit on its opera-
tions, or even that its data will become free at the point of delivery.
This is the elephant in the room for the implementation of the Strategy,
since the business model of several of the largest public sector informa-
tion providers are currently under review by the Government . Part-privati-
sation of Ordnance Survey is an entirely feasible outcome of this review
and changes to the land registry, hydrographic and meteorological offices
are also within its remit.
The need for Government data owners to simplify their licensing
arrangements so as to facilitate the sharing of data .... is an important
acknowledgement of a huge issue for many system and service
providers. I have heard the current situation described by them as
unworkable and discouraging profitable business.
The stated intent to ...improve skills and knowledge in relation to geo-
graphic information is very positive. It speaks to the need for outreach
into the main stream of policy development and delivery. However, it
fails to recognise problems a little closer to home. The quality of current
entrants into our sector is not strong. The financial position of geo-infor-
mation departments in Universities is often weak and many are in long-
term decline. A coordinated programme of additional financial support
to help the academic sector market the industry to schools could be an
easy, universally popular and relatively cheap early win.
Ultimately, if the Strategy results in the creation of an NSDI which is
coherent, accessible and affordable (not free) then this will indeed be a
worthy achievement. The biggest oversight, I can see, is the lack of
meaningful involvement of the private and academic sectors.
Column
A UK Location Strategy -
for the Public Sector
Andrew Coote is a Director of ConsultingWhere,
an independent IT consultancy company specialising
in geographic information applications.
Email address andrew.coote@consultingwhere.com
Calendar 2008
Advertiser Page
Applanix www.applanix.com 14
ASPRS www.asprs.org 30
Cardinal Systems www.cardinalsystems.net 31
ESRI www.esri.com 26
Foif www.foif.com.cn 2
Geomax www.geomax-positioning.com 59
Leica Geosystems www.leica-geosystems.com 22
Magellan www.pro.magellan.gps.com 60
Navcom www.navcomtech.com 16
Novatel www.novatel.com 10
Riegl www.riegl.com 37
Supergeo www.supergeotek.com 42
Sokkia www.sokkia.net 49
Unigis www.unigis.org/uk 15
Xces www.surco.uk.com/xces.php 48
Advertisers Index
23-26 March ESRI Developer Summit
Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Tel: + 1 909 793 2853 ext. 3743
E-mail: devsummit@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/devsummit
28 March - 01 April Gas & Advanced
Applications for GIS in Oil: PetroGIS
Manama, Bahrain
Internet: www.iirme.com/petrogis
30 March - 01 April SPAR 2009: 3D
Imaging for Design, Construction and
Manufacturing Operations
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 978 774 1102
Internet: www.sparlic.com
April
01-02 April GEO-09
Coventry, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1438 352617
Fax: +44 (0) 1438 351989
E-mail: sharon@pvpubs.demon.co.uk
Internet: www.pvpubs.com
01-03 April GISRUK 2009
Durham, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)191 222 6353
Fax: +44 (0) 191 222 6502
E-mail: dave.fairbairn@newcastle.ac.uk
Internet: www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/gisruk2009
14-19 April IGSM 2009
Zurich, Switzerland
E-mail: igsm@ethz.ch
Internet: www.igsm.ethz.ch
19-22 April GITA's 2009 Geospatial
Infrastructure Solutions Conference &
Exhibition
Tampa, FL, U.S.A.
Internet: www.gita.org
21-23 April GEO-SIBERIA 2009, 5th
International Exhibtion and Scientific
Congress
Novosibirsk, Russia
Internet: www.geosiberia.sibfair.ru
22-23 April XCES, The Exhibition for
Construction and Engineering Surveying
York Race Course, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 0161 972 3112
E-mail: xces@ices.org.uk
Internet: www.ices.org.uk/xces.php
22-25 April REAL CORP 2009, 14th
International Conference on Urban
Planning, Regional Development and
Information Society
Sitges, Spain
Tel: +43 1 90360 1240
Fax: +43 90360 1299
Internet: www.corp.at
27-29 April ESRI Southeast Regional User
Group Conference
Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 4347
E-mail: prattanababpha@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/serug
May
03-08 May FIG Working Week and XXXII
General Assembly - New Horizons across
the Red Sea - Surveyors Key Role in
Accelerated Development
Eilat, Israel
Tel: +45 3886 1081
Fax: +45 3886 0252
E-mail: fig@fig.net
Internet: www.fig.net/fig2009
04-06 May 2009 ESRI Business GIS
Summit
Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 909-793-2853, ext. 2894
E-mail: kshearer@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/bizsummit
04-08 May, International Symposium on
Remote Sensing of Environment -
Sustaining the Millennium Development
Goals
Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy
E-mail: isrse33@symposia.org
Internet: isrse-33.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
index.php?page=home
11-14 May BE Conference 2009
Charlotte, NC, U.S.A.
Internet: www.bentley.com
25-29 May The Second International
Conference on Earth Obsevation for Global
Changes (EOGC2009)
Chengdu, China
E-mail: xfzhang@pku.edu.cn
Internet: www.eogc2009.com.cn
25-29 May, International Conference on
Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre in the
21st Century
Moscow, Russia
Tel: +7 9499) 261 62 43
Fax: +7 (499) 267 25 18
E-mail: forest_230@miigaik.ru
Internet: www.miigaik.ru
June
02-05 June ISPRS Hannover Workshop
2009 - High-Resolution Earth Imaging for
Geospatial Information
Hannover, Germany
Tel: +49 511 762 2482
Fax: +49 511 762 2483
E-mail: boettcher@ipi.uni-hannover.de
Internet: www.ipi.uni-hannover.de/
ipi-workshop.html
02-05 June 12th AGILE International
Conference on Geographic Information
Sience - Advances in GIScience
Hannover, Germany
Tel: 511 762 3465
Fax: 0511 762 2780
E-mail: Birgit.Elias@ikg.uni-hannover.de
Internet: www.agile2009.de
05-09 June URISA's 2nd GIS in Public
Health Conference
Providence, RI, U.S.A.
Tel: 847 824 63 00
E-mail: wnelson@urisa.org
Internet: www.urisa.org
09-11 June The International Emergency
Management Society TIEMS 16th Annual
Conference
Istanbul, Turkey
Tel: +90 (212) 285 3782
Fax: +90 (212) 285 3782
E-mail: sahin@itu.edu.tr
Internet: www.tiems2009.org
14-19 June International Multidisciplinary
Scientific Geo-Conference and Expo - SGEM
Albena sea side and SPA resort, Bulgaria
Tel: 359 2 975 3982
Fax: 359 2 817 24 77
E-mail: sgem@sgem.org
Internet: www.sgem.org
15-18 June Intergraph 2009
Washington, DC, Gaylord National Resort &
Convention Center, U.S.A.
Internet: www.intergraph2009.com
15-19 June 11th GSDI World Conference
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 334 604 100
Fax: +31 (0) 334 656 457
E-mail: a.riedijk@geonovum.nl
Internet: www.gsdi11.nl
24-26 June UDMS 2009, 27th Urban Data
Management Symposium
Ljubljana, Slovenija
Internet: www.udms.net
E-mail: info@umds.net
July
07-09 July GeoSpatial Africa 2009
Johannesburg, South Africa
E-mail: peter@b2bsolutions.co.za
Internet: www.b2bsolutions.co.za/events/
GeospatialAfrica.html
07-10 July GeoInformatics Forum Salzburg
(GI_Forum2009)
Salzburg, Austria
Internet: www.gi-forum.org
E-mail: office@gi-forum.org
11-14 July ESRI Education User Conference
San Diego, CA, U.S.A
Tel: +1 909-793-2853, ext. 3743
E-mail: educ@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/educ
Februari
02-04 February FIG Commission 3
Workshop on "Spatial Information for
Sustainable Management of Urban Areas"
Mainz, Germany
Internet: www.i3mainz.fh-mainz.de/
FIG-Workshop/
03-05 February ESRI
California/Hawai/Nevada User Group
Conference
Sacramento, CA, U.S.A
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 4347
E-mail: cahinvrug@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/cahinvrug
08-14 Februari 2009 15. Internationale
Geodtische Woche Obergurgl
Obergurgl, Austria
Info: Dr. Thomas Weinold
Tel: +43 (0) 512 507 6755
Fax: +43 (0) 512 507 2910
E-mail: geodaetischewoche@uibk.ac.at
Internet: www.uibk.ac.at/geodaesie/
obergurgl.html
10-12 February Aquaterra 2009, Second
World Forum on Elta and Coastal
Development
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 549 12 12
Fax: +31 (0)20 549 18 89
E-mail: aquaterra@rai.nl
Internet: www.aquaterraforum.com
10-13 February Second Map World Forum:
A Promise for Sustainable Planet Earth
Hyderabad, India
E-mail: info@mapworldforum.org
Internet: www.mapworldforum.org
18-20 February ESRI Federal User
Conference
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 2421
E-mail: adennistoun@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/feduc
23-25 February Trimble Dimensions
Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.
Internet: www.trimble.com
23-25 February ESRI Petroleum User Group
Conference
Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 909 793 2853 ext. 2894
E-mail: kshearer@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/pug
26-28 February Navigating the Future of
Surveying Education. Workshop on
Educational Management and Marketing
Vienna, Austria
E-mail: mansberger@boku.ac.at
Internet: www.fig09.ov.at
March
08-13 March ASPRS Annual Conference
Baltimore, MA, Baltimore Marriott
Waterfront Hotel, U.S.A.
Internet: www.asprs.org
13-17 March SPIE Defense, Security and
Sensing 2009
Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
Tel: +1 360 685 5407
Fax: +1 360 647 1445
E-mail: PeterB@SPIE.org
Internet: www.SPIE.org
20-21 March iGEOMAP 2009
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
E-mail: info@igeomap.org
Internet: www.igeomap.org
21-24 March ESRI Worldwide Business
Partner Conference
Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Tel: 1 909 793 2853 ext. 3743
E-mail: bpc@esri.com
Internet: www.esri.com/bpc
Please feel free to e-mail your calendar notices to:calendar@geoinformatics.com
58
Jan./Feb. 2009
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