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JANUARY 2011 VOL 01 ISSUE 06

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PUBLICATIONS TEAMManaging Editor Prof. Arup DasguptaEditor - Europe Prof. Ian DowmanEditor - North America Chuck KillpackEditor - Latin America (Honorary) Tania Maria SausenSr. Associate Editor (Honorary) Dr. Hrishikesh SamantDirector Publications NirajAssociate Editor Bhanu RekhaAssistant Editor Deepali Roy, Aditi BhanSub-Editor Anand Kashyap

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09 Editorial 65 Picture This

INTERVIEW

A 'New Geospatial Modality'

Jack DangermondPresident, Esri

VISION TRACK

Ecosocialism for a Better

World

Prof. Dr. F. J. RadermacherUlm University, Germany

Livelihood with Ecological

Integrity

P. C. Kesavan & S. SenthilkumaranMSSRF

TECHNOLOGY TRACK

Cartography: Possibilities and

Issues in Contemporary

Mapping

Prof. Dr. William CartwrightRMIT University, Australia

GNSS: Navigation for All

Dr. S. V. KibeISRO

Remote Sensing: Bustling with

Activity

Prof. Ian DowmanEditor - Europe, Geospatial World

Photogrammetry: Images of

Change

Karsten JacobsenLeibniz University, Germany

COVER STORY

24

14

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40

44

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60

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HERE TODAY, WORLD TOMORROW

Sanjay Kumar, CEO, GIS Development

‘Purpose of Information

is to Empower People’

Kapil SibalHonorable MinisterMinistry of HRD; Telecom; Science & Technology and Earth SciencesGovernment of India

5

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD I 2011 - 12

6 Geospatial World I January 2011ADVISORY BOARD / 2

011-12

I N T E R N A T I O

N A L

Abbas Rajabifard President,GSDI Association

Jack DangermondPresident, Esri

Shailesh Nayak SecretaryMinistry of Earth SciencesGovernment of India

Mark ReichardtPresident and CEOOpen Geospatial Consortium, Inc.

Aida Opoku MensahDirector - ICT DivisionUN Economic Commission forAfrica

Josef Strobl Director, Centre for Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

Vanessa Lawrence CBDirector General and CEO, Ordnance Survey, UK

Matthew M O'ConnellPresident and CEO GeoEye

Bryn FosburghVice PresidentExecutive Committee MemberTrimble

Juergen DoldCEO, Leica Geosystems

Preetha PulusaniChairman and CEO DeepTarget Inc.

Derek Clarke Chief Director-Survey and Mapping &National Geospatial InformationDepartment of Land Affairs, South Africa

Kamal K SinghChairman and CEORolta Group

GEOS

GEOS

7Geospatial World I January 2011

2EDITORIAL B

OARD

THE GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL BOARD

Arup DasguptaManaging Editor

Hrishikesh SamantSenior Associate Editor (honorary)

Ian Dowman Editor-Europe

NirajDirector – Publications

Charles KillpackEditor-North America

Bhanu RekhaAssociate Editor

Tania Maria SausenEditor-Latin America (honorary)

OSPATIAL W

ORLD

OSPA

TIAL W

ORLD

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Trimble_MeasureSuccessAd_7.75x10.25.indd 1 12/30/10 3:46 PM

anuary is the month when editors generallyput on their thinking caps and look ahead towhat the New Year may bring. It is about tech-nology, applications, business opportunities,

policies and game changers who might leap out of thewings and upset all the predictions. Therefore I willnot join the crowd. Instead, let me talk about what Iwould look forward to in 2011. A young friend was dis-cussing the issues related to research areas in cloudcomputing and he commented that there is a distinctdisconnect between what industry thinks is importantand what academia and research scientists considerstechnically challenging. Are there similar disconnectsin the geospatial world? I think there are.

There is a growing disconnect between what the public and casual user wants from the geospatialworld and what the policy makers are ready to makeavailable. Policy makers are data-centric and toomuch taken up with accuracy, authority and control ofdata. Undoubtedly, these are needed in the context ofgovernance but the public also want services thatmake their lives easier in a complex world. As a result,technological capability and applications are outpac-ing policy and this disconnect is slowing down effortslike the SDI. We may argue that SDI is about datainfrastructure but then, isn't infrastructure about pro-viding services? In the end policy should not become aroadblock to the growth of business opportunities.

In most Asian countries, finding an address is likeplaying hide and seek. In India, we use the bhaisaabnetwork which entails accosting another person witha query, "Bhaisaab, can you direct me to ..…?" Thiswas effective at a time when maps were unavailable; ifavailable, dated; and if current, inaccurate. Today wehave maps on our handphones but the data remainssketchy at best. Clearly, there is a need for addressgeocoding but apart from some work going on inMicrosoft lab, I am yet to come across any seriouswork in this direction in India. I am sure that Google,Navteq and all the other map providers in India wouldlike this service, yet the academia does not think it ischallenging enough - even for a graduate level project.

In another scenario, academia suffers from chronicfund shortage, courtesy the government, which precludes them from setting up adequate laboratoryfacilities and keeping the systems up-to-date. Data isanother issue as the commercial costing is beyond thereach of most institutes. This results in students beingdenied the latest in terms of technology and applica-tions. Industry on the other hand complains that thestudents coming out of institutes are not properlyequipped to work in operational projects.

We thus see that there is a government-industry disconnect, an industry-academia disconnect and anacademia-government disconnect. The user falls inthe centre of this triangle of disconnects and sufferslack of effective services.

My wish for 2011 is that the three players examinethese disconnects and work towards a resolution thatwill help all of them and the users.

EditorSpeak


Wishing away the 'disconnect'

J

Prof. Arup Dasgupta

Managing [email protected]

Planet earth is an example of aunified, self-regulated mech-anism. Earth regulates itself

and each part of the planet supportsthe other. On the other hand, Homosapiens are neither unified nor self-regulated. And therein lies the prob-lem - with our politics, with our sci-entific community and the relation-ship between government and pri-vate sector. If India has to move for-ward as fast as we want it to, wemust first and foremost realise thatwe are Indians and we have to workfor the country. Also critical in theway forward are dialogue, discourseand debate because it is important tounderstand the other's point of view.Often, one can get a better view ofthings if they are far away from itbecause they can look at the issuemore objectively, understand spatial-ly the unity of the object and theinterdependencies required withinthe system. In the context of geospa-tial sector, there is a rationale of aneffective mapping policy precisely forthis reason.

EMPOWERING PEOPLE

The purpose of information is toempower people, be it the ITsector, the geospatial sectorand whether the informa-tion comes through Rightto Information Act or oth-erwise. Technology isonly an enabler; it is notan end in itself - we needto understand this as anation and have a directiveto provide information tothe people of the country. Ifwe base any national strat-egy or map policy on thisconcept, we realise thatrestriction on information isa disempoweringprocess.

Every department in the Governmentof India, subject to security concerns,is not willing to share data and this isdisempowering. And those who,through technology, restrict informa-

tion are actually notserving

nation-al

'THE PURPOSE OF

INFORMATION IS TO

EMPOWER PEOPLE'

POINT OF VIEW I Kapil Sibal

10 Geospatial World I January 2011

Geospatial industry is considered a 'sunrise' sector forlong in India. I have been waiting for several years nowfor the sun to rise. It has not happened so far and the sun be persuaded to rise quickly!

interest. There is no point of employ-ing geospatial technology if the costof the service doesn't enable andempower people. To this end, weneed to have a policy on spatial datainformation dissemination. Thiswould require all governmentdepartments to come together andprovide data. For this reason, weneed to have a rational, forwardlooking data sharing policy.

ASSOCIATION WITH GEOSPATIAL

My association with geospatial datacame about accidentally, when thedrive to demolish unauthorisedstructures was at its peak in Delhiseveral years ago and courts werebombarded with cases. I called allthe secretaries in my ministry andasked them for a technology solutionto address the issue. They suggestedgeospatial technologies, which Ifound to be fabulous. Utilising on-ground video recording, satelliteimagery and aerial photography, wehad software which could pin-pointany illegalconstruc-

tion happening at any given point oftime.

My immediate idea was to extendit to entire Delhi. I met the chief min-ister and explained that a lot of prob-lems can be solved using this tech-nology. One can map water systems,sanitation systems, electricity distri-bution lines, hospitals, educationalinstitutions, manage traffic and incase of a tragedy, find the quickestway to the nearest hospital etc. How-ever, people were not willing toaccept the idea. There can be a topo-graphical map of an area but in theabsence of updated attribute data, itis not an empowering tool. Mappingis not just about topography, it isabout data, it is about information.

We initiated the Delhi project butthe line departments in Delhi werereluctant to share their data. Slowlywe demonstrated to them what anempowering tool it is and today thereis a reversal in situation. Now theline departments are asking formore data because they need thesesolutions. They now realise that ifthey have this technology along withother layered data which is accessi-ble to them, they can actually moni-tor the systems better. This instancejust highlights the transition.

CHANGE IN MINDSET

As we see, this is a mindset issue.We need to convince governmentdepartments, line departments anddistrict authorities that this is a tool

to empower people. At themoment it is being looked as a

tool to empower governmentdepartments to tackle their

issues effectively. For exam-ple, to identify power theft

and property tax default-ers. It is not yet per-ceived as an empower-

ing tool for the people of India. Wemust move beyond that - beyondgovernment departments, beyondline departments, so that people ofIndia can believe this is an empower-ing tool for them. I am associatedwith telecom sector of late and I amstudying the policies around theworld with respect to informationand telecom sector. In Finland,broadband is a fundamental rightand nobody is charged for broad-band. Broadband is information andinformation is a fundamental right.Nobody charges anything in Finlandfor providing information on broad-band.

We would be able to see this kindof road map clearly only with achanged mindset. Information is forpeople. Even the line departmentinformation is for people. At the clickof a button, citizens should knowtheir tax liability and be able to payquickly without the need for a taxinspector or to line up in municipaloffices to pay tax. This wouldempower them and this is all basedon spatial information. This is themindset that needs to be brought into this country if we want to moveahead in this sector.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Spatial information is the basic req-uisite for geospatial sector. Thisinformation must be ultimately pro-

Unwillingness to sharedata and restrictinginformation throughtechnology aredisempowering and do notserve national interest


KK APIL SIBAPIL SIB ALALUnion Minister forScience & Technology & Earth SciencesCommunication & IT Human Resource DevelopmentGovernment of India

vided by the government as it is thecustodian of most of the informationin this domain. Once that basic infor-mation is on a portal, private sectorcan use it to empower itself and addmore value to it. Take the instance ofa shopkeeper. If he has some busi-ness intelligence like the profile ofpeople living around the retail storein terms of their buying capacity,their eating habits, nearest shops,the kind of facilities people aroundthe store want, which is possible toprovide using geospatial technology,he can strategise his business planand stock goods accordingly. He canadd on his intellectual property tothe layers provided by the govern-ment. Agencies authorised to collectand provide that information for

retailers canlicense that

informa-tion for aprice.There's

a

business opportunity in this. This canbe true of information to architects.This can be true for any student on alook out for prospective educationalinstitutions. On the click of a button,he or she should have informationabout all educational institutions inIndia on a portal, should be able tofind out information about availablefacilities in a particular institute likefaculty, infrastructure, laboratoryand library facilities etc. Through 3-D, they should be able to move fromroom to room of a college to find outmore about the facilities available inthe college/institute. Why shouldthese children not be empowered?Why should they not be empoweredto make a choice that best suits theirvision of life? This can be done andonly geospatial technology enablessuch capability. There's a wealth ofopportunities that exists in this sec-tor for both the government and pri-vate players.

FRAMEWORK FOR GROWTH

To create such business opportuni-ties, the critical element required isa regulatory framework. In line withTelecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia, a geospatial regulatory author-ity could be constituted to regulatethe procedure for granting licenses.The map policy should be revisited inthe context of the vision I have just

suggested. Thereis a need for adata sharingpolicy whichspecifiesexactly whatkind of datawill be sharedand will beavailable atthe click of a

button to an ordinary consumer. Onlyauthorised agencies need to producedata and a legal framework is essen-tial to deal with agencies/personsproviding incorrect, inaccurate data.Then there is a need for a licensingregime. Again, the licensing regimeshould empower and not hampergrowth. The more information peoplehave, the more empowered and pro-ductive they would be. This is thekind of national framework we needto look at and embrace as we moveforward in this sector.

The 1:10,000 mapping initiative isa starting point. This will be accom-plished in three years. I have sug-gested having the IT industry collab-orate and partner with the Ministryof Science & Technology and Ministryof Earth Sciences to better usegeospatial technology. In addition tothe 1:10,000 mapping initiative, megacities like Delhi, Mumbai need higheraccuracy data at 1:1000 scale. Thisprocess must start simultaneously.The private sector should be involvedin these processes as well. Oncesuch data is available, many securityaspects and civil issues can be dealtwith more effectively.

A LAYMAN'S PERSPECTIVE

I am a layman, I look at every tech-nology from people's point of view. Toreiterate, technology by itself is notempowering, it is only an enablingfactor. Empowerment comes throughavailability of information. Geospatialsector should look at things throughthe lens with which I'm looking at thewhole geospatial industry. And I forone, wherever I am, whether I'm inthis ministry or not, will always sup-port the geospatial industry.

(Based on the speech delivered by Kapil Sibal atNSDI-10 in New Delhi, India).


There’s a wealth ofbusiness opportunities forboth the government andprivate players in thegeosppatial sector.A regulatory framework iscritical to create suchopportunities

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INTERVIEW

The definition of the geospatialindustry is changing, rather, evolving at a fast pace. I appreciateyour views on the same.Geospatial technology is indeed evolv-ing rapidly; opening up new opportu-nities, new applications and new waysof using geographic information insociety. A 'new modality' is emergingthat uses everything we do now but ina new context. This is similar to whatoccurred in the motion picture indus-try when moving picture technologywas first invented. Initially peoplefilmed live stage performances anddisseminated them widely. After awhile, people realised that a lot morecould be done and a new modalityemerged, giving birth to movies as wenow know them. When maps were

IN AN EXCLUSIVE WITH

GEOSPATIAL WORLD,

JACK DANGERMOND,

PRESIDENT, Esri REFLECTS

ON THE CHANGING

CHARACTER OF GEOSPATIAL

INDUSTRY AND PRIORITY

AREAS FOR Esri

14

A 'NEW

GEOSPATIAL

MODALITY'

JACKDANGERMONDPresident, Esri

Geospatial World I January 2011 15

first automated using CAD systems, people digitisedmaps, changed their scales and disseminated them digitally. This was useful but limited. Digital maps aselectronic drawings gave way to the GIS platform.

This introduced spatial analysis and generation of multi-ple map products from a transactionally maintained data-base. The GIS represented a new modality, a whole newapproach for the application of geographic knowledge inapplications.

We are now at a stage where we are again seeing a majorshift in many aspects of the geospatial world. Take forexample measurement. In the beginning, we digitised andscanned maps. Later, digital imagery was used to extendmap information. Now we are beginning to take fullmotion video and integrating with our GIS databasesdirectly. GIS is integrating real time measurements, suchas traffic, weather, earthquakes and a plethora of dynam-ic measurements.Another shift is to server GIS and theuse of Web as a platform. We are seeing distributed GISservices emerge as well as the vision of a "system of systems" being realised by various organisations with different mission responsibilities. This is not just aboutconnecting enterprise data to the Web, it is actually theemergence of Web oriented systems that are designed toprovide shared services and are maintained throughtransactions. This is a new emerging architecture thatwill support many of the visions of SDI that have been discussed for decades.

What are you engineering in your products to takeadvantage of these new trends?The new GIS modality has many interesting characteris-

tics; it's distributed, yet can dynamically integrate data. It involves the Web, crowd sourcing (VGI), templates, widescaled access to open data, server based architecturesand easier-to-use user interfaces and applications. When we step back and look at what's going on technically, there continues to be the traditional enterprise computing patterns involving the desktop, the server and the federated systems.

These patterns are used extensively in utilities, business,government and natural resources as well as the morepervasive platforms of cloud computing and device patterns (i.e. smartphones). We have recently launchedArcGIS 10.

This new technology integrates all five computing pat-terns into one system; a complete geospatial ecosystemfor our users. So if you acquire a desktop license, you notonly have the local capabilities but also tens of thousandsof resources such as map services, data services, mapcontent, search capabilities and discovery and mashupcapabilities.

This means ArcGIS 10 extends from enterprise systems topervasive computing. Our purpose in doing this is to openup traditional GIS systems, make their accessibility mucheasier and provide the knowledge and capabilities ofthese systems to users of the more pervasive world(browsers and mobile devices). This technology shift iscreating the huge modality shift. GIS professionals aredeveloping new, more pervasive applications and evolvingthe geospatial market towards 'GIS for everyone'. Whatthat means for a GIS professional is that their work doneon a desktop or placed on a server becomes part of an

InterviewGeospatial technology is evolving rapidly - opening up newopportunities, new applications and new wways of usinggeographic information in society. A ‘new modality’ is emergingthat uses everything wwe do now but in a new context. It offers acomplete geospatial ecosystem for the users

“

”

ecosystem or infrastructure available to many. This archi-tecture blends all five computing patterns and is totallyopen and interoperable with other IT systems.

In summary, we are in a time of very rapid change. Weare still making maps and doing analysis on the desktop,and at the same time GIS is moving to a new level with aplatform that is allowing the realisation of SDI visions.

A significant number of mergers and acquisitions have taken place in the past five years in geospattialindustry, both of large and smaller companies. Manyclaim it as a process of consolidation. How do you perceive this?

This is always going on in most industries. Esri's businessstrategy is to focus on evolving a well designed and engineered system rather than making acquisitions tobuy market share. We think this is better for our usersand creates a more stable organisation for our users andemployees. Our approach also involves partnering withother organisations to create a broad ecosystem of integrated geospatial technologies and applications. Esri has occasionally acquired technology companies thatmade our overall system better or helped our users butwe remain focussed on developing a simple integratedgeospatial platform that's open, interoperable and stan-dards based.

Acquisition of Intergraph by Hexagon has definitelyinfluenced the ecosystem of the geospatial indusstryand has affected in some form or other many geospa-tial companies. It has enabled Hexagon to accquiretechnology in almost all segments including GIS,GNSS, imaging, software, hardware and so on. Thereis a strong feeling about the emergence of geospatialcamps in the industry. How do you view tthis new equi-librium?I don't like the culture and implications of ‘camps.’ I doknow that technology continues to evolve rapidly and withthis evolution comes changes in business alliances andmore importantly end user capabilities. What has keptEsri so healthy over the decades is our focus on our cus-tomers' needs and make a large ongoing commitment toinvestment in successful innovation. Also, we work hardon maintaining an open policy on business partnerships.While the geospatial industry continues to be competitive,


"GIS for billion people"

Today, GIS is being deployed on a new platform _ the Weband cloud computing-and we all are in the early stages ofadjusting to it. The characteristics of this environment areeasy-to-use technology, more pervasive access, and theability to mashup or integrate distributed knowledge. Thismeans that access to geospatial knowledge will growexponentially. Our existing users are gradually adoptingthis new paradigm and integrating this platform withtheir traditional workflows. So, in addition to runningtheir enterprises, they are putting up public services andapplications that can be accessed by anyone. This will ultimately result in a geospatial platform that couldpotentially reach billions of people.

Over the last few decades, widespread adoption of GIS hascaused a change in thinking. People can look at overlays ofmaps, see new relationships, see different kinds of phe-nomena, and it creates a new understanding. Up untilrecently this has largely taken place in specialised commu-nities, or with professionals using specific applications.The next step in GIS evolution means that everyone willhave access to the idea of map overlays and spatial analy-sis. While traditional GIS has brought greater understand-ing within organisations, this next step will mean greaterunderstanding within society at large.

It also means greater collaboration and communicationacross organisations. Esri is one participant in this move-ment and while we are dominant significant player interms of research and advancement of the platform, thereis an enormous ecosystem of other players participating. Iam personally very appreciative of the opportunity toparticipate and continue playing a part in mak-ing all of this happen.

17

these days we see less competition in some areas andmore cooperation based on a maturity in the knowledgeof what each of the vendors does best. Interoperabilitystandards have helped in this regard. Vendors have beentrending toward more specialisation and selling into theareas that they do best in.

In technology business, there are three kinds of technolo-gy companies: 1) core technology like Intel and traditionalDBMS companies; 2) solutions business and; 3) systemintegration. In geospatial areas these three types can beseen in both software and data. Organisations like Digital-Globe and GeoEye focus primarily on core data leavingsolutions business to their partners. In GIS, Esri hasfocussed on core technology. Our partners, like Telvent orTelcordia, focus on utility applications.

Esri's business is to provide platform technologies. Ourbusiness success is based on the fact that wedo this very well and have strong developeroriented platforms and an open and collabo-rative business partner programme thathelps our partners be successful.

GIS has moved beyond traditionalboundaries and so has the focus andapproach of GIS companies. Benttley,Autodesk and MapInfo, which werevery much in the GIS space a decade

ago, now position themselvves as infrastructure, archi-tecture and business intelligence solution companiesrespectively. How do you look at these developmentsand in your opinion what is the core value and utility ofGIS in ccoming times? What would be its peripheralenvironment?We remain focussed on building enabling platform tech-nology for enterprise and the pervasive geospatial marketis our core business. Many of our traditional competitorshave moved into niche markets with more of a solutionfocus. As a result, we see less competition in the geospa-tial platform business and more partnerships by largesoftware companies like IBM and Microsoft. Our partnersin selected vertical markets see competition with some ofthese traditional GIS compa-nies.

The improvements ininteroperabilitybetween systemshave had a hugebenefit for endusers. For example,GIS is increasinglybeing integratedwith CAD technologyaround specific work-flows. ArcGIS forAutoCAD hasmade the Auto-CAD desktop apowerfulclient for theArcGISServer

While the geospatial industrycontinues to be competitive,these days we see lesscompetition in ssome areas andmore cooperation based on amaturity in the knowledge of whateach of the vendors doess best


18

and as a result integrated workflows within many of ourclients. In other cases, shifts in technology have changedthe market. For example, with the new support for 3Ddata models and analytic tools, the building managementindustry has embraced GIS for new applications like facil-ity management and energy optimization in smart build-ings. Our users are basically extending their GIS's intocampuses and buildings. With respect to geospatial

enabling of business intelligence, we are seeing that hap-pen in core companies like IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Ora-cle. All four of them have the vision of geospatial enable-ment of simple business intelligence applications usingmaps as a "report." This market is small but with theadvent of consumer Web mapping, there is greaterawareness and people are demanding to see their datavisualised in this way. This is a good idea and our server


The concept of GeoDesign started mycareer many years ago. The conceptwas actually pioneered by my profes-sor, Carl Steinitz at Harvard Universi-ty, who will soon publish a defin-itive text on the field. GeoDe-sign uses GIS as a platformfor designing geogra-phies at multiplescales. Specifically,the scientific infor-mation that GISusers collect andprocess is used toguide them indesigning thingsand quickly evaluatethe consequences ofalternative designs.This supports one of thebasic tenets of GIS: betterdecision making. I supposeGeoDesign concepts have beenpart of GIS workflows indirectly inmany agencies for decades. From thedawn of GIS technology, people haveused it in a decision support role. But upuntil recently, GIS has not been so wellconnected. As an example of a GeoDe-sign problem, in the US, there are elec-

tion districts, the territories of whichchange every ten years. The boundaries

are redesigned by politicians orlawyers. This is an interesting processbecause by changing the boundaries invarious ways one could increase theprobability of winning the election.

People want to know the implicationsof various changes in the boundaries. Anew Web application does this. GeoDe-sign uses GIS layers to guide design;basic map or analytic models and inter-active tools to design alternative plans.While GeoDesign can help us to designfair and equitable election districts, the

same process can be used in thedesigning of land use plans, siting

of retail stores in a region,highway plans or transmis-

sion plans-GeoDesigngives us a scientific

framework for evaluat-ing the alternatives andselecting the best one.So, GeoDesign is an oldidea. But it is also anew idea considering

nature or consideringsociety as part of the

process for creating thefuture. GeoDesign is rather

fundamental and you can thinkof it at the engineering level like

designing a new road, at town levellike modifying it in a decision supportrole. But up until recently, GIS has notbeen so well connected. GeoDesign is acombination of process, technology,and methodology which allows us toevaluate quickly the consequences ofalternatives.

GEODESIGN: Designing geographiesfor better decision making

technology is now regularly being integrated with sys-tems such as SharePoint, Cognos, and Business Objectsin a seamless way.

Crowdsourcing is another buzz word at the momentand presumably this is a pre-requisite for 'GIS forr Billion People'. What new direction is crowdsourcingtaking worldwide?First, crowdsourcing is an interesting concept that hasbeen particularly successful with GIS on the Web. One ofthe first really successful crowdsourced maps was OpenStreet Map (OSM). The concept OSM used was to developa well organised classification system of streets (datamodel) that allowed crowdsourced observation and easydata entry. Esri adopted this concept of building an ontol-ogy on a server and built it into ArcGIS 10 so that userscould set up their own map layer or feature class in thedatabase and through Web editing tools, easily collectobservation data using crowdsourcing.

This is a significant step because it means that a COTSproduct could be used to organise a database on the serv-er and any organisation could collect VGI observationaldata and use it immediately. This has been a key for ourusers who desired to do citizen science and crowdsourc-ing of citizens. The bottom line here is that in order to beuseful, VGI data needs to be collected in a structuredmanner so that it can be properly manipulated and ana-

lyzed. GIS users are now learning how to leverage this. Soit's not just a new kind of data source for them to inte-grate, it's also a new set of methods for them to use.

Another kind of crowdsourcing which is even more excit-ing to me is crowdsourcing from authoritative sources.Last year, we started the 'Community Topographic BaseMap'. This is a template that users in various agenciesaround the world download, pour their data into andupload into ArcGIS Online. Our template involves 20 dif-ferent scales of a topographic map and has beendesigned for use in a GIS system. The map is a cache andhas continuous dynamic qualities. It is a beautiful mapand more than 500 organisations have contributed to thissystem. We are currently making more than 12 millionmaps a day on this system after only a few months. I seethis "community" approach as one way that SDI will berealised.

Esri is as strong as ever in the GIS market space andis becoming a de-facto standard in GIS. This iis greatnews, but it also requires a significant amount oflocalisation of Esri's capabilities. How do you foreseeproviding customer support and fulfilling local needsin times to come?In ArcGIS 10, we decided to change our approach towardslocalisation with respect to language. So, in addition toEnglish, ArcGIS now ships in French, Spanish, German,Chinese and Japanese. We will expand this to include oth-er languages this year. Within our organisation we havean initiative called 'One Esri', to consistently spread busi-ness practices and user support globally. For many of ourdistributors, it is like opening the door and walkingstraight into Esri headquarters in Redlands, California.That is the level of service and quality in support andmaintenance our users want everywhere. We are nowworking with our distributors to implement the samebusiness practices and customer support, training andtechnical support. Technology and globalisation are help-ing us support our users and help grow our businesspartners so they have the same capabilities globally.

In the given economic scenario, we see a significantshift in focus to emerging economies. What are thepriority areas for Esri in this new economic worldorder?Our basic philosophy is to follow what users want us to

Crowdsourcing is an interestingconcept that has been particularlysuccessful with GIS on the Web.One of the first really successfulcrowdsourced maps was OpenStreet Map. Another kind ofexciting crrowdsourcing is onefrom authoritative sources


Trimble® ®

do. Today, the North American market continues to bestrong for us. While there is certainly less money in gov-ernment, our users continue to deliver efficiency and better decision making to their organisations. The resultis that GIS is seen as important even in difficult economictimes. Enterprise licensing has allowed our users to navigate around and be creative in delivering significantvalue to their organisations.

Outside of North America, the Middle East, China, andRussia are investing heavily and growing enormously.Latin America (especially Columbia, Peru, Brazil, andChile) is certainly another growth market. There are, ofcourse, changes in the market place from year to year but

frankly, GIS is either sta-ble or growing all over

the world.

What are thefour major ver-ticals for thegeospatialindustry?The utilitiessegment con-tinues to be agrowth area

globally. We areseeing both new

utilities' growth andcontinued rollover of

competitive technolo-gies into our platform.The government sector,

both at the local andnational levels, con-tinues to grow. The

military andsecurity mar-

ket is grow-ing and

wealsosee

natural resources, especially in mining, oil and gas andforestry, growing.

What I am personally interested in is the growing interestin open data policies and open government. It is an inter-esting area for new applications of geographic informa-tion. I also continue to be interested in education, growingthe next generation of professionals. The last area of per-sonal interest for me is our NGO-NPO programme. Lastyear we introduced a new programme which providesnearly free software to NGOs. Thousands of organisationshave already used this. For a small fee NGOs can get afree copy of ArcInfo and all of its extensions, downloadedand delivered on his/her desktop in any country. Likewise,organisations can get a full ArcGIS enterprise serverlicense. Our programme goes hand-in-glove with thegrowing open data policies of governments around theworld and delivers many benefits.

You have been focussing a lot on India and your recentefforts have brought tremendous movement in tthethinking of political and administrative leadership inIndia. Would you please share your vision for India?Senior leadership interest is a growing trend around theworld. My sense is that India is very much embracing GISas a societal platform. This is also being done in manycountries including China, Indonesia, Abu Dhabi, and oth-ers. Even the United States is embracing GIS at seniorgovernment levels.

GIS is moving from simple mission to being seen asimportant technology infrastructure for governing. Basically a movement is afoot at the executive level ingovernments and corporations that GIS matters.

In India, when I met with many senior leaders, I found abroad understanding of the power of GIS and how it couldhelp them govern. Geospatial technology has an opportu-nity in India to deal with the real issues of water, food,environment, urbanisation, transportation, and comm-unication in a holistic manner. This could empower andinspire so many things; increase collaboration, bettercommunication and improved decision making acrossgovernment and society. This could happen with some ofthe leadership I met. They have the passion to drive it andare willing to take risks to make it happen. This will makeIndia a better place.


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2011 Esri Middle East & Africa Utility User

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15-16 March 2011Dubai

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15 March 2011Dubai

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2011 GeocortexMiddle East UserGroup Meeting

16 March 2011Dubai

2011 Geomatica Middle East User Group Meeting

16 March 2011Dubai

Further InformationFor more information regarding GISWORX ‘11, email [email protected] or call +971 6 5750055. You can also visit the event website w w w. g i s w o r x . a e .

‘11

Technical Expertise:

Leveraging GIS & IT Synergy

®

We invite you to attend Middle East's largestevent for Esri users, 14-16 March 2011 in Dubai

GISTEC is proud to announce the 2011 GIS Workshops and Exhibitions for Esri Users. GISWORX ‘11 will bebe held from ch 201114-16 March at the Convention Centre of Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai.

Highlights: Over 60 technical workshops from 7 different tracks on core GIS technology, business partners (BPs) and related IT systems

The only GIS event in the region with a dedicated computer equipped workshop track

One of the largest gatherings of Esri users and BPs alike outside the US

Four different Users Group Meetings including the Esri Middle East & Africa Utility User Group Meeting, the Middle East User Group Meetings for Safe’s FME, Geocortex, and Geomatica

One of the largest GIS exhibitions in the Middle East

7th Annual Excellence in GIS Implementation (EGI) Award showcasing the best in GIS-driven applications

Parallel Events

Geospatial World II January 201124

HERE TODAY, WORLD TOMORROW

GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY I Sanjay Kumar

FFrroomm bbeeiinngg aa hhiigghhllyy ssppeecciiaalliisseedd sscciieennttiiffiicc eennddeeaavvoouurr,, ggeeoossppaattiiaall iinndduussttrryy hhaass eevvoollvveedd aanndd ggrroowwnn ssiiggnniiffiiccaannttllyy oovveerr tthhee ppaasstt ffiivvee

ddeeccaaddeess ttoo bbeeccoommee aa ffuullll fflleeddggeedd ssppeecciiaalliisseedd iinndduussttrryy.. TTooddaayy,, iitt iiss oonn iittss wwaayy ttoo bbeeccoommee ppaarrtt ooff aa llaarrggeerr ccoonnssuummeerr iinndduussttrryy..

TThhiiss ttrraannssffoorrmmaattiioonn hhaass bbeeeenn mmaaddee ppoossssiibbllee bbyy tthhee vviissiioonn,, ccoommppeetteennccee,, ddeeddiiccaattiioonn aanndd ccoommmmiittmmeenntt ooff mmaannyy pprrooffeessssiioonnaallss,,

pprrooggrraammmmeess,, iinnssttiittuuttiioonnss,, aassssoocciiaattiioonnss,, ccoommppaanniieess aanndd aabboovvee aallll ggeeoossppaattiiaall tthhoouugghhtt lleeaaddeerrss wwhhoo hhaavvee pprroovviiddeedd ddiirreeccttiioonn ttoo tthhiiss

iinndduussttrryy.. TThhiiss aarrttiiccllee ttrraacceess tthhee jjoouurrnneeyy ooff ggeeoossppaattiiaall iinndduussttrryy ssoo ffaarr aanndd aatttteemmppttss ttoo ddrraaww aa rrooaaddmmaapp aahheeaadd ffoorr tthhee ssaammee..

Looking at the evolution of geospatial technologyover the past 50 years, it is evident that geospatialindustry of today is the coming together of different

streams with a common thread known as 'map' at itscore. Technological developments in acquisition, man-agement, integration, analysis and display of geographicinformation have been instrumental in defining the com-position, characteristics and direction of geospatial

industry over these many years. Here is an attempt tooutline some of the milestones in the evolution ofgeospatial industry.

MAJOR MILESTONES

Early decadesOne may trace the origins of geospatial industry to early

1960s, a decade which witnessed a few initiatives whichtruly brought this technology out of the confined walls ofdefence and research laboratories. The decade wit-nessed efforts by public works and engineering indus-tries to correlate maps and engineering and architecturedrawings. As Prof Arup Dasgupta, Managing Editor,Geospatial World explains, "GIS began as an effort toautomate maps and in particular manage urban assetsand facilities. CAD was being used by engineers and car-tographers who realised that the point, lines and poly-gons of engineering drawings could easily be used to cre-ate maps." Supporting this argument Bob Samborski,Executive Director, GITA, considers 'Cheyenne Project' amajor milestone for geospatial industry, which was initi-ated in 1960s and culminated in 1968 by then Public Ser-vice of Colorado. In joint undertaking with IBM, a pilotproject to use computers to generate maps for sitinglandfils was successfully concluded. This led to a varietyof start-up consultancies for implementing AutomatedMapping/Facilities Management. However, parallel initia-tives in different government departments making use ofGIS technology for land administration and naturalresources were also on. Late 1960s saw the emergenceof Esri and Intergraph.

In 1970s, once the relativity and connectivity of geograph-ic information was established with natural resourcesand AM/FM, it became common to seek more geograph-ic data, which was limited in terms of availability andaccuracy. At this point, developments in space technologycame in handy. Following the launch of Sputnik in 1950s,United Sates launched the first successful spy satelliteinto space in 1960s. 1980s saw the launch of a series ofcivilian satellites led by SPOT satellite of France, a trendwhich was followed by many more including the IndianSpace Research Organisation (ISRO). Arup Dasguptaopines, "Remote sensing made the job of spatial dataacquisition much simpler. Analysis of remotely senseddata using computers gave rise to image processing andsoon this extended to digital photogrammetry. Spacetechnology also enabled GNSS technology, which turnedout to be a fantastic tool to a surveyor's kit."

Niche Is InThe decade of 1990s can be considered as the peri-od that provided tremendous impetus to geospa-tial industry. Cold War came to an end in 1990 andthis came as great news for those waiting for the

opening up of space and mapping technologies in civiliansectors. US President Bill Clinton's announcement toremove selective availability and allow full access to GPSbrought a paradigm shift. Commercialisation of spacetechnology with the grant of first commercial license toDigitalGlobe in 1993 paved the way for making highlyrestricted satellite images available widely. Next, with theopening up of Internet, access and availability of geospa-tial information became a reality for common man, whichresulted in many more private companies joining. MapIn-fo, Bentley, Autodesk, GE Smallworld emerged as strongGIS software companies providing much needed alterna-tives and innovation. Competition got tougher. Appreciat-ing this, Jack Dangermond, President, Esri, says, "Wekept our focus on developing enabling platforms and con-tinued to build strong core GIS technology platforms. Itencouraged our partner network to develop solutions fordifferent domains."

Unparalleled strength and capabilities of Esri in platformtechnology supported with wide range of partner networkhaving requisite skill sets for building solutions, madenew companies identify niche areas and develop theircompetencies to survive. Location intelligence; architec-ture; engineering and infrastructure were promoted byMapInfo, Autodesk and Bentley respectively and theybegan to associate themselves with these mainstreamindustry domains. Such niche approach not only providedbusiness opportunities for these companies but also cre-ated new avenues for geospatial industry.

Cover Story

Bob SamborskiExecutive Director, GITA

""CChheeyyeennnnee PPrroojjeecctt’’ iinniittiiaatteedd iinn tthhee11996600ss bbyy tthhee tthheenn PPuubblliicc SSeerrvviiccee ooffCCoolloorraaddoo,, lleedd ttoo aa vvaarriieettyy ooff ssttaarrtt--uuppccoonnssuullttaanncciieess ffoorr iimmpplleemmeennttiinngg aauuttoommaatteedd mmaappppiinngg//ffaacciilliittiieess mmaannaaggeemmeenntt tteecchhnnoollooggiieess""

Geospatial World II January 2011 25

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), founded in mid 1990sby David Schell, was a very timely step towards developinginteroperability and standards between various technolo-gy products and also possible integration of data from dif-ferent sources. OGC, which had to go through tremendousresistance in its earlier days proved to be a very relevantinitiative. It has not only been able to lay down the founda-tion stone for an open technology environment but alsokept on developing standards and interoperability proto-cols to facilitate data and technology integrations.

Data - Public GoodAnother significant development during the 1990s wasrecognition of geographic data as a public commodity.Penetration of Internet and availability of online maps forgovernance and business applications created a hugedemand for geographic data. Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB,Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey,UK says, "One of the biggest developments for geospatialindustry has been the realisation of the importance ofgeoinformation by businesses and governments acrossthe globe. Today, we see geoinformation being usedacross the private and public sector to drive efficienciesand underpin decision making." This led to the emer-gence of another set of companies specialising in produc-ing geographic data and imagery products with addedintelligent components designed for specific applications.MapQuest, with its products having geographic data attheir core, became a household name. Geographic datacompanies like Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ emerged as newcontenders. Removal of selective availability by US gov-ernment largely shaped the surveying and positioningindustry. Bryn Fosburgh, Sector President-Engineeringand Construction/Emerging Markets-Trimble says,"Development of RTK and VRS technologies have enabledGNSS to become a utility. One of the most notable devel-opments, but perhaps one that is somewhat overlooked,

is the ongoing deployment of RTK infrastructure networksworldwide to augment GNSS."

NEW MILLENNIUM - NEW MOMENTUM

The first decade of the millennium brought a sea changein the production and availability of geographic data. Sub-meter resolution imagery being produced by various com-mercial satellites of GeoEye and DigitalGlobe attractedlarge IT companies like Yahoo, Google and Microsoft togeospatial industry. Google Earth gave a new dimensionto geographic industry and made it overwhelmingly popu-lar. According to Prof VS Ramamurthy, Director-NationalInstitute of Advanced Studies, India, "Every industry goesthrough a process of science, technology and infrastruc-ture and this process is constantly evolving." Last decadesaw geospatial industry becomean infrastructure in itself - aterm which refers to geographicdata as a public utility and partof a common man's life. Scien-tific investigations of the 1950sand 60s resulted in technologydevelopments in 1970s and1980s, which further wentthrough a process of publicscrutiny and policy reforms in1990s and ultimately culminatedin making itself an infrastructure in the 21st century. Letus have a look at some of the major stakeholders ofgeospatial industry who made their own 'big' and 'small'contribution.

GIS industryOne of the critical pre-requisite for commercialisation ofthis technology was to attract and motivate potentialusers and create momentum. Esri has recognised thisfact right from its inception and focussed on developingGIS as a tool and not an end in itself, which allowed it to


Dr Vanessa Lawrence CBDirector General and Chief ExecutiveOrdnance Survey, UK

""OOnnee ooff tthhee bbiiggggeesstt ddeevveellooppmmeennttss ffoorrggeeoossppaattiiaall iinndduussttrryy hhaass bbeeeenn tthheerreeaalliissaattiioonn ooff tthhee iimmppoorrttaannccee ooffggeeooiinnffoorrmmaattiioonn bbyy bbuussiinneesssseess aannddggoovveerrnnmmeennttss aaccrroossss tthhee gglloobbee""

Bryn FosburghSector President-Engineering andConstruction/Emerging Markets-Trimble

""OOnnee ooff tthhee mmoosstt nnoottaabbllee ddeevveellooppmmeennttss iiss tthhee oonnggooiinngg ddeeppllooyymmeenntt ooff RRTTKK iinnffrraassttrruuccttuurreenneettwwoorrkkss wwoorrllddwwiiddee ttoo aauuggmmeennttGGNNSSSS""

SScciieennttiiffiicc iinnvveessttiiggaattiioonnssooff tthhee 11995500ss aanndd 6600ssrreessuulltteedd iinn tteecchhnnoollooggyyddeevveellooppmmeennttss iinn 11997700ssaanndd 11998800ss,, wwhhiicchh ffuurr--tthheerr wweenntt tthhrroouugghh aapprroocceessss ooff ppuubblliicc ssccrruuttii--nnyy aanndd ppoolliiccyy rreeffoorrmmss iinn11999900ss aanndd uullttiimmaatteellyyccuullmmiinnaatteedd iinn mmaakkiinnggiittsseellff aann iinnffrraassttrruuccttuurreeiinn tthhee 2211sstt cceennttuurryy..

involve and engage users to do the rest of applicationdevelopment, giving users a sense of ownership.

David Sonnen, President & Founder, Integrated SpatialSolutions opines that Esri has been primarily a tool ven-dor enabling a vibrant community of users and developerswhich generated a significant number of innovations.Echoing similar sentiment Chuck Killpack, Editor-NorthAmerica, Geospatial World adds, "GIS market would notbe what it is today if Esri had not kept its focus on buildingGIS tools." In fact, the private ownership of Esri and thededication of Jack Dangermond could well be perceivedas the success mantras for Esri. Cindi Salas, Director-Land and Field Surveys, CenterPoint Energy, one of thelargest users of Esri technology says, "Esri's contributionto geospatial industry is huge, largely because of theirfocus and solutions across all industry verticals."

Intergraph was incorporated just after Esri in 1970 with adifferent market focus. Having CAD lineage and focus ondefence requirements for high powered geospatial visual-isation, Intergraph created a vast technology base for effi-cient data capture, maintenance, analysis and map pro-duction. According to Preetha Pulusani, Chair-man and CEO at DeepTarget Inc., "Inter-graph expanded into a variety ofindustries, most notably utilities,communications, transporta-tion, public safety, defenceand national mapping."Recognising the contri-bution of Intergraph,Chuck Killpack argues,"Intergraph's initialleadership into utilityand military govern-ment markets was keyto the growth all GIScompanies are experienc-ing in those marketstoday." However, Intergraphalso expanded its technologyportfolio with associated productsin photogrammetry, imaging, scan-ning, map pro-duction amongothers, which

enabled integration of the same and move towards solu-tion-centric approach.

Initial successful implementations created a positive envi-ronment about this technology which attracted moreinnovators and technology leaders, who translated theirbelief into action but from a slightly different and nicheperspective. Says Arup Dasgupta, "Niche players areimportant in any industry. A one-size-fits-all philosophymay look good in the beginning but as the technologygrows, differentiation has to set in. Applications are thekey and applications have to be different for differentrequirements." Bentley, Autodesk, MapInfo and GESmallworld entered GIS industry and each of these played

a role in extending GIS towards specific mar-kets and domains. In early 1990s,

Autodesk found that quite a signif-icant number of AutoCAD

licenses were being usedfor mapping, making

them enhance theirsupport for geographiccoordinate systemsand create newgeospatial capabili-ties across broaddesign product lines.Bentley concentrated

on extending GIS intoengineering domain

and even coined thephrase 'geo-engineering'

which has brought in signifi-cant credentials for today's

infrastructure engineering and con-struction. MapIn-fo started as adesktop mapping

27Geospatial World II January 2011

Chuck KillpackEditor - North AmericaGeospatial World

""IInntteerrggrraapphh''ss iinniittiiaall lleeaaddeerrsshhiipp iinnttoouuttiilliittyy aanndd mmiilliittaarryy ggoovveerrnnmmeenntt mmaarrkkeettss wwaass kkeeyy ttoo tthhee ggrroowwtthh aallllGGIISS ccoommppaanniieess aarree eexxppeerriieenncciinngg iinntthhoossee mmaarrkkeettss ttooddaayy""


tool and took on the business and consumer markets andprovided spatial perspective to businesses and consumerindustry. Widely known as a business geographics com-pany, MapInfo's business strategy evolved around bank-ing, retail, insurance, logistics etc. Smallworld tackled theunique challenges of utilities and focussed on their mar-ket sphere in this segment. Applauding their contributionChuck says, "Today, these companies are making signifi-cant contribution to GIS market. These companies spentmany years building foundation for more general accept-ance of GIS with focus on specific market segment."

Surveying & Positioning The story of surveying and positioning is not very differentfrom that of GIS. Although surveying industry is much old-er than GIS, advancements in GIS had significant influ-ence on surveying and positioning industry. Traditionally,Trimble and Leica Geosystems provided leadership to thisindustry and focussed exclusively on developing surveyingtools for land surveyors and mapping professionals. Intro-duction of GPS on the one side and integration of GPSwith GIS created many innovative products and applica-tions for customers beyond traditional surveying commu-nity. As GIS kept penetrating engineering,design, infrastructure, utilities andbusiness geographics, GNSS-enabled positioning tools gotintegrated with GIS solu-tions and expanded itsmarket base primarilyin engineering andinfrastructure devel-opment. Sokkia andTopcon also madetheir own contribu-tions and brought ininnovative productsto develop and servethe niche marketslike machine automa-tion and machine con-trol. The last decade hasseen a revolution in position-ing technology and its utility. Ithas become a part of mainstreaminfrastructureand engineering

domain and today we see the major chunk of revenues ofpositioning companies arising out of non-traditional sec-tors like construction and housing; engineering andmachine automation; agriculture and forestry. Landadministration and surveying continue to grow as well.

Another significant dimension of positioning technologyhas been the emergence of location enabled industry.SiRF was the first company dedicated to bring GPSenabled location technology to mainstream consumersand has been the key developer of technology as well as amajor force driving the ecosystem by overcoming the bar-riers to mass market deployment of location technology.

As Kanwar Chadha, Founder of SiRF says,"Moving away from highly profession-

al segment of positioning tech-nology, SiRF focussed on opti-

mising architectures forsolving the problems that

were preventingdeployment of GPS inmass market con-sumer applications.Today, most of theconsumer industryis driven by thisbusiness modelwhere there are

technology platformsuppliers such as

CSR/SiRF, device sup-pliers like Garmin, Nokia

and Motorola andcontent/application platform

suppliers like Google, Facebook,Navteq and TeleAtlas."

Kanwar ChadhaFounder, SiRF

""TTooddaayy,, mmoosstt ooff tthhee ccoonnssuummeerr iinndduussttrryy iiss ddrriivveenn bbyy tthhee bbuussiinneessssmmooddeell wwhheerree tthheerree aarree tteecchhnnoollooggyyppllaattffoorrmm ssuupppplliieerrss,, ddeevviiccee ssuupppplliieerrssaanndd ccoonntteenntt oorr aapppplliiccaattiioonn ppllaattffoorrmmssuupppplliieerrss""

Imaging industryInitiatives of GIS and positioning technologies towardsopening up multiple avenues and widening the user basefor geospatial industry, has been very well supported byhigh resolution satellite imagery and advancements inphotogrammetry and LiDAR technologies.

IKONOS satellite of GeoEye (earlier owned by SpaceImaging) provided leadership role in delivering 1 metreresolution imagery which proved to be quite handy anduseful for public at large in multiple ways and especiallyin defence, natural resource management and disastermanagement. Subsequent constellations of commercialsatellites launched by DigitalGlobe, RapidEye and othersfurther enhanced resolutions and capacities and today,this imagery is available online and offline to commonpublic through Internet and PNDs.

Extending the discussion, Sridhara Murthi, Senior Expert, Office of Adviser to PM, Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, Government of India says, "The use of remotely sensed imagery has increasedthe transparency and the general public are now able to influence or assess the actions of governmentsand governments at international level are guided by the information accessible at large." Advancements inremote sensing and imaging technologies encourageddevelopment of image processing tools which constantlygot upgraded with launch of every new remote sensingsatellite.

Erdas, PCI Geomatics and Intergraph developed tools forthis very specialized component of geospatial industry. Inlate 1990s, following the technology integration path ofgrowth, Erdas and PCI Geomatics began building on GIS tools as part of their existing image processing capa-bilities.

BUSINESS DRIVERS

The above narrative makes one feel that geospatial tech-nology has matured as an industry and the same hasbecome an infrastructure and public utility for economyand society at large. It would be quite interesting to seehow and what will drive this industry in the next few years.We, at Geospatial World, solicited views from severalgeospatial leaders to map out few possibilities and direc-tions for this industry. Here is an attempt to weave thosethreads and illustrate likely business drivers of varioussegments of geospatial industry:

Geographic information GIS would remain at the core and shall be the prime driv-er of geospatial industry. Associated technologies wouldlargely benefit from the increasing size of geospatialindustry. All kinds of geographic data including topo-graphic, navigation, satellite imagery products, 3D and 4Dmodelling will continue to be in demand. CharlesFoundyller, CEO of Daratech believes that "GIS data is thefastest growing geospatial business line today. GIS datahas grown at a compound annual rate of 15.5% for thelast eight years - about twice the rate of growth for soft-ware and services. As more location-related databecomes available, the use and scope of geospatial analy-ses is sure to grow, greatly increasing the economic ben-efits such analyses brings. It is most likely that both pub-lic awareness of geospatial technologies and their contri-bution to the world economy will increase, dramatically asmore geo-related data comes online."

At the moment, geographic data has commoditised itselfin many parts of the world and developed countries havegone to the level of creating 3D models of cities and usethese datasets effectively. At the same time, we havecountries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin Americawhich are yet to have geospatial datasets at 1:25,000

Brian BullockChairmanIntermap Technologies

""NNuummbbeerr ooff uusseerrss ppaasssseedd 110000 mmiilllliioonnaanndd tthhee aammoouunntt ooff mmoonneeyy mmoovviinngg iinntthhee mmaarrkkeett iiss nnooww nneeaarriinngg $$ 4400 bbnn..GGrroowwtthh iinn tthhee nneexxtt ddeeccaaddee rreeqquuiirreesstthhee iinnttrroodduuccttiioonn ooff ccoonnttiinneenntt wwiiddee ddaattaawwiitthh mmuucchh hhiigghheerr ggeeoossppaattiiaall aaccccuurraaccyy""

Jill SmithChief Executive OfficerDigltalGlobe

WWiitthhiinn hhoouurrss ooff aann eevveenntt,, ccoonnsstteellllaattiioonn ooff rreemmoottee sseennssiinnggssaatteelllliitteess ppuuttss iimmaaggeerryy aanndd ccrriittiiccaalliinnssiigghhtt iinnttoo tthhee hhaannddss ooff ffiirrsstt rreessppoonnddeerrss,, hheellppiinngg tthheemm ffooccuuss tthheeiirrrreessoouurrcceess,, rreessccuuee ppeeooppllee aanndd rreeccoovveerraarreeaass hhiitt hhaarrdd bbyy ddiissaasstteerr


scale, leave alone 3D models. Morethan 2/3rds of world population isstill deprived of the power ofgeospatial information. Bri-an Bullock, Chairman,Intermap Technologiessays, "If you look atgeoinformation indus-try a decade ago, itwas thought to beabout $ 5 bn world-wide with about $ 2 bnin systems and soft-ware and $ 3 bn in dataand services. But today,the number of users surelypassed 100 million and theamount of money moving in themarket is now nearing $ 40 bn".He further argues that "growth in nextdecade requires the intro-duction of nationwide -indeed continent wide datawith much higher geospatial accuracy." Another impor-tant aspect of data business is companies focussing onspecific vertical industries facilitating the characteristicsof data structure, data models and integration with main-frame data structure of their respective domains.

Potential ApplicationsThere has been tremendous democratisation of geospa-tial data and it is seen not only as a decision making toolbut also as a tool for increasing efficiency and productivi-ty, ultimately bringing profitability to organisations. Abun-dant data and advanced tools are enabling applicationsand services across different user domains. Arup Das-gupta believes, "As geospatial industry moves away from

boxes to services, applications willbe the key driver of geospatial

industry." An interesting viewshared by end user organi-

sation is that problemsolving ability of GISwould be key driver ofgeospatial industry intimes to come. CindiSalas says, "Govern-ment, utilities andcommercial busi-nesses handle sever-

al challenges and theytoo are key business

drivers as nearly everyproblem has some compo-

nent of location." Sharingsimilar views, another end user

professional Matthew Thomas,Senior GIS Specialist,Spectra Energy opines,"Most native business driv-

ers within GI industry are 'need' and 'availability'. Fortu-nately for GIS, need grows exponentially. Companies andindividuals are learning more and more about their sur-roundings and the interplay of those surroundings withtheir particular assets." Let us have a look the majorapplication industries which are likely to drive the geospa-tial industry.

DDeeffeennccee aanndd SSeeccuurriittyy:: Defence and security has been andshall continue to be the primary driver of geospatialindustry, especially in the United States. But its marketsize is growing significantly in emerging economies aswell, pushing demand for GIS and high resolution satellitedata. According to Adam Keith, Director-Earth Observa-


Cindi SalasDirector-Land and Field SurveysCenterPoint Energy

""GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt,, uuttiilliittiieess aanndd ccoommmmeerrcciiaall bbuussiinneesssseess hhaannddllee sseevveerraall cchhaalllleennggeess aanndd tthheeyy aarree kkeeyybbuussiinneessss ddrriivveerrss aass nneeaarrllyy eevveerryypprroobblleemm hhaass ssoommee ccoommppoonneenntt ooffllooccaattiioonn""

Ola RollenPresident & Chief Executive Officer Hexagon AB

CChhaannggiinngg ppaatttteerrnn ooff gglloobbaall eeccoonnoommyysshhaallll bbee mmaajjoorr bbuussiinneessss ddrriivveerr ooffggeeoossppaattiiaall iinndduussttrryy.. TThhee eemmeerrggeennccee ooffssttrroonnggeerr mmiiddddllee ccllaassss wwiitthh ssiiggnniiffiiccaannttppuurrcchhaassiinngg ppoowweerr iinn ccoouunnttrriieess lliikkee CChhiinnaa,, IInnddiiaa aanndd BBrraazziill sshhaallll ddrriivvee iinndduussttrryy ggrroowwtthh iinn tthheessee eeccoonnoommiieess

tion, EuroConsult, "Presently, 65% of 1.1 billion commer-cial data is procured for defence customers. This is espe-cially true for US commercial operators DigitalGlobe andGeoEye which have bagged a 7.3 billion US$ deal for thenext one decade." Many countries are working on settingup defence geospatial data infrastructure which mayallow seamless integration of geospatial data with otherassociated datasets and ensure selective and timely deliv-ery of the same to its soldiers. Technology developmentsand upgradation of defence systems is providing opportu-nity for geospatial industry to find its own due by being apart of the C4ISR initiative.

EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg aanndd IInnffrraassttrruuccttuurree:: Engineering and infra-structure industry offers a promising business opportuni-ty to geospatial industry. Geo-enabled engineering whichintegrates CAD systems to geospatial data shall be thekey for engineering and infrastructure industry. CharlesFoundyller says, "CAD systems are typically not designedto interoperate with GI systems. But this is changing andfuture CAD systems will become far more closely linked,so that engineers and architects will be able to see theirdesigns as virtual buildings a la Google Earth togetherwith additional location specific information." Engineeringand infrastructure industry shall drive overall geospatialindustry from data acquisition to data modelling to GI and positioning technologies. Discussing Bentley's strat-egy, Greg Bentley says, "Without question, Bentley's

offerings in the GIS world align with the needs of the engi-neering community. Bentley's strategy in terms of GIStechnology has been and continues to be 'advancing GISfor infrastructure'. Our goal is to present GIS technologyseamlessly within engineering workflows and, indeed,within the graphical user interface of an engineeringapplication." Geodesign promoted by Esri has adopted adifferent but complementary approach towards designindustry. Interestingly, satellite imagery and 3D data seemto have promising business opportunity in this segment.Matt O'Connell, Chief Executive Officer, GeoEye says, "Oneof the successful 3D products is the Airport Mapping Data-base (AMDB), which provides data that identifies, locatesand measures features within an image."

Positioning and surveying technology has the largest tan-gible stakes in engineering and infrastructure industry.Pursuing a solution approach, Trimble has acquired differ-ent technologies and integrated them to deliver a compre-hensive solution to engineering and infrastructure proj-ects. Sharing Trimble's vision and business approach BrynFosburgh says, "Having entered in surveying industry asGPS solution in 1980s, Trimble has invested in 3D dataacquisition and visualisation technologies, as these will becritical part of geospatial industry in the future offeringsolutions for interior modelling of buildings as well as toplan and execute construction projects using 3D models."

LLaanndd IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn aanndd RReeaall EEssttaattee:: This has been a tradi-tional market for geospatial industry and shall continue tobe one of the major business drivers. Increasing popula-tion and urbanisation is putting tremendous pressure onland to be more scientifically demarcated and adminis-tered. As land market gets more organised, demand forlarge scale geo-referenced mapping of each and everyparcel and associated attribute information is growingimmensely. This is bringing back the focus on cadastral


Greg BentleyCEO, Bentley Systems

""OOuurr ggooaall iiss ttoo pprreesseenntt GGIISS tteecchhnnoollooggyy sseeaammlleessssllyy wwiitthhiinn eennggiinneeeerriinngg wwoorrkkfflloowwss aanndd wwiitthhiinn tthhee ggrraapphhiiccaall uusseerr iinntteerrffaaccee ooff aanneennggiinneeeerriinngg aapppplliiccaattiioonn""

Adam KeithDirector-Earth ObservationEuroConsult

""PPrreesseennttllyy,, 6655%% ooff 11..11 bbiilllliioonn ccoommmmeerrcciiaall ddaattaa iiss pprrooccuurreedd ffoorrddeeffeennccee ccuussttoommeerrss.. TThhiiss iiss eessppeecciiaallllyy ttrruuee ffoorr UUSS ccoommmmeerrcciiaallooppeerraattoorrss""

Matt O’ConnellChief Executive OfficerGeoEye

""CClloouudd ccoommppuuttiinngg iiss cchhaannggiinngg tthhee wwaayy ggeeoossppaattiiaall iinndduussttrryy ddooeessbbuussiinneessss,, ssoollvviinngg aa nnuummbbeerr ooff pprroobblleemmss iinncclluuddiinngg gglloobbaall,, sseeccuurreeddiissttrriibbuuttiioonn aanndd hhiigghh--eenndd,, oonn--ddeemmaanndd pprroocceessssiinngg""

mapping and land title management at regular frequency.A large number of developing countries do not have ade-quate maps necessary for land administration and gov-ernments are under pressure to invest in high quality landmaps. Fortunately, the popularity of Google Earth andMicrosoft Virtual Earth has enhanced the interest andwillingness in real estate industry to use geospatial datafor visualisation.

MMuunniicciippaall aanndd LLooccaall GGoovveerrnnaannccee:: World over, use ofgeospatial information for governance is gaining momen-tum. As most of the municipal services have spatial component, it is but obvious that democratisation of information technology will further drive geospatial business in local governance. As per an estimate, urbanpopulation would grow up to 50% in the next 20 years fromits current share of 30% and continuous increase in overall population will bring in unimaginable challengesto local governance and municipalities. Geospatial is oneof the possible tools which can help agencies deal withthis forthcoming challenge.

EEnntteerrpprriissee aanndd BBuussiinneessss PPrroocceessss:: World economy isgrowing so is the size of enterprises offering products,solutions and services in almost every walk of human life.These enterprises have their own business processes andsystems which require efficient management and qualita-tive administration. Geospatial information and tools havebeen quite handy and useful for the same and as econom-ic reforms continue to improve business environment,deployment and utility of geospatial in business processwould further strengthen the demand in this sector.

PPrreecciissiioonn FFaarrmmiinngg aanndd AAggrriiccuullttuurree:: Agriculture is emerg-ing as one of major business drivers of geospatial indus-try. Ola Rollen, President, Hexagon AB informs, "Popula-tion is estimated to touch 10 billion in the next 30 yearswhich means greater demand for food in general. On topof this, increasing number of middle class with betterpurchasing power will hike the demand for better qualityof food, creating additional demand for agriculture andfood processing industries. Hexagon looks at this as anopportunity to invest heavily in precision farming and isdeveloping solutions to improve productivity."

LLBBSS aanndd CCoonnssuummeerr AApppplliiccaattiioonnss:: This segment shall bethe driving force for democratisation of geospatial data

and probably the largest single, but unaccounted andindirect, market segment for geospatial industry. Geospa-tial data lies at the core of these services but does nothave any direct interface with users at all. Quoting IDCreport David Sonnen says, "There will be over a billionapps available for mobile and desktop platforms andmany of those will be available at low or no cost. Since allmajor application development platforms include locationhandling capabilities, we expect that geospatial capabili-ties will simply be part of the application mix." This mar-ket shall be driven more by content and service providerssuch as Apple, Google, Facebook, Nokia, Verizon, AT&T.Kanwar feels that "Location industry is in a self drivenmode with multiple monetisation models being deployedby above companies and convergence of tools like GPS,multiple GNSS systems, MEMS sensors and radio signals(WiFi, cellular etc) and connectivity platforms shall makelocation reliably available everywhere," resulting in creat-ing a big demand and boost to consumer applicationsincluding navigation, search, social networking, enter-tainment, games, targeted and behavioural advertising.

UUttiilliittiieess:: Utilities including electricity, telecommunica-tion, water oil and gas have been occupying central position in the application segment of geospatial industryfor past few decades and it is likely to continue to be an important business driver for GI industry. This sector is highly likely to expand its scope of usage of geospatial tools and begin using satellite imagery as well.As per Cindi, "Utility industry has so far underutilisedsatellite imagery. But with the integration of imagery into GIS platforms by Esri and connecting dots of Web,mobile and mash ups of all kinds of data, it will drive utility industry. Bob Samborski firmly believes that utilityindustry's demand for comprehensive solutions to complex organisational operational challenges will onlycontinue.


David SonnenPresident & FounderIntegrated Spatial Solutions

""SSiinnccee aallll mmaajjoorr aapppplliiccaattiioonn ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ppllaattffoorrmmss iinncclluuddee llooccaattiioonn hhaannddlliinngg ccaappaabbiilliittiieess,, iitt iisseexxppeecctteedd tthhaatt ggeeoossppaattiiaall ccaappaabbiilliittiieesswwiillll ssiimmppllyy bbee ppaarrtt ooff tthhee aapppplliiccaattiioonnmmiixx""

Technology advancementsTechnology development, especially integration and con-vergence, shall be a significant business driver forgeospatial industry. Demand for increasing data accuracyand data quality is pushing the demand for advanced dataacquisition and processing tools. Technology developersmust stay ahead and provide tools - to collect and buildsmart content; to collate, integrate and manage contentfor building applications and solutions for different plat-forms for enterprise, Web and mobile. Currency of data isgaining importance with development of more dynamicapplications. This is throwing up several challenges aswell, according to Vanessa who says, "Real-time position-ing will challenge the existing positional accuracy of lega-cy geoinformation collected over many years and dataintegration will become an ever-increasing challenge."

Another important aspect is the integration of geospatialtechnology into many IT solutions. “GIS technology is util-ising the main tools and techniques in the IT industry toadd value and enhance related applications,” according toSuper Wang, CEO, Super Geo. Elaborating on this, DavidSonnen says, "In majority of cases, the user will simplyneed some geospatial elements within their broad IT envi-ronment. These users will simply pick up specific capabil-ities like imaging, 3D, spatial analytics and such will bedynamically integrated where and when they are needed."

Many in the industry opine that 3D modelling and visuali-sation are the most logical next steps for GIS. SaysMatthew Thomas, "Once the GIS industry gets there - effi-ciently and effectively - the depth of decision support canbe truly realised. 3D referencing will allow for more tar-geted remediation of problems, more accurate considera-tion of risk and 'as-is' conditions, and more completeassessments to be made in almost any application of thetechnology." One essential ingredient for technologyadvancements to be more productive is to have open andstandard formats. Initially, open source was seen as athreat, but now it's just part of the way IT markets work.Pointing out another technology driver, Matt O'Connellsays, "Cloud computing is changing the way geospatialindustry does business. The Cloud model is solving anumber of problems, including global, secure distributionand high-end, on-demand processing."

CONCLUSION

Geospatial technology was born as a reconnaissance toolfor security forces in the 1960s. But today it has invadedthe civilian space with a vast array of applications. It is setto become so pervasive to the extent of becoming ubiqui-tous. Cloud is the next big revolution and DaaS, SaaS,PaaS and IaaS will be the next focus for the industry. Sofar, most of the benefits of geospatial industry wereenjoyed by professional users in terms of economic andefficiency gains. With pervasiveness and service-centricapproach, we have started witnessing spatial data usageby consumers paving way for the next paradigm of infor-mation revolution.

SSaannjjaayy KKuummaarr, CEO, GIS Development, [email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe author is thankful to the following for their valuable inputs: Adam Keith, Arup Dasgupta, Bhanu Rekha, Bob Samborski, Brian Bullock, Bryn Fosburgh, CharlesFoundyller, Cindi Salas, David Sonnen, Greg Bentley, Hrishikesh Samant, Jack Dangermond, Jill Smith, Kamal K Singh, Kanwar Chadha, Matt O'Connell, Ola Rollen,Preetha Pulusani, Sridhara Murthi, Super Wang, Matthew Thomas, Dr VanessaLawrence CB and Prof VS Ramamurthy.


Matthew Thomas Senior GIS SpecialistSpectra Energy

""33DD rreeffeerreenncciinngg wwiillll aallllooww ffoorr mmoorreeaaccccuurraattee ccoonnssiiddeerraattiioonn ooff rriisskk aanndd‘‘aass--iiss’’ ccoonnddiittiioonnss aanndd mmoorree ccoommpplleetteeaasssseessssmmeennttss ttoo bbee mmaaddee iinn aallmmoossttaannyy aapppplliiccaattiioonn ooff tthhee tteecchhnnoollooggyy""

KK SinghChairman and CEORolta Group

TThhee ffuuttuurree iiss aallll aabboouutt sseeaammlleessss iinntteeggrraattiioonn ooff aallll tteecchhnnoollooggiieess,, iinncclluuddiinngg ggeeoossppaattiiaall.. OOnnllyy tthheenn wwiillll aann eenntteerrpprriissee eennvviirroonnmmeenntt ttrruullyy eevvoollvvee,, ssppeeeedduupp aanndd iimmppaacctt tthheeddeecciissiioonn mmaakkiinngg pprroocceessss..

Super WangCEO, Super Geo

""GGIISS tteecchhnnoollooggyy iiss uuttiilliissiinngg tthhee mmaaiinn ttoooollss aanndd tteecchhnniiqquueess iinn tthhee IITT iinndduussttrryy ttoo aadddd vvaalluuee aanndd eennhhaannccee rreellaatteedd aapppplliiccaattiioonnss""

GLOBALISATION I Prof. Dr. F. J. Radermacher

Ecosocialism for a

better world

In the face of global challenges, the key to a better future

lies in the right combination of innovvations in technology and

in governance


Global challengesare enormous andare turning out to

be more pressing eachday. Given the populationexplosion, limitations ofavailable technologiesand the ecological foot-print which is already farbeyond any acceptablelevel, humankind is on adangerous track. We areoperating far beyond thecarrying capacity of theEarth.

A considerableincrease in the demand fora better standard of livingacross the globe is asmuch a need from a socio-cultural point of view as itis an irritating scenariounder the present ecologi-cal conditions.

Is there a chance for apeaceful future, a chancefor avoiding an ecologicalcollapse or a neofeudali-sation (global two-classsociety) of the world popu-lation? And how is thatrelated to technology? Thekey to a better future liesin the right combination ofinnovations in technologyand innovations in gover-nance. Innovations in tech-nology have historicallyalways opened up oppor-tunities for a better world.In particular, they havereduced the specific use ofresources to create value

in the form of productsand services. This effectwas usually counteracted,however, by the so-calledrebound or boomerangeffect.

We create more andmore environmental bur-dens with superior tech-nology because the num-ber of units of value creat-ed increases faster thanthe environmental burdenper unit can be reduced. Inparticular, this is true inthe fields of informationand communication tech-nology (ICT) and electron-ics, which are quiteresource intensive, e.g.they need considerableamounts of electrical power for their operation.

INNOVATIONS IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE Innovation in governance,particularly global gover-nance, is urgently neededto cope with this situation.This is probably the hard-est issue to deal with, giv-en the diverging interestsand the differences inpower of actors in a worldcomprised of 193 sover-eign nation states. At thevery least, global gover-nance must limit resourceuse and environmentalburdens to an acceptablelevel and must address cli-

mate change and povertyalleviation.

The latter aspect mustinclude a higher level ofglobal cross-financingthan is established todayand a higher compliancein the use of such financ-ing. A Global MarshallPlan in the sense of aplanetary contract or amanifestation of a "worldinterior politics" would

constitute an importantstep in this direction.Nobel Prize winners AlGore and MuhammadYunus are arguing in thisdirection. Social business-es akin to that propagatedby Muhammad Yunus anda global afforestation pro-gramme on an area of 5million sq km could becontributions of therequired nature.


Imag

e C

ourt

esy:

Fer

di R

izki

yant

o

The climate issue is ofhighest importance. It isclosely related to the ener-gy sector but is charac-terised by the fact thatthere are no propertyrights associated withgreenhouse gas emissionsas of today, i.e. the atmos-phere is up to now anunregulated and overused

global commons. Whatmakes things difficult isthe lack of an easily avail-able, low-cost technologi-cal substitute for fossilenergy and also that up tonow greenhouse gases areclosely related to econom-ic activities and wealthcreation. "Climate justice"could be the formula for a

global solution in gover-nance in this area, whichurgently requires interna-tional regulation.

The situation after theCopenhagen Summitoffers new chances in this respect, with Chinaand India willing to volun-tarily limit their carbondioxide emissions.

However, the world community has hardly given credit for the generosity of this offer andthe potential it contains.

ROLE OF ICTICT is an important playerin this game. It can con-tribute significantly in con-necting people, making


education easier acrossthe world, alleviatingpoverty and having a bet-ter environment - if thegovernance conditions areconducive.

Against this back-ground, ICT has to gogreener. With the rightkind of governance, ICTcan counterbalancerebound effects muchmore than the presentoutput. It is a major fieldshaping our future. Givenits many potentials, thefuture trends in the ICTsector are closely con-nected with action for abetter world. Even thoughthe ICT sector is conven-tionally associated withphysical goods, it holdsrelevance for all kinds ofservices.

Geospatial science andtechnology, indeed theentire geospatial arenahas a crucial role to playin addressing globalissues. Closely related tomodern ICT develop-ments, geospatial scienceand technology shape ourcommon understanding ofthe world as a wonderfulbut fragile entity in an

almost infinite outerspace.They create a kind of digital world.

They make us betterunderstand what we pos-sess, what we may loseand which processes areunder way at what time. Itis only when we under-stand these issues that wehave a chance to act intime. We must understandand act soon, becausetime is running out. Coop-eration in this process is amust. If we do not suc-ceed, the consequenceswill be painful.

AIMING FORA BETTER WORLD

Let's aim for a betterworld. Let's establishglobal rules of cooperationand governance that bringout our full potential inshaping a sustainablefuture for all humans thatis in harmony with theenvironment.

Therefore, let's stop anaive belief in free mar-kets and go for marketsand sustainability - goecosocial.


Prof. Dr. F. J. RadermacherForschungsinstitut für anwendung-sorientierte Wissensverarbeitung/n (Research Institute for AppliedKnowledge Processing/n)(FAW/n), Ulm, Germany [email protected]

ICT can play a significantrole in addressing globalchallenges. Closelyrelated to modern ICTdeveelopments, geospatialscience and technologyshape our commonunderstanding of the world

Technological advances and impressive economicgrowth notwithstanding, India is still home to thelargest number of hungry (approx. 300 million) and

malnourished people (approx. 750 million) in the world.Most of them live in rural areas. Around 700 million people (nearly 70 percent of India's population) living in638,365 villages are largely unskilled, illiterate, resource-poor and devoid of the benefits of economic growth andtechnological advances. Also, unabated environmentaldegradation and climate change are further worseningtheir livelihood and food insecurity. Mass exodus of youngmales from villages to urban areas to eke out a living isproliferating urban slums on one hand and causingfeminisation of rural poverty on the other. This isbecause the young migrants from the villages,referred to as environmental refugees, leave theiryoung women to manage subsistence farming thathardly has marketable surplus. Besides, there area large numbers of landless labourers.Without the right to land and credit

facilities, these young women get into the poverty anddebt trap, resulting in feminisation of poverty. The UnitedNations Human Development Index assigns 122nd rankto India.

RURAL INDIA'S BASIC PROBLEMS

In a nutshell, the question is how to link livelihood secu-rity of the rural communities with the ecological integrityof their regions. For this, rural areas must harnessappropriate technologies to fight the famine of both foodand rural livelihood. The Green Revolution of the 1960sbuilt India's food security at the national level, but not atthe individual household level.

That is the paradox of mountains of grains on onehand and millions of hungry people on the other. Duringthe late 1960s and early 1970s, Prof. M.S. Swaminathanhad not only cautioned against the ecological harm ofunscientifically practicing Green Revolution, but alsoemphasised that famine of rural livelihood was the majorreason for hunger in rural India. In his several lecturesand articles during late 1960s, he outlined a blueprint of

pathways for sustainable rural livelihood and foodsecurity. He called his model "evergreen revolu-

tion" and defined it as achieving productivity inperpetuity without ecological harm. The pro-

ductivity refers to both agricultural produce(i.e. cereal grains, pulses, oilseeds, veg-

etables, fruits, fodder, forage milk,meat, poultry, fish, fibre etc.), aswell as on-farm and non-farmproducts of ecomicroenterprisesdeveloped by rural self-help

groups (SHGs) in a system of pro-duction by masses. According to

Swaminatha (1996b,1999),what nations with small

farms and resource-poorfarmers need is theenhancement of produc-tivity in perpetuity, withoutthe associated ecological

RURAL DEVELOPMENT I P. C. Kesavan & S. Senthilkumaran

Livelihood with ecologi c

EVERGREEN REVOLUTION _ A BLUEPRINT

FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS

AND FOOD SECURITY, FOCUSES ON ACHIEVING

PRODUCTIVITY WITHOUT ECOLOGICAL

HARM WHILE HARNESSING APPROPRIATE

TECHNOLOGIES


or social harm. The Green Revolution should become an"evergreen revolution," rooted in principles of ecology,economics and gender and social equity.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FOR EVERGREEN REVOLUTION

The “evergreen revolution” requires integration of fron-tier technologies blended with traditional knowledge andecological prudence of rural and tribal communities.While setting up the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foun-dation (MSSRF), Professor M.S. Swaminathan hadensured that appropriate technologies would be used forsustainable rural development and food security. Frontiertechnologies, blended with traditional knowledge andecological prudence, acquire a pro-poor, pro-nature andpro-women orientation and are referred to as ecotech-nologies. These are harnessed by SHGs for sustainablemanagement of local natural resources and creation ofon-farm and non-farm livelihood.

The rural women and men of SHGs are given trainingthrough a pedagogic method of learning by doing or tech-niracy (Swaminathan 1973). Capacity building is an inte-gral part of training. The SHGs are also facilitated toobtain microcredit and market linkages for their prod-ucts. Several ecoenterprises such as the production ofoyster mushroom (pleurotus ostreatus) on paddy chaff,

biofertilisers (rhizobium, azetobacter, phosphate solu-bilisers etc.), biopesticide (trichogramma chilonis)against lepidopteran pests in cotton, brinjal etc., bio-fungicide (trichoderma viride), paper and board fromagricultural waste, fish pickle etc. are pro-nature (no tox-ic residue in the environment), pro-poor (generatinglivelihood for the landless and income less labour) andpro-women (many of these ecoenterprises are managedby landless women SHGs).

Knowledge empowerment of rural communities, that is,equipping them with locale-specific, demand-driveninformation is essential for the success of “evergreenrevolution.” The knowledge of do-how of ecoagriculture,management of crops and farm animals, overcomingproblems in ecomicroenterprises, finding profitable mar-ket linkages, improving soil quality, checking for avail-ability of fresh water sources, conservation of biodiversi-ty, reducing the emission and increasing the absorption

41

i cal integrity


Video conferencing

GPRS-enabled electronic display board

Audio conferencing

of greenhouse gases in agriculture, transforming subsis-tence agriculture into dynamic agri-business units, man-aging the market for products of production by masses inthe globalised world and enhancing the resilience of theresource-poor marginal farmers in an era of climatechange etc. are of critical value. The question is how to

provide locale-specific (e.g. India has 127 sub-agro-cli-matic zones and a long coastline of 7,680 km), demand-driven information on a variety of issues to each and everyhousehold. With the foresight of the power of the satelliteand computer-based information and communicationtechnology, MSSRF established modern ICT-basedknowledge centres in a few villages in the union territoryof Puducherry in 1998. These villages were called 'VillageKnowledge Centres' (VKCs). Young rural women and menwho have passed just 7th or 8th standard are given com-puter training. Within a very short time, they become quiteconversant with Internet, powerpoint, video-conferencing,email etc. When the young rural women become adeptand manage the VKCs, they not only get remuneration,but their self-esteem also rises in society.

They begin to assert themselves and emerge as equalpartners in all decision-making processes at the grass-root level. Many of them also emerge as prime movers,leaders of sustainable rural development, efficient man-agers of climate change, household food and nutritionsecurity as well as children's education, health care and


The famine of rural livelihoods is

the major reason for hunger in

rural India. Harnessing appropriate

technologies can fight both

the famines of food and rural

livelihoods

42

family planning. VKCs also play an important role in pro-viding early warning and advance information on sea waveheights in coastal villages. This helps the small and mar-ginal fishermen avoid venturing into rough seas and los-ing lives. MSSRF's VKCs and Village Resource Centre(VRCs) provide a wide spectrum of ecological, social andeconomic benefits by using a number of communicationtools from traditional notice boards and flash cards tomodern CDs, GSM/wired/wireless public address system,

community radios andmobile phones provid-ing text-based menu,icon-based menu,audio and SMS, V-SATbased video-conferenc-ing and fixed wirelessaudio-conferencingwithin selected ruralcommunities etc. Thecollaboration betweenMSSRF and the IndianSpace Research Organ-

isation (ISRO) has established communication linkagesbetween lab to lab, lab to land, land to lab and land toland. These close interactions among rural communities(data seekers) and experts (data providers) acceleratesustainable rural development, food security and aboli-tion of social, gender and economic as well as rural-urban divides.


P. C. KESAVAN Distinguished FellowM.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, [email protected]

S. SENTHILKUMARAN Director - Information, Education & CommunicationM.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, [email protected]

GSM-based public address system

The maps we rely upon, useand draw are no longer justproduced on paper. They are

also produced on other media thatcomplement printed paper maps.In a relatively recent move frompaper to digital media for map pub-lishing, maps did not just 'move'from the paper medium to the digi-tal, but a whole paradigm shiftoccurred.

Cartography embraced newmedia or integrated media - CD-ROM, the Web and other computer-generated and delivered resources todeliver innovative (and interactive)multi-media packages as well asindividual maps that were producedusing digital methods and deliveredvia contemporary communicationsystems.

Recently, there has been anotherparadigm shift, this time leveragingon the powerful possibilities of Web2.0, social software and relativelyinexpensive consumer electronics-delivered tools that can be geo-enabled, mobile and incorporatingmedia capture and generating tools.This has meant that the consumer

can now be the data collector andmap producer as well. This haschanged the definition of what hap-pens in cartographic production andinformation dissemination.

The advent of re-thinking how tocreate and distribute information in aWeb 2.0 communications world haschanged how the community thinksabout information access and provi-sion. The old model of formal - main-ly governmental - collection, storageand publishing of geospatial informa-tion has changed into a less formaland more personal model, for someinstances of geospatial informationprovision and map publishing.

Whilst Web 2.0, social softwareand consumer devices now provide aplethora of (geo) information explo-ration, measurement and recordingdevices, there are a number of issuesthat need to be addressed if maps areto be produced with currency, accu-racy and integrity.

WEB 2.0, USER/PRODUCER AND

CHANGES TO MAP PUBLISHING

Until recently, maps were published

on the Web by users/producers usinga process called 'mash-up' with Web2.0 and social software. Web 2.0 isthe use of the Web by individuals andgroups of individuals to provide andshare information, including geo-graphic information. It provides a new model for collaborating and pub-lishing. Users are able to developtheir own 'marked-up' maps byappending their overlay informationas an additional layer of information,usually using the default symbologyprovided (usually map pins areemployed), to self-publish their maps

CARTOGRAPHY I Prof. Dr. William Cartwright


Web 2.0 offers the potential for providing geographic

information in a collaborative, shared manner. For the

cartographic community, this provides both opportunities

and issues that need to be addressed if maps are to be

produced with currency, accuracy and integrity

POSSIBILITIES AND ISSUES

in contemporary mapping


via the Web. Maps produced throughthe process of mash-ups include theamateur map producer. This mapproducer has access to powerful Web2.0 delivered software and resources,empowering them with the ability toproduce and deliver maps that areboth professional and current. Geo-graphic information and base mapscan be sourced from conventionalproviders like Ordnance Survey whichhas developed an API called Open-space to provide free data for non-commercial experimentation andfrom non-conventional sources likeNokia Maps and OpenStreetmap, theorganisation providing free data andmaps that are produced by individu-als who collaborate to provide a freegeospatial resource. Maps producedin a matter of minutes using GoogleMaps allow the user to become theproducer. However, there is a provisothat must be noted - without real car-tographic expertise, awful, and inmany cases, unusable maps canresult. As with any mapping product,

good design is essential and formshould not follow function.

Web 2.0 can also be used to findand view geo-tagged images. Forexample, the Flickr personal imagerepository Web site provides theoption to search for images accordingto their location. These geo-tags canbe just a placename or the actual lat-itude and longitude of the location ofthe image. These images can also beliked to Google Maps, and the loca-tion of the maps viewed as icons onthe map.

However, having Web 2.0 for theprovision of maps and geographicinformation is not without a numberof issues.

IMPACTS OF THE COLLABORATIVE

PUBLISHING GENRE FOR THE MAP-

PING COMMUNITY

The use of Web 2.0 as a means forproviding geographic informationpresents a set of problems for car-tography. Some of the issues to bedealt with are listed below.

Who owns geospaatial data? Therehas been a movement of data reposi-

tories from just governmentresources to private industry withcompanies like Google and Microsoftpurchasing massive amounts ofgeospatial information. The model ofdata collection, storage and distribu-tion has changed. Non-public organi-sations now control massive amountsof data and provide it, in manyinstances for free. But, will this con-tinue to be the case? And, are usersbeing provided for data now, withfuture access perhaps attracting afee? Some uncertainty does exist withthis private sector data model.

The integrity of data - who guar-antees the quality /integrity of theproduct when noon-cartographersmake and distribute maps? Whenaccessing geospatial informationfrom public sector repositories, usersare assured that the data has beenproperly collected, maintained andupdated by responsible authorities.The government or quasi-govern-ment sources of information havebeen trusted as custodians of geo-graphical information and the actualpayment for this service comes from

45

With Web 2.0, users areable to develop their own'marked-up' maps byappending their overlayinfformation as an additionallayer of information

the public purse and from user pay-ments and royalties. But how is thequality/integrity of data assured bycommercial or collaborative dataprovision resources?

OpenStreetMap incorporates anumber of quality checks in its datacollection to delivery system. Itactively encourages data collec-tors/mark-up collaborators andusers to check the quality of theirdata and to make changes if neces-sary (CloudMade, 2009). A qualitystatement from Google related totheir maps could not be found at thetime of writing. However, the title of a

presentation by Google's Ed Parsonsat the 6th International Symposiumon Spatial Data Quality in July 2009,"When Good Enough, is GoodEnough: Data quality requirements ofthe geoweb", indicates that Google isconscious about data quality issuesand its maps.

Who maintains the product?Linked closely to the previous topic isthe issue of data maintenance. Weassume that traditional custodians ofgeographical data maintain their datato acceptable standards.

But, do the 'new players' ingeospatial information provision also

maintain their data to the same stan-dards that the users of 'traditional'data repositories expect?

This issue also relates to mapdata users and their confidence in thedata supplied or the map generatedfrom non-traditional data reposito-ries.

How to protect data fromprocesses like data 'scraping' (whhereinformation is copied from publishedWeb sites and then incorporated intoother products)? Data 'scraping' isthe process whereby a Web pagesource code is interrogated automat-ically and the data intended to gener-ate screen or printer output isextracted and a new data file created.This completely bypasses the need toaccess databases directly and there-fore altogether bypasses payment orauthorisation by the data owner. Datais scraped from general Web sites ofsearch engines. This obviously is ofgreat concern to organisations andindividuals who generate Web mapsand do not wish to have their datacopied in this way. Added to this prob-lem is that of attribution.

If data can be scraped and anoth-er mapping product generated fromthis data, it would be possible foranother product to be generated andpublished with no reference whatso-ever to the original data source orprovider.

HHow to work with volunteerorganisations that provide free dataand map services mapping (e.g.OpenStreetMap)? As discussed earli-er, there are a number of social andcollaborative organisations thatmake their data and maps availablefor free. Through a network of Web-connected amateurs and profession-als, geographical data is collected,scripts marked-up with data attrib-


Typical mashup using Google Maps

Flickr images located on a Google Map


utes, data placed in repositories andmaps published. These organisationscan be viewed to be either competingor collaborating with traditional sup-pliers of geographical information.

Privacy intrusions - how to protect users of mobile mappingservices from being tracked? With amassive growth in geotagged infor-mation and the ability to transmit andreceive maps and geographical infor-mation via mobile Internet throughthe use of mobile telephones andwireless devices, the consumer elec-tronics industry has developed enor-mously. The general public is nowoffered a plethora of devices andassociated applications that are geo-located or referenced. Location-based services (LBS) and 'at location'mapping, where maps are deliveredwhere and when needed using wire-less technology, have now becomeubiquitous. But, there is a trade-off ofinformation accessibility for privacy(Butler et al. 2005; Cartwright, 2007).As these devices, in many cases, arealways on a service provider, they cancontinually track the user.

This issue is perhaps one of thesleeping problems of mobile geo-graphical information services thatmight cause problems in the futureand limit the success of maps deliv-ered via this medium.

Howw to protect against unwantedindividual citizen inclusion of theirproperty or personal identity in prod-ucts like Google StreetView? Anotherprivacy problem has arisen with datacapture for Google StreetView. Whencollecting imagery, not only inani-mate objects like buildings are cap-tured, but people in the street arealso photographed. This has led toconcerns about privacy and the unau-thorised photographing of individu-

als. Contributors to the blog siteBoing Boing were asked whether theywould be concerned if the CIA werecollecting such information in pubicplaces and would the public acceptit? (Boing Boing, 2009).

In some instances, individualshave contacted Google to request thattheir image or property be removedfrom the site. In response to the pub-lic's concerns about privacy, GoogleStreetView has blurred the faces orpeople captured in its imagery, aswell as other identifying items.

How do cartographers interfacewith big players from the computer

industry and consumer electronnics/communications industry when theirreal focus is to use maps to leveragebusiness? There are now new playersin geospatial information provisionwhereby consumer electronics com-panies like Nokia have purchasedmapping companies. As well asGoogle wanting to enhance its adver-tising potential and Microsoft its pro-file in computer software throughWeb presence, other players are alsonow part of the geospatial industry.For example, TomTom purchasedTeleAtlas and Nokia acquired Navteq.The potential of enhancing consumer

OpenStreetMap

Imagery on Google Street View

48

electronics with geographical infor-mation is now evident in advertisingof these devices. As these compa-nies do not have cartography as theirmain focus, there exists the need forthe cartographic community to seekways of collaborating.

How to educate the general pub-lic about "What is a good map" in anera of map publisher/user? Whenusing the Web for map-publishing,quality was adjudged by speed ofdelivery, circulation figures andscreen resolution. Quality wasgauged by how the 'rules' of comput-ers and communications systemswere applied. Users were still seenas consumers, and not collaboratorsin geographical knowledge acquisi-tion. The use of Web2.0 as a meansfor providing geographic informationpresents different problems forassuring quality. Problems mightarise with a conglomerate productrelated to 'self-constructed' Web 2.0products. For conventional carto-graphic products, these assurancesare provided by cartography. A majorissue if self-composed products areto be used with confidence mightwell be quality assurance. Therefore,methods would need to be developedfor assuring quality with conglomer-ate products, assuring quality withuser-produced products and themeans for informing users about the

source of conglomerate informationresources.

How to include collaborativedecision-making and collaborativeproblem solving using mappingproduccts? By using data and infor-mation from the general public andby making digital information freelyaccessible via the Web, outcomesthat would otherwise not happen canresult. This concept of making datafreely available for problem-solvingor by 'harvesting' information fromWeb users has been termed 'crowd-sourcing.' In an article in Wired mag-azine Howe (2006) outlined the phe-nomenon of "crowdsourcing." Hecommented how the Web hadchanged where companies now out-source their contract work and howcontract workers for certain workcan be physically located anywhere,as long as they are connected to theInternet. He also noted how evenoutsourcing via the Internet hadchanged - from outsourcing to"crowdsourcing." This type ofmethodology for problem-solvinghas been called "The wisdom of thecrowds" by James Surowiecki (2004).He says: "Ask a crowd, rather than apair, and the average is quite close tothe truth."

A mapping application developedat University College London's Cen-tre for Advanced Spatial Analysis(CASA) undertook a project that usedcrowdsourcing to map anti-socialbehaviour in East Anglia, UK (Crookset al., 2009). The project wanted tomap things like people's perceptionson fear of household burglary, quali-ty of local schools and who wouldpeople vote for (CASA, 2009).Researchers developed an applica-tion called MapTube, which com-bined the idea of YouTube and their

software GMap Creator to producethematic maps. A pilot study wasundertaken to generate a "moodmap" of the credit crunch for theUnited Kingdom. This was done withthe UK's BBC Radio 4 iPM show(Hudson-Smith et al., forthcoming).

IN CONCLUSION

Web 2.0 offers the potential for providing geographical informationin a collaborative, shared manner.Already the impact of maps via Web2.0 has been felt by the ever-growingnumber of maps being published ascollaborative products via mash-ups.

For the cartographic communitythis provides both opportunities andissues that need to be addressed.The opportunities include the abilityto include the amateur cartographerin the map production equation, soas to benefit from these members ofthe cartographic community who cancontribute greatly to mappingendeavours. By sharing resourcesmore effective procedures can resultand the amount of geographicalinformation available can beincreased. But, there are a numberof issues that need to be addressed ifthe potential of Web 2.0 is to beresponsibly exploited. Some of theseissues have been covered here. It ishoped that they might be furtherexplored.


Prof. Dr. William CartwrightSchool of Mathematical and Geospatial SciencesRMIT University, Australia

[email protected]

If data can be scraped andanother mapping product gener-ated from this data, it would bepossible for another product tobe generated and published withno reference whatsoever to theoriginal data source or provider

GNSS stands for global navi-gation satellite system. Cur-rently, the US GPS and the

Russian GLONASS are the onlyoperating systems in the radionavi-gation-satellite service (RNSS)bands (space-to-Earth, space-to-space) and 1 164 1 215 MHz, 1 215-1 300 MHz and 1 559-1 610 MHz.

The European Galileo and the Chi-nese Compass systems are underdevelopment.

GLOBAL SYSTEMS

Most of the navigation satellites men-tioned earlier transmit L-band EIRPsof the order of 27 - 28 dBW from19,000 to 24,000 km altitude in such a

way that the received signal power atthe input of the receiver is about 155 dBW. Brief technical characteris-tics of the four systems are given inTable 1.

Each constellation has at least 24satellites in the medium earth orbit(MEO). Regional and augmentationsystems have been planned by India,

GNSS I Dr. S.V.Kibe


NAVIGATION

FOR ALL

With total annual

sales of GPS

chipsets in excess of

USD 20 billion and

new application

areas being

discovered,

the future growth

scenario for GNSS is

very robust

With total annual

sales of GPS

chipsets in excess of

USD 20 billion and

new application

areas being

discovered,

the future growth

scenario for GNSS is

very robust


Japan and Nigeria. More than 100navigation satellites are expected tobe in orbit by 2014. These constella-tions of navigation satellites areloosely termed as GNSS. Userreceivers capable of operating withone or more systems are called GNSSreceivers. It is literally a "more themerrier" case. A GNSS receiver capa-

ble of operating with more than onesystem should outperform anyreceiver capable of operating withonly one satellite system. However,this is easier said than done.

GLONASS. The RussianGLONASS system had 22 satellites by1996. Soon after, the number ofsatellites declined to 6 in 2000 andthen 14 in 2004. The GLONASS con-stellation has now been built up andthe number of satellites currently is24. GLONASS uses frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA) for signaltransmission from satellites and has500 KHz and 5 MHz PN codes forranging. GLONASS system uses 12anti-codal frequencies for 24 satel-lites.

GPS. Navstar Global PositioningSystem (GPS) of the US is an opera-tional, 31-satellite GNSS system withdownlinks in the L1, L2 and L5 bands.Low cost GPS receivers capable ofoperating with the L1 Standard Posi-tioning Service (SPS) provide position,navigation and timing services any-where in the world. The typical posi-tion accuracy available to a user isbetter than 30 metres. Better accura-cies are available through advancedreceivers capable of working withaugmentation satellites. The originalsystem configuration for GPS had 24satellites. This number has now beenofficially increased to 30. GPS hasrecently introduced the L5 downlinkfrequency.

Galileo. The Galileo system hasbeen under planning by the EuropeanCommission since 2008. The GIOVE-Aand GIOVE-B satellites werelaunched in 2005 and 2007 as experi-mental satellites. The initial phase ofGalileo consists of four satellites fol-lowed by 26 operational satellites tobe launched in the next 2-3 years.The constellation is expected to be

completed by 2013-14. To be selfreliant in the GNSS technologyappears to be the main motive of theEuropeans in implementing a EUR 4 billion Galileo system. TheGalileo signals have been well coordi-nated with the GPS signals in the last8 to 10 years. Once complete, Galileowould enhance the capabilities of ajoint GPS-Galileo receiver.

Compass (Beidou). The ChineseCompass system consists of a con-stellation of 30 non-geostationarysatellites and five geostationarysatellites with positions at 58.75° E,80° E, 110.5° E, 140° E and 160° E.Each satellite transmits the samefour carrier frequencies for naviga-tional signals. These navigationalsignals are modulated with a prede-termined bit stream, containing cod-ed ephemeris data and time and hav-ing a sufficient bandwidth to producethe necessary navigation precisionwithout recourse to two-way trans-

mission or Doppler integration. Thesystem provides accurate positiondetermination in three dimensionsanywhere on or near the surface ofthe Earth.

The frequency requirements forthe Compass system are based uponan assessment of user accuracyrequirements, space-to-Earth propa-gation delay resolution, multipath

51

The requirements ofaccuracy, integrity,availability, continuity duringthe approach and landingphases drive the systemperformance requirementsfor GNSS systems

Imag

e C

ourt

esy:

ES

A

suppression and equipment cost andconfigurations. Three initial channelsused for the Compass operations are1 575.42 MHz, 1 191.795 MHz, and 1268.52 MHz. This frequency diversityand the wide bandwidth used byCompass will increase the rangeaccuracy for space-to-Earth propa-gation delay resolution and willimprove the multipath suppression toincrease the total accuracy. Teleme-

try and maintenance signals areaccommodated in an allocatedtelemetry band.

CIVIL AVIATION AND GNSS

The use of GPS and its augmentationsystems is widespread in civil avia-tion. The International Civil AviationOrganization (ICAO) defined GNSS as"a worldwide position and time deter-mination system that includes one ormore satellite constellations, aircraftreceivers and system integrity moni-toring, augmented as necessary tosupport the required navigation per-formance for the intended operation,"and developed the International Stan-dards and Recommended Practices(SARPs) for seamless worldwide airnavigation service. The requirementsof accuracy, integrity, availability,continuity during the approach andlanding phases are very exacting anddrive the system performancerequirements for GNSS systems inthe world.

GNSS navigation service will beprovided using various combinationsof the following GNSS elementsinstalled on the ground, the spaceand/or the aircraft:

• GPS

• GLONASS

• Aircraft-Based Augmentation System

(ABAS)

• Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS)

• Ground-Based Augmentation System(GBAS)

• Aircraft GNSS receiver

REGIONAL SYSTEMS

Indian Regional Navigation SatelliteSystem (IRNSS). IRNSS is a continu-ous space-based all-weather radionavigation system for positioning,navigation and timing service for anyuser equipped with a suitable receiv-er, anywhere in the service area.IRNSS is an approved project beingimplemented by ISRO/DOS. IRNSSconstellation will consist of 7 or 11geo synchronous satellites - 3 in geo-stationary orbit and the rest in aninclined geosynchronous orbit. Allsatellites will downlink two signals inL5 and S-band (2483.5 - 2500 MHz) -a BPSK signal and a BOC signal(binary offset carrier). The IRNSScoverage is mainly over India andadjacent regions. IRNSS ground seg-ment will consist of a host of rangingstations, master control facility, atiming centre etc. The constellation is expected to be operational by 2013-14.

QZSS. The Quasi-Zenith SatelliteSystem (QZSS) consists of threesatellite positions with one satellite


System No. of Satellites Altitude & iDownlink Signals

Freq.bandStart Year

GPS 31 20,000, 55o L1, L2, L5 1995

GLONASS 24 19,000, 64.8o L1, L2, L3 (L5) 1996, 2010

GALILEO 4 (30) 24,000 , 56o L1, L2 2014 expected

COMPASS (30) 19-24000 km L1, L2, L5 2020

Table 1. Technical characteristics of the four GNSS systems

GALILEO

GPS

GLONASS

position in each of the three 45°inclined equally spaced orbitalplanes. Each satellite transmits thesame four carrier frequencies fornavigational signals. These naviga-tional signals are modulated with apredetermined bit stream, containingcoded ephemeris data and time andhaving a sufficient bandwidth to pro-duce the necessary navigation preci-sion without recourse to two-waytransmission or Doppler integration.The frequency requirements for theQZSS system are based upon anassessment of user accuracyrequirements, space-to-Earth propa-gation delay resolution, multipathsuppression and equipment cost andconfigurations. The three initial chan-nels used for QZSS operations are

1 575.42 MHz (L1), 1 227.6 MHz (L2)and 1 176.45 MHz (L5). An experi-mental signal (LEX) will be added,centred at 1 278.75 MHz (LEX).

GPS AUGMENTATIONS

The first GPS augmentation systemwas implemented by the US. It iscalled Wide Area Augmentation Sys-tem (WAAS). It has been operationalsince 2008 with Approach Vertical(APV) level 2 service. It covers NorthAmerica and Canada. This is the

most advanced GPS augmentationsystem in today's world.

Modified GPS receivers capable ofworking with GPS augmentation arerequired to benefit from higher accu-racies achievable. WAAS is attempt-ing to achieve Cat.I level service lev-els in the near future. Augmentationsystems offer the uniform level ofsystem performance over a widearea/airspace and guarantee avail-ability, continuity and integrity asrequired by International Civil Avia-tion Organisation (ICAO).

The European GeostationaryOverlay System (EGNOS) has beenunder development since 1998.EGNOS was declared operationalwith APV -1 level of service this year.Both WAAS and EGNOS provideseamless navigation to any aircraftfitted with a WAAS receiver. BothWAAS and EGNOS have three geosta-tionary GPS L1 and L5 payloads aspart of the system.

The Japanese MTSAT (multi-functional transport satellite) satel-lite-based augmentation system

(MSAS) is an SBAS, defined as "awide coverage augmentation systemin which the user receives augmenta-tion information from a satellite-based transmitter."

The MSAS plays the role of theRNSS function in the MTSAT. MSASutilises two MTSATs to enhance thesystem reliability and robustness.Each MTSAT transmits one carrierfrequency for GPS augmentation signals (RNSS sig-nals). These signals include the fol-lowing information: ranging, GPSsatellite status, basic differential cor-rection (GPS satellite ephemeris and clock corrections) and precisedifferential correction (ionosphericcorrections).

The Indian SBAS is called GAGAN.GAGAN is working towards achievingAPV-2 level of position accuracy by2012. Thereafter, the system wouldundergo a certification process. Oncecertified, GAGAN would be one of themost advanced air navigation sys-tems over the Indian airspace. ISROand AAI are implementing GAGAN


The Indian SBAS, GAGAN isworking towards achievingAPV-2 level of positionaccuracy by 2012. Oncecertified, GAGAN would beone of the most advanced airnavigation systems over theIndian airspacce

IRNSS Constellation

which is in its last phase of imple-mentation.

GNSS APPLICATIONS

The global annual sales of GPSreceivers worldwide are in excess ofUSD 20 billion. This number is grow-ing exponentially due to rapid inte-gration of GPS receivers in mobilephones and other mass market vehi-cles.

GPS chipsets are being integrat-ed into mobile phones as a matter ofroutine these days. Many of the high-end mobile phones available in Indiahave a GPS chipset and local maps

of roads of most Indian cities. Theintegration of satellite communica-tion and satellite navigation is evi-dent. However, there are a few tech-nical issues which need to be solvedbefore the GNSS chipsets becomesan integral part of mobile phones.These issues are:

• The ability of mobile phone withGNSS to operate inside buildingswhich is currently not possible,

• The use of terrestrial navigation aidsto assist the GNSS chipsets within amobile which requires a large networkof terrestrial differential GPS transmit-ters in a country which is currently notavailable in India and

• Advances in technology with power-

ful forward error correction techniquesto enable indoor positioning withoutthe assistance of either ground trans-mitters or terrestrial transmitterssuch as FM transmitters.

It is difficult to predict whetherthe GNSS chipsets will be integratedas a standard feature into each andevery mobile phone that is marketedin the coming years. However, thereare other markets to be exploited forGNSS as indicated in Fig. 1.

FUTURE OF GNSS

With over 100 navigation satellites inthe world, the total expenditure onspace systems is in excess of aroundUSD 10 billion.

With total annual sales of GPSchipsets in excess of USD 20 billionand new application areas being dis-covered, the future growth scenariofor GNSS is very robust. From ship-ping ports, long bridges, intelligenthighway systems, location-basedservices in mobile phones to massmarket vehicles (rail and road),applications of GNSS extend to earthsciences, tectonic plate movements,radio occultation techniques forweather prediction and temperatureprofiles of Earth's atmosphere havepervaded all engineering and sci-ence disciplines.

The reason for such high profilegrowth is that this service can beprovided only through space systemswhich are known for their reliability,reach, low cost receivers and highstandards of performance.


Dr. S. V. KibeBrahmprakash Professor

Indian Space ResearchOrganisation

[email protected]

GPS Augmentation systems in the World

Fig.1. Markets for GNSS

54

The mantra forremote sensing in2010/2011 is more

data and better data.Seventeen missions havebeen launched, or areplanned to be launched,by space agencies in2010 and 2011. The num-ber of optical sensorshas increased with thelaunch of Cartosat 2B.

Other

launches scheduled in2011 include remotesensing satellites forTurkey, Nigeria, Korea,India, Argentina as wellas NASA/NOAA NPP(NPOESS (NationalPolar-orbiting Opera-tional EnvironmentalSatellite System)Preparatory). This showsthe strength of satelliteremote sensing, espe-cially in emergingnations. An important

spin-off ofthese missions is

the development ofspace technologydesigned to buildcapacity in thearea of spacescience asdemonstratedby Nigeria.

Other launch-es in 2010 include

Cryosat-2, replacingCryosat-1 which was lostat launch in 2005. The suc-cessful deployment of this

replacementillustrates theimportancewhich theEuropeanSpace

Agency (ESA) places onmonitoring of polar icesheets. The mission hasalready been officiallytransferred to the opera-tions team, a milestonethat marks the beginningof its operational life,delivering ice-thicknessdata to enhance under-standing of the impact ofclimate change on thepolar environment.

The launch of Tan-DEM-X and the 4th satel-lite in the COSMO-SkyMedConstellation emphasisesthe importance of radarremote sensing. Duringemergencies, when oper-ating in emergency mode,there is a minimumresponse time, of 18hours, for the COSMO-SkyMed Constellation fromacquisition triggering toproduct delivery when foursatellites are available,with more or less guaran-teed image acquisition,even with cloud cover. Thelaunch of TanDEM-X tojoin TerraSAR-X and forman interferometric pairreinforces the importanceof interferometric SAR.The satellites fly within

350m of each other andtheir operations are syn-chronised. In January2011, the two sensors willstart collecting data for ahigh precision global digi-tal elevation model (DEM).This dataset will be animprovement on the SRTMDEM which does not pro-vide full global cover andwill be more accurate thanSRTM and the ASTERGDEM. The CEOS TerrainMapping Sub Group has aprogramme to validateglobal DEMs and notes theimportance of these prod-ucts in hydrology, forestry,aviation and energy. Dur-ing 2010, there have beenmore demonstrations ofthe usefulness of SARinterferometry techniques,both to generate DEMsand, in differential mode,to measure movement.These have been especial-ly useful in understandingearthquakes such as thosein Haiti and Chile and forlong term subsidence.

Commercial high reso-lution optical sensors con-tinue to operate success-fully. GeoEye intends tolaunch GeoEye-2 in the

REMOTE SENSING I Ian Dowman


BUSTLING WITH ACTIVITY

WITH EMPHASIS ON 'MORE DATA AND BETTER DATA', 2011 IS POISED TO WITNESS

SEVERAL NEW LAUNCHES IN REMOTE SENSING MISSIONS TO COVER A WIDE RANGE

OF APPLICATIONS. HERE'S A LOWDOWN

2013-14 timeframe. Themain point of interest forGeoEye-2 will be thepotential to collectimagery of the Earth'ssurface at 0.25m resolu-tion, but this is subject toapproval from the US gov-ernment.

The general state ofremote sensing worldwidelooks strong. Space agen-cies are working togetherto complete the tasks setout within the GEO (Groupon Earth Observation) andGlobal Earth ObservingSystem of Systems(GEOSS). These are sum-marised very well in theCEOS publication Satel-lites, Science and Society.Of particular note are theapplications of earthobservation (EO) data inforestry, agriculture andDEM generation. Anotherimportant technologicaladvancement throughGEOSS is the use ofGEONETCast to allowdirect access to data inareas where Internet con-nections are slow. It isestimated that over 100stations are in use inAfrica and thousands inuse worldwide.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

EO data has demonstratedits importance in disastermanagement, particularlyin response to the Haitiearthquake whichoccurred at 16.53 hours on

12 January 2010. An alertwas given 27 minutes afterthe earthquake andresponse activation of UN-SPIDER, UN-Spaceaid andthe Charter occurred 4hours 35 minutes after theevent. The first satelliteimage covering Port auPrince was acquired byGeoEye on 13 January anddelivered by Google CrisisResponse Team as KMLand base layer in GoogleMap/Earth. DigitalGlobe(World-View 1 and 2,Quickbird) covered thewhole country between 13and 17 January. Data wasdelivered as WMS, KMLand GeoTiff through theDigital Globe Crisis EventServices. High resolutionradar imagery was

acquired by Cosmo-Skymed and TerraSar-X.Aerial surveys usingpanchromatic and thermalimages and LiDAR startedon 21 January and coveredmost of the affected areas.324 maps were producedby 31 January, 43 of whichwere posted on ReliefWeb.This is a marked improve-ment on previous respons-es, but a number of les-sons were learnt from theresponse to the Haiti dis-aster, including the needfor a system to managethe large quantities ofdata. Data could be deliv-ered to everybody throughWeb services, avoidingtime consuming downloadoperations. A significanthandicap for people work-

ing on ground was the lackof availability of automatedprocedures for the extrac-tion of value added infor-mation, such as buildingdamage. In Haiti, much ofthis information was pro-vided by volunteers orcommunity-based data


There is a greatdeal of activity inremote sensing,driven both byglobal needsand nationalrequirements forindependentearth observationcapability

“

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”

Fig 1: Haiti - Leogane - Assessment map based on satellite imagery provided by DigitalGlobe's Crisis Event Services

mapping. In these circum-stances, coordination iscrucial in order to ensurethat areas of interest arefully covered without dupli-cation and that the resultsof the analysis areprocessed quickly and effi-ciently. In 2010, up toNovember 22, there havebeen 48 activations of theInternational Charter:Space and Major Disas-ters.

The biggest number ofthese activations havebeen for flooding butearthquakes and hurri-canes also feature strong-ly. Of particular use havebeen the radar sensors toovercome cloud cover.

OTHER APPLICATIONS

Even though the use of EOdata in response to disas-ters is one of the mosthigh profile activities, oth-er applications are equallyimportant, although lesspublicised. EO data is reg-ularly used in agriculturalmonitoring. DMCii in UKand RapidEye regularlyprovide coverage of largeareas for agriculturalmonitoring. Monitoring offorests is also a continuingmajor interest andchanges in the Amazonrain forest, for example,are always important.

In the area of academ-ic research, activity contin-ues at a high level. Agri-

culture, forestry and landcover continue to be themain topics but health andwater are increasinglyattracting interest. Thesethemes are reflected in theincreasing number of GEOcommunities of practicewhich, in addition to thetopics mentioned above,also include energy, biodi-versity and carbon.

Cloud computing isincreasingly being used onthe computing side. Forexample, ESA's earthobservation G-POD (GridProcessing on Demand)facility makes use of this.The NASA AuthorisationBill directs the organisa-tion to investigate the

establishment of a non-federal cloud computingfacility for earth observa-tion. This technology oper-ates behind the scenesand is not obvious to mostusers. However there is nodoubt that it will becomemore and more importantin the future.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

The future sees plans formore constellations. Thefirst of the two Pleiadessatellites are due forlaunch in 2011. Pleiades,developed by CNES, com-prises two "small satel-lites" (mass of one ton)with a spatial resolution atnadir of 0.7 m and a field


Artist view of TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X in space (Courtesy AstriumGmbH)

of view of 20 km. Theirgreat agility enables a dai-ly access all over theworld, which is a criticalneed for defence and civilsecurity applications.Pleiades has stereoscopicacquisition capacity and isespecially designed tocompete with aerial pho-tography in urban areas.

The CEOS virtual satel-lite project , anotherGEOSS initiative, is alsoprogressing well with sixconstellations alreadyexisting: land surfaceimaging, ocean surfacetopography, atmosphericcomposition, precipitation,ocean colour radiometryand ocean surface vector

wind. The CBERS-3 satel-lite is also due for launchin 2011. This has a muchimproved panchromaticsensor, with 5m resolutionas well as a multispectralscanner, infrared scanner,multispectral CCD cameraand a wide field imagery.The importance of thisChina-Brazil co-operationis that the data is availablefree of cost in Africa andwill soon be availablethrough a direct groundlink.

In future years we canlook forward to the ESASentinel missionsdesigned to serve GMES(Global Monitoring forEnvironment and Security).

In the area of small satel-lites, SSTL still dominatesthe market with everincreasing resolution anddecreasing size. Nigeri-asat 2 is due for launch atthe end of 2010 with 2.5mresolution for applicationssuch as mapping andplanning of populationsurveys and mapping,planning and monitoring ofrural and urban growthand disaster management.SSTL is developing higherresolution sensors and isalso in the early stages ofdeveloping a small radarsensor.

It is clear that there isa great deal of activity inremote sensing, driven

both by global needs, co-ordinated by GEO, andnational requirements forindependent earth obser-vation capability. The commercial market forhigh resolution data is stable with plans forimproved systems in thefuture, and radar is ofmajor scientific andcommercial interest.


Ian DowmanEditor - EuropeGIS Development [email protected]

Agriculturalcrop monitoring,Ravenna area,Italy 2010 Courtesy: DMCii

PHOTOGRAMMETRY I Karsten Jacobsen


PHOTOGRAMMETRY HAS BEEN WITNESSING CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENTS IN

TECHNOLOGY EVER SINCE THE SHIFT FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL FORMAT.

HERE'S A LOOK AT SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

IMAGES OF CHANGE

Photogrammetry has beenwitnessing continuousdevelopments in technology

ever since the shift from analogueover analytical to digital pho-togrammetry. Images may be tak-en from space, air or ground. Notonly classical images, but radarimages or information are alsobeing used. Computer vision ishaving increasing influence, especially in automatic objectrecognition and image matching.

Globalisation is strongly influenc-ing traditional photogrammetriccompanies in several countriesthat are not able to compete formanual data acquisition with com-panies in areas with lower salaries,causing increase in request forautomation of data acquisition. Theformer clear distinction betweenspace and aerial photogrammetryhas disappeared. With ground reso-lution down to 0.5m, space and aeri-al applications are overlapping and

the selection decision between themis just based on economic aspectsand availability of images. Restric-tions for aerial images in somecountries have been bypassed byspace images.

SPACE PHOTOGRAMMETRY

High resolution imaging capacity hasbeen strongly enhanced. By theory,with better ground resolution, Geo-Eye-1 and WorldView are able toimage up to 700,000 km² and 975,000

DALSA CCD-array with 17216x 14656 pixels


km² per day - six to seven timesmore than IKONOS and QuickBird.With a system of five satellites, RapidEye can cover 6.5m ground samplingdistance (GSD) by theory, nearly anylocation on the world every day. Table1 shows theoretical imaging capacityof some very high resolution opticalsatellites. Fig. 1 depicts high resolu-tion satellites with ground resolutionand launch time.

Large image archives exist andwith the availability of a high numberof satellites, placing an order foractual imaging is not a problem.Nevertheless, optical satellite imag-ing still depends on cloud coveragewhich is not the case with radarsatellites. For civil applications, highresolution radar images with 1mGSD can be used. Of course 1m GSDin an optical image cannot be com-pared to 1m GSD in a radar image.Interpretation of radar images ismore complicated as compared tooptical images. Under usual condi-tions, the information content is not

as high. Especially in urban areas,lay over effects and viewing shadowslimit the detailed use of radarimages. However, for rapid responseradar has strong advantages.

A bottleneck in mapping is therequirement of ground control points(GCPs). With WorldView and GeoEye-1, the absolute geo-reference qualitywithout the use of GCPs is in therange of 3m, meeting requirement

for several purposes.This is an improve-ment by the factor ofthree over IKONOSand QuickBird. Thegeo-reference ofradar images onlydepends upon thesatellite position andnot altitude as is thecase with opticalsatellites. With Ter-

raSAR-X-images, evena higher level of

absolute geo-reference can beachieved if satisfactory height mod-els are available. Fig. 2 presents aTerraSAR-X spotlight image of Leib-niz University Hannover with 1mGSD.

A major application is the gener-ation of height models. With theSRTM and ASTER GDEM heightmodels, coverage of nearly the entireworld is available free of charge. Fig.3 shows the area covered by ASTERGDEM and SRTM C-band DSM. How-ever, the partially high number ofstereo scenes used are not horizon-tally adjusted to each other, causinga loss of geomorphologic details. Bya re-computation, this shall beimproved and will deliver geomor-phologic details corresponding to thepoint spacing. Nevertheless, theSRTM height model has a bettergeo-reference, is more homogenousand is as accurate as the currentASTER GDEM. Height models gener-

61

Satellite Collection rateApproximate theoretical collection capacity / day

IKONOS 2365 km²/min 150 000 km²/day

QuickBird 2666 km²/min 135 000 km²/day

OrbView-3 1483 km²/min 80 000 km²/day

WorldView-1 4512 km²/min 750 000 km²/day

GeoEye-1 2842 km²/minpan: 700 000 km²/day; pan+ms: 350 000 km²/day

WorldView-2 4686 km²/min 975 000 km²/day

Table 1. Theoretical imaging capacity of some very high resolution optical satellites

Fig. 1. High resolution satellites with ground resolution and launch time

ated by optical space images shouldbe based on images taken at nearlythe same time. This is possible dueto the very flexible, high resolutionspace sensors from the same orbit.However, the required satellite rota-tion reduces the imaging capacitydrastically, so only a limited numberof stereo scenes taken by very highresolution sensors are in thearchives. A better solution is the useof stereo sensors as Cartosat-1,ALOS PRISM and SPOT HRS. Thespectral range of SPOT HRS is limit-ed to the visible range, causing lowcontrast over forests. Here, both oth-

er sensors have advantages in addi-tion to the two times enhanced GSD.While ALOS PRISM's three viewdirections improve point determina-tion against two view directions ofCartosat-1 and SPOT HRS, ALOSPRISM is not really made for com-mercial application. This leaves Car-tosat-1 as an optimal tool for thegeneration of precise height models.

As has been shown by SRTM,good height models can be generat-ed with radar interferometry. Nowwith TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X, fly-ing together in tandem-configura-tion, qualified digital surface models

(DSM) will be generated. Fig. 4shows a colour coded DSM.

With new technologies such assemi global matching (SGM), initiat-ed by computer vision with 0.5m to1m GSD images, high quality 3D-citymodels can be generated. A compar-ison of 3D-city models with IKONOS,GeoEye and aerial photo stereo pairsgave satisfying results, while theresults with scanned aerial photoswith 70cm GSD were not optimal. Ofcourse this would be different withoriginal digital aerial images notaffected by film grain as scannedphotos. The generation of topograph-ic maps with space images is limitedby information contents and notaccuracy. Intensive studies haveshown that images with 0.1mm GSDin the map scale are required for theidentification of necessary objectdetails. This corresponds to a mapscale 1:10,000 for 1m GSD or 1:5000for 0.5m GSD. With the announced0.33m GSD of Cartosat-3 or 0.25mGSD of GeoEye-2 mapping, even alarger scale will be possible in nearfuture.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Digital aerial cameras have nowreplaced analogue film cameras. Acomparison of details for topograph-ic mapping from digital images with

62

The dream ofphotogrammetrists toreplace the film with justone large CCD-array hasnow become a rreality


Fig. 2. Leibniz University Hannover, TerraSAR-X spotlight image, 1m GSD

Fig. 3. Area covered by ASTER GDEM and SRTM C-band DSM


Z/I Imaging DMC, Vexcel UltraCAMand Leica Geosystems ADS40images as well as scanned aerialphotos, with similar ground sam-pling distance, revealed that just8520² pixels are required for theinformation contents of scanned aer-ial photos in relation to original digi-tal images not degraded by lowereffective resolution. Till the year2010, an information content corre-sponding to aerial photos was onlypossible with digital system camerassuch as Ultracam and DMC or linescanning cameras such as ADS80and Jena Optronic JAS-150. Thedream of photogrammetrists toreplace the film with just one largeCCD-array has now become a reality.Depending upon the version, withvery large size CCDs, the panchro-matic band of the DMC II hasbetween 140 and 256 megapixelsfrom one CCD with excellent imagegeometry and radiometry. Thepanchromatic channel of the DMC II250 uses a DALSA CCD-array with17216 x 14656 pixels and can beoperated with a frame rate of 1.7sec. No stitching is required for sucha monolithic camera. Tests of theDMC II 140 showed an excellentgeometry with systematic imageerrors in the root mean square below1 micron. Large format area and linescan cameras have four spectralbands - blue, green, red and nearinfrared, allowing a multispectralobject classification. Nevertheless,the dominating aspect of aerialimages is the texture. In addition tomultispectral information, all satisfy-ing classifications also use texture layers.

In aerial photogrammetry, notonly large format digital cameras butseveral mid-format cameras are also

Fig. 4. Colour coded DSM

Fig. 5. Block flown with a UAV

64

used. With modern CCDs, they canhave a capacity of up to approxi-mately 8900 x 6700 pixels. With theexception of the system camerasfrom Z/I Imaging and Vexcel, themid-format cameras receive colourinformation with a Bayer pattern -they use just one CCD-array withindividual RGB filter in front of anypixel, producing RGB images bycomplex computation. With Bayerpattern it is not possible to get four

colour channels and forward motioncompensation by electronic transferdelay and integration technology, asis the case in large format framecameras. Only DIMAC equips itsmid-format camera with mechanicalforward motion compensation. Withlower price level, mid-format cam-eras find applications mostly insmaller projects, but in generaltheir geometric quality has somelimitations. Also, systems of mid-format cameras, eg IGI Quattro Digi-Cam use a configuration of fourslightly convergent arranged Digi-Cams. Such systems need supportof GPS or GPS and IMU to solveimage orientation without largenumber of control points.

The use of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAV) is extending fast, dueto improved cost benefit relation andnavigation support. In several coun-

tries, weight limits for UAV call forsmall systems. To address this, thecompany BLOM built a UAV weigh-ing just 0.5 kg, equipped with a tinycamera with 3072 x 2304 pixels with1.7 microns pixel size and 5.9 mmfocal length. Of course the naviga-tion of such UAVs is difficult underwindy conditions, but blocks evenwith higher overlap can be flown,giving a good overview over the proj-ect area. Fig. 5 depicts a block flownwith a UAV.

AUTOMATIC OBJECT EXTRACTION

Automatic object extraction fromspace and aerial images has been,for a long time, an intensive field ofresearch. So far it is not possible toreach the quality of a human opera-tor, but the speed of mapping orquality assessment of mapping canbe increased by operator supportedobject extraction. It is possible toidentify the quality of automaticobject extraction. A traffic light sys-tem has been developed by LeibnizUniversity, Hannover. In this system,shown in Fig. 6, a clear identificationof roads is marked in green, doubt-fully identified roads are marked inyellow and roads which have to bechecked by the operator are shownin red. This system is in practicaluse and reduces the operation timesignificantly.


Karsten JacobsenInstitute of Photogrammetry and Geoinformation

Leibniz University, Hannover

[email protected]

Fig. 6. Automatic road extraction in IKONOS image

The use of unmannedaerial vehicles is extend-ing fast, due to improvedcost benefit relation andnavigation support

GeospatialWorld I January 2011 65

Aesthetics of terror

The Tanezrouft Basin in Algeria is a classic study of geopathological geomorphology. The pastel colours andsoft, flowing shapes in this Envisat image contradict the harshness of the terrain that has led to it being com-monly referred to as the ‘Land of Terror’. Erosion – first by water, now by wind – has created this landscape ofhills, basins, steep canyon walls, stone plateaus and multi-storey sand dunes. It reveals surface roughness – therougher the surface, the brighter it appears. Hence, darker areas represent softer rock with a sandy or small-stoned surface. The Algerian Sahara makes up more than 90 percent of the country’s total area.

Image courtesy: ESA

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