Gim international february 2016

THE GLOBAL MAGAZINE FOR GEOMATICS WWW.GIM-INTERNATIONAL.COM

INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE 2 • VOLUME 30 • FEBRUARY 2016

Geomatics for Cultural Heritage Preservation

3D Recording, Documentation and Management

3D VISUALISATION OF GEODATA. GPS, GIS AND UAVS SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN AID. TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING IN FOREST INVENTORIES.

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Leica Geosystems AG Heerbrugg, Switzerland

No 2930

scanstation.leica-geosystems.com

CONTENTS

REPORT

PAGE 23

Geomatics Helps Relief to Reach More Refugees

INTERVIEW PAGE 10

Spatial Data Infrastructure in Chile is Mature and Expanding

The Role of GPS, GIS and UAVs in Humanitarian Aid

GIM International interviews SNIT Executive Secretary Alvaro Monett

GIM PERSPECTIVES

PAGE 31

3D Visualisation of Geodata Gimmick, Hype or Necessity?

FEATURE PAGE 15 REPORT

Reconstructing a Church in 3D

PAGE 33

Strengthening Capacity Geospatial Technologies in the Land of a Thousand Hills

Combining Terrestrial Lidar and UAS Photogrammetry into One Unified Model

COMPANY’S VIEW

PAGE 34

FEATURE PAGE 19

Producing High-quality 3D Maps from Lidar

Geomatics for Cultural Heritage Preservation

News & Opinion

DIPPER

3D Recording, Documentation and Management

Editorial Insider’s View News

FEATURE PAGE 26

FIG GSDI IAG ICA ISPRS

Toward International Benchmarks

The cover of this edition shows an image from the Skeppsbron Project in Gothenburg, Sweden, where 3D is actively used as a foundation for involving citizens in participative city planning activities. Based on a solution from software company Agency9, a photorealistic citywide 3D model is used as the background for project models published on the MinStad web portal http://minstad.goteborg.se and in physical exhibits.

RIEGL, www.riegl.com Ruide, www.ruideinstrument.com South Surveying, www.southinstrument.com Spectra Precision, www.spectraprecision.com Teledyne Optech, www.teledyneoptech.com Texcel, www.texcelinstrument.com TI Asahi, www.pentaxsurveying.com/en TI Linertec, www.tilinertec.com Trimble Geospatial, www.trimble.com

37 37 38 39 41

Other

page

Advertisers Index Agenda

ADVERTISERS INDEX 21 22 14 36 18 36 2 40 28

5 6 7

International organisations page

Terrestrial Laser Scanning in Forest Inventories

Beijing UniStrong, www.unistrong.com CHC, www.chcnav.com ComNav Technology, www.comnavtech.com FOIF, www.foif.com Hi-Target Surveying, www.zhdgps.com Kolida Instrument, www.kolidainstrument.com Leica Geosystems, www.leica-geosystems.com Microsurvey, www.microsurvey.com Phase One, industrial.phaseone.com

page

8 25 32 30 12 42 4 29 44

3 42

Get your back-issues in the store www.geomares.nl/store

FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 3

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No 2951

www.pentaxsurveying.com/en/

EDITORIAL DURK HAARSMA, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Durk Haarsma FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Meine van der Bijl SENIOR EDITOR Dr Ir. Mathias Lemmens CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dr Ir. Christiaan Lemmen, Dr Rohan Bennett, Martin Kodde MSc, Ir. Danbi J. Lee, Frédérique Coumans, Ir. Sabine de Milliano EDITORIAL MANAGER Wim van Wegen COPY-EDITOR Lynn Radford, Englishproof.nl ACCOUNT MANAGER Sybout Wijma MARKETING ASSISTANT Trea Fledderus CIRCULATION MANAGER Adrian Holland DESIGN VRHL Content en Creatie, Alphen aan den Rijn, www.vrhl.nl REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS Ulrich Boes (Bulgaria), Prof. Dr Alper Çabuk (Turkey), Papa Oumar Dieye (Niger), Dr Olajide Kufoniyi (Nigeria), Dr Dmitry Kurtener (Russia), Dr Jonathan Li (Canada), Dr Carlos Lopez (Uruguay), Dr B. Babu Madhavan (Japan), Dr Wilber Ottichilo (Kenya), Dr Carl Reed (USA), Dr Aniruddha Roy (India), Prof. Dr Heinz Rüther (South Africa), Dr Tania Maria Sausen (Brazil) GIM INTERNATIONAL GIM International, the global magazine for geomatics, is published each month by Geomares Publishing. The magazine and related e-newsletter provide topical overviews and accurately presents the latest news in geomatics, all around the world. GIM International is orientated towards a professional and managerial readership, those leading decision making, and has a worldwide circulation.

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Subscriptions are automatically renewed upon expiry, unless Abonnementenland receives written notification of cancellation at least 60 days before expiry date. Prices and conditions may be subject to change. For multi-year subscription rates or information on current paid subscriptions, contact Abonnementenland, Postbus 20, 1910 AA Uitgeest, Netherlands +31 (0)251-257926 (09.00-17.00 hrs, UTC +1) paidsubscription@geomares.nl.

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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS All material submitted to Geomares Publishing and relating to GIM International will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication under copyright subject to the editor’s unrestricted right to edit and offer editorial comment. Geomares Publishing assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or for the accuracy of information thus received. Geomares Publishing assumes, in addition, no obligation to return material if not explicitly requested. Contributions must be sent for the attention of the editorial manager: wim.van.wegen@geomares.nl.

Keeping the Discussion Alive Linking geoinformation to real-world problems – it is an inevitable trend we need to explore in the interests of the future of our field.

Coinciding with the publication of this issue of GIM International, the inaugural edition of our GIM International Summit is being held in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

If you’re not able to attend this time, you can rest assured we will bring you updates on the keynotes and – importantly – the interactive discussions during the Summit as well as the outcomes via the GIM International website and magazine in the future.

As I write this, we are putting the finishing touches to the programme. One of the workshops we’re organising, and I’m particularly looking forward to, is on migration. Migration is one of the most pressing issues of our time. In the news we see streams of migrants coming into Europe, fleeing from war-torn regions in the Middle East. What we here in Europe are less aware of is an ongoing stream of migrants – not only fleeing from war, but also poverty – from Sub-Saharan Africa to the most southern tip of the continent: the Republic of South Africa.

The ‘rainbow nation’ sees itself facing just as many problems as Europe does. Meanwhile, between parts of Asia and Australia, an almost relentless throng of people are risking their lives on the seas off northern Australia in the hope of a better life. If one were to visualise all these streams on a map, it would look like a ball of yarn with each string representing a flow of refugees. This issue of GIM International touches on the role of geomatics in providing support to refugees.

Contributing editor Frédérique Coumans has written a compelling article on page 23 about the role of GPS, GIS and UAVs in humanitarian aid. The feature revolves around Medair, a medium-sized relief agency that puts geo-ICT in place to help communities of refugees – including in Lebanon and the Philippines – more efficiently.

Another issue that we will address during the GIM International Summit is one that we’ve covered many times in this magazine: better governance through deployment of geoinformation. Spatial data infrastructures play a key role in that. This edition of GIM International includes an interview with Alvaro Alvaro Monett Hernandéz on page 10. Monett is executive secretary of Chile’s National System for Territorial Information Coordination (SNIT). SNIT is a good example of a successful national spatial data infrastructure that makes decision-making in all kinds of fields – such as agriculture, public works, housing, and urban development and the environment – easier, better and, most importantly, coherent. This is another example of geoinformation being linked to the day-to-day lives of citizens and governments in a very beneficial way.

These two examples show that the outreach of geomatics to solve real-world problems in governance, migration, urban planning and more is a process that cannot go fast enough.

Hopefully the outcome of the GIM International Summit will give us plenty of ideas that we can share with our readers to keep the discussion alive in the months and years to come.

No material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of Geomares Publishing.

Copyright © 2016, Geomares Publishing, The Netherlands All rights reserved. ISSN 1566-9076

Photography: Arie Bruinsma

Geomares Publishing P.O. Box 112, 8530 AC Lemmer, The Netherlands T: +31 (0) 514-56 18 54 F: +31 (0) 514-56 38 98 gim-international@geomares.nl www.gim-international.com

Durk Haarsma, publishing director FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 5

NEWS

EAB The Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) of GIM International ­consists of profes­sionals who, each in their ­discipline and with an ­independent view, assist the e­ ditorial board by making recommen­dations on ­potential authors and s­ pecific topics. The EAB is served on a non-­committal basis for two years.

PROF ORHAN ALTAN Istanbul Technical University, Turkey PROF DEREN LI Wuhan University, China MR SANTIAGO BORRERO Secretary-general of Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), Mexico PROF STIG ENEMARK Honorary President, FIG, Denmark DR ANDREW U FRANK Head, Institute for Geoinformation, Vienna University of Technology, Austria DR AYMAN HABIB, PENG Professor and Head, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada DR GABOR REMETEY-FÜLÖPP Past Secretary General, Hungarian Association for Geo-information (HUNAGI), Hungary PROF PAUL VAN DER MOLEN Twente University, The Netherlands PROF DR IR MARTIEN MOLENAAR Twente University, The Netherlands MR JOSEPH BETIT Senior Land Surveyor, Dewberry, USA PROF SHUNJI MURAI Institute Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Japan PROF DAVID RHIND ret. Vice-Chancellor, The City University, UK

INSIDER’S VIEW BY PROF ORHAN ALTAN, ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, TURKEY

Unique Chance for Digital Atlases The importance of obtaining information from imagery has been widely recognised over the past years. With the increased ­availability of very-high-resolution satellite imagery, terrain-based imaging and scanning, supported by rapidly growing processing capacity and advancements in information technology, imagery has widespread applications. As a result of rapid advances in remote sensing and crowdsourcing, as well as ground-based sensor networks and computational simulation, highly heterogeneous data from different origins is being produced, accessed, analysed, integrated, stored and retrieved daily and sometimes even instantaneously.

The digital revolution has created an unprecedented explosion in the data available for analysis by scientists, policymakers and others. Extremely large datasets, or ‘big data’, are the engine of this revolution; they help researchers to recognise subtle but powerful patterns in areas ranging across the sciences, from security to genetic research and human behaviour. In order to raise awareness among the public and governmental institutions, several interactive ­visualisation techniques (atlases and other

PROF DR HEINZ RÜTHER Chairman Financial Commission ISPRS, University of Cape Town, Department of Geomatics, South Africa MR FRANÇOIS SALGÉ Secretary-general, CNIG (National Council for Geographic Information), France PROF DR TONI SCHENK Professor, The Ohio State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USA

The results of a detailed survey on current geovisualisation products reveal that the majority of the latest applications were ­originally designed especially for web and mobile use. The attractiveness of such ­applications is primarily based on their immediate benefit in everyday life, the real-time accuracy of the data offered, and their integrative possibilities. In addition, applications using 3D concepts and virtual globes appeal to users thanks to their intuitive navigation and spatial clarity.

[1] Chen, J et al; Information from Imagery: ISPRS Scientific Vision and Research Agenda. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. isprsjprs.2015.09.008 [2] R ené S. ; Hollenstein L.; Eichenberger R.: Concepts and Techniques of an Online 3D Atlas – Challenges in Cartographic 3D Geovisualization, 5th International Symposium, ISoLA 2012, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 15-18 October 2012, Proceedings, Part II.

MR ROBIN MCLAREN Director, Know Edge Ltd, United Kingdom

Orhan Altan.

INTERNATIONAL | FEBRUARY 2016

Today, atlas systems have to compete with a multiplicity of freely available map services, geoportals and virtual globes; thus, atlases have to strive for new horizons. At the same time, the huge popularity of geodata and geoapplications presents a unique chance for digital atlas producers to activate new user groups and to animate them for ­collaborative purposes.

FURTHER READING

PROF JOHN C TRINDER First Vice-President ISPRS, School of Surveying and SIS, The University of New South Wales, Australia

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mapping systems) were developed.

In the last century numerous interactive atlas and mapping systems offered a variety of mainly statistical 2D map types, like ­choropleths, point symbols and diagrams, and a handful of 3D map types like panoramic views and block diagrams.

These systems bundled atlas functionalities for spatial and temporal navigation, map visualisation and layer handling.

NEWS

Most shared during the last month from www.gim-international.com 1. Photon Lidar, a Promising Advance in Mapping Applications - http://bit.ly/1RVwDM2 2. Innovation at the Heart of Geospatial Growth Strategy - http://bit.ly/1jQpu1n 3. Lidar Scanning by Helicopter in the USA - http://bit.ly/1I11h2R 4. Archaeologists to Reconstruct Syrian Heritage Using 3D Cameras - http://bit.ly/1RVwqsb 5. Geomatics and Climate Change - http://bit.ly/1RVw3xT

CORRECTION In November we received a letter to the editor regarding an article published in the October issue of GIM International: ‘Transition from Paper to Digital. Cadastre Renewal and Automation Project in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus’ from the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in The Netherlands. The writers of the letter expressed their concerns about the article, which in their view did not justify the political situation on Cyprus, especially since the article is reporting on processes in an entity that is not internationally recognised.

You can read the whole letter on our website, www.gim-international.com. The editor and publisher of GIM International would like to stress that the articles in the magazine do not necessarily represent the views of GIM International, nor its editors. Also, the articles in the magazine are solely meant to report on technical and scientific issues in, in this case, the field of cadastre and land surveying.

Geomares Publishing respects international law, Security Council resolutions and rulings of international courts of law.

Asset Inspection Data Support Added to 4DMapper 4DMapper, a browser-based 3D geospatial data gateway designed to add value to existing geospatial software, products and services, now supports streaming of geotagged and non-geotagged photos, videos and inspection data with live annotation and collaboration. This makes it possible to spatially manage inspection data, in a 3D visual framework, along with other data such as imagery, DTMs and GIS mapping (shapefiles). 4DMapper functions as a single place to manage, share, deliver and collaborate on a project’s spatial data. http://bit.ly/1QpxPUH

OGC Launches Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure Project The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has announced a new OGC Interoperability Program project called the Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure Standards and Communication Pilot (‘Arctic SDI Pilot’). The Arctic SDI Pilot is sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Natural Resources Canada. The goal is to demonstrate to Arctic stakeholders the diversity, richness and value of a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) based on web services and standardised exchange formats in helping address critical issues impacting the Arctic. Stakeholders include national and pan-Arctic science and monitoring organisations as well as decision-makers engaged in Arctic research, socio-economic policy and environmental management. The organisations participating in the Arctic SDI Pilot will document and publicise best practices that can support a rich network of web-accessible data and service resources for the Arctic. http://bit.ly/1QpyoOr

ArcGIS Earth 1.0 Available ArcGIS Earth 1.0 is now available from Esri. ArcGIS Earth is ArcGIS Earth 1.0. an interactive globe viewer that helps to explore any part of the world and work with 3D and 2D map data including KML. This lightweight desktop app was built specifically for users who need a user-friendly, consistent experience for browsing enterprise map data, quickly viewing files and communicating spatial information. This release is the first, fully supported production release of the newest 3D product in the Esri ArcGIS platform. Earth will now begin a regular update cycle and Esri welcomes feedback as the basis for further improvements. http://bit.ly/1QpxWQe

Asset inspection added to 4DMapper.

FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 7

NEWS

NEW

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Phase One Unveils 100MP Mediumformat Metric Aerial Cameras

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Phase One Industrial has announced two 100MP CMOS-based medium-format metric cameras for aerial mapping and other demanding applications.

According to the company, the development of the Phase One iXU 1000 and the iXU-R 1000 camera systems marks a shift towards higher value for the aerial data acquisition market. These systems, which are available in either RGB or near-infrared (NIR) variants, are distinguished from all other existing medium-format aerial camera systems by their combination of higher image resolution, wider ISO range and faster capture speeds (as fast as 0.85 second per frame), offering large-format advantages. http://bit.ly/1nMOI2s

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The NEW RIEGL VP-1: Fully Integrated Helipod for Airborne Laser Scanning!

With the VP-1 Helipod, RIEGL provides a new, user-friendly, turnkey airborne laser scanning solution.

The RIEGL VP-1 is designed for the VUX-SYS, SYS, YS, which comprises the RIEGL VUX-1LR R survey-grade LiDAR Sensor, the IMU/GNSS unit, the control unit and a digital camera. The VUX-SYS is fully integrated into the small and lightweight RIEGL VP-1 pod, to be mounted on standard hard points and typical camera mounts of manned helicopters.

RIEGL VP-1 Key Features:

VUX-SYS control unit shock-proof mounting platform RIEGL VUX-1LR

US-based technology multinational Intel has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the German developer and manufacturer of UAVs, Ascending Technologies. In a statement, Intel indicated that it regards UAVs as offering an incredible opportunity for innovation across a multitude of industries. As a result, the company is positioning itself at the forefront of this opportunity to increasingly integrate the computing, communications, sensor and cloud technology required to make drones smarter and more connected. http://bit.ly/1nMPDQi

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Intel Acquires German UAV Developer Ascending Technologies

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AscTec Falcon.

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NEWS

GEOBIA 2016 From 14-16 September 2016 the Faculty ITC (www.itc.nl) of the University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands) will host the 6th international conference of Geographic Object-based Image Analysis (GEOBIA 2016).

The theme will be ‘Solutions & Synergies’.

In terms of ‘solutions’ the conference will focus on existing bottlenecks preventing OBIA procedures developed by the research community from being applied and implemented in practice, and ways to overcome

them. Meanwhile, ‘synergies’ will concern efforts to connect with researchers working on segmentation-based image analysis in other domains, such as the computer vision or the biomedical fields.

The GEOBIA conference will also feature an ISPRS-linked benchmark effort allowing researchers working on urban site classification to have their solution objectively tested and evaluated. The authors of the most successful procedures will be invited to work as co-authors

GEOBIA2016

on a future article about the OBIA benchmark after the conference. The benchmark also ties in to the conference’s focus on high spatial resolution data, including from UAVs/drones, and including oblique data that those instruments often provide. There will also be a range of inspiring keynote speakers, including distinguished researchers from outside the core GEOBIA community, to help set the research agenda in this field for the coming years.

In addition to papers related to the two conference themes, submissions are also welcome on the methodological and application topics that have featured in previous GEOBIA conferences. The deadline for abstracts is 1 March 2016, and for extended abstracts it is 1 July 2016.

SOLUTIONS & SYNERGIES

GEOBIA 2016 – SOLUTIONS & SYNERGIES, 14-16 SEPTEMBER 2016 www.geobia2016.com

GIM International is the media partner of GEOBIA 2016, and will publish occasional features concerning GEOBIA in the lead-up to the conference. Check the website (www.geobia2016.com) for more details, and register for updates.

See you in Enschede!

On behalf of the organising committee, Norman Kerle, chair of GEOBIA 2016, and Markus Gerke (ITC) and Sébastien Lefèvre (Université de Bretagne-Sud, France), co-chairs

Your News and Views in GIM International?

Do you have an interesting idea for an article in GIM International? We are always looking for the best news and views from the geomatics industry. If you are working with the most innovative technology, have performed a challenging survey or simply want to share your perspectives on the future, please send an email to our editorial manager, Wim van Wegen by e-mail: wim.van.wegen@geomares.nl. He will be more than happy to explore ways of sharing your ideas with your peers throughout the geomatics world. www.gim-international.com/contact

FEBRUARY 2016 |

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GIM INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEWS SNIT EXECUTIVE SECRETARY ALVARO MONETT HERNANDÉZ

Spatial Data Infrastructure in Chile is Mature and Expanding Chile is a good example of a South American country with a successful spatial data infrastructure (SDI).

Regions and sectors can build upon the national infrastructure while staying focused on their own needs.

Therefore, the infrastructure is well used and growing coherently in both directions – in terms of both users and providers of spatial data. The National System for Territorial Information Coordination (SNIT) is steered by an executive secretariat at the Ministry of National Assets, headed by Alvaro Monett. He is proud of what has been realised so far but still sees many challenges left to tackle.

Geospatial information management in Chile has a distributed architecture, both technologically and institutionally. Was that your intention from the beginning?

Yes it was, but to be honest it is the result of a 15-year process of evolving mutual understanding among the various stakeholders. A culture of collaboration and trust has developed over the last ten years.

Alvaro Monett Hernandéz: “Progress in the downloading possibilities will enhance municipalities’ and citizens’ awareness of the possibilities of our NSDI.” 10 |

INTERNATIONAL | F E B R U A R Y 2 016

Like many other countries, we have experienced the transition from an individual and parcelled vision of spatial information management to a shared one. The many successful cases stimulated this process in ministries and public organisations. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile – which includes more than ten dependent institutions – still serves as a reference for current projects. Up until a few years ago they all worked with individual data and platforms, but they decided to install a cooperative solution based on common principles and protocols of interoperability. Today they work under the concept of ‘Minagri SDI’ which is a geospatial data infrastructure for the whole ministry. All the dependent institutions are very content with the efficiency results. They have learned to trust each other’s data quality and work processes. As a result of the distributed organisational model, the commitment of all Chilean authorities and the training of 500 people each year, we have a mass of GIS and SDI professionals in about 20 ministries and all 15 regions of the country to keep the network healthy and growing.

How does the network operate?

The Spatial Data Infrastructure of Chile is a collaborative network of public institutions

working in a coordinated manner. This is led by the Ministry of National Assets, and that minister fulfils the role of president of the Council of Ministers for Territorial Information.

Guidelines are provided to the other SDI stakeholders to optimise information management in their organisations and to facilitate sharing and public access. The legal framework, institutional organisation, technological tools, interoperability (standards and specifications) and capacity building are addressed. In doing this, we – the Executive Secretariat – are very alert to facilitate the ability of institutions to communicate, create alliances, establish agreements and develop projects. We stimulate the development of sectoral spatial infrastructure programmes.

Large ones are currently running in the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, the Undersecretaries of Telecommunications and Tourism and in the National Institute for Statistics. Other current initiatives that contribute to the development of the national SDI (NSDI) are: the modernisation of the national cadastre (Ministry of National Assets), the implementation of a satellite image viewer (Aero-photogrammetric Service of the Air Force), basic mapping viewer (Military Geographic Institute) and the

BY FRÉDÉRIQUE COUMANS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, GIM INTERNATIONAL

INTERVIEW

Integrated Emergency Information System (National Office for Emergency).

There are eight permanent thematic groups focused on managing information related to topics of national importance, such as Basic Information, Planning, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Social, Housing, Patrimony and Environment. We have also established working groups to address specific issues that require joint efforts by several institutions.

These groups are temporary and do not require a high level of institutional agreement.

In all this, I want to highlight the work of the country’s 15 regions. In each of them, the goal is the implementation of a regional SDI to support decision-making and public policies according to their regional strategies. They ensure that it fits within the national framework.

Are the municipalities active participants?

At the moment we don’t have a formal relationship with the 345 municipalities; they are not obliged to follow the guidelines that SNIT provides to the ministries and regional governments. However, good relationships are developing. We are planning to invest in their capacity building on spatial data handling.

Some agreements have been established with a number of municipalities for transferring technology and knowledge, in some cases via the corresponding regional government. One example of this is the tool called ‘Geonodo’ that provides capabilities for serving geospatial information on the web. This tool has been created by the SNIT Executive

An example of the graphic interface of the Chilean SDI Viewer VISOR, which connects map services from different state agencies.

Chile is a long and narrow country that stretches along South America’s western edge, with approx. 4,300km of Pacific Ocean coastline. portal is managed. Also important is to represent our country in all kinds of national and international instances related to the modern management of spatial information, in particular the initiative of the United Nations for Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), in which Chile has a permanent representation. Our core business – SNIT – is instituted by Supreme Decree as the permanent coordination mechanism for public territorial information with the aim to implement and maintain a national SDI. This

THE NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK WILL ADDRESS THE MAPPING AGENCIES’ BUSINESS MODEL, REQUIRING EMPATHIC DISCUSSIONS BY ALL INVOLVED Secretariat with open-source technology and is delivered free of cost, including training, to organisations that require it.

What other tasks does the Executive Secretariat handle?

One important task is to permanently examine technical norms and standards that allow interoperability of territorial information. We study and propose norms, tools and actions to strengthen and promote the policy for territorial (geo)information management. The maintenance of the territorial information

legal framework is assigned to the Council of Ministers of Territorial Information. In this Council, 11 central and regional ministries are represented by their Secretaries of State and they installed the Executive Secretariat within the Ministry of National Assets for the operational coordination.

How is the private sector involved in the NSDI? The private sector has a very limited involvement on a structural basis. This is one of the challenges for the coming years. First we have to formalise a new legal framework

for the Chilean SDI in which all roles and positions are updated. But private companies are frequently a partner in the acquisition of geodata. The critical mass of experts in surveying, geomatics and related disciplines on all education levels is increasing in our country. But we still have some gaps to fill; an important one is knowledge of territorial analysis to add value to the information and to support decision-making.

Can all public spatial data be viewed or used easily?

Information exchange is free of charge among public institutions, and a lot of the data produced with public resources is freely accessible to everyone. The SNIT Executive maintains a geoportal – called VISOR (see www.ide.cl) – where over 180 layers of geospatial information can be viewed through WMS protocols. The portal has been widely disseminated to various public stakeholders and has had an excellent reception. Updating FEBRUARY 2016 |

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INTERVIEW

is performed online by the data-supplying institutions themselves using WMS protocols.

In VISOR there is also a downloads section where data and layers from some organisations are available to the public. We are currently implementing WFS protocols.

Core reference datasets have full national coverage at 1:50,000 scale and are well maintained, including metadata and international quality standards. But privacy- and security-sensitive data and the base maps are not freely available. They can be obtained from the national mapping agencies on request. The mapping agencies’ business model requires them to be self-funding to a certain degree, so they cannot give away their fundamental data layers for free. This is a relevant issue since fundamental datasets are the basis for building and representing thematic data about them. The new legal framework will also address this topic and it is one of the points which will require empathic discussions by all involved.

Is it a problem to fund the ongoing development of the SDI? There is no guaranteed central funding for SDI activities. The SNIT Executive Secretariat receives annual funding for the professional staff (ten experts), for coordination activities at both central and regional level, for the maintenance of transversal tools and applications (National Geoportal including the Catalogue and Viewer), for dissemination activities (seminars, workshops), and for our international work. Just like the other ministries and regional governments, we have to apply annually for additional budget for projects, people and new investments in the field of geospatial information management.

That is of course an insecure situation, but we have so far come a long way by investing in the awareness of the benefits of spatial data and GIS in solving problems and making better decisions. I think that progress in the downloading possibilities in VISOR will enhance the municipalities’ and citizens’ awareness about the possibilities of our NSDI, and that could create a bottom-up effect. We are also generating the necessary validation mechanisms to be able to let citizens participate in collecting and sharing geodata.

In our extremely expansive country – the Republic of Chile is over 4,000km long from north to south – crowdsourced data could certainly bring added value.

The Republic of Chile is the longest country in the world: 2,670 miles long (approx. 4,300km) spanning seven climate zones. This South American country is also narrow, with an average width of 110 miles (approx. 177km). About 85 percent of the Chileans (16 million people) live in urban areas, with 45 percent living in Greater Santiago. High mountain ranges make up about 80 percent of the territory and there are 500 geologically active volcanoes. Since its return to democracy in 1990 Chile has been a very stable and prosperous nation (rated AA- by Standard & Poor).

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FEBRUARY 2016 |

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No 2912

BY MATTHIAS NAUMANN AND GĂ–RRES GRENZDĂ–RFFER, UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK, GERMANY

FEATURE

COMBINING TERRESTRIAL LIDAR AND UAS PHOTOGRAMMETRY INTO ONE UNIFIED MODEL

Reconstructing a Church in 3D Reconstruction and maintenance work in historical buildings such as churches requires detailed and accurate information about them, but it can be difficult and expensive to acquire such data efficiently. The combination of terrestrial Lidar and UAS-based photogrammetry provides an adequate approach for gathering a full model of the outside of a church. Additionally, it allows for accuracy evaluation by comparing areas with overlap between terrestrial Lidar and the point cloud derived from the UAS images.

The imposing Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Greifswald, Germany, dates back to the 13th century (Figure 1). It undergoes continuous maintenance, which requires accurate, complete and up-to-date information for planning, damage assessment and structural design. The dimensions of the cathedral, and especially of its tower which is about 97m high, are impressive. The church is part of an urban landscape in the historic centre of the mediaeval town, making it difficult to survey the building with common terrestrial surveying methods. It was decided that a combination of two technologies would provide the best possible dataset. Terrestrial Lidar was used to scan the lower part of the cathedral up to the eaves of the nave of the church. This data was extended with unmanned aerial system (UAS) photogrammetry for the higher parts of the building, including the tower. The lower parts of the cathedral could not be recorded by the UAS since adjacent trees would interfere with the flight.

FLIGHT PREPARATION After scanning, a set of 117 ground control points (GCPs), each with an accuracy of 1cm, was laid out around the church for georeferencing purposes in the UAS survey.

The airborne survey was conducted with a UAS from microdrones (MD4-1000). This UAS allows comparatively long flight duration, and thus offers sufficient reserves in the case of a higher load due to wind or air turbulence. An Olympus PEN E- P2 camera with a fixed focal length of 17mm and 12MP sensor size was attached to the UAS. Careful planning was required to obtain all the necessary information from the UAS flight.

Both nadir and oblique images with significant

overlap were required to reduce blind spots near the roof structure. It was decided to fly up and down the building in vertical strips as this is much easier than circling the building in horizontal flights. This latter approach would require a continuous change in the orientation of the UAS and the camera, which is much more complicated than changing the orientation once for each vertical strip.

Each strip had to be located between 15m and 20m from the building. This provided the best balance between achieving a high degree of detail in the images and maintaining a sufficient safety margin to compensate strong wind shears. The variation in distance between the camera and the building had to be as small as possible since the camera was

SCANNING Terrestrial Lidar was performed with the phase difference Laser Scanner Photon 120 from FARO. This scanner has a range of up to 120m and a range measuring accuracy of 2mm for distances up to 25m.

All the individual scans were linked together to generate one large, unified point cloud.

Several highly visible targets were placed and tagged in the scans. Each target had known coordinates, which were used to reference the point cloud in the coordinate reference system.

Figure 1, The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Greifswald, Germany (Courtesy: Roland Rosner, Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz).

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independent check of the results (Figure 3).

For the nave area, this process resulted in a point cloud of approximately 11.5 million points, which was sufficiently dense for the required application.

Figure 2, UAS MD4-1000 ready for take-off.

TWO SURVEYS Two UAS surveys took place in March 2014, on a day with an overcast sky (Figure 2). This is preferable to a full sunny day, as the strong illumination differences and harsh shadows my cause problems in the subsequent dense matching phase. The nave of the church was captured in a conventional manner with nadir images in parallel strips at height of about 60 m. This first UAS flight was extended with some additional oblique images. In total, this resulted in 348 images of the nave of the church. A second flight was used to capture

Ground North Ground South First Floor North First Floor South Gable

DENSE MATCHING

ACCURACY VERIFICATION

The images from the UAS flights were used to generate a 3D point cloud using dense matching. This approach is based on an automated pixel-wise search for correspondences between overlapping images. First, the photogrammetric orientation of 923 images was calculated using Agisoft Photoscan. The 117 GCPs were used for georeferencing and to conduct an

Representative test areas in the overlapping zone between the terrestrial Lidar and UAS point cloud were used for accuracy comparison. They were located in different parts of the nave and ranged from 128 to 330m² in surface area. Since the point clouds from the two sources were based on the same coordinate system, an integration and comparison could be performed easily.

Figure 3, GCPs and checkpoints overlaid on the 3D model generated from dense matching.

set to a fixed focal distance. If the UAS were to deviate too much from the planned survey distance, the images would become blurred, rendering them useless.

Location

the tower of the church. This was done in 12 vertical strips with an oblique-looking camera at an angle of 30° in the direction of the facades. For these vertical flights along the tower, the image interval was set to achieve an image overlap on the facade of about 80%. During the tower flights, the images were triggered continuously, resulting in 550 images of the tower. This excludes the images from the descending strips. Due to a technical problem the camera looked unintentionally downwards when descending, resulting in unusable images. Since the overlap in all the strips is very high, all objects are still included in several stereo models.

The computed point cloud for the tower was not sufficiently dense because it was not possible to extract points at locations with low image contrast. The SURE software package, developed by the Institute for Photogrammetry at the University of Stuttgart, was therefore selected to perform densification on the point cloud. Within SURE, the 3D coordinates can be calculated for each pixel from several stereo models based on an adapted SemiGlobal matching algorithm. It requires orientation parameters and distortion-free images as input, for which the Agisoft results were used.

After computation by SURE, all points with an estimated accuracy of less than 2mm were filtered out. Subsequently, the point cloud was further thinned by a factor of 10, resulting in a point cloud of 180 million points.

The three point clouds (lower part, nave and tower) could then be combined into one large, consistent point cloud.

Length x Height (m) Offset, mean (cm) Offset, sigma (cm)

25 x 8 32 x 4 52 x 5

1.5 3.0 2.8

5.4 7.1 3.2

33 x 4

3.3

8.8

15 x 22

2.4

2.5

Table 1, Accuracy verification results.

Figure 4, Model of the nave (left) and rendering with photorealistic texturing (right).

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FEATURE

For each test area, the UAS point cloud was compared with the terrestrial Lidar data, which served as reference. The distance values were statistically analysed by creating a histogram and by computing the mean and standard deviation. Deviations greater than 30cm were excluded from the comparisons as outliers. The average deviations of the surfaces in the test areas were in the range of 1.5cm to 3.3cm. The standard deviations were in the range of 2.5cm to 8.8cm. Within homogeneous surface areas such as walls, the differences between the two point clouds were low and were within the range of a few centimetres. Small structures and edges were better represented in the terrestrial Lidar point cloud as they appeared smoothed in the UAV cloud. Large differences were mainly due to the lack of information in the other point cloud or, in some cases, caused by occasional outliers or incorrect measurements. Table 1 shows the outcomes in all test areas.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Quick visual inspection on demand is a long-held dream of architects and planners.

The images provide a valuable basis for assessing the current state of a building as the basis for decisions on reconstruction.

In this project, the combination of TLS and UAS photogrammetry was a logical step because each method overcomes the other’s problems. Combining them produces a dense and accurate 3D model of the entire building and is favourable from an economic point of view (Figure 4).

FURTHER READING

Naumann et al (2015): Symbiose von UAS-Photogrammetrie und TLS zur Vermessung und 3D-Modellierung von Kirchenbauwerken am Beispiel des Greifswalder Dome. In: Th. Luhmann/ Ch. Müller (Hrsg.): Photogrammetrie – Laserscanning – Optische 3D-Messtechnik, Beiträge der Oldenburger 3D-Tage 2015, Wichmann - VDE Verlag, 2015.

MATTHIAS NAUMANN Dipl-Ing (FH) MSc (GIS) Matthias Naumann studied surveying at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Germany, and geoinformation systems and science at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Since 2001 he has been working at the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Rostock in Germany. matthias.naumann@uni-rostock.de

GÖRRES GRENZDÖRFFER Dr-Ing Görres Jochen Grenzdörffer studied geography at the University in Tübingen, Germany. Since 1994 he has been working as a researcher at the Institute of Geodesy at the University of Rostock. He completed his PhD at the University of Rostock in 2001. goerres.grenzdoerffer@uni-rostock.de

UAS Special

Bringing you the latest news and developments in UAS technology In spring 2016 GIM International will publish its fourth annual UAS Special, bringing you details of the very latest developments relating to Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

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FEBRUARY 2016 |

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No 2928

BY EFSTRATIOS STYLIANIDIS, ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI, GREECE, AND FABIO REMONDINO, BRUNO KESSLER FOUNDATION, ITALY FEATURE

3D RECORDING, DOCUMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT

Geomatics for Cultural Heritage Preservation The application of geomatics technology to record, visualise and digitally reconstruct cultural heritage resources is becoming a powerful and invaluable part of contemporary cultural heritage preservation and management. New tools have appeared in the past decades including laser scanning, rapid prototyping, RGB-D sensors, high dynamic range imaging, spherical and infrared imaging, mobile mapping systems, UAS-based imaging, augmented and virtual reality and computer rendering in multiple dimensions. The resulting images and data can be used to disseminate knowledge and information for education, research, risk assessment, planning and design related to cultural heritage conservation.

Cultural heritage conservation relates to maintaining objects, architecture or historic places in their current state in order to preserve authenticity, materials and values.

Conservators work thoughtfully as they understand the significance of such places and objects and are keen to ensure that any interventions are carefully deliberated, debated and researched. Cultural heritage conservation has become a multi-disciplinary profession in which a rapidly growing number of buildings, sites, objects and landscapes are being identified for preservation.

Digital geometric documentation has many advantages and can rely on a large variety of sensors and software. Therefore, the application of geomatics technologies for the recording, visualisation and possible restoration and digital fabrication of cultural heritage resources is a powerful tool that can both support the dissemination of information and contribute to conservation.

CARAVAN CITIES IN THE ANCIENT EAST In Roman times, the Silk Road was a major trading route leading between China and Rome. For some years now, a project has been underway to build up an information management system for this route’s significant cultural value. The cities of Hatra, Palmyra and Petra in the ancient Near East were ‘caravan cities’ where the Parthian style was influenced by the Greco-Roman

Figure 1, Researchers surveying a Mayan temple at Cópan, Honduras. styles of architecture and sculpture. The imposing ancient architecture – with walls, colonnaded streets, temples and tombs of various kinds – has been preserved in these ancient cities and all of them are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The city Floruit of Hatra, situated in Northern Mesopotamia in Iraq, dates from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD. A GIS database was created for the conservation of the city as the basis for integrating all other data collected using other tools. The defences, constructed of stone, include a ditch, tower tombs in the curtain wall (approx.

6km in circumference), massive walls and towers. An Italian team working at the site is building a database using Microsoft Word in hypertext mode for a catalogue. In addition, a geographic database including a topographic

relief has been constructed in GIS (ArcView).

AutoCAD and Sketch-up 8 have been used to model the defences in 3D. This provides a baseline for the conservation and restoration of the defensive structures.

The ancient city of Palmyra is in a desert oasis in Syria. It enjoyed its heyday from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. The city has suffered severe damage, including to the ancient temple of Bel plus some other valuable remains from antiquity, during the recent Syrian civil war and some looting has taken place. Fortunately, the famous tower tombs that form part of the funerary landscape of Palmyra have been partly digitised using photogrammetric methods and, more recently, one of them (Figure 2) has been modelled using spherical photogrammetry (Fangi, 2015).

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Figure 2, Palmyra tomb tower: orientation network and the 3D model (plot by Marco Franca).

THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN JERUSALEM The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Israel, is the central church of Christianity. It is based on the basilica originally built by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD on the traditional site of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. Over the centuries, the basilica and the so-called Anastasis rotunda have faced fire, war and destruction. The site, which is currently shared by various churches and Christian denominations, has been documented by photogrammetric methods from as early as 1992.

A Greek interdisciplinary team further documented the monument by generating a cross section of it in AutoCAD. A 3D rotation was applied to project points. All the stereo pairs were oriented and plotted on a Leica DVP digital stereo plotter or Adam MPS-2 analytical stereo plotter. Architects produced the 3D photogrammetric outputs. The seismic vulnerability of the basilica prompted another 3D documentation project, carried out by an Italian team using GPS, total stations, photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning. The main aim was to perform a survey to establish the state of conservation of the basilica, with special attention paid to the rocky area on which it stands.

ST. MARK’S BASILICA

Figure 4, 3D digitisation of a painting using a triangulationbased laser scanner.

Figure 5, Capturing optical imagery of the Paestum archaeological site using an ESAFLY A2500 (www.salengineering.it).

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The St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice (built from 827-829 AD) is another outstanding architectural monument of Christianity.

The wooden domes of the basilica that apparently date from 1210-1270 AD have been 3D modelled to understand the form, composition, wood species and conservation state of the beams and to build a database for analysis and monitoring. The documentation was aimed at understanding the static function of the beams in the architectural study. Traditional survey methods were initially used with a total station (TCRM1101) followed by laser scanning and CAD modelling.

Visualisation and rendering of the dome structures was carried out using 3DStudio Max (Figure 3). The mosaic floors of the basilica have been documented in 3D to take into account the undulating state of the floors.

Figure 3, 3D visualisation of a wooden dome of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice using 3D Studio Max (Fregonese and Taffurelli, 2009).

FRESCOES AND MURALS Irrespective of the medium or substrate, mural paintings require special attention in conservation. Light, humidity and temperature have to be set to a specific level and they must be constantly monitored. Infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) light have been used to study paintings and writing since the 1930s.

IR is quite strong and can reveal different layers of paint, if they exist. UV is used to reveal features in organic and inorganic artefacts or, in the case of paintings, to identify varnishes and over-paintings, particularly with fluorescence-imaging systems. Electrooptic holography and IR thermography are used in diagnostics and to assess defects in frescoes. In recent decades, laser-based techniques have become powerful methods in studying frescoes because of their minimum invasiveness. The combination of planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), Raman spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) offers a way of carrying out diagnostics and cleaning; and approaching the composition of the studied artefacts more authentically, thus improving the documentation procedure. It has been useful in studying pigments, copper-based alloys, ceramics and marble.

During the Vasari project and the study of pre-Hispanic murals in Mexico, a typical digital photogrammetric pipeline was used in order to build a 3D model for the conservation and restoration of paintings that may be adversely affected by the processes of preservation (Figure 4). Parameters such as spectrum,

FEATURE

A POWERFUL TOOL Conservation today seeks to retain the cultural past using geomatics technology such as 3D modelling. In a world where cultural heritage is increasingly threatened by abandonment, trafficking of artefacts and conflict-driven destruction, digital information is becoming a powerful tool in the work of multi-disciplinary conservation teams (Figure 5). Current digital information challenges include data fragmentation, lack of interoperability and non-standardised data collection methodologies. It is becoming necessary to adopt methodologies and protocols for multidisciplinary teams and to establish holistic principles, guidelines and specifications.

Moreover, it is important that interdisciplinary communities are involved

and that the issues of risk assessment and sustainability are considered. A holistic approach is required, centred on the

relevance of information to understanding the significance and integrity of – and threats to – our cultural heritage.

FURTHER READING

EFSTRATIOS STYLIANIDIS

- 3D Recording, Documentation and Management of Cultural Heritage.

Efstratios Stylianidis and Fabio Remondino (eds.) Whittles Publishing, Scotland 978-184995-168-5; to be published 2016 - Fangi, G., 2015: Documentation of some cultural heritage emergencies in Syria in August 2010 by spherical photogrammetry. Int. Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. II-5/W3, pp. 401-408 - Fregonese, L., Taffurelli, L., 2009: 3D model for the documentation of cultural heritage: the wooden domes of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Int. Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 38-5/W1

Efstratios Stylianidis is assistant professor at the School of Spatial Planning and Development, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His main research interests are in photogrammetry, geomatics and ICT. For the period 2015-2018 he is the secretary general of the International Committee of Architectural Photogrammetry (CIPA – Heritage Documentation). sstyl@auth.gr

FABIO REMONDINO Fabio Remondino is the head of the 3D Optical Metrology (http://3dom.fbk.eu) research unit at the Bruno Kessler Foundation (www.fbk.eu) located in Trento, Italy. His main research interests are in the field of reality-based surveying and 3D modelling for heritage documentation, city modelling and Earth observation. remondino@fbk.eu

No 2946

colour, levels of detail and geometric accuracy were taken into account in documenting the murals. Digital photogrammetry enables enhancement of geometric accuracy. It was found that sub-millimetre resolution was needed, and 3-4 pixel accuracy was found to be satisfactory.

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No 2949

BY FRÉDÉRIQUE COUMANS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, GIM INTERNATIONAL REPORT

GPS, GIS AND UAVS SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN AID

Geomatics Helps Relief to Reach More Refugees Medair is a medium-sized relief agency with outstanding commitment to work with vulnerable people who are in extremely remote and difficult-to-access places. Medair uses the power of geo-ICT to help communities of refugees more efficiently.

Using hand-held GPS and mobile GIS, Medair teams survey informal ‘tented’ shelters every month to update the maps and the assessment data to find out where the refugees have settled and what aid they need. All images courtesy of Medair.

Since 2009 it has been Medair’s policy to employ GIS-trained staff assigned to specific projects. The number of such employees fluctuates, but there are usually around five or six at any given time – a small group, but with significant effect. Good examples of their work include their role in getting relief to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to the homeless in the Philippines.

HAND-HELD GPS AND GIS Everybody knew that there were informal encampments hosting refugees in Lebanon but no one knew exactly where they were, how many people were staying in each one and what needs they had. After crossing the border, thousands of families simply disappeared from the map. Today, around 1.5 million Syrians are seeking refuge among Lebanon’s population of 4 million.

To illustrate the pressure that brings: the European Union, with a population of 500 million, cannot agree on taking in 200,000 refugees. Since 2014, Medair has been the lead mapping agency amongst humanitarian relief organisations in Lebanon. Using hand-held GPS and mobile GIS, Medair teams survey these informal ‘tented‘ shelters every month to update the maps and the assessment data pertaining to the refugees in order to know where they have settled and what aid they need. To date, Medair has mapped more than 1,200 Syrian refugee settlements. They have also trained five other relief agencies to map the other regions of Lebanon.

Medair manages all the spatial data collected to maintain one comprehensive dataset. To facilitate data collection and spatial data analysis Medair works with Esri’s ArcGIS,

including on the mobile teams’ mobile devices. The GIS data is used to support inter-agency coordination. Without such coordination, humanitarian agencies would find it almost impossible to work in an environment such as the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, where hundreds of thousands of refugees are living in ‘tents’ scattered over a wide and relatively remote area, and it would certainly be more costly. The assessment data is a source of information about the type of assistance needed and provided.

This is coordinated through Last Mile Mobile Solutions, software developed by World Vision. Each beneficiary in the distribution chain is issued an ID, which enables Medair to digitally track them and the intended/ executed interventions. All of this data is then merged into Qlik View analytical software. In this way Medair gets a detailed overview of FEBRUARY 2016 |

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YOUR GIM-INTERNATIONAL.COM REPORT

what is needed and what has been provided, including exactly where and when.

SAVING TIME Joel Kaiser is Medair’s emergency response officer and is also responsible for the development and implementation of geomatics instruments. He is positive about the cost-benefit ratio of Medair’s investments in GIS-related tools. “Using geomatics enables us to save time by knowing exactly how many refugees require assistance, and what type of help they need, at each and every settlement. This is very important because funding to support the refugees is decreasing. Therefore we have to learn to do more with less money, and GIS helps us to do so.”

Patterns emerge over time and Medair analysts can increasingly discern trends in the aid required each month. This enables them to initiate assistance in advance, in anticipation of potential hazards. Kaiser: “However, quantifying cost savings is not easy, because those savings are re-applied to meet more needs in an ever-increasing population of refugees. But based upon my experience and observations, I would estimate that we are able to reach 15-20% more refugees as the result of streamlined aid delivery.”

UNHCR has asked Medair to oversee and build capacity within other NGOs using common tools and operating procedures.

Furthermore, in many of the countries where Medair is active, geomatics training sessions are being held to discuss GIS and remote sensing, provide an introduction to GIS and GIS software and practise mapping methods.

USE OF UAVS Medair also uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to expand the situational awareness and obtain better analysis of humanitarian needs in remote places. The best example

Medair’s emergency response officer Joel Kaiser in Lebanon.

Based on UAV imagery, maps are produced to assess hazards, see where people could reconstruct buildings, detect safe places, monitor reconstruction work, etc. Informed decisions are made faster and assistance is delivered more quickly. in these disaster zones, the community leaders could not rely on the out-of-date maps they had. Medair worked together with another NGO: Drone Adventures. By deploying senseFly’s unmanned e-Bee aerial systems, which weigh 700g and have a

‘ WE HAVE TO LEARN TO DO MORE WITH LESS MONEY, AND GIS HELPS US TO DO SO’ comes from the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated entire cities and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Many of those worst hit were living in informal homes in coastal areas. When coordinating recovery efforts 24 |

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wingspan of 96cm, they took thousands of high-resolution aerial images of some of the most devastated villages. The images were merged into 2D maps and 3D terrain models using Pix4D software for data processing and orthomosaic generation in a process

which mostly took just one to two days. The very detailed photogrammetric maps were then distributed to local leaders for use in assessing the situation in their communities and planning reconstruction efforts.

Medair used the high-resolution base maps to assess hazards in the villages, to identify where people could reconstruct buildings, to detect safe or safer places, to monitor reconstruction work, etc. The UAVs were also used to assess the local environmental damage; local livelihoods depend on resources such as coconut trees, but many trees had been damaged or uprooted. Therefore, the drone team also made low-resolution base maps of the surrounding area. The ground resolution of these orthomosaics was 1.96 inches (5cm)

REPORT

“It is an effective way to help build situational awareness between decision-makers. In this way, aerial imagery helps us make betterinformed decisions faster and deliver assistance more quickly.” UAVs were also used in Nepal to assess the situation after the earthquake in 2015. The Medair GIS staff members in Nepal have recently been trained to pilot UAVs themselves and will fly them again in 2016.

DESIRED INNOVATIONS “Medair welcomes geomatics manufacturers who prioritise ease of use and reliability.

Humanitarians interacting with data do not have training in IT, GIS or related technologies,” reminds Kaiser. He also points out that it can be difficult to connect location-based intelligence software to

traditional business intelligence reporting tools. Users may have to wrestle with pre-built connectors that have limited functionality or build their own. A new generation of location intelligence tools must clear such hurdles.

Additionally, manufacturers should always take into account the fact that connectivity is often unreliable, that datasets may contain non-Latin script (e.g. Arabic) and that humanitarian agencies rarely have sufficient capital to sustain large investments.

Data security is another issue. In regions where NGOs are active, data is shared among the humanitarian agencies through the coordination structure established by UNHCR. Kaiser refers to Lebanon as a good example: “By helping to coordinate the data in Lebanon, Medair is actually reducing the risk associated with many organisations storing and handling data in different ways.

It makes the process more accountable. We have not experienced any misuse of data, but we remain vigilant; we secure sensitive datasets in separate, encrypted databases to ensure that no single breach of security

or data theft would endanger refugees.

But members of the geomatics industry should realise that, since we are handling sensitive data, security must be of the utmost importance in their innovative technology.”

ABOUT MEDAIR Founded in 1988 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Medair brings relief to human suffering in some of the world’s most remote and devastated places. In 2014, over 1,000 Medair staff members delivered critical services to more than 1.5 million beneficiaries. The NGO operates in three main sectors: health and nutrition; shelter and infrastructure; and water, sanitation and hygiene. Medair is currently providing assistance in 13 countries: Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Madagascar, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Nepal, Iraq, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Sudan.

More information relief.medair.org

No 2920

for villages and 3.1-3.9in (8-10cm) for rural areas. As time passed by and electricity became available again for at least part of the day, both the local authorities and relief organisations could utilise the high-definition images hosted online. “We are committed to using UAVs more often,” comments Kaiser.

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TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKS

Terrestrial Laser Scanning in Forest Inventories Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is an effective technique for acquiring detailed tree attributes in forest plots.

During the last two decades, tremendous effort by national mapping agencies, companies, universities and research organisations has been put into developing methods for tree attribute estimation using TLS. There is, however, still a lack of proper understanding on TLS performance. Different data collection methods and processing standards have led to a large range in tree detection and measurement accuracy. This article explains the early results of an international benchmarking initiative for TLS methods in forest inventories.

The study has identified important differences in methods that should lead to operational work guidelines.

A terrestrial laser scanner automatically documents its surrounding environment in three-dimensional (3D) space with millions to billions of 3D points. In forestry, TLS is an effective technique for measuring forest plots and is anticipated to be used in national forest inventories, leading to more sustainable silviculture and savings for forest owners and industry alike. During the last two decades, significant research has been conducted on developing best practices around TLS for forest inventorying – to evaluate, for example, whether one scanning position at the plot centre (single scan) or several scanning positions inside and outside of the plot (multiscans) should be used to measure a sample

plot and estimate tree attributes (tree height, diameter, taper, crown width).

Impressive results have been reported in recent years that are automatic, repeatable, accurate for practical applications and comparable to results from national allometric models. There is, however, still a lack of proper understanding on TLS performance, especially in forests with varying structure and development stages (complex forest structures). Currently, the results obtained from TLS data for plot-wise tree attribute estimation have varied significantly from study to study. The percentage of correctly detected trees from reported multi-scan data has ranged from 50 to 100%. The differences between varying detection rates arise from different TLS hardware, scanning set-up, forest structures and processing methods.

BENCHMARKING STUDY

Figure 1, Single-scan TLS data of a forest plot in (a) a 2D matrix and (b) a 3D point cloud.

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To clarify the current status of the TLS application in plot inventories, an international benchmarking study was launched in 2014, led by EuroSDR and partly funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme Project Advanced_SAR ([FP7/2007–2013] under grant agreement No. 606971). The main objective of this current benchmarking study is to understand recent developments of TLS methodologies in plot inventories by comparing and evaluating the quality, accuracy and feasibility of the automatic and semi-automatic tree extraction methods based on TLS data. The specific

Figure 2, The parameters studied in the TLS benchmarking study: the position, diameter at the breast height, stem curve and tree height of an individual tree and the digital terrain model of the forest plot. sub-objectives include studying the accuracy and feasibility of various methods at the same test site and, in particular, to describe the effect of plot characteristics on individual tree extraction and to assess the difference

BY XINLIAN LIANG, JUHA HYYPPÄ, HARRI KAARTINEN AND NORBERT PFEIFER

FEATURE

between results from single- and multi-scan data collection approaches.

This study involves and supports more than 20 participating national mapping agencies, companies, universities and research organisations, which have developed their own processing methods or modified existing methods. Meanwhile, the study is also open for techniques still in the research phase.

Each participant uses the same dataset to measure tree position, tree height, the diameter-at-the-breast-height (DBH), stem curve (stem diameter as function of height) and digital terrain model (DTM). Results from all the partners are evaluated using the same reference data and methods. Figure 2 illustrates the parameters studied.

BENCHMARKING TESTS The test data was collected from 24 forest plots, located in a southern boreal forest in Evo, Finland (61.19ºN, 25.11ºE) in the summer of 2014. There, the main tree species are Scots pine, Norway spruce and silver and downy birches. Each plot had a fixed size of 32 x 32m. The test forest plots varied in species, growth stages and management activities including both homogenous and less-managed (and therefore lesshomogenous) forests. Figure 3 shows two forest plots with clearly different structures.

The forest in Figure 3(a) is dominated by pine trees on a flat terrain. There are 50 trees with a mean tree height of 19m. The forest plot in Figure 3(b) is more complex due to the steep terrain and having plenty of young trees.

There are 168 trees with a mean tree height of 12m. The point cloud data was down-sampled to every fifth point to visualise the varied forest stand situation.

Figure 3, Two forest plots with clearly different structures. coordination, collection and distribution of all the data, and the evaluation as well as publication of the results. Preliminary test data became available for partners in February 2015. So far, 23 international partners, including six from Asia, 13 from Europe, three from North America and one from Oceania, have received the data and 12 partners have submitted their results. The methods in benchmarking show a high level of automation and are providing results at reasonable accuracies.

EVALUATING THE RESULTS The study is now in the evaluation phase.

Using standardised data and evaluation methods, the extraction of tree positions, tree heights, DBH, stem curve and DTM were evaluated. The current results show variances between methods and data collection approaches. Figure 5 shows the averaged root mean square errors (RMSEs) of DTMs from all the participants in each test plot. The results from single-scan and multi-scan data are marked in red and blue, respectively.

Figure 4, A forest plot in the single-scan and multi-scan terrestrial laser scanning mode.

Five scans were made in each plot – at the plot centre and in north-east, south-east, southwest and north-west directions. Using five scanning positions in the multi-scan approach is a typical data-acquisition set-up which is a trade-off between the field scanning cost and the data quality (the merged TLS point cloud normally covers all trees within the forest plot).

The test data included both single-scan and multi-scan TLS data. The centre scan was used as the single-scan data. All five scans were also registered using reference targets and merged as the multi-scan data (Figure 4).

The Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) is currently responsible for overall project management, including the general

Figure 5, The averaged RMSEs of DTMs from all the participants in each test plot.

FEBRUARY 2016 |

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No 2945

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FEATURE

As expected, the single-scan results are clearly less accurate than those from the multi-scan data. Clear variances are also noticeable between forest plots under different forest conditions, as well as between study partners. When building a DTM from the multi-scan TLS, the results showed a mean RMSE at 12.7cm, the minimum at 6.5cm and the maximum value of 28.9cm; for the single-scan TLS, they are 32.3cm, 8.5cm and 101.3cm, respectively (greater error). As for the best-performing participant, the mean RMSE of the DTM is 7.5cm, the minimum is 4.5cm and the maximum is 13.0cm when using the multi-scan data; for the single-scan data, they are 21.3cm, 7.9cm and 52.8cm respectively (greater error).

OUTLOOK

application and identify necessary research steps so that traditional analogue forest inventory methods can one day be replaced by TLS-based methods.

DR XINLIAN LIANG

PROF HARRI KAARTINEN

Dr Xinlian Liang is a senior research scientist and a team leader at the Department of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, FGI) and the Centre of Excellence in Laser Scanning Research (Academy of Finland). xinlian.liang@nls.fi

Prof Harri Kaartinen completed his doctoral thesis at Aalto University on benchmarking of laser scanning systems and point cloud processing in 2013. He is a research professor with the Department of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, FGI). harri.kaartinen@nls.fi

PROF JUHA HYYPPĂ„

PROF NORBERT PFEIFER

Distinguished Prof Juha Hyyppä is director of the Centre of Excellence in Laser Scanning Research (Academy of Finland), director of National Land Survey of Finland and member of the Department of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, FGI).. juha.hyyppa@nls.fi

Prof Norbert Pfeifer obtained his PhD in terrain modelling from TU Wien in Austria, then moved to TU Delft in The Netherlands in 2003 to work as an assistant professor in laser scanning. In 2006 he became senior researcher at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, in the Department of Geography and became a full professor in photogrammetry at TU Wien in 2009. norbert.pfeifer@geo.tuwien.ac.at

No 2565

The other extracted parameters such as tree position, tree height, DBH and stem curve are under evaluation and the results will be published in detail in future study updates.

The final report of the study is expected to be published by June 2016. The TLS data used in this benchmarking study will remain available to everyone for further research purposes. The

results will not only summarise the state of the art of automated TLS plot inventory methods, but will also lead to guidelines for operational work. Hence, this study will shape the future

FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 29

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No 2953

Features

BY MANFRED BUCHROITHNER, TU DRESDEN, GERMANY

GIM PERSPECTIVES

3D Visualisation of Geodata

Gimmick, Hype or Necessity?

After a surprisingly lengthy delay, the geocommunity became aware of the advantages of 3D visualisation and, in recent years, this technology has become a real hype. However, despite the increasing availability of ‘real’ 3D geodata, i.e. actual xyz datasets rather than 2.5D data, the majority of data processors and users have only taken pseudo-3D depictions into consideration. In this context, consideration of a recent (2015) edition of the leading magazine called 3D Visualization World reveals that four out of the five articles under the heading ‘Latest News’ deal with new remote sensing data or global mapping. None of them deal with 3D geovisualisation itself – irrespective of whether we understand ‘3D’ to mean ‘pseudo’ 3D or actual stereoscopic ‘true 3D’.

In a feature article in GIM International in 2013, I previously asked “How threedimensional is 3D cartography?”. Even now, almost three years later, the number of truly three-dimensional, i.e. autostereoscopic, geodisplays which can be spontaneously

sense to use modern technologies in order to generate geovisualisations for truly threedimensional viewing. Besides their use for spatial modelling of georelief, these methods can also be applied for three-dimensional visualisation of thematic information with three or more parameters represented at different depth levels. By making use of particular visual processing mechanisms, the viewers are offered the possibility to derive three-dimensional objects spontaneously from an apparent ‘one-image depiction’.

In recent studies, a joint German research team from Bochum University and TU Dresden was able to stringently prove by means of user tests that autostereoscopic thematic maps with geodata displayed at different viewing depths increase the speed of information extraction and may therefore also allow depiction of more data. At ICA’s 2015 International Cartographic Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the first true-3D (lenticular foil) map showing two superimposed surfaces of the Antarctic was on display. The bedrock beneath the ice shield can be viewed through

SINCE THE VISUAL PERCEPTION OF NORMAL-SIGHTED PERSONS IS STEREOSCOPIC, IT DEFINITELY MAKES SENSE TO USE MODERN TECHNOLOGIES IN ORDER TO GENERATE GEO­VISUALISATIONS FOR TRULY THREE-DIMENSIONAL VIEWING viewed without viewing aids like polarisation or anaglyph glasses has not increased significantly. Why not? Is ‘true 3D’ still considered a gimmick, a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than a ‘must-have’? For several years, so-called lenticular foil maps have been the most prominent representatives on the hardcopy side. Recently, however, triggered by the TV and gaming industry, electronic softcopy displays have been undergoing a dynamic development.

a turquoise hexagonal wire-frame representation of the ice surface. This proves that we are now methodologically able to display two (or even more) planes on top of each other autostereoscopically, thus providing immense possibilities for various applications such as construction planning or mining to name but a few. Hence urban main networks, for example, could be displayed in their threedimensional position beneath digital surface models or digital terrain models.

Since the visual perception of normal-sighted persons is stereoscopic, it definitely makes

Is true 3D geovisualisation a gimmick, nice-to-have, hype or indispensable tool?

Manfred Buchroithner.

As already indicated, under certain circumstances the new autostereoscopic possibilities of geovisualisation are necessary and efficient for analysis and replacement of actual physical models. Just a few days into 2016, the world-famous Argentinean film director and screenwriter Gaspar Noé, when asked why he loves to produce films in 3D, simply answered: “3D images are much closer to life”. The same holds true for geodata!

MANFRED BUCHROITHNER Manfred Buchroithner has been Full Professor for Cartography at TU Dresden, Germany, since 1992.

His major research interests centre around high-relief terrain and (true) 3D mapping using advanced remote sensing technologies. His professional activities are focused on the production of high-mountain trekking maps, 4D glacier mapping and laser scanning of caves.

He has written and edited several books in the fields of cartography and remote sensing.

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No 2913

BY PAUL VAN ASPEREN, MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENT, THE NETHERLANDS REPORT

GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS

Strengthening Capacity The University of Twente (UT), The Netherlands, has collaborated with the University of Rwanda (UR) on a project called ‘Strengthening the Capacity of Geo-Information and Earth Observation Sciences at the University of Rwanda, for the sustainable environmental and socio-economic development of Rwanda’. The International Conference on Geospatial Technologies for Sustainable Urban and Rural Development was held recently to disseminate the achievements of the project.

The International Conference on Geospatial Technologies for Sustainable Urban and Rural Development, held from 18-20 November 2015 in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, attracted over 125 participants. Many were from the East African region, but attendees also came from The Netherlands, Asia and North and South America. Four keynote speeches and over 40 papers were presented.

LAND ADMINISTRATION Rwanda – known as ‘the land of a thousand hills’ – has made enormous progress in land administration, which was one of the main themes of the conference. In 2008, the government of Rwanda initiated systematic registration of all privately held land. This was an implementation of the Land Policy of 2004 followed by the Organic Land Law of 2005, which was amended in the New Land Law of 2013. Through this Land Tenure Regularisation (LTR) programme, all 10.4 million parcels were registered between 2009 and 2014, at an average cost of USD8 per parcel. The registration and its maintenance was decentralised to 30 District Land Bureaus. The logistics of this exercise included employing 5,000 people for demarcation, and printing 30,000 certificates daily. As a result of the LTR Rwanda’s ranking on the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ benchmark for registering property improved from 60 in 2008 to number 12 in 2015. The programme improved the position of women in terms of property rights and improved tenure security. Some challenges remain, however, including high transfer fees

(USD40) and small average agricultural plot sizes (0.6ha).

URBAN AND RURAL PLANNING Another main theme of the conference was urban and rural planning relating to high rates of urbanisation, high population densities (415 people per km2), Rwanda’s hilly topography, food security, etc. Although 71.2% of the population live in rural areas, the rate of urbanisation is high (6.4%). It is estimated that 62.5% of the residents of Kigali live in informal settlements, where services are gradually being improved. Geospatial technologies are being applied to provide detailed and up-todate spatial information. Low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have been piloted in Kigali and have provided highly accurate data relating to buildings, roads, land use, drainage and other essential information (Figure 1).

Although the local population did not generally perceive the use of UASs as a problem, residents expressed concerns about forced displacement and expropriation.

CONCLUDING REMARKS The government of Rwanda aims to increase the annual growth of agriculture from 4.9% to at least 8.5% by 2020 and also intends the nation to be a middle-income country by then. The country is proving to be a fast learner and a quick implementer; Rwanda not only ‘copied’ the policies from neighbouring Tanzania but also implemented them. The government’s aims are likely to be achieved through smart use of geoinformation and related systems and applications.

Figure 1, Image of Kigali acquired by UAS photogrammetry.

The Nuffic-funded project called ‘Strengthening the Capacity of Geo-Information and Earth Observation Sciences at the University of Rwanda, for the sustainable environmental and socio-economic development of Rwanda’ is a joint effort of the University of Rwanda (UR) and the University of Twente in The Netherlands. Over the years, the UR-UT partnership has produced more than 30 MSc graduates and five PhD graduates. Furthermore, as a result of the collaboration, UT currently has over 150 alumni from Rwanda.

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DIPPER

Producing High-quality 3D Maps from Lidar DIPPER, a spin-off company from the University of Twente, provides a breakthrough solution for processing massive Lidar data accurately and efficiently. It offers comprehensive services related to Lidar data processing and 3D scene modelling. Since the self-developed software is highly automated, one operator working with DIPPER on one laptop can create high-quality 3D maps for 10,000 buildings within just one week – equivalent to at least ten times faster than normal. The high efficiency and accuracy boost large-scale applications such as asset management, smart city, securities development and urban planning. So far, DIPPER has successfully created 3D models for five international cities.

Figure 1, A 3D city scene of The Hague showing buildings, land, waterways and roads, reconstructed by automated processing software developed by DIPPER. 3D city maps can be used in solar energy calculation, flood control, noise simulation and sensor layout design, etc.

Lidar is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target

Every month GIM International invites a company to introduce itself in these pages. The resulting article, entitled Company’s View, is subject to the usual copy editing procedures, but the publisher takes no responsibility for the content and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the magazine.

More information: wim.van.wegen@geomares.nl.

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with a laser and analysing the reflected light.

It is able to create intricate three-dimensional maps in places where bad weather or thick vegetation hamper traditional aerial mapping.

In addition, an airborne Lidar system provides 3D data with 5cm accuracy in the vertical direction, which is much better than the 50cm accuracy achieved by dense matching from stereo images. However, current Lidar data processing involves intense manual work, making it very expensive and

time-consuming. Ultimately, most companies on the market are either offering accurate 3D maps at high prices or producing affordable 3D maps with compromised quality.

Therefore, it becomes extremely difficult to achieve advanced Lidar applications.

DIPPER, a spin-off from the University of Twente (UT), was founded in December 2014 in Enschede, The Netherlands. Supported by a top research group on Lidar mapping,

BY BIAO XIONG, DIPPER, THE NETHERLANDS

COMPANY’S VIEW

DIPPER has successfully converted 20 years of pioneering scientific achievements into commercial products. The company has developed novel algorithms which enable ultrafast and highly automated data processing. Meanwhile, it also provides reliable 3D ICT services including solar energy calculation, flood control, noise simulation and sensor layout design. With its unique technology, competence and flexibility, DIPPER can provide customised products and services according to the situation, application and requirement.

LEVEL OF DETAIL DIPPER’s technology can significantly improve efficiency by creating high-quality 3D building models with a remarkable degree of automation. The quality levels of 3D maps can be determined by how many details they provide. At Level of Detail 1 (LoD1) buildings are reconstructed in just one height, which leads to all the building models being displayed with flat roofs. In comparison, at Level of Detail 2 (LoD2), the roof constructions including dormers can be clearly modelled in 3D. Considerable effort is needed to improve the level of detail from LoD1 to LoD2. The DIPPER software can construct 3D building models at LoD2 using Lidar data collected from a helicopter or an aircraft. During the data processing by the software, the Lidar points on buildings are firstly recognised and segmented into individual roof faces. The roof structures are then inferred and primitive sub-buildings are detected and modelled. More impressively, if an error is discovered in the roof construction, the software is able to automatically recognise and memorise the error patterns, and then correct repeated errors in other buildings models. Therefore, this algorithm ensures the high quality of the 3D model.

The 3D map application market is currently booming. The international market reached USD1.90 billion in 2015 and is predicted to increase to USD16.99 billion by 2020 at an estimated CAGR of 55.0%, according to market research company M&M. From a regional perspective, the Dutch government is developing its national service for large-scale 3D topography. Cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague (Figure 1) have launched projects to invest the application of 3D maps for city visualisation, management and communication. Moreover, companies focusing on solar energy, insurance, security and city planning are increasingly using 3D

Figure 2, A 3D scene of a very-high-voltage transmission line in China showing pylons, power lines, buildings and trees. A 3D map of a transmission corridor can be used in vegetation clearance management, risk management and new plan design.

information for business development and information support purposes. Accordingly, the demand for affordable and accurate 3D Lidar processing and modelling is growing fast, and DIPPER is ahead of this trend.

LIDAR DATA PROCESSING In 2015, DIPPER developed advanced toolkits for Lidar data processing. One important function of the toolkits is to model the urban scene, such as buildings, terrain, power corridors (Figure 2) and trees, with high efficiency and accuracy. This means that DIPPER is able to combine 3D building models with environmental parameters and provide detailed overviews and smart suggestions for many advanced applications, including solar energy analysis, noise management, flood control and urban planning. Meanwhile, DIPPER has established close connections with many government organisations in both The Netherlands and China, including Dutch Kadaster, municipalities and utility firms; so far DIPPER has made high-quality 3D maps for five Dutch cities and a Chinese power firm. Supported by these achievements, DIPPER is also exploring business opportunities within non-governmental organisations such as solar panel companies, insurance companies and the LoRa Alliance for the Internet of Things.

“Our aim is to provide easy-to-use applications. We are transforming massive Lidar data into semantic and concise 3D vector data,” says Biao Xiong, DIPPER’s CEO. After completing his PhD degree at UT, Xiong launched the start-up with four passionate colleagues: “We have successfully processed

Lidar data for city, forest, railway, power corridor and industry scenes. The data processing varies from multi-scan registration and point cloud classification to 3D scene modelling. Since we work closely and effectively in a flexible environment, we are able to respond quickly to the challenging problems raised by customers every day. As DIPPER’s slogan is ‘Showing, Solving and Leading’ and that perfectly sums up what we are trying to achieve, i.e. to show a new view of the world via 3D Lidar maps, to solve complex problems and help with smart decision-making by developing toolkits, and to lead Lidar processing technology by keeping innovation alive. Moreover, as an innovative company aiming to build a bright future, DIPPER is also willing to contribute to the development of new concepts such as self-driving cars and smart city development.”

COUNTRYWIDE 3D MAP In 2016, DIPPER will make a detailed 3D map of the whole of The Netherlands from airborne Lidar data. It will be the world’s first countrywide 3D map at LoD2. Over the next five years, DIPPER is planning to work with other pioneering countries that are eager to obtain accurate 3D maps. As an innovative company, it will continue to invest in research and development to improve the software and workflow and to applying cutting-edge technologies including deep learning, big data mining, cloud processing for automatic interpretation and 3D modelling.

More information www.dipper3d.com

FEBRUARY 2016 |

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No 2914

No 2952

ORGANISATIONS

Special Events during the FIG Working Week in Christchurch, New Zealand The FIG 2016 Working Week will be held from 2-6 May 2016 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

This event is an exciting week-long conference that brings together the international community of surveying, spatial and cadastral professionals. The theme of the 2016 FIG Working Week is ‘Recovery from Disaster’.

Many inhabitants throughout the world face various kinds of disasters, such as flooding, storms, tsunamis, drought and the aftereffects of conflict, etc. Surveying and land professionals are key in making an important contribution to improve, simplify and shorten the disaster mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.

Management (UN-GGIM). The third plenary is themed ‘The Public, the Private and the People’s Response for Disaster Management and Recovery in the Surveying Profession’.

New technologies are on the agenda.

A series of special events will be organised in cooperation with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN). Notable issues include the voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land fisheries and forests and fit-for-purpose approaches in land administration. This year’s Academic Members Forum will be organised in cooperation with FAO.

During the first plenary session the mayor of Christchurch and high-level governmental representatives will present ‘The Christchurch Story’: Christchurch’s response to the 2011 earthquake. Focus is on lessons learnt from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. The second plenary concentrates on surveyors’ responses to the Disaster Management and Recovery Framework. Long-term experiences will be shared from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and the subsequent impact on – and the challenges ahead for – the surveying and geospatial professional in disaster response, recovery and resilience will be discussed. This session includes perspectives from The World Bank and the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information

The role and impact of land professionals in responding to climate change and security of tenure in small island developing states has been on the FIG agenda for many years.

During the FIG Working Week in May 2016 this subject will once again be the focus of attention at a pre-workshop on 30 April and 1 May 2016. The workshop is open to anyone who may be interested.

The International Institution of History for Surveying and Measurement, a permanent institution of FIG, is hosting a two-day symposium. Day One will focus on the boundaries of the South Pacific and answer the question ‘Are the Islands Sinking?’ and the second day will be based on the theme ‘From Mercator to Cook to Silent Cinema: Surveyors of the World’.

Nepal Workshop: SDI Research on Disaster Risk Reduction The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association held a one-day tutorial workshop entitled ‘Sharing SDI Research on Disaster Risk Reduction’ on 24 November 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal [1]. The tutorial was organised jointly with the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) WGIV/4, in association with Kathmandu University (KU), Survey

Department (SD), Land Management Training Center (LMTC), University of Southern Queensland (USQ), University of Melbourne/CDMPS, Nepal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (NICS), and Nepal Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (NRSPS) in the CV Raman Auditorium at the Kathmandu University Dhulikhel.

The 3rd FIG Young Surveyors Network Conference will be held prior to the Working Week, likewise on from 30 April to 1 May 2016. The theme is in alignment with the theme of the Working Week: ‘Disaster Relief and Charity Activities’.

It is a long-standing FIG tradition to provide an international forum to affiliate members and invite director generals (and/or their deputies) to participate, meet and exchange experiences during the FIG Working Weeks and Congresses. FIG Corporate Platinum members – Bentley, Esri, Leica and Trimble – will each give their view on the latest professional and technical developments in a special session in the technical programme.

More information www.fig.net

GSDI

Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association

The tutorial was part of the overall programme of international workshops on “The Role of Land Professionals and Spatial Data Infrastructure in Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of the Post-2015 Nepal Earthquake” [2], which was organised by the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Commission 2 (Professional Education) and ISPRS WG IV/4 (Geospatial Data FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 37

Department of Nepal, chaired the second technical session. The panel discussion was chaired by Professor Ramesh Kumar Maskey, associate dean, School of Engineering, Kathmandu University. Finally, Dr Dev Raj Paudyal summarised the workshop outputs and Professor Ramesh Kumar Maskey closed the panel discussion session.

Workshop participants at Kathmandu University: photograph taken using a UAV camera.

Infrastructure) from 25-27 November 2015.

GSDI was a media partner for the event and is pleased to have contributed to the programme in the spirit of collaboration envisioned by the Joint Board of Geospatial Information Societies (JBGIS) [3].

Approximately 60 participants including early career researchers, students and mid-level professionals participated in the tutorial. Dr Dev Raj Paudyal, representative of GSDI Association’s Individual Members and from the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, University of Southern Queensland, Australia, was the facilitator of the workshop. Professor Bhola Thapa, registrar, KU, presented the welcome speech. There were two technical sessions followed by panel discussions. Mr Krishna Raj BC, executive director of Land Management Training Centre, Nepal, chaired the first technical session and Mr Madhusudan Adhikari, director general of Survey

Professor Marguerite Madden, Director of the Center for Geospatial Research (CGR), Department of Geography, University of Georgia and second vice president of ISPRS, presented on ‘Geospatial Technologies and People: Respond and Recover’. Professor Kevin McDougall, head of the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, University of Southern Queensland, Australia, presented on ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Utilising SDI and Crowdsourced Data during Disasters’. In addition, Dr Nama R. Budhathoki, executive director, Kathmandu Living Labs, presented on ‘Digital Innovation for Social Good’.

On behalf of GSDI and the Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety (CDMPS) at the University of Melbourne, Dr Katie Potts delivered a presentation on ‘The Next Generation of Disaster Management’.

Professor emeritus Armin Gruen, chair of Information Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, delivered a presentation on ‘UAV Technology for Geospatial Data Acquisition’.

All presenters participated in a panel discussion on the topic of sharing SDI

research for disaster risk reduction. Ms Florencia Tuladhar fulfilled the role of master of ceremony in the event and Mr Subash Ghimire, assistant professor and coordinator of the geomatics engineering programme under DCGE, coordinated the event.

Following the tutorial, Dr Potts also attended the main international workshop, where she chaired the SDI Development technical session. Dr Paudyal presented a technical paper, chaired the SDI development session and delivered concluding remarks during the closing ceremony. There were about 360 participants including four ministers and high-level dignitaries. The main objective of the conference was to exploit the international expertise on SDI and land administration to enhance and improve current disaster risk reduction efforts in Nepal and related environments.

Summary by Dr Dev Raj Paudyal, GSDI board member for GSDI Individual Members.

Learn more about the GSDI Association and how to participate at www.gsdiassociation.org.

More information [1] www.workshopnepal2015.com.np/ pre-event.html [2] www.workshopnepal2015.com.np/ index.html [3] www.fig.net/jbgis/ www.gsdi.org

Introducing Other Members of the New IAG Executive Committee

Members of the IAG Executive Committee, 2015-2019.

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INTERNATIONAL | F E B R U A R Y 2 016

The IAG Executive Committee (IAG-EC) comprises the IAG president, IAG vice president, secretary general, past IAG president, presidents of the four Commissions, Communications & Outreach Branch, and Inter-Commission Committee on Theory, chair of the Global Geodetic Observing System, three representatives of the Services, and two members-at-large.

Following on from our introduction to some members of the IAG-EC in the previous edition of GIM International (January 2016), this article introduces the other members.

President of the Inter-Commission Committee on Theory: Pavel Novak Pavel Novák received his MSc in 1989 from the Czech Technical University in Prague and he has held the position of professor at that university since 2007. Since gaining his PhD from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada, in 1999 his professional experience has included: TU Berlin (1991-1992), University of New Brunswick (1996-1999), University of Calgary (1999-2001), University of Stuttgart (2002-2004), University of West Bohemia (since 2004) and Astronomical

ORGANISATIONS

Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences (2007-2010).

Chair of the Global Geodetic Observing System: Hansjörg Kutterer Hansjörg Kutterer studied geodesy at the University of Karlsruhe and worked there as a scientific assistant from 1990 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004 he was a scientist at the Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut (DGFI), and from 2004 to 2011 he was the director of the Geodetic Institute at the University of Hannover. In 2011 he was appointed director of the German Federal Agency for Geodesy & Cartography (BKG). In addition to leading GGOS, he is a member of several international scientific organisations: GGOS Inter-Agency Committee (GIAC), Group on Earth Observation (GEO), EuroGeographics Management Board, National Delegate to EUROSDR, and the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM).

Member at Large: Ludwig Combrinck Ludwig Combrinck has been involved with IAG since 1989, through his participation in the geometric services IVS, IGS and ILRS and has provided maintenance support for the IDS. His current activities are in support of the establishment of a VGOS antenna and LLR at the Hartesbeesthoek Observatory, as well as

the densification of IGS stations in Africa. In collaboration with the University of Cape Town, he is setting up a multi-technique analysis centre to process VLBI, SLR, LLR, GNSS, DORIS and geophysical data.

Member at Large: Maria Cristina Pacino Maria Cristina Pacino graduated from the National University of Rosario, Argentina, as a geographic engineer in 1982 and earned her MSc from the same institution in 1999. She is currently professor and head of the Surveying Department and Geodynamics Lab, National University of Rosario. Maria was president of the Argentine Association of Geophysics and Geodesy from 2002 to 2010.

Representative of the Services: Ruth Neilan Ruth E. Neilan has been the vice-chair of IAG’s GGOS since 2005 and is director of the International GNSS Service (IGS) Central Bureau, which has been a service of the IAG since 1994. Ruth’s key interests lie in increasing the visibility and support of IAG’s GGOS throughout the world and strengthening support for IGS activities over the next decade as it incorporates data from all GNSS constellations. She served on ICSU’s World Data System Scientific Committee and currently co-chairs a Working Group on Reference Frames, Timing & Applications on the UN International Committee on GNSS.

Representative of the Services: Riccardo Barzaghi Riccardo Barzaghi is full professor in geodesy and geomatics at Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

His main research interests are in physical geodesy, satellite geodesy and the use of GNSS networks for positioning and deformation analysis. He was director of the International Geoid Service and since April 2013 has been chair of the International Gravity Field Service.

Representative of the Services: Axel Nothnagel Axel Nothnagel’s academic career and recognition include scientific project leader for geodetic VLBI at CSIR, Johannesburg, South Africa (1982 to 1988), science group leader Geodetic VLBI, Rheinische FriedrichWilhelms-Universität Bonn (since August 1991), analysis coordinator of the International VLBI Service (IVS) (1999 to 2013), member of the Directing Board of the IERS (2001 to 2008), chairman of the European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry (2005 to 2013) and chairman of the IVS (since March 2013).

More information www.iag-aig.org

Cartography and Children: Further Commission News In June 2013, this column reported on the 20th anniversary of the Barbara Petchenik Competition, organised by ICA through its Commission on Cartography and Children to celebrate the international work of young cartographers and award prizes for children’s efforts in mapping the world. This biennial competition has revealed an extraordinary depth of artistic talent, scientific awareness and geographical knowledge in young people from all over the world who have entered their maps of our planet into the competition. Volumes of these maps were published in 2005 and in 2009 by Esri Press. Entitled Children Map the World, these reproduced the highlights and award winners from 1993 to 2007.

Last year saw further progress in recognising and reporting on the Barbara Petchenik Competition. At the 27th International Cartographic Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, (August 2015), the third volume from ESRI Press was launched. Entitled Children Map the World: Anniversary Edition (ISBN number 978-1589484221), the book contains a selection of 50 drawings entered for the competition in 2013 as well as a special choice of 20 previously unpublished drawings from the earlier competitions. A further book has been published by Sinomaps Press in China, concentrating on those maps submitted and displayed during the 2009 and 2011 competitions. This

Chair (Carla Cristina de Sena) and vice-chair (Jesus Reyes) of the Cartography and Children Commission at the retrospective Barbara Petchenik Exhibition (Eurocarto 2015 Conference, Technical University of Vienna).

FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 39

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ORGANISATIONS

volume, entitled The World as Seen by Children (ISBN number ISBN 978-7503186691), includes maps and interviews with some of the children who produced them.

The archive of entries for each of the 12 competitions so far is maintained in Canada and the website (https://childrensmaps.library. carleton.ca/) has recently been updated with a new design and new options for searching.

With over 2,000 scanned and photographed images of children’s maps, the Barbara Petchenik Collection is maintained by the team working at the Maps, Data & Government Information Centre of the Carleton University Library in Ottawa, Canada. The hard work of Joel Rivard, Sherri Sunstrum and Sylvie Lafortune in scanning the entries and

managing the site is much appreciated, as is the effort of a team of brothers from Utrecht, The Netherlands; as international coordinator of the competition, Peter van der Krogt collected all entries submitted by countries and, together with his brother René van der Krogt, photographed every map. We should also note the outstanding contribution of Jeet Atwal, now retired from Carleton University, who initiated the website in March 2000 and was its main coordinator until 2014. The entire resource is a fascinating and valuable collection of world maps seen through the eyes of schoolchildren – the cartographers of the future.

In recognition of having been a major promoter of the competition, vice-chair of the Commission on Cartography and Children

from 2004 to 2007, co-chair from 2007 to 2011, and chair from 2011 to 2015, Dr Jesus Reyes (Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary) was awarded a Diploma of Outstanding Service by ICA at the Rio conference last August. He continues as vice-chair of the Commission for another term (2015-2019), with Professor Carla Cristina de Sena from UNESP, Ourinhos, Brazil, taking over as leader of this lively Commission (see http://lazarus.elte.hu/ccc/ccc.htm for information on its activities).

More information www.icaci.org

Two New ISPRS Events Added in July 2016 Two new events have been added to the ISPRS Congress calendar for July 2016: the ISPRS/UN-GGIM National Mapping and Cadastral Agency (NMCA) Forum and the ISPRS/IAA Space Agency Forum. The NMCA Forum, chaired by Andre Streilein (swisstopo, Bern) and Michael Franzen (BEV, Vienna) will be co-organised with UN-GGIM, the United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management.

Meanwhile, the Space Agency Forum, chaired by Gunter Schreier (DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen) and Ian Dowman (UCL, London) will be co-hosted with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

Both events will be held from 14-15 July in Prague, Czech Republic.

On the one hand, National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies (NMCAs), many of them organised in UN-GGIM, form a significant group of members of ISPRS, acting as the ISPRS Ordinary Member for many countries.

NMCAs play an important role in the geospatial domain in their homelands, providing geospatial data of various levels of detail, types and scales, which form the basis of today’s geospatial data infrastructure – an indispensable national asset for sustainable development of the country and many other applications.

On the other hand space agencies, many of

them members of IAA, are providers of the most up-to-date spatial image data of the Earth and are indispensable partners for the large remote sensing and spatial information community. Likewise, more and more commercial Earth observation satellite operators are entering the scene and becoming a partner for the community.

One of the strategic goals of ISPRS and the XXIII ISPRS Congress in Prague is to highlight the important role of NMCAs and space agencies, emphasising the role of practical applications of ‘Information from Imagery’ within the society. The two new forums are aligned with this ISPRS strategy to more closely cooperate with the practical side of our discipline. Key players from both groups will discuss scientific, technical and societal issues in the geospatial domain and the role of imagery for geoinformation. Sessions will comprise invited and presented papers.

While NMCAs and space agencies play different roles in the geospatial arena, both groups have partly overlapping interests, which is why the two forums will share some common sessions. These sessions will address questions such as: – How do NMCAs use satellite remote sensing data and what would they like to see improved?

– What are the space agencies’ plans in the

sphere of data for NMCAs and how can this cooperation be strengthened?

Both forums will be held on 14 and 15 July, i.e. during the first week of the Congress. You are cordially invited to come along, listen and discuss your issues in the geospatial domain with the top leaders from NMCAs and space sgencies.

Christian Heipke, secretary general, ISPRS

More information www.isprs.org

FEBRUARY 2016 |

INTERNATIONAL | 41

FUTURE EVENTS

AGENDA

FEBRUARY TUSEXPO

INTERNATIONAL LIDAR MAPPING FORUM 2016

MAY FIG WORKING WEEK 2016

SEPTEMBER GEOBIA

The Hague, The Netherlands from 02-04 February For more information: W: www.tusexpo.com

Denver, CO, USA from 22-24 February For more information: E: lhernandez@divcom.com W: www.lidarmap.org/international

Christchurch, New Zealand from 02-06 May For more information: E: nzis@surveyors.org.nz W: www.fig.net/fig2016

Enschede, The Netherlands from 14-16 Serptember For more information: W: www.geobia2016.com

Oldenburg, Germany from 03-04 February For more information: W: http://bit.ly/1NoX4ox E: schumacher@jade-hs.de

AAG ANNUAL MEETING

GEO BUSINESS 2016

San Francisco, CA, USA from 29 March-02 April For more information: W: www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

London, UK from 24-25 May For more information: E: info@geobusinessshow.com W: www.geobusinessshow.com

GIM INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT

APRIL INTEREXPO GEO-SIBERIA

ESRI USER CONFERENCE

Novosibirsk, Russia from 20-22 April For more information: W: www.expo-geo.ru

San Diego, CA, USA from 27 June - 1 July For more information: www.esri.com

EUROCOW 2016

GISTAM 2016

Lausanne, Switzerland from 10-12 February For more information: W: www.eurocow.org

Rome, Italy from 26-27 April For more information: E: gistam.secretariat@insticc.org W: www.gistam.org

JULY XXIII ISPRS CONGRESS

15. OLDENBURGER 3D-TAGE

Prague, Czech Republic from 12-19 July For more information: E: info@isprs2016-prague.com W: www.isprs2016-prague.com

Hamburg, Germany from 11-13 October Fore more information: W: www.intergeo.de

CALENDAR NOTICES Please send notices at least 3 months before the event date to: Trea Fledderus, marketing assistant, email: trea.fledderus@geomares.nl For extended information on the shows mentioned on this page, see our website: www.gim-international.com.

No 2915

Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 10-12 February For more information: E: wim.van.wegen@geomares.nl W: www.gimsummit.com

OCTOBER INTERGEO

42 |

INTERNATIONAL | F E B R U A R Y 2 016

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