Position issue 87 February-March 2017

February/March 2017 – No. 87

The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

WHERE CAPTURE MEETS REALITY Entering the third, fourth and fifth dimensions

Official publication of

inside Datums & Dynamics Experts tackle datum modernisation

New Urban Agenda Saving the world one city at a time

Spatial Knowledge Locating a productivity step change

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contents

February/March 2017 No.87

14-20

page

Capturing, processing, modelling and visualising reality

Australia is moving up in the world

page

28

page

features 14 Q&A with Michael Giudici The crucial man behind Australia’s datum modernisation program sheds light on what we can expect.

18 Are you ready for GDA2020?

Find out how you will be impacted by Australia’s new geodetic datum and what you can do to prepare.

20 The new world of Earth-fixed datums Calling for a change of mindset about coordinates and datums.

26 Surveying a new urban agenda The answer to the world’s sustainability problem may be closer than thought: in our cities.

28 Reality Capture Experts from all corners of industry share insights on 3D data capture, processing and visualisation.

32

Underwater citizen science

32 The underwater citizen science club A volunteer-led project assesses and maps the fragile marine environment.

34 Spatial information to spatial knowledge Jon Fairall foresees a growing divide between productivity and the way we deal with location.

Regulars 4 7 8 36 38

Upfront, calendar Editorial News New products SSSI

ON THE COVER: “Matrix 3D - London City Office Life”

by Flickr user Simon & His Camera: bit.ly/2lNtDrN. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 | bit.ly/2lNjV8I). Reality capture is the focus of our industry insights feature on pages 28-31. www.spatialsource.com.au 3

upfront

Upcoming Events 16-18 March 2017: Surveying 2017; Yarra Valley, VIC. bit.ly/2k6BX3H 16-28 March 2017: FME World Tour 2017; Singapore, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth. www.safe.com/worldtour 20-22 March 2017: Association of Public Authority Surveyors Conference (APAS2017); Shoal Bay, NSW. www.apas.org.au 2-5 April 2017: SPAR 3D Expo & Conference; Houston, TX, USA. www.spar3d.com/event 3-6 April 2017: Locate Conference & Digital Earth Symposium; Sydney, NSW. locateconference.com 27-28 April 2017: GISTAM 2017; Porto, Portugal. www.gistam.org

Ants have better spatial abilities than you

S

ome of us struggle to find our way back home while walking from an unfamiliar location in the usual, forward direction. Now imagine if you had to stay on the right path while walking backwards, or even spinning around and around. Researchers recently found that ants have the unique spatial memory to do exactly that.

"Our main finding is that ants can decouple their direction of travel from their body orientation," says Antoine Wystrach, one of the researchers from the University of Edinburgh.

In fact, ants can keep themselves headed in the northerly direction by going forward (facing north), he says, backward (facing south), or sideways (facing east or west). The discovery challenges the notion that insects are limited to performing simple, stimulusresponse behaviours.

Ants often manage heavy food items by pulling them along backward and have no trouble making it back to the nest with their load, suggesting ants might be able to recognise the world around them regardless of the direction they are facing.

"This was at odds with our understanding of how memories of the scenes are stored in the insect brain," Wystrach says.

To find out how the insects were navigating, the researchers tested desert

4 position February/March 2017

ants living in their natural environment.

They sunk barriers into the ground, forcing the ants along a one-way route to the nest and then offered them either a small cookie or a larger, more unwieldy one.

Ants with the small cookie dashed off to the south and made a sharp right turn.

Ants travelling backward while pulling a larger cookie that didn't stop to look around or peek missed the turn. But, the researchers found, when those ants hauling their load backward did stop to take a peek in the forward direction, their navigational abilities were restored. In other words, they recognised their new direction and memorised it for use while walking backward.

"Such a peeking behaviour is impressive in itself as it implies synergy between at least three different types of memory: the memory of the visual scene, the memory of the new direction to follow, and the memory of the location of the cookie left behind," Wystrach says.

Further experiments suggested the ants kept to the path by following cues in the sky. “Our results show that it is about the fine orchestration of multiple representation and memories involving the transfer of information between different brain areas," Wystrach says.

"The more research advances, the more sophisticated we realise insects are." â–

4-5 May 2017: SSSI Qld Surveying and Spatial Conference; Southport, QLD. bit.ly/2k6KpA5 23-24 May 2017: GEO Business; London, UK. geobusinessshow.com 23-25 May 2017: CeBIT Australia; Sydney, NSW. www.cebit.com.au 29 May-2 June 2017: FIG Working Week 2017; Helsinki, Finland. www.fig.net/fig2017 6-9 June 2017: ISPRS Workshop; Hannover, Germany. www.ipi.unihannover.de/hrigi17 20-22 June 2017: Commercial UAV Expo Europe; Brussels, Belgium. www.expouav.com/europe 11-14 July 2017: Institute of Australian Geographers Conference; Brisbane, QLD. www.iagconference.com.au 18-22 July 2017: FOSS4G Europe 2017; Paris, France. europe.foss4g.org/ 11 August 2017: Spatial Information Day and APSEA-SA Dinner; Adelaide, SA. spatialinformationday.org.au 14-19 August 2017: FOSS4G Boston 2017; Boston, MA, USA. 2017.foss4g.org 31 August-2 September 2017: World of Drones Congress; Brisbane, QLD. www.worldofdrones.com.au 25-29 September 2017: International Astronautical Congress; Adelaide, SA. iac2017.org 11-15 September 2017: Photogrammetric Week; Stuttgart, Germany. www.ifp.uni-stuttgart.de/phowo

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The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

Publisher Simon Cooper Editor Anthony Wallace awallace@intermedia.com.au National Advertising Manager Jon Tkach jon@intermedia.com.au Graphic Designer Alyssa Coundouris Prepress Tony Willson Circulation/Subscriptions Chris Blacklock Production Jacqui Cooper Subscribe Position is available via subscription only.

A 12 month subscription (6 issues) is AUD$76.00. To subscribe visit www.intermedia.com.au, phone 1 800 651 422 or email: subscriptions@intermedia.com.au.

Website www.spatialsource.com.au Position is published six times a year, in February, April, June, August, October and December by Interpoint Events Pty Ltd. ABN: 9810 451 2469 Address: 41 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 Ph: +61 2 9660 2113 Fax: +61 2 9660 4419 Editorial inquiries should be sent to: awallace@intermedia.com.au

from the editor Doing things differently

W

e’ve taken it upon ourselves here at Position Magazine to do things differently in 2017.

Perhaps our wonderfully mysterious cover image and collection of exclusive articles reflects that. And maybe, just maybe, something within these pages inspires you to do something different yourself.

For us, something we're doing is tackling those topics that seem too broad, too novel or too subjective for one person to cover in any sufficient detail. Take for example, Reality Capture. As vague as that term may sound, when we put it to our network of industry contacts to share their thoughts, we were bombarded with valuable information from far flung corners of the spatial and surveying galaxy. On pages 28-31 you will find a handpicked few of these.

While it is only a tiny subset of the many views and Anthony Wallace voices that could be shared, it shows the passion and Editor expertise that our sector exudes. awallace@intermedia.com.au We plan to tap into that, and that’s where you come in. You see, we want people with vested interests in location information to share their insights, expertise, and—if you so feel like it—your completely biased opinion. In the long run, such pieces will be developed into far more than an article in Position. We plan to develop them into industry insight reports to showcase the incredible skills and knowledge our sector offers to adjacent industries.

Our next topic will be “Drones/RPAS/UAV – the new fact or passing fad?” and I’m already sure there are plenty of people with an opinion they’re dying to share.

Truly inspiring things are happening right now with spatial and surveying technology. The modern datum we’ve always envisaged is now becoming reality (see pages 14-17). Automation, machine learning and computer vision are becoming part of standard workflows. Other developments that once only science fiction could dream up, such ubiquitous accurate positioning and true interconnectivity of all people and devices, will one day soon become the norm.

For spatial and surveying practitioners involved, it’s hardly exciting anymore, but these are developments that need to be exposed more broadly if wider community benefit is to be realised.

If you would like to get involved in this vision, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Advertising inquiries should be sent to: jon@intermedia.com.au Ph: +61 2 8586 6128 Reprints from Position are permitted only with the permission of the publisher. In all cases, reprints must be acknowledged as follows: ‘Reprinted with permission from Position Magazine’, and must include the author’s byline.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.

Supported by

April/May 2017 – The Locate and Digital Earth Super Issue

NEXT ISSUE

Features: Spatially empowered government and services; Changing role of surveyors; Digital earth; Drones/RPAS/UAV- the new fact or passing fad?

Position is the only independent magazine for spatial sciences, surveying, GIS, government and other mapping professionals to be circulated nationally across both Australia and New Zealand. It covers the acquisition, manipulation and presentation of geo-data in a wide range of industries including agriculture, disaster management, government, smart cities, environmental management and resources.

Published: 30 March 2017 Advertising booking deadline: 7 March Advertising material deadline: 10 March

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news Australia has officially moved 1.8 metres As of February 2017, Australia’s coordinates have officially moved 1.8 metres north-east, following the launch of the Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020). As the first coordinate system update in Australia in 20 years, the new datum is a step towards modernising Australia’s spatial referencing system.

Prior to the update, Australia’s coordinates were no longer in alignment with global navigation satellite systems

(GNSS) such as GPS. The definition of GDA2020 officially occurred in January 2017, when coordinates on over 100 of Australian GNSS CORS stations were gazetted as a Recognised Value Standard of Measurement of Position under the National Measurement Act, replacing GDA94.

Next, GDA2020 will be made available for adoption with detailed parameters from February 2017. The new coordinates are based

on the projected position of the Australian continent in 2020, which means they are currently offset from GNSS coordinates by 21 centimetres.

In the lead up to 1 January 2020, the Australian tectonic plate will move into alignment as it catches up with GDA2020 positions. In 2020, Australia’s next generation Earth-fixed reference frame, ATRF, will also be introduced to support precise satellite positioning applications.

For further information, refer to Position’s Q&A with perhaps the crucial member of the team behind the modernisation program, Michael Giudici (page 14).

$12 million boost to Australian positioning technology The Australian Government will invest $12 million in a two-year program looking into the future of positioning technology in Australia.

The funding will be used to test a satellitebased augmentation system (SBAS) and precise point positioning (PPP) for instant, accurate and reliable positioning technology that could provide future safety, productivity, efficiency and environmental benefits across many industries.

Research has shown that the wide-spread adoption of improved positioning technology has the potential to generate upwards of $73 billion of value to Australia by 2030. As part of the Australian Government’s National Positioning Infrastructure (NPI), the SBAS test-bed is Australia’s first step towards joining countries such as the US, Russia, India, Japan and many across Europe in investing in SBAS technology and capitalising on the link

between precise positioning, productivity and innovation.

An SBAS will overcome the current gaps in mobile and radio communications to ensure that accurate positioning information can be received anytime and anywhere within Australia.

The two-year project will test SBAS technology that has the potential to improve positioning accuracy in Australia to less than five centimetres.

From March 2017, Geoscience Australia with the

Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) will call for organisations from a number of industries including agriculture, aviation, construction, mining, maritime, rail, road, spatial, and utilities to participate in the test-bed.

Geoscience Australia also announced that three global technology companies, GMV, Inmarsat and Lockheed Martin, will be collaborating closely on the project.

Tensions reach breaking point in land titles sell-off In 2016 the New South Wales Government announced its land and property agency would be split up into separate divisions and the land titles arm of the government body sold onto a private bidder. Since then, inquiries by concerned bodies and mainstream media have exposed the risks involved and a resounding lack of industry support.

It also emerged that the decision has very little financial viability. NSW’s Land and Property Information (LPI) is widely regarded as a world-class land titles registry, and consistently delivers a profit for the NSW Government. A recently leaked Treasury document reveals NSW’s land titles registry is

8 position February/March 2017

annually earning at least $130 million in profit for taxpayers.

The sale of the LPI, which is technically a lease for the next 35-years, is expected to be worth about $2 billion. However, based on the leaked figures, LPI could generate $2 billion profit in less than half that time.

The Sydney Morning Herald editor for consumer affairs, Esther Han, has been vocal in these discussions and claims that the change of hands will lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers, increased risk of errors and frauds, and increased risk to the security

The NSW Government is organising tours of LPI’s Queen Square offices (pictured) for the final bidders.

of private and sensitive data.

She lists surveyors, lawyers, real estate agents, property developers, unions, historians and investigative journalists as the peak professional groups that oppose the NSW Government’s decision and echo these concerns.

Despite months of inquiry, Ms Han has also been unable to find a single organisation outside of the NSW Government that supports the privatisation of LPI. Four consortiums have been reported as involved in the next stage of bidding, with the final bids to be placed in late March 2017.

news Globe-spanning program announced for Locate17 and Digital Earth The program for one of the biggest spatial and surveying events to reach Australian shores will features no less than eight concurrent presentation streams.

Spanning four days from 3-6 April, the Locate Conference (Locate17) and Digital Earth Symposium (ISDE10) will be held at the newly reopened Sydney International Convention Centre.

Among the program highlights is a panel discussion by the Surveyor Generals of the various states and territories of Australia, as well as international presentations from the likes of what3words, Esri, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Oracle, the U.S. Geological Survey and universities and research institutes the world over.

The two main conference days, Wednesday and

Locate17 and ISDE10 will take place 3-6 April at the newly re-opened Sydney International Convention Centre (pictured).

Thursday, will be split into no less than eight separate streams- each of them allocated with an impressive collection of local and international speakers.

On Wednesday 5 April 2017, a number of government delegates will formally open the conference ahead of the plenary speakers. Among them will be Greg Scott, Advisor for

Global Geospatial Information Management for the UN; Walter Scott, DigitalGlobe’s founder; Peter Woodgate of CRCSI, Glenn Cockerton of Spatial Vision and Guo Huadong, from the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

From there, the program splits into eight complete streams – sure to satisfy all

tastes and levels of expertise.

On Thursday, further plenaries will be delivered by Steven Ramage of GEO, Alessandro Annoni of the European Union’s Joint Research Center in Italy.

In the two days leading up to the Wednesday, there will be the free Digital Earth Symposium Market Day, networking events, workshops, a VIP cocktail function, and major meetings for the likes of ANZLIC, ISDE and The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM). The annual Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards this year will also be coupled with the ISDE Awards on the evening of Wednesday 5 April.

For more information and to register, visit locateconference.com.

news The search for MH370 ends despite promising clues Almost three years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared, the search for the missing aircraft has come to an unresolved end. In January, Malaysia, Australia and China jointly agreed to suspend the search after searching 120,000 km² of the southern Indian Ocean.

Suspected parts of the plane that washed up in the western Indian Ocean, have given further clues to where it might have crashed. Oceanographic drift modelling has indicated that these discoveries were

consistent with the debris originating from the region of the current search area.

However, considering the time the debris took to travel to the western Indian Ocean, it was proposed that the most likely origin of the debris was to the north of the search area.

These findings were confirmed by recent CSIRO drift modelling as part of an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) first principles review and by other international research groups. The ATSB review concluded that the crash

The proposed additional 25,000km² search area (in black) identified as the most likely crash region. Source: ATSB

site was “unlikely” to be in the defined search area and recommended extending the search to an additional area of approximately 25,000km² located to the north.

It is highly likely that the crash site of the MH370 is located in this region and if another search was to be conducted, this is where it could start.

DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 begins capturing imagery Following its launch in November 2016, DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 satellite successfully completed in-orbit testing and calibration and began serving its first direct access customer.

Additional access to direct and archived WorldView-4 imagery will be provided throughout 2017.

WorldView-4 is the fifth active satellite in DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution remote sensing imagery constellation and joins WorldView-3 as the world’s only commercial satellites capable of achieving 30 centimetre resolution.

DigitalGlobe says the satellite more than doubles the constellation’s capacity to

collect 30 cm imagery, leading to the creation of high-quality imagery-derived products such as high-resolution 3D models and near-seamless, countryscale basemaps.

WorldView-4 tasking and archive orders are expected to be made available to all DigitalGlobe customers in the second half of 2017.

State government gears up for autonomous RPAS mapping A new tender from the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) looks to unlock the potential of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for advanced environmental analysis.

The government tender notice calls on RPAS operators to join a panel of providers for a range of advanced operations involving beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) operations in the state of Victoria.

In one of the biggest BVLOS operations of its kind, the DELWP specifically requested endurance RPAS to operate at high altitude for more than four hours of continuous flight.

The RPAS are anticipated to

use geographically referenced and orthorectified images and videos in the visible, infrared and thermal spectrum.

DELWP have also listed the need for geographic tagging objects of interest, LiDAR data and photomosaic imagery.

Spookfish takes to skies with next-gen mapping platform Momentum is building for Australian aerial imagery startup, Spookfish, who are set to begin local operations within the coming months.

In late December, Spookfish’s flight test aircraft took to the sky with its next generation 3D imagery camera pod and flight test instrumentation installed for the first time.

Since signing an agreement in 2016 to share operations

10 position February/March 2017

in North America with EagleView Technologies, the Spookfish Capture Platform has undergone further development with EagleView’s assistance. Together the two companies aim to roll out the platform in North America and Australia in 2017.

The maiden flight was used to ensure the aircraft had no unsafe handling or performance characteristics.

Spookfish and EagleView

are now undertaking a flight test program to demonstrate compliance with both Australia’s CASA and the United States’ FAA.

Another major milestone was also reached when Spookfish’s method of data capture was validated by independent expert, Professor Clive Fraser, the imagery science director at CRCSI and professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Fraser confirmed that Spookfish’s metric performance surpassed the 5cm pixel design expectation and achieved 30cm positional accuracy.

Australia is moving, so what’s your next move?

Any organisation that manages assets, runs processes, or determines policy based on spatial data will be affected by Australia’s new geodetic datum.

Now is the time to plan your move to GDA2020.

If you generate location data or integrate the data produced and shared by partner organisations, you should be starting to formulate a strategy.

Esri Australia is here to help you meet the challenges of GDA2020. We can begin by assessing how your business and business systems will be impacted, then recommend how you can take advantage of the most appropriate strategies for shifting to the new datum.

Call 1300 635 196 or email consulting@esriaustralia.com. au to contact our professional services team about your GDA2020 requirements.

esriaustralia.com.au

esriaustralia.com.au/blog

Esri Australia ABN 16 008 852 775

news RPAS and machine learning to map sharks in real-time Environmental consultancy Astron, alongside fellow Perth spatial intelligence and aerial surveying firm C4D Intel, successfully completed field trials for an automated shark detection system.

Known as Sentinel VDS, the solution uses remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and machine learning algorithms to recognise, map

and communicate information about shark movements in real-time.

Currently being developed for roll out on Australian and international beaches, Sentinel VDS captures live video, while sophisticated detection software operates autonomously to warn

In October 2016 the Sentinel VDS team visited Shark Bay to trial their automated shark detection software, detecting this 3.5m tiger shark. Video: Astron/C4D Intel

beach users if target shark species are detected.

Having confirmed the concept as a valid approach towards shark detection, Astron and C4D Intel will now enter the next stages of development for Sentinel VDS, aiming for operational trials to take place by mid-2017.

SIBA and GITA ANZ have officially merged The Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA) and the Geospatial Information Technology Association Australia and New Zealand (GITA ANZ) have announced a merger between the two professional associations.

The merger aims to reinforce SIBA and GITA’s

representation of members in advocacy across Government and more effectively drive growth for the spatial sector.

GITA president and Open Spatial CEO, Wanda Skerrett, will be appointed to the Board of the merged organisation, alongside GITA’s past president Antoine Burdett from AECOM.

SIBA chairman Alistair Byrom said the merger was a result of the growth being experienced in the spatial sector: “SIBA’s merger with GITA is a strong and determined response to the growth and consolidation of the spatial industry and draws together two organisations committed to a

shared passion and vision for the spatial sector,” he said.

GITA president Wanda Skerrett similarly expressed the value of this newly unified ‘voice’ for the spatial industry: “With the merging of SIBA and GITA, we’ve set out to achieve a unified industry voice through an association for all,” she noted.

SIBA appoints Deanna Hutchinson as CEO The Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA) has announced that tech evangelist Ms Deanna Hutchinson has assumed the role of chief executive officer. As outlined in an

announcement from SIBA, Hutchinson’s primary role as CEO will be implementing a number of new initiatives devised during the recent merger between SIBA and GITA ANZ. Hutchinson, who has been described as a ‘futurist,’ has a background in promoting the adoption of emerging

technologies, experience in publishing and tertiary qualifications in business.

In accepting the role of CEO, Hutchinson said it is an exciting time to be involved in spatial business: “I am looking forward to completing the transition of SIBA to a unified national member organisation as we enter a

most exciting time for spatial businesses,” she said.

“The Board is to be commended for implementing a range of reforms and innovative initiatives in recent years, and they recognise that considerable challenges lie ahead in navigating significant disruption in the industry.”

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q&a As of February 2017, Australia's new Datum, the Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020, or GDA2020, is nearing gazettal. The first update to Australia's coordinate system in two decades, GDA2020 is a step towards modernising Australia's spatial referencing system.

To establish just what this means for those dealing with location information, Position spoke to a key member of the team behind the modernisation program, Michael Giudici.

Giudici is Surveyor General of Tasmania, Chair of the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) and Chair of the GDA Modernisation Implementation Working Group (GMIWG). Australia’s new datum is one of his major priorities for 2017 and beyond. Ahead of his appearance at Locate17 in April, Giudici spells out Australia’s datum modernisation program for us, and what we can expect over the coming months and years.

Q&A with Michael Giudici

Australia’s Datum Modernisation will ensure Australia’s spatial data sets align with GNSS locations so that the community can take full advantage of accurate locationbased information in the digital age.

Following a meeting of GMIWG in Melbourne on November 28 and 29 the schedule for release of the various elements was revised.

Definition of GDA2020 is intended to occur in February 2017. Definition means GDA2020 coordinates on over 100 of Australian GNSS CORS stations will be gazetted as a Recognised Value Standard of Measurement of Position under the National Measurement Act, replacing GDA94.

The development of the national GDA2020 geodetic adjustment that sits beneath the GDA2020 NTv2 transformation grid and AUSGeoid2020 surface is a technically advanced process requiring the cooperation of all jurisdictions.

While the workflows have been developed and initial versions of these outputs produced, trapping bugs and finalising them has taken several months longer than expected. Nevertheless all are expected to be available in March to April 2017. Similarly, online and downloadable transformation tools allowing users to readily access the GDA2020 datum are also proposed for March to April.

All jurisdictions will then commence the process of gradually releasing compliant data on the new datum with operational capacity expected by mid-2018.

When exactly will GDA2020 come into action?

What do you mean by the term “operational capacity”?

The national release of GDA2020 involves publishing several components and originally it was proposed all would available in January 2017.

Up until now we have talked about when jurisdictions will ‘adopt’ GDA2020, highlighting that the release of GDA2020 in early 2017 didn’t mean it will be

Can you please describe your role as Surveyor General, chair of ICSM and member of GMIWG?

As Surveyor General I am the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) member for Tasmania. ICSM coordinates several technical working groups and provides a connected management role across Australia and New Zealand. At present the Datum Modernisation is one of ICSM’s biggest projects, and can only be progressed through the cooperation of all the jurisdictions. The GDA Modernisation Implementation Working Group (GMIWG) convened by ICSM is well advanced in its work, and has engaged communication expertise to assist with the messaging. The Australian jurisdictions share a vision of a spatially enabled society supported by a 21st Century national spatial reference system.

How would you summarise Australia’s datum modernisation program in one sentence?

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‘adopted’ by jurisdictions at that time. In simple terms ‘adoption’ was described as when GDA2020 would be the ‘native’ coordinate datum used by jurisdictions to store and transact data.

As jurisdictions have refined individual implementation plans it is clear that capacity to support operation in GDA2020 will be progressively achieved through 2017 and into 2018 and that this doesn’t mean GDA2020 will be the ‘native’ coordinate system for the data.

Rather, as jurisdictions have assessed the challenges of data transformation and delivery it has been agreed that by mid-2018 users will be able to either consume data on GDA2020 or access the data they require and transform it themselves using the transformation tools that will be available. So we have changed the terminology to “Operational Capacity” to reflect this.

Can you please explain the reasoning for the timing of the release of GDA2020 and the new Earth-fixed datum?

The transition to GDA2020 is timed to ensure Australia is prepared to benefit from widespread availability of accurate positioning. Everyday devices are likely to have this capacity by 2020, highlighting discrepancies between positioning and underlying spatial data on GDA94.

Implementing GDA2020 three years in advance will align the national geodetic datum with the globally standardised reference frames used by GNSS.

Left: Australia’s continental drift is among the fastest in the world at approximately 70mm per year in a northeasterly direction. Copyright: Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2016.

CC BY 4.0 (bit.ly/2k1CS3b) Below: With a growing suite of devices and applications relying on precise positioning, a reliable datum will be fundamental to ensuring they operate safely, efficiently and simultaneously.

What feedback have you had from surveyors and GIS professionals?

“Australia’s Datum Modernisation will ensure Australia’s spatial data sets align with GNSS locations so that the community can take full advantage of accurate locationbased information in the digital age.”

Coordinate differences will be small enough to ignore for the majority of users for several years, removing the urgency to implement an Earth-fixed datum (a dynamic datum that accommodates coordinates that change over time). After 2020, an extended project to implement an Earth-fixed datum will depend on the development of International Standards for software and firmware.

Where else in the world are initiatives taking place to adopt national datums that align with GNSS reference systems?

Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia have active research programs to implement Earth-fixed national datums.

At next year’s International Association of Geodesy meeting in Kobe, Japan, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, the Japanese Federation of Surveyors and the Geodetic Society of Japan will host a workshop on crustal deformation and time-varying national geodetic reference frames.

This workshop will be supported by the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management.

Stakeholders inside and outside the spatial sector have been consulted since the datum modernisation was proposed in 2011, and particularly during 2016. Their feedback has included questions about the reasons and nature of the change, and the plans for implementation.

Implementation and access to the Earth-fixed datum has been another area of interest. We have reassured stakeholders that developing ISO standards will enable a ‘4D’ datum to be routinely accommodated in software.

Spatial software and industry providers are integral to the group working on these revised standards. In particular, they understand the need to transform information between datums ‘on-the-fly’.

A stakeholder questionnaire conducted in 2016 enabled ICSM to directly reach a diverse, national audience with the commitment to deliver general resources to educate the broader community about datum modernisation. It has also led to the development of an online forum, the tailoring of transformation tools, and ongoing liaison with software and equipment manufacturers and the open-source community. A non-technical explainer animation and Datum Matters fact sheets have also been developed.

An International Standards Organisation (ISO) approach is being developed to accommodate Earth-fixed national datums. A standard definition of these ‘4D’ datums (incorporating time) will support their generic inclusion in software and device firmware in the same way as existing 1D, 2D and 3D datums.

This work is led by national geodetic agencies in Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Norway, New Zealand, United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan and Australia.

The United States is preparing to adopt a dual frame reference system similar to that proposed in Australia. This system will also support a new time-dependent vertical datum to be delivered by GNSS rather than ground benchmarks. In the www.spatialsource.com.au 15

q&a Have you had feedback from the general public about the modernisation program?

So far the general public has only had sporadic interaction with the GDA2020 and Earth-fixed datum concepts, largely following a story featured on ABC news in July 2016 which sparked global coverage.

This demonstrated both a public interest in datum modernisation, and the challenge of developing communication appropriate to the audience. This is important to highlight the importance of datum – datum matters!

We expect understanding to increase once GDA2020 products are released and professional users begin interacting with clients in 2017.

What are the benefits of adopting the new datums?

When devices that can accurately locate, measure and record rich spatial information become common, the new Australian datums will remove the difference devices measure between located positions and national spatial data on GDA94 datum. In other words, onscreen locations will automatically align with spatial data.

What’s to stop agencies and organisations stuck on old datums (I’ve heard they’re out there) from continuing to fall further behind industry standards?

Datum modernisation will facilitate the benefits arising from improved technology in the digital age. So it is not really a case of agencies and entities being “stuck” on older datums. Even if they choose not to migrate their data to GDA2020, which may be a feasible approach in some circumstances, they will have to adopt processes and workflows that enable them to access the benefits offered by the new positioning paradigm.

All jurisdictions are assisting local government, utility companies and other agencies to assess data for compliance or compatibility, and ICSM is delivering information and resources to help spatial professionals explain the benefits to clients, managers and other decision-makers.

Who do you expect to be the early adopters of the new datums?

Testing and release of GDA2020 correction streams by CORS positioning providers by

late 2017 is expected to be a tipping point for adoption. Jurisdictional agencies will then become “early-adopters” of GDA2020, mandating usage through contracts, specifications and regulations. Organisations that use mobile devices, apps and systems supporting direct field data capture through to workforce and activity management are likely to benefit immediately from enabling entire workforces with accurate, real-time spatial services.

Looking forward to the Earthfixed datum, we envisage that the immediate beneficiaries of the system to accommodate plate-tectonics will be those that are using automation, relying on readily available GNSS or other sensors integrated with GNSS. What do you expect to be the repercussions and benefits for surveyors and GIS professionals adopting the new datums?

All sorts of spatial data being gathered for downstream work, indeed everyday life, will need to be integrated with “old datum” data. Surveying and GIS professionals are best placed to guide

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An earth-fixed datum would avoid situations like this by ensuring coordinates align with reality.

this integration, transformation and utility, so increased awareness of the value of professional spatial services is an obvious benefit. Professionals may need to undertake professional development to ensure their knowledge of the technology, datum concepts and techniques stays current. As a sector, we should leverage this opportunity to highlight our important role.

On the ICSM website it states that an Earth-fixed datum will mean “the location information we rely upon will always be in perfect alignment with the devices we use to access it.” Surveyors tend to believe that no measurement or data is perfectly accurate. What will be the margin of error and how can you assume confidence in the daily updated coordinates supplied?

Surveyors understand that no measurement is perfectly accurate, but they also rely upon the well understood ability to accurately model the movement of the Earth’s surface and its deformation every day when they use GNSS. It is the ability to model this movement, through ground marks with 'known' velocities, that enables the orbits of the GNSS satellites to be predicted accurately enough to enable real-time GNSS. The global reference system that enables this is the ITRF. The movement and deformation of the Australian continental plate against the ITRF has been measured for decades via the Australian Regional GPS Network, AuSCOPE Geospatial Framework and Earth Dynamics program and jurisdictional GPS networks. These measurements provide Geoscience Australia with the ability to derive GDA2020 coordinates aligned to the ITRF with sub-millimetre accuracy.

Alignment is to be managed through the use of a new GDA2020 plate model that predicts the location of survey marks

as a function of time. The model has been validated using more than 20 years of continuous GPS data from Australia’s primary CORS stations and is estimated to predict coordinate changes with an error of less than 0.3mm per year (3mm per decade). This offers great confidence in its applicability for spatial applications in Australia during coming decades.

By 2020, in areas where there is

In February 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the importance of a Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) and urged member states to establish an intergovernmental entity to manage this important international infrastructure.

Thus a roadmap is already in place for a government backed international Earthfixed datum, although regional datums

“The worlds of surveying and mapping are converging rapidly. In 20 years’ time the concepts of ‘global’ accuracy and positioning will be universally accepted as part of everyday life.” subsidence or uplift, which is typically caused by human activity such as groundwater and resource extraction, the plate model will be supplemented with local models of deformation derived from millimetre-accurate satellite radar measurements.

Do you think there will eventually be an international Earth-fixed datum based on the methods you plan to use?

The ITRF acts as a global standard for relating positional measurements across space and time. As noted earlier, it is utilised by all GNSS systems. However, it is typically not regarded as a “datum” but rather as the “gold standard” framework to which national or regional geocentric datums are aligned. Historically, ITRF has been maintained on a “best effort” basis by mapping agencies, research organisations and space agencies, but the UN-GGIM Global Geodetic Reference Frame Initiative or GGRF, is intended to change that.

based upon the GGRF are easier to envisage than a single global “datum”, in terms of how we think about a national datum. Indeed, regional reference systems already exist – for instance, the Asia Pacific Reference Frame – and will become more important, alongside national datums, as countries work together to derive the maximum benefit from GNSS enabled technology.

In 20 years’ time, what do you expect will be the outcomes of the new Earth-fixed datum proposed for release in 2020?

The worlds of surveying and mapping are converging rapidly. In 20 years’ time the concepts of ‘global’ accuracy and positioning will be universally accepted as part of everyday life. People will be connected via their devices, homes, vehicles and workplaces, and businesses and governments will operate integrated systems that rely on this paradigm.

Australia will be spatially enabled. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 17

feature

NATION ON THE MOVE Are you ready for GDA2020?

GDA2020 represents the largest single shift in Australia’s geodetic datum since 2000. But what are organisations doing to prepare for this historic change, and more importantly, what are the likely consequences of poor preparation?

GORDON SUMERLING, ESRI AUSTRALIA

A

ny Australian business, government department or community organisation that relies on spatial data to manage assets, run processes, or determine policy, is about to be impacted by new changes in Australia’s geodetic datum.

To put things in context, currently all coordinates are based on the standard set in 1994 – the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94) – which by 2020 will be inaccurate by approximately 1.8m.

While the GDA94 standard was based on Australia’s fixed continental plate – set in time and space and accurate to Australia’s reference points in 1994 – it is not accurate to where the plate will be in 2020.

Each year Australia’s plate shifts approximately 7cm in a north-north-east direction. The old standard therefore lacks an absolute accuracy that would ensure both easy interoperability with other datum standards or provide accuracy essential to the myriad of devices we already rely on for transport, communication, and other location-based services.

So what best practices are available to prepare for this historic shift?

Five key considerations for GDA2020 migration 1. Don’t rush into migrating your data

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to the new datum. Take time to consider what the implications are for your organisation and then design your plan. Treat GDA2020 as a major project involving multiple datasets, multiple departments and multiple stakeholders.

2. Prepare for the volume and complexity of your data. Today there is not just vector data to consider. Almost every organisation has multiple epochs of imagery, as well as LiDAR and elevation datasets. Then there are information products based on these.

3. Update your map documents. Your map documents can be used as a tool to reproject data on-the-fly and see how your datasets overlap. Web services are based on map documents, which will also need to be updated.

Meanwhile, image caches will need to be recreated for the updated datasets and web services.

4. Reproject your datasets. This means creating completely new datasets with the new datum, whether for vector data, Enterprise Geodatabases, File Geodatabases, shape files, CAD files or other vector formats. Careful consideration should be given to imagery, elevation surfaces and LiDAR datasets, as any reprojection

will involve lengthy processes, simply because raster data and LiDAR datasets are large by nature.

5. Test the results at all stages of the process and test the outputs to make sure your data has migrated correctly.

Aligning Australia’s datum to a global standard The Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) is based on a global standard – the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) – which is used by current global navigation satellite systems such as GPS. The government advisor body responsible for geographic and geology at the national level – Geoscience Australia – has stated that GDA2020 will be released in two stages.

Starting 2017, the new datum will be based on projections for the position of where the Australian continent will be in 2020.

In the second stage, beginning 2020, the new standard will accurately reflect that position, and will be dynamically updated to reflect ongoing tectonic shifts.

From 2020, the datum will transition to a reference frame called the Australian Terrestrial Reference Frame (ATRF) – an Earth-fixed reference frame – and

“For those businesses that are owners of large datasets, the costs associated with managing location data not migrated to the GDA2020 standard are expected to increase over time.”

is designed to deliver a sustainable, traceable, high-precision geodetic reference system.

In practical terms, it will provide a new level of accuracy for all location-based services within Australia and will model the locations of reference points and their movements over time. This will be achieved by maintaining full alignment to the ITRF standard.

Most organisations generate their own data, but they are also huge consumers of other people’s data. Additionally, many publish data that other organisations or individuals depend on.

Datum modernisation is a crucial step towards enabling driverless technologies. Image: Esri Australia.

The accuracy of that location data is essential to the safe and efficient functioning of many businesses, and is expected to play an increasingly important role in the development of Australia’s rapidly evolving economy.

Who will be impacted?

Geoscience Australia has highlighted the sectors most likely to be impacted by the shift to GDA2020. These include mapping, surveying, construction, agriculture, environmental management, transport, insurance, emergency services, and scientific research.

Applications dependent on precise location data – such as vehicle automation and land excavation – will be exposed to potential risk by failing to adapt to the new standard.

For those businesses that are owners of large datasets, the costs associated with managing location data not migrated to the GDA2020 standard are expected to increase over time.

While transitioning to GDA2020 is not mandatory for government organisations, Australia’s Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) has stated that government agencies responsible for spatial information have already agreed to adopt the GDA2020 datum starting 2017.

This will include changing commonwealth, state and territory acts and regulations which determine the datum used for many dealings between government and the community. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 19

feature

The new world of Earth-fixed datums Combining the old and the new on Earth's dynamic surface RICHARD STANAWAY

M

uch has been said in recent times about Australia moving towards a dynamic datum. GDA2020 is a tentative step in this direction and most likely will be the final plate-fixed geodetic datum for Australia. The coordinate shift between GDA94 and GDA2020 will be between 1.5 metres in south-east Australia and 1.8 metres in Western Australia, which largely accounts for tectonic rotation of the Australian plate from 1994 projected to 2020. There will also be a step in ellipsoid heights of between 6 cm in south-west Western Australia and 11 cm in north-east Queensland.

It is important to note that the term "dynamic datum" is in fact a misnomer.

The coordinates of "apparently fixed" points on the dynamic surface of the Earth do change continuously due to geodynamical processes such as plate tectonics. An Earth-fixed frame or datum is fixed to the geocentre and the mantle co-rotating with the Earth beneath the mobile tectonic plates on the surface.

Earth surface coordinates in an Earth-fixed frame are time dependent or kinematic.

In 2020, a fully time-dependent Earth-fixed datum will be realised called the Australian Terrestrial Reference Frame (ATRF) which is expected to be aligned with the International

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Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), with coordinates in Australia changing continuously by between 6 and 7 cm/ yr to account for movement of the Australian plate. From a geodetic and positioning perspective these datum improvements are fundamentally necessary because positioning is now largely achieved by GNSS techniques (including GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou). These systems rely on stable orbit models which sense the centre of mass of the Earth, the geocentre.

The Earth's surface is highly dynamic although most of the motion— plate tectonics and Earth tides— is imperceptible to most people (unless you are experiencing an earthquake of course). So, it seems logical that a geodetic datum actually represents the dynamics of the real world that we live in. Smartphones and other personal positioning devices which natively use GNSS are on the cusp of providing users 20 cm or better ITRF coordinates in real-time as a result of multi-GNSS interoperability, improvements to predicted orbits, realtime orbits and augmentation. These major technological advances are driving the need for datum modernisation. The United Nations has recently endorsed the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) concept which will be a major

impetus for adoption by UN member states in years to come. GGRF is currently realised by the ITRF. So, why not end the discussion there?

An inconvenient truth is that most spatial data is a snapshot of the dynamic Earth at the time it was captured. Imagery, cadastral surveys, feature surveys, as-built surveys and laser scanned point clouds are all intrinsically 2D or 3D and are the primary products of surveyors and remote sensing techniques. Vectors are measured at a fixed point in time (or epoch) relative to a datum with coordinates fixed at the epoch of the survey. The difficulty arises when GNSS positioning is used in conjunction with these ‘static’ spatial data products. With 7 cm a year tectonic movement, survey data on GDA94 for example (a snapshot of the global frame in 1994) appears to be 1.6 metres in error when checked with precise GNSS today.

This of course is not a desirable situation and can lead to some serious positioning errors, costly mistakes and assumptions of inaccuracy of spatial data by the general population. Either the spatial data has to be transformed to today's global position, or today's global position has to be transformed to the date of the survey in order for the position to line up exactly with the original data. So what's it to be?

Presently in 2017, GIS and surveying software packages are largely unable

“The inconvenient truth is that spatial data is a snapshot of the dynamic Earth at the time it was captured.”

Image source: Geoscience Australia

large infrastructure projects for example?

Presently it makes sense to have a formalised project epoch or project datum (surface or plate-fixed) to ensure spatial consistency. This approach might work well for small, isolated or shortduration projects, but what about state and nationwide infrastructure such as rail and energy? Many infrastructure projects interact closely with other infrastructure, so a common epoch would be required to bring all this spatial data together at survey accuracy within a GIS or design package.

This common epoch is what actually fixes in time a local static datum. The spatial extent of a local datum is only limited by the internal stability of the tectonic plate where it exceeds the highest dimensional tolerances. In Australia's case with strain rates of less than 0.0001 ppm/yr across the continent, it could encompass the entire landmass as a plate-fixed local datum. Of course there is some deformation at the mm level from major regional earthquakes and localised deformation due to intraplate earthquakes, underground mining, CSG extraction and water abstraction.

The dual-frame option, which is both global and local, supports this practical approach. There is the global, high precision and time-dependent frame

“These inevitable developments will provide both serious challenges and opportunities for surveyors and GIS managers.” to perform time-dependent geodetic transformations of spatial data. ESRI is currently leading the development of timedependent models within its GIS products and hopefully all GIS and survey software providers will have this functionality within the next five years. The other related practical issue with time-dependent Earth-fixed datums is how data collected at different epochs can be combined and visualised within a GIS for example.

Unless the data from different epochs are transformed to a common epoch the data will not align properly due to tectonic movement between the different epochs.

Any form of transformation carries an element of uncertainty with it, so a median epoch could be adopted for data combination or stacking, or the epoch of any raster imagery could be fixed to minimise computational overhead and potential aliasing.

These strategies will work well with a 4D enabled GIS, but what about surveyors and engineers working on

(ITRF) intrinsically used by GNSS running in tandem with a plate-fixed local frame (e.g. GDA94 or GDA2020).

Positioning is achieved in the global frame using precise orbits and this position is then transformed to the local frame (datum) to ensure consistency of spatial data within a local context over time which is a precondition for spatial data stacking and visualisation within a GIS. For surveyors and engineers on projects it would ensure pick-ups and set outs are consistent with project and engineering design over a period of several decades.

The transformation is a time-dependent one (e.g. a 14 parameter transformation or site velocity model) which models the kinematics of the local datum within the global frame. The local frame is essentially a "working fiction" that is relatively precise, temporally stable yet traceable to the global frame at high precision.

One big advantage GDA2020 will have over GDA94 in the interim is that it will be a relatively distortion free datum,

especially in many parts of NSW. Moving to GDA2020 represents a good opportunity to align all of Australia's key spatial data at high precision, especially legacy datum spatial data still in use. Changing datums has become a non-trivial exercise for managers of spatial data and GIS due to the sheer volume of data now being generated. The volume of spatial data is predicted to increase exponentially for some time yet. Extreme care of course is required when doing the transformation and post-validation by geodesists is essential to ensure no loss of precision and integrity of transformed datasets.

Looking into the future, there will be a seamless interaction between all GIS, engineering design tools, survey software and surveying equipment to ensure complete alignment of data at all times facilitated by cloud based data storage, computing and ultra-fast internet (e.g.

5G). For this to happen, there will need to be rigorous metadata and transformation standards ensuring that spatial data can be visualised, integrated and used unambiguously, regardless of the geodetic datum or epoch. Geodetic registries such as EPSG and ISO will be required to be consistent and authoritative. Ultimately, explicit use of coordinates will become unnecessary and even risky.

These inevitable developments will provide both serious challenges and opportunities for surveyors and GIS managers. We really have to change our mindsets regarding coordinates and datums and really improve our understanding of them. This is a role that the SSSI and CSN can play by providing targeted CPD workshops over the coming years. There is a risk that if we do not regain the higher ground with applied geodesy that clients and the general public will question the integrity of the profession, relegating surveying to a trade.

Richard Stanaway is the director of Quickclose, a geodetic consultancy specialising in geodetic datum analysis, transformation parameter estimation, tectonic deformation modelling and geodetic software development.

Richard has a research Masters from ANU in geodynamics and is currently undertaking a PhD at UNSW investigating time-dependent geodetic transformations and deformation modelling. He is the chair of the IAG working group on transformations between reference frames and is also an active member of the FIG working group on Reference Frames in Practice.

The author acknowledges the input and support of Dr. Craig Roberts at UNSW for preparing this article. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 21

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Digital Earth & Locate17 03-06 April 2017 International Convention Centre Sydney DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - OUR FUTURE LEARN ABOUT: Strategic land information management, Spatial datasets, Mapping your assets above and underground, Managing your mobile workforce and more.

There are more than 50 speakers, streams include Land Surveying & Administration, Open Data and Government, Big Data, Smart Cities, Capacity Building, Smart Sensors for National Resource Management, Spatial Infrastructure, Virtual Globes, Agriculture, Intelligent Transport, Disaster & Emergency Management, Standards, Engineering/Utilities, Research and Innovation, Water & Climate, Geospatial & Economy, Next Generation Positioning Infrastructure and Trends in Surveying.

Network, learn, share knowledge at ISDE & Locate17 in April.

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A word from the Locate Central Sponsor

“Nearmap is proud to be a Major Event Partner at the Digital Earth & Locate17 Symposium this year. It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase how Nearmap has transformed the market for location content in Australia and internationally.

Nearmap will also demonstrate how our commitment to technology innovation will unlock new opportunities with ease of access to wide-scale 3D content.”

Dr Robert Newman, Chief Executive Officer, Nearmap

Confirmed speakers include:

Overview of conference

Prof GUO Huadong Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences – President, ISDE

Dr Stuart Minchin Chief Environment Division, Geoscience Australia

Dr Alessandro Annoni Joint Research Center, EU

Narelle Underwood NSW Surveyor General, NSW Spatial Services, Department of Finance, Services & Innovation

Dr Walter Scott Founder, Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President, DigitalGlobe

Dr Peter Woodgate CEO, Australia and New Zealand, CRCSI Australia

Bruce Thompson Executive Director, NSW Spatial Services

MONDAY 3 APRIL 2017 0900 - 1700

Workshops

1700 - 1900

VIP cocktail - By Invitation

TUESDAY 4 APRIL 2017 0900 - 1600

Market day (exhibition open to all)

1730 - 1930

Welcome function

WEDNESDAY 5 APRIL 2017

Steven Jacoby Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources & Mines (DNRM)

0700 - 0830

SIBA breakfast

0800 - 1700

Exhibition open (delegates only)

0845 - 1745

Plenary and breakout sessions

Glenn Cockerton Managing Director Spatial Vision Australia

Steven Ramage Senior External Relations Manager, GEO Switzerland

1815 - 1900

Pre-dinner drinks

1900 - 2330

Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards & ISDE Awards & Recognition

Linda Edwards Supervisor, Spatial Services, Addressing Program, NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, Australia

Greg Scott Inter-Regional Advisor Global Geospatial Information Management, United Nations Statistics Division Department of Economic and Social Affairs USA

THURSDAY 6 APRIL 2017 0800 - 1510

Exhibition open (delegates only)

0830 - 1700

Plenary and breakout sessions

REGISTER NOW www.digitalearthsymposium.com Bronze Sponsors

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Pre Conference Workshop Monday 3 April 2017 To register visit www.digitalearthsymposium.com and click on the workshop page 0930 – 1130 Supporting the rise of new location-based businesses – Lessons from start-up hubs in Australia Damian Shepherd, SPUR A number of innovation hubs have been established recently across Australia, many out of co-working spaces. These include Fishburners in Sydney, River City Labs in Brisbane, York Butter Factory and The Commons in Melbourne, and SpaceCubed and Flux in Perth. A growing list of new location-based businesses have arisen out of these hubs, supported by a network of local accelerator programs and entrepreneurial communities. These businesses are as diverse as they are potentially disruptive across a range of industries including property and real estate, agriculture, transport and finance to name a few.

SPUR, WA’s Location and Innovation Hub, powered by Landgate, proposes a half day workshop session to share experiences across the hubs outlined above in supporting new location-based businesses in Australia, with the aim of identifying how barriers to new business applications of digital earth technologies have been overcome.

Businesses that have benefited through these hubs will be invited to join the discussion and share their experience. Other delegates to Locate 17 will benefit through exposure to business applications and networks outside the ‘spatial industries’.

SPUR will coordinate with other innovation hubs across Australia to sponsor and coordinate this session at Locate 17.

1300 – 1700 ON LOCATION + SPATIAL CO-LABBING: The new collaborative pop-up labs for connecting, engaging, partnering & solving Allison Hornery and John Wells, Cofluence Meeting room C2.4, cost per attendee $175 + GST Allison Hornery and John Wells will be familiar to many Locate 2017 attendees as the team who recently facilitated the CRCSI & SIBA co-hosted workshops sessions around Australia to capture input for the 2026 Agenda program. This workshop will explore one of the most common topics of those sessions: creating shared open spaces for collaboration within the sector as well as across multiple sectors.

The thematic focus will be on how spatial/location organisations and professionals might successfully adapt the best of the (currently popular) innovation labs into collaborative labs for connection, partnership building, mobilising leadership and talent as well as communicating with and engaging stakeholders, customers and end-user communities.

In a highly participatory workshop, the format will include short, high input presentation segments interlaced with participant dialogue and feedback segments.

Key learnings will include: • International trends in open, collaborative labs from shaping pig-picture strategy to solving practical problems • The role of pop-up labs in ‘new economy’ enterprises and initiatives and their value for more ‘traditional’ organisations • The principles and practices that make a collaborative lab work • How to co-host a lab in diverse ways • How to run a lab to mobilise leadership, share knowledge, address a social challenge, solve an operational problem, design a new service, engage stakeholders, enable community participation.

• An overview of common innovation lab tools and techniques

1400 – 1600 Foundation Spatial Data Framework Simon Costello, Branch Head, National Location Information, Geoscience Australia Meeting Room C2.2 The Foundation Spatial Data Framework (FSDF) has now been deployed in a cloud base system called the Location Information Knowledge platform (LINK). This has allowed far greater functionality to be implemented for users. The LINK allows users to understand how to access national spatial data sets, it will also help users explore how they are constructed, governed and used.

In an increasingly digitised and complex world – transparency and standardised access is the answer.

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Market Day - Tuesday 4 April 2017 Digital transformation – the geo spatial industry The Digital Earth & Locate17 Conference will host a Marketplace Open Day for business and the public on Tuesday 4 April from 9am-4pm at the new International Convention Centre, Sydney.

The Marketplace Open Day is about the latest technology and services of the spatial and surveying industries available to business. There will be a unique opportunity to look at the future of the geospatial industry as businesses are going through digital transformation. On display will be everything from artificial intelligence and augmented reality to the Internet of Things and autonomous driving. The market day encourages networking for greater collaboration amongst organisations and provides an opportunity for businesses, educators, students and the public to meet professionals working in the geo spatial industry.

Throughout the day, exhibitors will be introducing the latest in location-based solutions at the Marketplace Theatre and visitors have the opportunity to gain more insight into the potential applications for the technology.

The event is free however registration is required. For more information on the Digital Earth & Locate17 Conference please visit www.digitalearthsymposium.com and to register for the Marketplace Open Day select ‘register’ once you are on the site.

Exciting new venue The Digital Earth & Locate17 Conference will be one of the first major events held at the brand new International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney.

Featuring a striking contemporary design, leading technology and multipurpose spaces, ICC Sydney will be a beacon of innovation, making it a perfect destination for supply chain and logistics leaders looking for groundbreaking ideas and solutions for their businesses.

Uniquely positioned within its very own Sydney Harbour waterfront precinct, ICC Sydney is situated amongst restaurants, retail, green spaces and a vibrant public domain on Darling Harbour. Located only a short walk to Australia’s largest CBD, ICC Sydney is at the epicenter of key financial, creative and cultural hubs.

ICC is just 8kms from Sydney Airport, has two light rail stations, is a short walk to Central and Town Hall stations and has 43 major hotels within walking distance. With its new fully integrated facilities, world class cuisine and spectacular views, ICC Sydney is the perfect venue.

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Organisations already confirmed on the show floor include: 1Spatial; 3D Visualization World Magazine; 4D Mapper; Aerometrex; Airbus Defence and Space Intelligence Australia; Analytical Graphics, Inc; Anditi Pty Ltd; Australia and New Zealand CRC for Spatial Information; Australian GeospatialIntelligence Organisation; Bentley Systems; Bureau of Meteorology; Cyient Australia Private Limited; Data61 CSIRO; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Digital Globe; Forum8 AU Pty Ltd; Fugro; GeoConnexion; Geoscience Australia; Jacobs; Navigate Pty Ltd; Nearmap Ltd; Omnilink Pty Ltd; Open Spatial Australia; Photomapping Services; Pitney Bowes; Position Magazine; PSMA Australia; RPS Group; Spatial Technologies Pty Ltd; Spatial Vision; Spookfish; Survey Solutions; Taylor & Francis and Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd. Correct at time of printing.

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feature

Surveying a new urban agenda KATE FAIRLIE

The answer to the world’s sustainability problem may be closer than thought: in the running of our growing urban centres.

O

ft-quoted statistics – that over 50% of the world’s population is now living in urban centres, and that cities generate 70% of world carbon emissions – demonstrate the unprecedented opportunity presented by cities.

Just a few months ago, some 36,000 people from 167 countries descended on Quito, Ecuador to debate the future of urban development. The event was the third global UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – better known as Habitat III – an event hosted only twice before, at 20 year intervals. The objective: to discuss a roadmap for urbanisation in the 21st century. The outcome of the event was the New Urban Agenda – formally adopted by the UN General Assembly just 10 days shy of the new year.

There are innumerable actors and stakeholders involved, however this article will concentrate on three themes of critical relevance to the surveying and spatial community: data, land and inclusiveness.

It’s hard to talk about the New Urban Agenda without also mentioning the Sustainable Development Goals. These come under the guise of Agenda 2030 which was adopted in September 2015, and are essentially the update to the Millennium Development Goals. Eight goals were transformed into 17 that together will ‘end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change’ (well… we’ll see).

Importantly, the 17 SDGs are supported by 169 targets and around 230 indicators – with an ultimate deadline of 2030. A critical goal for the urban agenda is SDG11 – the goal to ‘make cities

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and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. SDG11 includes a number of targets and indicators addressing access to housing, transport, planning and disaster risk reduction. For land aficionados, SDG1 may also be of interest – it’s the goal to end poverty, and includes sub-goal 1.4 which addresses rights to own and control land.

One step further With the SDGs seemingly all encompassing - what then is the role for the New Urban Agenda? The New Urban Agenda, whilst clearly focused on urban areas, at once goes beyond SDG11 by providing more detail on the necessary actions and steps to achieve sustainable urbanisation. In direct contrast to the Habitat Agenda it supersedes, it is recognised for clearly articulating the role of municipal finance – an important step in realising the immense funding needed to achieve the goals. It also goes beyond the SDGs in recognising the diversity of actors that must play a role in developing and maintaining sustainable cities.

For land, it goes even further, with not only the term ‘land’ mentioned on most pages of the document, but notably in the context of key concepts such as ‘fitfor-purpose land administration’, tenure security and the continuum of land and property rights. Land administration and reform will of course be fundamental to municipal financing. In terms of role, the New Urban Agenda will have its own – admittedly voluntary and non-binding reporting framework, with the first report phase to be at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in 2018. This timing coincides nicely with the anticipated review of SDG11 during the annual SDG review, and the next World Urban Forum (WUF9) to be held in Kuala Lumpur.

Of course, by this time, the UN and member governments will have needed to go some way to addressing the thorny

It is estimated that 70% of the world’s land parcels remain untitled.

question of metrics, so far avoided, that the SDGs have in contrast done so well at.

In the interim, the Quito Implementation Plan provides a self-reporting mechanism for the documentation of specific commitments by various partners as a legacy of Habitat III.

Participation & power So, onto talking about implementation – and in the spirit of reporting, let’s talk first about data. Data is of course the bread and butter of the survey and spatial professions, but even for us things are rapidly changing – think blockchain, crowd-sourcing, the cloud and privacy.

In the context of cities things get even more complicated, particularly because ‘official’ data does not routinely cover the informal sectors of the city and yet these are precisely the areas needed to be tracked to measure meaningful progress. Some headway has been made – the UK was the first country to publish smart city standards in 2014, and ISO Technical Committee 268 is addressing standardisation in the field of sustainable cities and communities.

Still, there remain some gaps. The first is participation and power – evidencebased policy-making is the name of the game and we all know that it’s easy to for statistics (and maps) to lie. It’s important – particularly post-2016 where the ‘exceptionality’ and ‘objectivity’ of experts have rightly or wrongly been called into question – that communities and individuals who should benefit from the New Urban Agenda have a say in how their benefits are tracked and measured.

This goes beyond ‘crowd-generation’ of data, and into meaningful participation of communities in project design.

Next is privacy. There was a nice discussion co-hosted by Land Portal and the Cadasta Foundation on open data and transparency in land governance, however it really only touches the surface of issues

around data privacy, like ensuring the safety of indigenous lands and land rights activists. There’s scope for a lot more to be done in the context of big data and achieving the New Urban Agenda and it will be interesting to watch the progress of Cadasta and similar initiatives that address community-centric data capture and storage for land rights recordation.

The centrality of land So, let’s talk now about land. I’ve mentioned the centrality of land to the New Urban Agenda and throughout the lead-up to Habitat III there has been significant recognition that the governance of land is central to reducing inequality and realising many human rights – not to mention, economic development.

There is increasing attention on fit-for-purpose land administration as a means to achieve tenure security and 2017 will likely bring a raft of new and recommended technologies that decrease the cost and time of large-scale land regularisation – these include dronecollected imagery, automated feature extraction of buildings and boundary markings from imagery and digitising hand drawn community maps.

Governance processes will remain critical, and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure and World Bank environmental and social safeguard policies will be fundamental here. One new initiative to watch will be the DFID and Omidyar Network funded Global Property Rights Index Initiative (PRindex), which is being established to serve as an indicator of citizens’ perception of the security of their property rights. I’ve also become involved in the RICS-led development of the International Land Measurement standards (ILMS) coalition which has the potential to play a fundamental role in standardising indicators around land measurement and rights recordation.

and SDGs will be achieved not simply by government but by the individual actors on the ground who define the actions, the measures and ways in which achievements – or failures – are reported.

Whether the UN as an institution has the capacity and willingness to adapt to this new paradigm is still to be seen.

There will be help though – in September 2016 Twitter and the United Nations Global Pulse announced a partnership whereby Twitter would provide support in the form of access to their data tools to support efforts to achieve the SDGs. In consideration of inclusiveness, though, data and statistics should not be used to overpower meaning – we have to recognise the complexity inherent to sustainable urban development and the limitations we have in terms of data resolution, standards and quality. Africa’s Agenda 2063, ‘The Future We Want for Africa’, established in 2013, is also important in that it embodies the growth and cohesion of the African Union and the need for geographic – and demographic – leadership from within, not dictated by others.

Where to from here?

Moving forward, inclusiveness will be particularly pertinent to ongoing narratives of monitoring and evaluation, particularly around land. Who is driving

what initiatives? Who is collecting what data? And to what extent are these processes transparent, participatory and community-led? I’ll be watching with interest for signs of action around indicators and metrics for the New Urban Agenda and to see to what extent these coincide with the SDGs and perhaps go further. And on the land administration front, it will be interesting to continue to see a number of new players and initiatives on the scene, all with the singular aim of secure tenure through fitfor-purpose land administration.

On the events front, the Annual World Bank Land and Poverty Conference will come up again in March 2017. In March the UN SDG Global Campaign Centre will be launched in partnership with the German City of Bonn. June will see the annual sitting of the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, where a number of countries and individual SDGs will report on their much-anticipated progress.

Kate Fairlie is a land specialist with Land Equity International, an international development consultancy specialising in land administration, based in Wollongong. She is currently undertaking an MSc in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford and is a former consultant to UN-Habitat. ■

“2017 will likely bring a raft of new and recommended technologies that decrease the cost and time of large-scale land regularisation – these include drone collected imagery, automated feature extraction of buildings and boundary markings from imagery and digitising hand drawn community maps.”

The future we want Finally, let’s quickly touch on inclusiveness. A fundamental criticism of the New Urban Agenda has been the lack of formal recognition of the participation of local government. But this criticism neglects the concerted lobbying and fluid alliances of interests and organisations – be they cities, city networks, governments, policy-makers, NGOs or communities – and their impact of their lobbying on the resulting Agenda.

It also glosses over the extremely low attendance of heads of state at Habitat III, in direct contrast to the hundreds of city mayors in attendance. More than ever before, the New Urban Agenda

The author attending the World Urban Forum 6 in 2014 in Colombia.

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Reality Capture: dealing with the demand for 3D With so many methods at our avail to capture an object in 3D, choosing the right tool for the job is increasingly complex. In a time when unmanned mapping technologies, high resolution remote sensing, backpack-based scanners and crowd-sourced photogrammetry have come to the fore, there has never been so many means to achieve the same goal. Simultaneously, industry pressures are driving the demand for those tricky fourth and fifth dimensions, time and cost, as well as a growing list of accuracy, privacy and safety requirements. Based on conversations with industry experts, this article aims to take you to the next dimension.

ANTHONY WALLACE

Who can benefit from 3D data?

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Surveyors Spatial scientists Mining engineers Civil engineers Asset managers Quarry managers Project managers Architects Government agencies Road authorities Environmental scientists Local councils Video game designers Film producers Urban planners RPAS operators Real estate agents Tourism organisations Historians Forensic scientists Metrologists Geologists Machine operators Quantity surveyors Building surveyors Property valuers Defence forces Intelligence agencies Security personnel Natural resource managers Property developers Advertising agencies Aeronautical engineers Autonomous vehicle manufacturers - Medical practitioners

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Capturing , processin g, modelling and visualisin g reality for a data -driven economy.

Series of airborne LiDAR capture and oblique and vertical imagery for ‘Smart City Sydney,’ which integrates 3D GIS with planning envelopes, controls and transport routes. Source: AAM

A GROWING LIST OF DEMANDS It has to be in 3D... Rory San Miguel, Co-founder of Propeller Aero- developers of drone data processing platform Propeller and smart ground control points, AeroPoints: “There’s not much we do in 2D anymore. Site managers are all coming from a world of 2D charts and contour maps and now they are understanding what they can do in 3D. When they are used to a more interactive 3D dataset, they’re starting to expect that across the board. In the industries we are working with, the site managers are starting to expect more depth and more interactive information.

If you can imagine looking at a quarry from a contour map, you obviously need to be trained, but when you actually present the data in 3D, you’re making that depth available to everybody in the organisation, or in many cases, everybody onsite.”

More data please… Mark Freeburn, CEO of AAM- a survey company by genesis, AAM have been providing 3D data in some form for over five decades: “Anybody who deals with geospatial data these days is seeing a demand for reality and 3D data.

You start from the very obvious areas around the built space – architecture, engineering, facilities management, asset management— they are demanding all the data that we can give to them. Then you head into the less defined things like planning, environmental

conditioning and security, and they all demand 3D data. It’s been very much for us more of a ‘pull-market’ than a ‘push-market’.”

Deliver it faster… Mark Deuter, Managing Director, AEROMetrex- having forged a business model based on reality capture applications, AeroMetrex have been recreating reality with their aero3Dpro commercial service since 2012: “As always the pressure is on delivery times. While many modelling software routines are highly automated, there is always a small percentage of data that could be edited to produce a better result. With so much data to deal with, that can add up to a lot of editing. So the final result is always a balance between 3D modelling perfection and acceptable delivery times. Many clients want a street-level perspective as well as comprehensive coverage.”

Be more productive… Todd Steiner, Trimble’s Director of Marketing for Optical and Imaging, Geospatial Division: “Awareness of everything 3D is growing to an unprecedented level. Trends, as usual, are moving toward productivity. 3D data has moved beyond the early adopter and cool phase – to being a true requirement for many projects. Customers and their clients are demanding usable deliverables as opposed to just impressive looking 3D objects.”

Enter a new frontier… Mark Reid, Vice President Product Management, GeoSLAM – developers of SLAM software and handheld scanners: “Time is money, so on large projects speed is everything. This has led to another trend toward survey in motion or mobile mapping. For several years now we have seen the growing use of vehicle or airborne mobile mapping systems to conduct large area surveys.

As we spend 90% of our time indoors here at GeoSLAM, we see indoor mapping as the next frontier.”

Capture more and capture it more frequently… Dr Craig Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Surveying, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW: “Site managers are starting to request surveyors to capture laser scans during specific stages of construction to check flatness after a concrete pour, or as quality assurance on reinforcing rods prior to pouring concrete as well as the standard as-built construction. One of the challenges however is combining these various scans and if so, this can be the foundation for a Building Information Model (BIM) captured during construction producing a survey accurate BIM of not only the walls, but what is inside the walls.”

Deliver it instantaneously… Dr Stefan Hrabar, Research Team Leader at Data61 for Hovermap- a SLAM-based UAV LiDAR mapping platform: “A common request or requirement we hear from UAV mapping clients is for faster processing time. Specifically, clients would like to review the results while still in the field, instead of waiting hours or overnight once they have returned to the office.

Another request we’re hearing more is the ability to fly autonomously and map in GPS-denied environments.”

Know the costs… Stuart Woods, Vice President, Geospatial Solutions Division, Leica Geosystems: “Our clients are looking for ways to invoice their projects faster. This includes processing and getting their digital deliverables in the hands of their clients faster. With mobile mapping platforms providing quicker access to areas previously difficult to transverse and processing software becoming more and more of a focus, we’re finding quicker and easier ways of giving our clients what they want while maintaining an accuracy needed to provide reliable information.”

How can you capture reality?

• Traditional survey – Levels and total stations still remain some of the most accurate methods available. It is, however, time consuming, difficult to achieve a dense coverage and requires much post-processing.

• GNSS – Global navigation satellite systems such as GPS are increasingly used to capture real world 3D data quickly and reliably. Currently it cannot be used in all environments and struggles to achieve dense capture.

• Terrestrial laser scanner – groundbased, active imaging method using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to rapidly acquire accurate, dense 3D point clouds. By scanning data in all directions, they can capture whole environments. They have become very easy to operate and incorporate with CAD systems.

• Mobile scanning – the same methods as terrestrial scanning, mounted onto a car, backpack or trolley and combined with inertial navigation units and/or GNSS for rapid capture. Generally not as accurate as terrestrial scanning, but avoids the need for multiple setups and quickly covers large areas.

• Aerial scanning – uses LiDAR as with mobile scanning, but taken a step higher aboard manned aircraft.

Can be quite costly, but captures large scale areas in 3D with ease and can penetrate vegetation and operate in low light.

• Aerial photogrammetry – same as aerial scanning but rather than LIDAR uses overlapping photographs to determine 3D reality. Largely dependent on the sensor used and the scale of capture, such methods can be combined with GNSS, INU and/or ground control points to achieve comparable accuracy to scanning methods. Satellite-based methods are also available.

• UAV photogrammetry – Having seen extreme interest and growth in recent years, this method uses unmanned aerial vehicles—either multi-rotor, fixed wing or helicopterbased—to capture imagery as with aerial photogrammetry but without

the need for manned aircraft. Offers limited benefits over manned aircraft, such as accessibility, use in restricted spaces and economy on smaller jobs.

They are limited, however by safety legislation and sensor size.

• UAV LiDAR – Combines UAV with LiDAR to achieve point clouds as with aerial scanning. Coampnies like RIEGL, YellowScan and HoverMap now offer lightweight LiDAR sensors or complete solutions for a range of different platforms.

• Photo-reality modelling – Bentley System’s ContextCapture (formerly Acute3D) uses photogrammetry and images taken from various means, including handheld DSLR cameras, aerial aircraft, UAVs and even mobile phones to create accurate 3D reality models. Provides great accessibility and wide potential.

• Crowdsourced photogrammetry – As with photo-reality modelling, this method uses simple photographs to reconstruct reality, however uses the many photos already in existence.

URC ventures and the University of North Carolina used computer vision software algorithms and public domain images to automatically construct 12,903 3D models in just six days. Not considered reliable or accurate, but does effectively eliminate field time.

• SLAM - Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping takes sensor information captured on the move such as images or LiDAR and turns it into meaningful registered point clouds to be used for navigation in real-time. As with GEOSlam’s Zeb range of handheld scanners or Google’s Project Tango for smartphones, it offers ease of use and accessibility. UAV versions such as Hovermap will become available in 2017. Still in the early adopter stage, but has huge potential for exploitation by many sectors for indoor mapping and autonomous capture.

• Emerging methods – colour LiDAR, combined LiDAR/photogrammetry/ SLAM, indoor navigation, and autonomous operations - all contributing to meet the demand for reality capture.

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CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOL/S Balance needs & expectations…

Mark Freeburn, AAM: “First off is determining what the client both needs and expects, what they want to do with the information, and what is the future of that information. Also important is the scale of the area we are covering. We are ‘agnostic’ in that we use whatever is the right method for different sites. So if we are looking at an architectural level we are talking about scanning, perhaps highdensity LiDAR scanning both from fixedhead devices and mobile devices. Then we move through to the imaging techniquesit can be as simple as mounted SLR cameras and even mobile phone cameras, and we also integrate those with more sophisticated depth sounding. For broad acre capture or corridor capture we also have a fleet of multiple aircraft with multiple LiDAR sensors, oblique camera systems, with both visible and non-visible spectrum sensors. We also have our own fleet of drones with multiple sensors on those. So we carry the full gamut.”

Consider the overall workflow… Gina Velde, Marketing & Organisation Development Manager, Position Partners- distributors of platforms for aerial and mobile mapping, 3D laser scanning, GNSS, total stations, and processing and visualising software: “Generally hardware is becoming more compact, lighter, faster and therefore easier to setup, pack up and transport.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. as captured by GeoSLAM’s handheld laser scanner.

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Building interiors and exteriors acquired using Hovermap’s SLAM-based LiDAR mapping UAV platform.

This is true of traditional GNSS and total station hardware, as well as 3D laser scanning, mobile mapping and GPR. Like the modern smartphone, we are also seeing the integration on miniature sensors such as IMUs, compass, modems and tilt sensors all contributing to a faster more accurate measurement. The focus now is not as much about the hardware, but about the overall workflow and how to get maximum usage and meaningful results from the data. Cloud technology enables faster processing, the ability to share and collaborate between teams, stakeholders and clients quickly and effectively.”

Account for time and complexity…

Dr Stefan Hrabar, Hovermap: “The shift towards mobile, continuous time 3D LiDAR mapping is reducing the time and complexity needed for 3D capture. Instead of the traditional tripod-based terrestrial LiDAR systems, it is now possible to walk,

drive or fly though an environment while scanning. SLAM is a key enabler for mobile 3D mapping in GPS-denied environments.”

Integrate with verticals… Todd Steiner, Trimble: “Instead of consolidating to one technology or one process, a large variety of ways are being used to capture useful information about 3D environments.

Dedicated verticalised solutions, growth of standardisation and efforts in education will be necessary developments.”

Breach the limits of science… John Reddington, National Laser Scanning Manager, C.R.Kennedy- a surveyorfocussed distributor of total stations, GNSS, GIS, 3D scanners and UAVs: “This year will be a significant year in laser scanning. Laser scanners have more or less reached the limits of science because most of them are running a 1 million points per second now, so they are competing with the speed of light. Leica just came out with the BLK360, a low price point scanner, which is super easy to use- it’s a single button push with fully automated software. That level of usability is really going to drive mass adoption this year. Is it going to put surveyors out of work? No it’s not, because at the end of the day it’s still not an accurate survey tool.”

Offer an end-to-end approach… Rory San Miguel, Propeller Aero: “When it comes to any new technology, people want to adopt it, but with big companies and worksites things like that are hard to do. Now that propeller is so end-to-end, we give customers everything they need to turn data into value. You just can’t get away with supplying small components of that solution anymore.”

IT’S WHAT YOU DO WITH IT THAT COUNTS

Combining multiple means… Mark Freeburn, AAM: “Putting all that together, that’s where the survey science comes in.

And that’s where the understanding of the various models needs to be put in place. We have different datums, levels of resolution and accuracies-all of which needs to be integrated. That’s what we as surveyors and the geospatial market should be bringing to the rest of them- those benefiting from reality models.”

Too much to handle… Todd Steiner, Trimble: “When capturing 3D data, accumulation of very large datasets happens quickly. Trimble is currently working on solutions to increase the amount of automation as it relates to the process of capturing and converting 3D data deliverables.”

Surveyors’ place in all this… Dr Craig Roberts: “I feel surveyors and geospatial engineers need to own this space as it is easy to create a scan cloud, but much harder to correctly register or georeference that data and combine with other forms of data such as total station, GNSS, or UAV point clouds and be confident of the accuracy (not precision) of these resulting products. This is the skill of our profession.”

Reality Models & 3D Vectors… Mark Deuter, AEROmetrex: “Reality Models give accurate, scaled context to 3D data of all types. They are the base maps of the future. One thing we have developed very recently is the ability to generate 3D vector data from 3D reality models. We are very excited about this capability, which has already been taken up for several highprofile engineering studies.”

Moving into 4D and 5D… Gina Velde, Position Partners: “Managing time and cost in addition to as-built data represents a shift to 5D modelling and visualisation.

MAGNET VDC software gives key stakeholders the ability to visualise every

stage and the associated costs of a major project and its many components such as roads, rail, temporary works, structures, bridges, drainage systems, electrical services, landscaping and noise reduction.”

Reality-based decisions… Mark Reid, GEOSlam: “The use of accurate and up to date 3D data is important at every stage of an asset’s life cycle. The availability of data helps to make informed decisions at the design stage and ensure no surprises once you reach a site. During construction, the ability to undertake regular surveys allows for progress to be accurately monitored and shared between multiple stakeholders.

On completion, as-built surveys can be undertaken and easily checked back against the original BIM design.”

Virtual cities… Mark Freeburn, AAM: “I’ve heard quotes where the concept of having a virtual model of built space could be more valuable than the physical thing.

In other words, picture a city in which everything is modelled, including everything that happens in that city. The amount of models that can be built is endless.” ■

digital aerial photography LiDAR laser scanning orthophoto and imagery imagery and data sales topographic mapping GIS services

133 Abbotsford Street PO Box 369 North Melbourne 3051 Victoria, Australia Phone +61 3 9328 3444 Fax +61 3 9326 6476 ps@photomapping.com.au

advanced LiDAR Laser Mapping Technology

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The Underwater Citizen

Science Club A volunteer-led project at Queensland’s Flinders Reef assesses and maps the fragile marine environment.

I

n 2016, the University of Queensland Underwater Club, UniDive, launched a citizen science based project aiming to map and assess the ecological status of Flinders Reef. The sub-tropical reef near Brisbane is one of the best Australian dive sites with a special place and history in Australia’s marine environment.

One of the project aims of the Flinders Reef Ecological Assessment (FREA) study is to successfully map its habitat for the first time since English navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Australia in the early 19th century.

Research fellow and lecturer in remote sensing Dr Chris Roelfsema will play a key part as volunteer project organiser in the UniDive crowd-funded project, which will see participants attend University of Queensland academic lectures and practical training.

Dr Roelfsema said a number of students and staff focused their studies or research

32 position February/March 2017

A reef map resulting from one of expeditions.

“It is expected that more than 500 dives will be made over 12 months, collecting over 50 parameters to characterise the reefs.”

on the marine environment, and had experience in planning, data collection, analysis, reporting and scientific writing, making it perfect for the task at hand.

A historical survey Dr Roelfsema works at the Remote Sensing Research Centre (RSRC) at the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management.

His focus is mapping and monitoring programs for government agencies and non-government agencies using georeferenced field survey, remote sensing and other spatial information. He is also involved in monitoring ecosystem health of coral reefs and seagrass habitats throughout Asia Pacific.

He said Flinders, after whom the reef is named, proposed the name “Australia”, subsequently approved by the British Admiralty as the agreed name for the continent in 1824. More than 100 geographical features and places in Australia are also named after Matthew Flinders.

“Flinders Reef is one of the best Australian dive sites with a special place in Australia’s marine ecosystem,” Dr Roelfsema said.

Flinders Reef is protected within Moreton Bay Marine Park and is a small, isolated reef, 5km north-west of Cape

Unidive has a history of similar successful award winning citizen science based projects, which integrate UQ Faculty of Science's researchers, students and staff (all UniDive members), to help conserve the local marine environment. In 2015, UniDive volunteers finished the award winning Point Lookout Ecological Assessment (PLEA), now to be followed with the Flinders Reef Ecological Assessment (FREA) study.

Moreton, monitored annually by the Reef Check Australia conservation program.

It is home to at least 175 marine species, including fish (such as wrasse, sweet lip, trevally, parrot, bat, and surgeon), turtles, manta rays, wobbegongs, and leopard sharks. Whaler sharks and humpback whales have been sighted in the vicinity.

Dr Roelfsema said the area hosted a rich diversity of more than 120 coral species including staghorn, brain, and plate corals, as well as soft corals, gorgonians and sponges.

Making the most of talent UniDive is the University’s dive club, and has about 350 members, of whom 65 per cent are students or staff.

UniDive’s aim is to conduct a detailed monitoring of the flora and fauna at Flinders Reef using Reef Check Australia and UQ’s Coral Watch methods and citizen science based mapping methods developed

by UQ’s Remote Sensing Research Centre.

“The ecological assessment and mapping of the Flinders Reef environment will use a community-based, cost effective, scientifically sound survey program, which has shown to be effective based on the previous projects,” said Dr Roelfsema.

“This will assist with reporting on the health of Brisbane waterways and how they impact the local coastal environment.”

The project’s findings will be made publically accessible and will provide a basis to understand and track changes supporting management plans for waterway and coastal health, particularly in East Moreton Bay. The project will also support the local dive industry by producing new maps and raising public awareness of the local reef environment.

“Flinders Reef is one of the best Australian dive sites with a special place in Australia’s marine ecosystem… yet there is limited baseline ecological data collected and no detailed map.”

The project will include training of 50 to 100 volunteers by UniDive members with working and survey experience.

The same participants will also attend academic lectures at The University of Queensland and practical training at UQ Aquatic Centre and Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island.

Four survey weekends at Flinders reef will be conducted in summer and winter at eight sites around Flinders Reef, using Moreton Island camp ground as a base.

It is expected that more than 500 dives will be made over 12 months, collecting over 50 parameters to characterise the reefs.

“It is funded through crowd sourcing, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Healthy Waterways, and local businesses,” Dr Roelfsema said.

“Currently the project has attracted $18,000 which is sufficient to get started but we are seeking additional support and people who are interested can contact unidive.frea@gmail.com.” ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 33

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Position founding editor, Jon Fairall, foresees a growing divide between our productivity problem and the way we deal with location.

F

or the last twenty years, one of the fundamental preoccupations of the spatial industry has been the creation of a spatial data infrastructure. It's not hard to see why. Spatial data is expensive to collect. It needs to be used efficiently. But looking into the future, people in the industry are starting to worry that an SDI is not enough to extract the full value from the data.

Data and the way it is managed was one of the underlying themes at the recent conference of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI). The organisation is developing a White Paper that is proposing a new generation of spatial infrastructure based around the premise that we don't need information; we need knowledge. The subtle difference between the two concepts may be one of the key drivers of the next generation of workers in the industry.

A bit of context helps. At the very highest level, one of the key concerns about the

Historically, improvements in the way computers are used have been one of the main drivers of productivity. Arm your workers with computers and the amount they can produce skyrockets. You need less of them, so the labour input is reduced.

Those workers that are left produce more, so revenue increases. Likewise, if you can automate your machinery, you can produce much more while spending less.

But a number of analysts have pointed to slowing productivity growth as evidence that computing's low hanging fruit has been well and truly picked. The secretaries have been replaced by word-processors. The mail room guy has been replaced by email.

The good news, according to publicity on the CRCSI's website, is that “organisations that currently manage data will see staff time savings of between 50-70 per cent,” by using new and improved methods of gathering and massaging data.

From spatial information to spatial

KNOWLEDGE economy – in Australia and globally – is sluggish or non-existent growth in productivity.

The political and economic tantrums we are facing in the second half of this decade are due at least in part to sluggish growth in wages for the bottom half of society. For a decade now, real growth has been concentrated among the rich. Some of our foremost thinkers fear for the future of democratic institutions as a result.

If this analysis is even half-way correct, the implication is that a lot rides on increasing productivity. In economics, productivity is taken as output per unit of input. It balances all the economic inputs – usually divided into labour and capital – against revenue. One of the central aims of business is to minimise one and maximise the other, but it is, of course, also a central concern of government departments that they should do what is required of them with the minimum of labour and capital.

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How? The normal panaceas of the hardware vendors – bigger hard drives; faster processors; don't really seem to cut it. Do you really need more data? More memory? Without applications to justify them, such changes hardly seem to matter.

What would make a difference? In both government and business circles, there is a growing suspicion that data holds the key. In particular, a new way of looking at datasets may be fundamental to the next step change in productivity.

The new paradigm is called Knowledge Management which is broadly defined as the process of creating and managing the knowledge necessary to run a firm or meet some objective. The aim is to focus the collective knowledge of participants on a problem. It's been around as an academic discipline since the 1990s but it only now starting to percolate into business thinking.

JON FAIRALL

The thing about knowledge management that makes it interesting to readers of Position Magazine is that it presupposes accurate, authoritative data and, for many interesting applications, it presupposes spatial data.

Spatial knowledge infrastructure So what might a spatial knowledge infrastructure, or SKI for short, look like? Perhaps one way of looking at this is that spatial knowledge management is what happens when spatial data infrastructure meets social media.

To see why, think about the supply chain model behind existing spatial data infrastructures. Necessarily, an SDI uses a unidirectional work flow. For each dataset there is a defined custodian who creates and is responsible for the data. The custodian has its own business reasons for creating the data, nevertheless it makes the data available to other players in the industry in an agreed format.

But one of the key focuses of knowledge management is that it is participatory. It's a platform that is designed to elicit various types of knowledge from a variety of actors, massage the resulting data and then present it back to users in an agreed format. In the terms we would understand in an SDI, there is no custodian, or at the very least, the custodian isn't the only one creating the data. There may not even be one person or organisation with responsibility to manage the data.

Instead, there are multiple data gatherers all contributing to the data set. Paul Goodhue at the University of Canterbury recently used a poster presentation to describe his work on crowd-sourced bike and walking trails. Users can upload various types of data directly from apps run on mobile devices.

Risky dimensions There are obvious advantages to making it easier to input data. Equally obvious are the problems. How can you trust data if anyone is free to change it? What stops incompetent fraudulent or malicious hacking? Goodhue says “improving the trust of crowdsourced geographic information requires knowledge of the reliability of the information's source and the quality of the information itself.”

He says the reliability of data

can be assessed objectively along four dimensions: spatio-temporal, semantic, social and methodological.

The spatio-temporal dimension measures where and when the data was collected. The semantic dimension describes the data.

The social dimension reflects the information source, i.e. who collected it. The methodological dimension asks how the data was collected.

In Goodhue's schema, each of these dimensions has an associated trust rating which contributes to an overall trust rating. This trust rating can be weighted; one might give more weight to the fact that a trusted source collected it, than to the fact that the data was collected at the right time, for instance. The rules for how the overall trust weighting is computed can be standardised, or tailored to individual projects.

Goodhue's model for an SKI is designed to improve the trust of both constrained and unconstrained information. Designing the model to improve the trust of unconstrained data helps to ensure knowledge from the crowd is not lost through limiting the type of data users can supply.

Current thinking is that an SKI must preserve the best parts of an SDI. Datasets must continue to conform to well understood standards so they can be easily consumed by other applications. They must continue to be discoverable through catalogues.

But such a model for the future of spatial data also anticipates improved data structures and standards through the use of XML schemas and resource description frameworks that permit machine readable code to be controlled by plain language enquiries.

It will also require ontologies that permit the complex relationships that exist between datasets and applications to be made so that automated processing can occur.

It may well be that such a model for the future of spatial datasets will enable solutions to some of the industries most vexed problems. It is possible to imagine a national cadastre for instance that is updated at local government level, in land titles offices, or by infrastructure operators. These are the people who are actually making decisions about subdivisions.

This appears to be the vision that guides the Cadastre 2034 project that is being developed by the Intergovernmental Committee on

“A new way of looking at datasets may be fundamental to the next step change in productivity.”

Survey and Mapping. ICSM is the survey and mapping committee of ANZLIC, the intergovernmental land agency for Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions.

ICSM's vision is for “a cadastral system that enables people to readily and confidently identify the location and extent of all rights, restrictions and responsibilities related to land and real property.”

This is far from the situation at present. From the point of view of users, it can be extremely difficult to derive a reliable list of all the people, commercial actors or government agencies that have, or could potentially have, an interest in any particular block of land. To a very real extent, this is because it is hard for the custodians of cadastral data to manage relationships with all the people who might have an interest in land and even more difficult to provide pathways for the efficient flow of information about those interests.

Moreover, the situation will get worse unless something is done. All major cities in Australia are undergoing densification and so more precise identification of rights, restrictions and responsibilities will be essential. Environmental legislation will provide a rapidly increasing layer of complex regulations that will guide what can, cannot and must be done with land.

So ICSM is imagining a paperless process without duplication, which will lead to significantly faster updates to the cadastral fabric. Custodians of those rights, restrictions and responsibilities will be able to interact directly with the cadastre. Surveyors, for instance, will be able to register land parcels in real time directly from the field to the desktop.

More generally, if the creation of spatial data becomes easier and more flexible, custodian organisations will need to re-write the data entry rule book.

Organisations will need to consider who they trust and how to test whether that trust is warranted.

Jon Fairall was the foundation editor of Position Magazine, and now works as a freelance journalist and author. ■

www.spatialsource.com.au 35

new products

Real-time UAV LiDAR mission platform French UAV innovator, Yellowscan, has launched YellowScan LiveStation, enabling surveyors to monitor in real-time the validity and quality of the data collected from UAVmounted LiDAR. Combined with one of YellowScan’s lightweight LiDAR sensors aboard a UAV, the new platform is able to ensure that the survey is going smoothly and the point cloud data collected will be comprehensive, reliable and accurate.

YellowScan LiveStation also offers visualisation and analytics designed for complex and long endurance flight operations. While operating a UAV, LiveStation renders a real-time, three-dimensional representation of the point cloud during flight, with ability to zoom, translate or rotate.

Building outlines in central Adelaide as featured in the first release of Geoscape.

First release of continent-wide building dataset PSMA Australia has announced the first release of Geoscape, a continent-wide initiative to capture the built environment as an accurate spatial dataset. The first of the comprehensive building datasets are now available for Adelaide, rural South Australia, Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory.

All Geoscape datasets in rural and urban environments include building ground elevation and footprint data, as well as land cover classification. In all urban environments, datasets are extended to include tree heights, rooftop

materials, swimming pools, solar panels and building heights.

PSMA is on course to roll-out Geoscape on a national scale. Geoscape data is generated using machine learning and automation to analyse DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution satellite imagery.

The remainder of the national datasets are expected to become available during the course of 2017 and early 2018. The next areas to be released include Sydney, rural New South Wales, Launceston and rural Queensland, all with an expected release in March 2017.

Wireless infrastructure monitoring solution

With a reputation for delivering highly accurate and industrially resilient solutions in some of the UK’s most challenging construction and engineering projects, Senceive’s wireless

36 position February/March 2017

and mains power free monitoring technology is now available in Oceania from Position Partners.

Unlike optical prism-based monitoring solutions, Senceive sensors

require very little maintenance or technical support and have a battery life of up to 15 years.

“No matter how large or complex the job, Senceive’s FlatMesh technology can be tailored to create a highly reliable and cost effective solution,” said Heath Low, Position Partners Business Development Manager for monitoring applications.

Senceive’s FlatMesh monitor can use either solar powered cellular network to provide a totally mains power and wire free solution, or an industrially resilient USB-based data monitoring hub communication. Browser-based data access system WebMonitor provides easy access to monitoring information.

Sencieve’s monitoring platform is now available in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia from Position Partners.

Cloud-based utility detection and mapping platform

Single button laser scanning solution Leica Geosystems’ new BLK360 laser scanner fits in the palm of your hand and is capable of acquiring near-survey quality point cloud data at a fraction of the cost of other systems.

The Leica BLK360 recently won a 2017 Geospatial World Innovation Award, as well as 2017 PRISM Metrology Award. BLK360 is the world’s smallest imaging laser scanner designed primarily for engineers, architects, construction managers and surveyors involved in CAD and BIM. Weighing only 1 kilogram, the BLK360 captures panoramic interiors

at a rate of 360,000 laser scan points per second, all with a single push of a button.

A complete and accurate full-dome laser scan can be automatically registered in a point cloud in under three minutes.

By using the ReCap Pro 360 mobile app, the BLK360 can also stream image and point cloud data to a tablet device and integrate directly with CAD software systems.

The BLK360 will be released worldwide around March 2017 with an estimated price of $15,990 USD. C.R.Kennedy are accepting pre-orders across Australia.

High resolution scanning solutions

Z+F’s IMAGER 5010 laser scanner.

Position Partners has entered an agreement with Zoller + Fröhlich (Z+F) to offer sales, training and technical support for a range of Z+F laser scanners to customers throughout Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Based out of Germany, Z+F is an electrical engineering firm specialised in creating laser scanners for use by engineers and surveyors to create high resolution point clouds for data analysis and reporting.

“Z+F has a reputation for delivering industry-leading solutions that are innovative, reliable and highly accurate,” said Martin Nix, Position Partners CEO. Position Partners will offer the popular Z+F IMAGER 5010 series as well as the new Z+F IMAGER 5016, a compact, high performance instrument that delivers more than one million points per second accuracy up to distances of 360 metres.

Leica Geosystems has teamed up with Geolantis to provide an enterprise-grade cloudbased utility mapping solution for all Leica Geosystems Detection products.

With the addition of Geolantis’ cloud based solutions, users of Leica Geosystems detection systems, GIS collectors, and GNSS positioning systems can now manage projects, tasks and spatial data from one central dashboard- the Leica DX Manager. The platform allows users to locate, map and share subsurface utility information simultaneously.

The Leica DX Manager expands the possibilities of mobile data collection by combining functions from utility surveying, GIS, CAD and asset management into an easy-to-use mobile interface. With the integrated Geolantis software, users of Leica Geosystems detection solutions, like the DS2000, can integrate location data and apply locator depth measurements to GNSS measurements.

The Leica DX Manager is available now across Australia from C.R.Kennedy.

Top: The Geolantis.360 COLLECTOR. Above: The Leica DS2000 Utility Detection Radar – compatible with the new Leica DX Manager for utility surveying.

www.spatialsource.com.au 37

sssi

News and views from the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute

Gaby van Wyk

President’s report A new year - 2017 Welcome to a new year with new, and exciting, challenges. A fresh new year is once again upon us. It’s the time to be thankful for the blessings of the past year and to take stock of all our achievements and failures. The New Year provides all of us with opportunity to start afresh, to start strong, and yet another chance to do everything we want to do this year. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and prosperous 2017 from myself, the Board and all of the staff and volunteers at SSSI. With the implementation of the new constitution, this new year really also marks the start of a new phase in the life of our institution. All around the country regional and commission committees are ramping up activities to adjust to all these new changes. It is indeed exciting times!

Locate 17 The Locate Conference and Digital Earth Symposium is fast approaching and I encourage members to take part in what will be one of the biggest spatial events to ever take place in Australia. The joint conference will be held 3-6 April 2017 at the new International Conference Centre in Sydney.

38 position February/March 2017

With a program featuring more than 130 international and Australian speakers, Digital Earth & Locate17 provides a unique opportunity to understand spatial and surveying innovation from Australia and around the world.

The two main conference days will be split into eight separate streams with topics including smart cities, virtual globes, intelligent transport, agriculture, engineering/utilities, smart sensors for natural resource management, water & climate, disaster & emergency management, and the geospatial economy.

Some of the symposium’s highlights include: • Susan Moran from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive Science Team presents a special session on remote sensing and applications of global soil moisture monitoring • Trisha Moriarty, Geological Survey of NSW delivers a keynote on the application of open data policy in the Earth Sciences across government, scientific and industry • Singapore Land Authority & AAM presents, ‘Singapore Smart Nation: Measuring from the ground up’ • David Wortley, Gamification and Enabling Technologies Strategic Solutions, delivers, ‘The role of Digital Earth technologies in digital medicine’.

The New Board Our new Board has been formed and is now fully operational. In line with the new constitution we now have 12 positions on the Board.

Congratulations to all the new Directors: I look forward to working with you all. The composition of the Board is as follows: • President Gabriel Van Wyk • Former President Bernard O’Sullivan • Tasmania Alex Leith • South Australia Franco Rea • Western Australia Kerry Smyth • Queensland Lee Hellen

• Australian Capital Territory Mike Stapleton • Hydrographic Commission Richard Cullen • Northern Territory Rob Sarib • New South Wales Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse • Victoria - Vacant • Young Professional (Observer) Richard Syme Note: The Company Secretaries are Chris Malouf and Jonathan Saxon

Board Advisory Committees and Standing Committees The new constitution makes provision for the creation of a number of advisory and standing committees. We are currently driving to complete the formation of these as they are essential to the operations of SSSI. You may have recently seen a call for members to volunteer for a number of these. The status of these are now as follows: • Commission Chairs. Formation is complete and the first meeting will commence in the near future.

• Education Standing Committee. We have some members, however, the process is still incomplete. More members are needed.

• Leadership Development Committee.

Formation is also complete and the first meeting will commence in the near future.

• Professional Standards Committee.

The formation of this committee requires a vetting process. We currently have six nominations, these are now in the process of being vetted.

• Membership Committee. Formation of this committee was completed recently. We are in the process of communicating with the new committee members.

• Finance Committee. We still need more members for this committee. We welcome any SSSI member who have an understanding of financial matters and is willing to volunteer some time. Please contact myself or the general manager in this regard.

SSSI sustaining partners

If you are aware of a member with sufficient experience, please send us their details so we can contact them.

Agenda 2020 The Agenda 2026 Team is currently in the process of engaging the Spatial Industry throughout Australia to establish a roadmap for the future of the industry in Australia. Many of you would have participated; for those who did not have the opportunity, there is still time. The draft agenda of this team has been published and public comment has been invited.

The document is thought provoking and offers a number of challenges. SSSI is in the process of preparing a detailed response, and to assist us, we would like to also invite any member to send us your responses to this agenda as well. You will find more detail on the website here: www.2026agenda.com.

IEMS QLD The Institution of Engineering and Mining Surveyors Queensland (IEMSQ) has now been deregistered. Their members have been offered the option of migrating to SSSI and its certification and CPD programme. To that end, SSSI was gifted some funding to promote the National Certification scheme as it pertains to Engineering Surveyors.

More specifically, SSSI has committed to

• Student or Certification Prizes in Queensland

Professional certification One of SSSI’s key objectives for 2017 is to increase the number of certified professional practitioners in the different fields of Survey and Spatial Science. I do not believe that professional certification is a system devised merely to protect those who have achieved it from their competition who have not. It is NOT job protectionism. Instead, we have tried to make it as inclusive as possible. Yet, there will always be some candidates that are unable to meet the requirements. And that is a good thing. Throughout my career, I have encountered several practitioners who were incompetent, unethical or even fraudulent. This to me highlights the need and importance of professionalism in the field of Survey and Spatial Science.

There is no doubt that there are many people in the spatial industry who are very competent and ethical in this field of practice, yet they are not certified. We all know examples of such people. At the same time, there is no guarantee that someone who has achieved SSSI professional certification will actually practice in a competent or ethical manner. However, the SSSI certification system "raises the bar" for practitioners, encouraging them to continually improve and update their

“The spatial industry has the potential to play a much greater role within Australian business. Those of us already in the industry need to understand that none of us really stand on our own.”

SSSI Board – 2017 President – Gaby van Wyk President-Elect – TBC Former President – Bernard O’Sullivan ACT Director – Mike Stapleton NSW Director – Zaffar Mohamed Ghouse NT Director – Rob Sarib QLD Director – Lee Hellen SA Director – Franco Rea TAS Director – Alex Leith VIC Director – Vacant WA Director – Kerry Smyth Hydrography Commission Director – Richard Cullen YP representative (Observer) – Richard Syme Company Secretary – Jonathan Saxon

Commission Chairs Engineering & Mine Surveying A/g Chair Bernard O’Sullivan chair.emsc@sssi.org.au Hydrography Commission Chair Richard Cullen chair.hc@sssi.org.au Land Surveying Commission Chair Lindsay Perry chair.lsc@sssi.org.au Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Commission Chair Craig Smith chair.rspc@sssi.org.au Spatial Information & Cartography Commission Chair Hanno Klahn chair.sicc@sssi.org.au

Regional Committee Chairs ACT Regional Chair – Greg Ledwidge chair.act@sssi.org.au

utilising the funding to broadly promote Engineering and Mining Surveying including, but not limited to the following: • Set aside staff time to prepare targeted migration processes for former IEMSQ members • Special attention to certification migration for IEMSQ members • Promotion of SSSI ESP-AP certification nationally.

• Upgrading of certification documentation as necessary to meet industry requirements • Running related events and including content relevant to mining surveyors at events such as regional or national conferences.

• Creation of Educational opportunities for Engineering and Mining Surveyors Commission members

knowledge and skills to match the needs of the marketplace and the state-of-the-art in our field of practice. And it is backed by an ethical standard all registrants subscribe.

So, why have professional certification?

Although certification offers a lot for the individual, the most important reason why certification exists and is important, is that it provides protection to the public. The certified professional is making a statement to the public, employers and clients.

The spatial industry has the potential to play a much greater role within Australian business. Those of us already in the industry need to understand that none of us really stand on our own. The more we collaborate to provide professionalism in the industry, the healthier the industry will be.

NSW Regional Chair – Zaffar Mohamed Ghouse chair.nsw@sssi.org.au NT Regional Chair – Rob Sarib chair.nt@sssi.org.au QLD Regional Chair – Roy Somerville chair.qld@sssi.org.au SA Regional Chair – Franco Rea chair.sa@sssi.org.au TAS Regional Chair – Alex Leith chair.tas@sssi.org.au VIC Regional Chair – Werner Hennecke chair.vic@sssi.org.au WA Regional Chair – Kerry Smyth chair.wa@sssi.org.au SSSI National Office 27-29 Napier Cl, Deakin, ACT 2600 (PO Box 307) Phone: +61 2 6282 2282 Email: support@sssi.org.au

Gaby van Wyk SSSI President www.spatialsource.com.au 39

sssi Recent activities of the Spatial Information and Cartography Commission

I

wish you all a happy 2017 – I hope you all had a relaxed, calm and joyous Christmas period and you all look forward to the challenging and exciting innovations/ideas the new year will bring. In the spirit of Christmas I would like to introduce two projects that try to make the earth a better place. The first project has the potential to save lives when disaster strikes. The second project thinks about using widely used items like a mobile phone as a tool to analyse population migration patterns.

The first project is called MapSwipe and is part of the Missing Maps project, an open, collaborative project, in which anyone can help vulnerable people by placing them on a map and potentially saving their lives when disaster strikes, e.g. a major disease outbreak or even better protect them through vaccinations.

It is based on OpenStreetMap and by mapping the street network you can ensure much faster aid. You can either start mapping yourself, create a mapathon with others or donate on the missing maps website. If you are curious to find out more please visit either www. missingmaps.org or mapswipe.org.

The migration of citizens of the world and the term refugees were arguably the most discussed topics in 2016 and will

possibly continue to play a big role in communication in 2017. But how can we track these mass migrations? The new project answers this question by mapping the use of the mobile phone in Senegal. It is based on the concept that every time we make a phone call data like the time of the call or the antenna used is being recorded.

Through big data techniques this data can get analysed and socioeconomic structures and dynamics can be visualised, e.g. the direct correlation of migration of seasonal workers and the harvest season towards the end of the rainy season around October (as shown on the below image – red colour stands for high migration).

Researchers from the Complex Systems Group (GSC) and the

Evolution of the migratory flows in Senegal.

There is more migration (red) during the harvest season from September to November. Credit: UPM.

“The migration of citizens of the world and the term refugees were arguably the most discussed topics in 2016 and will possibly continue to play a big role in communication in 2017. But how can we track these mass migrations?”

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has analysed mobile phone data generated by 9 million users and their project aims to detect and characterise socioeconomic and cultural events through the use of data from mobile phones and social network. See phys.org/

news/2016-11-migrations-mobile.html for more information.

At this stage I would like to make you aware of an exciting conference, that will come to Sydney at the beginning of April – the 10th International Symposium on Digital Earth & Locate 17 from the 3rd to the 6th of April. Registrations are now open. For more details please view the official website locateconference.com.

If you would like to serve the members and be part of the committee there are still positions open for ACT, NT and one for Tasmania so if you are from those regions and interested in helping to shape the direction of the Commission I'd look forward to hearing from you.

We are always on the lookout for members to join the GISP-AP Certification Panel. If you would like to be involved, but would like to know more about the responsibilities and expectations of the role, please contact me directly at chair. sicc@sssi.org.au.

Happy New Year!

Hanno Klahn Spatial Information and Cartography Commission Chair

40 position February/March 2017

SSSI sustaining partners

Presentations of Worthy Note

A

t the Nov 16 SSSI Hydrography Commission and Australasian Hydrographic Society Seminar held in Brisbane, Barry Smith of Australian Hydrographic Surveys (AHS) was presented a 'Certificate of Appreciation' by Owen Cantrill, Manager (Hydrographic Services) MSQ and HCNC Member for his volunteer time on the AHSCP. Barry served on the Panel for 3 terms from 2009 to 2015. A certificate was also sent to Mark Matthews, who could not make it to the seminar. Mark served 1 term from 2014 to 2016.

The AHSCP and HCNC thank both members for their volunteer activities and commitment to advancing the Hydrographic Surveying profession.

2017 Seminars. There has been some real momentum in participation from individual members and industry representatives. This has been producing some high quality seminar events. Here is one for the end of financial year when everyone wants to spend some cash…

DARWIN. Darwin will have it’s first Hydrography Commission seminar on 21 June to celebrate UN World Hydrography Day. As with all of the Commission seminars, we invite all spatial practitioners as our industry covers pretty much the whole range of sciences. For this reason, you are encouraged to spread the word and attend if possible. While a number of sponsors and presenters have already come forward, more are keenly sought as the more participants, the better the event can be. All details are available on the Events page of the SSSI or via the quick link located on the right of the Commission page.

March will see a joint seminar in Wellington involving the NZIS, Australasian Hydrographic Society and SSSI Hydrography Commission. If you have considered flying interstate for a seminar, what better “Holiday” is there but one with a tax benefit. Again, details are available on the SSSI, AHS and NZIS website. Registrations will be conducted via both the SSSI and NZIS website to remove international transaction fees.

Update to the Experience Log for Certification. In order for the AHSCP to better differentiate between Level 2 and Level 1 practice in both office and sea

environments, the Experience Log has been modified to capture this. For those who have completed components of the Log already and had the pages signed off, you can still submit the old format however you should begin to complete new experience in the new formatted form ready for submission.

Sub-specialisations for Certified Hydrographic Surveyors. You may remember these two paragraphs from the December Position article: Older and Wiser. Within the certification methodology, consideration needs to be given to those potential Level 1s not conducting the ‘plug and play’ activities with hardware and software.

What does this mean? There are many experienced, learned, competent hydrographic surveyors who have moved from practical field operations to roles in companies which primarily focus on contracts, projects, research, analysis, implementation, quality control and alike.

In order to conduct these roles, they draw on all of their experience that would have had them certified at Level 1 but where recent practical survey is not evidenced because of the roles they are undertaking.

Critically, these Level 1s would still require all of the fundamental application requirements to prove

Owen Cantrill and Barry Smith

surveying competence and project oversight / management / in-charge time but because of being non-hands on in recent years, other proofs would need to be met. These proofs may be in the form of recent CPD activities whereby the individual maintains training in technology and software which is current and modern. One must keep in mind that the effort put in to becoming a Level 1 is an indicator of a person’s capacity to

learn, practice and apply. This should be reflected in their future careers as they move out of the in-field activities and become the “brains trust”.

Simon Ironside has reduced the working group efforts of the Feb 16 F2F into a succinct amendment to the Guidelines with an accompanying Appendix which explains the purpose and competence of each subspecialisation. A component of the certification will now also introduce a consulting hydrographic surveyor. While all Level 1 surveyors are also consulting surveyors, a practicing Level 1 is a hands on practical surveyor as well as a wise knowledge base in the art / science of hydrographic surveying.

It is very important that we clearly articulate the difference in a Level 1 versus a Consulting hydrographic surveyor such that one is not favoured over another from an advisory or quality assurance role but only in the practical ability to strap together a survey system’s cabling, interfaces and programs. These aspects are what all Level 1’s and Consulting Surveyors have done but a Consulting Surveyor just doesn’t do that hard practical yards anymore. The full level of understanding of a modern system’s capabilities, limitations and best practice use are embodied in the knowledge of the Consulting surveyor as much as in the Level 1. The requirement of CPD remains for all and a Consulting Surveyor must maintain knowledge of modern technologies and best practice use as do Level 1’s.

The HCNC have endorsed the changes and recommended these amendments to the AHSCP who now need to assess the amendments against their International Recognition. This is a great step forward, instigated by the voice of the membership and industry. We have embraced the wealth of knowledge from those who have changed career paths and those where life on the water has come to an end but the talent has not yet departed.

So for those who thought that they couldn’t achieve the experience logbook to be a Level 1, perhaps now you may pursue the professional standing of Consulting Hydrographic Surveyor. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 41

sssi Call for Entries – Hydrographic Excellence Award 2017

T

he Hydrography Commission’s Hydrographic Excellence (HE) Award recognises those individuals or teams working in the field of hydrography across the various hydrographic disciplines, who have made an outstanding contribution to the science of hydrography.

The HE Award aims to recognise hydrographic project and field work that embraces hydrographic surveying activities that reflect ‘hydrographic excellence’ and which deliver hydrographic ‘best practice’, either ashore or afloat.

The HE Award is considered on a calendar year basis and is presented annually either at the HC National Committee’s annual face-to-face meeting (in February each year) or at an appro priate trans-Tasman or State-affiliated national/ international SSSI-related conference. Only one award will be presented in any one calendar year in recognition of professional excellence; this can either be made to an individual or a team.

HE Award nominations for 2017 opened on 1 January. Nominations will close on 30 September.

The HE Award does not replace current recognition for hydrographic surveyors in place through the Australasian Hydrographic Society or any other Statebased organisation with vested interests in hydrographic surveying. Rather, the HE Award aims to complement

such recognition to help advance the hydrographic profession.

Further details regarding the HE Award, along with information about the selection criteria and the award nomination procedure, are available through the Hydrography Commission website – Hydrography Awards: www.sssi.org.au/details/commission/4/ cat/546.html ■

The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute is the not-for-profit national peak body representing and supporting the largest membership of spatial science and surveying professionals in Australia and New Zealand.

SSSI represents professionals in: Land Surveying, Spatial Information & Cartography, Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry, Hydrographic Surveying, Engineering & Mining Surveying and special interest groups including Women in Spatial and Young Professionals.

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Being a member of SSSI will provide you with the platform and support to maximise your skills, knowledge and experience including: • Professional recognition as a member of the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute; • Over 200+ regular regional and national workshops, seminars and webinars; • Free membership for students, concession rates available for graduates and retired professionals; • Enhance your CPD via access to the internationally recognized certification and SSSI CPD program; • Professional partnership opportunities available.

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42 position February/March 2017

The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information 7 – No. 86 anuary 201

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