Position issue 90 August-September 2017

August/September 2017 – No. 90

The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

REAL-TIME

DATA Powering faster cyclone response

Official publication of

inside Manned v Unmanned The future of aerial surveying & mapping

GDA2020 & ATRF Clarifying the continental shift

Land’s true value Where GNAF meets Geoscape

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TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS

contents

August/September 2017 No.90

Manned v Unmanned: the future of aerial survey

26

page

22

16

page

page

GNAF meets Geoscape

Calm before AND after the storm

features

28 Safe city living lab

16 COVER STORY: Powering faster cyclone response

30 Grounded: the road to driverless cars

The APSEA award-winning project for realtime situational awareness.

Queensland’s real-time data capabilities unlock faster disaster response.

26 EXCLUSIVE: The next generation of addressing Bringing together two powerful datasets to unlock the potential of every land parcel.

14 Q&A with Kerry Wallace-Massone A teacher on a mission to get more girls studying STEM shares her journey of discovery.

18 Delivery by drone Unmanned systems offer a solution to the problem of ‘last mile’ logistics.

22 Manned v Unmanned Think drone surveys are going to replace manned aircraft? Time to think again.

Australia and New Zealand just took a huge leap towards automated transport.

32 GDA2020 & ATRF explained Translating the move from plate-fixed to earth-fixed datums (and the many acronyms involved).

34 The future of location Creating the future through an industry-wide spatial transformation, 2026 Agenda.

Regulars 4 7 8 36 38

Upfront, calendar Editorial News New products SSSI www.spatialsource.com.au 3

upfront

Upcoming Events 14-15 August 2017: Precision Agriculture Symposium; Sydney, NSW. www.spaa.com.au 14-19 August 2017: FOSS4G Boston 2017; Boston, MA, USA. 2017. foss4g.org 15 August 2017: The June 2016 Coastal Storm – the event, damage, response and lessons; Sydney, NSW. bit.ly/2vcF5BS 17 August 2017: Women In Surveying Launch and Networking Event; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2vcPaii 19-20 August 2017: GNSS Control Surveys Workshop; Springfield, QLD. bit.ly/2vcjysY 22 August 2017: Ozri Melbourne 2017; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2rIfxtF 25 August 2017: Ozri Sydney 2017; Sydney, NSW. bit.ly/2rrxvjC 28 August 2017: SIBA|GITA Breakfast; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2vcNmFQ

Reef in grief

T

he Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite captured this image over part of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northeast coast on 1 April 2017.

Extending more than 2,000 kilometres and covering an area of some 350,000 square kilometres, the Great Barrier Reef is the planet's biggest single structure made by living organisms, called coral polyps.

Despite its name, it is not a single reef but contains nearly 3,000 different reefs.

The reef is home to over 1,500 tropical fish species, 400 types of coral, more than 200 species of bird, 5,000 species of mollusc, 500 species of seaweed and six species of sea turtle. It is also a breeding area for humpback whales. In recognition of its significance, the reef was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

Coral reefs worldwide are increasingly under threat from coral bleaching, and this is especially true in the Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching occurs when algae living in the corals’ tissues, which capture the Sun’s energy and are essential to coral survival, are expelled due to high water temperatures. The whitening coral may die, with subsequent effects on the reef ecosystems and related industries.

The corals of the Great Barrier Reef have now suffered two bleaching events in successive years, to the point that severe

4 position August/September 2017

Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

coral bleaching has affected two thirds of the entire reef. Experts are increasingly concerned about the capacity for the reef to survive under the increased threat of climate change.

In July 2017 the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decided not to include it in the UNESCO ‘in danger’ list, at the dismay of scientists and environmental groups worldwide. The WHC did state it still had concerns about water quality targets and land clearing laws in Queensland.

In 2016, NASA began the three-year mission known as COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) to thoroughly survey a portion of the world's coral reefs, including The Great Barrier Reef, Palau, the Mariana Islands and Hawaii.

The aim of the mission is to assess the condition of these threatened ecosystems and understand their relation to the environment, including physical, chemical and human factors. CORAL is using advanced airborne instruments, including the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM), and in-water measurements. With new understanding of reef condition, the future—and indeed the fate—of ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef can be predicted. The results of CORAL are yet to be released. ■

29 August 2017: Ozri Brisbane 2017; Brisbane, QLD. bit.ly/2qS1hzt 31 August-2 September 2017: World of Drones Congress; Brisbane, QLD. www.worldofdrones.com.au 1 September 2017: Victorian Spatial Summit; Kew, Vic. bit.ly/2qWnKGN 11-15 September 2017: Photogrammetric Week; Stuttgart, Germany. www.ifp.uni-stuttgart.de/phowo 13-15 September 2017: AIMS Conference; Hunter Valley, NSW. www. aimsconference.com.au 14-15 September 2017: Construction Innovation 2017 Forum; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2rrxYCl 15 September 2017: Tasmanian Surveying and Spatial Conference; Hobart, TAS. bit.ly/2rAOHSl 18-22 September 2017: ISPRS Geospatial Week; Wuhan, China. gsw2017.3snews.net 20-22 September 2017: Industrial Internet of Things Summit; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2s81q1w 25-29 September 2017: International Astronautical Congress; Adelaide, SA. iac2017.org 26-28 September 2017: INTERGEO; Berlin, Germany. www.intergeo.de 26-28 September 2017: Interaerial Solutions (IASEXPO); Berlin, Germany. bit.ly/2vcY0MR

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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 T

his issue of Position was one of the most enjoyable to put together, and a very meaningful one for me personally.

There’s something in the process of writing about technology that makes you realise things that are not immediately obvious. This issue I explored the future of automated vehicles and the big steps Australia and New Zealand are taking towards it. In doing so I realised my own preconceptions of such a future go all the way back to childhood television, and an optimistic little cartoon known as The Jetsons (turn to page 30 for more on that).

As with every issue, I learned a lot from the articles submitted. In “Manned v Unmanned” (page 22) I discovered the little fanfare received for advancements in manned aerial surveying and the misconceptions this is breeding in the face of a very loud drone industry.

I also learned about the future of education and Anthony Wallace what will inspire the next generation of surveyors and Editor spatial scientists in a Q&A with Mrs Kerry Wallaceawallace@intermedia.com.au Massone (page 14). As an educator and very close acquaintance of mine, she taught me the value of young students’ passion and the reason why we need to encourage more young women to consider careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

On a solemn note for me personally, this will be my last address as editor of Position. The two and a half years I have spent at this post has been one of the most rewarding periods of my life, so it took a great deal of deliberation on my part to make the decision to move on.

Part of the reason is that I have been so inspired by the work I have come across in Position and Spatial Source that I no longer want to just be another observer to the manifold changes we are seeing in technology and business. I want to be a part of them. I will still be creating content, but hopefully I will be working more closely with the innovators that are inspiring change. I hope to have the opportunity to sink my teeth deeper into subjects and create something genuinely unique to help bring about benefits to the wider community. What exactly that will entail, I’m not yet entirely sure.

To everyone I have met during my time as editor, as well as those I have not had the opportunity to meet, thank you. Thank you for the surprisingly positive feedback, for being my proofreaders when I was too rushed and the enduring passion you all have for your industry. To keep in touch, feel free to reach me at a.wallace511@gmail.com.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Position and the many more to come.

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.

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October/November 2017 – Issue #91

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Features: Resources & Mining; 3D Modelling & BIM; Planning & Infrastructure 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: 12 October 2017 Advertising booking deadline: 18 September Advertising material deadline: 21 September

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news

MH370 search efforts released as open data As the search for missing flight MH370 comes to an unresolved conclusion, much of the comprehensive data collected during the search is now becoming openly available.

After almost three and a half years since the tragedy occurred, the first phase of an open data release of the biggest search in aviation history is now underway.

Australia, with the support of Malaysia and the People’s

ABOVE LEFT AND RIGHT: some of the geological structures in the southern indian Ocean detected during the search for MH370.

LEFT: the difference between previous datasets and the new search data.

Republic of China, committed to publicly releasing the data acquired during the two phases of the search. The first phase of data is available in both processed raw formats, as well as in an interactive Esri story map.

The story map shares the story of the search for MH370 in an interactive, visual format, showing the most interesting geomorphic features in a web browser.

The search uncovered large geological formations and several shipwrecks, as well as smaller items such as whale bones and oil drums. To access the story map and the raw datasets, please visit bit.ly/2wcK4in.

2026 Agenda action plan has officially been ‘discussed’ The 2026 Agenda Action Plan officially came into force in April 2017 at the LOCATE conference and significant developments of the movement are already underway. The action plan is the official roadmap for ensuring Australia’s spatial industry makes the most of future growth opportunities using 34

transformational initiatives.

To back up the action plan, the 2026 Agenda team has just released another document, Action Plan: Discussed. The new 59-page report details the impetus behind the current action plan and sheds further light on how the it was created.

The new report includes

detailed feedback from the national consultation process, input from outside the spatial sector and how the 34 initiatives were devised.

A number of developments discussed in the action plan are already underway, including the Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) testbed trial, the Australian

Government’s new Digital Earth Australia (DEA) initiative, and ANZLIC’s Location Intelligence Knowledge Platform (LINK).

For more information about the action plan, turn to our feature article “The future of location” (page 34), written by members of the 2026 Agenda team.

One step closer to driverless cars Australia and New Zealand have come one step closer towards enabling widescale adoption of automated vehicles, following the release of a landmark research report.

Austroads, the crossgovernment initiative supporting automated vehicles in Australia and New Zealand, has published a report identifying the changes needed to ensure road authorities,

8 position August/September 2017

physical infrastructure and vehicle manufacturers are all aligned to enable a safe, efficient

and sustainable future for automated vehicle technology.

The 74-page report, Assessment of Key Road Operator Actions to Support Automated Vehicles, details the key issues and drivers for the Australia and New Zealand region across three broad categories: physical infrastructure; digital infrastructure and

road operations. It also details the need for many geospatial technologies, including vehicle sensors, mapping, satellite positioning and autonomous navigation.

For further details, please refer to our feature article on page 30, where Position editor Anthony Wallace outlines the geospatial infrastructure underpinning the ensuing driverless revolution.

Nearmap prepares for international expansion, 3D market Australian commercial aerial imagery company, Nearmap, has appointed two new senior executives to drive its next phase of growth.

Building on its expansion into the US market and a recent first-time capture of New Zealand, Nearmap has invested in two new vice presidents to steer further growth. Shane Preston joins the team as vice president of sales, while Silvia Arrigoni will be vice president of marketing.

Preston will lead the Australian sales teams across new business, strategic customer relationship management, customer success, and government engagement. He joins Nearmap following a three year tenure as Managing Director for business advisory firm, Black Wallaby, where he specialised in growth and commercialisation of technology businesses.

Arrigoni will steer the marketing division’s strategies.

Silvia Arrigoni (L) and Rob Newman (R)

Arrigoni brings decades of experience in previously held positions as head of brand marketing and group business director.

Spatial excellence award entries now open It’s that time of year again for businesses and individuals to reflect on all that they have achieved in the past year. The Spatial Industries Business Association/Geospatial Information and Technologies Association (SIBA|GITA) and the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) are inviting spatial and surveying industry professionals to showcase their innovation and dedication by submitting an application in the annual excellence awards.

The winners of each region—including The Pacific Islands, New Zealand and each Australian state and territory— go on to represent their region in their category at the Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards, held during the national Locate conference (Locate18).

This year’s spatial excellence award deadlines are fast approaching. Most of the deadlines are scheduled for between August and October, depending on the

region represented.

This year’s individual awards include a new category, the SSSI Women’s Leadership Award, which aims to recognise women who have demonstrated a significant contribution to the spatial industry and have shown potential to achieve and deliver benefits to the profession.

The industry award categories this year include: Spatial Enablement; Innovation and Commercialisation; Technical

The Nearmap team also indicated to Position magazine that it plans to release new offerings later in the year, including 3D imagery.

Excellence; People and Community; Environment and Sustainability; and Export. The individual award categories include: Professional of the Year; Young Professional of the Year; Educational Development Award; Postgraduate Student Award; Undergraduate Student Award; and the new Women’s Leadership Award.

Entries for this year’s spatial excellence awards are made online at spatialexcellence. awardsplatform.com.

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news Locate-GeoSmart Asia 2018 will take place at the Adelaide Convention centre (pictured), 8-11 April 2018.

Locate18 co-locates with GeoSmart Asia Next year’s national spatial and surveying event, the Locate conference, is to become even bigger and more international.

In 2018, Locate will partner with Indian company Geospatial Media to co-locate the Locate-GeoSmart Asia 2018 Conference in Adelaide. The event will run over four days

from 8-11 April 2018 at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Locate is organised

by Locate Conferences Australia, which consists of representatives from both the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) and the Spatial Industries Business Association/Geospatial

Information and Technologies Association (SIBA|GITA).

Zaffar Sadiq MohamedGhouse was appointed as the chair of Locate Conferences Australia in 2016 and at Locate17 it was announced he is also set to become the next president of SSSI. MohamedGhouse said he is delighted to

announce the joint conference in Adelaide and that the new co-location with GeoSmart Asia builds on the initiatives of the 2026 Agenda.

“GeoSmart Asia has always been a successful platform for both spatial and non-spatial professionals in Asia and Pacific and every year it grows bringing different perspective and new thoughts to the user community,” said MohamedGhouse. “The collaboration between Locate and Geospatial Media will bring strengths and new insights.”

Yarra Valley Water releases open data to support AR Melbourne’s largest retail water utility, Yarra Valley Water, has announced that its asset data has been publicly released, and is available online.

By providing both an interactive online asset map,

and a web feature service (WFS) open data feed, customers can now access the data instantly, 24 hours a day.

Charles Moscato, spatial information officer at Yarra Valley Water said, “customers can now find the data they

need straight away without relying on our GIS team to extract if for them.”

“As the spatial industry moves towards a more augmented reality, utilities can benefit in releasing their data via WFS services.

"This means that not only can existing processes be greatly improved, but utilities can also have additional information provided back into their systems.”

The data can be accessed at www.yvw.com.au.

Queensland Spatial & Surveying Association appoints new CEO President of the Queensland Spatial and Surveying Association (QSSA), Ms Chris McAlister has announced the appointment of Mr Keiran Travers to the position of chief executive officer.

“The QSSA is looking forward to working with Keiran who is well qualified to bring about positive influence with the organisation

Keiran Travers, QSSA’s new CEO

and increase our membership base through providing value to existing members as well as opportunities for new members,” Ms McAlister said.

A former General Manager, Keiran Travers has managed a variety of businesses involved in mining, environmental management, property and infrastructure.

He has an MBA from the University of Queensland.

Census data reveals a fast changing nation The first results of the latest national census have revealed Australia is a fast changing, ever-expanding, culturally diverse nation.

In 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducted its five-yearly study of the nation. After months of analysis, it

10 position August/September 2017

was found that Australia’s estimated resident population grew to 24.4 million by the start of 2017. The idea of the ‘typical’ Australian has also fundamentally shifted.

Australians are now less religious, more culturally diverse, more educated and older than ever before.

While Australia sits outside the top 50 countries by population, it is number six in land area. The census found that Greater Sydney once again came in as Australia’s largest city, at 4.8 million people. However, it may not hold that title for much longer. Greater Melbourne is

growing at a more rapid pace and has now exceeded 4.4 million people.

The census data is available in a number of formats, including advanced tools that can be used in mapping applications, like TableBuilder and DataPacks.

The first broad-scale InSAR studies of Australia Changes to Australia’s topography have been comprehensively studied for the first time using a satellitebased method known as InSAR. The results reveal displacements related to groundwater and land use changes in Western Australia’s Perth Basin, and show promise for a roll out for additional applications.

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) uses two or more Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of an area to identify surface movements through time.

The Researchers from Perth’s Curtin University used the European Space Agency’s newly launched InSAR sensor as part of the Sentinel mission.

By comparing information from time-separated Sentinel-1 radar images, the

team were able to map ground displacements over the entire greater Perth region.

Past evidence from continuous GPS and levelling identified subsidence in Perth over discrete locations.

However, with InSAR the team was able to investigate

displacements over a much larger area. The team’s observations were recently published open access in the journal Remote Sensing.

The lead author of the study, Dr Amy Parker believes that InSAR holds promise in many applications: “By

S

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news Australia purchases fleet of military reconnaissance drones Following a period of trials, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has officially signed the agreement to purchase a fleet of compact surveillance remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS, or drones).

The deal will see ADF supplied with a number of portable RPAS built by AeroVironment, a United States manufacturer specialising in unmanned platforms for defence and

security. Australian distributor of unmanned systems hardware and software, XTEK, is the primary contractor under the agreement, and will be responsible for delivering a range of products worth approximately AU$42 million, including the AeroVironment Wasp AE.

Australian Army soldier Corporal Doug Coombs prepares to launch a Wasp AE

Weighing 1.3kg and having a wingspan of 102cm, the Wasp AE is a fixedwing RPAS portable enough to be carried by individual servicemen and women and able to easily supply imagery

and encrypted video. The Wasp is launched by hand, able to fly for 50 minutes and capable of landing on the ground or in fresh or salt water.

In addition to the Wasp AE, the contract will also see XTEK deliver two Australian-developed software packages for video analysis: Sentient Vision Systems’ Kestrel software suite, as well as General Dynamics Mediaware’s Tacex platform.

Pointerra and AAM combine for 3D market into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pointerra to commercially licence its 3D geospatial technology.

AAM has been modelling the built and natural environment in 3D since 1995 and claims to be the largest private holder of GIS data in Australia.

After making its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange in December, Perth-based geospatial startup, Pointerra, is in the process of simplifying access to massive 3D datasets across many industries.

One of Australia’s largest geospatial services provider, AAM, has just entered

Tackling illegal fishing from space Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is the third most lucrative crime in the world, after weapons trafficking and drug smuggling. However a new satellite analysis method promises to locate culprits before they even reach land.

Australia’s research council, CSIRO, is developing a world first notification system that uses automation to sort through available datasets and create alerts. Most fishing vessels are equipped with anticollision devices that can be detected by satellites.

AAM currently provides access to its valuable 3D data through its cloudbased GIS solution, GEOCIRRUS. As part of the ongoing development of GEOCIRRUS, both AAM and Pointerra are currently working to integrate Pointerra’s 3D software solutions with GEOCIRRUS.

Under the MOU, AAM has agreed to licence Pointerra’s unique 3D geospatial technology enabling AAM to more effectively sell access to its 3D data library. Pointerra will also be licenced by AAM to sell access to AAM’s 3D data and derivative products through its own 3D data marketplace.

The web-based reporting tool will use this data to identify and rank vessels across the globe based on a list of behaviours associated with IUU fishing.

The platform will be officially launched in October 2017, and it is anticipated that it will be adopted by authorities worldwide.

POSITION’S NEWS ORIGINATES FROM Australia and New Zealand’s only site for surveying and spatial news.

Subscribe now for your FREE weekly newsletter at www.spatialsource.com.au 12 position August/September 2017

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Q&A with Kerry Wallace-Massone

New horizons for unmanned technology Going by the name ‘Mumma Drone,’ Kerry Wallace-Massone is a design and technology teacher on a mission to use drones to inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators. In 2017, Wallace-Massone left her post at Sydney’s Heathcote High School to embark on 5-week journey of discovery.

Backed by the “Premier’s Teachers Mutual Bank New and Emerging Technologies Scholarship” she met with the leading researchers of drone technology and educators of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Wallace-Massone spoke with Position magazine to discuss how girls and boys approach technology differently, and why space will be our next big focus.

Position: You just returned from an epic journey. Can you tell me what you got up to?

Kerry Wallace- Massone: I have just come back from the United States, seeing how girls from primary school to university are using drones in their curriculum.

I travelled to 8 states, took 13 internal flights, all in the space of 5 weeks. I travelled to places like Montana to meet with NASA scientists; to bustling cities like Washington DC and New York; to a research island off the coast of Georgia you can only access by invite; and to elite girls schools like Foxcroft where they implement excellent STEM programs.

At Foxcroft they have found, that thanks to the school’s STEM program, girls are 30% more likely to go on to choose STEM careers.

Where does it leave me? It leaves me wanting to expose girls to a wider range of technologies, as well as growing teambuilding skills and leadership skills.

14 position August/September 2017

I want to empower them so they have this ‘can do’ attitude towards using technology.

The trip allowed me to build international connections and my own personal skills, so I am now motivated to bring that to Australia to create social change in regards to girls and STEM careers.

The most outstanding connection I made would have to be Princess Aliyah Pandolfi. She runs the Kashmir not-forprofit foundation, which champions girls’ educations using STEM technologies and runs programs studying turtle nesting sites in Nicaragua; combatting poaching in South Africa; and studying snow leopards in the Himalayas. Her motivation is to use technology to make a better world.

What educational initiatives did you see in the States that could be applied to countries like Australia?

I visited Montana to attend the IEEE Aerospace Conference, which also included the Junior Engineering Conference. Here I met NASA scientist Dave Lavery who runs a robotic competition from K-12 to find the future NASA scientists. By running the robotics programs in schools, the standout students can be identified early. NASA then mentor them the whole way through and these people end up working for NASA or a company that contracts to NASA. That program has been going for twenty three years now. So people who were found that way are now working in the program.

It’s not just Australia that has the shortfall in STEM talent, it’s a global

shortfall. We can’t just import talent, so it’s up to Australia to manifest its own talent.

So what can countries like Australia do to create this talent?

This is what’s really important for me.

If 50% of the population, the girls, are not taking up careers in science and technology, we are missing out on a lot of talent. Getting the other 50% of the population considering STEM is the quickest way to fill the shortfall.

But boys and girls use technology differently. The girls are collaborative and want to use drones for a meaningful purpose. They want to know what they are using the technology for, whereas boys generally want to see how far they can go with the technology.

Since returning from the States, I have connected with Dr Karen Joyce and Dr Catherine Ball to mentor girls at the inaugural SheFlies camp in Australia’s top end. Dr Joyce empowered each of them, by asking, “Have you ever been told you can’t do anything because you’re a girl?” The hands shot up and the girls shared their numerous examples. Dr Joyce then turned it back by saying, “There’s nothing you can’t do because you’re a girl.” By having positive role models in the camp, it gave the girls the vision to achieve whatever they set out for themselves. It was a camp about drones, but not really. The drone is just a tool to get girls to engage with technology in a way that is meaningful.

Since returning I have also connected One Giant Leap Australia who is working in conjunction with CASA to teach drone skills to teachers across Australia.

So how has your approach to education changed since returning?

My objective has significantly changed.

I thought I was going to focus on year 9 girls, because I thought that was the window to grab the girls and engage them with technology. But since I’ve returned, I realised it’s the younger girls who have the better chance because they do not have the peer pressure yet. The sooner you start girls with STEM, the more benefit it’s going to have for them. It’s got to get to the point where they are not thinking about the technology, they are thinking about the problem and then deciding, “Am I going to use drone? Am I coding? Am I using a laser cutter, or a 3D printer?” We want the girls to have an arsenal of tools that they can reach into to solve 21st century problems in jobs that may not even exist yet.

What is going to inspire the kids of the future?

The Mars missions and future space travel. At the IEEE Aerospace Conference, I learnt how they will be using drones in conjunction with the

Students from Smith College for girls (Massachusetts) using drones to map an archeological burial site on St Catherine’s Island. Photo: Kerry Wallace-Massone.

Mars rover to gather data. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we had to stop class and watch the moon landings.

I thought, “a man on the moon, that’s crazy.” The same thing will happen with Mars and space travel. But the technology will be very different. It is going to inspire students to embrace these technologies, like how does a rocket work, how do you code something, how am I going to use

a device to collect data in inhospitable areas– it’s all science and technology.

What is going to be very important is computational thinking, which can be applied to space travel and real world problems here on Earth. That’s what’s now coming out in Australia’s national curriculum: we want kids to be problem solvers who can take a problem, figure out the steps to solve it (the algorithm) and then know which technologies it can be applied to. That's why you need to expose them to as many technologies as you can.

Future kids will use these tools to solve real world problems. The push from the government is to build prosperity in the global economy, however STEM technologies have the ability to engage leaners, particularly female learners, by allowing them to collaboratively solve our real problems, like climate change, biodiversity loss and food security. ■

www.spatialsource.com.au 15

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Real-time data powers faster response to Tropical Cyclone Debbie Discover how one of Queensland’s largest electricity providers improved its operating capability efficiencies with real-time data.

W

ith its warm tropical climate, the North Queensland (NQ) region is prone to the emergence of low-pressure storm systems - Tropical Cyclones. These storm cells cause widespread damage, flooding, and outages to a commodity few humans are accustomed to living without – power.

As the main electricity supply source for around 97 per cent of Queensland’s residents, Ergon Energy powers over 740,000 Queenslanders across one million square kilometres.

At the peak of cyclone season, Tropical Cyclone Debbie – a category 4 storm cell with winds of 260 km/h - crossed the NQ coastline at The Whitsundays causing extensive damage to Ergon’s electrical network and plunging over 65,000 customers into darkness.

The restoration effort involved more than 900 field staff and contractors working on the ground to restore power supply, with a target to re-connect all customers within a three-week period after the event where it was safe to do so.

To enable this, Ergon adopted Esri’s Portal and Field Application technologies – revolutionary mapping functionality which gave a line of sight (centrally and in-field) into damage assessments, major event reports, cyclone tracking, flooding and restored areas. Mapping all these events led to a reduction in outage times and improved the team’s overall ability to respond to the crisis.

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Ergon Energy (Part of Energy Queensland) One of Queensland’s largest electricity providers, Ergon Energy supplies power to over 740,000 Queensland residents across one million square kilometres.

With a network consisting of approximately 160,000 km of powerlines and one million power poles, Ergon has infrastructure including major power substations and transformers as well as 33 stand-alone power stations reaching across Queensland, including some of the most remote locations.

Employing over 4,000 staff members, Ergon provides safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable energy solutions to support their customers.

With such a widespread network Ergon relies on being able to centrally store data while making it available to staff in the field, and most importantly, in real-time.

The Challenge The devastating impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Debbie emergency spanned the NQ coast, cutting power across a large geographical customer area.

While the essential data needed to be immediately available in a central position, over 900 field staff and contractors needed access to the same data while uploading and inputting findings and actions from their respective locations. The overall challenge Ergon faced was to restore power to customers as safely and as quickly as

“The availability of real-time data and pictures really helped coordinators and crews do their work. It’s been great to have the new technology and work together for the benefit of the customers” Max Hogan, General Manager Customer Delivery, Ergon Energy.

possible, either by repairing the network, or by utilising temporary generators to supply power until the network could be restored.

Specifically, Ergon required: • The ability to receive and share real-time data updates from in-field locations.

• A central platform of information able to adequately deploy in-field response teams.

• A common location for information sharing among Ergon’s teams and other external stakeholders.

• The ability to visualise real-time data feeds to gain a comprehensive and clear understanding of defects as they occur.

“It’s been a truly sophisticated, highly coordinated response, the likes of which we probably have never seen before in Australia” Jason Hall, GM Engineering & Technology Ergon Energy.

Solution mix: Portal for ArcGIS Survey 123 Operations Dashboard The Solution Rather than developing new system infrastructure, Ergon enhanced their investment in GIS technology and its incident management system with a range including: Portal - Activated Portal for TC Debbie to assist with collaboration between numerous business units within the organisation. With a centrally located platform for visualisation of incidents, customer connectivity, flood analysis and major event defect assessment (including asset defects), all reporting components were graphically represented in one area.

Survey 123 - Detailed spatial analysis was performed immediately after the event without impacting or stalling the Ergon field team operations. This replaced

a lengthy, multi-step process and enabled Ergon to reduce its response time.

Operations Dashboard - The multitude of data categories are now represented visually on a map using an array of easy-to-recognise data patterns. This application also allows other stakeholders to input data relevant to the event.

The Innovation A web-based incident management system was spatially enabled using Web GIS – an online solution that connects users across an organisation – delivering services to wider audiences in real-time.

Incident data is now available and accessible for more advanced spatial analytics and visualisation, which not only enables faster response during an event but also helps reduce the overall time in restoring power to homes.

The Outcomes Greater value from data sharing establishing a common platform for visualising data enables Ergon to use data

and share it with contractors, external stakeholders, in-field work crews and response teams more effectively.

Improved response planning and execution - access to real-time data, sophisticated symbols and customised mapping views ensures operational personnel can be deployed in realtime where they are needed most and where defects are identified. This ‘smarter’ approach allows faster and more efficient response to emergencies – staff can visualise where incidents are occurring and deploy resources accordingly. Greater situational awareness across the organisation has improved service to the community.

Data-driven decision-making - receiving the most up-to-date information from infield teams provides the ability to identify in real-time where defects are, when they were repaired and when power was restored – resulting in a more efficiently executed response effort.

Ergon Energy is leading the way among energy utilities. Adapting GIS technology to make data-driven decisions, they are at the forefront of a shift to solutions backed by advanced real-time analytics.

For more information on applying GIS technology in your business visit www.esriaustralia.com.au ■ Information provided by Esri Australia. www.spatialsource.com.au 17

feature

Delivery by drone Unmanned systems offer a solution to the problem of ‘Last Mile’ logistics. But first we must find a balance between the dreams of entrepreneurs and the safety of the rest of us.

Spatial information will be key.

JON FAIRALL

I

n August 2016, Domino's Pizza Enterprises used a drone—or more properly a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS)—to deliver two pizzas, one with a topping of Peri-Peri Chicken and the other with Chicken and Cranberry, to a customer in Whangaparaoa, a suburb 25 kilometres north of Auckland. It is believed to be the world's first use of a drone to deliver a commercial package. It won't be the last, but expanding the service into a regular offering is anything but trivial.

Delivering pizza by air might seem like a first-world answer to a non-existent problem. It's not. The problem is very real. It’s one example of a solution to the so-called ‘Last Mile Problem,’ and it is rapidly emerging as an exciting driver for new spatial technology.

As is usually the case, the problem is fundamentally an economic one. Industry experience suggests that around a third of the total cost of delivering a parcel is incurred in the ‘last mile’, which is short-hand for the final bit of the delivery chain. The argument is that goods can be carried very efficiently on ships or aircraft from one side of the Earth to the other. In the last decade or so, most of the process has been automated. Specialised goods delivery vessels—such as container ships or air cargo vehicles—are very efficient.

Containerisation has transformed the transhipment points. There are lots of computers and few workers.

But the opposite is the case when a package needs to be taken from the warehouse to the customer's doorstep. It's

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labour intensive. Cars and small delivery lorries are expensive to buy and maintain in proportion to the number of parcels they can carry.

In the last decade we have seen a growth of specialists in the last mile, driven in part at least by easy online ordering and purchasing. Food delivery platforms such as Foodora, Deliveroo and Ubereats are the classic take on this. They specialise in last mile delivery with an army of push bikes and an army of poorly paid cyclists to ride them.

The trend to denser, apartment-style living is also driving the economics towards this. Often, the problem is not delivery in the last mile, but delivery in the last one hundred metres. A decade ago, the delivery problem was the customer's dog. “Today,” according to Mark Whitmore, the Asia-Pacific sales director at HERE Technologies, “it’s the security door, the lifts, the corridors and stairs, that stand between the road and the customer.”

Small wonder then, that companies that specialise in the last mile have been investigating the capabilities of automated systems—either on the ground or in the air. In the race to reduce, or even eliminate their delivery drivers, it seems automated aircraft are in pole position. Australia Post is planning a service that will see RPAS fly to hard-to-reach homes in the bush.

A RPAS-based delivery system may well be on the cards when US-based Amazon opens its first fulfilment centre in Australia. In the US, Amazon runs a service called Prime Air. Current plans envisage that Prime Air will use RPAS to deliver sub-5kg packages to your front door, provided you live close to one of its fulfilment centres. Such services are likely to be quite limited for the rest of this decade, but in the longer term, proponents of the technology expect it will completely disrupt the small parcel delivery industry.

However, the concept of delivery drones makes aviators and aviation regulators shudder. To see why, you need to understand that there are drones, and then there are drones. Passing acquaintance with the technology will tell you that they come in all shapes and sizes.

The drone from Dominos and Flirtey that made the world’s first “commercial drone delivery service.”

There are drone and then there are drones. The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton spans 40 metres and can fly up to 24 hours without refuelling. The Microdrone 3.0 weighs only 56 grams and fits in the palm of your hand. Both, however, currently require an operator in the loop.

Some are big. The RAAF's latest acquisition, the US$120 million Northrop Grumman Triton is as big as a large business jet. Another giant is the latest in the CaiHong series, built by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It can reach 65,000 feet, the very edge of the atmosphere, on wings 40 metres across.

Others drones are tiny. The Microdrone 3.0 sits comfortably in the palm of your hand and costs US$195 including the virtual reality headset which gives the pilot a view from the aircraft.

The difference in size between the Triton and the Microdrone obscures one way in which they are alike: they both require an operator in the loop.

The operation of such aircraft has been legal since 2002. In that year, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Canberra established a comprehensive set of regulations—the Civil Air Safety Regulation (CASR) Part 101—to control remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

The regulations are controversial. Most airline pilots hate drones, especially when it involves recreational pilots. Speaking at a recent government enquiry into drone safety, John Lyons, the President of the Association for Virgin Australia Group Pilots took aim at the proliferation of unlicensed sub-2kg drones. “They are often flown by people without an understanding of airspace requirements and with little regard to public safety,” he said.

UAV Image

While regulators and pilots differ with respect to these small drones, there is less of an issue over the regulation of bigger commercial vehicles. Under CASR 101, commercial operators must have a licence for their remote pilots and their aircraft. What's more, it’s critical that aircraft remain under the control of their remote pilot throughout the flight.

BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) operations are prohibited except under very special circumstances.

Under the regulations, an operator would require special exemption from CASA to fly a device such as the Flirtey Drone, which made the delivery in Auckland for Domino’s Pizza. It has no person-in-the-loop. The operator

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feature Amazon’s Prime Air delivery RPAS combines fixed-wing and rotor technologies.

Australia Post’s delivery RPAS, developed by ARI Labs in Melbourne.

simply plugs in a destination. On-board software controls the aircraft as it completes its sortie.

According to Jan Johnston from RPAS Administration at CASA there are no specific regulations covering the use of RPAS for the delivery of goods. But she notes that BVLOS operators would need to satisfy CASA that they had “mitigated all levels of risk so as not to present a hazard to other airspace users, people or property.”

This is a huge impediment to those who want to routinely deliver packages via drones because it implies that each individual flight needs to be approved by CASA. That's hardly practical for pizza deliveries, or postal items.

However, drone vendors are convinced that safe BVLOS flight is possible. “We are taking a ‘Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly’ approach to rolling out drone delivery,” says Flirtey chief executive Matt Sweeny. “We are getting closer to the time where you can push a button on your smartphone and have goods delivered to your home.”

But Peter Gibbens, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies at the University of Sydney cautions that this is not simple. “It's easy enough to fly a drone

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from Point A to Point B,” he said. “To do it reliably and safely day after day is quite a different matter.”

The operation of the aircraft itself is no longer a technical challenge. Standard algorithms exist so that even small UAS can sense and control their attitude around all three axes and keep a straight and level course between two points.

However, real pilots need to do much more than that to operate a plane properly, and so do computers. One major problem for delivery drones is how to take a street address and turn it into instructions for a flight path that can be understood by the on-board guidance system. The first step is to derive a latitude and longitude from a street address. There are several databases that could be pushed into service. PSMA's GNAF database and its new Geoscape product both link a street address with the coordinates of the centre of the land parcel.

Nearmap's Photomap aerial imagery would be another alternative that could be made to yield the coordinates of the parcel boundary, as could databases held by state and local government agencies.

But the technology demands more of the database. HERE technologies’ Mark Whitmore says the company is already

building databases that are good enough to provide automated road vehicles with a spatial database that can 'see' beyond the horizon of their sensors. The company is owned by Volkswagen, BMW and Diamler, however the company is also closely looking at mapping and navigating indoor spaces.

To a large extent, we can take the spatial accuracy of these systems for granted. The difficulty is in capturing the dynamic nature of a road network: the road closure; the new one-way sign; the changed right turn rule. Whitmore says part of the answer may well lie with incar sensors that capture the road network continuously and then communicate changes via mobile internet services to other road users. Advanced systems may even be able to detect the availability of parking spaces, he says. In crowded inner city cores, parking is a major pain point for delivery operations, irrespective of whether they are manned or unmanned.

Air vehicles would make special demands on such a database because, having arrived at the destination's GPS coordinate, the aircraft still has to descend to an appropriate landing site. Gibbens says the obvious way to tackle the terminal phase of the flight is to mimic a human. One would use intelligent video processing to extract the house, the front lawn, trees, power poles and other obstacles. No doubt radar and laser scanning could also be pressed into service. That information would then be used to compute an approach path to the landing site.

Such a vision system is also essential to avoid obstacles during other phases of the flight. Autonomous aircraft need the ability to detect and evade other aircraft, and even birds, as well as obstacles like masts and antenna that might protrude into the airspace, not to mention people or the family pet.

Whitmore takes a slightly different approach: “Air vehicles will certainly require accurate three dimensional maps around landing pads for guidance,” he says. “This highly accurate topology will emerge from current databases as they mature.”

“The key issue is to develop systems that can take advantage of cheap, ubiquitous, camera technology and can communicate image content to other users, perhaps not in real time, but certainly within a few hours”.

CASA is agnostic on the database issue. It doesn't mandate any particular solution. However, CASA’s Jan Johnston did warn that “the character of the database would form part of any risk assessment required by CASA as part of the approval process”.

It is no simple problem to make a system reliable enough for daily commercial application. But it may well be the case that a perfect solution is not necessary. Rather than thinking in terms of RPAS, which has a pilot in the loop at all times, and autonomous vehicles which never have, one can think of RPAS as having more or less autonomy.

Most automotive manufacturers seem to believe this is the route to automated land vehicles as well. The latest cars offer drivers a plethora of automatic functions including automated parking, lane following and cruise controllers that adjust your speed to match the car in front. These functions will get more sophisticated and more integrated as time goes by. One day, you really will be able to sleep at the wheel, but not just yet.

In similar fashion, many practical RPAS currently in operation are not fully autonomous, but they possess many autonomous features. They can fly straight and level between two preprogrammed coordinates, for instance.

They land and take off when instructed by an operator. Typically, the operator issues a one-button command, and the on-board guidance system undertakes the complex operation of adjusting power and attitude such that the drone goes exactly where the operator intends.

You can pick just such a device up from Amazon for just US$258.99 (including a GoPro camera). You launch it from the palm of your hand; it flies a convenient distance away; takes a picture of you; and then flies back to your hand. You control

it with hand gestures and a smartphone. It even transfers the image to the phone so you can share it on Facebook.

Commercial delivery drones would need more computing power than that, but maybe not a lot more. Australia Post is currently trialling drones fitted with a high-definition camera, as well as a parachute, alarm and warning lights which can be activated by controllers when needed. The drone sends data back to a ground station so engineers can monitor flight activity in real time.

Much turns on government regulation.

In Canberra, Darren Chester, the responsible minister, has initiated two enquiries as bureaucrats try to come to terms with the capabilities of the latest generation of drones. They need to balance the dreams of entrepreneurs against the safety of the rest of us.

But they aren't the only people with a stake in the last mile problem. Workers in the industry will be looking on with interest. In the first instance, their jobs are threatened by automation. But it's not

“It's easy enough to fly a drone from Point A to Point B. To do it reliably and safely day after day is quite a different matter.”

Such activities put a premium on the data link between the drone and controller. Managing it so that it is secure is a non-trivial issue for both CASA and UAS operators. Nevertheless, it seems that some operators are convinced they are very close to being ready for market.

No one is predicting when drones will be ready to deliver, but a spokesman for Australia Post told Position Magazine that: “Since we undertook a closedfield trial with CASA in April 2016, we have been looking to conduct our own customer trials to understand the demand for drone parcel delivery to residences.”

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clear that will be the end of it. Efficiencies in last mile logistics will certainly drive down costs. The big chains, who are driving the development in automation, will find much to smile about.

But it may well be that efficient delivery options will give a new lease of life to smaller businesses as well. They will also be able to reach customers quicker and cheaper than ever before. If so, consumers will be the big winners; there may be fewer losers than we expect.

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

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feature

MANNED

V UNMANNED

Think drone surveys are going to replace manned aircraft?

Erron Gardner uses both and says you should think again.

ERRON GARDNER

W

ith the drone industry’s marketing machine in full swing, you could be forgiven for thinking that unmanned aircraft are far more economical at capturing remotely sensed data than manned aircraft.

The remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) industry has pitched their machines to be the perfect mapping solution, especially over smaller to medium sized projects. After all, everybody knows that manned aircraft are extremely expensive to operate, right?

Surprisingly, this is not necessarily the case, and manned data capture even on small to medium projects can often be just as, or even more, cost effective as the RPAS solution. Articles appear regularly about new developments in RPAS technology, but little if any is heard about advancements in manned survey systems.

So let’s have a look at the available RPAS technology, the advancements in manned aerial survey and how these stack up against each other.

The belief that RPAS are a far more cost effective solution stems from a few factors. There is a lot of misinformation across the spatial industry about the capability and cost of RPAS systems, as well as an overestimation of manned survey costs. A large proportion of the costs of running unmanned aircraft are hidden or not immediately felt.

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In contrast, the main cost in manned survey—the running of the aircraft—is immediately obvious. Usually the cost comparison used by the drone industry is based on a large format mapping camera carried by a large twin engine aircraft, capturing a small project area of 1 square km or less. There is also usually a good dollop of aircraft transportation cost thrown in. The quoted cost for capture with an aircraft, therefore, usually runs in the tens of thousands.

Conveniently, comparisons between the two technologies also choose a site that the UAV is actually able to fly over, ignoring the large parts of Australia where these systems cannot legally or practically be operated. This perpetuates what I call the ‘expensive aircraft myth.’

Large format manned surveys Truth is, traditional large format mapping cameras have never been cost effective on small projects. To be fair, they were not designed for this purpose. High capital and operating costs associated with these cameras mean that operation of these systems are highly geared, and far more suited to capturing large areas like entire capital cities or local government areas.

Due to the recent evolution of large swath sensors like the VisionMap A3, Vexcel UltraCam Eagle (340 megapixels), and custom multi camera sensors of Nearmap and Spookfish, large format aerial imagery has never been more economical. This is especially true in large urban areas where there is fierce competition between providers like AAM, Aerometrex, Nearmap and, soon, Spookfish. Reduction in the rate per

hectare costs of imagery has driven the demand for an increase in the temporal resolution. As a result, repeated data capture 2-4 times per year is now becoming commonplace.

A new medium [format] While large format mapping cameras cannot compete with drones on smaller projects, a new generation of smaller airborne sensors can, and do, offer a real alternative on just about any project.

Often ignored by the RPAS industry is the new generation of small and medium format digital cameras, with sensors ranging from 36 up to 100 megapixels.

To put this into perspective, the first large format digital mapping cameras from Vexcel UCD and Intergraph DMC were about 86 megapixels, weighed about 200kg, and cost between AUD$1-2 million.

On top of this, they required specialised survey aircraft costing around $1,600$2,000 per hour to run.

In the space of just ten years, however, the capital operational costs of manned sensors has decreased dramatically.

The new Hasselblad A6D medium format aerial camera has 100 megapixel resolution, weighs around 3kg, costs around $50K ready to fly, and it can be flown in a small single engine aircraft costing $220-350 per hour to run.

While medium format digital cameras boast impressive resolutions, spending $50-150K for a ready to fly system is still a serious investment. This is where low cost small format (COTS) cameras like DSLRs are now coming into their own.

Cameras like the Nikon D810 and Canon EOS 5D Mark II are 36 and 50 megapixels respectively, and both cost under $4K.

Until recently, smaller format sensors like DSLRs were not able to be used on airborne photogrammetric projects, due to issues with the rolling shutter. While older photogrammetric software packages would throw their hands up in disgust at rolling shutter imagery, new Structure from Motion (SFM) photogrammetric packages like Agisoft PhotoScan and Pix4D allow these cameras to be employed on aerial photogrammetric projects.

The inability to use imagery from cameras with rolling shutters in stereo has limited the use of these cameras to simple orthophoto projects. Advances in software technology have now also solved this problem, with packages like Trimble UASMaster allowing imagery from cameras like the Nikon D810 to be setup in stereo and enabling 3D feature extraction.

Companies like Melbourne’s Geocomp International have been employing a setup like this to good effect on smaller high accuracy projects around Melbourne. This now throws open the door to a raft of high accuracy mapping applications for low cost manned aerial systems.

Portable mapping systems Even with the evolution of modern low cost high resolution sensors, manned aerial survey still has two main drivers of cost. These are that modified aircraft with camera ports are required to carry the camera system, and the ferry or mobilisation costs to get that aircraft to the project site and back.

One new technology emerging from our Australian-based company, Aerial

Sydney’s Parramatta Stadium, as captured by Aerial Acquisition’s portable mapping system.

Acquisitions, is the portable mapping system, which is designed to address these issues.

With its 36 megapixel DSLR sensor, these portable mapping systems don’t require a specialist camera port and can be fitted to a range of light aircraft, turning thousands of light aircraft across Australia into potential survey platforms.

When a portable mapping system is carried by a local aircraft, data is able to be captured at rates rivaling that of unmanned systems, even for small sites.

So how do the competing technologies stack up?

It’s difficult to make a general sweeping statement about which technology comes out on top here as there are simply so many variables.

One area where drones offer real value is at the lower end of the market especially in the sub-2kg multirotor category where systems like the DJI Phantom’s rule the roost. Turnkey systems with integrated cameras like this make entry into the world of aerial survey more

simple and affordable than ever before.

For an investment of around $3K you can get a reasonably capable aerial survey platfrom, like the Phantom 4, with a stabilised 20 megapixel camera and a 25 minute flight time.

Numerous software as a service (SaaS) processing applications have sprung up around systems like the DJI Phantom.

Services like DroneDeploy and Australian startup Propeller Aero are a few examples.

Use of these SaaS services allows operators to offset the upfront costs of processing software and workstations, and the need for staff with specialist photogrammetry skills.

The advantages of these small sub-2kg RPAS are further magnified when the company operating the system already has boots on the ground. However, this advantage quickly starts to swing back towards manned platforms when there are multiple small sites to be surveyed, or the size of the project area increases.

Some of the overlooked factors for RPAS survey include accuracy, resolution, reliability, logistics and operating costs.

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info@aerosci.info www.aerosci.info www.spatialsource.com.au 23

feature Accuracy When looking at accuracy of a system, be sure not to confuse the platform specifications with those of the sensor. In the RPAS sector most of the advertising tends to highlight the platform’s capabilities, like flight time, rather than the all-important payload.

Low-end RPAS tend to use non-metric sensors, including point and shoot cameras, and integrated cameras like those found in the DJI Phantom. While suitable to produce orthophotos, unstable camera geometry means they may not be the best option for digital surface creation.

Unmanned systems flying at a legal height of 400ft will also quickly run into problems with image footprints. As flying height decreases, image footprints also decrease, which in certain environments may cause tie-points to fail or create errors in surface modelling.

Resolution Unmanned systems do have an advantage over manned platforms when it comes to the ability to capture extremely high resolution imagery. Low cruise speeds, especially from multi-rotor platforms, allow imagery to be captured at 1-3cm ground sampling distance (GSD). Manned platforms at best achieve around 3cm GSD for small sites, with projects more commonly in the 5-15cm range.

Higher resolution is not necessarily a good thing. The restricted flying height means most drone projects are captured at a higher resolution than they need to be, adding considerable data processing costs in terms of time and computing resources.

1

3

4

2

5

my experience, there is a reasonably high attrition rate due to a mix of dumb thumbs, equipment failure and human error.

Logistics

Reliability Unlike in manned aviation, it’s fair to say that the number of crashes and incidents in the drone industry are underreported.

Researchers like Dr Graham Wild from RMIT are also of the opinion that far more incidents occur than are actually reported.

On a professional level, I have heard stories from a range of colleagues of drones crashing, or flying off into the sunset. In

It may surprise some people how much even a small electric drone actually costs per hour to run. While it may only cost a few cents of electricity to charge a battery, it is all the other associated costs that quickly add up: pilot and observer wages, travel, accommodation, data processing,

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staff training, vehicle costs and required CASA paperwork.

A mapping pod on a manned aircraft, on the other hand, has an immediate running cost of $350-400 per hour, which includes wet hire (fuel included) of the aircraft and pilot. Such a setup can capture up to 10 square km an hour- a feat that may take a drone crew multiple days.

In contrast, the wages alone of a UAV crew with pilot and observer may total somewhere between $100-200 per hour.

And the winner is…

A major disadvantage of capturing projects with RPAS is that even simple projects like a 50km corridor project of a pipeline, rail or coastline quickly becomes a logistical headache. Assuming that our corridor project can be flown by a RPAS and does not pass through populated areas, over roads, or close to airports, RPAS are still subject to additional problems. These include: line of sight restrictions, site-specific safety measures, safely transporting high capacity LiPo batteries, road access, bird strikes, sun angle constraints and equipment failures.

Just planning an operation like this is a small project in itself.

Aerial Acquistions’ portable mapping system can be fitted to a range of light aircraft.

1. Vexcel UltraCam Eagle 2. VisionMap A3 Edge 3. Hasselblad A6D 4. Canon EOS 5D Mark II 5. Nikon D810

Operating costs

Sorry to disappoint, but there is no overall winner here. Unlike what the slick marketing people would have you believe, there is no one magic system. The right system depends on the amount of work you have in the pipeline, the type of projects, location, size and required deliverables. Both RPAS and manned systems, therefore have their strengths.

It is hard to beat small RPAS systems for small greenfield projects, especially where you have existing boots on the ground. It’s also pretty much only RPAS systems that can deliver super high resolution at 3cm GSD or better. However, as project site size increases, or there are multiple sites, then the advantage tends to swing towards manned systems like the portable mapping systems.

I realise that within the spatial industry there seem to be people from both camps with the blinkers firmly on for their preferred technology. I don’t see manned and unmanned platforms competing against one another. Instead, I see them as complementary.

Both manned and unmanned systems share similar sensors and post-processing workflows. So adding manned surveys to existing drone operations is a natural extension. Smart operators are doing just this. I already know of an example where a portable mapping pod is used once a month to map a mine’s active mining area of about 40 square km. RPAS are then flown on a daily basis over smaller areas of interest and the data is fused with the monthly manned capture. Both systems are being used where they are the most cost effective. I believe that this approach is the future.

Erron Gardner is co-founder and director of Aerial Acquisitions, an Australian aerial survey firm using both manned and unmanned platforms. He also teaches RPAS surveying courses. ■

Fast and Accurate Volume Measurement

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The biggest 40 mining companies were announced in PWC’s latest mining report, and nearly half of these companies use drone photogrammetry software (Pix4Dmapper Pro) as part of their mining workflow.

Managing stockpile inventory, that is, finding a solution for accurate volume measurement and easy inventory management, is one of the biggest challenges in the mining industry.

These top mining companies claim that by applying the photogrammetry workflow with Pix4Dmapper Pro, they can achieve measurement accuracies of around 2-5% for their stockpile volumes.

What are the advantages of using drone photogrammetry instead of traditional ground surveying methods when it comes to stockpile volume measurement?

In real situations, stockpiles do not conform to a perfect shape. Photogrammetric survey with a high ground sampling distance (GSD, which indicates the actual distance each pixel represents) are able to better describe irregular stockpiles in detail.

Horizontally, high-resolution photogrammetric results create more precise stockpile models, and thus better volume measurement accuracy than ones interpolated from certain measured points; Vertically, they lower the uncertainty in Z values, which is proportional to the resolution. For example, flatter stockpiles will benefit more from a high GSD than taller stockpiles.

Imagine we have a 10-meter-tall crushed gravel stockpile in a cone shape, with a 45° angle of repose.

The bottom 2 meter section occupies 48.8% of the entire stockpile volume, while the top 2 meter section occupies 45° only 0.008%.

The error of the height values will have much more influence for the bottom flat part than the tip.

This error also explains how important it is to welldefine the base surface in order to obtain an accurate volume measurement.

module; for more complicated conditions, users can import their own base surface (or groundsurveyed points which form the base surface) and use them as a base to calculate stockpile volumes.

If interested in Pix4Dmapper Pro’s volume measurement tool, go to www.pix4d.com to start a FREE TRIAL, which now includes personal support during the trial period! * Data set source: courtesy of Geomatic Development

Pix4D USER WORKSHOPS

Precise Volume Measurement in Pix4Dmapper In addition to generating precise 3D models for the purpose of measurements, Pix4Dmapper performs accurate stockpile volume measurements because of its ability to customize base surfaces.

The software provides 6 different base surfacedefining options in its volume management

Ramp stockpile is constructed high, with a narrow ramp, and is optimal for storing a large amount of materials in a very limited area.

Bin stockpile is a common stockpile type.

Materials are stored in a row of three-sided bins, with enclosures consisting of a hard floor and walls. It is the best solution to keep different materials separate.

Information provided by Pix4D www.spatialsource.com.au 25

feature

The next generation of addressing JO ABHAYARATNA, CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER, PSMA AUSTRALIA

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t’s been 18 months since Australia’s Geocoded National Address File (G-NAF) was made openly available by the Australian Government via data.gov.au. In that time, it’s been downloaded 3600 times, according to the Data and Digital Branch of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).

Recently, the Department sought feedback on G-NAF from end users and found 41% of respondents started using it only after it became openly available.

G-NAF was first released under licence

by PSMA Australia Limited (PSMA) in 2004 after six years of research, a feasibility study, three pilots and two years of development. The aim was to create a comprehensive database of addressing knowledge that connected addresses recognised by government, with addresses adopted by the community, and a precise latitude and longitude.

G-NAF now underpins many policy and business systems that provide important services to Australians.

Recognising the value that can be derived from public data and its potential for promoting innovation, the Australian Government partnered with PSMA to make G-NAF publically accessible at no cost to end users from February 2016.

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In feedback to the Department, 73% of respondents indicated they had achieved efficiencies or productivity growth as a result of open access to G-NAF.

What’s an address?

Address is a cultural construct, an artefact of human communication. It’s a generally accepted label for a location – a position on the Earth – but it’s transient and subjective. Governments gazette names or labels for suburbs and roads, and these generally reflect the language accepted by the community to describe place, but the community may use other language as well. People adopt unofficial addresses and use them consistently enough that they appear in government and commercial databases. Further, the collectors and custodians of addresses have inherent bias in their perception of what an address is, understandably skewed toward their core business purpose or need.

G-NAF contains more than 13.6 million principal addresses. It begins with PSMA collecting over 40 million addresses from Australia’s State, Territory and Commonwealth government agencies, testing the logical consistency of every address from every contributor and comparing the address components

G-NAF provides geocoded address points, while Geoscape provides information on buildings. A range of possible land uses might occur at an address.

Aerial image is via copyright: Spatial Services NSW.

against other geospatial datasets it manages. The locality of the address is then confirmed as valid and the road name and road type are confirmed to exist within the locality.

PSMA subsequently assigns a confidence rating to each address as a measure of how widely the address is recognised. Once that occurs, a geocode – latitude and longitude – is assigned or verified.

In G-NAF’s May 2017 release, 96.18% of addresses were able to be geocoded at property-level, 3.57% at street-level and 0.25% at locality-level. It is the benchmark for geocoded address accuracy. Feedback to the Department indicates that 97% of those polled rate G-NAF data as ‘good’ to ‘very high’ quality.

G-NAF perceives an address to be a structured label for a place that can receive deliveries. You can go to the address, but G-NAF doesn’t tell you what you’ll find when you get there. It references a location, not a premises or building. A range of possible land uses might occur at an address.

What’s at an address?

PSMA recognised several years ago the need to answer the question of what’s at an address. Businesses and governments want to know about buildings and land cover at addresses across the country to enable better decision making and improved products and services. Hence, Geoscape® was conceived.

Geoscape combines advances in satellite imagery, machine learning and big data processing to create a digital representation of Australia's built environment. It captures building footprints and heights, roof construction, surface cover, tree heights, the presence of solar panels and swimming pools and more. Geoscape uses G-NAF to link built environment attributes to a geocoded address. It’s the first time location-based information and data analytics capability have been combined and made available in this way on a national level.

Due to its vast scale and sophistication, the rollout of Geoscape is being staged. Release 3, in July 2017, saw the number of buildings captured

by Geoscape double to more than 7.2 million. When coverage of the Australian continent is complete – anticipated to be by mid-2018 – Geoscape is expected to contain 20 million buildings mapped to geocoded addresses.

While G-NAF is derived from public data and is available under open licence, Geoscape is a commercial dataset (produced using commercial and public data) available through PSMA’s network of ValueAdded Resellers.

Both G-NAF and Geoscape are underpinning policy and business systems that provide important services to Australians.

This includes: navigation systems; infrastructure planning; business planning and analysis; logistics and service planning; insurance; telecommunications; and government service delivery and policy development, including emergency response and social services.

G-NAF provides the address and its position on the Earth; Geoscape describes what’s there.

Designing NextGen G-NAF In the not-too-distant future, there will be no concept of spatial data as a unique data type. It will continue to be important as people inherently understand spatial as a way to categorise information, but it won’t be something considered in isolation.

Building footprints in Perth CBD as described by Geoscape.

Location will be a dimension of all data, a core component – because everything happens somewhere. As such, data users are beginning to look for location data that is structurally, as well as, financially accessible. They are looking to layer diverse data types into intelligent services to create knowledge and value, and they’re looking to do that efficiently.

Recognising that future, PSMA in consultation with the governments of Australia, is continuing to enhance and extend G-NAF. Creating the next generation of G-NAF involves a paradigm shift for national address management.

It involves moving from the concept of

In feedback to the Department, 73% of respondents indicated they had achieved efficiencies or productivity growth as a result of open access to G-NAF. a dataset to that of a knowledge base, one that stores complex structured and unstructured information and is connected to a broader digital ecosystem.

With the Australian Government making G-NAF available under open data terms and the resulting greater use of G-NAF across the economy, comes additional insights and feedback on the dataset. A common theme through that feedback is the need for G-NAF to be machine-readable using open data standards. Data users require the ability to ‘pull’ information they need to create knowledge, tools and value for their businesses and customers. This activity is increasingly being performed through machine-to-machine interactions.

To enable these transactions within geospatial supply chains, Program 3 of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) is researching delivery of the next generation of spatial infrastructures. The program is leveraging semantic web technologies to iteratively build a spatial knowledge infrastructure test bed, starting with a small number of datasets, including PSMA’s G-NAF and Administrative Boundaries. It seeks to utilise linked data – involving standards, practices and tools for publishing and linking structured data on the Web – to publish data from both themes in an open standard, machine-readable format during 2018.

To maximise the benefits that come from machine-to-machine, transactionbased transfer of location information, PSMA will prototype continuous product maintenance processes for address data.

Also, the unidirectional flow of content from traditional creators and custodians of address will ultimately give way to a closed-loop ecosystem, where users of the data contribute back to the source. A further key development will be improved feature-level metadata to provide greater insight into an address and its relevance to an organisation’s business need.

These fundamental enhancements to G-NAF will further reduce barriers to the use of location intelligence and help meet the changing information needs of the Australian economy, establishing an address reference that constantly aligns itself with user demand.

Jo Abhayaratna is Chief Technical Officer at PSMA Australia. Jo is also the new Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information’s (CRCSI) Program 3 Board, Co-chair of the Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC) Smart Cities Domain Working Group and Chair of the OGC Australia and New Zealand Forum. Jo is focused on emerging data management and distribution practices to support PSMA’s continuing program of technology innovation. ■ Information provided by PSMA Australia www.spatialsource.com.au 27

feature Wellington is New Zealand's centre of government and the world's southernmost capital city. It is also the country's cultural capital, and the third most populous urban area in New Zealand.

Safe City Living Lab - A collaborative localised approach WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL

By integrating real-time datasets and maps, a council has found a way to correlate day-to-day street activity with larger social trends.

Wellington City Council’s new Safe City Living Lab initiative was the overall winning project at this year’s Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards (APSEA). Find out how the Living Lab all came to life.

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t a time when concerns with alcohol and drug abuse were rising, and the reports of homelessness and begging grew, the council of New Zealand’s capital city sought to find an intelligent and timely way to respond. The solution was data: a more informed approach was able to support evidence-based future planning and real-time response to local incidences.

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Wellington City Council’s Safe City Living Lab initiative came to life in in 2014, when the council signed a collaboration agreement with NEC, a Japanese multinational provider of IT services. The project began with the two organisations exploring how technology could improve city services, create economic growth, reduce environmental impact and enhance community wellbeing. The Council’s Community Services team worked with NEC to explore how to use technology to solve hard urban problems as well as improve safety and wellbeing outcomes for the city and its residents.

The team recognised that a successful locally delivered project must be developed in collaboration with partners and key stakeholders. The council and NEC facilitated workshops to co-design an approach with over 100 stakeholders from agencies such as NZ Police, NZ Fire Service, Capital and Coast DHB and Regional Public Health as well as social service providers, residents, retailers and agencies working with the city’s vulnerable, including members of the homeless population.

The workshop identified a common interest in developing a mechanism for evidence-based future planning and a more informed situational tactical response to local incidences and wider issues affecting Wellington. At the time there was a growing concern with alcohol and substance abuse and subsequent antisocial behaviour, including reports of overt begging in the inner city.

A key element in addressing these challenges was identified as improved data and information sharing, including mapping and the integration of numerous data sources. This added significant value to situational awareness and the ability to respond and plan. It was also identified that new technology, such as video and acoustic analytics, could assist with data collection and provide new insight into day-to-day street-level behaviour all while being tested in a low-risk, cost effective manner.

From these discussions it was agreed that the shopping district of Cuba Street was an ideal location to develop a ‘Living Lab’ as a proof of concept. Cube Street was selected for its defined geographic location with layers of complexity both in street environment and urban design, as well as diversity in the range of people and retail and residential activity.

The Living Lab approach The Safe City Living Lab project aimed to put the collaborative approach to good use by ensuring the whole of the city can benefit from the final solution.

Viewed with this perspective, the Living Lab provides the opportunity to use existing assets and sources of information in a streamlined and integrated way; coupled with new sensory and analytical methodologies to inform future planning and delivery of programmes and services for the city.

The proof of concept also enabled us to test a number of analytical sensors include glass breaking, detection of beggars/rough sleepers and behavioural changes. It also provided a situational view in the form of a GIS map overlaid with real-time alerts/ detections and shared data from external partners. The collaborative approach meant that customisable solutions were necessary. Individual user account settings were able to provide individualised data access and ensure privacy principles were upheld whilst maximising the effectiveness of the system.

A platform for interagency collaboration The Living Lab allows for the collection and analysis of data, sharing of data between agencies and integration of third party data sources to assist with evidencebased planning and more effective real time responses through a new data platform.

Known as the Smart Board, it integrates sources from existing internal Council datasets, partner agencies and data from external web based databases, including the national graffiti database, Stop Tags.

For incidents requiring a realtime response, Living Labs is able to ensure appropriate support is in place and informed. Real-time situational awareness is provided from a network of sensors, including CCTV camera observations, acoustic sensors and local host reporting. For example, visual sensors can be used to detect occurrences of begging and can notify the Outreach team via email of the incident. This will enable them to quickly connect with the individual to ensure they are connected to appropriate support services.

The platform innovative data visualisations to support tactical and evidence-based planning and incident response. This includes heat maps,

clusters, individual points and time slider functions which can inform future resource deployment and urban design. It can also be used to overlay multiple and shared data sets to assist with identifying trends and patterns. Through the visualisation tool the user is able to view data on a scale from city wide right down to specific incident points and view incident metadata. It also enables more specific spatial analysis through searching in defined geographic areas and/or within a defined buffer zone from a centralised point.

The Smart Board allows the integration of contextual third party sources to provide further insight into trends such as weather, major event calendars and school holidays. This approach enables the ability to correlate patterns with external factors such as. For example, it would be able to determine whether the incidence of graffiti increases during school holiday, or if the weather at the time plays a part. Once such correlations are understood, the appropriate team or authority can then act with informed and targeted responses.

The capabilities of the Living Lab are set to expand as the project continues to evolve. The next steps include developing a business intelligent function which will enable in-depth analysis of the data and trends highlighted through the Smart Board. This platform will also enable other smart city projects to be connected together providing shared benefits.

The existing visualisation function will also be developed to include three dimensional mapping and a virtual reality component where the user will be able to ‘walk’ through the streets of Wellington as well as view Alert of incident of begging and subsequent email to the outreach team.

While the visualisation of discrete data sets is essential for quantitative analysis, the platform provides a facility for the same data to be visualised according to specific applications. Heat maps are also useful for looking at trends over time.

the landscape with a bird’s-eye view. These enhancements not only increase user experience but also expand the potential uses of the system. Eventually the platform will be able to provide behaviour prediction tools useful for looking at how people interact with spaces and better inform proposed urban design changes.

An award-winning partnership The Living Lab project is an award winner.

In 2016 the year the project won the New Zealand Supreme Spatial Excellence Award, and Community and the New Zealand Engagement Spatial Excellence Award. In April 2017, this year the project received further accolades, winning the Community Engagement Award at the Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards in Sydney. It went on to receive the overall JK Barrie Spatial Excellence Award, which is awarded to the best overall project in the Asia Pacific region.

Aside from the unique combination of technology that brings the solution together it is believed the success of the Safe City Living Lab comes down to the strength of Wellington City Council and NEC’s community’s partnership approach – which is one of true open collaboration and co-design to achieve positive community outcomes. The wave of modern technology that can be applied to make our cities safer and smarter holds great promise. Through partnerships there is a fantastic opportunity to practically apply and field-test these technologies so that other cities can benefit from these experiences. Wellington City Council sees the Safe City Living Lab as a medium for ongoing innovation and are keen to extend an invitation for other cities to engage and share learnings. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 29

feature

Grounded: the road to automated vehicles After a decade of anticipation, Australia and New Zealand just took one giant leap towards a driverless future.

ANTHONY WALLACE

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was raised with high expectations for the future. The future I came to know was suspended high in the clouds, where flying cars zipped about seamlessly and miniature autonomous robots efficiently and silently ran errands.

I am talking of course about a cartoon called The Jetsons, a program about a family whose technologically-empowered lives seemed like an inevitable future.

It certainly wasn’t a serious attempt at predicting where society was heading; it was a television show for children, and you could argue it was devoid of the realities of population growth, resource depletion and climate change. But to me, the world of the Jetsons remains a rare, optimistic vision of a future we could, and still can, strive for. It’s a future where our technologies like flying cars and robots are trusted like any piece of technology adopted for everyday use.

Despite all the flying cars and robotic butlers, the central drama of the show was not technology. As with any show, narrative was driven by the interaction of its characters. Call me and optimist, but I still expect that technology will become so seamless that it will allow us to focus on the things that really matter to us, like our family dramas.

One of the key elements of The Jetsons was the transportation. The Jetsons' flying car seamlessly took them wherever they needed to go without colliding with

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the hundreds of other vehicles sharing the sky. In present day 2017, there are eerily similar attempts at flying cars well underway in cities breaching the sky. Dubai is a city at once hosting the tallest building in the world and well on the way to having tourists flying about the city in an E-hang flying car by the end of 2017. However, it’s safe to say that the day-to-day transport of our immediate future will not be in the sky.

A more grounded prediction would posit that the bulk of our transport vehicles will be where they are today, on our existing road networks. However, they will not be the cars we know today, but their driverless counterparts, or as they are more officially known, automated vehicles (AVs).

Many may not realise this, but Australia and New Zealand are fast becoming leaders in AVs. A trial for AVs in South Australia is is deep into its second year, open data feeds by Vicroads are supporting real-time intelligent transport applications, and, for many reasons like this, Melbourne recently played host to the 2016 Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress. In a recent Position Magazine article by Jon Fairall, we explored the development of the technology itself that has seen AVs taking to the road right now. However, without a structured framework on the ground, the mass adoption of truly driverless vehicles is still a few years off.

That’s where the new report from Austroads, “The Assessment of Key Road Operator Actions to Support Automated Vehicles” comes in. A decade in the making, the report is being closely watched internationally and has already spawned a number of supporting projects. The report's author,

Austroads, is the cross-government initiative supporting AVs in Australia and New Zealand. Austroads based the report on a comprehensive review of emerging technologies and a lengthy consultation process. The report details the crucial balance needed to ensure road authorities, technologists and vehicle manufacturers are all aligned to enable a safe, efficient and sustainable future for the technology. It will come as no surprise to the regular readers of this magazine, that these requirements are heavily dependent on manifold spatial technologies, working together with artificial intelligence to solve one the great spatial challenges of our time: realtime autonomous navigation.

A new form of road user According to one of the contributors of the report, the shift to AVs depends on a consolidated, cross-industry approach.

Scott Benjamin, technical director of ITS at WSP Australia, said that “the industry as a whole needs to consider automated vehicles as a new form of road user: they have very particular requirements, and they’re not all the same.”

“It’s important for us to recognise a common framework for AV operation,” he said. “This can help the very wide industry that is evolving around AVs to communicate better.”

Manifold is a good word to describe the solution—or indeed solutions—that will be implemented in the end. To get to a place where AVs can be adopted en-masse, it will need a collaborative effort from the likes of automotive manufacturers, road operators, councils, government agencies, legislators, mapping data providers, technologists and even insurers. You only need to look at the

plethora of sensors aboard AVs to get an idea of the complexity. Cars themselves will be equipped with a range of sensors such as LiDAR, radar, vision sensors, GNSS receivers, non-GNSS positioning receivers and ultrasound. The complex process of bringing all of this together and deriving meaning from it is a process Scott Benjamin refers to as localisation.

“Essentially you have two broad areas: vision-based localisation, and satellitebased localisation,” said Benjamin. “On the satellite side of things, with absolute positioning, some of the systems with assistance – terrestrial or satellite based – can give you an accurate street-based view.”

“On the vision based-localisation side, it’s pulling together all that sensor information and matching that against a feature map. A 3D feature map, onboard the vehicle will help it to understand where it is in space, from those two broad categories.

“What it all points to is the importance of maps at the centre of this model.”

It’s those very maps that companies like HERE Technologies, now owned by a group of German car manufacturers will be there to provide. Since lives are at stake, such maps will need to be highly detailed, authoritive and constantly updated.

Many proposed solutions also blend this with sensors on the road and between other vehicles, such as Australian company Cohda Wireless, which offers hardware for both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-toinfrastructure (V2I) communications. Cohda calls this winning combination V2X or Cooperative ITS, and is banking on the hope that road authorities and car manufacturers the world over will soon be investing in this technology.

Where the road will take us It’s easy to focus on the cars themselves.

After all, they will be the centrepiece of the show, with all the bells, whistles and shiny buttons that sci-fi can conjure up.

But the roads themselves are actually the biggest infrastructure of all, and the major source of headache for those trying to solve this problem. They may not look that different in the future, but the roads themselves will need to be more closely monitored than a newborn.

That’s why Austroads’ report goes into very specific details about the physical and digital infrastructure supporting the use of road networks over time. The report states that changes to road pavement and road structures will need to much more closely planned, tracked and quantified than our current ad-hoc approach allows. Road signs and line marking will also need to be designed for machine readability. Real-time information about current road conditions

The Jetsons flying car (top) and the Ehang 184 flying car that will soon take off in Dubai (right).

will need to be collected and continuously fed to AVs. But even before AVs hit the road, Austroads has called on the need for ‘AV certification’, a method or framework required to certify roads as AV compliant.

In a similar manner, the digital infrastructure required will be almost invisible, but underpin every movement an AV takes. Depending on each vehicle and use case, the digital infrastructure is likely to combine data management, positioning services, and communication technologies. Since road operations are expected to evolve as new use cases arise, road network management approaches may need to be ongoingly reviewed and amended. A range of standards, guidelines, and regulations will need to be reviewed and updated to the point that roadworks become well planned events involving real-time data collection.

Importantly, all of this will need to be fed into real-time maps so that an AV always know what’s coming around the corner, at each and every corner it may encounter.

The missing ingredient It seems the final missing ingredient, and the one that will define how quickly this all plays out, is artificial intelligence.

Programming a car to sense and respond to road conditions like a human is no easy feat, but through machine learning algorithms supported by a vehicle sensors, the plan is that AVs will be able to see further ahead, observe all directions, read a detailed map, communicate with other vehicles and make millisecond decisions—all at once.

Many automated vehicle manufacturers are already delving head first into artificial intelligence to better inform their vehicles in real time and allow multiple AVs to navigate roads alongside eachother.

Austroads categorises these forays into three main concepts: biomimicry, swarm intelligence and machine learning. Some studies looking at these concepts have shown that in a completely driverless future, waiting at an intersection—even in heavy traffic—could become a thing of the past. Deaths on roads could be reduced or even eliminated. Brent Stafford a director at HERE Technologies Asia Pacific, suggests that our existing road networks could even come to supersede our public transport networks, like rail. However, this all depends on the fast evolving developments into areas like machine learning, deep learning and neural networks- the precursors to what we may simply come to call AI. Technology is one thing, but economics is a whole other game. Even if the very intelligent people behind this movement come up with the perfect solution, there are still the many factors at play that AVs, like any new technology, will be subject to. Scott Benjamin outlined three major economic obstacles which will affect the widespread introduction of AV: availability and affordability; legislation and regulation; and societal acceptance.

In other words, we need a cheap, safe, reliable, solution that we can all agree on. But perhaps that is much easier said than done.

I would normally make a prediction here about how I expect this will fold out, but with so many players, technologies and stakeholders involved, I will just keep living with my 1980s Jetsons fantasies for some years yet.

Anthony Wallace is the editor of Position and SpatialSource.com.au. He prefers to drive 1980s cars that predate himself and even computers. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 31

feature The current ellipsoid of choice in Australia (and indeed for the International Terrestrial Reference Frame – ITRF) is the Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS80), a geocentric ellipsoid designed to approximate the Earth on a global scale.

Projections & transformations

GDA2020, AUSGeoid2020 & ATRF explained Amid all the confusion, this article spells out Australia’s move from plate-fixed to earthfixed datums, and the growing number of acronyms spatial professionals need to know.

DR VOLKER JANSSEN

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modernised geodetic foundation will allow users to make the most of modern satellite-based positioning, open up new industries and increase productivity.

The Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94) has been our national datum since its adoption in 2000.

Significant improvements in positioning technology in the recent past have revealed that it is no longer capable of providing the required quality of datum for modern-day positioning applications.

Consequently, Federal and State and Territory Governments have worked towards modernising Australia’s datum for some time. We are now on the cusp of these changes coming into effect.

The Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) is a new, much improved Australian national datum that will replace GDA94 by 1 January 2020. It is to be used in conjunction with the new AUSGeoid2020 to connect to the Australian Height Datum (AHD). By 2020, GDA2020 will be complemented

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(and possibly one day replaced) by the time-dependent, earth-fixed Australian Terrestrial Reference Frame (ATRF). To explain that properly, however, we must go much deeper.

Coordinate systems & datums A coordinate reference system is a methodology to define the specific location of a feature in space. Routinely, we use an ellipsoid to approximate the shape of the Earth. Positions on the ellipsoid are usually expressed in Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z) or curvilinear geographic coordinates (φ, λ, h), i.e. latitude, longitude and ellipsoidal height.

Since a coordinate system is an idealised abstraction, it can only be accessed in practice through its physical materialisation (or realisation) called a reference frame or datum. The datum effectively defines the origin and orientation of the coordinate system at a certain instant in time (epoch), generally by adopting a set of station coordinates.

Nowadays this is usually provided by a network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). Over time, different techniques with varying levels of sophistication have been applied to approximate the shape of the Earth’s surface, resulting in the adoption of many different datums.

A geocentric datum uses the Earth’s centre of mass as its origin and is therefore compatible with GNSS-based positioning.

In practice, it is often required to express positions on a flat surface in the form of grid coordinates, i.e. in a 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system such as easting and northing. This is achieved by map projections according to a recognised set of mathematical rules, resulting in an ordered system of projected meridians (lines of constant longitude) and parallels (lines of constant latitude).

The most common projection used in Australia is the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, which utilises a zone width of 6° and ensures that the scale is very close to unity across the entire zone. When applied to GDA94 coordinates in Australia, the resulting projected coordinates are known as the Map Grid of Australia 1994 (MGA94).

As new datums are defined based on increased amounts of data and improved processing techniques, new and better transformation parameters are published.

While there may be a significant delay between their initial availability and eventual adoption in software via updates or patches, it is important for users to apply the latest set of transformation parameters in order to achieve the highest possible quality of output coordinates.

Drivers for datum modernisation Datum modernisation is required in order to accommodate the increasing accuracy and improved spatial and temporal resolution available from modern positioning technologies to an ever-broadening user base. The goal of datum modernisation is to supply all users with the most complete yet most straightforward datum products that can define a locally consistent set of coordinates, such that their positioning device agrees with the physical world and associated spatial data to an acceptable level of accuracy.

It is important to emphasise that geodetic control underpins all spatial data, including applications such as mapping, surveying, construction and mining, agriculture, environmental and asset management, transport, insurance, emergency services, communication and research.

The growing trend to ‘big data’ and ‘open data’ is only possible if these datasets across these areas are built on

a solid foundation provided by geodetic control, so they actually fit together and can facilitate meaningful results.

The main drivers for datum modernisation in Australia include: • Including up-to-date geodetic observations and increased precision • Removing known distortions • Providing seamless coordinates across state border • Accounting for tectonic plate motion • Accounting for tectonic plate rotation • Introducing a truly 3D datum defined by ellipsoidal heights

Plate-fixed datums A plate-fixed datum is attached to the tectonic plate and therefore also known as a static datum. It is ‘frozen’ at a certain instant in time (the reference epoch), essentially preventing the coordinates from changing over time due to (normal) tectonic plate motion.

However, as the time difference between the reference epoch and the current epoch increases, the plate-fixed datum deviates more and more from the true position of the plate (and the earth-fixed datum used for GNSS).

Consequently, it needs to be updated at frequent intervals. GDA94 and GDA2020 are examples of plate-fixed datums.

GDA94 GDA94 was defined in the then stateof-the-art global reference frame, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 1992 (ITRF92) at epoch 1994.0.

This definition was justified by the relatively uniform drift of the Australian continent at about 7 cm/yr to the northeast. Tectonic plate motion causes the difference between ITRF coordinates and GDA94 coordinates to increase over time, amounting to about 1.6 m at present.

This is generally not an issue for differential GNSS applications, however the increasing number of real-time massmarket applications is causing this offset to introduce errors for the layperson.

GDA2020 GDA2020 is a much more homogeneous plate-fixed datum, based on a national least squares network adjustment that rigorously propagates uncertainty.

GDA2020 is defined in the current stateof-the-art global ITRF2014 reference frame at epoch 2020.0. The coordinates are extrapolated into the future to 1 January 2020 in order to extend the lifespan of the datum.

GDA2020 is realised by gazetting an expanded AFN consisting of 109 GNSS CORS, mainly including stations contributing to the Australian Regional

GNSS Network (ARGN) and the AuScope network.

The UTM projection will continue to be used to project latitude and longitude to grid coordinates (Easting, &Northing), albeit based on new equations. These grid coordinates will be expressed in the Map Grid of Australia 2020 (MGA2020).

Following a transition period, GDA2020 is to be adopted by 1 January 2020, although most jurisdictions may decide to move to the new datum earlier.

This move from GDA94 to GDA2020 will cause the horizontal coordinates of a mark to shift by approximately 1.8 m to the north-east, while the ellipsoidal height will decrease by about 0.1 m.

ITRF is updated regularly in order to account for the dynamics of the Earth.

ATRF The Australian Terrestrial Reference Frame (ATRF) will be a regional realisation of the ITRF. As a consequence, Australian spatial information will be directly interoperable with GNSS measurements.

It is anticipated that the ATRF will be implemented from January 2020 with adoption planned to be complete by 2023.

However, it is important to note that GDA2020 and ATRF will exist in tandem for the foreseeable future. Over time GDA2020 will meet the fate of all platefixed datums and become outdated.

AUSGeoid2020

WGS84

In order to connect to the Australian Height Datum (AHD), it is therefore crucial to apply AUSGeoid2020 to GDA2020 ellipsoidal heights, while AUSGeoid09 must be used to convert GDA94 ellipsoidal heights. Due to the aforementioned 0.1 m difference in ellipsoidal heights between GDA94 and GDA2020, a user should never combine AUSGeoid2020 with GDA94 or AUSGeoid09 with GDA2020. While AUSGeoid2020 has the same extent and density as its predecessor AUSGeoid09, it is based on a much larger and much more homogeneous dataset. AUSGeoid2020 also provides a rigorous uncertainty value associated with the offset between the ellipsoid and AHD, varying as a function of location. In contrast, AUSGeoid09 only provides a constant uncertainty estimate.

The World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) is the nominal datum used by GPS. It is based on the WGS84 ellipsoid, which can generally be assumed identical to the GRS80. The WGS84 datum was introduced in 1987 and has since been refined several times to be closely aligned with the ITRF. For most purposes WGS84 and ITRF can be assumed identical, however, WGS84 is based on a much smaller number of reference stations and the level of agreement worsens as the time between realisation grows.

Earth-fixed datums An earth-fixed datum accounts for the Earth’s dynamics by allowing tectonic plates to move within it over time, i.e. it is 4-dimensional. It is fixed to the Earth but not its crust and therefore also known as a ‘dynamic datum’, however this is a term to be avoided because the datum is not dynamic but the Earth is! Consequently, the coordinates of a given ground mark are constantly changing. It is critical to attach a time stamp to each position given in an earth-fixed datum, so a position given at a reference epoch can be propagated to the current or any other epoch using station velocities. ITRF, ATRF and WGS84 are examples of earth-fixed datums.

ITRF The International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) is the most precise earthcentred, earth-fixed datum currently available – the global gold standard if you like. It was first introduced in 1988 and has since gone through 13 versions, including the current ITRF2014. The

From GDA2020 to ATRF It is anticipated that the transition from GDA94 to GDA2020 will be complete by 1 January 2020, i.e. the date ATRF is planned to be released. However, most states and territories are expected to move to GDA2020 before this date.

The Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping’s (ICSM’s) GDA Modernisation Implementation Working Group (GMIWG), which is overseeing the datum modernisation, has already released GDA94-GDA2020 and ITRF2014GDA2020 transformation parameters and the GDA2020 Interim Release Note. The soon-to-be-released GDA2020 Technical Manual will provide more detailed information, while the official release of AUSGeoid2020 is also imminent.

Conclusion Once adopted GDA2020 and ATRF will are expected to operate in tandem as a 'dual frame system' for the foreseeable future. The ongoing datum modernisation will provide a much improved Australian national datum that will ensure that Australia is well positioned into the future.

Dr Volker Janssen works at Spatial Services, a unit of the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation (DFSI), which operates CORSnet-NSW. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 33

feature

THE FUTURE OF

LOCATION EVA RODRIGUEZ & PHIL DELANEY

2026 Agenda - Creating the future through a spatial transformation

I

magine a future where autonomous vehicles sense their environment and map it in real time; a world with drone deliveries and wide-scale sensor networks to monitor environmental conditions; where machines communicate with each other and make intelligent decisions about the location of people and their needs; a place where the real world is seamlessly mixed with the virtual one. Automation continues to drive jobs into the service and knowledge economies, and moves us in directions we could have never imagined.

In this world, quality location data and location analytics drive real-time decisions for everyone, in every area. The value of ‘where’ is obvious and understood by the population. Data is a commodity and people and companies only worry about context and insights.

34 position August/September 2017

Imagine no more. This future is here – and much of today’s spatial industry is missing it.

The fast-moving environment in which we live demands timely actions to take advantage of the unique opportunities that the Australian spatial sector is facing. As such, the spatial sector has the chance to transform the way in which it does business, to grow itself by contributing to growth across the entire Australian economy. For this, it is key to know what kind of future the spatial community wants to create, and then map the steps that will help achieve it.

Planning for Change This is the underpinning motivation that is driving the creation of the 2026 Spatial Industry Transformation and Growth Agenda (2026 Agenda), a whole-of-sector initiative. The 2026 Agenda has created the opportunity for the sector to pivot, to take the knowledge and experience of years of dealing with location data, and to move this into a new, adaptive era where we succeed through the success of our users.

A roadmap and action plan to achieve this transformation was released in April at the Locate 17 conference, and can be accessed at www.2026agenda.com. The Hon Angus Taylor MP, Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation provided a foreword for the plan, which challenges the industry “to take this 2026 Agenda forward and become a leading example of innovation and leadership for the nation.”

This is not happening in isolation. In fact, the 2026A genda aligns with key developments at national level, such as the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA). The plan has strong linkages to the Australian Earth Observation Community Plan (2016) issued by the Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Group (AEOCCG), the Future Growth of the Spatial Industries Position Paper (October 2016) issued by the Spatial Industries Business the Association/Geospatial Information and Technologies Association (SIBA|GITA) and the Australian and New Zealand Land

To download the full version of the 2026 Agenda, and to access supporting documentation, please visit: www.2026agenda.com.

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failing to fully communicate the value of location information, and we talk to ourselves too much.

Understanding the problems is the first step to creating change. To map out this process, the 2026 Agenda team led a series of co-designed workshops in every capital city, involving both participants from the spatial sector, and key current and future end-user industry sectors.

This process, in addition to online consultation, involved over 500 people and generated more than 100 ideas, steps and initiatives to drive transformation.

Information Council (ANZLIC) Strategic Plan 2016-2019. The 2026 Agenda process and activities have been coordinated by a working group jointly chaired by representatives of SIBA|GITA and the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI), and including representatives of ANZLIC, the AEOCCG, Data61 (CSIRO), Landgate, Geoscience Australia, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Creating the Agenda The 2026 Agenda process started in mid2016 with detailed, one-on-one interviews with leading thinkers across the spatial industry. The first finding of this process was that 95% of those interviewed did not feel that the industry was achieving its growth potential, or that growth was being captured by others.

Why is this the case? The consultation findings indicated three main culprits: our business models have not evolved with technological advances, we are

The Action Plan The result is the ‘2026 Agenda: Action Plan’, issued for comment at the end of 2016, and recently released (April 2017). Collectively created by business, government, academia and spatialuser organisations, the action plan is underpinned by 34 coordinated transformational initiatives, delivered through a rolling 10-year roadmap.

An underlying theme of the plan is that the success of the spatial industry is linked to the ability to drive success in key growth sectors of the economy, such as transport, agriculture, smart cities and health. The plan has 6 key pillars of transformation: 1. Public Infrastructure and Analytics: accelerate the nation-wide access to location-related data and analytical tools that are easy to use, and facilitate the implementation of new ideas and growth in the private sector.

2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: foster spatial innovation and entrepreneurial skills, capitalising on technological advances to evolve

business models and open new markets and opportunities.

Outreach: clearly communicating the value and contribution that location intelligence and related services bring to the economy and to Australian society.

Research and Development: coordinate location-related R&D in Australia to collaboratively solve problems of national interest.

Education, Training and Capacity Building: introduce location-related training and education at all levels of education, nation-wide and including regional communities, to develop a well prepared and diverse workforce.

Representation: consolidate the voice of the spatial industry, and provide effective leadership and advocacy for the sector.

Progress is already underway on some of the initiatives, such as the Satellite Based Augmentation System – furthering the National Positioning Infrastructure; the Geoscience Data Cube undertaking end user engagement and testing; and the Australian Livestock Spatial Innovation Program unlocking new markets for the industry as a whole. However, there is much more work to be done. The 2026 Agenda team will be publishing the 2026 Agenda implementation plan over the coming months, for which input from all interested parties is welcomed.

The spatial sector has the right skills, attitudes and people to take this transformational step. The 2026 Agenda provides the framework and common direction to make this transformation a reality: a light on the hill towards which we can aim our efforts.

The question is: what would you like to do to contribute to creating this future?

Join the Transformation The 2026 Agenda team is seeking enthusiastic, forward thinking individuals and organisations to take up this challenge and become part of transforming the future of spatial in Australia. If you would like to be part, please register your interest at info@2026agenda.com.

Eva Rodriguez and Phil Delaney are employees of CRCSI. Rodriguez is project manager of the 2026 Agenda and the Australian Livestock Spatial Innovation Program. Delaney is program manager for the built environment. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 35

new products High accuracy GNSS for field data collection After months of anticipation, Trimble Catalyst — a high-accuracy, on-demand positioning-as-a-service for Android devices — is now available worldwide.

Trimble Catalyst transforms consumer devices into centimeter-accurate mobile geo-data collection systems by connecting a small antenna to android mobile devices via a USB cable. Catalyst aims to open up professional-grade positioning by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for a broader base of users, and a wider possibility of applications, including surveying and field data collection.

Catlyst is designed for use with alongside its ondemand software subscription service that applies RTK corrections through networks such as Trimble's VRS Now in Australia and New Zealand.

Trimble has also introduced a new easy-to-use Android application called Trimble Penmap, which is designed for field surveying and data collection used in conjunction with Catalyst.

GDA2020-supported surveying software The latest release of surveying and engineering software LISCAD is now available, version 12.2. One of the key new features is support for Australia’s new datum GDA2020.

Both LISCAD and sister product Neo allows users work in the geodetically to perform transformations between various datums, including Australia's newest datum.

The extended features of LISCAD v12.2 include rigorous geodetic computations, unlimited model size, least squares adjustment, 2D/3D transformations, volumes, background images, 3D visualisation, point cloud processing, profiles, impressive design capability and real time total station/GNSS surveying and setout.

36 position Month/Month 2017

RPAS flight mode for modelling structures 3DR has created a solution for capturing data of the sides of structures, making the resulting point clouds detailed enough for modelling and as-builts. Perimeter scan is 3DR’s new flight mode specifically programmed to capture façades and vertical structures, making it easy to collect better data in the field and model projects from start to finish.

Users simply select the area they want to cover, and Site Scan automatically generates a flight path. The RPAS flies autonomously at three different altitudes and a number of gimbal angles, collecting rich, detailed data.

This helps to create point clouds and meshes that accurately depict taller structures and multi-story buildings. It can also be used to collect volume data on stockpiles, do better inspection surveys for dams and power lines, and capture existing conditions for design.

Reality modelling becomes easier to use and access Users of the ContextCapture photo reality modelling software platform will now be able to integrate their datasets with advanced drafting and engineering capabilities.

Bentley Systems have released ContextCapture Editor, a module that enables users to leverage reality meshes, terrain models, and point clouds made of billions of points and triangles for information modelling workflows.

ContextCapture creates accurate 3D

models from any digital photographs, including support for the most sophisticated aerial camera systems, including RPAS acquisition systems.

ContextCapture now also features the ability to integrate data from laser scanners.

A new distribution agreement will see Position Partners deliver the ContextCapture reality modelling software solutions in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Light weight fixedwing mapping RPAS RPAS manufacturer Sentera has just released its enhanced, affordable Phoenix fixed-wing drone product line. Specific product variants are designed to suit the precision agriculture, mapping, and public safety industries.

By pairing cutting-edge technologies with manufacturing efficiencies, Sentera’s Phoenix is a cost-effective solution that is easy to fly, accepts a variety of payloads, and covers more acres in less time than competitive options. At only 1.8 kg with an oversized motor, the Phoenix is easily hand-launched. Phoenix covers large areas quickly, with up to an hour of flight time at 56 mph speeds and up to a 59 minute endurance.

The complete solution, including its payload, starts at US$10,990.

BVLOS-ready corridor mapping solution A new platform from senseFly, known as senseFly Corridor, combines hardware and software to vastly simplify RPAS mapping for linear infrastructure and sites. senseFly Corridor offers improved ground resolution, shorter image processing times and a corridor mapping ‘mission block’ to make linear mapping jobs easier.

Corridor mapping is a common task for many geospatial professionals and crucial for the effective planning, design

and analysis of linear infrastructure, as well as the monitoring of rivers and coastlines.

“With senseFly Corridor, commercial operators can easily plan an automated corridor mapping mission, containing one or numerous flights,” said Francois Gervaix, senseFly’s lead product manager for surveying. “This release is also future-friendly, as more operators gradually look towards gaining EVLOS and BVLOS permissions.”

Open-source deformation monitoring Geoscience Australia has released new open-source software, PyRate, for performing Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR).

InSAR is a highly accurate, noninvasive method of detecting changes in the height of the Earth’s surface using satellite remote sensing. Until now, InSAR has been used almost exclusively by researchers, but PyRate opens up the possibilities to commercial use.

Open-source GIS with connected data ecosystem Open source geospatial software vendor Boundless has entered strategic partnerships with Planet, Spatial Networks and Mapbox to create an integrated data ecosystem.

The partnership with Planet enables Boundless customers to access the massive library of high-quality Planet imagery and fast-loading imagery basemaps. Following its acquisition of Terra Bella, Planet now operates the

largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites.

The Spatial Networks integration offers software and data solutions to customers requiring authoritative defence and security applications. With the Mapbox integration, Boundless users can also access Mapbox’s high-quality basemaps and developer tools for creating visually appealling maps and charts.

Datasets from these providers are ready for acces within Boundless Connect. www.spatialsource.com.au 37

sssi

News and views from the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute

President’s report

T SSSI Board – 2017 President – Gaby van Wyk President-Elect – Zaffar Mohamed Ghouse 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 ACT Director – Vacant Hydrography Commission Director – Richard Cullen YP representative (Observer) – Richard Syme Company Secretary – Jonathan Saxon

38 position August/September 2017

he FIG Working Week (WW) 2017 was held at the Messukeskus Expo and Conference Centre in the suburb of Pasila, only four kilometres north of the city centre of Helsinki. From the various discussions and outcomes, it is clear that many of the issues we face here in Australia, other Survey and Spatial Science practitioners in other parts of the world are also facing. A number of new important initiatives were announced, offering some opportunity for Australians to get involved at a national and international level. SSSI invites practitioners within the industry who would like to engage in these kinds of activities to get in touch on president@ sssi.org.au or chair.nt@sssi.org.au. The report below, prepared by Robert Sarib provides an overview of the Working Week. Please follow the links for details, abstracts, proposals and so on.

SSSI Report – FIG Working Week 2017 (Helsinki, Finland) The FIG WW was co-organised with the Finnish Association of Geodetic and Land Surveyors (MIL) and the Finnish Association of Surveyors (MAKLI). The primary difference between the two professional survey organisations was that members of MIL needed to hold a master’s degree in the field of surveying, land administration or a related disciplined. The combined membership of these associations is over 1,500.

The theme of the surveying conference was ‘Surveying the world of tomorrow – From digitalisation to augmented reality’.

The conference started on the 29 May and finished on the 2 June. The event attracted 412 technical papers, 57 technical sessions, 7 inspirational sessions (short, sharp and specific 5 minute presentations), 11 FIG sessions (forums for Member

Associations, Academic, Director Generals etc.), 8 Partner Sessions (World Bank, UN Habitat/GLTN, UN GGIM, UN FAO), and pre-event workshops on topics such as BIM, Young Surveyors, History, and Social Tenure Domain Model. The proceedings are available on this website: bit.ly/2tZi8jU. Overall there were almost 1,350 participants from 90 different countries.

The largest representation of surveyors came from Finland (393) followed by 185 from Nigeria. There were also 24 exhibitors showcasing the latest surveying and spatial products and services.

In summary, the themes that were resonating at this Working Week were: • Further advancements in 3D modelling for in engineering, construction and surveying • The use of location based mobile phone data for predictive modelling and behaviour • How to manage ‘geo-privacy’ and associated legal issues in both the developed and developing world • The concept of regional bodies addressing regional issues • The importance and role of geospatial information in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals • The impact of new digital and disruptive technologies on the spatial world • Organisations need to be agile and not only have the mindset to change but perform change • Preparing spatial infrastructure for a ‘dynamic’ spatial and autonomous environment • The importance and role of standards in a rapidly changing world • Ongoing liaisons with the UN agencies and sister associations on global/ regional initiatives • ‘Fit for purpose’ approach becoming more prevalent.

SSSI sustaining partners

General Assembly Like previous FIG WWs, there were two General Assemblies (GAs), and as the nominated Australian representative both were attended. GAs are held at FIG WWs and Congresses, and is the main forum for FIG members to discuss, debate and approve policies that administer FIG. GAs are also the mechanism to elect and appoint (or endorse) the FIG Council (President and Vice Presidents), and Chairs for Commissions, Networks and Task Forces; and to review their associated activities.

The significant General assembly agenda items and their outcomes were: • At the first GA there were 63 Member Associations present whereas the second GA attracted 69 member associations. This is not uncommon as the second GA normally requires decisions to be made through the process of voting. Note: SSSI has 2 votes at the GA as we are a medium to large organisation.

• Presently there are 107 Member Associations from 92 countries and 46 Affiliate Members from 45 countries.

Note Affiliate Members do not have voting rights.

• The NSW TAFE – Riverina Institute was admitted as a new FIG Academic Member.

• There are now 95 Academic Members from 53 countries and also 27 Corporate Members.

• The GA appointed Prof. Yerach Doytsher and Dr Daniel Steudler as Honorary Members of FIG; and Paul Munro-Faure as Honorary Ambassador.

• It was agreed by the GA that FIG would delay the creating a new FIG scientific journal and instead work with existing journals facilitated by sister organisations.

• It was agreed by the GA that a new Task Force is to be establish to review the governance and present workings of FIG. SSSI will be part of a team to create the terms of reference for the new Task Force.

• It was noted by the GA that the FIG and World Bank have entered into a MoU regarding joint research and conferences.

• It was acknowledged by the GA that the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN GGIM) has created two new networks - the Academic Network and Private Sector Network.

• It was noted by the GA that FIG have representation at the International Ethics Standard Coalition (this is an alliance to create a universal set of

•

• • •

ethics principles for real estate and related professions); the International Construction Measurement Standard Coalition and that a “new standard” for cost management of construction projects globally will soon be released; the International Land Measurement Standards coalition; and the International Property Measurement Standards.

The GA agreed to raise the per capita fees for 2019 from €4.48 to €4.80 per member; and for Member Associations who are listed as lower-middle-income economies the per capita fees changed from €2.24 to €2.40 per member.

The GA agreed that Accra, Ghana will be the location for the 2021 FIG WW. The next FIG Congress is Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.

The next FIG WWs are 2019 Hanoi, Vietnam and then 2020 Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Relevant Member Association Meetings SSSI were invited to participate in the several meetings during the course of the FIG Working Week. To date, formal minutes of these meetings have not been produced nor circulated, so the detail in this section are observations from each meeting and are subject to the official release of minutes. When minutes become available, we will circulate these to the wider spatial community.

The scope of the workshop ‘Developing Professional Networks and Mutual Recognition Agreements around the Globe’ was to source up to date information on the institutional status of existing and emerging mutual recognition procedures and agreements from various countries; and to also share experiences, and challenges associated with this topic.

As a result of attending this meeting, the following thoughts and opinions were formed and SSSI invite further discussion around these matters for inclusion in an international discussion: • FIG need to hold more forums of this nature and workshop main themes so as to update the FIG publication on Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications.

• Is the underlying purpose of this forum to assist surveyors with the process to working in another country; exchange skills; a mechanism to fill gaps in skills/ the workforce?

• Is the IHO international model re: maintenance of competency/ qualifications/continuing professional development (CPD) an example that needs to be considered?

Commission Chairs Engineering & Mine Surveying A/g Chair Vacant 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 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

www.spatialsource.com.au 39

sssi

•

• •

•

• If this group is attempting to create a framework for reciprocity of qualifications and assessment of qualifications, then CPD must be also included.

• Compliance with local statutory requirements must also be considered.

• What are the other “capabilities” required to enable a surveyor to perform or practice surveying or a profession in another country?

• Consider creating a look up matrix of information and details of persons to contact in each country/profession.

• This should NOT just be about land surveyors.

• Review and align the Australian assessment process for international qualifications for international reciprocation.

FIG Member Association Forum The advertised purpose of this meeting was to provide leaders of the profession the opportunity for peer to peer engagement to exchange share and discuss current and in-country challenges and opportunities facing the profession. Unfortunately the discussion did not address this topic but instead the conversation focused on integrated land information systems with particular emphasis on digital lodgement, e-land development and title issue. The forum was facilitated by Mr Paavo Haikio – President of MIL, Finland.

FIG Presidents Meeting As per previous Working Weeks this meeting was convened by FIG President Dr Chryssy Potsiou and was an opportunity for Presidents or Heads of delegation of Member Associations to express their

40 position August/September 2017

views or concerns about the survey profession. Many countries noted issues such as the difficulties of maintaining relevance to their memberships, ageing workforce and issues in responding to rapidly changing environments.

Other FIG Meetings This group of meetings relate to activities associated with the FIG Asia Pacific Capacity Development Network (AP CDN) and as Chair of this network participation was necessary.

UN GGRF – Education Training and Capacity Building This meeting was by invitation only and was convened by the UN Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF), who are a committee under the UN GGIM. The main purpose of this meeting was to review the draft implementation plan to build the capacity of developing nations in the discipline of geodesy. The main points to note from this meeting are: • The proposed/draft work plan although structured and aspirational, it appeared to be rather ambitious, the timeframes unrealistic, and a very ‘academic’ approach. Consequently, the plan should consider other areas of capacity development/challenges that need to be addressed rather just the science!

• The document could be used as a starting point or template for regions.

• The role of this group needs to be clearly defined. For example is it a steering group for other regional UN bodies involved with capacity building?

• There needs to be more discussion/ engagement with the regions (countries) to understand what their needs are, how they can be linked to the ‘drivers’ in each region, why the

GGRF needs to be implemented in their country, how it will help, etc.

The following needs to be discovered what existing organisations/work groups/ committees have the same agenda? How can we collaborate/co-operate?

Funding is important and inevitable.

This needs to be raised in the document.

Capacity building programs need to be sustainable in each region.

For example the holding meetings/ workshop model is one mechanism but this is NOT sustainable and depends on ‘champions’ driving the agenda. Ultimately, countries need to drive the agenda with a common regional focus/objective.

It was believed that the regional geodesy groups should have a coordinating role with respect to capacity building/development.

Regions should assist with the funding issue and they should also encourage neighbouring (more developed) regional countries to provide assistance and lead from behind - that is ‘steer rather than row’ to build a selfsufficiency/self-reliance.

Asia Pacific FIG Regional Network There were about 25 participants involved in this breakfast meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to discover and share information on FIG activities that are occurring in Asia and the Pacific region, and how we can collaborate to achieve our work plan objectives. At the meeting participants were encouraged to voice their opinions on the capacity development challenges being faced by our industry and how FIG can assist to address these challenges. An overview of the discussions is listed below: • Organisations require specialist technical geospatial/surveying skills; in particular geodesy and hydrography.

• Some regions experiencing difficulty in attracting young surveyors into the geospatial/geodetic infrastructure field/discipline.

• Can Academic Institutions/Universities consider offering the requiring courses for ‘specialist surveying’?

• Are we delivering the right messages to the decision makers? Is it about knowledge sharing; lack of skilled staff; training gaps; more connections to professional organisations for opportunities; not reaching the critical mass before it is too late?

• Hydrography – no Academic institutes appear to be offering this specialised discipline!

• Need more opportunities for mentoring,

SSSI sustaining partners

•

• • • • •

•

networking via Academic Institutes, and within professional organisations.

Academic Institute matching – established institutions partnering/ aligning with emerging/developing country academia?

Land Surveyors age profile is ‘50 plus’ – No succession planning.

Legislative problems (lack of structure/framework).

Lack of government funding/resourcing for geospatial activities.

Similar problems/challenges being experience everywhere!

Some nations only have Diploma levels in surveying so can other Academic Institutions provide assistance/a pathway to allow students to progress to a Degree level ?– How to do this? Providing access to other academic networks; collaboration and connectivity is the key.

Some countries just want more

specialised workshops. They know the theory but want implementation assistance - operational GNSS CORS training; reference frame derivation etc.

• What are other ways of learning/ building capacity besides workshops?

– Need a more sustainable model.

How can the information from these seminars be used again and again?

Updated?

• Surveying becoming a diluted voice!

Need to be unified.

• To build a framework/pathway and avoid duplication of efforts there needs to be more collaboration and communication within FIG Commissions and Networks; including UN agencies such as GGIM, GGRF Geodesy Education, training and Capacity Development SubCommittee, Academic Networks, Private Sector Network.

Actions for FIG Asia Pacific Capacity

Development Network: • Create a skills/knowledge/contact details matrix for professional and education networks.

• Circulate a summary of challenges from meeting and power point presentation.

• Delegates are encourage to review the documents/meetings at http://ggim. un.org/ggim_committee.html. Here you will find useful information about why global geospatial information is necessary.

• Update CORE membership list on website.

• Engage more with like-minded groups within FIG and UN. This FIG report was prepared by Robert Sarib, the present FIG Chair of the Asia Pacific Capacity Development Network.

Gaby van Wyk SSSI President

Recent activities of the Spatial Information and Cartography Commission

I

n this edition I would like to commemorate the International Map Year that just finished and was celebrated over the last 18 months in around 40 countries by arranging National Map Days and/ or holding other memorable events.

Due to the overwhelming response the International Cartographic Association (ICA) is now determining if the Map Year concept could be continued by creating an Annual Map day, which could be in April or May. The intent will be announced at the 2017 International Cartographic Conference (ICC) in July in Washington and then declared at the ICA General Assembly at the 2019 ICC in Tokyo. I would hereby like to say thank you and well done for the all your effort.

In this spirit I would like to remember that some early maps are thousands of years old like the cave paintings that were found in the Lascaux Caves in France (see figure). They represent an artistic representation of the Taurus (the Pleiades and Hyades shown around an Auroch) star constellation. It wasn’t possible to directly represent the stars by copying them, so it was either done

from memory or through some portable means. This could explain how the artwork might not match the stars precisely. For more information please see www.timothystephany.com/ stone.html.

The Aboriginal Song lines, also called dreaming tracks, are a way to navigate along vast distances which range from a few kilometres to a few hundred kilometres across Australia by repeating the words of the song, which describe the location of landmarks, waterholes, and other natural phenomena by singing the songs in the appropriate sequence.

Australia is derived of an extensive system of song lines which ranges from a few kilometres to hundreds of kilometres and pass through lands of many different indigenous peoples who

speak different languages and have different cultural traditions.

If you are as passionate about maps and 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.

In the moment we are reinvigorating the GISP-AP Certification Panel.

Watch this space for an update in the next edition.

Happy Map Day Hanno Klahn Spatial Information and Cartography Commission Chair

Trois-Freres cave painting compared to a modern star chart. The Taurus, Pleaides and Orion constellations are all depicted. The artwork dates back to 13,000 BC.

www.spatialsource.com.au 41

sssi Hydrography Commission – Continuing the Movement

T

he Commission held a World Hydrography Day seminar in Darwin on 21 June to showcase the profession to fellow geospatial professionals. It was identified back in 2016, that there are very few SSSI members in the NT and in particular no Hydrography Commission members. It was thus decided to provide this CPD activity to not only our membership but also anyone who had interest in learning more. Thanks to John Maschke, Rob Sarib, Craig Sandy, Alex Bakunowicz and Imogen Craig, the activity was a great success with a total of 42 attendees. The event sponsors included Fugro, CR Kennedy, Seismic Asia Pacific, Darwin Port and Precision Hydrographic Services (PHS).

Hydrography certification At the World Hydrography Day event, there was a question raised about Level 2 and how most organisations were only seeking Level 1. Level 2 is a pathway to Level 1. All Level 1s must demonstrate Level 2 competence in order to be Level 1. Whether you choose to wait until you have the time and experience to apply for Level 1 straight off is up to you, however wouldn’t it be great to demonstrate to your employer or to your employer’s clients that you are progressing your professional development and using peer review to assist in this?

It is recommended that Level 2 be your foundation to growing into that Level 1 position. An advantage may be that you are a step above your un-certified colleagues and that may just line you up for that promotion or next job. Another may be that you would have completed some of the more difficult aspects in compiling your experience log so the next Level application will not be so intense to track back through. You would have feedback from the Certification Panel as to your next pathway based on how you are currently tracking. This is possibly the critical part of engaging your certification at Level 2 early.

There is an overuse of Level 1s being required to push buttons in the field. This is not maximising the skill base of the profession. Level 1s supervising Level 2s is the correct hierarchy. This provides oversight of key stages in survey such as

42 position August/September 2017

mobilisation, higher level quality control of the Level 2s work, mentoring and on the job training. The role of a Level 1 should be one of project management and holistic survey wisdom.

By standing back a little from the full daily Level 2 operations, a Level 1 will provide clarity to the survey activity by casting an experienced eye over processes.

A little distance helps to analyse products and document statements during the review with a healthy bit of scepticism thus enabling correction and direction.

Level 1’s are your high-level trouble shooters, delegators, document approvers and the ‘check and balance’.

There an important place in our industry for Level 2 hydrographic surveyors and one should take that as the first foundation step. There is also a need to rebalance the use of Level 1s.

Education Gap Analysis Simon Ironside has been working on a Committee action item to conduct a series of gap analysis of surveying degrees in New Zealand and Australia against the IHO S-5A Hydrographic Surveying syllabus. The intent is to identify what S-5A modules would be required for a graduate of an institution in order for them to top-up their formal training and achieve certification in the future.

The analysis will also allow Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) identify where they may wish to provide those short modules. It may even highlight to Universities that they could partner with industry or small RTOs to top-up their degree course, and having done that, perhaps even provide the degree as a BSc Hydrographic Surveying or Hydrography.

International Activities SSSI plays a significant role within a number of prestigious international bodies, including the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). A number of SSSI members hold senior positions within the FIG Commissions and the SSSI Hydrography Commission is active within FIG Commission 4 (Hydrography). SSSI members currently comprise Working Group 4.1 – Standards and Guidelines for Hydrography as shown in the table below.

Working Group 4.1 has committed itself to a number of specific outcomes, including the following: • Broaden the membership of Working Group 4.1 to ensure its legitimacy as an active international professional body.

• Support the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) through the work of its Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) by participating in HSSC working groups to review hydrographic standards and guidelines, primarily: S-44 – IHO Standards for Hydrographic Surveys (the most recent version is the 5th Edition, February 2008), and S-100 - IHO Universal Hydrographic Data Model (January 2010).

• Support FIG members on the FIG/IHO/ ICA International Board of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC) in reviewing and updating competency standards, namely: S-5A – Standards of Competence for Category ‘A’ Hydrographic Surveyors (August 2016), and S-5B – Standards of Competence for Category ‘B’ Hydrographic Surveyors (February 2015).

• Represent Commission 4 on the FIG Standards Network and other international forums where appropriate.

• Support the work of other FIG Commissions and Working Groups, and participate in Commission 4 events where possible.

Are you willing to help your industry?

In line with our objectives Working Group 4.1 is looking for additional members to assist with the work we are currently undertaking.

If you have the expertise, the time and would like to assist we would love to hear from you.

Please contact the group's chair, Simon Ironside, at lsi@eliotsinclair.co.nz for further information.

Richard Cullen Chair SSSI Hydrography Commission National Committee

Simon Ironside – Chair

New Zealand (Overseas Member)

Michael Beard - Vice Chair

Queensland Region

Mathieu Bestille

South Australia Region

Peter Barr

New South Wales Region

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