A
C
S
M
Bulletin
Promoting Advancement in Surveying and Mapping
No. 246
science
Protecting coastal areas Next generation crisis mapping
plus:
Draft 2011 ALTA / ACSM Standards adopted The Savvy Surveyor Putting ArcGIS 10 to work
0905
0833
0834
The shortest distance between two points is not a trip back to the tripod.
TRIMBLE S8 TOTAL STATION “Back and forth.” Easily two of the most hated words for any surveyor. Except perhaps, “again”. Trimble® VISION™ technology brings new levels of productivity to the Trimble S8 Total Station by dramtically reducing trips back to the tripod. Now you can see everything the instrument sees from your controller. Why walk back? With the longer range EDM you can stay put and use your controller to aim, acquire, and capture measurements to reflectorless surfaces – at more than twice the distance you’re used to. The Trimble S8 also gives you live video streaming with surveyed data on the screen to confirm your task list. With photo documentation, you have visual verification for all data before leaving the site. Eliminating an even costlier form of back and forth. Trimble VISION is the latest in a long line of innovations designed to make surveying more productive, in the field, in the office, and wherever the next opportunity takes you. NOVEMBER 8-10, 2010
www.trimble.com/trimbles8 © 2010, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. Trimble and the Globe & Triangle logo is a trademark of Trimble Navigation Limited, registered in the United States and in other countries. Trimble Access is a trademark of Trimble Navigation Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SUR-183
www.trimbledimensions.com
0835
a a g s , c a g i s , g l i s , n s p s S ERVE TO PROMOTE THE INTERESTS OF GEODESISTS, CARTOGRAPHERS, GIS EXPERTS & SURVEYORS
ACSM Bulletin ISSN 0747-9417 Editor Ilse Genovese Publisher Curtis W. Sumner ACSM BULLETIN
The official professional magazine of AAGS, CaGIS, GLIS, and NSPS
American Association for Geodetic Surveying (AAGS): Barbara S. Littell (president), Curtis L. Smith (president-elect), Michael L. Dennis (vice president), Ronnie Taylor (immediate past president), Daniel J. Martin (treasurer). Directors: Edward E. Carlson, Karen Meckel [www.aagsmo.org, 240.632.8943] Cartography and Geographic Information
Society (CaGIS): Scott Freundschuh (president), Kari J. Craun [president-elect], Terri Slocum (vice president), Alan Mikuni (immediate past president), Kirk Eby (treasurer). Directors: Gregory Allord, Jean McKendry, Robert M. Edsall, Michael P. Finn, R. Maxwell Baber, Sarah Battersby, Charley Frye
[www.cartogis.org, 240.632.9522]
Geographic and Land Information Society (GLIS): J. Peter Borbas (president), Coleen M. Johnson (vice president), Robert L. Young (immediate past president), Stacey Duane Lyle (treasurer), William M. (Bill) Coleman (secretary). Directors: David R. Doyle, Bruce Hedquist, Francis W. Derby, Joshua Greenfeld [www.glismo.org, 240.632.9700] National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS): A. Wayne Harrison (president), William R. Coleman (president-elect), Robert Dahn (vice president), John R. Fenn (secretary/treasurer), John D. Matonich (immediate past president), Patrick A. Smith (chairman, Board of Governors), J. Anthony Cavell (secretary, Board of Governors). Directors: Stephen Gould (Area 1); Lewis H. Conley (Area 2); Joe H. Baird (Area 3); Wayne A. Hebert (Area 4); Jan S. Fokens (Area 5); Larry Graham (Area 6); Jeffrey B. Jones (Area 7); Henry Kuehlem (Area 8); Carl R. CdeBaca (Area 9); Timothy A. Kent (Area 10) [www.nspsmo.org, 240.632.8950] ACSM Congress: Jerry Goodson (chair, NSPS). AAGS delegates: Daniel J. Martin (chair-elect), Steve Briggs; Wes Parks (alternate). CAGIS delegates: Doug Vandegraft, Alan Mikuni; Aileen Buckley (alternate). GLIS delegates: Robert Young, J. Peter Borbas; William Coleman (alternate). NSPS delegates: John Matonich (treasurer), Rich Barr; John Fenn (alternate). John Swan (NSPS Foundation representative, associate member); Patrick Kalen (Council of Sections Representative, associate member), John Hohol (Sustaining Member Council representative), Curtis W. Sumner (secretary, ACSM Executive Director) Editor Ilse Genovese 6 Montgomery Village Avenue, Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. Ph: 240.632.9716, ext. 109. Fax: 240.632.1321. E-mail: <ilse.genovese@acsm.net>. URL: www.webmazine.org
© 2008 American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. The magazine assumes no liability for any statements made or opinions expressed in articles, advertisements, or other portions of this publication. The appearance of advertising in the ACSM Bulletin does not imply endorsement or warranty by the ACSM Congress of advertisers or their products.
t h e a c s m b u l letin is an official publication of
A AGS
American Association for Geodetic Surveying
C Agi s
Cartography and Geographic Information Society
GL I S
Geographic and Land Information Society
NSPS
National Society of Professional S urveyors
N S P S F o u n d a t i o n,
Inc
NSPS Foundation, Inc
ACSM Sustaining Members Autodesk, Inc. ♦ Berntsen International Blueline Geo ♦ Earl Dudley Associates ♦ ESRI First American Data Tree ♦ Hugo Reed & Associates Leica Geosystems ♦ LIS Survey Technologies C orporation Magellan ♦ NOAA , National Geodetic Survey Professional Publications, Inc ♦ Reed Busin ess – GEO Roadway ♦ Robert Bosch Tool C orporation Schonstedt Instrument Co ♦ SECO Manufacturing Sidney B. Bowne, LLP ♦ Sokkia Corporation Surv-Kap, Inc ♦ Topcon Positioning Systems Trimble Navigation USDI Bureau of Land Management/Cadastral Survey U SDI Fish & Wildli fe Service U SDI Minerals Management Service Victor O. Schinnerer & Company
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN
A C S M
Bulletin
Among our contributors l a n d o n
the publisher: The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) and its
b l a k e
(Levee networks in low-lying coastal areas, p. 10) is Project Surveyor, KSN, Inc., Stockton, California. <lblake@ksninc. com> gary k. kent (Draft 2011 ALTA/ACSM Survey Standards adopted, p. 29), The Schneider Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana. <gkent@schneidercorp.com> melinda peacock
(Putting ArcGIS desktop to work, p. 21) is a GIS cartographer and cadastral mapper currently pursuing surveying studies. <aippeacock@yahoo.com> r. w. g l a s s e y (The Savvy Surveyor, p. 25) owns PLS Inc in Issaquah, Washington.<lancer.bear@ gmail.com>
g e r r y
c u r t i s
(review of Understanding the Cultural Landscape, p. 31), is president of Gerry Curtis Associates, Inc., Ft. Worth, Texas. <gerry.gcasurveyors@ att.net> r o b e r t
w w w. w e b m a z i n e . o r g
d e n a r o
(Map-enabled technologies bolster green driving efforts, p. 23 ), is vice president of ADAS, NAVTEQ
gunther greuchlich
(Re: The Evolution of a National Voice, p. 32 ), is ACSM Fellow, former ACSM president, and owner of Gunther Engineering of Boston, Mass. <gunther1928@gmail.com>
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
member organizations—AAGS, CaGIS, GLIS, NSPS, and NSPS Foundation, Inc.; Sustaining Members; and Associate Councils. editorial policy: The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping publishes the ACSM Bulletin to provide current scientific, technical and management information in the fields of surveying, cartography, geodesy, GIS, and photogrammetry, and to communicate news on developments in the geospatial data industry of interest to the member organizations of ACSM. ACSM is not responsible for any statements made or opinions expressed in articles, advertisements, or other portions of this publication. The appearance of advertising in the ACSM Bulletin does not imply endorsement or warranty by ACSM of advertisers or their products. Submit articles, press releases, and all other matter for consideration for publication to Ilse Genovese, Editor, ACSM Bulletin, 6 Montgomery Village Ave., Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. E-mail: <ilse.genovese@acsm.net>. Phone: 240/632-9716, ext. 109; Fax: 240/632-1321. restrictions and permissions: Articles to which ACSM does not own rights are so identified at the end of the article. Permission to photocopy for internal or personal use may be obtained by libraries and other users who register with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) by paying $2.50 per copy per article directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923. [Fee Code: 07479417/97 $2.50. © 2010 American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.] This consent does not extend to copying for general distribution, advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, or resale. Other requests to photocopy or otherwise reproduce material in this magazine should be addressed to the Editor, ACSM, 6 Montgomery Village Avenue, Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. Phone: 240/ 632-9716, ext. 109. Fax: 240/ 632-1321. circulation and copyright: ACSM Bulletin (ISSN 0747-9417) is published
bimonthly—February, April, June, August, October, and December—by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), 6 Montgomery Village Avenue, Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. Copyright 2010 American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Periodicals postage paid at Gaithersburg, Md., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to ACSM Bulletin, Member Services Department, 6 Montgomery Village Avenue, Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. membership inquiries/change of address: Membership Coordinator, 6, Montgomery Village Ave., Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. Ph: 240.632.9716 ext. 105. Fax: 240.632.1321. E-mail: <trisha.milburn@acsm.net>. URL: www.acsm. net/membership.html subscriptions: The 2010 subscription rate for the printed publication is $100 (U.S. addresses) or $115 (foreign addresses). Subscription rates for the online version are—online only: $100 (U.S. and International); online and print: $126 (U.S.) or $140 (International). Single copies are sold to non-members at $8 per copy, plus handling and postage. Membership dues include an annual subscription to the ACSM Bulletin ($40), which is part of membership benefits and cannot be deducted from annual dues. Single copies are sold to members (U.S. and foreign) at $6 per copy, plus handling and postage. Subscriptions handled by
The Sheridan Press Subscriber Services: Ph. 717.632.3535 ext. 8188; Fax: 717.633.8920; E-mail: <mbaile@tsp.sheridan.com>. advertising:
Current advertising rates displayed at http://www.webmazine.org. Inquiries: John D. Hohol, 608.358.6511. E-mail: <jhohol@gmail.com>. printed by: The Sheridan Press, 450 Fame Av., Hannover, PA 17331. cover design by: Phil Wolfe Graphic Design, Hanover, Pennsylvania.
A C S M
Bulletin august 2010 no. 246
www.webmazine.org
Levees in Low-lying Coastal Areas
Next Generation Crisis Mapping
10 A land surveyor’s perspective — By Landon Blake
17
Ushahidi Haiti and Chile — By Sophia B. Liu, Anahi Ayala Iacucci, and Patrick Meier
Green Driving 23 Bolstered by map-enabled techniques — By Robert Denarao
Surveying and Mapping in 3D 39 On point cloud technology and laser scanning — By Tony Rogers
Calm Before a Storm of Energy 42 Of sun activity and weather — By Stuart Clark
official magazine of the american congress on surveying and mapping
A C S M
Bulletin de pa rt m e n t s www.webmazine.org
GISworld
Putting ArcGIS 10 desktop to work 21 NextMap USA 30 Chesapeake Bay restoration tracked 41
Comments Page
Re: The Evolution of a National Voice, ACSM Bulletin no. 244, April 2010 32
Columns
The Savvy Surveyor 2 Ask Dr. Map! On the slippery slope 27 ALTA standards: 2011 draft adopted 29 What can COFPAES do for you? 3 Ask Vic! Project responsibilities in client-drafted contracts 37
Opinion
Scientists should start listening 4
Book Reviews
Understanding the Cultural Landscape 31
Duel at Dawn: Heroes, Martyrs and the Rise of Modern Mathematics 36
on the cover
Front Cover: Lake Crescent, photographed from Storm King in Olympic National Park (bottom of page). Photo of Lake Crescent and Olympic Mountains taken from Spruce Railroad Trail in Olympic National Park. Back cover: Mount Baker and Dungeness Valley. Photo taken from “Township Line Road” area. Township Line Road runs between Township 29 North and Township 30 North, Range West, W.M. [All photos @James Wengler, PLS, CFedS]
1006_
GR-3 The professional GNSS receiver.
Unmatched performance & versatility. From the time it was introduced three years ago, no other receiver has matched the GR-3. Only surveyors can appreciate its full range of features and productivity they create.
-Premium GNSS options—all satellites, all signals -Rugged design to take a 2 meter drop -Triple operation—base, RTK rover, or network rover -Triple communications—cellular, UHF radio, spread spectrum -Hot swappable batteries for continuous use -SIM card slot -Bluetooth
Powerful features for every job. Priced for every surveyor.
It’s time. topconpositioning.com/gr3
It’s time.
1006_ACSM_GR-3.indd 1
5/11/10 10:26:51 AM
A C S M
Bulletin
w w w. w e b m a z i n e . o r g
In Point of Fact — —The National Geographic Society awarded in July Alexander Graham Bell Medals to two visionary geographers and GIS pioneers—Dr. Roger Tomlinson, known as “the father of GIS,” and Jack Dangermond, a trailblazer in spatial analysis methods. The Alexander Graham Bell Medal, named for the inventor and the second president of the National Geographic Society, is awarded for extraordinary achievement in geographic research. Bell’s great-grandson, NGS chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor, presented the medals to Tomlinson and Dangermond. —Be a “Thought Leader” and tell your story at The Esri - ACSM Survey Summit, July 7-12, 2011. Submit an abstract of your presentation by December 6, 2010 to have a major role in creating an invaluable Survey Summit experience for the attendees. For more information, go to: http://www.thesurveysummit. com/get_involved/index.html. —Service providers must embrace cloud services and bundle them into their solutions for small as well as medium- and large-scale enterprises, according to the latest report from Analysys Mason (www.analysysmason), Enterprise cloud services: Worldwide forecast 2010-2015. The report found the global market for enterprise cloud-based services will grow from $12.1 billion in 2010 to $35.6 billion in 2015. —Trimble and Timmons Group to partner on a Wetland Delineation System expected to improve efficiency and accuracy of collecting data on vegetation, hydrology, and soils. The solution combines Trimble Mapping & GIS handheld computers with WetCollect™, a software for wetland delineation from Timmons Group. Historically, data on wetlands were collected through handwritten field notes which were manually entered into data forms on a desktop computer and printed for submission. With the new solution, delineators can perform this process digitally in the field, leaving pen and paper behind. The data collection and submission process are thus more efficient and more accurate.
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
—ACSM and ASPRS endorsed in August a slate of candidates for appointment to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). Both organizations strongly support the objective of NGAC regarding the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and its critical role in our Nation’s future development. Among the candidates endorsed by ACSM and ASPRS are individuals with a wide breadth of technical knowledge. Among those nominated was Anne Hale Miglarese, of Booz Allen Hamilton, who was re-appointed. The new appointments (listed in alphabetical order) are: Gary Florence, Susan Marlow (Smart Data Strategies), Patrick Olson (Aero-Metric), John Palatiello (MAPPS), Gary Thompson (North Carolina Geodetic Survey). —Four seamounts located southeast of the Marshall Island in the Pacific Ocean and named Randall Seamount Group honor the accomplishments of the Randall family in surveying and mapping for over 90 years, many spent on survey ships conducting hydrographic surveys. The geographic name Randall Seamount Group was recently approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, and the location of the seamounts was mapped by the Maritime Domain of the National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (NGA). Four members of the Randall family, one of whom played an important role in the creation of ACSM, are being honored. The patriarch, Robert H. Randall (1890-1966) launched a program for geodetic and topographic surveying and mapping and is credited with efforts to establish, within the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), a Commission on Geography. Robert Randall is also remembered as one of the first who championed a national body of surveyors and mappers—ACSM. — With prayers and the solemn tolling of bells, but also with second-line parades and the drumming of Mardi Gras Indians, New Orleanians took stock on August 29th of their rebuilt lives in the five years since the worst event in the Gulf region’s history, and promised each other: “We are not rebuilding the city that was; we are rebuilding the city that is to be.” —Bruce Nolan, The TimesPicayune
—from the editor The ACSM Bulletin is at a crossroads. Because of the negative impact of the economy on revenues, the final three 2010 editions, beginning with this one, will be provided online only. A “digital Bulletin” has been in the works for some time, as the archive of past issues at www.webmazine.org attests. This August issue is a step up; it’s a dynamic digital edition that you can read as you would a printed magazine. In fact, what you love about the ACSM Bulletin in print will now be delivered to you online—and more. The ACSM Bulletin came into existence in June 1941, when the newly organized National Congress on Surveying and Mapping issued a small “bulletin” reporting on the first meeting of the organization. This Report and three subsequent issues of the Bulletin appeared as Volume 1 in the Index to Surveying and Mapping for the years 19411960. The Bulletin of Surveying and Mapping continued as a quarterly publication until July 1944 when the name “Bulletin” was omitted from the cover and the issue was published as an issue of Surveying and Mapping. Almost two decades later, in November 1961, the ACSM Board of Direction authorized the publication of a “news Bulletin” between issues of Surveying and Mapping which would go on to evolve into an academic journal. The Bulletin grew in both content and popularity. So much so that in summer 1971, it was decided that the Bulletin would be produced as a magazine. The editor of the anniversary 37th issue of the newly minted Bulletin magazine was the late Earle J. Fennell, past president of ACSM and former ACSM executive director. His editorial expresses aspirations for ACSM and its publishing efforts which endure to this day. “Few are the opportunities for the principal officer of a company, an institution, or a professional society to address his associates directly in order to .... set forth the directions to be taken, which he believes important to those he represents. This statement is even more accurate when applied to an organization having broad national and international membership with related yet independently developing disciplines. Therefore, it is indeed an especially happy opportunity to be able to approach all of our membership from the forum of this first issue of the newly expanded Bulletin. .... Our new Bulletin will give the basis for a more comprehensive dialogue, a much fuller voice to those of you who wish to communicate your views and exchange professional information with your associates. It is expected too that the important programs of the technical divisions will be explored for all of us in each issue, for this Congress is designed to function in the areas of greatest potential benefit to you. You not only need to know but should actively want to know what developments are occurring in the primary areas of your interest. With your contribution, we feel confident that the Bulletin will become rapidly a most important extension of membership service and a further medium for dissemination of information on all levels of surveying and mapping.” The initial issues of the Bulletin magazine were sent to all ACSM members and subscribers, to all members of ACSM affiliates who were not ACSM members, and to department heads of universities and colleges who were active in, or related to, educational programs in surveying and mapping. In addition, it was made available to principal officials in federal, state, and other government agencies having interest in surveying and to principal officers of private organizations with similar interests. The reach of magazines such as ours has fallen through the decades for all the obvious reasons, but everything is relative. ACSM hopes to continue to engage members and subscribers through the ACSM Bulletin. So now begins a new era for the magazine. We are pressing on with our aspirations for a dynamic digital publication and hope that in 2011, we’ll be able to provide the option of a print edition as well. We have a mission to fulfill, and work to do. Ilse Genovese
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN
a land surveyor’s perspective
Levee networks in low-lying coastal areas —by Landon Blake
L
evee networks are an important part of flood control systems that protect real property parcels from damage by floods. Land surveyors play a critical role in creating and maintaining these levee networks. This article will help you understand what a levee is and how levees link to form levee networks. I will examine the impact of levee networks on land use and land planning in low lying coastal areas and explain how land surveyors working in low-lying coastal areas create and maintain levee networks. I will share with you information from my own experience working as a land surveyor in the California Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta. the delta The California Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta is a region of rich agricultural land located at the confluence of several California rivers of which the Sacramento River is the largest. The Delta receives water from about 40 percent of the land drained by the rivers, including snow melt from the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, and Coastal mountain ranges. Water from the Delta’s drainage area created the historic Tule swamps; these swamps and the silt carried down from higher elevation have formed deposits of rich peat soil. The river waters are influenced by the tides in the San Francisco Bay. In fact, most of the Delta is below sea level and would be flooded by the tides without the protection of an extensive levee network. The levee network in the Delta contains more than 1,000 miles of levees which protect more than 50 Delta islands and tracts.1 The Delta land mass, including the Delta levees, are slowly subsiding or sinking. This subsidence and other factors that weaken levees over time require that the Delta levees be regularly raised and strengthened. what is a levee? A levee is a berm or dam, usually constructed of earthen material, and built as a linear feature along a river, channel, or shoreline to hold back flood 1
A Delta island is surrounded by water on all sides, while a Delta tract typically has high ground on one or more of its sides.
10
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
waters. The typical levee has a water body on one side and dry land that it protects from flooding on the other side. In the Delta, the land being protected is lower than the water surface on the other side of the levee. This difference in elevation means that the risk of flooding in the Delta is high. Many levee networks include “dryland levees” constructed a short distance landward from the levees built at the water’s edge. These set back levees serve as backup levees and are often larger and more substantial than the levees between the water body and the land. In the Delta, they are often constructed along natural ridges or some other high ground. Most levees in the Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta follow a common cross-sectional pattern. The people who work with levees, including land surveyors, must be familiar
Aerial photograph of the Delta. The berm islands around the flooded Sherman Island are visible in the upper right corner. [Credit: Doc Searls http://www.flickr. com/photos/docsearls/3797363614/sizes/o/in/photostream/]
with the features that make up a levee cross-section. The levee cross-section begins at the waterside toe of the levee, usually found underneath the water surface of the adjacent water body. In the Delta, the waterside toe of a levee may be exposed at very low tides. As a result, hydrographic surveying techniques are usually required to locate the levee toe. The next feature is the riprap armor which is placed on the waterside slope (the portion of the levee between the waterside toe and the waterside hinge point) of the levee to protect against erosion. The riprap is usually a quarry stone 18” in diameter. The line formed against the waterside slope of the levee by the water surface of the adjacent water body is the edge of the water line. In the Delta, the location of this line
will fluctuate with the Bay tides and the level of water in the river channel between levees. The waterside hinge point is the next prominent feature of the levee cross-section, located above the edge of the water line. It marks the landward limit of the waterside slope of the levee and the start of the levee crown. It is also the landward limit of the riprap placed on the levee. A small splash berm may be placed at the waterside hinge point to protect against wave action (or “splashes”) during a flood event. Land surveying control points are typically located at or near the waterside hinge point during levee improvement projects. Levees are expanded landward, or inland, and the waterside hinge point is usually the only part of the levee crown that remains undisturbed during construction.
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 11
The Calaveras River and its levees in Stockton, California. The Calaveras River flows between the Smith Tract and Sargent Barhard Tract in Stockton. The crown of the levee running on the north side of Smith Tract.
The crown of the levee is at the levee’s top located between the waterside hinge point of the levee and its toe on land. The levee centerline (see opposite) controls the levee alignment for surveying and civil engineering purposes. Often, the crown serves as a road along which one can travel the length of the levee. The land-side hinge point is the landward side of the levee crown. It also marks the top of the land-side slope of the levee, while the land-side toe marks the bottom of the land-side slope. The levee abuts to the land being protected at the land-side toe. Some improved levees have a large earthen toe berm at the land-side toe to improve stability. In the Delta, a toe ditch near the levee’s land-side toe collects water seeping through the levee and runoff from irrigation or rain storms.
12
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
what is a levee network? A levee network is a system of levees providing flood control within a geographic region or watershed. Typically, a levee network will correspond to a particular hydrographic
system (a river system or shoreline of a water body). However, the size and scope of a levee network is a matter of perspective. It could be as small as a single levee around one tract or island or large enough to include all
levee surveying
the levees protecting the islands in the Delta. Levees within a levee network can be connected in several ways. A levee can connect to itself, forming a closed figure or loop. The levee on McDonald Island in the Delta is an example of a “self-connecting” levee. A levee may connect to a levee with a different size or cross-section. In the Delta, some levees terminate on high ground. An example of this type of a connection is the north Smith Tract levee in Stockton, California, which ends on high ground near the mouth of the Calaveras River. A levee can be bisected by a dryland levee: the levees on Robert’s Island, for instance, are bisected by the High Ridge Levee running underneath Inland Drive. A levee may terminate in another geographic feature, such as an elevated roadway or railroad bed. It may also be terminated by another flood control structure, such as a flood gate across a river channel. Levee networks play a critical role in the flood control systems of lowlying coastal areas. They are built to work together with other components of an area’s drainage system—dams, flood gates, water pumps—in responding to flood events.
Brian Leiser, Survey Party Chief, performs a topographic and boundary survey of a pump station operated by Reclamation District Number 1614 on Smith Tract, in Stockton.
Reclamation districts in the Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta
The Delta’s drainage system is designed to move ground water, rainfall, and agricultural runoff through the protected land parcels into a river or slough adjacent to a levee network. To keep the low-lying Delta islands and tracts dry, the initial configuration as well as rigorous maintenance of the network of levees surrounding the islands are extremely important. building and maintaining levees The health of a levee network is dependent upon the condition of the individual levee segments within the network, which, in turn, depends on where and how the levees have been built and maintained. Most Delta levees begin as natural or shoe string levees created from sediment deposited by rivers or sloughs as they overflow their banks. They were enlarged and strengthened during the reclamation of the Delta and converted into man-made levees, while the Tule swamps behind them were drained and converted to agricultural land. All levees require regular maintenance; otherwise they will fail, and the erosion caused by a levee failure
will destroy much of the failed levee. If not repaired, the remnants of the levee may become small berm islands, just like those around the permanently flooded Sherman Island in the Delta. With the passage of enough time, a poorly maintained dryland levee may turn into a berm or ridge that appears to be part of the natural topography. The danger then is that if they are removed as part of grading or excavation for agricultural or other land use, the land will be exposed to flooding. Levee maintenance may involve substantial improvements to the levee’s size and structure in order to counter subsidence or major erosion, or more routine maintenance to stop minor degradation. Routine maintenance includes placing riprap around the levee, cleaning sediment and vegetation from the toe ditches, removing vegetation from the land-side and waterside slopes of the levee, controlling animals that burrow into the levee core, improving the levee road on the levee crown, and dredging the channel of the river or slough on the waterside of the levee. Both the construction and maintenance of a levee involves consider-
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 13
able expense. As a result, levees are not allowed to significantly deteriorate. However, levees can be destroyed in certain circumstances. For example: A levee may be removed as part of a new land development project involving infrastructure for a new subdivision or an environmental restoration project. levee administration The levee network in the California Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta is administered by several federal, state, and local government agencies. At the federal level, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are actively involved in the Delta’s levee network. State agencies include the Department of Water Resources, the Department of Fish and Game, the
Pump on the north side of Smith Tract used to pump runoff up and into the Calaveras River.
14
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
State Lands Commission, and the commercial, residential, or industrial Central Valley Flood Protection Board. parcels. Among the local agencies are the Levees are considered to be various public works and the planning, physical features much like railroads flood control, and channel mainteor interstates, but if they are not propnance departments of cities and erly planned they can act as a barrier counties. Reclamation districts act as to developing the protected land the levee network administrators for parcels. It is difficult and expensive to individual Delta islands and tracts. build roads, pipelines, canals, utility These agencies regulate a number lines, and other infrastructure over, of activities related to levee operaunder, or through a levee. As a result, tions, including: these features are more often than » The construction, repair, and not built within the bounds of the improvement of levees. “cells” created by a levee network, » The destruction and removal of running alongside the levees and only levees. crossing them at select locations, » Placement of structures (docks, such as an existing road bridge. sheds, pools, etc.) on or near Levee networks also impose levees. restrictions on the land uses of the » Construction of utilities, roads, plots adjacent to the levees. For railroads, and other infrastructure instance, activities which involve on, near, underneath, over, or excavation or vibration and encroachacross levees. ments onto the levee are prohibited. » Land use and land development of parcels adjacent to or protected by levees. the role of land surveyors » Recreational and navigational use Land surveyors play a critical role of waterways bounded by levees. in the creation and maintenance of The sheer size of the undertaking levee networks. requires good inter- and intra-agency Several types of surveys are communications to avoid creating chalexecuted to support the design and lenges for parcel owners and organizamaintenance of levee networks. tions involved in levee administration. Profile and cross-section surveys or break-line topographic surveys define the position and shape of the land use levee, the adjacent water body, and Building levees impacts land use improvements on the adjacent parcels. and land development, and the Hydrographic surveys are needed likely nature of the impact must be to locate the waterside toe of the considered during the levee planlevee, to discover erosion sites ning process. For instance, parcels between the edge of water and protected by levees may have higher waterside toe of the levee, and to land use value. determine the course of the river As land values increase, so must the investment in the protective levee channel for analysis of water flow and water surface elevations and shape. increase. If resources for adequate Before a levee can be constructed, levee management are not allocated, a construction survey control must the regulating authority may disallow be set on the project site, followed by higher land use values on protected surveys to calculate material quantiparcels. This problem is often ties and to create as-built drawings. encountered when land developers Topographic, hydrographic, and seek to convert agricultural parcels construction surveys must be protected by a levee network into
levee surveying
A new residential development in the Sacramento / San Joachim Delta that requires a significant investment in levee improvement. executed on a solid survey control basis, requiring control networks be established for individual islands, tracts, and larger portions of the levee network, Levees must be constructed and maintained on and within the levee right-of-way. The right-of-way may be held in fee simple or as an easement by the primary levee administrator, usually the local reclamation district or levee maintenance district. Levee right-of-way boundaries must be located during major levee improvement projects. Challenges to locating the boundaries include: » Finding the deeds that create and convey levee right-of-way; » Lack of monuments marking levee right-of-way; 2
» Identifying errors and problems with the parcel geometry descriptions in the deeds that create and convey levee right-ofway; » Locating riparian boundaries along the waterside of the levee; » Correcting previous surveys of the levee right-of-way that were performed improperly; and » Resolving overlapping property interests in the levee.2 A land surveyor not directly involved with levee maintenance and construction may still have to deal with levee and flood control issues when working for owners of parcels adjacent to or protected by a levee network. In many cases the land surveyor becomes an advocate of the
owners’ rights and adviser. As such, a land surveyor may be called on to prepare elevation certificates and flood maps or survey levee right-ofway for improvements near the levee. Land surveyors work with various entities engaged in the development of parcels protected by and adjacent to levees. They also contribute to network administration by way of maintaining geospatial datasets for parcels, flood control assets (including the levees), transportation networks, land use, and hydrographic networks. Land surveyors may also participate in preparing for parcel tax assessments that are used to fund levee maintenance and annexations to levee or flood control districts. Their skills in mapping can be used to prepare flood fight and evacuation maps for emergency planning. In the Delta, land surveyors conduct regular inventories of levee networks. They locate and catalog the condition of roads, gates, ramps, pumps, siphons, ditches, canals, buildings on or near the levees, boat docks, out-fall pipes, and utilities. These inventories are conducted by truck, boat, all terrain vehicles, foot, and from information collected via aerial photography. the future The future presents several challenges to effective and affordable levee network administration in the Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta. Should sea levels rise, this may increase the need to raise and widen levees so that they can cope with more frequent and more severe flooding. Another consequence of possible climate change, reduction in the amount of fresh water, may increase competition for this resource and adversely impact agricultural activity
In some cases multiple levee easements will be laid over the same portion of real property. This same real property may be burdened by easements for other infrastructure, utilities, and land conservation purposes.
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 15
levee surveying
of providing this accurate elevation data more complicated. The final survey-specific challenge to levee network administration is discovering the appropriate uses of new geospatial and surveying technologies. Land surveyors must determine what role GIS, LIDAR, laser scanning, mobile computing, side scan sonar, and similar tools play in building and maintaining levees and how best to use them for the benefit of the owners of land protected by levees and local government. Pump station used to channel agricultural runoff into Burn’s Cut Off from fields on Middle Robert’s Island. Crops of asparagus and corn are visible on the sides of the drainage canal.
in the Delta region by the communities that fund levee maintenance and construction. As the population in California grows there will be more demand to convert agricultural land protected by levees into land for houses, shops, warehouses and factories. An honest evaluation would likely reveal that continuing to pave over prime agricultural land in an area prone to flooding is not the wisest land planning strategy. However, it is not unusual to see developers apply political and economic pressure to ensure that they can build on such land. Funding for levee maintenance and construction projects has slowed down due to the recent economic recession. This may have consequences for the future, with the maintenance of the levee network in the Delta being deferred down the road and communities suffering from damages caused by more frequent flood events. Another major challenge that needs to be tackled by civil engineers and land surveyors is to educate land owners about the benefits and consequences of living behind a levee network. The public’s ignorance about levees and how they protect 16
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
land from flooding is almost as conspicuous as its lack of appreciation of the role of land surveyors in land management in general. Land surveyors engaged in the administration of the Delta’s levee networks themselves face certain technical challenges. The first is poor land surveying practices implemented by both government agencies and private companies working in the Delta. This needs to change. The second challenge is a continued deterioration of boundary evidence necessary to locate levee right-of-way. This is a problem in the Delta because government agencies which hold the levee right-of-way in the Delta rarely mark and record these rights. The third factor is the continual evolution of national, regional, and local land surveying datums. Land surveyors are required to integrate historical surveying and flood data based on changing national or regional datums which may have local variations. Accurate elevations are critical for flood hazard prevention in a region as large as the Sacramento / San Joaquin Delta. Datum differences and datum adjustments make the process
conclusion Thousands of parcels and hundreds of thousands of people live behind levee networks. These levee networks provide critical flood protection to our society. Land surveyors play a critical role in the proper functioning of these levee networks, and will be key to overcoming the challenges presented by these networks in the future.
A view of Burns Cut Off and its south levee along the north side of Middle Roberts Island.
Ushahidi Haiti and Chile: Next Generation Crisis Mapping —by Sophia B. Liu, Anahi Ayala Iacucci, and Patrick Meier
Ushahidi-Haiti [http://haiti.ushahidi.com/]
Ushahidi
, which means “testimony” in Swahili, began as a one-off deployment for mapping reports of post-election violence after the December 2007 Kenyan elections. Ory Okolloh, co-founder of Ushahidi, initially shared reports she received about the violence through her blog. She soon became overwhelmed by the amount of crisis data she was receiving and asked if it was possible to create a website
that would allow anyone to publicly report crisis information and “put” it on a map so that everybody could see where the information was coming from. This resulted in a group of volunteer developers and designers in Africa and the U.S. creating a website enabling public collection of near real-time crisis information via mobile phones, e-mail, and the web submission page. The hope behind creating the Ushahidi map mashup was that this
crowdsourced information would mobilize people to assist other members of the public in a crisis and mobilize governments to react. A number of humanitarian organizations have argued that information during a crisis is as important as food and water. Ushahidi does not treat information in a vacuum but, rather, treats it as part of a crisis “ecosystem” informed by two-way communication. august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 17
Crisis management with GIS
As such, Ushahidi does not just facilitate crowdsourcing of crisis information from the public but it also facilitates crowdfeeding of crisis information via the web or by subscribing to location-specific SMS (short message service) alerts. In May 2009, Ushahidi launched a free and open source software (FOSS) called the Ushahidi Engine, a crisis mapping platform allowing anyone to adapt this mashup as a live mapping tool for any local situation. The potential of this tool to “rally the public” may have contributed to the definition of Ushahidi in Wikipedia as “an initial model for what has been coined as “activist mapping”— the combination of social activism, citizen journalism and geospatial information … while simultaneously creating a temporal and geospatial archive of events.” Ushahidi’s use during the 2010 Haiti and Chile earthquakes as a web platform for aggregating, monitoring, and mapping real-time crisis reports from different media sources improved transparency, accountability, and coordination of relief efforts, thereby legitimizing map mashups produced and used by members of the public.
To help with the near real-time crisis mapping efforts, Meier facilitated crisis mapping training events at the Fletcher Ushahidi Situation Room and ultimately mobilized over 300 student volunteers from Tufts University and beyond to comb the web for Haiti-related crisis information and map it on the Ushahidi Haiti page. More than 3,500 reports had been manually mapped by the time this article was written in late July. The Ushahidi partners also worked with several thousand Haitian volunteers to crowdsource the translation of SMS messages and other crisis reports from Creole to English as well as determine specific location information in Haiti. Because of this tremendous crisis mapping effort, Ushahidi Haiti became an important source of near real-time, geo-tagged crisis information for the U.S. Coast Guard, the Joint Task Force Command Center, the U.S. State Department, the Red Cross, the UN Foundation, the International Medical Corps, the Clinton Foundation, and other first responder organizations.
ushahidi haiti
Developers Patrick Meier and David Kobia also launched a copy of the Ushahidi-Haiti map for Chile immediately after that country was struck by a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake on February 27, 2010. That same afternoon, Meier invited students from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to collaborate. Just 48 hours after that, the Ushahidi-Chile instance (http://chile.ushahidi.com) was launched, and a group of 60 SIPA volunteers trained by Digital Democracy (http://digital-democracy. org) began monitoring social and tra-
ushahidi chile
Within two hours of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, Patrick Meier and David Kobia along with colleagues from the International Network of Crisis Mappers had created an Ushahidi-Haiti instance (http://haiti. ushahidi.com) and interactively customized it.1 Four days later, Ushahidi partners launched the 4636 SMS short code in Haiti, thereby enabling free mobile reporting of emergency needs and offers of help with location information via texting. 1
ditional media reports from Chile. On the first day, the volunteers manually mapped over 100 incidents. In two days, Ushahidi-Chile had over 150 volunteers who had mapped, in three days, over 700 reports. By late July, Ushahidi-Chile volunteers have manually mapped nearly 1,200 reports. crowdsourcing and social netsourcing
Ushahidi Chile was implemented using Ushahidi-Haiti as a template; in addition, it also utilized the social ties that bound the trusted network of volunteer mappers mobilized during the Haiti crisis. Meier calls this type of crowdsourcing “netsourcing.” After the information had been gathered, free cloud computing tools (i.e., Google Groups, Google Docs, Skype Public Chat) and social media sites (i.e. Facebook Groups, Events) were used to coordinate the distributed mapping efforts. For example, multiple Google Groups were set up to broadcast instruction information to the volunteers and to coordinate mapping contributions using the Ushahidi platform. Multiple Google Documents and Spreadsheets were also set up to serve as public sign-up sheets for netsourcing as well as to facilitate media monitoring and crisis mapping activities in an efficient way through self-organization. A Media Monitoring List Google Spreadsheet for Ushahidi-Haiti contained over 350 individual source links to online Haitian radio stations, news sites, Twitter users, Facebook groups, and blogs that carried breaking news about the Haiti earthquake. The Media Monitoring List for UshahidiChile contained over 250 links to official governmental Twitter feeds from Chile, Twitter users, Twitter lists, Twitter Spanish speaking experts, Spanish and English news sites,
Google Maps was first used as the basemap for the Ushahidi deployment in Haiti, but then the OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org) for Haiti quickly became far more detailed than any other street map available for that country.
18
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Crisis management with GIS
Google Docs: Getting started
blogs, Facebook groups, and other relevant links. Google Docs was invaluable in facilitating real-time editing among multiple users and live, ad hoc updates of the Ushahidi maps. Instant communication within the distributed Ushahidi volunteer network and with the partner organizations on the ground was implemented via Skype Public Chats. All Skype Chat communications were automatically transcribed and the digital trace was used as a record to keep organizations up to speed. Facebook Groups and Events were used to recruit additional volunteers,
inform them about training events, and provide updates on other Ushahidi-related activities. ushahidi vs classical gis maps
What makes the Ushahidi maps different from classical GIS maps is its ability to visualize interactions. The Ushahidi map is a living map of crowdsourced crisis data visualized “on top” of the static GIS map, the base layer. The Ushahidi map makes it possible to follow the situation developing on the ground because of its ability to show the interactions between the event and the place where this event has occurred and
the reaction of the people living at the location impacted by the event. In addition, the Ushahidi map is also a witness to the interactions between the people managing the platform and the people reporting to the platform, and the interaction between the people in need and the responders. Tools like Google Groups, Skype Chat, Twitter and Facebook, which are fundamental in bridging the mapping and response efforts, are the living parts of the map. The mashup itself is the structure that allows those interactions to be represented as well as to take place. The result is a multi-dimensional geospatial
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 19
Crisis management with GIS
representation which brings to life the communities living in the visualized space and their responses to crisis events. GIS mapping is still a fundamental part of the Ushahidi system, but the social network that lies behind the static map is now an integral part of this system. The availability of free and open source software has made it possible for volunteers to create a comprehensive map without training or prior knowledge of cartographic principles.2 The innovation we thus see emerging from distributed crisis mapping is the dynamic creation of Ushahidi maps: Ushahidi Haiti and Chile were not mere representations of space, but rather living records of the situations reported by the people inhabiting that space, and of the social activism that elicited responses to the events represented. Another inno2
vation is geo-tagging of crisis reports, i.e., providing their GPS coordinates to responders on the ground. The Ushahidi map mashups are now viewed as an effective crisis response resource largely because of the comprehensive, geo-tagged, up-to-date crisis maps created, by volunteers, for use by the humanitarian community responding to the 2010 Haiti and Chile earthquakes. Geo-tagged, networked crisis mapping during the Haiti and Chile crises has proved extremely effective in rescuing earthquake victims, locating the nearest hospitals, and administering aid supplies. The social benefit of networked crisis mapping is that it offers an opportunity for anybody who wants to volunteer their time to contribute to a disaster relief effort in a tangible manner.
In a networked world, we all now have the ability and the opportunity to participate in crisis management through activities such as crisis mapping. About the authors Sophia B. Liu (Sophia.Liu@colorado.edu) is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Technology, Media and Society PhD Candidate in the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Anahi Ayala Iacucci (anahi@crisismappers. net) is the Director of Ushahidi-Chile at SIPA. She currently advises Internews Network and Freedom House on their Ushahidi platform projects in Kenya and Egypt. Patrick Meier (patrick@ushahidi.com) is director of Crisis Mapping at Ushahidi and a PhD Candidate at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. He is also a pre-doctoral fellow at Stanford University and the co-founder of the International Network of Crisis Mappers.
It would have been difficult for volunteers to create a typical GIS map since such maps are often produced using proprietary software that is often expensive to get and requires formal training to use.
20 
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
GIsWORLD
Share GIS perspectives with others
Putting ArcGIS desktop to work —by Melinda Peacock
ArcGIS 10
has arrived. This version is said to be easier to understand and use. I find that many land surveying and engineering companies use the basic ArcGIS level, ArcView, simply because of limited in-house expertise with GIS. However, Michael Ludvigsen, Jr., of Benton & Associates Incorporated in Jacksonville, Illinois, has observed that his company has begun moving utility mapping for clients from AutoCad to ArcGIS, perhaps because more counties in Illinois are now acquiring good quality aerial photography. The use of aerial photography to create a map that is tied to a township grid has drastically changed the mapping industry and has propelled us into what I call the ‘digital revolution. This will change the way maps are viewed—a paperless dawn. City and county officials can view their townships like onto an x-ray. Utility systems laid out within a sectional grid can be more accurately placed by aerial photography. Workers digging up a utility line can use ArcGIS and aerial photography together to measure off exactly where to dig. And officials can visualize the terrain and pipeline locations in reference to buildings, trees, and other obstacles that may complicate the work. This was unheard of 25 years ago. “The greatest benefit,” says Ludwigsen, “is that the ArcGIS is able to mesh various types of data in completely different formats into a finished product that is tailored to our client’s needs.” As surveyors arrive at work and sit down to their computers, they do not have to worry about downloading software, installing applications, and fixing the bugs of a program—that is the job of the IT department and so is setting
up ArcGIS desktop, although a GIS 15 research centers throughout the specialist would most likely be able to world with access to ArcGIS software. handle the task too. Once ArcGIS is in CGIAR works in collaboration with hunplace and you have downloaded your dreds of government, civil society, and local mapping grid, using ArcGIS 10 is private organizations to reduce poverty simply a matter of time and practice. and hunger, improve human health and The local County office—usually nutrition, and create greater ecosystem its Recorder, GIS professional, or resilience. Esri’s geographic information Appraiser—will provide the data you system (GIS) technology will be implewill need, and, if you are lucky, the mented in the centers to foster programs data may even be available on a digital for sustainable agricultural growth bengrid. You can then either perform your efiting the poor. work in AutoCad or other formats and “This site license agreement will upload that work to ArcGIS or you can ensure that scientists in every center use ArcGIS to get all the work done in have access to the GIS technology one location. they need to continue their important The map you create will be more work including the creation of data colvisual and easier for your clients to lections on population, poverty, climate, understand, which would help them soils, crops, livestock, transportation, make more knowledgeable decisions and biodiversity,” says Enrica Porcari, for the city, the county, or some other chief information officer of CGIAR. The jurisdiction. centers will provide spatial applicaArcGIS desktop is revolutionizing tions that help users more readily digital mapping. With ArcGIS, survey- see and understand interrelationships ing and engineering companies can between such subjects as urban and now produce better mapping products rural markets, crop production, deforfaster, and in a more efficient manner. estation, and soil erosion. These products can be send to clients Esri’s ArcGIS will provide the platelectronically, in a viewable format, form for collaborative efforts in GISvia their laptops, iphones, or ipads for based agricultural research at global, instant viewing at a meeting. Gone is regional, and local levels in every the need to run copies, send them by center. This will allow CGIAR to conFedEx, and hope that they arrive on- tinue creating online applications such time. Instead, show your clients their as the Amazon Initiative which allows world, their investment through a pro- dynamic queries about biomass and fessional product built from surveyor deforestation in the Amazon. More grade data and leveraging surveyors’ than 10 CGIAR datasets and applicaexpertise in an environment moving tions are also available as services toward digital mapping. from ArcGIS.com, a hosted Web site available for anyone to create, find, and use maps, applications, and tools. The new agreement with Esri repArcGIS assists CGIAR increase resents a major advance in the ability agricultural productivity of CGIAR and its partners to build and The Consultative Group on International share location-specific agricultural and Agricultural Research (CGIAR) signed natural resource knowledge products. a site license with Esri providing its august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 21
ARE YOU A CST?
INCREASE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES BY BECOMING
A CERTIFIED SURVEY TECHNICIAN
http://www.nspsmo.org/
click on CERTIFIED SURVEY TECHNICIAN tab
NSPS CERTIFIED SURVEY TECHNICIAN (CST) PROGRAM
22
NSPS, 6 Montgomery ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Phone: 240.632.9716 ext. 113 E-mail: <cstinfo@acsm.net>
Village Avenue, Suite 403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879
T Map-enabled technologies bolster green driving Robert Denaro, vice president ADAS, NAVTEQ
here is a litany of terms moving around the navigation space right now in relation to the environmental impact of not only navigation devices, but also the data that empowers them. “Green driving.” “Green routing.” “Eco-routing.” These concepts are all important to the future of helping the vehicles we produce, and the consumers who own them, be more environmentally friendly. And we’re not talking too far in the future—these concepts each already have a number of tests behind them. But understanding clearly the implication of each and, more importantly, how to evaluate the art and technology of greener driving can provide meaningful insights on the subject.
the entry point: the navigation system
It may seem obvious, but the conversation starts with the addition of navigation to a vehicle. There has long been discussion about the impact of navigation on fuel efficiency. In “getting lost” scenarios, excess CO2 emissions are generated while the driver wanders in search of a destination. Governments in Western Europe, and more recently in the United States, concerned by the environmental impact of such emissions, have attempted to curb air pollution through regulations and monetary incentives to automobile manufacturers. But not everybody is convinced that this is the right way to proceed, so it becomes necessary to examine how technical innovation, in this case navigation, impacts driving on an everyday basis. Literature search conducted by NAVTEQ did not find a single study on the use of navigation by average drivers as part of their everyday driving—be it running errands, commuting to work, or taking children to school. Therefore, in 2008, we commissioned a project with NuStats, a social science research firm with an established record in research on transportation and personal mobility. The study was conducted in two metropolitan areas of Germany—Dus-
seldorf and Munich—and followed three groups of drivers: one had no navigation system, another group was given a navigation device, and the third group comprised drivers who were provided a navigation device enabled with real-time traffic. All the participants’ cars were fitted with a logging device which was used to track the routes they drove and their driving speeds. The study monitored more than 2,100 individual trips and recorded over 20,000 kilometers of driving (equivalent to >12,000 miles) and almost 500 hours of driving time. The results point to a clear, positive environmental impact strictly through
the regular use of a navigation system. The drivers with navigation (both with and without real-time traffic monitor) saw their fuel consumption falling from 8.3 to 7.3 liters/100 km and their fuel efficiency increase by 12 percent. In the U.S., this would be the equivalent of a car improving from 27 mpg to 30 mpg. The increase in fuel economy found by the German study would translate to a decrease of .91 metric tons in carbon dioxide emissions per driver a year—a 24 percent decrease over the amount that the average non-navigation user emits a year. Another key finding from the study was that the participants with naviga-
Acknowledgement: The images used here accompanied Denaro’s original article, “Five Ways Technology Can Boost Green Driving Practices,” published on GreenBiz.com.
tion drove less per trip—on average 2500 kilometers less per driver per year, saving 1.19 million tires from disposal in Germany alone.
24
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Green Driving, p. 26
eco-routing
Defined as using a route calculated to minimize fuel consumption, eco-routing takes navigation efficiency one step further. Most currently used navigation systems calculate which route will take the shortest time to travel from point A (origin of the trip) to point B (its destination). Some Eco-routing in Ford Nav system [source: hybrid-cars.matters.com] systems will also calculate the shortest distance. With ecocenter or school neighborhood, or by climbing a slope in routing, the system is asked to the wrong gear. Consulting a map will helps us anticipate find the route with minimum fuel consumption. these conditions and minimize the speed and gear changes Factors such as slopes, start and stop sequences, and while driving. speed changes impact fuel efficiency. Each navigation system The green driving system “looks ahead” down the road, enabled with eco-routing thus has a digital map showing such guiding the driver how to drive smoothly—gently accelerattributes of the travelled topography as road slope, traffic ating and decelerating and so keeping as steady a speed lights and stop signs, city center designation, cross roads, as possible, thereby saving fuel and reducing emissions. . curves, and railroad crossings. These characteristics, as well A NAVTEQ and Magneti Marelli study of the benefits as engine type, are used to calculate a fuel consumption index of green driving found estimated fuel savings between 5 which, together with distance and estimated travel time, can and 15 percent for drivers who chose to follow the green provide a calculation of the path of minimum fuel consumpdriving recommendations. Certain hybrid car models on the tion—the “green” route. market already have green driving displays that monitor NAVTEQ along with Magneti Marelli of Italy has tested the effect of acceleration and braking on fuel consumption. this concept by examining calculations comparing the “Fastest route” to the “Greenest Route” under several scenarios in urban and suburban areas of Paris, Frankfurt, predictive cruise control New York, and Chicago. There was at least a 5 percent Cruise control is not a new concept; it is often used on fuel savings per trip, and often more, and the time penalty longer trips and on highways to maintain constant speed from the fastest route was on the order of a few minutes and save fuel. Traditional cruise control works well on flat at worst. The first prototype of this type of “green” navigaterrain but when climbing a hill, the system can and does tion system was previewed by Magneti Marelli at the Paris downshift. Motor Show in October 2008. The new predictive cruise control systems use digital map data to “look ahead” and decide on the best throttle position and gear to drive up a hill or into a curve. Cars green driving and trucks built with this type cruise control typically have Green driving is a matter of driving behavior rather than transmissions with seven, eight, or nine gears compared navigation device; it’s how we drive a vehicle for which to traditional three- or four-speed automatic transmissions. we have obtained fuel-saving recommendations. We don’t Multi-speed transmissions can improve fuel economy and need to calculate the shortest route to practice green drivsmoothness on their own; with an ability to anticipate hills ing, but we do need to know when the car’s driving speed and curves so as to find the right gear before it’s needed, needs to be adjusted to the road profile to optimize fuel they are a huge asset for green driving. consumption, and for this, we need a digital map. Fuel The predictive cruise control system is available in some is wasted by actions such as accelerating just before a hybrid cars, and their owners report that they have been curve, a roundabout, or a limited speed zone such as a city
The Savvy Surveyor — A column on all matters of surveying by R. William Glassey, PLS
What is a land surveyor?
A
Photo © James Wengler, PLS, CFedS
land surveyor is, of necessity, part historian, part car- you recall if the section corner in question was a brass cap, tographer, part mathematician, part handwriting analyst, or a stone, when you visited it in 1990?” Thank heaven for part truck mechanic, and part mind reader. A surveyor detailed field notes! Being a surveyor is a constant challenge is also a professional skilled at contract and boundary law, psy- for our memories, and I believe it helps us stay mentally sharp. chology, and collections —of receivables, as well as geospatial This mental exercise also directly leads us toward honesty and data, monument records, and other information pertinent to the truthfulness, as any exaggeration or misstatement will clearly work of a surveyor. A sole proprietor of a surveying business degrade and complicate an already nearly impossible challenge. practices in all of these disciplines, and more. Small wonder that this honesty also creeps into our personal When one begins studying to take professional exams for lives and business practices! This may also help to explain why surveyors, one quickly realizes there is an incredible array of surveyors are such a pleasant and professional group, and why information upon which one could be tested. This situation so many have become close friends. is further compounded in states that “stubbornly insist” on Surveying challenges us to keep abreast of emerging including planning or design questions in their exams. A geospatial technology, while remaining true to the basic land surveyor thus possesses many qualities essential in tenets of surveying—honesty and truthfulness. Being a surevery “renaissance person.” veyor is fun, though this is great responsibility! I believe this multi-disciplinary aspect of land surveyWe are proud of our work and enjoy doing it whether it’s ing is at least partially responsible for the broad diversity in the field or in front of a computer screen. I have always of surveying practitioners. (Or could it possibly be the thought that surveying is the perfect blend of physical and other way around?) I have personally worked with profes- mental activity. sional surveyors whose educational backgrounds were in Many years ago, I worked for a character who was fond of physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, agriculture, for- saying, “Surveying would make a great hobby!” This philosophy estry, geography, philosophy, meteorology, law, land titles, can get us in trouble, as some practitioners are far too quick to engineering, and other disciplines. We seem to have been low-ball a project. The fact that we enjoy our work should attracted to surveying from practically any field of human not diminish its value! endeavor, whereas most other professions have considerSurveyors provide information and services which protect ably more restrictive career paths. Surveyors are a diverse people’s largest investment—their real estate. As such, we are group, and collectively we account for tremendous talent, advised to work closely with attorneys and title professionals. knowledge and wide variety of interests. We are also encouraged to collaborate with other geospatial I often reflect on how this diversity impacts other peo- professionals, such as photogrammetrists, geodesists and GIS ple’s perceptions of surveying as a profession. To those of experts whenever possible. Our clients will appreciate such us who have committed a lifetime to the profession, sur- cooperation, our professionalism will soar, and I believe all will veying is a profession steeped in spatial truth. It’s a profes- benefit from it as a result. sion expected to provide geographic information—recently Surveyors are fact finders; we report the truth on the ground. collected or in the past. “Have you ever done any projects (The truth shall set you free…) in Douglas County?,” a client of mine, might ask. Or, “Can Pleasant surveying! Want to comment? Contact The Savvy Surveyor Bill Glassey at <lancer.bear@gmail.com>. august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 25
Green Driving, from p. 24
The Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas 2010
Rand McNally has launched the newest, updated edition of the Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas, the best-selling trucker’s atlas in the United States. This year’s edition includes: • All-new, completely revised state and province maps including updated mileages, additional suburb, town and small city names, and better urban area representation • Updated highways showing the latest truck roadways as designated by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA), or “designated highways” —including Illinois’ greatly expanded designated routes for commercial trucks • More city maps including new inset maps of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Iowa City, Iowa; Paducah, Ky.; Parkersburg, W. Va.; and a downtown map of Indianapolis, Ind. • New map design that more accurately displays the curvature of the roads, with improved readability of the designated system • Fully updated charts including more than 800 changes to the truck-specific state contact information such as operating authority contacts, emergency police, and vehicle registration. The Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas is available in a paperback and laminated version at truck stop retail stores as well as online, at www.RandMcNally.com, and at other select retailers. — by Amy Krouse, Rand McNally; akrouse@randmcnally.com
able to maintain reasonably good fuel economy even on longer trips—something they were not able to do before. Studies have shown that truckers might be able to increase fuel economy by three percent or more, depending on road conditions. This improvement may have been one of the factors driving the heavy vehicle industry to become an early adopter of predictive cruise control. The Freightliner trucks manufactured by Daimler Trucks of North America, for instance, were equipped with a predictive cruise control system early in 2009. advancing hyBrid technologies
The fifth and last method for enhancing fuel economy and reducing emissions is a complicated but important integration of digital maps and “look forward” green driving systems with the hybrid engine controller in a hybrid vehicle. A typical hybrid car uses the electronic motor whenever possible, as long as the battery lasts, so as to minimize the use of the internal combustion engine running on fossil fuel. The hybrid controller monitors battery charge to ensure that the battery does not run completely out before the car can be recharged. With digital map data, the system can operate much more intelligently. For example, if the system knew that there was a recharging opportunity on the downhill side, it could drain the battery lower while climbing uphill. Similarly, knowing that there are stop signs or other deceleration opportunities ahead, the system could plan on regenerative braking to add charge to the battery, and thereby regulate battery drain more effectively. Studies in the U.K. by Ricardo Corporation demonstrated hybrid vehicle fuel economy gains by between 5 percent to over 12 percent using these techniques. the role oF the industry in green driving
Use of GIS in forestry Mapping Forestry from ESRI Press provides a unique view from forestry professionals on their use of GIS to manage commercial operations and promote sustainable stewardship of forests. Presented are approaches for determining the best route for building roads through forest lands, whether logging in a particular area is commercially viable, which fire-damaged areas of forest should be restored first, and more. Mapping Forestry (ISBN: 9781589482098, 88 pages, $39.95) is available at online retailers worldwide, at www. esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778.
26
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
We must continue to research and measure the effectiveness of “green” technologies in vehicles and evaluate the investment in data and technology necessary to achieve superior levels of fuel savings and significant emission reductions. Various segments of the industry will need to come together to make green driving as widely adopted as possible. Navigation system manufacturers will have to implement green navigation features across the board and make their customers aware of these enhancements. This is likely to encourage car manufacturers to seriously consider building cars with features that will make them fuel efficient. Others also need to play a role. NAPTEQ, for instance, pioneered the concept of a “Map and Positioning Engine,” a small, inexpensive module with GPS, a map, and the Electronic Horizon™software which aids the green driving systems described in this article. And finally, we all should aim to create awareness among drivers that navigation based on precise knowledge of roads can help make their cars more eco-friendly.
! p a M . r D k As On the slippery slope
Dear Dr. Map,
Q:
What is the steepest paved road in the world?
A
: Baldwin St., in the suburbs of Dunedin, New Zea-
land, claims to be the steepest paved road in the world. It can be found in the community of North East Valley, 3.5 km northeast of Dunedin’s downtown. Only 350 meters of length, the street rises from 30 meters to its junction with North Road at 100 meters, for a gradient of 1:5. At its maximum, the slope is approximately 1:2.86 (19° or 35%); so for every 2.86 meters traveled horizontally, the elevation rises by 1 meter. One story is that the British colonial authorities planned the street from England, unaware of the steep hillside, and the construction went strictly according to the map and the gridded street plan. While the street was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, it was apparently awarded a much steeper gradient because of a typo. Other notably steep streets are: Côte St-Ange in Chicoutimi, Canada (33%); Canton Avenue, Pittsburgh (37%, but extending only 6.5 m); Eldred Street in Los Angeles (32%, and the site of an annual bike climb); Filbert and 22nd Streets in San Francisco (31.5%) and Waipio Valley Road (20°7′11″N, 155°35′36″W) on the island of Hawai’i, 25% for 0.6 miles with peak gradients much higher; some claim up to 45%. Skateboarding is not advisable.
N, 156.256603 W, and presents the attached certificate as proof. Google Maps gives the distance at 61.3 km. This gives an overall gradient of about 5%, with much steeper stretches nearer the summit. Several commercial operators offer bus rides to the summit, where you can take a bike cruise to the National Park exit. Better hope the brakes are in good shape! If you know of a steeper ascent, let me know at askdrmap@cox.net.
Q:
Where can I get GoogleEarth zooms with cartographic twists?
A:
Dr. Map has two favorites. Maduradam, near Den Hague in the Netherlands (zoom straight to 52 05 57.91 N, 04 17 50.23 W) is a large model village with a port, airport, streets, parks, and houses of all types.Select an unsuspecting victim and show then a GoogleEarth viewalready zoomed in to the location above. Ask them where this tiny airport is located. Then let your victim zoom out. There will be a moment of enlightenment when in zooming out they notice the shadows of giant people falling across the landscape. As a bonus, ask the victim to interpret the landscape they see, always good for a laugh. Dr. Map’s second favorite is closer to home— at 38 53 38.15 N, 77 01 22.11 W. Zoom into this location,
Q:
Where is the steepest and shortest ascent from sea level accessible by car in the USA?
A:
This one was harder to research than was first imagined! Dr. Map believes the answer is the road from Kahului Harbor on Maui, Hawaii, via the Hana and Haleakala highways to the summit of Haleakala, a volcano at an elevation of 3,055 meters (10,023 feet) at 20.708154
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 27
and you’ll see a huge circular world map. It’s the United States Navy Memorial, on Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets in Washington, DC. The memorial itself is lined with statues and sculptural panels and has an adjacent Naval Heritage Center, complete with displays and a gift shop. On the current GoogleEarth image, the world map is covered in empty chairs in anticipation of some kind of ceremony. Know of any other cartographic curiosities visible on GoogleEarth? Send me an e-mail (askdrmap@cox.net].
Q:
A:
Where are some slippery places?
As he’s done many times before, Dr. Map chooses to answer your question from a toponymic perspective. Let’s go by place type. For water bodies we have Slippery Ford (2) (AL, WV), Slippery Creek (13) (AK, CA, FL, ID, MT, TX, WA), Slippery Well (AZ), Slippery Lake (AR), Slippery Jim Spring (CO), Slippery Slough (FL), Slippery Rock Creek (3) (KY, NY, PA), Slippery John Creek (MT) [a place,
not a person? Ed.], Slippery Hoof Lake and Creek (MT), Slippery Brook (NH), Slippery Rock Brook (NJ), Slippery Branch (VA), Slippery Gut Branch (2) (WV, TN) and, of course, the inevitable Slippery Falls (OK). For topography we have Slippery Slides Mountain (CO), Slippery Rock (KY), Slippery Bill Mountain (MT), Slippery Hill Ridge (NC), Slippery Jim Canyon (WY), Slippery Rock Creek Gorge (PA), and Slippery Elm Hollow (2) (PA). Then under man-made features we have Slippery Point Cemetery (IN), Slippery Elm Golf Course (IA), Slippery Brook Trail (NH), Slippery Hill Cemetery (NC), and Slippery Church (TN). But in the wonderful world of slippery places, it is Pennsylvania that makes it to the top of the greasy pole. Butler County contains two administrative divisions (township and borough), two populated places (Slippery Rock Park and Slippery Rock), and no fewer than four schools, one of them the well known University. Add to these one more township and a locale in Lawrence County, and we have the Slippery capital of America. So be careful out there on those slippery slide mountains, and avoid those slippery falls. It’s slippery wet out there pretty much nationwide, so slip not. And who were Slippery Bill and Slippery Jim anyway?
Dr. Map has a PhD and a cartographic license. Send questions to Dr. Map at askdrmap@cox.net or visit him on the web at http://www.drmap.info.
ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey corner by Gary Kent Draft 2011 ALTA/ACSM Survey Standards adopted [ www.acsm.net ]
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 29
2011 ALTA Standards, p. 30, 2nd col.
T
he final draft of the proposed 2011 Minimum Standard document has been posted at the ACSM website at Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey www.acsm.net. Standards was approved by a joint committee of the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) which met in ChiGary Kent, PLS, Chair of both the ALTA Liaicago on August 11, 2010. The document will go up for a son Committee and of the NSPS ALTA/ACSM vote by the membership of ALTA in October and the NSPS Standards Subcommittee, would like to thank Board of Governors and Board of Directors in November. Asthe many persons who contributed to this suming both organizations approve the new document, it effort. In particular, special thanks go to those will become effective on February 23, 2011. involved in the joint committee meeting: The proposed 2011 Standards represent a major reviCraig Amey, PLS (MI); Richard Bales, Esq. sion—the first significant rewrite of the standards since (IL); Patrick Beehler, PLS (WA); Daneece they were first adopted by ACSM and the American Title Berge, Esq. (TX); Paul Burn, PLS (NV); Paul Association (now ALTA) in 1962. The revised standards repMcNamara, Esq. (MA); Kelly Romeo (ALTA, resent the culmination of over two years of concentrated Washington, D.C.); and Curt Sumner, PLS (VA). work by a large NSPS committee and a select group of title attorneys with ALTA. Several hundred suggestions and comments from In the following paragraphs are highlights of the primary dozens of interested surveyors and attorneys across the changes occurring in the 2011 Standards compared with country were reviewed over the course of two years their 2005 precursor. during this effort, and many were incorporated into the new draft. A number of otherwise good suggestions were rejected by highlights of changes the committee because they lacked sufficient understanding of An effort was made to standardize wording with regard to the purpose of a Land Title Survey or of the need for a collabthe property being surveyed, which has, in the past, been orative title industry/surveying profession effort. referred to as the “premises,” the “property,” the “parcel,” Some suggestions were from persons who have had and the “tract.” The 2011 Standards use the term “the surlimited exposure to, and understanding of, the challenges veyed property,” except where this is not appropriate. of writing a national standard. There are, for example, difAn effort was also made to make more consistent the ferences across state lines and in state standards or pracuse of such terms as “visible,” “observed,” “observable,” and “physical” which were used interchangeably in previtices with regard to the name of the final product (called ous versions. The 2011 Standards replace them with the a ”plat” in most states, but a “map” in some), mandatory term “observed in the process of conducting the survey” monumentation (issues related to Records of Survey in wherever possible and as appropriate. western states), and when a new description should The 2011 Standards comprise a number of significant be prepared (a regular practice in some but not in most additions, including: states). The 2011 Standards have been substantially revised and • A sentence that defines what constitutes an ALTA/ ACSM Land Title Survey; completely reorganized. The approved draft of the revised
2011 ALTA Standards, from p. 29 Contiguous off-the-shelf coverage Uniformly accurate, high-resolution 3D digital elevation models and images of the United States Intermap’s NEXTMap USA countrywide 3D mapping program, which includes consistently accurate, wide-area elevation data and geometric images of the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii, is complete and commercially available. The NEXTMap USA database includes digital surface models that contain cultural features such as vegetation, buildings, and roads; digital terrain models with all cultural features digitally removed; and ortho-rectified radar images that accentuate topographic features—all with a vertical accuracy of 1 meter or better. In addition, NEXTMap offers such value-added products as contours, elevation shaded images, and other high-resolution geospatial products—all available via multiple delivery options, with flexible pricing and licensing.
Envision having...
Immediate access to 3D digital elevation data characterized by a degree of detail and accuracy that is unrivaled across the United States. Now, envision possessing superior modeling and imagery tools ideally suited for a variety of geospatial applications and markets, including: • Flood modeling and watershed analysis • Oil & gas exploration / transmission • Cell tower siting • Base mapping • Surface analysis • 3D visualization • Route planning • Environmental management • Insurance risk management • Image rectification • Forest inventory & management • Vehicle safety (ADAS) • Propagation modeling • Web visualization • Disaster response • Automotive energy management • Homeland security / defense • Consumer electronics
• Guidance on Land Title Surveys of non-standard types of properties (such as marinas, trailer parks and campgrounds); • A recognition of the existence of the normal standard of care, and a section that addresses need for the application of proper boundary law principles in the resolution of boundaries. • The issue of junior/senior rights has also been addressed. Where there is a water boundary there is now a requirement that the feature located on the survey (e.g. bank, edge of water, low water line, etc.) should bear some relationship to how that boundary is described in the writings. • For the first time since 1986, the measurement standards are part and parcel of the ACSM / ALTA standards, rather than being presented in an attachment. • The term Relative Positional Accuracy has been changed to Relative Positional Precision (RPP) to properly reflect what the term actually represents. The definition of RPP (formerly RPA) has also been clarified and the points involved in the analysis have been limited to the actual corners of the property surveyed. To assist in the understanding and application of RPP, the committee is working with volunteers to develop a separate document that will serve as a reference for surveyors with respect to the measurement standards. • Several sub-sections and a new Table A item were added which clarify the surveying and depiction of easements—both on- and off-site. In addition, Table A has two new items, one related to wetlands locations and one which requires surveyor to have professional liability insurance. A new section on deliverables gives a nod to digital copies. • The section on certification has been modified as well. It now includes wording requiring that “the plat or map shall bear only the following certification, unaltered …” (emphasis added), except as may be required by jurisdictional requirements (some states require additional specific wording). Comments on the final draft have been very positive, and the committee looks forward to its adoption. Please note that the draft is subject to approval by ALTA and NSPS, so readers are encouraged to “stay tuned.”
Have a question about anything related to land title surveying and the standards governing it? Contact Gary Kent, PLS, at gkent@schneidercorp. com. Phone: 317.826.7134
30
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Book Review Understanding the Cultural Landscape, by Bret Wallach. The Guilford Press, 2005. ISBN 1-59385-119-7 (paperback); ISBN 1-59385-120-0 (hardback) — Reviewed by Gerry Curtis, RPLS
I
have to admit right now that I opened Understanding the Cultural Landscape with some apprehension about reading just for pleasure and general interest a book that gave every indication of being a textbook. The author is or was a teacher of geography at the University of Oklahoma, after all. Then I read Mr. Wallach’s introduction and was even more apprehensive. His first two sentences in that introduction are “Geography is a strange subject. You may think you know what it’s about, but stick around.” Uhoh! Those sentences were both scary and somehow appealing, like the introduction to a particularly graphic mystery novel. The surveyor/map reader in me was hooked. The 377 pages before Sources and Index are not fast reading. But, like in a mystery novel, the organization of the book tends to make the reader want to turn the page, to find out what’s next. Mr. Wallach begins in the same way a well organized classroom presentation would begin—with a first section titled “Anthropological Foundations” and containing such sub-headings as “Human Evolution, Diffusion, Culture, Foragers, Domestication,” and so on. The foundation of the human existence and the earliest human activities are discussed in great detail, with that first section ending with a chapter titled “The Emergence of Civilization.” So much of this early section reports the evolution of hunters, gatherers, and agricultural practitioners into an assortment of basic vocations and the cultures associated with them or by them! “Historical Developments” is the title of the second section of the book. Its first two chapters relate to the growth of China and India and the geologic and geographic systems that helped to shape the cultures of those currently hugely populated areas. Wallach writes in many parts of the book about how the physical geography of areas influenced not only the type of crops grown there, but also vocations and even to an extent, the religions of the various peoples of the world. He closes the section with a discussion of globaliza-
tion, including the spread of largely British and American products and product names throughout the world. He also discusses the results of the influence of colonial powers no longer in power in places, but whose language, dress, and other customs have significantly influenced the former colonies which have retained and even adopted these cultural mores. Then Mr. Wallach turns to the cultural landscape of today. His scope of view is wide, extending to international operations of growing and marketing food products, manufactured goods, and other commodities, while a significant part of the world still relies on small local production of similar items. The issues in these areas of human activity are so involved, explains Wallach, that a review such as the one presented in Understanding the Cultural Landscapes cannot even summarize them in any real sense. The final two sections of the book are titled “Environmental Consequences” and “Reading Landscapes.” The attempts here are to (in a way) categorize the present day results of several thousand years of recorded histories and the historical influences that resulted in the world and our own cultural landscapes as we know them: our buying habits, our movements, or lack thereof, our dress, and even our religious practices. I actually enjoyed reading this book far more than you might discern from this report. The wealth of ideas and reports contained within this rather short volume come at you so fast that you are virtually overwhelmed with material. The small, all black-and-white maps and photographs are as illustrative as those projected on a small screen in a classroom setting could be. My inference of Mr. Wallach’s intent is to present you with all the graphic situations and incidents that have created the culture of our modern world and, perhaps, to inspire your inquiry further into the various subjects from a more detailed standpoint. I recommend this book if you have an interest in economic and cultural geography. If the pursuit of such knowledge is not among your interests, you will likely not finish the book.
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 31
The Comments Page RE: The Evolution of a National Voice To this writer’s knowledge, surveyors within the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) have sought to gain recognition in proportion to their relatively large membership for over 40 years. Some believe that if they could only drop the shackles of the ACSM umbrella hanging over them, they would finally get the full professional recognition from all across the country which they believe has been denied them ever since ACSM’s founding in 1941. When the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) was founded in 1981 and incorporated in 1991, many had hoped that this would settle the issue of recognition once and for all. Almost thirty years later, the NSPS Board of Governors at its 2010 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, voted 35 to 12 to initiate the process of (complete) separation from ACSM. The NSPS Board of Directors supported the initiative by a vote of 11 to 5. In other words, about two thirds of our surveyor members are eager to leave ACSM. A letter to membership entitled “The Evolution of a National Voice: The Future of the National Society of Professional Surveyors” by Messrs. Harrison, Matonich, and Sumner following the Phoenix meeting was published in the ACSM Bulletin no. 244 of April 2010 (p.43). Among the “primary challenges” cited in the letter are: “Perception of ACSM as outdated and behind the times, the negative stereotype of the term “surveyor”, and competition from state affiliates.” An NSPS ad-hoc committee was established to look into the options and opportunities for establishing a “single industry-wide membership organization.” I believe this was the goal of the 163 dedicated professionals who founded ACSM sixty-nine years ago. They, of course, did not call it an “industry” then. According to Recollections of the American Congress, 1941-1991 by Walter S. Dix, ACSM’s membership of 163 in 1941 climbed to 4500 in 1958, increased to 6000 in mere two years, and peaked in 1981 at 11,000. The 1982 ACSM convention reported 5,621 registrants—an all-time high! For various reasons, ACSM membership gradually declined from about 10,000 in 1991 to about 5,000 in 2004, the year of ACSM’s restructure into a “revitalized congress of independent member organizations.” The perceived negative stereotype of the surveyor has always been of concern to former ACSM leaders. At a time, when many, if not most, land surveyors had come up through the old-fashioned apprentice system, lack of formal education was the challenge and another reason for the “stereotype.” There was a time, when the perceived low public opinion of surveyors was demonstrated in its most grotesque form. 32
Some of us may still remember the scandalous kickback case involving a former politician who had taken differentiated bribes from state highway consultants in Baltimore County—5 percent for engineering (design) contracts and 2.5 percent for surveying contracts! And if you think times have changed, you should know that even professional registration or licensing fees are still differentiated in some states. Massachusetts, for instance, charges $96 for registration as a professional engineer and $82 for registration as a professional land surveyor. Talking about “stereotypes”! We know, of course, that land surveying per se will always be somewhat “local” and has to be regulated by each state of the Union. Our State Affiliates have done a marvelous job providing information with local relevance. Belonging to a prestigious national organization such as ACSM, however, gives every surveyor access to knowledge beyond the narrow lens of local peculiarity. Surveyor members of ACSM usually have a broader perspective of their profession than do their local colleagues. They are able to see the proverbial forest as well as the trees. The problem is there is not enough of those surveyors with a broad world view. As an example, a GIS conference in Kentucky, a few years ago, was attended by many “GIS experts” but only by two practicing surveyors (ACSM Bulletin no. 200, Nov/Dec. 2000). Given the fractious times we find ourselves in, it may be worthwhile to consider what some of the ACSM wise men have urged us to consider years ago. I’m thinking of Prof. Brother B. Austin Barry of New York who told us in the 1970s to stop that “dastardly sniper fry” and the silly bickering. Prof. Ralph Berry of Michigan deplored the apprentice system which without proper formal education, he said, “serves admirably for the training of plumbers” (Proceedings, ASCE vol. 90, SU 2, July 1964). Ira Alexander of California deplored the absence of geodetic standards and the basic ignorance of their existence, where they do exist. He warned of “purveyors of smoke-oil cures” when one only learns how to push the right button on the magic black box (ACSM Bulletin no. 136, March/April 1992). And there were others—Walter Dix, Earl Fennel, Jesse Fant, Red Wagner, Ken Curtis, and Paul Wolf among others—who had regularly added their exhortations to which we appear to have paid scant attention. At the 20th Surveying and Mapping Educator’s Conference held in Texas in 2005, several participants expressed their concern (SALIS Vol.65, No.3, 2005). Prof. Robert Burch of Michigan warned us of “providing education of the
Comment, p. 34
ACSM Bulletin no. 244, April 2010
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
G42
Maximize Your Return on Investment with Mobile GIS When you combine geographic information system (GIS) with mobile technologies such as GPS and automated vehicle location systems, you create a powerful new solution that saves you time, focuses your resources, and captures accurate data. ESRIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GIS brings it all together for smart business operations and intelligent work management that will help you improve your business processes and maximize your return on investment. See the latest in GIS server and mobile technologies that provide an intelligent work environment for utility staff in the field and in the office, visit Integrate Surveying and GIS.
www.esri.com/geocollector.
Update data in the field.
Copyright Š 2010 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcLogistics Route, ArcPad, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
G42632_ProfSurveyor_Jul10.indd 1
6/16/10 10:17:42 AM
Comment, from p. 32
masses,” devoid of theoretical underpinnings and produc- hold a joint national conference, as ASPRS Executive Direcing “nuts-and-bolts surveyors.” Prof. N.W.T.Hazelton of Ohio tor James R. Plasker has explained to me. Only better saw a “collective paranoia” and predicted “ossification” and knowledge and greater wisdom can overcome what may “balkanization” of our profession. Prof. Earl Burkholder of be a misguided ego, possibly disguising a suspected but New Mexico wanted to help his students to “learn how to uncalled for inferiority complex. learn” and to “teach them how to think.” To fight over the measurement part of a “rapidly shrinking In his most recent article “Surveying: Beyond Mere Exis- pie” of the spatial information cycle is an exercise in futiltence” (ACSM Bulletin no. 244, April 2010), Prof. Hazelton, ity, Prof. Hazelton warns us. My own perspective of technoformerly of Ohio, now University of Alaska, has once again logical professionalism and progress can be summed up as: analyzed our dilemma. I was pleasantly surprised to note What was science yesterday, is engineering today, and will that he has traded his verbal sledgehammer for a finely cali- be plumbing tomorrow. brated tuning-fork! His brief but excellent analysis points to It is important to recognize that beyond measurement the “unfortunate consequences of segregating the profes- comes “knowledge and wisdom.” We must prepare for it sion into silos.” He wisely quotes Alvin Toffler and urges us and act accordingly. Technical “silos” are not the answer! to rethink and to relearn before we act divisively instead of Through our action we must convince the hesitant local decisively. I would strongly recommend that every ACSM surveyor that belonging to ACSM offers much more than a member and especially the promoters of surveyor separa- stagnant existence. tion take the time to re-read his article, as well as some of Gunther Greulich, PLS, PE the older published papers mentioned above. Fellow, Life Member Our new “toys” (technology) have simplified measureFormer ACSM president (1991-1992) ment and data collection to a point that these activities have gunther1928@gmail.com become ubiquitous and less important as a science. We (781) 334-2337 have encouraged “specialization” at the expense of “general understanding,” Hazelton surmised. It is a dead-end street that will only push us further down to the level of “nuts-andPERMAMARK® bolts surveyors,” equal to other licensed disciplines, such The Original Plastic Survey Marker as well trained mechanics, electricians, and plumbers. Just Choice of Surveyors for over 30 years! what Prof. Berry had warned us about in 1964! Imagine, 46 years ago!! ŸPermanent Identification I’d have some important questions of those who believe ŸCost Effective that separating NSPS from ACSM will be a panacea for our ŸInstalls Fast and Easy shrinking surveyor membership. Do you really think that ŸStamping Included the tens of thousands of licensed land surveyors in our fifty states will finally see the light and flock to a (to them) ŸEliminates Electrolysis remote national organization? ŸNon-Corrosive However small their membership, do you think that our ŸFastest Service well educated members of AAGS and CAGIS will simply subordinate themselves to a larger NSPS organization? Their important disciplines will neither fade away nor can Sizes Fit: 1/2”, 3/4” & 1” pipe and 3/8”, 1/2”, 5/8”, & 3/4” rebar surveyors nationwide function without their expertise. Per- Colors: STANDARD: Yellow ALTERNATE: Red & Orange haps, we should go back to our roots: a national member For FREE samples organization with various semi-autonomous specialty diviWrite, call, or fax sions or sections within. Barnette Industries, Inc. We may want to take a look at other successful national Western Division Eastern Division organizations such as ABA (American Bar Association) 5860 Laird Road 53 Poquito Road and AMA (American Medical Association). Even ASPRS, a Shalimar FL 32579 Loomis CA 95650 national scientific and professional aerial photogrammetric Tel: 916-652-7050 Tel: 850-651-2500 and remote sensing organization of individual members Fax: 850-651-9995 Fax: 916-652-7173 could be a model to learn from. For over a decade now, they have cordial, even cooperative relations with MAPPS, a photogrammetry business-oriented organization of over TO LEAVE YOUR MARK, USE PERMAMARK 120 aerial photogrammetry firms. Every three years, they
34
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
What can COFPAES do for you? How many ACSM members know what COFPAES is and what it does on regular basis for the architecture and engineering (A/E) community? —by Laurence Socci
I
f you compete regularly for Federal contracts, COFPAES onstrated competence and qualifications. The Senate Report works to make sure the competition is fair and does not authorizing the Brooks Act states, “Under this system, A/Es automatically go to the lowest bidder. COFPAES does are under no compunction to compromise the quality of the this by working to preserve, protect, and defend the Brooks design or the level of effort they will contribute to it in order Act; a long-standing law passed by Congress to ensure that to meet the lower ‘fee’ quotations of other A/Es.” [S. Rept. architectural and engineering services—including survey- 92-1219; Sept. 25, 1972.] ing and sometimes mapping services—are acquired by Since qualifications based selection (QBS) is the law in more qualifications based selection. than 30 states (and the practice in most others), and many state COFPAES is an acronym for Council on Federal Procurement licensing laws or ethics codes and regulations prohibit practitioof Architectural and Engineering Services. It is a coalition of the ners from engaging in price competition to secure work, complination’s leading design professional societies and associations. ance with the Brooks Act protects surveying professionals from It was formed in 1966 to provide a common voice for the pro- violating their own state laws and ethical practices. But COFPAES also works on a number of other issues fession on federal procurement issues. COFPAES members are the American Institute of Architects, American Society of Civil benefitting ACSM members. One of them concerns the Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, Manage- greater use of “design build” rather than the conventional ment Association for Private Photogrammmetric Surveyors, and “design-bid-build” process by the federal government. Many American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. small A/E firms are concerned that since there has been no Joseph Dolan serves as ACSM’s delegate to COFPAES Congressional review of whether savings or efficiencies are and I serve as ACSM’s staff representative and handle the being achieved using the design-build process, they are at a day to day issues. Two times a year, COFPAES delegates disadvantage and lose out on prospective work. from all member organizations, along with staff from each Earlier this year, COFPAES scored a big victory for the member organization, meet in Washington, D.C. to learn members of its member organizations. After months of work from federal government officials on the subject of federal on the “10 percent retainage on A/E contracts, the Federal procurement of A/E services. The delegates and staff also Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clarified its position on the rule, meet to discuss issues important to members of the organi- in Item VI—Payments Under Fixed-Price Architecture and zations represented in COFPAES. Engineering Contracts (FAR Case 2008-015) One of these issues is a concern expressed by our memThis rule amends clause FAR 52.232-10 Payments Under bers about RFP solicitations from the federal government Fixed-Price Architect-Engineer Contracts with revised for surveying services on a federal contract which call for retainage requirements. The contracting officer can withthe price for the services to be placed in the bid. Such hold up to 10 percent of the payment due in any billing solicitations are a violation of the Brooks Act because they period when he or she determines that such a withholdhave made “price” to be the deciding factor in the selection ing is necessary to protect the Government’s interest and process. Under the Brooks Act, the highest qualified firm ensure satisfactory completion of the contract. However, should get the contract, not the lowest bidder. withholding the entire 10 percent is not required, and no When we learn about such price bids, we immediately con- withholding is required if the contractor’s performance has tact the COFPAES administrator and request an investigation. If been satisfactory. The changes thus clarify that retainage is it is, in fact, a solicitation that violates the Brooks Act, a letter optional and any amounts retained should not be held over is written by COFPAES on behalf of ACSM and sent to the beyond the satisfactory completion of the instant contract. contracting officer, informing him that we feel the solicitation In this economy, it was a welcomed ruling. violates the Brooks Act. More often than not, the solicitation is COFPAES works on other issues too numerous to discuss pulled and reissued in compliance with the Brooks Act. here. To learn more about what COFPAES can do for you and You may be wondering, “Okay, so what? Why is qualifica- your business, visit the COFPAES website at www.cofpaes.org. tions based selection so important?” It’s important because Laurence Socci can be reached at laurence@theclagroup.com it makes sure the federal contract is awarded based on dem-
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 35
Book Review
Dawn, May 30, 1832. Two young men them geometers—‘Earth measurers’ Since C.P. Snow discussed the meet at Gentilly on the outskirts of Paris or ‘surveyors’ in French. They believed divide between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ scito fight a duel. At issue is the honor of that mathematics existed to illuminate ence in the UK in the 1950s, this divide a young woman. Both men are mem- Nature, to provide order and insight in science has tended to be bridged bers of revolutionary groups and have to help understand the chaos of the over from both sides. Physicists and been active in the political upheavals unexplained world. Mathematics was astronomers, who occupy areas of of the era. They have agreed that only therefore intimately and intrinsically science that are less ‘applied,’ noneone of the pistols will be loaded, leav- connected to reality, and the success theless are focused on explanation ing the affair to chance. The face each of mathematics was founded on its and understanding of the natural world. other, and at the signal a shot rings usefulness. Proof was therefore less But the divide is still alive and strong in out. One falls, mortally wounded, and important than utility, and geometry mathematics. is taken to the nearby Cochin hospital. held the central place, just as it had This peculiar aspect of modern mathThe next morning, Évariste Galois dies since the Ancient Greek philosophers. ematics is illustrated in its legends and in the arms of his brother, Alfred. He is The ‘new’ mathematicians of the ‘mythical’ figures. Alexander discusses just 20 years old. Romantic era took a different view. several, such as G.H. Hardy, Srinivasa A tragic death in the style of the Mathematics should be a self-con- Ramanujan, Kurt Gödel, John Nash, Romantic era, then at its height, but tained system, divorced from reality, and Grigory Perelman in more recent Galois is not a Romantic poet or artist. with proof being the key issue and only times. The Romantic nature of these A revolutionary, a radical who has path to truth. Algebra became central, figures, their struggle to overcome the spent a year in prison for his politics, and mathematics was to follow the opposition and barriers to their genius, a young man intent on stirring up his Euclidean model of carefully building their ‘vows of poverty,’ and their dedistaid university, a firebrand who sees each new component by proof from cation to the truth, beauty and purity of much of the world in terms of black earlier proved theorems. Many math- mathematics, illuminates the ethos of and white, truth and falsehood: Galois ematicians of the day took off in new modern mathematics. is all of these. But he is also a brilliant directions, exploring theoretical areas A central tenet of mathematics today mathematician, seen as being of great that appeared to have no connection is the need to forsake the world, dedipromise by the leading scientists of to reality. Bolyai explored non-Euclid- cate oneself to the purity and beauty the day, and has already played a sig- ean spaces. Galois and Abel developed of the discipline, and struggle against nificant role in changing the fundamen- critical aspects of group theory. Rie- an uncomprehending and unenlighttal nature of mathematics. mann moved into extremely abstract ened world. Mathematics is painted in The story of Galois has become a algebraic representations of spaces. almost religious or poetic terms. How legend of modern mathematics. He has Other mathematicians, such as Cauchy, John von Neumann and Roger Penrose been changed into a Romantic martyr re-developed earlier work, such as cal- would fit into this picture, Alexander for truth and modern mathematics, his culus, in terms of the requirement for never explains. nature revised from self-destructive rigorous proof. There are many lines of discussion to self-sacrificing. His life and death Alexander explores these changes that can come from such a picture marks a turning point in the ethos by exploring the stories of the individual and an important one is: How do you of mathematics. Amir Alexander’s mathematicians and their interactions recruit for such a discipline? book explores the nature of this turn- over time. What emerges from this The solution appears to be to appeal ing point and the mindset that devel- exploration is the origins of the sharp to those people who have an interest oped in mathematics from this period divide between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ math- in abstract mathematics, and focus onward. ematics, a curse of modern times, which the efforts of mathematicians on the Most of the mathematicians of the Alexander does not really explore. He important goal of perpetuating the 18th century, such as Euler, d’Alembert also fails to explore the sneering con- discipline. Along the way, the disconand Lagrange, were men of the Enlight- tempt that many pure mathematicians nection from the rest of the world is enment. Many of them were also engi- seem to feel and express for applied achieved. Those who fall short of the neers, and Alexander frequently calls mathematics. required level of dedication, self-sacri36
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Duel at Dawn, p. 38
Duel at Dawn: Heroes, Martyrs and the Rise of Modern Mathematics, by Amir Alexander. Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-674-04661-0. $19.11 on amazon.com—Reviewed by N.W.J. Hazelton
! c i V k s A
Q.
We are often presented with client-drafted contracts that do not accurately describe our project responsibilities. This is especially true when we are providing construction stakeout services at a site. What are the risks of accepting terms that do not reflect our responsibilities? Do you have any suggestions on how to structure agreements that properly reflect our responsibilities?
Legal Requirements
A surveyor is required by law to exercise a reasonable degree of care, skill, and diligence when providing professional services, even in the absence of contractual language. This is the standard of care intrinsic in providing professional services. One of the most important factors in determining the liability of a surveyor is the scope of services undertaken by contract and the terms and conditions of performance of that scope. These factors can change the standard of care and the extent of the risk assumed by the surveyor. There is often a temptation to redefine the traditional professional relationship by creating documents with wording favorable to one party or another. It is important for each of the parties involved in a design and construction project to understand their respective responsibilities and degrees of authority, and to be able to rely on the agreed-upon division of power and obligations. The value of a carefully crafted professional services agreement between the client and surveyor, and a coordinated agreement between the client and other
only lead to uncertainty and confusion. • Use provisions that create only reasonable and realistic expectations. Confusion or disappointment significantly increases the risk of a dispute. Contracts can establish reasonable and realistic expectations by clearly communicating responsibilities and obligations.
parties, is that the contractual roles and responsibilities are clearly communicated. Contract negotiations between the surveyor and client, therefore, represent the prime opportunity to communicate with the client. The resultant Basic Questions to Ask When agreement should guide the relation- Reviewing Client-Drafted ship of the parties throughout their Contracts collaboration. Therefore, it is important Whenever a custom contract is reviewed, that the final executed contract cor- some basic questions should be asked. rectly reflect the roles and responsibili- They include: • What does the language say? ties of the parties. • What does it mean? • What problem is this language Risk Allocation Principles intended to solve? Although contracts for specific projects • How does the language affect the may vary considerably, the following surveyor’s responsibilities? principles for structuring reasonable • Will the language have an adverse agreements should guide you. impact on the working relationship • Determine who is in the best posibetween the client and surveyor? tion to carry out responsibilities, Contract negotiation is an opportuand assign responsibilities accordnity to educate your client about the ingly. Shifting risks to a party incaservices you provide and the proper pable of managing those risks is both unreasonable and unproduc- roles and responsibilities that you are qualified to assume. tive. • Assign responsibilities to those with the authority to fulfill them. Even if a party is in the best position to carry out a particular responsibility, that party is incapable of acting unless it is empowered to do so. Having the authority to do what is necessary to meet a contractual obliga- Do you have a question regarding an tion is a basic principle of contract insurance or practice management issue? Email your question to AskVic@ formation. Schinnerer.com and look for your answer • Assign each responsibility to only in a future issue of ACSM’s Bulletin. one party. Clients sometimes Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc., is assume that if multiple parties the underwriting manager for the CNA are given responsibility for a speprofessional liability program. Schinnerer cific duty, the likelihood of that and CNA have been the commended proobligation being properly fulfilled gram of the American Congress on Surincreases. Experience, however, indicates that the opposite is true. veying and Mapping since 1965. Nahom Co-responsibility creates a situa- A. Gebre, Esq., P.E., Risk Management tion in which neither party is fully Attorney with Victor O. Shinnerer, writes responsible. Such a situation can this column. august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 37
2011 AAGS Ballot for aags president-elect
Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2012
vote for one
michael l. dennis Biographic information at www.aagsmo.org
wesley parks Biographic information at www.aagsmo.org
for aags director
Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2014
vote for one
thomas h. meyer Biographic information at www.aagsmo.org
alan r. dragoo Biographic information at www.aagsmo.org
Duel at Dawn, from p. 36
fice, and true appreciation of truth and have the foundations of an anti-mathbeauty are left by the wayside. They ematical society, complete with antiare the failures, the unworthy, the infi- social mathematicians. This is not a dels, the barbarians at the gates. And good thing today, when we have never they make up most of the world. had greater need of mathematical litOf course, this is an exaggeration, eracy. but there is a kernel of truth here. The geomatics profession is very This concept is a thread in the ethos much a discipline of applied mathof modern mathematics, something ematics. Geometry is at the core of worked into the soul of modern math- what we do, and we are very much ematicians. It has a major impact on connected to the real world, as were how mathematics is taught, and there- almost all mathematicians from the fore on how well it is integrated into Ancient Babylonians to the Enlightenmodern society and its thinking. By ment geometers. But mathematics is focusing on the purity of mathematics, a stumbling block to recruiting for us, mathematicians have alienated their and it’s the same in engineering. Mathcraft from much of society, thereby ematics as a discipline tends to drive ensuring their continued isolation, in away mere practical people, and that keeping with those Romantic ideals. makes it hard for us to recruit. It may But alienation from the rest of soci- be timely for the applied mathematical ety means that mathematical literacy disciplines to take back applied mathin the general population is low, most ematics, to take charge of the foundapeople hate and fear math, and we tions of our own disciplines. This is a 38
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
complex issue, but we need to make sure that mathematics serves us, not the other way around. Alexander’s book raises some interesting points, but it is short on analysis of the consequences of the change in the fundamental nature of mathematics that it chronicles. It is also a bit repetitive: I don’t know how many times I read that Galois was built up to be a Romantic hero of mathematics, and how many times the same points were made about Abel. Perhaps Alexander should have taken greater heed of the notion of ‘proof’ in his telling of the story. I would have preferred less time spent repeating these ideas and more looking at the consequences of these changes. That said, it is an interesting interpretation of history, which provides some useful insights into the group psychology of mathematics and mathematicians today.
Surveying and mapping the universe—in 3D —by Tony Rogers
L
As laser scanning technology advances at an unprecedented pace with never before seen capabilities and applications the question facing the market is no longer ‘can we scan it?’ but rather ‘what do we do with our scan results?’ How is point cloud software helping surveyors around the world?—Tony Rogers, cofounder and Director of Pointools (in photo).
aser scanners are continually being developed to offer improved functionality with operational ranges of up to six kilometres, quoted accuracies of 2 millimetres, and rates of data capture rapidly approaching the one million points per second milestone. It is now possible to scan objects much quicker, at a greater distance, and with scanners offering increasing portability and affordability, their use is becoming more and more widespread. At the same time advances in laser scan processing “point cloud” software are allowing the vast amount of data to be quickly turned into truly useful information such as 3D computer models and fly-through 360 degree visualizations. Surveyors are now mapping everything from diamond mines in Africa to glacial movements in the European Alps, and volcanic formations in New Mexico. In fact, this last example was
a proof-of-concept project to explore the viability of laser scanning even further afield. Researchers from Navajo Technical College, together with representatives from NASA and New Mexico Tech, laser-scanned a volcanic formation in New Mexico, gathering 240 million individual measurements. Using specially developed point cloud software, the data was processed to create an immersive and interactive 3D computer model from which NASA scientists can assess the potential of laser scanning for future missions into space. Using a Faro LS 120 laser scanner, the survey party mapped the Four Windows lava tube in the El Malpais National Park, collecting eight individual scans, each composed of 30 million points. The project was designed to understand the viability of laser scanning lava tubes and other formations on the Moon and Mars.
“This project was a proof-of-concept for NASA to determine what kind of data could be acquired by sending a rover vehicle, equipped with laser scanner, into a lava tube or cave on the Moon or Mars,” commented H Scott Halliday, Course Leader at Navajo Technical College. “From the Pointools model we can make an evaluation of the type of structures that can be picked up and conclude whether it is possible to determine the presence of water, ice, and/or micro organisms. This was great experience for the students, and both NASA and New Mexico Tech have been impressed with the results.” High tech laser mapping can and is being used to help digitally preserve cultural heritage sites around the world. Using software from Pointools to process millions, sometimes billions, of 3D measurements captured by laser scanning
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 39
Scanning lava tubes in El Malpais National Park, New Mexico
The value of CyArk’s work was highlighted recently in Africa. In 2008, a CyArk partner in Uganda laser scanned a portion of the Kasubi Tombs, the royal tomb of the last four Bugandan kings
commented Justin Barton, Production Manager at CyArk. The added portability of newgeneration laser scanners means that scanners are being mounted on aeroplanes, helicopters, mobile mapping vehicles, boats, quad bikes and even robots.
3D-R1 robot scans the South Crofty mine [photo @ Bernie Petersen]
instruments, heritage preservation specialist CyArk is creating animated videos, architectural drawings, and 3D visualizations of sites such as Mount Rushmore, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and an ancient Egyptian temple at Thebes (modern day Luxor). The computer-generated models provide visually stunning content for educational and tourism materials and serve as a foundation for conservation, restoration, and management works. CyArk is a non-profit entity that digitally preserves cultural heritage sites by collecting, archiving, and providing open access to data created by laser scanning, digital modelling, and other state-of-the-art technologies. CyArk is currently working on projects to document the four missions of the San Antonio Missions National Park in Texas, and has just completed a joint venture project at Mount Rushmore involving the U.S. National Park Service and Scotland’s Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation.
40
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
Back pack laser scanner
and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Earlier this year, the wood and thatch structure of the tomb was destroyed by fire; the now invaluable scan data is being reviewed by the experts in charge of rebuilding the structure. “The superior rendering abilities of Pointools enable us to create stunning
A scan of Kasubi Toms in Uganda
3D visualizations for education and outreach work, while the highly accurate models, such as brick-bybrick elevation, provide information for conservators and restoration experts,”
The 3D-R1 “in action” in Mexico
A laser scanning robot called 3D-R1 has been designed for use in dangerous or inhospitable environments such as old underground mines. In addition, highway mapping has been revolutionised by survey vehicles such as StreetMapper that can map to an accuracy of 1 cm while travelling at normal road speeds. The capabilities of, and opportunities for, laser scanning will continue to develop at fast pace, with manufacturers competing and surveyors pushing into new areas. However, what must remain fundamental in the quest to map the universe is an understanding of the limitations of data. The billions of captured laser scanned measurements only have value when they are processed into meaningful information, and that information is applied to more informed decision making.
2011 GLIS Ballot THE CANDIDATES’ BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.GLISMO.ORG
FOR GLIS PRESIDENT
FOR GLIS VICE PRESIDENT
JAN. 1 - DEC. 31, 2011
COLEEN M. JOHNSON, RPLS, PMP
FOR GLIS SECRETARY JAN. 1- DEC. 31, 2011
WILLIAM M. (BILL) COLEMAN, RPLS, GISP
GIsWORLD The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) launched in July a geographic information system (GIS)-enabled web site, CHesapeakeStat, to provide the public, decision makers, and restoration stakeholders with up-todate information about the progress of government-funded restoration and conservation projects for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Apart from promoting accountability, the site, which was developed in collaboration with Esri is used by CBP partners to analyze data so they can better assess progress and adapt new strategies and tactics. “GIS is a tool that can be used to show people what agencies are doing and how they are spending money,” said John Wolf, USGS, and GIS team leader of CBP. “But this project takes
JAN. 1- DEC. 31, 2011
CYNTHIA R. (CINDI) SALAS
FOR GLIS TREASURER
FOR GLIS DIRECTOR
JAN. 1 - DEC. 31, 2011
JAN. 1, 2011 - DEC. 31, 2013
STACEY DUANE LYLE, RPLS, PH.D
JOHN BEAN, P.E.
Chesapeake Bay Restoration tracked it a step further. People can see in a geographic context how an agency’s goals, strategies, and outcomes are being accomplished.” Developed as part of the Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed initiated in response to President Barack Obama’s May 2009 Executive Order 13508, ChesapeakeStat organizes information around the CBP goal areas of sustainable fisheries, healthy habitats, water quality, healthy watersheds, and Chesapeake stewardship. “The Chesapeake Bay affects 64,000 square miles of habitat and 17 million people. Restoration efforts are crucial,” says Robin Smith, Ph.D., Esri’s environmental management solutions manager. “CBP’s ChesapeakeStat makes government information
easily discoverable and simple to use. Tracking expenditures and progress with GIS is another step forward in geoenabling government programs to meet their goals.” The site meets various levels of consumer need. The public and media may only want to see aggregated interpreted data for general information, whereas a scientist can access highly detailed data for research. Local watershed groups can use the site to better understand how their actions relate to the overall restoration efforts for the bay. A government agency may want to use the site as an adaptive management tool to evaluate success and decide if resources should be shifted from one location to another or possibly even from one program to another. august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 41
Calm before a storm of energy —by Stuart Clark
science
Sunspots come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only to fade away after a few days, weeks or months. Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years. For the past two years, though, the sunspots have mostly been missing. Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise. “This is solar behavior we haven’t seen in living memory,” says David Hathaway, a physicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The sun is under scrutiny as never before, thanks to an armada of space telescopes. The results they beam back are portraying our nearest star, and its influence on Earth, in a new light. Sunspots and other clues indicate that the sun’s magnetic activity is diminishing and that the sun may even be shrinking. Together, the results hint that something profound is happening inside the sun. The big question is: What? Sunspots and activity [ultraviolet on the left] captured by NASA in July 2000 and March Groups of sunspots forewarn of gigantic 2009. [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov] solar storms that can unleash a billion times more energy than an atomic bomb. to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunFears that these giant eruptions could create havoc on spots in 2008. But computer models predicted that when Earth and disputes over the sun’s role in climate change the spots did return, they would do so in force. Hathaway are adding urgency to these studies. When NASA and was reported as thinking the next solar cycle would be a the European Space Agency launched the Solar and Heliodoozy: more sunspots, more solar storms and more energy spheric Observatory almost 15 years ago, “understanding blasted into space. Others predicted that it would be the the solar cycle was not one of its scientific objectives,” most active solar cycle on record. says Bernhard Fleck, the mission’s project scientist. “Now The trouble was, no one told the sun. it is one of the key questions.” The first sign that the prediction was wrong came when Sunspots are windows into the sun’s magnetic soul. 2008 turned out to be even calmer than expected. That year, They form where giant loops of magnetism, generated the sun was spot-free 73 percent of the time, an extreme dip deep inside the sun, well up and burst through the surface, even for a solar minimum. Only the minimum of 1913 was leading to a localized drop in temperature that we see as more pronounced, with 85 percent of that year clear. a dark patch. Any changes in sunspot numbers reflect As 2009 arrived, solar physicists looked for some action. changes inside the sun. “During this transition, the sun is They didn’t get it. The sun continued to languish until midgiving us a real glimpse into its interior,” says Hathaway. December, when the largest group of sunspots to emerge When sunspot numbers drop at the end of each 11-year in several years appeared. Even with the solar cycle finally cycle, solar storms die down and all becomes much calmer. underway again, the number of sunspots has so far been This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, the well below expectations. Something appears to have spots and storms begin to build toward a new crescendo, changed inside the sun, something the models did not prethe next solar maximum. dict. But what? What’s special about this latest dip is that the sun is The flood of observations from space- and ground-based having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began telescopes suggests that the answer lies in the behavior 42
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
2011 NSPS Ballot
for nsps vice president
for nsps area
3 director
for nsps area
7 director
for nsps area
joe h. baird
w. lamar evers, pls
5 director jan s. fokens, ps
vote for one
for nsps area
7 director
kim h. leavitt, pls
for nsps area
warren d. ward, pls
9 director
carl cdebaca
of two vast conveyor belts of gas that endlessly cycle material and magnetism through the sun’s interior and out across its surface. On average it takes 40 years for the conveyor belts to complete a circuit. When Hathaway’s NASA team looked over the observations to find out where their models had gone wrong, they noticed that the conveyor-belt flows of gas across the sun’s surface have been speeding up since 2004. But the circulation deep within the sun tells a different story. Rachel Howe and Frank Hill of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson have used observations of surface disturbances, caused by the solar equivalent of seismic waves, to infer what conditions are like within the sun. Analyzing data from 2009, they found that while the surface flows had sped up, the internal ones had slowed to a crawl. These contradictory findings have thrown the best computer models of the sun into disarray. “It is certainly challenging our theories,” says Hathaway. These changes are raising questions not just about the sun itself but also about the extent to which the sun’s
activity affects our climate. There are those who believe that the solar variability is the major cause of climate change, an idea that would let humans and their greenhouse gases off the hook. Others are equally convinced that the sun plays only a minuscule role in climate change. The extended collapse in solar activity these past two years offers the possibility of an experiment to resolve this dispute, allowing scientists to examine what happens when you switch off one potential cause of climate change and leave the other alone. With so few sunspots, the amount of solar radiation bombarding our planet has significantly changed. “As a natural experiment, this is the very best thing to happen,” says Joanna Haigh, a climatologist at Imperial College London. “Now we have to see how the Earth responds.”
Frigid Europe
Michael Lockwood, a professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading in England, may already have identified one response: the unusually frigid
august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 43
Calm before a storm, p. 44
the candidates’ biographical information can be found at www.nspsmo.org
Calm before a storm of energy, from p. 43
European winter of 2009-10. He has studied records back to 1650 and found that severe European winters are much more likely during periods of low solar activity. This fits an idea of solar activity’s giving rise to small changes in the Chilly temperatures during the Maunder minimum 1680-1780. [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov] global climate overall but large regional effects. but at significantly depressed levels of activity, similar to Another example is those last seen in the 19th century. However, there is also the so-called Maunder minimum, the period from 1645 evidence that the sun is inexorably losing its ability to to 1715 during which sunspots virtually disappeared and solar activity plummeted. If a similar spell of solar inactivity produce sunspots. By 2015, they could be gone altogether, plunging us into a new Maunder minimum—and perhaps a were to begin now and continue until 2100, it would mitigate any temperature rise caused by global warming by no new Little Ice Age. Of course, solar activity is just one natural source of more than 0.3 degrees Celsius, according to calculations climate variability. Another is volcanic eruptions, spewing by Georg Feulner and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam gas and dust into the atmosphere. Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Nevertheless, it remains crucial to understand the However, something amplified the impact of the Maunprecise changeability of the sun and the way it influences der minimum on northern Europe, ushering in a period the various regional patterns of weather on Earth. Climate known as the Little Ice Age, when colder-than-average scientists will then be able to correct for these effects, not winters became more prevalent and the average temjust in interpreting modern measurements but also when perature in Europe appeared to drop by between 1 and 2 attempting to reconstruct the climate stretching back cendegrees Celsius. turies. It is only by doing so that we can reach an unassailA corresponding increase in temperatures on Earth able consensus about the sun’s true level of influence on appears to be associated with peaks in solar output. In the Earth and its climate. 2008, Judith Lean of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Clark holds a PhD in astrophysics and writes regularly space science division published a study showing that about astronomy. The author of “The Sun Kings” (Princhigh solar activity has a disproportionate warming influeton), he blogs at http://:www.stuartclark.com. This article ence on northern Europe. What the sun will do next is beyond our ability to predict. is adapted from one that appeared in the New Scientist; it can be viewd in full at http://www.newscientist.com. Most astronomers think that the solar cycle will proceed
Astor Crowne Plaza New Orleans February 7-9 2011
Submit a 250-word abstract at http://www.lidarmap.org/conference/submit_papers.aspx 44
ACSM BULLETIN august 2010
opinion
If they want to educate the public,
scientists should start listening
W
e’ve been aware for a long time that Americans view science with a great deal of scepticism. Surveys that measure the public’s views on evolution, climate change, the big bang, and even the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun yield a huge gap between what science tells us and what the public believes. But that’s not the whole story. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences convened a series of workshops on this topic over the past year and a half, and many of the scientists and other experts who participated concluded that, as much as the public misunderstands science, scientists misunderstand the public. In particular, they often fail to realize that a more scientifically informed public is not necessarily a public that will more frequently side with scientists. Take climate change. The battle over global warming has raged for more than a decade, with experts still stunned by the willingness of their opponents to distort scientific conclusions. They conclude, not illogically, that they’re dealing with a problem of misinformation or downright ignorance—one that can be fixed only by setting the record straight. Yet a closer look complicates that picture. For one thing, it’s one’s worldview—not education—that seems to motivate one’s belief on this subject. According to polling performed by the Pew Research Center, more conservative members of the public who are college graduates are considerably less likely to accept the scientific consensus on climate change than those who have less education. These better-educated members of the public aren’t ignorant about climate science; a more likely explanation is that they are politically driven consumers of climate science information. Among the centrists and those on the left, the relationship between education and beliefs about global warming is precisely the opposite—more education leads to greater acceptance of the consensus climate science. It thus appears that, on contested subjects, more information does not necessarily mean acquiescence. In fact, more education probably makes a global warming skeptic more adept at collecting information and generating persuasive arguments sympathetic to his or her point of view.
A similar story unfolds with public opposition to vaccination, for fear that it can cause autism. The body of epidemiological evidence overwhelmingly shows that vaccines don’t cause autism. Furthermore, the principal agent accused of having this effect (a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal) has long since been removed from most childhood vaccines. Yet, autism rates have not declined, and the public is skeptical of the science. Once again, the skeptics aren’t uneducated. If anything, they seem to be more voracious consumers of the relevant medical information than the nation as a whole. According to a 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, children who go un-vaccinated by parental choice (rather than because of inadequate access to vaccines) tend to be from well-to-do families and with married, college-educated mothers. Parents in such families are more likely to go onto the Internet (the so-called “university of Google”) to “research” the health risks of inoculation than are other groups of parents. Or consider the long-running controversy over plans to dispose of the nation’s nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. Although many technical experts have long argued that the repository would be safe, this has hardly convinced frightened and angry Nevadans. In 1991, the American Nuclear Energy Council even launched an ad campaign to educate the public about the Yucca Mountain plan—but it backfired. Nearly a third of viewers became more resistant to the repository, and among those who were already opposed, their resolve strengthened. (Just 15 percent had a more favorable opinion of the repository after seeing the ad, and half of viewers did not change their minds.) These three controversies have a single moral, and it’s that experts who want Americans to take science into account when they form opinions on contentious issues need to do far more than just “lay out the facts” or “set the record straight.” What science says is important, but in controversial areas, it’s only the beginning. It’s critical that experts and policy makers better understand what motivates public concern in the first place; and in this, they mustn’t be deceived by the fact that people often appear, on the surface, to be arguing about august 2010 ACSM BULLETIN 45
Scientists, p. 46
Whenever controversies arise that pit scientists against segments of the public—the evolution debate, say, or the fight over vaccination—a predictable dance seems to unfold. The non-scientists become almost entirely impervious to scientific data that undermine their opinions and are prone to arguing back with technical claims that are of dubious merit. In response, the scientists shake their heads and lament that if only the public weren’t so ignorant, these kinds of misunderstandings wouldn’t occur. But what if the fault actually lies with both sides? — by Chris Mooney
ACSM / T H S OA
Hydrographer Certification Program To learn more, visit
http://www.nspsmo.org
Contact us at
240-632-9716 ext. 105 www.nspsmo.org
Scientists, from p. 45
scientific facts. Frequently, their underlying rationale is very different. Thus, for instance, people who resist what experts tell them about global warming often appear, at heart, to be most worried about the consequences of increased government regulation of carbon emissions. Similarly, based upon my observation, vaccine skepticism seems closely connected to distrust of the pharmaceutical industry and of the medical research establishment. As for Yucca Mountain, much of the outrage appears to originate in the perceived unfairness of having Nevada proposed as the sole dump site for the waste of an entire nation. For this reason, initiatives that engage the public about science policy in a two-way conversation—before controversies explode—show great promise. In Canada, for instance, the national Nuclear Waste Management Organization spent three years listening to the public’s views about how to handle nuclear waste disposal and promised that no dump or repository would be sprung on a community without its consent. Throughout the process, even critics of waste storage efforts remained engaged and supportive of attempts to come up with the best possible solution. In the United States, meanwhile, the federally funded National Nanotechnology Initiative has sponsored a great deal of social science research
to explore possible public concerns that may arise as this new field of technology advances. Experts aren’t wrong in thinking that the public doesn’t know much about science, but given how little they themselves often know about the public, they should be careful not to throw stones. Rather than simply crusading against uninformed stances, the defenders of science should also work closely with social scientists and specialists in public opinion to determine how to defuse controversies by addressing their fundamental causes. They might, in the process, find a few pleasant surprises. For one thing, the public doesn’t seem to disdain scientists, as scientists often suppose. A 2009 study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that Americans tend to have positive views of the scientific community; it’s scientists who are wary of the media and the public. [Editor’s note: This is an adaptation of the original article published in The Washington Post. Chris Mooney (moonecc@yahoo.com) is the author of a paper on the relationship between scientists and the public released by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this summer. He is also the co-author, with Sheril Kirshenbaum, of “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.” This is an adaptation of the original article published in The Washington Post.]
10
CONNECTIONS THAT WORK FOR YOU.
November 8–10, 2010 The Mirage, Las Vegas
Don’t miss Trimble Dimensions 2010—the positioning event of the year! It’s the one place where you can make connections and gain insight into positioning solutions that can transform the way you work. Be inspired by our panel of visionary guest speakers. Increase your knowledge base from hundreds of educational sessions that focus on surveying, engineering, construction, mapping, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial, infrastructure, utilities and mobile resource management solutions. Register now and you’ll learn how the convergence of technology can make collaborating easier and more productive to gain a competitive edge.
To find out more about Dimensions 2010, visit www.trimbledimensions.com ©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. PN# 022540-039 (6/10) 10TM169_ACSM_060910.indd 1
6/17/10 10:05:27 AM