www.geoinformatics.com
� Geoserve Conference � Oracle Spatial 11G
� TomTom Mapshare and Neogeography � AutoCAD Map 3D
M a g a z i n e f o r S u r v e y i n g , M a p p i n g & G I S P r o f e s s i o n a l sJuly/Aug. 2008
Volume 11
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On the Future of Surveying,Mapping and GIS
First things first, so a big ‘thanks for everything’ from me to Huibert-Jan for being editor-in-chief of GeoInformatics. For those of you who don’t know me, I’d like to introduce myselfto you briefly. After finishing my studies in Human Geography, I became a freelance writer onGIS topics and, most recently, editorial manager of GeoInformatics. In this function, I havecome to know the entire geospatial chain from data acquisition to the end-user. I’m lookingforward to my new task and meeting you, the reader, at a conference near you. Also, I’d liketo invite you to email me if you have any questions or remarks on the contents of our magazine!
Speaking about GeoInformatics, we decided it would be a good idea to highlight the so-called ‘neo-geography’ trend that is emerging at the moment. Since so many big compa-nies have embraced geospatial, it’s clear that a revolution in geography is happening wherethe importance of place is all. From now on every issue will cover one or more of these ‘neo-geo’ developments in the form of product reviews, interviews or industry news. In thisissue you will find a product review of Oracle Spatial 11g as seen from a GIS perspective.Also, a short article on TomTom Mapshare is included.
As for specialist views on the surveying market, please read Bernhard Richters’s column onthe technical experience required for surveyors of the future. What are the implications of thegrowth of intelligence in surveying equipment for traditional surveyors? Richter is not theonly one who sees changes in the surveying market: during the FIG International Workshopat ITC in Enschede, the Netherlands, András Osskó presented his ideas on the importance ofchanges in land surveyor education at universities. These changes include the growing importance of land and real property related activities, and a decreasing importance in thetechnical aspects of measurements and computations. How can universities cope with thesechanging priorities?
Enjoy your reading!
Eric van [email protected]
July/August 20083
GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis and commentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.
PublisherRuud Groothuis [email protected]
Editor-in-chiefEric van Rees [email protected]
EditorsFrank Artés [email protected] Fischer [email protected] van Haaften [email protected] [email protected] Takken [email protected] Triglav [email protected]
ColumnistsJacek PietruczanisAchiel SturmJohn Trinder
Contributing WritersMick Ashworth Özgür ErtacFlorian FischerAndrew GosneyJob van HaaftenGuido van den HeuvelNoor van der HoevenJim IrvineEric KoomenHuibert-Jan LekkerkerkBart van MierloEric van ReesBernhard RichterRemco TakkenJoc Triglav
Account ManagerWilfred Westerhof [email protected]
SubscriptionsGeoInformatics is available against a yearly subscription rate (8 issues) of € 85,00.To subscribe, fill in and return the electronic replycard on our website or contact Janneke Bijleveld [email protected]
Advertising/ReprintsAll enquiries should be submitted to Ruud Groothuis [email protected]
World Wide WebGeoInformatics can be found at: www.geoinformatics.com
Graphic DesignSander van der [email protected]
ISSN 13870858
© Copyright 2008. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.
GeoInformatics is published by CMedia Productions BVPostal address: Street address:P.O. Box 231 Noordzijde 2-b8300 AE 8302 GL Emmeloord EmmeloordThe Netherlands The NetherlandsTel.: +31 (0) 527 619 000 Fax: +31 (0) 527 620 989 E-mail: [email protected]
So long (but not goodbye)
About a year ago, I became editor-in-chief of this magazine, knowing full well that I would
have to combine it with my ‘day job’. The day-to-day tasks were assigned to an editorial
manager, Eric van Rees. Most of you will have met Eric at some event or other instead of
me. So, to make matters clearer, you will see a photo of Eric van Rees on this page from
now on. But it is not goodbye; I will keep on writing articles and keep on advising Eric.
Eric, much success in your new role!
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
Neogeography and TomTom’sCommunityThe term ‘Neogeography’ is on everyone’s lips these days, but its
meaning is not clear to everyone. Contributing GIS-editor Florian Fischer
explains what Neogeography is all about: communities, data and
technology. TomTom recognized the importance of communities and
introduced the TomTom Map Share techology, where user communities
can correct and share street data and Points of Interest. TomTom is
working on more services of this sort.
The Phoenix Has LandedOn May 25th Phoenix Mars Lander has landed in the Mars’ Northern
Plains with the main goal of its mission to study the history of water
and search for organic molecules in the ice-rich soil of the Martian
arctic. To bring you some unearthly perspectives here's a quick
compilation of the available mission information.
C o n t e n t
4July/August 2008
ArticlesA Border-crossing Project in the Euregio 6X-GDI Supports Joint IT infrastructure
Mapping at Collins Bartholomew 10 Home of The Times Atlas of The World
Standards in Practice 16Part 8: KML – Keyhole Markup Language
The Netherlands Climate Proof 26 What Will the Country Look Like in 2040?
The Phoenix Has Landed 36Digging for Water and Life Evidence on Mars
Utilizing Local Knowledge 42Neo-geography and the TomTom Community
Reviews1Spatial’s MapRelate 18Addressing the Phenomenon of CAD/GIS Convergence
User Is No Longer a ‘CAD Guy’ 22AutoCAD Map 3D 2009
Oracle 11g and Oracle Spatial 11g 28From a GIS Specialists’ Perspective
ColumnGIS for The Public? 31Bart van Mierlo
Surveyor Needed - No Technical 33Experience NecessaryBernhart Richter
ConferencesSharing E-learning Experiences 45International FIG Workshop
Page 42
Page 36
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com5
July/August 2008
Geoserve Satellite Image Products Conference 47It’s All About the Right Shot
Autodesk Geospatial Solutions 48Listening to Customers, Changing the Game
Data Sharing from Mash-up to SDI 54GeoXchange Platform for Discussion
BIM, BRIM and Communicate 56BE Conference 2008
Lance Armstrong Is a Survivor, Too 58Intergraph International User Conference 2008
Calendar 62
Advertisers Index 62
On the Cover:
This image shows the delta of the Russian river Volga, the largest river of
Europe. The Volga ends in the Caspian Sea near the border of Kazachstan
and Russia.
The picture is taken by the Landsat satellite from an altitude of 705km using
the bands 7,4,2. The variety of soil, vegetation and water results in the nice
looking colours. The shallow water shows an unclear and unstable coastline.
Oracle 11g and Oracle Spatial 11gWe first met Oracle Spatial more than ten years ago. The latest version,
Oracle Spatial 11g, includes native support in Oracle Database 11g for all
geospatial data types and models, including vector and raster data and
topology and network models, meeting the needs of advanced geospatial
systems. Being a GIS specialist, Özgür Ertac tells all about the world of
Oracle Spatial features, including new features in 11g.
Page 47
Intergraph International User Conference 2008With its current focus on solutions instead of technology, Intergraph’s
annual user conference, held this year in Las Vegas, still offered many
useful perspectives on the geospatial market and, of course, Intergraph’s
software.
Page 58
Page 28
X-GDI Supports Joint IT Infrastructure
A Border-crossing Project in The Euregio
The European programme X-GDI supports border-crossing GIS projects. The Netherlands already undertakes some
‘gesamt projects’ (joint projects) with its German neighbouring country. This summer a new geodata infrastructure (GDI)
has been delivered for the project ‘Planning and Building’ in the Euregion Maas-Rijn (EMR), of which Zuid-Limburg, part
of a province south in the Netherlands, is part.
By Guido van den Heuvel
municipalities and tens of bordering German
municipalities. They were trained in the use,
installation and administration of the X-bor-
der-GDI software components. The underlying
technology had been decided on in the pro-
ject ‘Planning and Building’ and was devel-
oped by a consortium of lat/lon (Bonn),
Delphi-IMM (Postdam) and IDGIS in the Dutch
city of Holten.
The new joint GDI consists of map services,
a map viewer, a metadata editor and a func-
tion to scan metadata. A number of things
have been integrated in a portal environment.
All of these functions meet the Dutch and
German standards for geoservices and meta-
data.
The GDI, which is based on deegree and
OpenCatalogue, is available as open source
software. Thus there are no software licen sing
costs.
The GDI unlocks mutual information, enabling
mutual synchronization of policies. Herman
6
Art ic le
July/August 2008
German and Dutch project partners got
acquainted with ‘their’ new GDI during an
intensive and interactive training in spring
2007. The ‘trainees’ came from seven Dutch
Building and living area.
In a technical and organizational way coop-
eration with neighbouring countries and
municipalities has always been difficult
because of language, cultural and technical
barriers. Deploying a geoinformation infra -
structure (GDI) and open source should help
in overcoming these differences.
The X-GDI Programme (part of the European
programme Inspire) has recently established
the crossing-border project GI-X for the
Euregion Rijn-Maas Noord (ERMN, Rijn-Maas
north), of which the northern and middle part
of the province of Limburg are part. This has
been realized with subsidiary money of the
European Interreg IIIa-programme which
focuses on the problems of border regions.
The technical infrastructure is currently in
operation.
Useful ToolboxAs part of their GI-X-project (Euregio Maas-
Rijn Noord; Euregion Maas-Rhine North)
Assink, director of IDGIS, was involved in the
technical installation of the GDI. “We can now
speak of a well-filled toolbox ready to be used
by civil servants and directors”, he says. The
complex system integration was not the only
aspect. Double legislation in this area is
another obstacle. Cultural and language bar-
riers had to be solved as well. Therefore
Thesaurus is being developed; a bilingual set
of headwords and conceptions to unambigu-
ously name spatial matters and terms related
to policy.”
Assink: “There are some first technical expe-
riences. Sometimes the destinations on both
sides of the border overlap. These are differ-
ences in the coordinate systems that we are
still working on. Confrontation about the con-
tent – does a development plan in Kerkrade,
the Netherlands, match with a German neigh-
bouring municipality- will be dealt with in near
future. Other thematic groups related to traf-
fic, agriculture and industrial zones will also
start working with it.”
Now that technology is working the big ques-
tion is whether the policy and the execution
by the border municipalities will indeed be
drawing nearer.
Social UrgencyGradually the cooperation between the
European regions is taking shape and this is
far from a coincidence. Often it is simply
inevitable. This became obvious in 1995 when
some interesting practice examples. The X-
border project has already yielded several pro-
jects (have a look at www.x-border-gdi.org).
Other ProjectsThe outbreak of classical swine fever in 2006
in Kreis Borken, Germany, brought about the
border-crossing ‘Geoviewer animal epide
mics’. At that time the epidemic was literally
on the threshold of its neighbouring country
the Netherlands. The new geoviewer links ser-
vices from the Ministery of Agriculture with
those from Kreis Borken and the province of
Gelderland, the Netherlands. Together with the
Dutch ministeries LNV (Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality) and VROM (Ministry
of Environment and Spatial Planning,
Housing, Communities and Integration), the
Dutch Dienst Landelijk Gebied (DLG,
Government Service for Land and Water
Management), the province of Gelderland, the
Netherlands, Bureau Nieuwland (the
Netherlands), Kreis Steinfurt and with the
cooperation of the Landkreis Grafschaft
Bentheim an internet based web application
was developed. With this tool topographical
data, street data and polical borders, but also
local data like locations of cattle farms or dis-
infection stations can be gathered and visu-
alized. At first the application was developed
in order to inform the public. Within short
time policy makers can also start working with
it.
The project ‘Crossing the border with a digi-
tal pedestrian route map’ led to a border-
crossing test route between Bocholt, Germany,
and the bordering Dutch municipalities of
Aalten and Winterswijk. Trilingual versions
have been developed; one in German, the
other two in Dutch and English. There is
always something interesting to see at the
farms taking part in the agricultural project
called ‘Greta’ in the regions of Twente,
Achterhoek (the Netherlands), Münsterland
and Grafschaft Bentheim (Germany). Farm
pubs, shops and accommodation to stay
overnight shows that these farmers are aim-
ing at ‘agro tourists’. A route navigation sys-
tem has been developed for these tourists as
part of the X-Border-GDI-project Greta.
Guido van den Heuvel [email protected] is
a freelance copywriter of ICT related articles.
More information on the topics discussed in this
article can be found at www.x-border-gdi.org
(building and living project) and www.idgis.nl.
high tide had a big impact on both the
Netherlands and Nordrhein Westfalen,
Germany. This necessitated thorough improve-
ment of water management cooperation.
Cooperation on other social themes proves to
be highly productive. Particularly Nature,
Environment &Tourism, Traffic & Transport,
Crisis management (Enschede, the
Netherlands), or political themes such as eco-
nomic and spatial planning are involved.
Interregional cooperation proves to be very
useful and improves credibility of Europe with
its citizens.
Since 2000 technical information exchange
between neighbouring countries has been
seriously improved. Passionate geo special-
ists and attentive policy makers on both sides
of the Dutch and German borders have led to
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
7July/August 2008
Herman Assink
Core Activities IDGISIDGIS partly implemented the ‘Limburgse’
X-border project. IDGIS serves as an advi-
sory and development bureau in the field
of geographical information systems.
Analysis, design and building support are
IDGIS’ core businesses. Besides commercial
packages IDGIS has been deploying open
source software, like deegree, for several
years. Besides this IDGIS developed the
open source, web oriented mapclient
Geoide. Geoide is based on Flash and open
geoservices and has extensive capabilities
for editing geometry.
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Home of The Times Atlas of The World
Mapping at Collins Bartholomew
The 12th Edition of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, published in September 2007, and the forthcoming The
Times Universal Atlas of the World (publishing September 2008), epitomize the use of geographic data and Geographic
Information System (GIS) technology in the creation of published atlases and maps. Created from Collins Bartholomew
geographic databases and published by Times Books/HarperCollins, these products continue a long tradition of
atlas publishing stretching back over 100 years, established through the activities of, in particular, the time honoured
Edinburgh cartographic company of John Bartholomew & Son. Throughout this period, cartography has moved with
the times, embracing many new technologies. But what is involved today, in the creation and maintenance of
digitalgeographic data and in the creation of high quality cartographic products?
By Mick Ashworth and Jim Irvine
History of Times AtlasesThe first Times Atlas was published in 1895 and
was, in fact, a translated edition of a German
atlas. In the first decade of the twentieth cen-
tury, when The Times wanted a new edition,
and an atlas they could call their own, they
turned to the leading cartographers of the day
John Bartholomew & Sons of Edinburgh. Thus
began a relationship between The Times and
Bartholomew, and their successors Harper -
Collins and Collins Bartholomew, which contin-
ues today, and which still reflects the standards
of cartography established by Bartholomew
through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Many editions of Times atlases have been pub-
lished since this relationship was established.
The most recent being the 12th edition of the
flagship product, The Times Comprehensive
Atlas of the World (Figure 1) and the new The
Times Reference and Universal Atlases of the
World.
Technological DevelopmentAt each stage of their evolution, the atlases
have embraced new technology and since 1995
have been produced on a digital flowline,
exploiting GIS technology. This has only been
possible through the creation and maintenance
of extensive global geographic databases,
which also offer numerous possibilities for the
creation and delivery of maps beyond printed
products.
Digital mapping systems were first introduced
to Bartholomew in the mid-1980s and were con-
strained by both the hardware and software
available at the time. Despite the simplicity of
these early systems, a digital database of Great
Britain at a scale of 1:250,000 was created and
10
Art ic le
July/August 2008
Figure 1. The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World 12th edition.
used to produce the Bartholomew Road Atlas
of Great Britain in 1988, the first title to be pro-
duced using digital techniques. This was fol-
lowed four years later by the Collins Road Atlas
of Britain, created from the same database.
While these two road atlases contained the
same information, they were targeted at differ-
ent markets and contained very different map-
ping styles. This was an early realization of one
of the anticipated benefits of digital map pro-
duction – the ability to create different products
from the same basic data. The cartographic
database is an essential part of the production
process for each new edition of the Collins Road
Atlases.
In 1995 the 7th edition of The Times Concise
Atlas of the World became the first world atlas
produced by Collins Bartholomew to contain
mapping wholly produced using digital technol-
ogy. This was joined in 1999 by the first fully
digital version of The Times Com pre hensive
Atlas of the World – The Millennium Edition.
While the content of these atlases was created
digitally, they were printed using traditional
methods through the output of film for plate
making. The more recent introduction of digital
computer to plate (CTP) technology into the
printing industry completed the end-to-end dig-
ital map production flowline.
Map Information And Research This first stage in the flowline is sourcing the
geographical information required for database
capture and maintenance. This is a continual
process, driven by the pace of physical and
geopolitical changes in the real world. New
maps and geographic publications from gov-
ernment departments, agencies, business
offices, and experts around the world provide
information for every country on a variety of
topics. The Internet has become a key resource
in this work, but a team of information experts
Initial Product Creation One clear benefit of the database approach,
and of the detailed data structure on which the
databases have been built, is the great flexibil-
ity of the data. This allows the creation of a
great range of products, for specific markets
and users, from the same database.
The appropriate data is extracted from the
database, ensuring that coverage, content, scale
and projection are all correct. As much of the
final map specification as possible is also
applied at this stage. This is achieved using
standard ArcGIS tools, including Maplex, the
automated text placement and cartographic
design application. The application of different
cartographic representations to the same base
data allows very different maps to be created
from the same database.
Finishing Map Pages Output from ArcGIS requires further manual edit-
ing to create a final print quality map. The car-
tographic team use Adobe Illustrator for this
task. Generally this involves fine tuning the map
specification and type placement, as well as
adding marginalia, scale bars and grid refer-
ences. Rigorous editorial quality control is car-
ried out at this stage to ensure the specifica-
tion and policies have been correctly applied
(see figure 2).
Creating Geographic Indexes Most maps and atlases will include an index
to place names, and for large world atlases
with mixed scales, overlapping pages and
complicated indexing rules this can be a com-
plex task. A major feature of The Times
Comprehensive Atlas of the World, for which it
is renowned, is its index to over 200,000 places
and features. This includes several thousand
alternative name forms, all cross-referenced
accurately to the name form appearing on the
map.
Collins Bartholomew uses a combination of
standard commercial software and in-house
applications to create indexes. The unique IDs
assigned to all named features in the database
remain attached to their features throughout
the map production process, and are used to
identify which names appear on each map and
to build up index entries. These index entries
are stored in product-specific Oracle tables,
where overlapping is accounted for and the
application of any specific indexing rules is car-
ried out. When all index entries are complete,
they are alpha sorted, combined with type set-
ting tags and extracted into a text file, which
in turn is flowed into page layout software
(Quark Xpress) for final formatting. This
approach automates as much of the indexing
process as possible while retaining the flexibil-
ity inherent in manual methods.
– with skills in geography, cartography and
information science – assess and validate
numerous sources to ensure that the best mate-
rial is used and that the authority of the prod-
ucts is not compromised.
Underlying the capture of any information into
the databases are detailed policies relating to,
for example, name forms and political bound-
aries. The work of a Cartographic Policy
Committee and the advice of key external
experts ensure that our data is regarded as neu-
tral, accurate, up to date and trustworthy – crit-
ical factors in an era where the amount of infor-
mation available appears endless and where its
provenance cannot always be established.
Cartographic Database Maintenance Once changes have been thoroughly researched
and validated, the database is updated.
Changes to the database are made on average
every three and a half minutes and are validat-
ed by information from approximately 500 orga-
nizations and experts. This worldwide network
has been built up over the last hundred years
of map making. This database approach leads
directly to the more efficient revision of prod-
ucts, as a single database edit will be automat-
ically propagated to all maps derived from that
database.
To support the variety of mapping required for
their products, Collins Bartholomew maintain
data at different scales. Data is stored in a
hybrid structure, with graphical information
(points, lines and polygons) stored in ArcGIS
server from ESRI and a linked Oracle database
storing all non graphic information – place
names, populations, information on administra-
tive divisions etc. The database contains
approximately 350,000 named features, each
of which is automatically assigned a unique
identification number (ID) at the time of cap-
ture.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
11July/August 2008
Figure 2: Northern South America reference map from the Times Universal Atlas of the World.
Computer to Plate Printing The final stage of the process is the creation of
PDF files for supply to the printer, who will use
these directly in the CTP printing process. This
involves transferring digital images directly from
the file onto the printing plate, avoiding the
output of colour separated films. Besides reduc-
ing cost through removing the need to create,
distribute and store film, this increases suppli-
er location flexibility as digital files can be sent
electronically to printers, either on CD or DVD
or over the Internet using File Transfer Protocol
(FTP). In addition, and in contrast to film, digi-
tal images do not deteriorate over time, and
result in better quality images time after time.
The BenefitsAs well as cost and efficiency gains, the devel-
opment of a completely digital flowline has cre-
ated a range of further benefits and new oppor-
tunities for the business of commercial
cartography, all of which have benefited Collins
Bartholomew.
- Flexible Map Specifications
Database driven production techniques allow
cartographers to create many different map
images from the same basic data. The ability
to select different sets of features from the
database and apply different representations
gives the cartographer great flexibility over the
types of map produced. As well as varying the
choice of colours, symbols, line widths and
fonts, it is also possible to vary map projection
and scale, further increasing the range of map-
ping styles which can be produced (Figure 2).
This flexibility has greatly benefited Collins
Bartholomew and HarperCollins through the use
of the data to create very varied maps for a
great range of products. The databases now
support approximately 250 products, and maps
are created not just for world atlases, road
atlases and sheet maps, but also for their range
of geographical and environmental books
including Fragile Earth, a dramatic portrayal of
environmental change, Disappearing World, a
guide to threatened world heritage sites, and
Atlas of Global Development, thematic atlas co-
published with The World Bank (see figure 3).
- Bespoke Mapping
The flexibility and cost effective nature of digi-
tal map production also allow Collins
Bartholomew to provide a comprehensive
bespoke mapping service. Customers have the
option of obtaining unique and specially
designed maps that directly suit their needs.
Using the digital production flowline, prototype
maps can be quickly generated in order to
agree a final specification with the customer,
while the high level of cartographic skill main-
tained in-house ensures that the best solution
is offered.
Building the production flowline around widely
used GIS data formats also gives customers the
option of supplying their own GIS data which
can often be plugged straight into our flowline.
This is useful for organizations which may have
captured GIS data for some other purpose, and
now want to produce print quality maps from
it but lack the cartographic expertise required.
- Foreign Language Co-editions
Digital production methods facilitate the trans-
lation of existing maps into foreign languages
for co-edition partners – a major part of Collins
Bartholomew’s publishing activities. Foreign lan-
guage name sets have been developed, often
in conjunction with overseas partners. Using the
system of unique ID numbers, these transla-
tions can be automatically applied to both the
map and index in question. The methods
employed also give our partners the flexibility
to include more of their own name forms if
required.
- New Visualizations
Storing digital representations of the earth’s sur-
face to support map production creates oppor-
tunities to visualize the world in new ways.
These rely on recent developments in geo-
graphic data and information software. Three
12
Art ic le
July/August 2008
Figure 3: World Energy Use page in The Atlas of Global Development.
dimensional perspective views can be created
at the local, regional or continental level.
Overlaying these with map data, aerial photos
or satellite imagery creates new and visually
stunning ways to view the world. These mod-
els can be animated to create fly-throughs,
increasing the ways in which users can interact
with digital data to visualize the world (see fig-
ure 4). Besides creating exciting interactive dig-
ital applications, these techniques can also be
used to create visually stunning static images
for inclusion in published products, thus allow-
ing users of these traditional cartographic prod-
ucts the ability to share the benefits brought
by this exciting new technology.
- Internet Mapping
Today many maps are designed to be viewed
in different ways – on computers, hand held
devices, etc. Many of these maps are deliv-
ered to the end user over the Internet and dis-
played in standard browser windows. There
are two basic approaches to serving maps on
the Internet. The first involves rendering maps
on the fly from vector data, while the second
delivers static raster maps to the user’s brows-
er. The first approach can provide a high level
of interactivity to the user, but presents many
cartographic and technical challenges if it is
to be done well. The creation of pre-created
raster maps for display on the Internet has
provided many commercial opportunities for
cartographers, with organizations already
skilled in digital techniques well placed to
exploit these.
Collins Bartholomew has created a suite of
seamless raster maps specifically for this pur-
pose. These have been designed to maintain
the attractiveness and clarity of printed maps
Other benefits have also become apparent:
• The demand for digital maps to support
Internet and other electronic mapping appli-
cations has created a new and thriving mar-
ket for commercial cartographers.
• The ability to create innovative and exciting
ways of visualizing the world.
Through the creation of high quality published
products, and the on-going maintenance and
enhancement of extensive geographic data -
bases, Collins Bartholomew are well positioned
for continuing to meet customer needs in many
sectors in this era of increasing map awareness
and demand for geographic data.
It is important to remember however that ulti-
mately maps are created by people, not by
computers, and that good maps are created by
skilled and talented cartographers working to
high editorial standards. Perhaps the biggest
benefit of the digital revolution is the freedom
it has given cartographers to be truly creative,
both in what they produce and how they pro-
duce it, whilst still being able to work to exact-
ing standards of accuracy and authority repre-
sented by Collins Bartholomew products and
data.
Mick Ashworth [email protected] is
Consultant Editor to The Times Atlas of the World.
Jim Irvine [email protected] is Head of
Digital Resources and the Collins Newsroom.
For more information, have a look at
the following websites:
www.timesatlas.com
www.harpercollins.co.uk
www.bartholomewmaps.co.uk
while at the same time minimizing file size in
order to facilitate fast download. The maps are
georeferenced, allowing application builders
to overlay their own or their customers’ spa-
tial data. This provides for Internet mapping
applications which offer a degree of interac-
tivity together with clear and attractive base
maps.
- Data Applications
Licensing digital map data to developers cre-
ating specialist mapping applications is a sig-
nificant revenue stream for many commercial
cartographers. At Collins Bartholomew it was
envisaged at the outset that the adoption of
digital techniques would add value to the
business in this way, and so it has proved.
Wide varieties of commercial applications have
been, and continue to be built incorporating
Collins Bartholomew digital map data. Many
major national and international agencies now
use Collins Bartholomew data within their sys-
tems and have come to trust it in the same
way, and for the same reasons of accuracy,
integrity and authority, that The Times Atlas of
the World is itself universally trusted.
ConclusionsIt is clear that the adoption of digital technol-
ogy into the world of commercial cartography
at Collins Bartholomew has delivered two
major commercial benefits:
• An efficient and highly flexible production
flowline for Collins and Times published
maps and atlases.
• New revenue streams based on the licens-
ing of the digital data on which the pro-
duction flowline depends.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
13July/August 2008
Figure 4: 3D visualisation used BBC television programme Incredible Journeys
ArcGIS®
9.3—Improving Your Entire
Data Management
Better MapsDissemination
Data courtesy of the City of Boston.
Data Management
ArcGIS 9.3 provides new
tools for accessing data
within an organization,
including the addition of
PostgreSQL and Microsoft®
SQL Server® 2008 support, a
new image service, version
management, enhancements
to geodatabase replication,
and better geocoding.
Better Maps
ArcGIS 9.3 includes many
enhancements that make it
easier than ever to create
and share production-quality
maps. These enhancements
include a new Disperse
Markers tool and, via Maplex®
for ArcGIS, better contour
labeling and more control over
where labels are placed inside
and around polygons.
Dissemination of Information
ArcGIS 9.3 makes dissemination
of geographic information
much easier. New tools
that aid in dissemination
include improved map cache
management, which allows
ArcGIS® 9.3 offers a complete suite of software that
compliant environment. With ArcGIS, you also get the
instructor-led and online training, and new online
resource centers.
maps to be published more
quickly, and a series of
JavaScript™ APIs for mashup-
style development. These
new APIs allow JavaScript
developers to easily embed
ArcGIS Server Web mapping
applications into any Web site.
Mobility
The new ArcGIS Mobile
application increases data
accuracy and enables real-
time decision making in the
SDK now offers enhanced
map control rendering, data
storage capabilities, and
expanded projections.
Planning and Analysis
Many modeling tools have
been enhanced, and some
entirely new tools have
been added to help users
get more answers from
their data. These include
a new scatterplot matrix
graph, improvements to the
Near tool, and advanced
Ordinary Least Squares and
Geographically Weighted
Regression tools.
Copyright © 2008 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ArcGIS logo, www.esri.com, Maplex, the ESRI Globe logo, and ArcGIS 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.
Planning and Analysis
Mobility
Finland
Francewww.esrifrance.fr
F.Y.R.O.M.www.gisdata.hr
Germanywww.esri-germany.de
Georgiawww.geographic.ge
Greece and Cypruswww.marathondata.gr
Hungarywww.esrihu.hu
Icelandwww.samsyn.is
Israelwww.systematics.co.il
Italywww.esriitalia.it
Maltawww.geosys.com.mt
Moldovawww.trimetrica.com
The Netherlandswww.esrinl.com
Norwaywww.geodata.no
Polandwww.esripolska.com.pl
Portugalwww.esri-portugal.pt
Romaniawww.esriro.ro
Russiawww.dataplus.ru
Austriawww.synergis.co.at
Belgium and Luxembourgwww.esribelux.com
Bosnia and Herzegovinawww.gisdata.hr
Bulgariawww.esribulgaria.com
Croatiawww.gisdata.hr
Czech Republicwww.arcdata.cz
Denmarkwww.informi.dk
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuaniawww.hnit-baltic.lt
Slovak Republicwww.arcgeo.sk
Sloveniawww.gisdata.hr
Spainwww.esri-es.com
Swedenwww.esri-sgroup.se
Switzerlandwww.esri-suisse.ch
Turkeywww.esriturkey.com.tr
Ukrainewww.ecomm.kiev.ua
UK/Irelandwww.esriuk.com
www.esri.com/whatsnew
For more information, please contact your local distributor or call ESRI
Europe at +31-10-217-7788 or ESRI headquarters at +1-909-793-2853,
GIS Workfl ow
www.esri- finland.com
f ield. Also, the ArcGIS Mobile
benef its of an established and active user community,
improves organizational workf lows within a standards-
Part 8: KML – Keyhole Markup Language
Standards in Practice
The Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is a file format used to display geographic
data in an earth browser such as Google Earth or Google Maps. It forms the
basis of all user input into this software. KML uses a tag-based structure with
nested elements and attributes and is based on the XML standard.
By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
In April this year the Keyhole Markup
Language (KML) became an official standard
with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
KML was originally developed by a small com-
pany called Keyhole for their Keyhole soft-
ware. In 2004 the company was taken over
by Google and the Keyhole software became
branded as Google Earth. The name KML for
the standard stuck, however.
The current, official OGC version of KML is 2.2,
although most files on the Internet will be in
the slightly older version 2.1. The user, how-
ever, does not need to worry about versions
as each file is prefixed with the version num-
ber, allowing the display software to select
the correct format itself.
How Does It Work?KML is a bit of a hybrid. Part of the language
allows users to specify geographic elements
such as points (‘placeholders’) as well as lines
(‘Linestring’) and polygons (‘Polygon’). It also
supports coverages via the overlay option. The
other part of the language describes how such
an element should be presented in terms of
layout, text size and colors. KML will even allow
HTML bits to be inserted into the KML file so
that layout (and hyperlinks) will look exactly as
they do on a webpage.
As such, a KML file could be compared to a
geographic version of the HTML language for
web pages that also contains both information
and the way it should be presented. As with
GML (see the article on GML) the geographic
options of KML are quite extensive. What makes
KML easier to use than GML is that for each
geographic type only a single option is avail-
able, making it a lot simpler to implement (but
also less flexible if that is what the user needs).
Coordinate SystemOne of the major differences between KML and,
for example, GML is that KML only allows data
input in geographic WGS84 coordinates (lati-
tude and longitude). This is generally not an
issue when displaying data collected with a GPS
receiver, but it may present a problem when
overlaying data.
When overlaying an aerial photograph that is
referenced to a local map projection, for
instance, it needs to be converted into the
WGS84 latitude / longitude system. For small
areas this doesn’t pose much of a problem, but
when overlaying larger images errors up to tens
of kilometers may arise. There are, of course,
workarounds for this such as using a GIS pack-
age to georeference the image onto the KML
coordinate system.
Combining Information from Different Sources
One of the strong points of KML is that it is
possible to link to external files. If, for exam-
ple, a website has a service that shows data
that changes in real time, then simply by creat-
ing a KML file that invokes that service as an
overlay icon within the correct geographic
boundary, an earth browser like Google Earth
will allow display of that real-time information
combined with whatever information the user
has on his own system.
Using this functionality, information from differ-
ent sources can easily be combined in Google
Earth without the user having to worry about
coordinate systems, file formats or layout
issues. In this respect KML duplicates some of
the functionality of WMS and the associated
Styled Layer Descriptors.
16
Art ic le
July/August 2008
KML – Keyhole Markup Language
What it is for: Overlaying geographic infor-
mation in, for example, Google Earth
Relevant standards: OGC KML Specification
Technical implementation: XML
Legal basis: None
Google Earth screenshot showing a real-time rain image and the associated KML file.
Information ExchangeSince the KML file holds all the relevant
information for displaying both the geom-
etry and the layout, it is very easy to
exchange the file between users (or put
it on a web server and reference the file).
The disadvantage is that one needs a
KML-enabled viewer in order to display
the data.
In general that does not have to be a
major problem since Google Earth can be
downloaded from the Google website for
free and Google Maps is available wher-
ever one has access to a web browser.
KMZOne of the major problems with exchang-
ing XML files is that they contain quite a lot of
‘air’. This problem has been recognized with
KML and a compressed (‘zipped’) version is
available. This version is identified as a KMZ
type of file.
The compression used is general zip which
means that the files can be uncompressed
using any compression software that supports
zip files (such as WinZIP). The only requirement
is that the file is (temporarily) renamed from
the .kmz extension to the .kml extension.
KML Versus Other OGCStandardsAccording to the OGC website, efforts
will be made to bring KML and GML
closer together in the future. Currently
KML uses geometries from GML 2.1.2
while the latest GML version is 3.2.1.
The OGC Mass Market Geo Working
Group (MMWG) will establish harmo-
nization activities to bring KML and GML
closer.
Other OGC specifications such as
Context and Styled Layer Descriptor
(SLD) may be considered for harmo-
nization as well. How this harmoniza-
tion will take place has not been men-
tioned by OGC but presumably it will
mean copying certain elements from existing
OGC standards into KML so that, for example,
the latest GML geometries are used instead of
the current, sometimes deprecated, 2.1.2 ver-
sions.
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
[email protected] is project manager
at IDsW and a freelance trainer and writer.
For more information: OGC: www.opengeospatial.org.
After decompressing the kmz file the user can
edit the resulting document and, if necessary,
recompress the file for display.
LegalThere is no legal basis for the use of KML (or
KMZ) files, and with the current coupling with
Google products there probably never will be.
Google products are very popular with con-
sumers, however, and consequently most GIS
packages support KML / KMZ.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
17July/August 2008
The Centre for Conservation Ecology and
Environmental Change at BU has a number
of postgraduate opportunities available for
entry this Autumn. Courses are delivered
by experienced conservation ecologists,
remote sensing and GIS specialists,
with an emphasis on developing varied,
employable, professional capabilities
and enhancing the skills of professionals
wishing to work in these fields.
MSc Biodiversity Conservation
MSc Environmental Informatics
MSc Environmental Management
(by research)
MSc GeoInformatics (by research).
Get ahead with Conservation Ecology and Environmental Change at BU.
For detailed course information visit: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/pgenvironment
To find out more, contact askBU Enquiry Service on Tel: +44 (0)1202 961916 Email: [email protected]
Google Earth screenshot showing a photo placeholder containing HTML
style layout and the associated KML file.
Addressing the Phenomenon of CAD/GIS Convergence
1Spatial’s MapRelate
To enable the convergence of AutoCAD and geospatial data, 1Spatial created a software solution called MapRelate.
It allows engineers, traditionally used to dealing with 3D models, the chance to interact with geospatial maps
without the need for data transfers or specialist software. In this article, 1Spatial’s Andrew Gosney
explains all about this software tool.
By Andrew Gosney
In the past, geospatial data has tended to be
treated as ‘special’ and, consequently, its use
has been restricted to specialist systems and
individual roles. We are witnessing a trend
towards using location information across main-
stream business processes to provide a spatial
parameter, a trend that is being driven by
demand and the fact that these data are
becoming more and more readily available. In
addition, advances in technology mean that
integration can be achieved without the need
for expensive system re-engineering or devel-
opment.
ConvergenceConvergence of different data types and sources
is a trend that is occurring across many levels.
Initially we saw the convergence of different
spatial data types, resulting from the increase
in GIS and spatial systems that support multi-
ple geospatial data formats. Within mainstream
business processes, integration is being seen
on three planes: the integration of geospatial
data from disparate sources, the integration of
geospatial data with other non-geospatial busi-
ness data, and the integration of geospatial
data within existing business processes. In addi-
18
Review
July/August 2008
Background mapping and corporate data displayed in AutoCAD. Crown copyright included by kind permission of the Ordnance Survey
tion, simple, web-based tools such as Google
Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth are exposing
both geospatial data and 3D models, such as
‘cityscapes’, to a new audience in revolutionary
ways.
Convergence of 2D and 3D data is a new phe-
nomenon driven by a need to combine these
worlds for operational and planning purposes
and as an extension to the efficiencies already
realised through integrating the 2D geospatial
world into decision-making processes.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) has previously
been the domain of the engineer or architect
and GIS the realm of the GIS specialist, with
the two historically being seen as separate.
However, both have a very similar main goal –
to create a representation of the real world.
Taking the most common CAD package,
Autodesk’s AutoCAD as an example, currently,
there are only two ways that engineers or archi-
tects can view their design in context, that is,
to have a more ‘real-world’ view. They can dupli-
cate and then translate the relevant geospatial
data into files of a readable format, such as DXF
or DWG, and store them somewhere, or send
the design to the GIS and either loose control
of it or learn to use the GIS. Both of these pro-
‘hash’ datasets together in the hope that they
will fit.
1Spatial’s MapRelate1Spatial have created, in response to our cus-
tomers’ requirements, a simple, effective tool
to enable the convergence of AutoCAD and
geospatial data. MapRelate allows engineers,
traditionally used to dealing with 3D models,
the chance to interact with geospatial maps
without the need for data transfers or special-
ist software.
MapRelate is simple and dedicated plug-in com-
ponent for AutoCAD that enables users to
directly and instantly access existing map files,
which are held locally or in a corporate
database. Access is provided from within their
native AutoCAD environment and is achieved
without the need for data transfers or special-
ist software and therefore streamlining the
whole process.
Utilising the same Feature Data Objects (FDO)
cross-platform interface that can be found in
Autodesk’s AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD
MapGuide, MapRelate facilitates live, indepen-
dent access to spatial data files and datastores,
including OS MasterMap. This open-source tech-
cesses are time-consuming and expensive, and
can lead to duplication of effort when there are
multiple datasets in circulation. Using static
datasets can also mean that AutoCAD users are
not referencing the most-up-to date geospatial
data, unless they repeat the translation process
for every new or updated design.
A mapping context for designs is becoming pro-
gressively more important as the numbers and
complexity of customer and legal requirements
increase across industry sectors. For all parties,
being able to view CAD designs on an accurate
mapping background, before any further work
commences, could allow any possible defects
to be identified and rectified at the design
stage, rather than once work has commenced
out on site.
AutoCAD, without the data translation process,
cannot provide this kind of functionality, so for
users and organisations that do not have
AutoCAD Map 3D, the only other solution is to
export the design to a GIS and somehow make
two datasets fit together. Despite being the
most common platform for the manipulation of
geospatial data, AutoCAD is given the least con-
sideration when planning GI strategy and inte-
gration, creating this problem of having to
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Review
19July/August 2008
Base OS mastermap data. Crown copyright included by kind permission of the Ordnance Survey.
nology means that MapRelate is able to sup-
port a large variety of industry formats includ-
ing ESRI ArcSDE, ESRI Shape, MapInfo Tab,
MapGuide SDF, Oracle SDO, XML/GML and SQL
Server Spatial 2008.
The availability of direct access gives any com-
petent user of AutoCAD the capability to quick-
ly and easily combine or overlay their designs
accurately against a detailed mapping back-
ground. By combining designs with the geospa-
tial data, AutoCAD users gain a clear display of
their design in context, and a ‘real-world’ view
of it, meaning errors can be spotted at the pre-
development stage, allowing designers to
adjust plans accordingly and saving valuable
resources.
As a fully integrated plug-in application,
MapRelate provides extra functionality through
the standard AutoCAD environment, the majori-
ty of which can be operated via both the com-
mand line and the graphic user interface, and
therefore familiar methods to the user.
By providing mapping on demand, MapRelate
acts to streamline the design process. It deli -
vers AutoCAD users a snap shot of the most
accurate geospatial data at any one moment,
rather than an ongoing live feed. This means
they can continue doing their traditional tasks
without taking on the role of data custodian or
administrator. In addition, it allows GIS staff at
all levels to interact with engineers across
numerous divisions and reference the same
information through integral access to all the
industry standard formats. This interaction
results in a reduction in duplication of effort
and improves overall data quality, allowing for
savings on resources and improved confidence
in the information.
MapRelate installation is via a downloadable
link and the application is simple to configure
and therefore easily integrated into administra-
tion systems with minimal disruptions to users.
Departmental and IT administrators can effi-
ciently control and monitor the access permis-
sions of users through the full administrator
interface, and comprehensive online user docu-
mentation is provided as standard.
The FutureAs the current trend of convergence continues
across all industries and data types, and the use
of geospatial data in operational and decision-
making processes is on the increase, dedicated
tools such as MapRelate that make integral busi-
ness process more efficient will become more
common.
By providing direct and instant access to spatial
data, MapRelate presents a tailored solution that
streamlines what has previously been a time-
consuming, expensive and cumbersome process
of data translation, and allows AutoCAD users
to view their designs in a mapping context from
within their native environment. The conver-
gence of the CAD 3D world and the GIS 2D
world, being partially addressed by MapRelate,
will continue to develop, with the next step to
fully combine the two, i.e. to integrate not just
the graphics but also intelligence, as in topolo-
gy, the results and benefits of which will be far-
reaching. 1Spatial is currently involved in
research projects in the USA, with US Army Tech,
and have been looking at how 3D models can
be ‘stitched’ into the 2D space and how topolo-
gy can then be built in line with the 2D data to
give a uniform structure and internal intelligence
across the combined datasets.
Andrew Gosney [email protected] is
MapRelate Product Manager at 1Spatial. For more
information, have a look at www.1spatial.com
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Review
21July/August 2008
Overlaid with planning application approvals.
Crown copyright included by kind permission of the Ordnance Survey
AutoCAD Map 3D 2009
User is No Longer a ‘CAD Guy’
The press launch of Autodesk’s 2009 geospatial products ranged from detailed product demonstrations to user stories and
bold visions of the future by Autodesk’s own geospatial evangelist Geoff Zeiss. In short: Autodesk took some
more steps from CAD toward GIS, carefully keeping in mind the user’s CAD roots.
By Remco Takken
Autodesk’s geospatial customers are in dis-
parate sectors ranging from coal mining to real
estate, but mainly in utilities: gas, water and
electricity. With more than 23,000 AutoCAD Map
3D licences in Northern Europe, Autodesk cer-
tainly is a force to be reckoned with in the
geospatial industry. However, the core focus of
the organization is still CAD and design, with a
relatively small but growing GIS and geo-pro-
cessing division.
This was clear during Autodesk’s press days for
European journalists in London, where
Autodesk’s geospatial products, MapGuide
Enterprise and AutoCAD Map 3D, were hugely
overshadowed by the products out of the CAD
and visualization worlds. The geospatial verti-
cal within Autodesk only started last year. Of
course, this doesn’t mean Autodesk started out
in ‘geo’ in 2007. Its appearance as a new verti-
cal was the result of the growing user base in
Europe.
This growing interest in geospatial within both
Autodesk and its users can be explained by the
user base of CAD customers who are being con-
fronted with the ongoing integration of object-
oriented thinking, mapping directly into GIS and
the geo-referencing of CAD files in their daily
work. Then there is the continuing push for
greater e-government across Northern Europe,
and technological phenomena such as, in the
UK, the introduction of OS MasterMap.
Technical OverviewAutodesk’s geospatial specialist Lynda Streaker
presented a detailed technical overview of new
features within AutoCAD Map 3D. As for the
recent FDO (Feature Data Objects) support, Map
3D 2009 now allows the user to bypass the
check-out step when editing FDO data. No
longer is there a need to check out, convert to
geometry and then convert back to features.
The user can connect and edit an FDO feature
source directly using CAD commands. Map 3D
allows all kinds of GIS functionality with any
FDO data source, including SDF, SHP, Oracle
Spatial and ESRI SDE.
The Expression Builder is a new tool for creat-
ing sophisticated queries, filters, and calcula-
tions. The ‘Locate on Map’ menu is for creating
a query by specifying a location on the map.
The location is specified by identifying a point
or drawing a rectangle, polygon, circle, or fence,
and indicating whether the features inside or
touching the boundary should be selected.
Server-side ViewsMap 3D now supports the use of server-side
views in Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and ODBC
data sources. Once the view is created using
the sophisticated tools provided by the
database management software, Map 3D can
connect to it. Once connected, all of Map 3D’s
query tools are in place to retrieve and analyze
the data. When you change the data in the
view, the corresponding base table is updated.
More convenient data access aside, perfor-
mance is improved if the database server and
Map 3D are on different machines, since
database and Map 3D processing are distribut-
ed over the two machines.
Many Autodesk users have circular workflows
where DWG and FDO data sources must be
imported, exported, and converted for partners
that have either AutoCAD or Map 3D, but not
both. Autodesk Map 3D 2009 expedites the pro-
22
Review
July/August 2008
You can choose how you want to edit features in the data store, via the Feature
Editing Options dialog box. By adjusting these properties, you can set your FDO
editing to be as CAD-like as possible.
Two new commands will split or merge features and automatically assign
attributes to the features created by the operation. Attributes are divided according
to the rules which are set in advance for each property. You set these rules from the
Data Table.
licences and MapGuide Enterprise. As was to
be expected, some obstacles from a typical CAD
perspective formed the starting point of this
new architecture. The old situation knew exces-
sive use of DWG files, numerous duplicates of
the same records and existing files being super-
seded by new ones. As there was little commu-
nication with the GIS team, his section had to
use an out-of-date Master Map, with updates
in the MapIno TAB file format. Advantages of
the AutoCAD Map solution offer reliable, intelli-
gent records, there’s an object data editor for
adding and editing these records and batch
update. Furthermore, reading attributes is now
possible in a logical order instead of alphabeti-
cal.
All presentation and layering is shown in
MapGuide, where a borough-wide as-built map
is presented, with plans and maps also avail-
able to non-CAD users.
Al-Sheibani concluded: “I am no longer a CAD
guy. I not only consume GIS data, I also
create it.”
cess of exchanging data from one format to
another. This means you can now use CAD
properties such as color, line weight, and hatch
to populate fields in an FDO feature class.
MetadataMap 3D 2009 continues to support Federal
Graphic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata, and
now also includes support for ISO 19139.
Metadata can be made for file-based data
sources such as DWG, SDF, and SHP, and
database data sources such as Oracle and SQL
Server. You can also make and save a profile
for ISO metadata.
Citrix CompatibilityIn computer networks, it is often advantageous
to install an application on one powerful
machine and then let other less powerful
machines access that application remotely. Such
an architecture is often referred to as ‘main-
frame/terminal’, or ‘thick server/thin client’. The
main advantage of this architecture is that IT
staff can centralize their software. They only
have to install and upgrade the application on
one machine, rather than on each machine in
an organization. In addition, users can access
the applications from kiosks, PDAs, or other
devices that could not run the application on
their own.
In the case of Citrix compatibility, Map 3D can
be served to an estimated 25 client machines,
while delays can be expected when going up
to 40 users. Problems might arise when client
rates are pushed over 50.
MapGuide EnterpriseMapGuide, Autodesk’s web mapping applica-
tion, also boasts some new features.
The flexible web layouts provide customized
interfaces and styling. Because of the existing
limitations of the MapGuide frameset, DM
Solutions Group creat-
ed another architec-
ture for MapGuide
called Fusion. Fusion
allows site designers
to create web layouts
of infinite variety with-
out programming.
Behind the scenes,
Fusion uses Open -
Layers, a new Open
Source Java Script API
for creating web-based
mapping applications.
This explains the intro-
duction of OS jargon
like ‘widgets’ and ‘con-
tainers’ within an
Autodesk context.
The cartographic en -
hance ments were designed to help make maps
clearer and more appealing. The rendering of
map images creates a ‘staircase’ effect produced
by the GD library that MapGuide has been using
for image rendering. A new AGG
rendering engine overcomes this pro -
blem, and it now renders a sub-pixel
accuracy.
Previous versions of MapGuide have
had no elevation styling for grid sur-
faces. This causes data in formats such
as DEM and GeoTIFF to appear flat
and washed out. In Map 3D 2009, you
can apply styling to a raster image and
then export it to MapGuide 2009. The
layer in MapGuide retains the styling
that you created in Map 3D, which
gives the image a more meaningful 3D
effect.
Customer StoriesDuring Autodesk’s press days in
London, one of the governmental cus-
tomers was Rushmoor Borough
Council. AutoCAD Map 3D has helped
this local authority integrate 400 active
spatial data sets. Now AutoCAD Map
3D, AutoCAD and ESRI users all share
a single source of map information
based on OS MasterMap. This has
boosted collaboration, helped elimi-
nate errors and created efficiencies in
GIS management.
CAD Manager Bader Al-Sheibani talked
about the traffic management section
in the London Borough of Merton. His
work includes the implementation of
around twenty traffic schemes a year.
Instead of working with the council’s
GIS platform of choice, MapInfo, Al-
Sheibani decided to upgrade his
AutoCAD team of six with two Map 3D
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Review
23
By setting up enforceable constraints, and using the Data Table to add attribute
data for a new feature, the field will have a drop-down list of acceptable values.
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Intelligent Simulations of UrbanEnvironmentsGeoff Zeiss, Autodesk’s own ‘evangelist’ in
geospatial, talked about the recent develop-
ments in simulations of urban environments.
The convergence of technology will enable
‘intelligent’ simulations, where you not only
need to know about the outside of buildings
in order to make a 3D model, but also about
the inside and all of its (underground) connec-
tions like pipes and cables, said Zeiss. He very
man, using this instead of a paper floor map
when he’s on the 59th floor of a building.”
Further needs for a 3D cadastre and a good
visualization of urban assets exist in cities like
Singapore, where, according to Zeiss, 95 per-
cent of the population lives above the first floor.
Most of the data needed for an intelligent 3D
simulation, like the one Zeiss showed, comes
from a limited number of ‘media’, most of them
captured with CAD tools. The sophisticated
technologies, however, face serious interoper-
ability problems. For use in a GIS, engineering
and design data often needs re-digitizing, and
the ‘field force’ largely still works on printed
paper. With the example of FME, an extract,
translate and load tool which as of today sup-
ports more than 220 data formats, Zeiss illus-
trated that it is not very likely that the phe-
nomenon of data format accumulation will just
‘go away’.
This means that in the field of connections and
integration, a lot of work still has to be done.
But the big bulk, the data, is in place, and the
visualization possibilities are all there.
Remco Takken [email protected] is
editor of Geoinformatics. For more information,
please have a look at www.autodesk.com
cleverly interweaved
his lecture with the
overall Autodesk
assessments of ageing
infrastructure, ageing
work force and the
general outline that
“we’ve got a lot of work to do, with less peo-
ple out there.” The shown demo of a virtual
city in 3D included a walk-through inside a
building in order to show the engineering
details. Zeiss: “None of this data needs to be
captured, all the existing data allows you to
realize a 3D environment like this. And it’s basi-
cally simple technology which lies behind it: a
3ds Max game engine, DWG, stuff from Oracle
Spatial and Shape files. Think about this from
the perspective of a first responder, like a fire-
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Review
25July/August 2008
One way to extend the
number of properties
available to you is to
create a calculated field.
Like joins, calculated
fields result in extra
columns in the data
table. You can then use
the new property to
theme or query the data.
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What Will the Country Look Like in 2040?
The Netherlands Climate Proof
A maritime island? Dikes 25 metres high, floating houses. How can we make
sure the Netherlands is still habitable when looking at the predicted climate
changes? Where will we be able to live and work? Which measures do we need
to take? The Climate changes spatial planning programme encompasses several
institutions that are researching climate change and its effects regarding the
use of land in the Netherlands.
by Eric Koomen and Noor van der Hoeven
What will the Netherlands look like in the
year 2040? It is hard to get a picture of this
since we don’t know exactly how many peo-
ple will live in the Netherlands then, and
where they will live. We can speculate on this,
but we simply don’t know for sure. Not only
internal but also external factors that we can-
not influence are having impact. Naturally cli-
mate plays an important role. But how many
metres of sea level rise can we expect? Where
will we be able to live and work? What are
the consequences for agriculture et cetera?
In this article we are making use of the LANDS
research project to get more insight into this
problem. We will give an overview of differ-
ent possible images of the future of the
Netherlands. Possible spatial adaptations
which can guarantee water safety in future
will get special attention.
The Use of Land and Climate ChangeWhat we are focussing on within LANDS is how
to make the Netherlands climate proof in future.
The target year is 2040. The measures that we
need to take in order to prepare for possible
consequences of climate change are related to
the future spatial patterns in the Netherlands.
In turn these patterns depend on the current
use of land, the demand for land, population
size, economy, climate, et cetera.
In the LANDS project we are using the scenario
approach to scout possible future images of the
Netherlands. These are not predictions on what
the Netherlands will look like in future. In fact
these are possible future images which lead us
to measures that need to be taken in order to
make the Netherlands climate proof. What
makes LANDS special is that different sectors
are integrated in these scenarios. The
Netherlands is conducting a lot of climate
research but often this only applies to one sec-
tor. We can ask ourselves what impact climate
change has on agriculture and which measures
we need to take to enable agricultural activi-
ties in 2040. By including different sector-spe-
cific projects in LANDS scenarios are created
that include measures for the different sectors.
In the end the LANDS project yields different
scenarios with integral adaptation strategies to
ensure climate-proofness of the Netherlands.
This makes us better prepared for highly or less
extreme consequences of climate change.
Future Scenarios for The Netherlands Starting point in the LANDS project are the G-
(moderate) and the W- (warm) scenario by the
KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological
Institute). These scenarios are describing the
expectations concerning several aspects of cli-
mate change with a focus on temperature and
sea level rise. We are linking these climatic
changes to two strongly differing social-eco-
nomic scenarios including several assumptions
regarding the nature and extent of the popula-
tion, economy, use of land, mobility, energy, et
cetera. Making use of a set of opposite future
images enables simulation of a broad range of
possible spatial developments. It likely that nei-
ther of these future views reflects the most
probable situation. However combining these
views provides an image of the scope of pos-
sible future developments. The scenarios are
meant to stimulate our imagination and to
broaden our look towards the future.
The W-scenario is characterized by a 2 degree
Celsius temperature rise between 1990 and
2050. This corresponds with the A1-scenario in
the recent Welvaart en Leefomgeving (WLO;
Welfare, Prosperity and Quality of the Living
Environment) study. This study reveals major
growth in population (20 million in 2040), huge
economic growth and EU extension towards the
east. There is free market trade without politi-
cal integration. There are no initiatives for inter-
national environmental cooperation and rail and
road networks are broadly extended.
The G-scenario is based on a temperature rise
of 1 degree Celsius between 1990 and 2050.
This corresponds with the B2-scenario in the
WLO-study. The size of the population remains
roughly the same (16 million in 2040), there is
a slight increase in economic growth and unem-
ployment rate is high. Trade blockades are
26
Art ic le
July/August 2008
One of the projects within the Climate Changes
Spatial Planning programme is the Attention
for Safety project on water safety in the
Netherlands.
imposed and taxes are raised to protect the
environment. There is an emphasis on environ-
mental policies and environmental public
awareness is growing. Extension of both road
and rail networks is also part of this scenario.
Both scenarios are describing different future
images of the Netherlands in terms of popula-
tion, economics, use of land and the
climate. Based on these scenarios
adaptation strategies are developed
to make and keep the Netherlands a
climate proof country.
Modelling with the Land UseScannerThe Milieu en Natuur Planbureau
(MNP; the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency) has deployed
the Land Use scanner to calculate the
different scenarios. Accordingly the
scenarios were mapped. The Land
Use scanner is a land use simulation
model based on Geographic Infor -
mation System (GIS) which simulates
future land use. It provides an inte-
grated view on urban, conservation
and agricultural use divided into dif-
ferent functions. For example agricul-
ture can be further divided into arable
land, grassland, intensive cattle-
breeding and greenhouse horticul-
ture. The Land Use scanner divides
the Netherlands into 3.3 million cells
measuring 100 x 100 metres and
assigns different functions to each of
them based on actual use of land,
current policy, suitability maps and
land use claims. The suitability of a
location for a certain land use type
depends on current use of land, possible poli-
cy restrictions, proximity of infrastructure et
cetera. The expected land demand for the dif-
ferent sectors comes from specialist institutes.
What is striking in the W-scenario is the big
increase in urban use of land. Living areas
around the bigger cities in the Randstad, the
mid/western part of the Netherlands, are
increasing but smaller villages in the rural area
are expanding. By deploying more land for eco-
nomic activities the quality and openness of the
landscape are deteriorating.
The G-scenario depicts modest growth of living
areas but population size remains the same.
This is mainly caused by further dilution of
households and the preference for ways of
living demanding more land, particularly in the
rural area. Expectations are that urban growth
will be concentrated in the central and western
part of the Netherlands. There is an enormous
decrease in agriculture and greenhouses are
vanishing in many parts, especially around the
the lower part of the country, have been
thought of. For this project the Land Use scan-
ner has been provided with a Damage scanner.
This enables calculating economic damage and
human casualties at different water depths.
These numbers depend on the scenario, the
measures that are taken and the actual rise of
the sea level.
One of the adaptation strategies in
the Attention for Safety project is the
Terpenstrategie (Dwelling Mound
Strategy). This strategy is based on
newly-built quarters being raised as
far as +5 metres above the national
datum level (NAP). Research shows
that there is sufficient sand that can
be reclaimed at the North Sea to
raise the lower part of the
Netherlands (10.000 km2) by 10
metres. About 170 km3 would be
needed for this while 200 km3 is
available from the North Sea. Further
analysis from TNO, the Netherlands
Organization for Applied Scientific
Research, shows that 100 million m3
sand from the North Sea is needed
on an annual base to raise the built
area within the dike-rings to such an
extent that the impact of sea level
rise and ground level decline are
minimal. At a price of 5 to 7 euros
per m3 hydraulic-fill sand this will
cost about half a billion euros,
around 2 per cent of the annual
building investments. Naturally this
leads to higher house prices but the
economical damage and the number
of victims will decrease in case of
flooding. Another strategy, called
Business As Usual, highlights the impact of only
taking ‘normal’ measures such as dike enlarge-
ment, sand suppletion as a coastal defence sys-
tem, additional space for rivers, replacement of
storm surge barriers and other structures. By
putting the different strategies next to each
other costs and benefits can be compared and
different strategies can be compared. Eventually
the Attention for safety project is aimed at pro-
ducing a Discussion Support System, to stipu-
late the effectiveness of the safety perspectives
for long term developments. Besides the strate-
gies mentioned above a much broader range
of measures to protect water safety in the
Netherlands are discussed. This makes
Attention for Safety and LANDS important in
making the Netherlands climate proof.
Eric Koomen [email protected] is researcher at
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/Spinlab and Geodan
Next in The Netherlands. Noor van der Hoeven
[email protected] works at Greenpeace
Nederland.
Hague. Some of the existing conservation areas
are expanding heavily and new conservation
areas are developed near rivers like the Waal,
the Rhine, the Maas and the IJssel. Clusters of
recreation areas will come into being in attrac-
tive landscapes, especially in the northern and
western part of the Netherlands.
Water SafetyThe LANDS-scenarios are providing input
for different projects within the Dutch
Climate Changes Spatial Planning
(www.klimaatvoorruimte.nl) research pro-
gramme. Each project will further analyse these
basic scenarios and develop different adapta-
tion strategies. The results from this will
be used as input for the LANDS-scenarios. This
ensures processing aspects of climate changes
in the LANDS-scenarios which enables a more
complete and integral view. Results from other
projects are processed in the Land Use scanner
as land claims and suitability. Accordingly the
basic scenarios can be adapted and/or
extended.
One of the projects within the Climate Changes
Spatial Planning programme is the Attention
for Safety (Aandacht voor Veiligheid;
www.adaptation.nl) project on water safety in
the Netherlands. Based on a number of climate
extremes strategies to protect the Netherlands
against sea water, the rivers, from the upper to
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
27July/August 2008
The G-scenario simulated by the Land Use scanner
The W-scenario simulated by the Land Use scanner
From a GIS Specialist’s Perspective
Oracle 11g and Oracle Spatial 11g
We first met Oracle Spatial more than ten years ago. The latest version, Oracle
Spatial 11g, includes native support in Oracle Database 11g for all geospatial
data types and models, including vector and raster data and topology and
network models, meeting the needs of advanced geospatial systems.
This article highlights Oracle Spatial features from a GIS specialist’s
perspective, including new features in 11g.
By Özgür Ertac
Oracle Spatial is an option in Oracle
Database 11g Enterprise Edition which is avail-
able with a separately-licensed option of the
Oracle Database. It helps users in managing
geographic and location data in a native type
within an Oracle database, potentially sup-
porting a wide range of applications. Today
Oracle Spatial includes support to manage all
geospatial data including vector and raster
data, topology, and network models. It is
designed to meet the needs of advanced GIS
systems for applications such as land man-
agement, utilities and defence.
Facts and History In the relatively short history of Oracle Spatial,
Oracle Database release 7 was the key ver-
sion where the development work began.
According to the presentation materials on
Oracle Spatial Technologies compiled by
senior integration manager Dan Geringer and
senior development manager Siva Ravada,
both from Oracle’s New England Development
Center, point-recognition debuted in Oracle
7.1.6 (1995). A joint development team of CHS
and Oracle personnel subsequently
redesigned the Oracle kernel, resulting in the
"Spatial Data Option" or "SDO" for Oracle 7.
(The SDO prefix continues in use within Oracle
Spatial implementations). The spatial index-
ing system for SDO involved an adaptation of
Riemannian hypercube data structures, invok-
ing a helical spiral through three-dimensional
space, which allows n-size of features. This
also permitted a highly efficient compression
of the resulting data, suitable for the
petabyte-size data repositories that CHS and
other major corporate users required, and
also improving search and retrieval times. The
"Helical Hyperspatial Code", or HHCode, as
developed by CHS and implemented by Oracle
Spatial, comprises a form of space filling
curve.
In Oracle 7.3.3 which was released in 1997,
the Spatial Data Option expanded to include
points, lines and polygons. In subsequent
releases of Oracle (8i and 9i), object data
types, circles, arcs, topology/distance opera-
tors, coordinate transformation, linear refer-
encing, and other elements were added to the
28
Review
July/August 2008
Oracle Headquarters: Redwood City, California
Oracle Spatial option. The primary spatial
indexing system no longer uses the HHCode,
but a standard r-tree index. The 2005 release
of Oracle 10g boasted raster-data manage-
ment, topology and networking, and spatial
analysis and mining. In the technical point of
view, the representation of features (point,
line or polygon) is stored in a single field
within a table. A single HHCode is used to
store the Euclidean spatial dimensions and
additional data dimensions including depth,
elevation, or time. The types of multidimen-
sional data are restricted only in that they
must be a numeric data type and have a
bounded range. The HHCode is generated
through the recursive decomposition of
dimensional space. Attribute data for specific
multidimensional data is stored within
columns of a table in the database. Access to
the data for processing and manipulation is
accomplished through extensions to Oracle
PL/SQL.
Product OverviewLet us focus the product overview by quoting
Oracle’s official product definitions related to
the GIS industry:
Oracle Locator and Oracle Spatial: Today
Oracle Spatial 11g extends Locator and pro-
vides a robust foundation for complex
geospatial applications that require more spa-
tial analysis and processing in Oracle
Database. It’s an outstanding geospatial data
management platform for the requirements of
any geospatial or enterprise spatial informa-
tion system. It supports all major spatial data
types and models, addressing the challeng-
ing business-critical requirements from the
public sector to the business geographics
• A topology data model for working with
data about nodes, edges, and faces in a
topology
• A network data model for representing
capabilities or objects (modeled as nodes
and links) in a network
• A GeoRaster feature to store, index, query,
analyze, and deliver GeoRaster data (raster
image and gridded data and its associat-
ed metadata)
• Two mutually exclusive models for repre-
senting geometry
o Object-relational model - uses a table
with single column of type
MDSYS.SDO_GEOMETRY and a single
row per geometry instance
o Relational model - uses a table with a
predefined set of columns of type NUM-
BER and one or more rows for each
geometry instance. The object model
provides more features. In Oracle8i, the
Object model didn't support replication,
partitioning and distribution. From
Oracle9i there is no benefit in choosing
the relational model over the object
model
The spatial component of a spatial feature
consists of the geometric representation of its
shape in some coordinate space — referred
to as its "geometry".
FunctionalityIn the data sheet for Oracle Spatial 11g, Oracle
reveals it is adding native support for 3D
geometries, surfaces, triangulated irregular
networks (TINs), point clouds, support for
geospatial Web services, network data model
(on-demand data loading for large networks),
and routing engine enhancements, among
them the following:
• GeoRaster data type that natively manages
georeferenced raster imagery (e.g., satellite
imagery, gridded data) in Oracle Database
11g
• Support for more file formats for loading and
exporting, more metadata and data types
• Enhanced ease of use, reliability, manage-
ability
• Load-on-demand for very large spatial net-
works
• Advanced analysis and modeling features
such as database handling of user or appli-
cation-specific attributes, path arithmetic
support
• three-dimensional data type support for
terrain and city models and virtual worlds,
support for LIDAR-based map production
• Spatial web services support (WFS 1.0,
WFS-T 1.0, CSW 2.0, OpenLS 1.1, web ser-
vices security)
domains. Oracle Locator is a feature of Oracle
Database (all editions) that provides the core
location functionality needed by most cus-
tomer applications. Oracle Spatial and Oracle
Locator support relevant Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) standards.
Oracle Application Server MapViewer: Oracle
Application Server MapViewer is a J2EE ser-
vice for rendering maps using spatial data
managed in Oracle Database by Oracle Spatial
and/or Locator. MapViewer provides services
and tools that hide the complexity of spatial
data queries and cartographic rendering while
providing customizable options for more
advanced users. MapViewer is designed to
integrate with location-based services and
applications, and supports relevant Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard speci-
fications.
Oracle Spatial’s TechnologyComponentsOracle Spatial provides a SQL schema (named
by default "MDSYS", where "MD" stands for
"Multi Dimensional") and functions that facil-
itate the storage, retrieval, update, and query
of collections of spatial features in an Oracle
database. Oracle Spatial consists of:
• A schema that prescribes the storage, syn-
tax, and semantics of supported geomet-
ric data types
• A spatial indexing system
• Operators, functions, and procedures for
performing area-of-interest queries, spatial
join queries, and other spatial analysis
operations
• Functions and procedures for utility and
tuning operations
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Review
29July/August 2008
A Web Application Using MapViewer for Viewing Network Data © Oracle.
• Support for SQL/MM
Spatial types and opera-
tors
By the recent release of the
Oracle 11g, Oracle has added
support for Java 5 to
OracleJVM. This lets database
developers write Java Stored
Procedures and execute their
Java code right inside the
database. In this sense, I find
worth mentioning the Spatial
Java API – JavaDoc – which is
now one complete API for all
libraries. Somehow in early
releases of the Oracle 11g, an
issue was reported which was
from the developers’ side.
Since these libraries compiled
with Java 5, they were not
operable within the existing
software installations. This
issue has been solved in the
latest release.
3D Data & TINsIt’s an enhancement that looks so powerful
that has a plenty number of additional func-
tionalities to the former 3D spatial data anal-
ysis and querying capabilities of Oracle. It
seems so helpful for some software compa-
nies which don’t have very complex desktop
applications dealing with the 3D data. In this
sense, Oracle’s three-dimensional data sup-
port fits well into the following applications:
• GIS for city planning and property rights
• City modeling and adopting features to
support CityGML guidelines
• Business Intelligence for real estate and
advertising
• Virtual Reality solutions
3D data types are supported in such a way
as to include points, lines, polygons and
solids, as well as multi-points, multi-lines and
multi-surfaces. It also supports Geography
Markup Language 3.1.1 and ISO 19107 speci-
fications. Support for simple solids includes
closed surfaces such as a cube or pyramid.
So far there is no 3D support for arcs or para-
metric surfaces, which is not so vital. These
enhancements support large, high-density and
high-volume 3D city models. Additional new
data types support the massive volumes of
point data, such as point clouds, obtained
from laser scanners, as well as triangulated
irregular networks (TIN).
We experienced a new data type introduced
by Oracle, SDO_Point_Cloud, to efficiently
manage LIDAR data. Surface models, such as
a TIN model, can be generated from these
point clouds and stored in the new SDO_TIN
data type. Specific functionality includes oper-
ations on 3D R-trees including SQL operator
support (SDO_Filter, SDO_Anyinteract,
SDO_Within_Distance, SDO_NN (nearest
neighbor only), etc.…); PL/SQL functions
(SDO_area, SDO_volume, SDO_CS.Transform
-coordinate system transformation in 3D-);
and J3D_Geometry (Extends the 2D JGeometry
Class for 3D as a Java Interface).
Geospatial Web ServicesIn a typical three-tier architecture consisting
of database management system, application
server and client, we would assume that all
web services would be running on the appli-
cation server, simply configured around the
underlying data. However, since this is a
database feature, the configuration is a little
complex, requiring extra database metadata.
As is assumed, this functionality would be of
use to new Oracle Spatial users that do not
as yet have any OGC Web Services currently
implemented.
Two key approaches are identified for struc-
turing spatial Web services. The first model
to consider when setting up a Web service is
one in which "spatial" is the primary focus of
the Web service. For instance, a basic Web
service might entail the ability to incorporate
real-time information and the result may be a
map or a report, such as returning driving
directions between two points. The second
model is one for a business service that con-
tains a spatial component such as perform-
ing a standard business
search, query or workflow.
The spatial information
doesn’t appear as the pri-
mary focus but the result
may incorporate a map as
a supporting element to
visualize the information.
In addition to the present
support of the OGC’s Web
Map Service (WMS 1.1),
Oracle 11g supports the
Web Feature Service
(WFS) version 1.1 and
Catalog Services Web
(CSW 2.0) specifications.
WFS in Oracle Spatial's
implementation uses
SOAP/XML over http, as
well as the GML filter
specification for feature
search and Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP) for authentication.
For transactional opera-
tions, the product supports the ability to
retrieve a set of features while locking some,
or all, features for a certain period of time. It
also supports updating or deleting existing
feature instances based on filter criteria.
Raster Data and GeoRasterImprovementsGeoRaster enhancements within Oracle 11g
are outstanding. It’s fairly mature compared
to version 10g. At first glance, it’s much faster
and gives the feeling of a finished product.
All the tests that have been done – even on
some simple computational platforms like PCs
with 1-2 GHz processors – show that its per-
formance is “really fast and reliable!”
From the technical point of view, enhance-
ments which add up to Oracle Spatial's sup-
port for raster data include:
• Support for empty raster blocks
• GeoRaster template functions to ease
third-party software integration – it actual-
ly helps developers by making things easy
with database binary large object (BLOB)
and XML Type
• Support for multiple NODATA values and
multiple NODATA value ranges for any
GeoRaster objects and their individual
bands/layers
• Union/merging of multiple GeoRaster
objects or multiple layers
• Partial update/edit of raster data inside a
GeoRaster object
• Statistical analysis functions
• Support for sub-cell and sub-pixel address-
30
Review
July/August 2008
San Francisco Map Using GeoRaster (Background) © Oracle.
ing (floating row and column numbers) in
the GeoRaster cell space
• Support for irregular raster blocking
• Loading and exporting additional formats
like GeoTIFF, JPEG 2000, DigitalGlobe RP
Spatial Vendors and OracleLet’s take a quick look to see which GIS ven-
dors integrate with Oracle’s database manage-
ment solutions. At first sight it’s really easy to
agree with this statement in Oracle Spatial’s
white paper, “Oracle's open, native spatial for-
mat eliminates the cost of separate, propri-
etary systems, and is supported by all leading
GIS vendors”
ESRI's support for Oracle in its ArcGIS 9.x ver-
sion ensures interoperability and provides
additional options for open and scalable solu-
tions. ESRI supports the storage of geograph-
ic information in commercial database man-
agement systems. As an Oracle Alliance Partner
for more than 10 years, ESRI has fully inte-
grated ArcGIS technology with Oracle's DBMS
software releases. In addition, Oracle 11g is
supported in the upcoming ArcGIS 9.3 release.
MapInfo collaborated with Oracle Corporation
to develop the original spatial cartridge for the
Oracle 8i database. Today the newest version,
MapInfo Professional 9.5, supports Oracle
Database 11g.
On the Intergraph side, 11g was released a bit
too late to be certified against GeoMedia 6.1.
On the other hand, it has been and will con-
tinue to be tested against 11g. Expectations
are high that Oracle 11g will be fully support-
ed in the 6.2 release.
Bentley’s MicroStation and MicroStation
GeoGraphics use either ODBC drivers or direct
connection to communicate with some of the
supported databases including Oracle. It is
entirely possible that Bentley will support
Oracle 11g in new software versions.
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging released
a new version of Leica ADE with the ability to
handle Oracle 11g data. Leica ADE contains
web-based and mobile enterprise applications
for editing Oracle Spatial data in both a con-
nected and disconnected environment.
Extending the value of Oracle, Leica ADE com-
bines business information with geospatial
content.
Autodesk as a Certified Partner of the Oracle
Partner Network founded a development and
business alliance with Oracle which enables
Autodesk and Oracle to develop and deploy
solutions.
Conclusion I must say that Oracle has done some impres-
sive things with Oracle 11g and its support for
LIDAR data, TIN exports, and overall 3D data
storage. Quite a few Oracle technology part-
ners have done some really impressive things
embracing Oracle 11g. On the whole, the per-
formance of 11g is extremely good and it feels
very solid.
Let me remind you that some specialists have
always argued that the Oracle DBMS doesn’t
really conform very well at all to the relation-
al model or standard SQL. You should be
familiar with the taxonomy of RDMBS which
is based on Codd’s 12 well-known rules for
relational compliance. There hasn’t been a
clear answer on exactly which ones Oracle vio-
lates. In my view Codd comes up with an ideal
mathematical theory for ideal conditions.
Oracle, on the other hand, has built a prod-
uct based on the theory that embraces the
limitations we have in the real world. In this
context, I have never seen Oracle core tech-
nology contribute to a project failure in GIS,
not even because it isn’t “fully relational”. All
technologies are bound to have limitations
and eventually become subject to enhance-
ment, morphing to new forms and even
replacement. Robustness is the key character-
istic that Oracle excels in. I would easily add
Multi-Versioning, Speed, Ability to Install on
Many Platforms, Flashback, Locking, and, of
course, DBMS engine Metalink, Universal
Installer, Enterprise Manager, etc. Some com-
plain about the cost. If you take into account
the effort and workload behind the scenes, it
– the most powerful of the current DBMS
world – does come with a price tag.
Özgür Ertac [email protected] is
a Research Assistant at the Technical University
of München, Germany.
Links:
www.oracle.com/technology/products/spatial/
www.oracle.com/technology/products/mapviewer/
www.opengeospatial.org/
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com31
July/August 2008
The first time somebody explained the
concept of GIS to me I was submerged
in the world of marketing. Sales of
Coca-Cola per region and individual
shops were geographically linked, and
based on this the distribution of this
famous medicine could be optimized. A
fantastic concept. Imagine what you
could do!
Since then GIS has come a long way
and has made an enormous impact on
our modern world. But would anybody
have expected that GIS, unknowingly,
would become a common good? Of
course the developments are directly
influenced by the wide availability of
GPS. It’s a term a lot of people have
added to their vocabulary. With the use
of GPS a number of applications have
been developed using GIS to supply
people with requested geographical
information. If you want to purchase a
new house, Google Earth shows you the
surroundings of your future residence.
And almost every new car is fitted with
a Satnav system. If you need a place to
sleep, your onboard computer will direct
you to the nearest hotel.
But the abbreviation GIS is relatively
unknown to the wider public.
“Geographical Information System”
causes raised eyebrows. And it appears
that the term GIS is slowly being
pushed to the background within the
scientific community, as if this black
box, the engine for all geographical
applications, is better kept away from
the limelight. Maybe if we change the
meaning of the letters slightly we could
reinstate the word GIS and make it part
of the vocabulary of the public. I think
GIS deserves this.
Column
GIS for the Public?
Bart van Mierlo
managing director of
Periplus Consultancy BV
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com33
July/August 2008
Over the last number of years a clear trend of GNSS surveying equipment being increasingly used by “non”
surveyors has emerged. It may be a harsh reality to “traditionally” trained and educated survey-ors,
but while the “intelligence” of the equipment has grown, the operating skills required in the fields has reduced.
A friend of mine provocatively once said “the sum of the intelligence of the equipment and
the intelligence of the operator will always stay a constant”.
One of my visions to provide easy-to-use equipment to our customers is
that the GNSS surveying receiver will automatically detect all available dif-
ferential services and always provide the best possible RTK position. We
are only a small step away from a receiver that scans all possible refer-
ence services - simultaneously scanning lower radio frequencies, search-
ing augmentation services and “surfing” internet services in the higher
UMTS or CDMA band. Already now, a high percentage of surveyors are
online in the field and receive RTK corrections
via NTRIP servers. In future this could be fully
automated without any interaction by the
operator and independent of the reference
service.
The support of coordinate systems via RTCM
v3.1 is already state-of-the-art. If a network
provider supports the RTCM transformation
message, the operator in the field does not
need to determine a field calibration. Field
calibrations are both time consuming and a
source of error. The coordinate system and
the geoid model are part of the RTCM v3.1 correction message and
applied automatically. Which surveyor would not appreciate that the
GNSS equipment takes fully care of the complexity of coordinate sys-
tems?
In addition, when we consider GNSS modernization, multi GNSS systems
will significantly increase the reliability of the computed positions. If
Galileo will keep its promises with regards to system integ-rity, if the
wonderfully low multipath AltBOC signals will become reality and if more
than 100 observations per epoch will be available, then accuracy checks
are a thing of the past. The reliability of positions with fixed ambiguities
will then be in the order of six sigma.
Most people can remember the times when only the boss was trusted to
plan and execute the GPS post processing campaigns in the early 90s.
Over time this changed and it became the job of the apprentice. In the
next decade almost anyone who can operate a DVD player will qualify to
operate GNSS survey equipment. Professional sur-
veyors must realize that equipment will become
increasingly easy to use and should exploit the
potential opportunities, rather than see this trend
as a threat to their profession. Professional sur-
veyors certainly need to be aware of this, because
in future an electrician will be able to position a
UMTS transmitter in the right place by himself and
the gas fitter will survey the position of the
pipeline without help. It is not entirely unrealistic
to see one day job advertisements which say
“Surveyor Needed - no technical experience neces-
sary”.
The high precision GNSS market will continue with double digit growth
and the trend for easy-to-use equipment will be further pursued by the
three manufacturers that drive innovation in GNSS surveying. I compare
the trend with the aviation industry where, luckily for the passengers, an
Airbus 380 is apparently easier to land than a Cessna 150.
A friend of mine provocatively
once said “the sum of the
intelligence of the equipment and
the intelligence of the operator
will always stay a constant”.
Column
Surveyor Needed - NoTechnical Experience Necessary
Bernhard Richter is
Program Director GNSS Programs
at Leica Geosystems
Digging for Water and Life Evidence on Mars
The Phoenix Has Landed
Digging for Answers under theSurfaceWhen NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft landed on
the Arctic plains of northern Mars on May 25,
2008, its first images of the planet’s surface
revealed a landscape familiar to polar scien-
tists on Earth: a pattern of interlocking poly-
gon shapes that form in permafrost that
freezes and thaws seasonally. These polygon
patterns have been captured in images from
previous Mars missions, and they are among
the evidence that Mars’ polar regions har-
bour large quantities of frozen water. On
Earth, permafrost, glaciers, and other frozen
environments can preserve organic
molecules, bacteria, and fungi for hundreds
of thousands, even millions, of years.
Today, Mars is a cold, dry desert planet with
no liquid water on its surface – no rivers,
lakes, or oceans – with a thin, carbon-diox-
ide atmosphere. However, evidence from pre-
vious missions Mars Global Surveyor,
Odyssey, and Exploration Rover exists sug-
gesting Mars was very different in the past.
Extensive spacecraft exploration of Mars has
revealed geologic features that lead us to
believe liquid water once flowed on Mars in
canyons and persisted in shallow lakes bil-
lions of years ago. However, Phoenix will
probe the history of liquid water that may
have existed in the arctic as recently as
100,000 years ago.
Recent discoveries show that life can exist in
the most extreme conditions. Certain bacterial
spores lie dormant in bitterly cold, dry, and air-
less conditions for millions of years and become
activated once conditions become favourable.
Such dormant microbial colonies may exist in
the Martian arctic, where during brief periods
about every 100,000 years the soil environment
is believed to be favourable for life. The Phoenix
spacecraft has scientific instruments that will
drill into the frozen ground of the Martian Arctic,
vaporize the soil samples, and analyze the
chemistry of the vapours. Phoenix will explore
the habitability of the Martian environment by
using sophisticated chemical experiments to
assess the soil’s composition of life-giving ele-
ments such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus,
and hydrogen. Phoenix will also dig into the
soil protected from harmful solar radiation,
looking for organic life signatures. By digging
into the soil and water-ice just below the sur-
face and analyzing the chemistry of the soil and
ice with robust instruments, scientists will bet-
ter understand the history of the Martian arctic.
Scientists hope to learn whether ice just below
the surface ever thaws and whether some
chemical ingredients of life are preserved in the
icy soil.
36
Art ic le
On May 25th Phoenix Mars Lander has landed in the Mars’ Northern Plains with the main goal of its mission to study
the history of water and search for organic molecules in the ice-rich soil of the Martian arctic. To bring you some
unearthly perspectives here's a quick compilation of the available mission information.
By Joc Triglav
Phoenix Mars Lander is on its way to
dig out answers to unsolved mysteries of
the Red planet.
July/August 2008
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
July/August 200837
This pair of images shows the similarities between the surface of Mars where Phoenix landed (top) and permafrost on north-eastern Spitsbergen, Svalbard (bottom). The
polygon patterns form in permafrost when the upper parts of the ground thaw and refreeze from season to season. The ground contracts in the winter cold, creating small
spaces that fill with melt water in the summer. When winter returns and the water freezes, it acts like a wedge, enlarging the cracks. Although the Earth photo shows a
large amount of surface water, the process could presumably occur beneath the surface with far less water. (Mars image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
Earth photograph courtesy Olafur Ingolfsson)
Phoenix Science InstrumentsThe science instruments aboard Phoenix rep-
resent some of the most sophisticated and
advanced technology ever sent to Mars as list-
ed and described below.
Robotic Arm (RA)
The RA is critical to the operations of the
Phoenix lander and is designed to dig trench-
es, scoop up soil and water-ice samples, and
deliver these samples to the TEGA and MECA
instruments for detailed chemical and geolog-
ical analysis (built by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory).
Robotic Arm Camera (RAC)
The RAC is attached to the Robotic Arm (RA)
just above the scoop. The instrument provides
close-up, full-colour images of (1) the Martian
surface, (2) prospective soil and water-ice
samples, (3) collected samples in the RA
scoop, and (4) the floor and side-walls of the
trench to examine fine-scale texturing and lay-
ering.( Built by the University of Arizona and
Max Planck Institute).
Surface Stereoscopic Imager (SSI)
SSI serves as Phoenix’s “eyes” for the mis-
sion, providing high-resolution, stereoscopic,
panoramic images of the Martian arctic. Using
an advanced optical system, SSI surveys the
arctic landing site for geological context, pro-
vides range maps in support of digging oper-
ations, and makes atmospheric dust and
cloud measurements (built by the University
of Arizona).
Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA)
TEGA is a combination high-temperature oven
and mass spectrometer instrument that sci-
entists will use to analyze Martian ice and soil
samples. Small amounts of soil and ice are
delivered into eight tiny ovens. The oven tem-
perature increases and the power is moni-
tored. The gases that are boiled out of the
sample are piped to a mass spectrometer for
chemical analysis. This process gives impor-
tant information about the chemical character
of the soil and ice (built by the University of
Arizona and the University of Texas, Dallas).
Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and
Conductivity Analyzer (MECA)
MECA is a combination of several scientific
instruments including a wet chemistry labora-
tory, optical and atomic force microscopes,
and a thermal and electrical conductivity
probe. By mixing small amounts of soil in
water, MECA determines important chemical
properties like acidity, saltiness, and compo-
sition. Looking through a microscope, MECA
examines the soil grains to help determine
their origin and mineralogy. Needles stuck into
the soil determine the water and ice content
(built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the
University of Arizona, and the University of
Neuchatel).
Mars Descent Imager (MARDI).
MARDI played a key science role during
Phoenix’s descent to the Martian arctic.
38
Art ic le
Important data on water on Mars were
provided by Mars Odyssey orbiter in the
year 2001/02. The map cantered around
the north pole of Mars is produced by
gamma ray spectrometer and shows
hydrogen distribution, mostly in the form
of water ice. Areas with high H2O are
shown in violet and blue colours. (Image
credits: NASA/JPL/UA)
July/August 2008
Beginning just after the aero shell is jettisoned at an altitude of
about 5 miles, MARDI acquired a series of wide-angle, colour images
of the landing site all the way down to the surface (built by Malin
Space Science Systems).
Meteorological Station (MET)
Throughout the
course of Phoenix
surface operations,
MET will record the
daily weather of the
Martian northern
plains using temper-
ature and pressure
sensors, as well as a
light detection and
ranging (LIDAR)
instrument. With
these instruments,
MET will play an important role by providing information on the
current state of the polar atmosphere and how water is cycled
between the solid and gas phases in the Martian arctic (built by
the Canadian Space Agency).
Innovation and International ParticipationThe Phoenix mission is the first chosen for NASA’s Scout program,
an initiative for lower-cost, competed spacecraft. Scouts are
designed to be highly innovative and relatively low-cost comple-
ments to major missions being planned as part of the agency's
Mars Exploration Program. Named for the resilient mythological
bird, Phoenix used a lander that was intended for use by 2001’s
Mars Surveyor lander prior to its cancellation. It also carries a com-
plex suite of instruments that are improved variations of those that
flew on the lost Mars Polar Lander.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, with pro-
ject management at NASA’s Jet Pro¬pulsion Laboratory and devel-
opment partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
International contributions for Phoenix are provided by the
Canadian Space Agency, the University of Neuchatel in Switzer¬land,
the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the Max Planck
Institute in Germany. In addition, scientists from other academic
institutions and laboratories around the world will participate in
the mission.
Though no evidence exists of liquid water currently flowing on the
surface of Mars, evidence of past liquid water on the surface con-
tinues to build. Liquid water is important because all known life
forms require it to survive. The exploration and discovery contin-
ues with scientists on Earth, robots like Phoenix, and maybe some-
day, humans on Mars. What we can do is to keep our fingers
crossed for the scientists to find some new answers to the old
Martian mysteries, which never cease to light up our imagination.
Joc Triglav [email protected] is editor of GeoInformatics.
Readers are strongly encouraged to further explore the latest available news
from the web sources, especially the websites which were used
by the author to compile this article:http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu
www.nasa.gov, www-samlab.unine.ch/activities/famars.htm
www.mps.mpg.de/en/, www.hi.is/~oi/index.htm
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Art ic le
39
Why is liquid water important for life?Life, as we understand it, requires liquid water. But why? The answer lies in the
nature of themolecule itself:
1) First, water must be in a liquid form to allow for transport of chemicals into
and out of cells. Water vapour and water ice do not have nearly the same
ability to transfer substances as liquid water does.
2) Second, proteins act as catalysts within cells and require liquid water for
proper function.
3) Third, water has a few unique properties compared to other liquids that make
it essential for life. (A) Water remains liquid over a wide temperature range,
permitting life to survive in climate and weather changes. (B) In an opposite
sense, liquid water has a high capacity to hold energy, moderating weather
and climate. (C) Unlike almost all other molecules, water floats when it freezes.
This insulates the water below, which remains liquid and supports life. (D)
Water molecules are “polar,” with a slightly negative side and a slightly posi-
tive side. Each end of the water molecule attracts other electrically charged
particles. These polar substances, like sugar and salt that are essential for
living cells, will dissolve easily in water, while non-polar molecules, such as
oils and lipids making up cell membranes, are very difficult to dissolve.
Erosion of water ice layers near the north pole of
Mars and genesis of nearby sand dunes. (Image
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)
As seen from NASA’s Terra satellite, Earth is a planet
with an abundance of liquid water critical for a
life-supporting climate. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL)
July/August 2008
Polar substances, like sugar and saltthat
are essential for living cells, will dissolve
easily in water. (Source:
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu)
24–25 September 2008
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For more information and for Early Bird discounted registration visit our website:
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Utilizing Local Knowledge
Neo-geography and the TomTom Community
The term ‘neo-geography’ is on everyone’s lips these days, but its meaning
is not clear to everyone. In this article, Florian Fischer explains what
neo-geography is all about: communities, data and technology. TomTom
recognized the importance of communities and introduced TomTom Map Share
technology, where user communities can correct and share street data and
Points of Interest. TomTom is working on more services of this sort.
By Florian Fischer
Neo-geography – The Domain ofNon-ExpertsThe term “neo-geography” has been haunting
the geographic information domain for a
while. According to the author of Introduction
to Neo-geography, Andrew Turner, “neo-geo -
graphy is geographical techniques and tools
used for personal activities or for utilization
by a non-expert group of users, not formal or
analytical”. The boom started with the intro-
duction of easy-to-use Virtual Globes. They
enable the creation of mash-ups and the col-
laborative gathering and sharing of spatially
referenced “geo-tags”. These geo-tags and
even geo-tracks are simply geo-coded or
recorded GPS devices.
Before long, countless virtual Communities of
Practice (CoP) had emerged, working on fea-
ture collections to accompany mainstream col-
lections for Points of Interest (POI) to meet
their everyday - and sometimes very special -
information demands. In fact, they organized
participative geo-sensor networks in which
everyone becomes a sensor and contributes
information based on their local expertise and
environment, on a voluntary basis. Prof.
Michael Goodchild from the UCSB Center for
Spatial Studies terms this kind of information
Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). The
more neo-geographers take part, the better
the coverage is, and the data pools that even-
tually emerge are free of cost apart from the
time invested by each contributor. There may
be restrictions, such as the members-only
access to data on some platforms.
Other platforms, such as Open -
StreetMap (OSM), give everyone access in
accordance with the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 license, but the
personal rights of disposal of contributions
are passed on to OSM.
However, the reliability (including the accura-
cy) of spatial information remains a big issue
in neo-geography, as determining whether
data can be trusted for the purpose at hand
is a guessing game. Even data from private
and public mapping agencies is not without
error, and neo-geography platforms do their
best by introducing review mechanisms and
quality assurance. But most consumers sim-
ply do not demand as high a level of accura-
cy as GIS professionals do.
Upheaval in the GeographicInformation Business?The concept of neo-geography offers many
advantages for geo-service providers such as
diversification of the information supply,
including special information demands, and
the opportunity to enhance the currency of
the information pool. Neo-geography might
therefore denote an upheaval in the geo-
graphic information business. TomTom is one
of the companies that has invested substan-
42
Art ic le
July/August 2008
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com43
July/August 2008
tially over the last year in introducing the con-
cept of neo-geography. I will discuss some of
their neo-geo features in the following sec-
tion.
According to a study by MICUS Management
Consulting GmbH in Germany, TomTom is
Europe’s leading vendor of Personal
Navigation Devices (PNDs). PND growth rates
are amazing at the moment, but strong com-
petition demands increasingly innovative
products and better control of map providers.
A logical step for TomTom, therefore, was the
2.9 billion euro acquisition of TeleAtlas con-
firmed by the European Union in the middle
of May 2008.
TomTom – Neo-geography ReloadedIn July 2007 TomTom introduced its TomTom
Map Share technology. Map Share enables
TomTom users to correct information on street
data and POIs and share it within the TomTom
community. Joining the community is simple,
and corrections are handled very simply, too.
Map Share users are able to choose from six
categories to make their corrections. They can
register blocked or unblocked streets, reverse
traffic directions, edit street names, add miss-
ing POIs, edit POIs and report other
errors. According to press reports from
TomTom, over one million map corrections
had been made as of February 2008. Two-
thirds of these corrections were confirmed
immediately. The rest went on to the TomTom
developer team and the data provider for
review and confirmation. Out of the more than
10 million TomTom users, over half a million
have joined the Map Share Community since
July 2007. This Map Share development is
considered quite a success for TomTom.
However, it still requires a lot of overhead and
control by TomTom to process the corrections
and thus promote the desperately needed
reliability in navigation services.
Currently all TomTom Map Share users are
integrated in TomTom Home, a user portal for
desktop computers that already has 2.5 mil-
lion registered users. In February 2008
TomTom initiated this collaborative platform
in order to enable content sharing between
users. The content encompasses routes, POIs,
self-made voices and cartographic symbols.
All users can create their own POI sets and
individual route recommendations and upload
and download this data free of charge within
the community. Moreover, all users can rate
and comment on the content uploaded by
others and receive immediate updates on new
POIs in which they have a personal interest.
With TomTom Home, neo-geographers can
exercise their power, and thus one can now
get driving directions in the voice of R2D2
from Star Wars or directions to the closest
organic food shop. By introducing this plat-
form, TomTom has added value to its service
that it could never have managed on its own.
The Future of ServicesTomTom is working on two more services to
adopt navigation advice for the current traf-
fic situation. In some countries these ser-
vices have already been implemented. They
do not exactly hit the mark of neo-geogra-
phy but, still, they utilize the experiences
of drivers to improve navigation. HD-Traffic
makes use of anonymous cellphone data
to collect current speeds and traffic direc-
tions. This is fed into a traffic information
system to improve routing recommenda-
tions and make times of arrival more pre-
cise. IQ-Routes uses historical speed pro-
files for street sections based on over 10
billion kilometers of travel collected
from TomTom users over the last few
years. The static assumptions for aver-
age speed that are used for routing
can thus be adjusted and eventually
can lead to more precise routing
advice.
TomTom provides an excellent example of
how the geographic information business can
benefit from the integration of neo-geogra-
phy. In the coming years I expect we will see
a definite shift in information production from
public and private mapping agencies to par-
ticipative geo-sensor networks. This will result
from better response to information demands
and cost-efficiency, with concentration on ser-
vices rather than on information pools.
Deploying geo-services creates a multiplicity
of added value that distributing raw spatial
information does not. TomTom’s involvement
also shows that accuracy can be managed,
while the strength of neo-geography is the
creation of useful data sets and, certainly,
added value in services.
Florian Fischer [email protected] is
contributing GIS editor for Geoinformatics. For more
information, have a look at www.tomtom.com and
www.livechangingmaps.com.
As an alternative to paper maps, Map Share enables
TomTom users to correct information on street data and
POIs and share it within the TomTom community.
From over 10 million TomTom users more than half a million users joined the Map Share Community since July 2007.
European SurveyorsCongress Strasbourg 2008The role of the surveyorsin the European societyand economy
STRASBOURG 17-18-19 SEPTEMBER 2008
www.geometre-strasbourg2008.eu
ORGANISED BY
Persp
ective
s
International FIG Workshop
Sharing E-learning Experiences
Sharing e-learning experiences was the purpose of the FIG International
Workshop held at ITC in the Netherlands. Over three days participants
were invited to attend lectures by keynote speakers, technical sessions,
hands-on sessions and demonstrations. E-learning has proved to be valuable
in practice, but it creates new challenges and opportunities
for both educators and students.
By Eric van Rees
A FIG International Workshop on the theme
“Sharing Good Practices: E-learning in
Surveying, Geoinformation Sciences and Land
Administration” was held at ITC (International
Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth
Observation) in Enschede, the Netherlands,
from June 11 to 13. The program embraced three
keynote speakers, technical sessions, hands-on
sessions and demonstrations.
Virtual CampusesIn the program notes, Vice-President of FIG Paul
Molenaar explained the need for this workshop:
“FIG’s current work plan, titled ‘Building the
Capacity”, focuses on the surveyor’s response
to social, economic, technological and environ-
mental change...given the needs in education
in relation to the available capacity we have to
look for new approaches – e-Learning is expect-
ed to contribute here.” E-learning is short for
‘electronic learning’ and refers to students and
teachers using online technology to interact and
participate.
There were two keynote presentations on
Thursday, June 12. Prof. Bela Markus of the
University of West Hungary, who is also Chair
of FIG Commission 2, spoke about e-learning
in general. In his lecture entitled ‘Thinking
about e-Learning’ Markus discussed the status,
the trends and the importance of business mod-
els in e-learning. Research shows that educa-
tional systems are transformed by a number of
different features. Technological trends trans-
form all traditional institutes of learning and
offer new possibilities for learners and teach-
ers. Collaborative learning enables learners to
establish their own learning groups focused on
their common interests. As well, learners can
choose from a worldwide list of educational
institutions that is not limited to traditional uni-
versities, but also includes international com-
petitors from hardware and software industries
that establish corporate and virtual campuses.
Lifelong LearningThe second keynote address was delivered by
András Osskó, Chief Advisor, Budapest Land
Office. He delivered a critical speech which con-
tained some provocative statements that
prompted discussion afterwards. In his paper,
‘The importance of changes in land surveyors’
education’, Osskó describes how interest in tra-
ditional land surveying is decreasing. Osskó
wondered if universities need to offer survey-
ing education since measurements and compu-
tations have been highly automated and do not
necessarily require university education. Interest
in land administration, on the other hand, is
increasing. This has to do with the moderniza-
tion of land administration worldwide.
Universities have to face these changes and
adjust their programs accordingly: a new bal-
ance needs to be found between the practical
and scientific approaches. The majority of uni-
versities running land surveying faculties
haven’t recognized the increasing importance
of land and real property related activities and
the role of land administration in the economy.
By introducing new subjects into land surveyors’
education, more attractive and useful courses
can be offered to students. Osskó also made a
plea for lifelong learning which is necessary not
only for individuals but also for institutions to
keep the knowledge of their staff up-to-date. It
is especially important now because of rapid
developments in information technology and
changing priorities in the profession. Although
Osskó sounded pessimistic during his presen-
tation, his paper provided a number of exam-
ples where his recommendations have been put
into practice.
An example of ‘Sharing good practice’ was pre-
sented by Dr. Connie Blok from eduGI/ITC. The
‘good practice’ in question was the eduGI pro-
ject. During the pilot version of this project e-
courses were developed and shared through
different institutes in Europe. The main advan-
tage of such sharing is efficiency, since partici-
pants get three courses in return for develop-
ing only one. In practice, developing the course
and teaching it were not easy. For instance, it
can be a problem to integrate an external
course into one’s own study program. Cultural
differences with international students and dif-
ferent tutoring styles can hinder good e-learn-
ing practice. When it came to evaluation, the
course developed by ITC was very well received,
and its underlying business model for interna-
tional cooperation can be transferred to all sci-
entific areas in higher education.
Eric van Rees [email protected] is
editor-in-chief of Geoinformatics.
For more information, have a look at www.fig.net.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
45July/August 2008
courtesy ITC www.itc.nl
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plus credit for prior learning or experience
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It’s All About the Right Shot
Geoserve Satellite Image ProductsConference
As well as presenting their own products and services to the audience, Dutch satellite imagery distributor Geoserve
invited an international group of similar companies to their first Satellite Image Conference. The many uses of satellite
imagery were discussed, along with the different ways of acquiring, interpreting and distributing the imagery.
Hopefully, this initiative will be repeated in the future as well as deepened and expanded for a broader audience
that is not yet familiar with this market.
By Eric van Rees
Geoserve’s first conference on satellite imagery was held at Schiphol
Airport in the Netherlands on June 13. The same day that the Dutch
national soccer team was going to play a match against France, an
international crowd of satellite imagery companies was invited to
present their products and services to the public. The reason for
holding this conference was to give potential buyers of satellite imagery
a broad overview of the market, products, working methods and intend-
ed target audiences. Judging from the reactions of participants and
visitors, this event was very well received and successful and will
hopefully be repeated in the future. Among the companies present were
Eurimage, Imagesat International, Spot Image and Infoterra.
SoccerThe link between satellite imagery and soccer was made clear by chair-
man Niek Schaap who claimed that both are “all about the right shot”.
Frank Wouters, director of Geoserve, spoke about the company’s role
as a satellite distributor. Being a Dutch company, it is not surprising to
learn that Geoserve sees its primary function as a distributor of imagery.
Data distribution is a ‘big dynamic process’ that involves managing
information about the data, obtaining the data, managing the commer-
cial deal and managing cultural differences. This is impor-
tant since Geoserve is the supplier of imagery for no fewer
than 10 countries and it has customers in 15 countries.
Most of the presentations followed the same format: the
company would introduce itself and its related organiza-
tion(s), present its mission, and provide a products and ser-
vices overview. Particularly interesting was the imagery pre-
sented to end users, such as the examples of Worldview-1
Stereo Acquisitions from Eurimage. The visitors were offered
3D glasses so they could experience these images the right
way. Of course, everyone wanted to know about the satel-
lites that are used to capture the images and those that are
to come, such as the Worldview-2 satellite later in 2008.
DeepeningAlthough much satellite imagery is ordered by major govern-
ment and defence customers, satellite imagery isn’t just about
human activities. Geosense, a one-man Dutch company oper-
ated by consultant Marc Goossens, provides imagery of the
natural environment. Geosense’s client base consists of natu-
ral resources industries and environmental organizations,
including mining companies, NGOs and the World Bank. Using
a lot of visual material, Goossens made clear how the company does
work for these organizations. Detailed spectral analysis, for instance, is
deployed for mapping different minerals in mountainous areas such as
Tibet. This can indicate the possible presence of gold so that mining can
be carried out in the area in the future. To be able to access such promis-
ing mining locations, slope processes have to be visualized and analyzed
to prevent accidents. Digital elevation models are useful for studying nat-
ural hazards and environmental impacts such as landslide risks.
In retrospect, the initiative to bring together different international satel-
lite imagery companies at the conference was a good idea, but hopefully
there will be room to deepen the focus at upcoming conferences. There
was not much space for such topics as interpreting images and back-
ground information on imaging principles such as scattering mechanisms
that influence the captioning of imagery. By focusing on a wider audi-
ence that is not yet familiar with these topics, I think Geoserve will do
an even better job when it comes time to organize the next conference.
Eric van Rees [email protected] is editor-in-chief
of Geoinformatics. For more information, have a look at www.geoserve.nl
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
47July/August 2008
Ms Michaela Weber, Director Sales and Marketing at European Space Imaging.
Listening to Customers, Changing the Game
Autodesk Geospatial Solutions
This year Autodesk organized the Tech and Sales Camp for its AEC and Geospatial EMIA business partners in Disneyland
Paris, France from April 22-25. Venues in the hotels around Lake Disney were beating with high energy levels and were
crowded with enthusiastic Autodesk technical sales representatives from Europe, Middle East, India and
Africa, who participated in partner technical training that covered the product line with the latest versions
of AutoCAD Map 3D, MapGuide Enterprise, Topobase, AutoCAD Raster Design, AutoCAD Architecture,
Revit Architecture and Revit Structure, AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Civil 3D.
By Joc Triglav
During the event I learned a lot attending the
EMIA Geospatial Tech Camp and workflow
based update training lessons for technical per-
sonnel that focused on a multi disciplinary track
approach. The event and the lessons I learned
inspired me far beyond their direct and imme-
diate reach. So, instead of describing the event
and lessons in details I want to share with you
some of the thoughts on the geospatial indus-
try development, backed up with information
on the Autodesk’s geospatial strategies and
solutions, compiled from various web sources.
Though you’ve probably already heard or read
such information in some way, you deserve and
need to hear it again to really hear and under-
stand the actual message.
Being a long time user of Autodesk CAD and
geospatial products - starting some twenty
years ago with the then available MS-DOS ver-
sion of AutoCAD – I am very glad to see that
Autodesk is making progress in the right direc-
tions with its geospatial line of products and
thus coming even closer to the users' real
needs in the geospatial industry. Following the
reality in the worldwide AutoCAD user commu-
nity in the late 80’s and early 90’s, who was
already using AutoCAD extensively for digital
mapping applications, Autodesk has made a
firm step towards geospatial users with the
introduction of ADE AutoCAD Data Extension in
1993, which later quickly evolved into AutoCAD
Map to become Autodesk’s flagship geospatial
product. Of course, Autodesk has come a long
way further since then, growing naturally with
the geospatial users’ needs up to the latest ver-
sions of the software solutions in the geospa-
tial platform AutoCAD Map3D 2009, Autodesk
MapGuide Enterprise 2009, AutoCAD Raster
Design 2009 and Autodesk Topobase 2009,
which are all interoperable with other CAD, GIS
and IT systems. All have open data access and
are built on an open architecture that preserves
data integrity. The idea is that the geospatial
platform is now easier to use, with design and
spatial asset information flowing in and out of
systems easily.
48
Conference
July/August 2008
Newport Bay Club Hotel in Disneyland, Paris, France, the venue of Autodesk EMIA Geospatial Tech and Sales Camp 2008.
High energy marked social networking during the breaks between Tech Camp sessions.
Autodesk’s approach to geospatial is different
than that of many other companies especially
in the fact that it comes out of engineering.
Most of those people who have an affinity for
Autodesk Geospatial are generally coming from
an engineering background, therefore it is
understandable that Autodesk’s strategy natu-
rally focuses on how engineering people use
geospatial technology. The second part of the
strategy is about democratizing their database
access and application development, making it
easier to develop solutions that bring together
CAD and GIS by combining the powerful, smart
graphics of CAD with direct, native access to
the world’s most common GIS databases and
files.
And what is the most important thing in all
those databases and files? Data, of course, and
data again! The essential fact, which always has
to be present in making any plans or decisions,
is that the data is one of the organization’s most
valuable assets. Organization’s data outlives the
applications and people that manage it. While
people change jobs and companies reinvest in
software, the organization’s data is a perma-
nent fixture. Putting data into a proprietary for-
mat that locks organizations into using one ven-
dor’s applications to access or manage it is
obviously not the right solution. Instead tools
have to be provided to increase the value of
extending their capabilities over time. Some
organizations have limited ability to get value
out of their data—such as those where infras-
tructure information is only found on paper-
based maps or where data is locked up in
unstructured CAD files stored across many file
systems. Other organizations have more sophis-
ticated, integrated geospatial data systems that
enable integration and collaboration organiza-
tion-wide. By understanding the value chain,
organizations have the opportunity to identify
what pains they can alleviate and what bene-
fits they can realize by moving up the value
chain. And the essential task of Autodesk is to
effectively support an organization at any of
these stages with its geospatial product line,
as well as to facilitate easy transition from one
stage to the other as the organization’s geospa-
tial data needs evolve. Of course, the general
aim for any organization is to climb up the
stages of the value chain and to increase the
benefits offered by geospatial solutions.
By moving up the Autodesk Geospatial Value
Chain, organizations increasingly leverage their
geospatial data for a variety of business func-
tions. To locate the organization’s actual posi-
tion in the geospatial value chain and to assess
the organization’s potentials and needs, there
are five stages in the value chain. Let’s take a
short look at them.
data assets by ensuring that they are main-
tained, usable, and accessible in an open, scal-
able, and secure manner.
By bringing CAD and GIS together, Autodesk
Geospatial enables organizations to leverage
their existing CAD-trained design engineers, use
existing CAD software and data in its native for-
mat, and access existing GIS datasets (DWG,
SHP, ArcSDE, Oracle Spatial) in a native format.
In addition, by bridging the CAD and GIS
worlds, Autodesk Geospatial reduces redundan-
cy and error propagation. No data is lost in
translation and there’s no duplication of data
sets. Organizations contend with fewer silos of
information and reduce out-of-date data snap-
shots. In short, they manage and access the
most current information.
The Autodesk Geospatial Value ChainCAD and geospatial technologies are developed
and deployed in many different ways across
industries and even within a single organiza-
tion. Autodesk has identified the five stages of
the Autodesk Geospatial Value Chain that rep-
resent how “spatially enabled” organizations
typically work with their geospatial information.
The Autodesk Geospatial Value Chain provides
a useful model to help understand how organi-
zations currently use geospatial technology, and
provides a deliberate path for growing and
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
49July/August 2008
What is SDF?Autodesk Spatial Data File (SDF) is a GIS-ori-
ented alternative to DWG that is optimized for
storing large classified data sets. The SDF file
is the native file format for FDO Data Access
Technology and leverages all of its strengths:
open API (application programming interface),
high performance, database-like table archi-
tecture, and larger data set sizes. By using
SDF files, organizations combat the problem
of putting too much information into a DWG—
such as regional GIS-scale vector data and
attributes (in object data tables)—making the
file unwieldy, increasing the chances that it
may be corrupted, and lowering its perfor-
mance. People used to working with DWG files
will find SDF an easy format to use. Like DWG,
it can store multiple features in a single file,
it is portable, and it stores arcs. While it is
not a database, it does act like a database in
that it stores data, both geometry and
attributes, in tables. With SDF, organizations
get many of the benefits offered by a
database without adding database cost or
complexity.
A glimpse of the Autodesk EMIA Geospatial Tech and Sales Camp 2008 General Session.
Geospatial Sales training included various topics that are high on the geospatial agenda of Autodesk.
Make a Spatial Connection
12
Stage 1
At Stage 1, organizations use a CAD product
such as AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT to design and
manage their infrastructure data. These organi-
zations have often migrated from paper-based,
Mylar, or vellum files and store their infrastruc-
ture data in CAD files—such as DWG drawings
on the desktop—in a file directory on a server.
Though AutoCAD is a world-leading design tool
that is used to create a majority of the world’s
infrastructure design data, it does not support
geo-referencing, multi-user editing, or GIS data
formats. When an organization using AutoCAD
needs to add location intelligence to its data,
bring in data from other sources, or allow mul-
tiple designers to edit the same data, it has
outgrown Stage 1.
Stage 2
At Stage 2, an organization uses CAD files with
mapping-like data—such as regional scale data
sets, cadastral information, and utility network
data - as its primary data source and Autodesk
Map 3D to collaborate and share this infras-
tructure information. With Autodesk Map 3D,
multiple people can easily access CAD data and
work across tiled CAD drawing files. Because it
allows more than one person to work on a
drawing at a time, Autodesk Map 3D makes it
easier to share data or split the workload.
Additionally, teams can import and export data
sets from many different CAD and GIS file types
as well as easily bring in GIS and raster data
from multiple coordinate systems and combine
it with DWG files and have the information over-
lay properly. Using Autodesk Map 3D, project
teams can use their AutoCAD knowledge and
training while taking advantage of more tradi-
tional GIS tools and functions. When an orga-
nization wants to extend its CAD information
to more people and leverage additional map-
ping capabilities—to know, for example, where
there are undeveloped parcels or how many
manholes are on new roads—they may be
ready to move to Stage 3.
the cost or management overhead. At Stage 3,
organizations can easily extend the reach of
their information by using Autodesk MapGuide
Enterprise to stylize and publish data to the
Internet—making it possible for audiences of
all sizes to access maps and data.
Stage 4
To extend the use of their information, organi-
zations transition from Stage 3 to Stage 4. They
move from a file-based environment using
DWG, SHP, or SDF to a spatial database envi-
ronment using the full functionality of a rela-
tional database management system (RDBMS).
With an RDBMS, hundreds or even thousands
of people can create, edit, and manage the
same data. With a full RDBMS, organizations
get more scalability, as well as added security
and the ability to create more sophisticated
data models. Using FDO Data Access
Technology, Autodesk Geospatial products work
natively with spatial data stored in Oracle,
Microsoft SQL ServerTM, and MySQL, as well as
Stage 3
In Stage 3, an organization increases the value
of its data by applying standards and organiz-
ing data using the Autodesk Map 3D platform.
By structuring and cleaning up CAD and other
data, what is known as “classification,” an orga-
nization can begin to define data as real-world
features with standard allowable attributes.
Classification ensures data consistency for all
users and increases the value and potential
uses of that data. This is where CAD and GIS
really start to work together. By classifying data
and leveraging FDO Data Access Technology—
Autodesk’s geospatial data access platform—
organizations can enhance the performance of
large data sets and use their CAD and geospa-
tial data together to make business decisions;
check inventories; or identify specific items,
such as the number of manholes, valves, or
new roads they must maintain. In Stage 3, orga-
nizations are storing feature data in a structured
file format such as Autodesk spatial data file
(SDF) or SHP. With SDF, organizations benefit
from the power of a spatial database without
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
51July/August 2008
The Five Stages of the Autodesk Geospatial Value Chain
Autodesk Geospatial product line breaks down data barriers and erases historic
CAD and GIS divide
The Autodesk Topobase architecture delivers data integration, sharing, creation, and management capabilities
along with superior database performance.
with ESRI’s ArcSDE middleware. As a result,
organizations are able to fully leverage the secu-
rity, scalability, sophisticated data models, and
multi-user read/write power of an RDBMS.
Autodesk Map 3D provides an interface that
makes data and schema migration from SDF or
SHP files to a full-scale RDBMS easy. While the
information in Stage 3 and Stage 4 may be the
same, organizations in Stage 4 leverage the
added power of an RDBMS to scale the avail-
ability and management of their geospatial
information.
Stage 5
When an organization moves from Stage 4 to
Stage 5 it shares spatial data with other depart-
ments and applications, making spatial data a
central part of its IT ecosystem. In this stage,
GIS data and functionality get woven into other
business systems, integrating with assessor
databases, permitting systems, ERP systems,
and more. The spatial application server sup-
plies geospatial intelligence and data to these
other applications. Autodesk, resellers, partners,
and system integrators build powerful solutions
to meet the organization’s specific business
goals and processes. Autodesk Topobase pro-
vides sophisticated solution modules that make
it easy for organizations to establish and man-
age a Stage 5 deployment.
After reading the outline of these five stages,
have you managed to find your personal posi-
tion and the position of your company some-
where in there? Where are you today and where
do you want to be? And where you should be
in order to tackle your problems and challenges
more efficiently to fulfil your business demands
with higher capacity and quality? You actually
have to ask yourself such questions constantly
and never stop seeking answers to them.
Remember, only the right questions will lead to
you to the right answers, and they are worth
of gold!
FDO Data Access TechnologyOne of the underlying technologies that
Autodesk Geospatial uses to break down barri-
ers between data is a common data access plat-
form called FDO Data Access Technology. FDO
Data Access Technology supports the creation
of data-store-neutral applications and facilitates
direct information exchange. To make it easier
for developers to extend the capabilities of FDO
Data Access Technology, Autodesk, in partner-
ship with the Open Source Geospatial
Foundation (OSGeo), has released FDO Data
Access Technology as an open source project.
Because this underlying technology is based on
open standards, it eliminates many of the diffi-
culties commonly encountered when working
with proprietary systems. FDO Data Access
Technology:
• Enables organizations to use of best-
of-breed software because they are not
locked into one vendor’s software, data for-
mat, or API.
• Leverages the Open Source community for
rapid product development and evolution.
For example, there are new FDO Data Access
Technology providers such as the OSGeo
FDO Provider for OGR.
• Extends access of an organization’s informa-
tion to other systems. For example, Oracle
Spatial provides access from non-spatial
applications.
• Reduces training, support, and development
costs associated with proprietary
systems.
Using FDO Providers, organizations can connect
directly to ESRI ArcSDE and SHP, Oracle,
Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL, as well as
leverage public data sources via Web Map
Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services
(WFS). Since FDO Data Access Technology is
available in the open source community other
enterprise applications such as ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning) or GIS systems can lever-
age FDO Data Access Technology to access the
same data. The result is a seamless experience
for accessing and integrating data from multi-
ple sources, regardless of format or where the
data is stored. By standardizing on FDO Data
Access Technology as its data access technolo-
gy for spatial data, an organization can easily
add support for new storage formats in a con-
sistent fashion across all Autodesk Geospatial
and other business applications.
The Future of GeospatialAnd what lies ahead in the geospatial world of
the near future? The geospatial industry has tra-
ditionally been focused on outdoor spaces from
our blue planet to countries through cities and
towns down to land parcels, ending at the
buildings’ doorsteps. In the last year or so the
term BIM (Building Information Modelling) start-
ed to ring in our geospatial ears ever more
often. Coming from the domain of the AEC com-
munity, who has grown to embrace extensive
experience working with building models in 3D,
BIM is already on the way of convergence with
geospatial modelling and thus opening a whole
new space of opportunities and cooperation,
allowing organizations in the industry to find
52
Conference
July/August 2008
Business processes are inefficient when data is not available, must be duplicated, or needs to be converted
between systems.
Autodesk Topobase is an infrastructure design and management solution that provides integrated,
organization-wide access to spatial information for engineering, GIS, operations, and business processes.
new solutions to their business problems and
challenges. Converging CAD, GIS and BIM
worlds into one continuous 3D space will rev-
olutionize our perceptions and tools. It will
allow us to see the big picture from totally
new perspectives and to continue breaking
down and dissolving the barriers of the his-
toric divisions between the CAD/BIM/GIS/
Joc Triglav [email protected]
is editor of GeoInformatics.
Autodesk Geospatial Solution
www.autodesk.com/geospatial
AEC...and other digital worlds. And the best
news is: the future is now and with the ver -
satile tools like the ones mentioned above we
are able and ready to deal with it! However,
being able and ready is not enough, we actu-
ally have to take the tools in our hands and
minds - and start using them in order to get
the work done!
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
53July/August 2008
Autodesk Geospatial Product Line • Autodesk Map 3D is the Engineering GIS platform for creating and managing geospatial data. Autodesk Map 3D bridges CAD and GIS by
providing direct access to data, regardless of how it is stored, and by enabling the use of AutoCAD tools for maintaining geospatial
information. Autodesk Map 3D delivers:
1. Create & Edit —Use of AutoCAD tools for maintaining spatial information
2. Access—Use multiple data formats and databases
3. Value—Move data through vector geometries to intelligent geospatial data
• Autodesk MapGuide is an advanced server-based platform for easily delivering spatially enabled applications over the web. Autodesk MapGuide
helps organizations get the full value from existing data and reduce the cost of disseminating spatial information to customers, internal teams,
the public, and other enterprise applications. Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise allows you to:
1. Share—Make data available through a web browser
2. Integrate—Bring together data from disparate IT and GIS systems
3. Flexible—View data with DWF/AJAX viewing options and broad OS support
• Autodesk Topobase is an infrastructure design and management solution that extends the power of the Autodesk Map 3D and Autodesk
MapGuide platforms. Topobase integrates design and asset information in a spatial information database so that departments across an
organization can see the big picture and collaborate more efficiently. Topobase can be used as
1. A departmental solution for managing design and asset information
2. An integration platform to provide up-to-date design and asset information for:
a. Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS)
b. Customer relationship management (CRM)
c. Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
d. Geographic information systems (GIS)
e. Outage management
f. Work order management
• Autodesk Raster Design, an extension to AutoCAD-based applications such as Autodesk Map3D, unlocks the value of scanned engineering
drawings and maps by enabling teams to manage and edit aerial photos, satellite imagery, and digital elevation models (DEMs).
• Autodesk Civil 3D software, built on the Autodesk Map 3D platform, is a powerful civil engineering application that uses a dynamic
engineering model to maximize accuracy and accelerate projects. This industry-proven solution helps ensure faster completion of
transportation, site, sewer, storm drain, and subdivision projects.
• Autodesk Design Review software is the free, integrated, all-digital way to view, print, mark up, and compare versions of drawings, maps, and
models—without the original design-creation software. For everyone in the review chain, easy sharing and collaborating is available with this
software.
• FDO Data Access Technology is the mechanism that enables Autodesk Geospatial products and enterprise applications to work natively with
spatial data stored in relational databases, files, and web-based services. FDO Data Access Technology is included in Autodesk Map 3D,
Autodesk Civil 3D, Autodesk MapGuide, and Autodesk Topobase.
GeoXchange Platform for Discussion
Data Sharing from Mash-up to SDI
As the exchange of geo data is becoming more common, questions sometimes
arise around two considerable emerging trends: in short ‘Google Earth’ versus
‘National Spatial Data Infrastructure’. Is one favored over the other?
By Remco Takken
Ian Painter, Managing Director at Snowflake
Software from the UK, puts it this way: “The
formal, top-down type SDIs typically stem
from a political and technical background, and
they tend to spring up under governmental
requirements. The more ad hoc communities,
however, those that adhere to the informal,
bottom-up approach of Google and Yahoo,
have a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ feel about
them. This is changing, though, now Google
has started to formalize its standards in order
to get as much information - and coverage -
as possible.”
GeoXchange, a two-day event in Edinburgh’s
Dynamic Earth, brings together European
users of Geographic Markup Language
(GML2&3). Speakers are not invited to hail
the sponsors’ related products, but to give
some insight into the current issues on
exchanging geo data. Main theme: mash-ups
versus SDIs.
Commercializing IdeasPeter ter Haar, product manager of Ordnance
Survey, sees that the characteristics of mash-
ups and SDIs are still quite distinct, although
they are breaking down thanks to technical
crossovers. With the creation and mainte-
nance of OS MasterMap of Great Britain,
Ordnance Survey has been playing a ‘pretty
standard SDI-supporting role’ as a trading
fund. Thus, it came as a big surprise when,
all of a sudden, the Ordnance Survey came
up with the (non-commercial) release of an
API, complete with a community website and
data samples, stimulating experimentation by
new users.
Ter Haar explains how OS OpenSpace works
within a Web 2.0 environment, using OS data
which is available - for free - to OS OpenSpace
non-commercial users only. “We saw quite a
lot of interest from small developers who
wanted to do fun things with GI-data but
didn’t have the means to get hold of our data.
So they hacked our systems! Now we have
provided a legitimate way for them to access
the data.”
“Of course we want to commercialize this idea
in the future. For now, however, we are just
providing support to third parties’ innovative
ideas. After three months, we now have over
500 registered developers and 48,000 visi-
tors. It’s part of our commitment to stimulate
experimentation and innovation in G.I.”
SDIs are HistoryWhere Ordnance Survey might seem to be
crossing over from the SDI side, Multi-Map is
actively building an infrastructure for the neo-
geography and mash-up community. Multi-
Map geospatial specialist, Tim Warr, feels no
need to put it mildly when he states that ‘SDIs
are history’. In his perspective, GIS has failed
in the recent past as a ‘classic example where
90 percent of the users actually only used 10
percent of this very expensive software just
to create a map. It’s very data centric: people
are always debating data, instead of debat-
ing the use’.
Warr continues to emphasize that Virtual Earth
(owned by Microsoft, who recently bought
Multi-Map) is a real GIS now where it becomes
easier to add your own data, and OGC is
approving KML as an Open Standard. In his
conclusion, he still sees a future for SDIs
though: “Neotards and paleotards can still
live in harmony, if we recognize that the
usable interface lies in the neo-geo world, and
that SDIs are suitable for the heavy lifting.”
Language Reveals StandpointsTypically, the language used in the ‘mash-up
versus SDI’ discussion thinly veils the stand-
points from which the arguments are being
cornered. In this respect, GeoXchange is a
very helpful meeting. Now we know that
54
Conference
July/August 2008
Alexandra Stadtler from the technical university of Berlin.
mash-ups are ruled by ‘folksonomy’ as
opposed to the ‘taxonomy’ driven SDIs.
Furthermore, what would you prefer: the wis-
dom of experts (SDI), or the wisdom of
crowds (mash-ups)? The ‘open community’ of
the mash-ups typically categorizes SDIs under
‘officialdom’, ‘bogged down in committees’
and ‘hung up on theory’. SDI data is called
‘expensive’ and ‘historic’, as opposed to ‘near
real-time’. What about: “Inspire is boring”?
From the other camp, words such as ‘uncali-
brated crowd-sourced data’ fire back, along
with ‘unstructured and mass consumer
driven’. From now on, we are all going to beat
those words to death in future conversa-
tions…
Peace on Google EarthIn the heat of pro and contra discussions,
Snowflake’s Eddie Curtis is waving the free-
dom flag, saying: “It’s a balancing act. Let’s
find each other in the middle of SDIs (all
good), and mash-ups and Web 2.0 (all bad).”
Curtis summarizes the pros of the latter:
mash-ups let people do new things, give
access to new information while making use
of what already exists and it doesn’t need
standards committees. De facto standards will
emerge organically. He concludes with a heart-
felt: “peace on Google Earth.”
CityGML as OGC StandardCityGML, originally a German member of the
GML3 family, is now becoming an OGC stan-
dard. CityGML 1.00 is coming very soon, after
the final OGC TC vote. Alexandra Stadtler from
the technical university of Berlin gives us a
little more detail about this concept for the
modeling and exchange of 3D city and land-
scape models.
A nice example of the progress within CityGMl
is the possibility of a terrain intersection
curve. This feature is applicable to buildings
on hills, city furniture in a non-leveled envi-
ronment. Implicitly, it will also be of use for
modeling water bodies, in transportation and
land use.
GIS Software offers no SolutionDutch organization Alterra, one of Snowflake’s
first customers in the Netherlands, gathered
practical experience with the Dutch base
model and its information model. Its context
lies firmly within the national geo-information
infrastructure, with the exchange and integra-
tion of geo data as its main goals.
For developers, the implementation ends with
the introduction of the XML-schema, says
Hugo de Groot, researcher with Alterra.
Standard GIS software offers no solution,
although there is growing support for GML3
in standard GIS software. “This is great for
EthnocentricKeynote speaker Mike Jackson from the
University of Nottingham observes an ethno-
centric view in the geo world: “The adapta-
tion of OGC standards is almost mandated,
and certainly encouraged by NATO, Inspire,
and US Homeland Security. Despite its suc-
cess, progress hasn’t been even across the
world. The US and Europe have a lot of OGC
members, then it drops down to Asia Pacific,
but not in South America, the Middle East or
Africa.” In this global context, Jackson adds
an alarming coda to the geo data exchange
discussion. “Data sharing in itself isn’t
enough. For instance, if the third world would
suddenly share its data with the world, it
might well get exploited. Data sharing may
not be of benefit to the people in the third
world.”
Web servicesRichard Bevan of the British meteorological
services, Met Office, explains why web ser-
vices are seen as the way forward: there’s an
increased customer demand for richer inter-
active forecast maps. At the same time, the
Met Office wants to reduce the range of tech-
nologies for internal use. Bevan presents the
practical use of Snowflake’s GO Publisher for
WFS provision: “it fits with our IT strategy of
using Commercial-Off-The-Shelf solutions, and
our architecture is much more simplified.
There’s no need for JAVA (J2EE) knowledge,
it’s easy to use and it supports the Met
Office’s strategy of using OGC web services
and the use of GML.”
Is there a Clear Winner?The ideas being presented are really opening
up heated discussions around the concept of
the exchange of geo data: during this two-
day event, it becomes clear that this gather-
ing in Edinburgh really is about sharing know -
ledge. And an interactive Panel Session,
representing members of both communities,
provides an interesting potential conclusion.
It was generally agreed that mash-ups and
SDIs are complementary rather than in con-
flict. One interesting point was also intro-
duced: when it comes to public sector data,
this will only ever be made available via the
official SDIs – since only the public sector will
(in the foreseeable future) have access to their
data. Maybe this will determine the real dif-
ferentiator between mash-up and SDI, at least
in the near future.
Remco Takken [email protected] is a
contributing editor of GeoInformatics.
More information and presentations from
this event are available on
www.snowflakesoftware.co.uk.
Snowflake, because today, everybody needs
it,” quips De Groot.
INSPIREOne of the better known examples of
(European) governmental involvement in the
exchange of geo data is, of course, Inspire.
The Danish computer scientist Anders Friis
Christensen talks about future challenges
which, in his view, are mainly of a technical
nature. The progress being made includes
issues in data specifications, guidelines for
encoding generic conceptual modes and the
definition of the annex themes. In network
services, an INSPIRE architecture is proposed
to integrate INSPIRE services, e-commerce
and DRM components.
Defense and SecurityTenet’s Alan Crisp focuses on using open stan-
dards in defense and security. Within the
NATO coalition, Crisp explains, all nations and
the coalition suffer from a similar set of prob-
lems: disconnected systems, duplication,
overlapping data feeds, legacy formats and a
general lack of coherence. Tenet’s provision
of GI2RA will address temporal data, interop-
erability, data fusion and harmonization, but
it’s still in a test bed research environment,
it’s not (yet) a solution.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
55July/August 2008
Hugo de Groot, from Alterra.
BE Conference 2008
BIM, BRIM and Communicate
Bentley’s annual conference was held in Baltimore, Maryland (USA) at the end
of May. It was bigger than ever with at least 2,000 participants, lots of
sessions on their products, user success stories, candidates and
winners of the BE Awards.
By Job van Haaften
The most important news at the conference
was presented by Greg Bentley, CEO: the acqui-
sition of Common Point by Bentley along with
their products ConstructSim and OpSim, soft-
ware for construction simulation and operations
simulation. ConstructSim is used in plant pro-
jects and is deployed on building projects and,
along with OpSim, can also be applied in civil
infrastructure projects. The integration of
Common Point’s technology with Bentley’s
ProjectWise Navigator platform and comprehen-
sive portfolio of applications and collaboration
servers will enable Bentley to improve integrat-
ed project delivery for infrastructure projects by
closing gaps between design, construction and
operations.
Potable Water DistributionBentley announced the release of some new
products at the conference. Bentley Water V8
XM is a water distribution design software that
helps engineers and GIS professionals in water
utilities and municipalities to design, document,
and manage potable water distribution net-
works efficiently. Water V8 XM provides the
capabilities of Bentley Map including map man-
agement, thematic and overlay analysis fea-
tures, business and topological rules enforce-
ment, and accurate editing. In addition, it allows
access to enterprise data to improve the man-
agement of the asset lifecycle.
Water V8 XM integrates with Haestad Methods
hydraulic modeling and analysis software. Users
of WaterGems, WaterCAD, and Hammer can
share network connectivity, maintenance
records and operational data to run hydraulic
simulations of their potable water distribution
systems. The software also interoperates with
Bentley’s Geospatial Server for enterprise GIS
implementation and enterprise collaboration,
PowerMap Field to support field technicians
using offline data, and Geo Web Publisher for
publishing water infrastructure data to internal
and external websites.
Portfolio Geospatial ProductsBentley announced a new geospatial product
portfolio with GIS capabilities that supports
infrastructure engineering workflows across the
asset lifecycle, from planning, design, and con-
struction to operations and decommissioning.
These products synthesize engineering and
geospatial workflows, dispensing with data
silos and bridging the traditional divide
between GIS specialists and the engineering
community.
By delivering GIS technology and other spatial
information to engineers when they need it, effi-
ciency increases, errors decrease, and data
quality improves. The introduced products in
the portfolio include Bentley Map and Cadastre
as well as Geospatial Server. These products
will be deployed across multiple solution com-
munities, including cadastre and land develop-
ment, electric and gas utilities, water and
wastewater utilities, communications service
providers, and others.
Explosion of InformationFrancois Valois, Product Manager at Bentley, dis-
cussed Geospatial Server and the mutual inter-
change of data with Oracle Spatial. “With the
explosion of information today, in amount as
well as complexity, the management of that
information is impossible without specialized
tools. The correct saving of new versions of
data and information is especially important,
so old versions with inaccurate information
can’t be used accidentally.
A frequently recurring problem is inefficiency in
the field because, outside the office, there is
no connection to the Internet and no access to
the server that has all the up-to-date data.
Which also means that new data can’t be sub-
mitted directly to the server until the user is at
the office. With Geospatial Server it is possible
to download the up-to-date version, submit
data in the field, and upload the new version
via an Internet connection or back at the office.
In Geospatial Server you can select a section of
a map in a preview with all the attached docu-
ments and data visible and ready to be
accessed. Data like photographs, detail maps,
text documents, PDFs, CAD designs, and more.
All these data can have a direct link to the rel-
evant spot on the map.”
Schuyler Hein BridgeCaltrans is building a bridge with a 73 meter
span for the City of Long Beach. Ron Lowe and
Dorian Janjic from Caltrans explained the origi-
nal bridge from 1948 couldn’t handle the traffic
of today at the Long Beach harbor. Lowe: “The
project is a four-track bridge next to the exist-
ing bridge built in 1948 and a railroad bridge.
The design of a prototype segment was done
in Microstation using all the standard data,
56
Conference
July/August 2008
Greg Bentley telling about the acquisition
of Common Point.
resulting in a section with all the necessary ele-
ments. Data management was done in
ProjectWise using as much BRIM (Bridge
Information Model) as possible.”
Janjic: “The data and specifications from the
prototype segment were used for the rest of
the bridge with adjustments like the axle of the
bridge that varies. The software computes the
variations and measurements of all elements.
The same goes for the piers of the bridge: one
pier was designed and based on the underly-
ing surface; the other piers were generated con-
necting with the road elements of the bridge.
The software generated a complete working
model based on the axle, the prototype seg-
ment, and the design of the pier. After that
adjustments could be made, for instance, for
specific conditions of the harbor floor, connec-
tions to the banks, and merging and exit lanes.
In the end 1,200 drawings were produced with
all the geometric details. The only thing miss-
ing is the generation of an arbitrary inclined
section, but that will be possible shortly in
Microstation.”
over time and what the result of a renovation
or construction project will look like. Also, ani-
mations can be made showing the project in a
bird’s-eye view, from a road, or as a pedestrian
walking through a project.
During the evening of the last full conference
day a few members of the board of directors
displayed their musical talents. Buddy
Cleveland, Senior Vice President Applied
Research, Ray Bentley, Executive Vice President
Software Engineering, and Chris Barron, Vice
President Corporate Marketing were among
them: as they put it, the rock band with the
highest average IQ. Their performance certainly
wasn’t average, and not only thanks to the pro-
fessional band members from Voodoo DeVille.
Chris Barron even sang a rock ballad he com-
posed himself, with Buddy Cleveland on mouth
organ accompanying him.
Job van Haaften [email protected] is
editor of GeoInformatics. For more information on
this subject: www.bentley.com.
Sharing a Mosaic Alain Lapierre explained that BE Descartes is
fully integrated with Microstation. Lapierre: “It
offers visualization in 3D combined with the
location and a raster to vector conversion. BE
Descartes generates a mosaic from the import-
ed photographs. If the user wants more options
for editing the photographs or sections of them,
he can cut them and edit them in an applica-
tion like PhotoShop and paste them back after
editing with preservation of the resolution. Not
all data is being loaded in full resolution to save
time and without loss of quality, depending on
the screen size. When zooming in a higher res-
olution will be displayed.
With ProjectWise, data can be shared with other
specialized users through WMS files from OGC
or Oracle Spatial. For sharing with partners and
the public there are other possibilities like
GeoWeb Publisher to MapViewer or WMS serv-
er to WMS customers such as Google Earth.
Residents of a project area can receive a link
that gives them access to visuals of the district
or project that show how the project will evolve
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
57July/August 2008
Sustaining the EnvironmentCH2M Hill - Round Butte Dam Selective Water
Withdrawal
Innovation in Cadastre and LandDevelopmentIski Genel Mudurlugu - Asset Management
Information System of Istanbul Water and
Sewerage Administration
Innovation in Utilities andCommunications NetworksTechnische Werke Friedrichshafen - Sisnet
Implementation at TWF-FN
Innovation in Water ResourcesCamp Dresser and McKee - Reclamation
Facility
Connecting Project TeamsHDR Engineering - Southwest Parkway
Interchange
Innovation in Rail and TransitGautrain - Gautrain Rapid Rail Link
Innovation in Road and BridgeHDR Engineering - Southwest Parkway
Interchange
Attaining Return on InnovationCamp Dresser and McKee - CDM Arbennie
Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility
Innovation in Metals and MiningHatch Associates Limited - 262 Cum Blast
Furnace Complex
Innovation in Oil and GasGiprotyumenneftegaz – Booster Pump
Station With Preliminary Water Discharge
Facility
Innovation in Power GenerationSargent & Lundy, LLC – Dry Fork Station Unit 1
Developing the InfrastructureWorkforceGresham, Smith and Partners
AcademicEducator of the Year: Peter Glaudemans –
Eastern Technical High School
High School, MicroStation PowerDraft: Caitlyn
Alfred, Rob Davis, and RJ McNew – Eastern
Technical High School – Turkey Hill
Elementary School
University/Collegiate, Engineering: Dominik
Galica and Maciej Wlodarczyk – AGH
University of Science and Technology – An
Attempt at a Photorealistic Visualization of
Mine Workings and Work of a Mechanical
Coal Miner
University/Collegiate, Architecture/Building:
Tzu-Hung Ho – The School of the Art Institute
of Chicago – Interspace
Animation and Freeform/Artistic Expression:
Maciej Wlodarczyk – AGH University of
Science and Technology – Presentation of
Interior of the Building With the Effect of the
Light
Sustaining SocietyMaharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran –
Transforming Intermittent Water Supply of
Developing Countries to 24x7 System
Innovation in Commercial orResidential BuildingARUP – Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Innovation in Industrial FacilitiesGhafari Associates, LLC and General Motors
Corp – Enabling Integrated Project Delivery
Using ProjectWise and BIM
Innovation in Military Installations,Campuses, and AirportsPort of Long Beach – Port of Long Beach
CAD/GIS Project Plan
Communication ThroughVisualizationLochner, Inc. – Fort Drum Connector
(1-81 to US 11)
Lifetime AchievementJohn (Jack) Hallman of General Motors
Corporation
BE Awards
Intergraph International UserConference 2008
Lance Armstrong is a Survivor, Too
With its current focus on solutions instead of technology, Intergraph’s annual
user conference, held this year in Las Vegas, still offered many useful
perspectives on the geospatial market and, of course,
Intergraph’s software.
By Remco Takken
With Intergraph’s 2008 Conference being
held in Las Vegas, CEO Halsey Wise was quick
to suggest to the 3,500 attendees that he was
proud that Elton John and Cher chose to
bookend the ‘Experience the Power’ event. In
fact, Intergraph used the same stage as Elton
John, complete with some mildly distracting
neon references to ‘24 hrs botox’ and Las
Vegas night life. All with a bright smile, of
course. Right before his opening keynote
speech, Halsey Wise stepped back from the
spotlight for a little while: “Although I don’t
have Cher’s hair, and I don’t have Elton John’s
glasses, I still hope to sustain your attention.”
Now, Next, After NextWise went into full gear to explain the famous
‘now, next, and after next’ vision he has had
for Intergraph for the last couple of years. With
the prospect and the ambition of becoming a
one billion dollar company in 2010, the cur-
rent ‘after next’ phase will presumably be
attainable for Intergraph. We’ll see what
phrase Halsey Wise will coin to describe the
rest of his time with the company in coming
years.
Wise’s thoughts on the transformation of
Intergraph during the last five years was a
buildup in a way to the story of guest speak-
er Lance Armstrong. He’s the famous cyclist
and seven-time Tour de France winner who
survived cancer and has devoted his life to
cancer research and awareness.
Mental BattleAt first glance it seemed an odd combination:
the geospatial, power, process and marine soft-
ware vendor coupled with a sports guy with a
mission. Soon it became clear, though, that the
connection was to be found in the mental bat-
tles both Armstrong and Intergraph have fought.
The disruption within Intergraph that Wise
described took place between 1995 and 2002,
after which innovation, a transformation and
even sustained achievement were assessed.
Armstrong successfully fought cancer in the
nineties, and came out stronger than he had
ever been.
Humbling ExperienceWhen Lance Armstrong reached the end of his
cancer awareness speech, Wise concluded the
morning session with the notion that
Armstrong’s struggle against cancer should be
seen as a humbling experience for all of those
who have thought that Intergraph had it bad
over the last years. By that time, most atten-
dees had found the yellow rubber ‘Live Strong’
wrist bands in Intergraph’s goody bag, which
was topped by Intergraph’s donation of ten dol-
lars for every one of the 3,500 attendees at the
conference.
58
Conference
July/August 2008
Lance Armstrong (left) and
Intergraph’s CEO Halsey Wise.
Defense and CivilIntergraph’s strong involvement in defense and
intelligence clearly showed during the afternoon
sessions. It was especially evident in a group
discussion on the evolving relationship between
military, intelligence and civil/ local agencies.
An interesting forward-looking statement could
be heard during the lecture by retired US Army
Brigadier General Jack Pellicci, who is currently
working for Intergraph. Pellicci asserted that
software-based security systems will continue
to expand from emergency response centers for
the protection of populations to the security of
facilities, critical infrastructure and borders.
Industry OverviewQuite recently, Intergraph did a complete over-
haul of their website in order to emphasize their
focus on solutions instead of technology. This
was also visible during the conference. Still,
Intergraph’s David Holmes highlighted some
features in the new cartographic product and
the geospatial content management within
TerraShare. In his industry overview, Holmes’
examples of emergency management, the situ-
ational control room, civil protection and emer-
GeoMedia 6.1New in GeoMedia 6.1 is that, from this version
on, the map display will be the same in both
desktop and web applications for consistent
map views across the organization. Also new is
the support of enterprise libraries for sharing
configurations. Another new addition is the ad
hoc search tool for quicker feature searching.
The WCS standard, short for Web Coverage
Service, has been implemented for viewing
imagery, and WFS-Transaction for updating fea-
tures was announced for later in the year.
When discussing the recent development of
GeoMedia’s tools for road, rail and transit sys-
tems, Holmes pointed to the KML read and pub-
lish capabilities expected by the end of the
summer, securing integration with Google/
Microsoft Virtual Earth web maps and mash-
ups.
TerraShare and GeoMedia MapPublisherTerraShare is Intergraph’s geospatial content
management product. In version 2.3, there’s a
new tool for extracting raster directly into
Microstation design files as part of TerraShare’s
plug-in which runs on top of Microstation.
GeoMedia Map Publisher 6.1 is continuing to
improve productivity in moving from CAD to
GIS. It now boasts a separate database for stor-
ing cartographic edits in order to maintain the
integrity of the source data. Also, it eliminates
the need for multiple copies.
Vision and Road MapDuring his update on Intergraph’s technology
vision and road map, Mark Doherty reminded
us of the fact that we were in the unreal envi-
ronment of Las Vegas. “Please, beware of free
samples. The other day, we had a taste of Italian
gelato, and it was quite good. Until one of us
gency coordination all came from different
places in Italy. The latest I/Incident Analyst was
developed to analyze and understand all kinds
of incidents, ranging from leaks and repairs to
customer calls.
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com
Conference
59
Intergraph Icon Awards 2008Intergraph bestowed Icon Awards, its highest customer distinction,
upon eight US and international industry and government organiza-
tions for their innovative use of enterprise engineering and geospa-
tially-powered software.
The awards honor companies and organizations that have deployed
Intergraph software in a visionary manner to yield results that have
significantly contributed to their business and industry.
The 2008 Icon Award winners are: Canadian Natural Resources, an oil
and natural gas exploration, development and production company;
East China Electric Power Design Institute (ECEPDI), an electric power
planning and engineering institute; Genpro Engenharia S.A., a Brazil-
based engineering firm; Hyundai Engineering, a leading process, power and marine engineering
company; Het Kadaster, the Dutch Cadastre Land Registry and Mapping Agency; Montgomery
County (Pennsylvania) Emergency Dispatch Services, a 9-1-1 public safety answering point for 58
municipalities; Progress Energy, a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts
of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues; and the US Air Force Warner Robins - Air
Logistics Center (WR-ALC) 730th Aircraft Sustainment Group (ASG), which provides life-cycle mainte-
nance services for the C-5 airlifter.
July/August 2008
Lance Armstrong
s﹖﹑。·gisRNR©gisd。﹗。︰﹐﹑⋯。‥﹕©，﹖·﹗。N﹑、．@@@ RPPXOSOQS@@@ 各汎@QPZQUZTY
Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com61
actually bought a three scoop ice cream cone
and was informed of the price: 47 dollars!”
Doherty’s free taste of future Intergraph prod-
ucts was a totally no-obligation affair, but infor-
mative nevertheless.
Some things are definite, however. For instance,
OneMobile will soon be released. It can be seen
as a big brother to the existing mobile platform
IntelliWhere which, of course, will continue on
its own.
On the database front, Doherty announced sup-
port of the spatial extensions to Microsoft’s SQL
Server later this year. He added: “We’re funda-
mentally a Microsoft Dot Net Stop Shop, but we
still recognize that integrating with non-
Microsoft-based systems is essential, to bolt
them together.”
Service OrientedWith the increasing demand and adoption of
SOAs, current ICT users want more flexibility,
reusability of data and agility. As far as Software
As A Service (SAAS) goes, Doherty says: “We
are not really sure when it will hit our users’
space. Is this a model that is applicable to us?
G/Technology and CAD/InService. The announce-
ment earlier this year of the future integration
of GeoMedia in CAD/InService is also part of
this development.
News concerning G/Technology already includes
improved integration with GeoMedia and
CAD/InService, and, among other things, there
is improved symbolization including translucen-
cy and composite point styles. One of the gen-
eral criticisms about the public safety platform
was its traditional CAD-based nature. In the
meantime, it has grown into a role-based enter-
prise configuration, and is more widely used
through all solutions in security, government
and industry. It now features improved linear
and point symbology and improved data access
(such as Shape files and other OGC formats).
As a whole, it gives access to a complete spa-
tial analysis platform.
Remco Takken [email protected] is a
contributing editor of GeoInformatics. For more
information and customer presentations from this
event visit www.intergraph2008.com.
We are still looking at that.”
Then there’s the thin client/ thick client discus-
sion, about the concept of a range of clients
for a range of needs. Still, there are thick clients
for organizational heavy lifting, and thin clients
for widespread use and distribution, and mobile
clients for field-based workers. This reality
makes it viable for Intergraph to ‘continue the
evolution to service or SOA’, according to
Doherty. Intergraph will be investing in their
foundation platforms in order to make SOA a
reality.
Platform EnhancementsWhen it comes to expanding interoperability
within a Spatial Data Infrastructure, Doherty is
well aware that Intergraph today is experienc-
ing a backlash because of its initial pioneering
position within the public safety world. “We
brought geospatial into the public safety mar-
ket. For us it is time to update the geospatial
engine which provides the capabilities.”
Right now, Intergraph is working on an
enhanced data model, and also enhanced data
visualization in all three platforms: GeoMedia,
Conference
July/August 2008
Calendar 2008
Advertiser Page
Agi www.agi2008.com 40
Bournemouth University www.bournemouth.ac.uk 17
Cardinal Systems www.cardinalsystems.net 53
Caris 2008 www.caris.com/caris2008 50
DAT/EM www.datem.com 61
ESRI www.esri.com 14-15
European Surveyors
Congress Strassbourt www.geometre-stasbourg2008.eu 44
Geo Expo www.chinageo-expo.com 44
Geomax www.geomax-positioning.com 2
Inpho www.inpho.de 25
Intergeo www.intergeo.de 35
ITC www.itc.nl 34
Jena www.jena-optronik.com 21
Leica www.leica-geosystems.com 8-9
Magellan www.pro.magellanGPS.com 24
Map World Forum www.mapworldforum.org 41
Navcom www.navcomtech.com 63
Pentax www.pentaxsurveying.com 20
Racurs www.racurs.ru/croatia2008 46
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Spie Europe spie.org/esd 50
Super Geo www.supergeo.tw 60
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UniGIS www.unigis.org/uk 46
Advertisers Index
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08-11 September 10th InternationalSymposium on High Mountain RemoteSensing Cartography(HMRSC-X) Kathmandu, NepalE-mail: [email protected]: www.menris.icimod.net/HMRSC-X
10-12 September 22th InternationalConference on Informatics ForEnvironmental ProtectionLueneburg, GermanyInternet: www.enviroinfo2008.org
15-17 September RSPSoc 2008:"Measuring Chance in The Eeart System"Falmouth, United KingdomE-mail: [email protected]: www.rspsoc2008.org
15-18 September VIIIth InternationalScientific and Technical Conference "FromImagery to Map: Digital PhotogrammetricTechnologies"Porec, CroatiaTel: +7 (495) 720 5127Fax: +7 (495) 720 5128E-mail: [email protected]: www.racurs.ru/Croatia2008
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16-19 September ION GNSS 2008Savannah, GA, Savannah InternationalConvention Center, U.S.AInternet: www.ion.org
17-19 September The Perspectives: TheRole of Surveyors in the EuropeanEconomy and SocietyStrasbourg, FranceE-mail: [email protected]: www.geometre-strasbourg2008.eu
22-24 September 1st InternationalConference on Remote Sensing Techniquesin Disaster Management and EmergencyResponse in the Mediterranean RegionZadar, CroatiaTel: +49 (511) 762 2482Fax: +49 (511) 762 2483E-mail: [email protected]: www.earsel.geosat.hr
22-26 September CARIS 2008, Make aSpatial ConnectionBath, United KingdomTel: +1-506-458-8533 Fax: +1-506-459-3849 E-mail: [email protected]: www.caris.com
24-25 September AGI Geocommunity 2008Stratford upon Avon, United KingdomInternet; www.agi2008.com
25 September NedGraphicsdag 2008de Reehorst, Ede, The NetherlandsTel: +31 (00 347 32 96 00E-mail: [email protected]:www.nedgraphics.nl/documentendwl/Antwoordformuler%20NedGraphicsdag%202008.htm
28 September-01 October ESRI Health GISConferenceWashington, DC. U.S.A.Tel: +1 909 793 2853, ext. 4347E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri.com/healthgis
29 September-01 October 14th AustralasianRemote Sensing & PhotogrammetryConferenceDarwin, AustraliaTel: +61 407 271 357 E-mail: [email protected]: www.14arspc.com
29 September-03 October FOSS4G 2008,‘Open Source Geospatial: an option for Developing Nation’Cape Town, Cape Town InternationalConvention Centre, South AfricaE-mail: [email protected]: www.foss4g2008.org
30 September-02 October INTERGEOBremen, GermanyE-mail: [email protected]: www.intergeo.de
30-September-11 October Uncertainties inEnvironmental ModellingVrsar, CroatiaInternet: www.sense.nl
October
01-03 October ESRI Latin American UserConferenceSantiago, Chile, South AmericaTel: +56 2 481900E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri-chile.com/lauc2008
05 October Interdisciplinary CODATASymposium, RMA - Risk Models andApplicationsKiev, UkraineTel: + 49 172 3211738Fax: + 49 30 3728587E-mail: [email protected]: www.codata-germany.org/RMA_2008
07-08 oktober 4th European NavigationEvent 2008High Tech Campus, EindhovenInternet: www.navigationevent.com/registration.html
05-14 October World ConservationCongressBarcelona, SpainInternet: www.cms.iucn.org
06-10 October Laser Ranging, LIDARBarcelona, SpainTel: +34 93 556 92 80Fax: +34 93 556 92 92E-mail: [email protected]: www.ideg.es
07-08 October European Navigation Event2008High Tech Campus, EindhovenTel: +31 (0)40 263 11 31Fax: +31 (0)84 724 46 94E-mail: [email protected]: www.navigationevent.com/registration.html
07-09 October EuNavTec, InternationalSpecialist Trade Fair for Satelite NavigationDresden, GermanyTel: +49 (30) 27 89 03 23Fax: +49 (30) 27 89 03 26E-mail: [email protected]: www.ortec.de
07-10 October The 46th Annual Conferenceof the Urban and Regional InformationSystems AssociationNew Orleans, LA, U.S.A.Internet: www.urisa.org
20-23 October Second InternationalWorkshop on Semantic and ConceptualIssues on GIS (SeCoGIS 2008) and 27th Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER 2008)Barcelona, SpainTel: 33 2 98 23 42 06Fax: 33 2 98 23 46 92E-mail: [email protected]: cs.ulb.ac.be/conferences/secogis08/
August
02-05 August ESRI Education UserConferenceSan Diego, CA, U.S.A.Tel: +1 888 377 4575E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri.com/educ
02-05 August ESRI Survey & EngineeringGIS SummitSan Diego, CA, U.S.A.Tel: +1 888 377 4575E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri.com/segsummit
04-08 August ESRI International UserConference 2008San Diego, CA, San Diego ConventionCenter, U.S.ATel: 1 888 377 4575E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri.com
04-09 August GEOBIA, 2008 - Pixels,Objects, Intelligence: Geographic ObjectBased Image Analysis for the 21st CenturyCalgary, CanadaInfo: Geoffrey J. HayTel: +1-403 220 4768Fax: +1 403 282 6561E-mail: [email protected]: www.ucalgary.ca/GEOBIA/
06-09 August The 3rd Indonesian Geo-Information Technology Exhibition(IGTE 2008)Jakarta, IndonesiaTel: +62 21 70029005Fax: 62 21 8790 8988E-mail: [email protected]: www.geospatial-exh.com
10-14 August SPIE Optics + Photonics 2008San Diego, CA, U.S.A.Tel: +1 360 685 5407Fax: +1 360 647 1445E-mail: [email protected]: www.SPIE.org
12-15 August Society for Conservation GISAnnual ConferenceMonterey, CA, U.S.A.Tel: +1 888 377 4575E-mail: [email protected]: www.esri.com/healthgis
13-18 August 4th Marine Survey andIdentification CourseMedina Valley Centre, Isle of Wight, UnitedKingdomInternet: www.medinavalleycentre.org.uk
19-21 August Map AsiaKuala Lumpur, MalaysiaE-mail: [email protected]: www.mapasia.org
25-29 August URISA Fourth Caribean GIS ConferenceGrand CaymanInternet: www.urisa.org
26-28 August Map Africa 2008Cape Town, South AfricaE-mail: [email protected]: http://mapafrica.gisdevelopment.net
28-29 August 2nd International Workshopon Mobile Geospatial Augmented RealityLaval University, Quebec, CanadaInternet: www.regard.crg.ulaval.ca
September
07-09 September GNSS Vulnerabiliteis AndSolutions 2008 ConferenceBaska, CroatiaTel: +385 91 488 2222E-mail: [email protected]: www.rin.org.uk
Please feel free to e-mail your calendar notices to: [email protected]
62July/August 2008
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