geoinformatics 2008 vol07

8/12/2019 geoinformatics 2008 vol07

1/68www.geoinformatics.com

INTERGEO 2008 Trend Analysis Laser Scanning and 3D Modeling in Russia

Test Part 2: Sokkia SRX Robotic Total Station Fighting Wildfires with GPS in Portugal

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 sOct./ Nov. 2008

Volume 11

7


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THE CHALLENGES OF MAPPING URBAN HOLLAND.AS SEEN BY NOVATELS GPS+INS TECHNOLOGY.

Moerdijk, Oostflakkee or wherever; you can now map cities as if youre right there. Thanks to

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onboard, the world appears in 3-D because, well, it is. Incorporating NovAtels SPAN GPS+Inertial

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To learn more about the products that powered this application,navigate your way to novatel.com.

NovAtels precise thinking makes it possible.

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3/68

Looking Ahead

The news on current developments in the financial sector are inescapable in the mass media.The current financial crisis will have serious consequences on the world economy, and thatmeans also for geospatial companies. A recession is on the way. However, this is not to saythat everything will be bad after all. Seen from the positive side, a recession will also have apurifying effect and financially unhealthy companies will be forced to reorganize and makesure there is discipline. After a recession, there will be space for change.

For now, geospatial companies need to think about their strategy to cope with the upcomingrecession. Those who are able to look ahead and take action now, will win in the long run.

In this issue you will find no less than three columns which deal with this issue. First of all,there is a column by ESRI President Jack Dangermond, who writes about the use of GISfor environmental and sustainability issues. Andy Cootes contribution is about the need forthe INSPIRE program. INSPIRE is not always well understood by people who are not directlyinvolved with it and I get some very diverging opinions when I discuss the need for theprogramme with them. So, a column from the INSPIRE camp is more than welcome.Finally, Id like to introduce our new columnist James Fee, who is a GIS developer, analystand consultant. His opinions are highly regarded by many people in the industry and werevery happy he will be contributing his views for GeoInformatics from now on.

In this issue, you will find an overview of all the current trends in an extensive analysis onthe recently held INTERGEO Conference and Trade Fair in Bremen. Another extensive reviewfrom the Racurs conference about digital photogrammetric technologies, written by GordonPetrie is also not to be missed. In our Neogeography series, Florian Fischer held an interview

with TeleAtlas about the companys global content strategy.

Judging from our subscription base for the digital GeoInformatics, we see that our readershipis expanding more and more, making GeoInformatics the best resource for GIS, surveyingand mapping professionals around the world. We are looking for your ideas and articles, soplease look ahead with us and get in touch!

Enjoy your reading!

Eric van [email protected]

October/November 20083

GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis andcommentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.

PublisherRuud [email protected]

Editor-in-chiefEric van Rees

[email protected]

EditorsFrank [email protected] [email protected]

Job van [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Joc [email protected]

ColumnistsAndy Coote

Jack DangermondJames Fee

Contributing WritersRik van BruggenChuck ChaapelPhilip ChengKevin P. Corbleyzgr ErtacFlorian FischerAndrea FlachmannSergey Gorbunov

Jan van HeesAakriti KaushikAldert KluftHuibert-Jan LekkerkerkGordon PetrieNiek RengersRichard Zambuni

Account ManagerWilfred [email protected]

SubscriptionsGeoInformatics is available against a yearlysubscription 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 toRuud Groothuis [email protected]

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ISSN 13870858

Copyright 2008. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.

GeoInformatics is published byCMedia Productions BVPostal address: Street address:P.O. Box 231 Noordzijde 2-b8300 AE 8302 GLEmmeloord EmmeloordThe Netherlands The Netherlands

Tel.: +31 (0) 527 619 000Fax: +31 (0) 527 620 989E-mail: [email protected]


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Fighting Wildfires with GPS in PortugalThe Dutch company ATsence is a provider of GPS and GIS solutions. In

Portugal they teamed up with a group of scientific researchers on a

project to monitor and map wildfires by immediately putting them into

an online mapping application on the ground.

Sokkia SRX Robotic Total StationGeoInformatics is presenting a new series on user tests of robotic total

stations. Each of the next several issues will include the results of

testing a different robotic station. This is the second in the series and

utilizes a Sokkia SRX.

C o n t e n t

4October/November 2008

ArticlesFighting Wildfires with GPS in Portugal 6Dynamic Dutch Tracking Solution helps Scientists

RapidEye's Satellites 15Signal All Positive

Get the Best out of your Radios 16Radio Technology in the Field

Automatic DEM Generation 34Using WorldView-1 Stereo Data with or

without Ground Control Points

Bentley Geospatial Server 49Enabling Enables Cutting Edge Multiutility

GIS For IRIDE Energia

Innovative Solutions with GPS-RTK

based Automation 50Using Accurate RTK-DGPS Systems in Agriculture

Standards in Practice 54Part 9: WFSS: WFS Simple

Laser Scanning in the Tver Region of Russia 56Surveying and 3D Modeling of a

High-voltage Substation

German ConnectMaster/Pitney BowesMapInfo Partnership 64

Streamlining Network Documentationand Provisioning

InterviewWe are excited about Maps - so are They! 10Tele Atlas feeds and makes use of Neogeographers

Product ReviewSokkia SRX Robotic Total Station 20Multi-brand Test Robotic Total Stations Part 2

LizardTechs New GeoExpress 7 58Boosting Accessibility and Utility of Raster Imagery

Page 6

Page 20


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Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com5


On the Cover:

Monitoring wildfires is a hot issue during the dry summer months. To

prevent the spread of these fires it is necessary to monitor the development

of new fires. See article on page 6.

Get the Best out of your RadiosDespite the sometimes complicated theories behind propagation of radio

signals, there are a few good hints and tips that can help non-experts get

as much range and data throughput out of their RTK telemetry systems

as possible, explains Pacific Crests Aldert Kluft.

Page 6

Tele Atlas InterviewTele Atlas is a leading global supplier of geo data for business,

government and consumer markets. Florian Fischer spoke with

Rik Temmink, responsible for the companys global content strategy,

about content usage and production by Tele Atlas and its approach to

user-generated content

Page 10

ColumnsGIS-Moving from Knowledge to Action 53By Jack Dangermond

Standards - A Matter of Interpretation 63By Andy Coote

Keep It Simple 19By James Fee

ConferencesIntergeo 2008 Trend Analysis 26Development Priorities and Potentials for Innovation

From Imagery to Map:Digital Photogrammetric Technologies 42A Report on the Croatia 2008 Conference

Calendar 66

Advertisers Index 66

Page 16


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Dynamic Dutch Tracking Solution helps Scientists

Fight ing Wi ld f i res with GPS

in Portuga l

The Dutch company ATsence is a provider of GPS and GIS solutions. In Portugal

they teamed up with a group of scientific researchers on a project to monitor

and map wildfires by immediately putting them into an online mapping applica-

tion on the ground. Common recreational air vehicles can be equipped with a

newly-developed tracking system from ATsence. The solution is not only cheapbut also very effective for monitoring and fighting fires. Other countries are also

interested in the system.

By Eric van Rees

WildfiresBart van Heijningen, Managing Director of

ATsence, explains how the system works. We

develop standard tracking systems with a few

little extras. We have our basis in the GIS

world. Over time we have initiated more com-

binations between GIS and GPS. The systemin Portugal is an example of this. In conjunc-

tion with a member of the Portuguese

Federation of Aeronautics, ATsence developed

a system where GPS can be applied to fight-

ing wildfires. The system is used by scientists

from the Centre of Applied Ecology Baeta

Neves (CEABN), part of the Institute of

Agronomy.

Van Heijningen: With their surveying aircraft

and our GPS system, information about the

location of wildfires is captured and made

directly available to people on the ground.

During the dry season its hard to map wild-

fires in Portugal. Therefore they use hardware

that we also use for our standard tracking

solutions. This hardware has been modified

GPS. The Dutch company ATsence, together

with a group of Portuguese scientists, devel-

oped a cheap tracking solution that locates,

monitors and photographs wildfires. Acquiring

this information and visualizing it directly on

the ground adds a dynamic element to fight-

ing these wildfires.

Monitoring wildfires is a hot issue duringthe dry summer months. To prevent the

spread of these fires it is necessary to moni-

tor the development of new fires. This can be

done with a tracking system that transmits

the locations of these wildfires from above

the ground to people on the ground, using

6

Art icle


Image 1: Extinguishing plane in Portugal


7/68

Heijningen: We have been approached by

the French to make the same thing possible

there, because they have the same problems

during the summer season. By May, prepara-

tions are already underway for fighting the

fires. What people want is to apply more

imagery for fighting the fires, but bandwidth

is limited. The system only works on land,

where bandwidth is strongest. We have devel-

oped a new method with the distributor of

the photo cameras to transfer the imagery in

a different way. Small chunks of files are trans-

ferred, an easier way to generate more

imagery and transfer it. This is the first

improvement that will be applied this year.

The briefings through the web are a good

start and now were looking at further cus-

tomer wants, like direct linking of wildfire

information with weather systems. We receive

input from scientists in the field, and togeth-

er with them develop tools such as these, tak-

ing into account their specific requirements.

Eric van Rees [email protected] is

editor-in-chief of GeoInformatics. For moreinformation, have a look at www.locateplaza.com

News Update:A logical next step. As of June 2008, the

Portugese have equipped their ground-

based vehicles with the system, so that the

control centre can better coordinate the fire

fighting activities. The system has been

very well received and is a valuable acqui-

sition for the Portugese fire fighting author-

ities.

can be transferred directly by GPRS (General

Packet Radio Service) to the base and

imported into a GIS system so that an

overview of the situation can be obtained

rapidly. Predictions about how the wild-

fire will develop can be made using

weather forecasts and wind direction. On

the ground, decisions will be made

about how to fight and control the fire.

The system has some advantages

compared to existing solutions. Van

Heijningen explains: Our system is

a relatively cheap solution. Our start-

ing system costs 600 Euros, includ-

ing a camera (excluding the moni-

toring unit, developed specifically

for airplanes). Users can get a sub-

scription to view their data

through us. Another advantage is

that common recreational air

vehicles can be used for fight-

ing wildfires because the sys-

tem can be attached to them.

We provide a server, a con-

nection through the net-works, GPRS and processing

of the data, as well as brief-

ing of the data. We made a

Google Earth export specif-

ically for our Portuguese

clients, so that you can render the data in

a Google Earth environment. The biggest

advantage however, is that the system is

dynamic: In the past, coordinates of wildfires

were reported. Now it is possible to anticipate

changes in a situation because the informa-

tion can be visualized right away.

LogA news item about the system in Portugal

elicited reactions from abroad. Van

Art icle


to match

their requirements. It consists

of a standard device with a box on top of it

that has four buttons (see image 2 and 3).

Using this equipment several things are reg-

istered, such as the starting point, end point

and perimeter of a wildfire. After fighting the

fire, the perimeter of the burned area can be

mapped using aerial photography. What

makes this system unique is that the imagery

Image2:plane

withGPSsystem

Image 3: plane with GPS system


8/68

ArcGIS

9.3Improving Your Entire

Data Management

Better MapsDissemination

Data courtesy of the City of Boston.


9/68

Data Management

ArcGIS 9.3 provides new

tools for accessing data

within an organization,including the addition of

PostgreSQL and Microsoft

SQL Server2008 support, anew image service, version

management, enhancements

to geodatabase replication,

and better geocoding.

Better MapsArcGIS 9.3 includes many

enhancements that make iteasier than ever to create

and share production-quality

maps. These enhancements

include a new DisperseMarkers tool and, via Maplex

for ArcGIS, better contour

labeling and more control over

where labels are placed insideand around polygons.

Dissemination of

InformationArcGIS 9.3 makes dissemination

of geographic information

much easier. New toolsthat aid in dissemination

include improved map cache

management, which allows

ArcGIS9.3 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

JavaScriptAPIs for mashup-

style development. Thesenew APIs allow JavaScript

developers to easily embed

ArcGIS Server Web mapping

applications into any Web site.

Mobility

The new ArcGIS Mobile

application increases dataaccuracy and enables real-

time decision making in the

SDK now offers enhancedmap control rendering, data

storage capabilities, and

expanded projections.

Planning and Analysis

Many modeling tools have

been enhanced, and some

entirely new tools havebeen added to help users

get more answers from

their data. These includea new scatterplot matrixgraph, improvements to the

Near tool, and advanced

Ordinary Least Squares andGeographically 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, andLithuaniawww.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 Workflow

www.esri-finland.com

field. Also, the ArcGIS Mobile

benefits of an established and active user community,

improves organizational workflows within a standards-


10/68

Tele Atlas feeds and makes use of Neogeographers

We are excited about Maps -so are

Tele Atlas is a leading global supplier of geo data for business, government and

consumer markets. Since its acquisition by TomTom in 2007, which was finalized

in June 2008, Tele Atlas has come closer to the end users of its products and

discovered the power of Neogeography. At the same time, their products already

feed platforms for Neogeographers, as Tele Atlas data is used by Google,

Microsoft Virtual Earth and some collaborative platforms. Florian Fischer

spoke with Rik Temmink, responsible for the companys global

content strategy, about content usage and production

by Tele Atlas and its approach to user-generated content.

By Florian Fischer

Even Computer Science Majors Have SocialLives was the subtitle of a Tele Atlas successstory in 2007 when it became a partner of the

social mapping service, Loopt. Sam Altman,

Loopts CEO and founder, stated, if the map

doesnt provide reliable information regarding

your friends whereabouts, what good is the

service? Loopt is a mobile service to share real-

time locations of users, status messages and

live experiences. Users can access Tele Atlas

maps on their mobile phone screens or on the

Loopt website to display their friends locations

and the location context. Sam Altman explained

the partnership with Tele Atlas by referring to

its incredibly rich and up-to-date data set.

The core product of Tele Atlas is the MultiNet

platform. When we say Multinet its the

database pretty much, comments Temmink in

response to my question about the specifics of

this platform. MultiNet is mostly deployed for

road-use mapping (e.g. navigation devices) and

land-use mapping (e.g. geomarketing analysis).

These two domains cover quite a few of the

five segments of the Tele Atlas customer base.

Tele Atlas provides data for the automotive and

navigation domains, personal navigation, inter-

net applications like Google, Microsoft and

Yahoo, wireless and mobile applications and

enterprise solutions. Tele Atlass latest develop-

ments are pedestrian maps and 3D landmarks.

One-way StreetAccording to Temmink, pedestrian maps are a

hot topic as they have many requests fromcustomers for map data that is suitable for

pedestrian navigation. Almost all Personal

Navigation Devices (PNDs) assume that you are

in a car. The requirements for pedestrians are

novel and every vendor has different definitions.

Some requirements are obvious. Pedestrians

cannot walk on a motorway but normal PNDs

will probably lead you right there. On the other

hand, pedestrians can walk in both directions

on a one-way street. Furthermore, map data for

pedestrians should include the option of rout-

ing through parks, and should find safe street-

crossing options for its users such as pedestri-

an crosswalks. Thus the navigation logic is quite

different. But pedestrians dont just walk: they

use trains and busses, too. Hence pedestrian

10

Interview



11/68

maps are crucial for multi-modal navigation.

Within the context of these applications, Tele

Atlas does not provide the services but it helps

to create them for cities, city administrations

and even Google.

Another new entrant in the Tele Atlas content

portfolio for 2007 is 3D city maps for use in

navigation devices and location-based services.

3D city maps will help drivers and pedestrians

orient themselves more easily to the appear-

ance of their surroundings or of a destination

they are approaching. Actually it is about 3D

landmarks and not a complete 3D representa-

tion. Thus only the main buildings are dis-

played. The 3D landmarks are meant to plot a

realistic junction view and will only show up

where it is really necessary. This matches moreclosely with what users actually see in their sur-

roundings. Hopefully 3D navigation will not be

issued prematurely by devices that offer aug-

mented reality and combine the actual sur-

roundings with navigation information. So far it

seems augmented reality navigation devices

will not become a mass-market product in the

near future, although I expect many PNDs will

soon be supplying 3D landmarks, as they

already do in Asia.

The larger part of the Tele Atlas customer base

aims at products for everyday use such as

Location-Based Services (LBS). After the hype

of the year 2000, LBS has become more popu-

lar since 2007, and a couple of things have

changed in the last few years. There are new

as a pure data provider. The domain of data

gathering and provision is experiencing a

paradigm shift at the moment thanks to

Neogeography, when non-experts collect geo-

graphic information and pool it. This kind ofuser-generated content is revolutionizing the

way content is created. Tele Atlas maps serve

as basic maps for many applications that are

driven by Neogeographers because most pop-

ular Virtual Globes build on maps from Tele

Atlas. But they then combine user-generated

content with their own comprehensive data col-

lection and validation processes as well. In

Temminks opinion it is not entirely understood

how powerful this is. Tele Atlas deals with var-

ious kinds of user-generated content. MapShare

data from TomTom devices is a kind of active

user-generated content, as Temmink denotes.

The community data is sent to a semi-automat-

ed process with certain corrections being vali-

dated on the fly. If several users notify the same

and powerful players in the domain of mobile

services, such as Google and Nokia, that can

push LBS to the mass market. They have the

skills, resources and the desire to make it hap-

pen, remarks Temmink, who adds, we believethat LBS are finally here. LBS might become

an important source of revenue in the future.

Thus Tele Atlas and Navteq are aggressively

competing to seduce mobile LBS start-ups at

the moment and not without consequences.

The former success story of the social mapping

service Loopt has experienced some reverses.

On August 28, GPS Business News reported that

Loopt switched from Tele Atlas to Navteq to

accommodate Verizon Wireless, a US wireless

operator.

Holy GrailTele Atlas contributes to a broad spectrum of

applications, but Temmink says it straight:

Thats not our business, referring to its role

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

Interview


They!

Rik Temmink is responsible for product

management for the Tele Atlas content

products group and for the companys

global content strategy.


12/68

Land Survey

Offshore Positioning

Aerial Photogrammetry and LIDAR

GIS and Asset Mapping

Machine Control

www.navcomtech.com

StarFire is always ready to work wherever you are. Your project could be next dooror a continent away, but NavCom has you covered. The StarFire Network delivers

decimeter positioning anywhere on Earth, with six satellites providing signal redundancy

and exceptional coverage. The expansive global network allows users to roam freely while

maintaining the most precise positioning information.

No matter the project, NavComs StarFire service can make even the largest tasks seem

small. StarFires unique capabilities can also be utilized for RTK projects, with the power

of RTK Extend, which is our industry-exclusive technology that allows you to work

farther from base stations and maintain RTK-level accuracy even during radio outages.

The StarFire Network. Anywhere, any project. To learn more, call us at +1-310-381-2000.

LOCAL PRECISION.


13/68

changes the map data will be changed or at

least the field-survey group will be sent to check

it. The user inputs are triggers for the work of

the map content team which consists of approx-

imately fifteen people. They do the daily vali-

dation of corrections that are received fromusers. It changes the way we produce con-

tent, remarks Temmink, as now the schedule

of the map content team and the field-survey

group is made by the users and no longer by

the company. The tight teamwork between

TomTom and Tele Atlas opens access to a pas-

the customer. Beyond TomTom, Tele Atlas has

had intensive cooperation with Google since

June 2008. According to Larry Dignan on the

ZDNet blog, Between the Lines, Tele Atlas and

Google signed a five-year agreement. Google

gets Tele Atlas content in more than 200 coun-

tries and Tele Atlas gets access to any edits that

Google users add to the maps: that is, house

numbers and address locations to improve Tele

Atlass geocoding capability.

Tele Atlas has clearly recognized the power of

Neogeography and user-generated content.

While taking up this user-centred approach they

accord the users the attention they need and

integrate them into the process of content pro-

duction. The potential of user-centered content

production has not yet been fully exploited

and is not yet fully realized. We will observe

the next trials of user integration into these pro-

cesses with great interest.

Florian [email protected] is GIS

Editor for GeoInformatics and Research Assistant at

the Austrian Academy of Sciences GIScience research

facility in Salzburg, Austria. For more information,

have a look at www.teleatlas.com.

sive form of user-generat-

ed content as well. GPS

tracks are collected from

user devices. Every user

has the choice to opt in to

this collection of tracks

which by default is turned

off. User feedback is fully

anonymized by the PND;

even the device serial num-

ber and the exact start and

end points of the trips

remain unknown. Then the

user data goes into the

system and is validated. It

is mainly used to compare the actual speed of

users to official speed limits. This real informa-

tion is extremely valuable because official speed

limits do not shed light on the actual driven

speed which is influenced by traffic flow, con-

struction sites and driver behavior. The speedprofiles are processed semi-automatically as

well. The holy grail is completely automated

validation, acknowledges Temmink. In the

future Tele Atlas and TomTom will expand the

utilization of user-generated content step by

step. TomTom serves as Tele Atlas window to


Interv iew


An example of Tele Atlas 3D Mapping Technology:

The Hong Kong Museum of History.


14/68


15/68

Signal All Positive

RapidEyes Satellites


Art icle


After the successful launch of the RapidEye Earth observation constellation late August 2008, RapidEye reports that the

commissioning activities on all the five spacecraft continue to progress well. All satellites have been stabilized,

subsystems have been activated and detailed check-out is in progress. This phase will last about three months and will

culminate in the MPAR milestone (Mission Preliminary Acceptance Review). The system will then

go operational and RapidEye satellite data will be available to customers from all over the world.

by Andrea Flachmann

Each Satellite has been namedIn response to RapidEye's contest and the unique chance to name a

satellite , more than 40 submissions from all over the world arrived at

the headquarters in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. Donations for

the local youth project Gollwitz Manor House Trust, an institution

focusing on the elimination of racial, ethnic and religious biases among

young people, totaled the impressive sum of 2,394.50 EUR.

The winning names are all Greek words, related to the company's name

and its mission: TACHYS (Rapid), MATI (Eye), CHOMA (Earth), CHOROS(Space) and TROCHIA (Orbit)

RapidEye's Satellite ImageryRapidEye offers professional image users a data source featuring an

unrivaled combination of large-area coverage, frequent revisit intervals,

high resolution and multi-spectral capabilities. For the first time, a con-

stellation of earth imaging satellites provides five identical, mutually

calibrated sensors, equally spaced in the same orbital plane. This means

images from any RapidEye satellite will be equivalent in characteristics

to images acquired by the other four satellites, thus allowing the user

access to a unprecedented amount of imagery collected on a frequent

basis.

Andrea Flachmannf [email protected] is Marketing Manager at RapidEye.

A detailed description of RapidEye's Standard Image Products has been

recently published on the company's website on www.rapideye.de/home/products

Antenna on roof

RapidEye satellite

Satellites over Earth


16/68

Radio Technology in the Field

Get the Best out of your Radios

Although UHF telemetry systems are often used to transmit RTK corrections from a GNSS base to a rover, many surveyors

dont have the time to master the physics of radio technology. Despite the sometimes complicated theories behind

propagation of radio signals, there are a few good hints and tips that can help non-experts get as much range and

data throughput out of their RTK telemetry systems as possible, explains Pacific Crests Aldert Kluft.

By Aldert Kluft

Its common to hear: If you want morerange, get a more powerful radio. But while

its true that the greater the output power, the

longer the range, this may not be the best

solution just as shouting at someone not

familiar with your language may not help

them understand what you are saying. The

question radio users should ask is not how

much power they need for a certain range but

what system do they need.

Before going out in the field, an RTK survey-

or should ask himself two basic questions:

1. What is the best location to set up my

base?

2. What is the maximum distance from the

base I need to survey?

These two questions are linked. If you do not

need to get a maximum range out of the sys-

tem, there is no need to be very fussy about

the optimum base location. But if you do

need the best performance, you must choose

a base location that is as high as possible

and offers the clearest view of the survey

area. Radio signals in the UHF band that are

used for the RTK link can travel through build-

ings and trees, but the signals can be highly

attenuated which will limit range. So the fewer

obstructions there are between the base sta-

tion and the survey location, the better.

If the operating area is larger than the radio

range can offer, then there are two choices

available. The surveyor can either decide to

break up the area and move the base station

toward the rest of the job, or he can use a

radio repeater. The extra cost of the repeater

is often paid for by the increased efficiency

gained from not having to re-establish a base

station. (Just keep in mind that RTK accuracy

goes down as a function of baseline length.)

AntennasWhen setting up the radios on the job site,

the most important thing to remember is that

16

Art icle


Aldert Kluft


17/68

changing the elevation of the base antenna

has more effect on radio range than vary-

ing the output power. First of all, antennas

are designed with radiation patterns that

are optimized when the base and rover

antennas are at the same elevation. If you

know that the base and rover antennas will

not be at the same elevation, and if you do

not require maximum range, you should use

unity gain antennas. Their radiation pat-

terns are roughly spherical.

In addition, it is of paramount importance

to keep both the base and the rover anten-

nas as high off the ground as is practical.Low antenna elevation reveals a serious

obstacle to radio performance: the earth

absorbs radio energy with great efficiency.

Even in an area with no topographic relief,

if you install both the base and rover anten-

nas two meters above the ground, your the-

oretical maximum range will be no more

than 13.5 km - regardless of the transmit-

ters output power. The reason for this is

that UHF radio signals are line-of-sight

waves that do not follow the curvature of

the earth.

You should also make sure that the radio

antennas are vertical. When the transmit-

ters antenna is mounted in a slant posi-

tion, some of the radio energy is directed

into the ground or into the sky. When the

receiving antenna is slanted, it cannot pick

up the signal with maximum efficiency. So

keep the antennas vertical!

If your radio antennas are optimally located

and the transmitter is at its maximum power

setting, you can still increase range by

switching to antennas with a higher gain

setting. Using a 5 dB gain antenna rather

than a 0 dB or unity gain antenna will

increase the radios effective radiated power

by a factor of 3. Of course, you must make

sure that your radio license will permit this

higher effective output.

When possible, do not use long antennacables since all cables and connectors

installed between the radio and the anten-

na contribute to attenuation and thus loss

of range. For example, when using standard

small coaxial cable (e.g., RG-58), every 10

extra meters of cable length will reduce your

output power by half. It would be better to

mount the antenna directly on top of the

radio thus minimizing the cables attenua-

tion of the signal.

Radio Firmware ToolEven if you have done your homework inthe office and set up your base station in

an optimal location, you might find the area

is a large construction site crowded with


Art icle


LPB2 in f ield

LPB on lake


18/68


19/68

other users. Ideally you should select a chan-

nel that is not being used by others because

multiple transmissions on the same channel

will cause poor reception by all users. One

useful tool for determining if the channel is

already being used is to simply look at the

base radios Rx LED. If it is blinking somebody

is already using this channel. An even better

solution is using a radio firmware tool called

AutoBase. When selecting this option the

radio will methodically scan every pro-

grammed channel and automatically select

the quietest. The base radio displays this

channel to the surveyor who can then select

this channel on his rover radio also.

It is well known that radio signals transmit-

ted on the same frequency will interfere with

each other. But it is less known that these sig-

nals can be generated by a lot of sources

other than another RTK transmitter using the

same frequency. For example, the GPS receiv-

er, a switching power supply (common in

many electronics) or a nearby cell phone can

all jam RTK communications. The UHF radioreceiver is designed to cope with a lot of

these interfering signals, but if they are too

strong, the radio will have to filter out the

unwanted noise and this will reduce range. If

possible, try to keep these sources of radia-

tion away from the receiver.

The silent killer of radio range is a weak bat-

tery. Over time, all batteries will fail to take a

full charge typically after 300 recharge cycles

or 2-3 years less in extreme climates. When

a radio fails to obtain sufficient voltage from

its battery, the first effect is reduced transmis-

sion range. It is best to replace the battery

after recharging it 300 times or after 2-3 years.

The cost of a battery is usually much less than

the loss of on-the-job time.

Lastly, it is very important to keep all the con-

nectors clean in order to maximize range.

Never let connectors drop on the floor and

get damaged or dirty. Use cable bags to wind

up excess cable length so that it will stay pro-

tected. A small amount of dirt or corrosion on

an antenna connector can block RF signals

dramatically and substantially limit range.

Even the smallest amount of maintenance will

go a long way to protecting and maintaining

range.

Much can be said about radio technology and

its practical use in the field. The above article

only touches on the easiest and most obvi-

ous elements a surveyor can control in his

endeavour to get the most out of his range.

Aldert Kluft [email protected] is Sales and

Business Development Manager Europe, Middle East

and Africa for Pacific Crest. More information is

available at www.pacificcrest.com.


Art icle


LPB on hike

Traditional GIS web mapping is character-

ized as complex, slow, and mired with

over-designed applications. The GIS world

is adept at writing GIS applications for GIS

professionals but often stumbles when

attempting to design applications for non-

professional end users. GIS professionals

have long taken their desktop applica-

tions and attempted to replicate them on

the Internet often resulting in complicat-

ed solutions that missed their target audi-

ences. There seems to be a tendency inGIS development to throw in tools and

functions that are not needed and in turn

get in the way of the true functionality of

the application. In addition to being a

waste of effort and money, over-engi-

neered GIS tools foster the reputation that

GIS is expensive and complicated.

Simplicity is on the way. The arrival of

Google Maps has brought a visual map-

ping front end to users without all the

cumbersome baggage associated with GIS

applications, namely toolbars, SQL

queries, and slow performance. Now

everyone everywhere is looking at deploy-

ing spatial applications that are custom

designed to address for the end user.

The key to success is to really understand

who the needs and expectations of the

end user. Developers and users some-

times draw the conclusion that proprietary

tools such as ESRI cause these complicat-

ed applications, but it is possible to

develop clean, straightforward solutions

using these tools. The challenge for devel-

opers is to resist the temptation to addfeatures that arent part of the project

scope. Much of the magic that makes

Google Maps and Virtual Earth such great

visualization tools is their simplicity.

Making simplicity a goal of every GIS solu-

tion will give end users tools that they

want to use and that make everyone on

the project happy.

Column

Keep ItSimple

James Fee

[email protected] is

Geospatial Manager at RSP

Architects Ltd. Have a

look at his blog at

www.spatiallyadjusted.com


20/68

Multi-brand Test Robotic Total Stations Part 2

Sokkia SRX Robotic Total Station

Choosing a total station is not an easy job. Depending on the typeof survey and the circumstances in which the survey has to take place,

a potential user will select a certain brand and type of total station.

To gain more insight into the day-to-day use of a robotic total sta-

tion, GeoInformatics has asked Niek Rengers, a surveyor with Grontmijin the Netherlands, to put a number of robotic total stations from dif-

ferent international manufacturers through their paces. The tests will

all be carried out under the same conditions and the same structure

will be used for every test so that the different instruments can be

compared accurately. The instruments have been provided by their

Dutch distributors.

Testing methodWe have chosen to do a user test, which means that standard devia-

tions and so on will not be considered. Each manufacturer has been

asked to provide a robotic total station that can be operated by one

person, along with accompanying software, for two days. We have

also asked the manufacturer to provide operating instructions. A test

survey will then be performed. Of particular interest is user friendli-

ness during the surveying and pegging out. The test factors are list-

ed in Box 1.

The configuration as supplied is as follows:

Instrument: Sokkia SRX3

Controller: Archer PDA

Remote control unit: RC-PR3

Prism: ATP1 360 degree prism

Software: Carlson SurvCE-2

Delivery and InstructionsPrior to delivery of the instrument a few basic principals were

discussed which are necessary to start working with the instru-

ment in question. The instrument, fieldbook and remote con-

20

Product Review


Every instrument will be tested on:

1. delivery and instructions for use

2. overall impression of the instrument and

controller (fieldbook)

3. user friendliness

4. stake out routine

5. surveying

GeoInformatics is presenting a new series on user tests of robotic total stations. Each of the next several issues willinclude the results of testing a different robotic station. The same structure will be used for every test so that direct

comparisons can be made between the different instruments. This is the second in the series and utilizes a Sokkia SRX.

By Niek Rengers


21/68

trol unit were configured completely in advanceand arrived ready to use. All operating instruc-

tions for the hardware were supplied in Dutch.

Two English manuals accompanied the

SurvCE-2, a quick start guide and a detailed

user manual.

InstrumentThe supplied configuration for robotic survey-

ing consists of two protective carrying cases. A

tripod and a prism pole where delivered as

accessories. The first protective case contained

the instrument (SRX). It is a compact case, in

which the instrument is carried lying flat. It is

important to put the instrument in the case in

the right position. The carrying case also has

room for a sun cover, lens cap, rain cover, three

batteries, a charger and some adjusting tools.

The second carrying case stores the remote con-

trol unit RC-PR3, the ATP1 360 degree prism

and the Archer electronic fieldbook. The batter-

ies for the remote control unit and the charger

for the Archer can also be stored here.

The instrument weighs approximately seven

kilograms. The horizontal and vertical fine

adjustment and aiming of the SRX is handledvia so called electronic jog dials, positioned on

the right side of the body. These jog dials drive

the servo motors and built-in encoders, which

enable you to control the rotation of the instru-

ment very smoothly and easily. Although the

speed of the rotation of the instrument is

adjustable, the default factory settings were

found to be set at a comfortable speed for

working. The sound level of the servo motors

is low. Between the jog dials Sokkia has placed

an ergonomic trigger key. You can trigger this

button, without having to look away from your

target, and immediately initiate a measurement.

The carrying handle on top of the instrument

has a good grip and locks solidly to the instru-

ment body. The aerial on the grip is for

Due to the size of the instrument, it is hard to

see the circular vial in the tribrach. The optical

plumb is positioned on the rotating part of the

instrument, and not on the tribrach. This

enables the surveyor to easily determine if there

is a deviation in the optical plumb by rotating

the body. The tested SRX had an operational

touch screen display at the Face 1 site of the

instrument. Double display versions are option-ally available.

The touch screen display is very clear with large

digits. All relevant information is visible and eas-

ily accessible. A stylus pen is included and the

manufacturer recommends its use to avoid

scratching the display.

Sunlight has very little influence on the read-

ability of the display, and the contrast can be

adjusted to meet the environmental conditions.

The keyboard is alphanumerical and easily con-

trolled even with thick fingers or gloves.If you work from behind with the instrument,

the data can be stored internally in the instru-

ment memory. To store your job for office pro-

cessing you may use the onboard USB port or

the Compact Flashcard slot, both found on the

left side of the control panel.

On the bottom of the instrument is a connec-

tor that simultaneously enables you to control

the instrument by cable, send/receive data, and

use external batteries. The instrument is deliv-

ered without any cables and all communica-

tions run via the onboard Bluetooth

chip. The tribach (with circular vial)

is solid and re-enforced to endure

the heavy friction that comes with

using robotic total stations.

Fieldbook and RemoteControl UnitThe fieldbook, the Archer, looks solid

and has a handy format. The oper-

ating system is Windows Mobile.

On the upper side are slots for

an SD and a Compact

Flashcard, which can bereached by unscrew-

ing the protective

cover. Although not

easily accessible,

the cover does

ensure full water

and dust resistance.

For data manage-

Bluetooth connection with the remote controlunit at the detail pole. Protected by a hatch on

the same grip you will find a signal detector,

this will identify a signal from the remote con-

trol unit and quickly find and lock onto the tar-

get. Both the antenna and the hatch look vul-

nerable, and you have to remind yourself to

open the hatch before operation.

Height markings are placed on the outside of

the instrument exactly at the centre of the tele-

scope turning axis. This enables easy measure-

ment of the instrument height. The telescope

of the SRX is small in size and can

make a full rotation round its hori-

zontal axis. The lenses are clear and

the cross hairs can be focussed well.

On the telescope two sighting viewers

are mounted, but both are set very

roughly, especially in the vertical

direction. On the top part of the

telescope, at the front above the

lens, a guide-light has been

placed which gives the survey-

or an indication if he has posi-

tioned himself in the field of

view. This is convenient duringstake out activities.

The swappable battery has an

acceptable capacity of

approximately five hours.

However, Sokkia suggests

removing the battery at the

end of the working day

because the instrument con-

tinues to use power during

sleep mode to keep the last

instrument settings

available.

Vertical centering of the

instrument is done with

the instruments optical plumb.


Product Review



22/68

ment you are able to use the USB port at the

bottom of the Archer.

Also on the bottom of the Archer you find mul-

tiple connectors to charge, maintain, send and

receive data. These connectors are protected

against dirt and fluid ingress by a smooth rub-

ber cover. Even without this cover the Archer

still has an environmental protection rate of

IP67.

The Archer has an internal battery that easily

lasts one day of surveying and can be recharged

with the supplied charger.

Some basic control keys are present on the

fieldbook but the majority of input commands

are managed via the touch screen, using your

fingers or the built-in stylus pen.

The screen is sensitive to scratches and when

accidentally touched could initiate a non-intend-ed operation.

Detail pole attachment of the Archer is done via

a quick lock system, that is designed to last

the job and is readily adjustable for any user.

The RC-PR3 remote control unit can be placed

on top of the prism pole. This unit has a num-

ber of functions that are necessary in robotic

mode. The unit is connected via Bluetooth to

both the instrument and the controller. It sends

and receives data, has a built-in electronic com-

pass, two Bluetooth units, and a clever laser

emitter. It is internally powered by a swappable

battery and has a command panel for control

of the instrument. If the instrument loses the

prism, the RC-PR3 will activate a turn-to-me

procedure. The instrument will then start its

shortest turn towards the direction of the prism.

The electronic compass enables the instrument

to turn the shortest direction of rotation. Once

the SRXs built-in detector has positioned itself

to the target, the telescope will instantly lock

on to the prism. A disadvantage is that this unit

is not very small.

The ATP1 360 degree prism is mounted on top

of the RC-PR3. The design of the prism does

not hinder you in deciding which side the

instrument should face the reflector, all direc-

tions give the same high accuracy in both plane

and height information.

The total weight of the prism pole configura-

tion (including pole, prism, RC-PR3 and con-

troller) is around 3 kilograms. With the new RC-

PR4 remote control unit the weight will be

reduced with 1 kilogram. The battery of theinstrument and remote control unit are

recharged with the same charger.

User Friendliness during Surveyingand Stake OutThe instrument can be used with a minimum

of instruction for surveying and stake out. To

start with, this software works intuitively and

will take you on to further functionality with lit-

tle difficulty.

Simply position the instrument and switch on

all components. The instrument, the remote

control and the fieldbook automatically estab-

lish connections through Bluetooth. The Archer

electronic fieldbook and the remote control con-

nect over short-range Bluetooth where as the

remote control connects to the SRX instrument

over long-range Bluetooth.

The maximum range with Bluetooth during the

test was 220 meters, above this distance I did

not receive any connection with the instrument.

It is possible the weather circumstances had aninfluence here. Sokkia guarantees a distance of

300 meters and from experience ranges of 500

or 600 meters are not uncommon.

When surveying reflectorless, one has to take

into account the conditions of the surface and

its characteristics. At different distances the text

signal lost appeared on the screen. On a white

surface, the maximum distance reached was

448 meters.

The remote control unit works fast and the

instrument follows the prism very well on short

distances. When you decide to work in robotic

mode the data will be stored in the memory of

the electronic fieldbook. When working from

behind the instrument the data can be stored

in the internal memory of the instrument or in

22

Product Review



23/68

the electronic fieldbook.

When surveying with SurvCE one cannot see

which prism has been set on the fieldbook. One

only sees if either reflectorless surveying or

prism surveying is performed.

When changing between reflectorless and

prism, it sometimes happens that on the instru-

ment display a different prism has been select-

ed than the one that is currently being used.This may cause confusion. Through the settings

menu in SurvCE the prism constant can be

changed.

The instrument itself distinguishes three reflec-

tor modes. Prism, Sheet and Reflectorless

mode. In every mode different prism constants

can be applied. For example, when selecting

reflector type: prism, you may choose a 0mm

constant or a -30mm constant. But it still is a

prism to be measured, which is shown in the

screen of the controller. In a menu one level

deeper in the software you can find all the tar-get settings.

During the test I experienced a flawless and sta-

ble communication between all components

and associated software.

SoftwareThe SurvCE looks similar to the earlier tested

TopSURV from Topcon. The program is started

through the Windows Start menu. Once inside

SurvCE, you can choose what to do by using

tab-pages and select options such as survey-

ing or pegging out, and then continue further

inside the program.

Before starting with surveying or stake out, a

setup needs to be performed. At the settings

you can choose to be returned to the latest

setup: then the latest status and orientation

will be shown. This can be very useful but the

setup only works with one single orientation.

The philosophy of the software is that you only

start a detailed topography survey after having

completed the proper station setup via the

Series measurement (polygon, or FreeStation

routine). Once the instrument station setup is

measured and adjusted you go onto the sec-ond routine: Topo measurement. This means

you no longer need to have multiple back

sights since this was already adjusted in the

first routine.

During surveying and stake out one can choose

the options follow or tracking.

chosen in stead of the .rw5 format, then there

shouldnt be any problems reading the obser-

vation data from the file.

Summary Instrument follows the prism well

Prism is tracked rapidly when switching on

the remote control

Bluetooth connections are established

rapidly and automatically

Just one orientation required at setup for

topo measurement

Tested remote control makes the prism

pole somewhat heavy

Antenna and hatch on the instrument are

sensitive in design

Raw data is very hard to read but other

formats available for better understanding

Niek Rengers is a professional surveyor at Grontmij.

This review represents his own opinion. For more

information, have a look at www.sokkia.net. Many

thanks to Sokkia BV for providing the

reviewed instrument.

The SRX follow status saves significant power.

The instrument will follow the position of the

moving reflector but will not continuously mea-

sure a distance. Only the angle values on the

screen change. When the measurement button

is pushed, only then will a distance reading will

be initiated.

In tracking, the angles and distances readings

are updated three times a second. Especiallywhen doing a stake out this comes in handy.

Of course the power consumption is higher

because the servo motors, the angle encoder

and the EDM are continuously in operation.

During stake out you can toggle between a

graphic screen or a data screen with measuring

vales. The graphic screen shows a background

map and explains how far you are positioned

against your design point. When toggling to the

data (text) screen you will be presented with

left/right in/out formation. The choice is up to

the user. Both will navigate you to the point inan easy and straightforward way.

When staking out a point, care must be taken

when saving the staked out point to ensure it

gets a preferred name. The user has to choose

this by himself. Also, for setting a walking order,

a list of points can be put together from the

file.

You can also graphically select your range of

points to be staked out.

With SurvCE it is possible to store all files sep-

arately, with options for Control Files or

Cutsheets. Usually Control Files are used for

design data or reference points and Cutsheet

files as a nice staked list containing all offsets

and tolerances.

Input of much used file formats is possible,

such as DXF, TXT etc. Output formats are exact-

ly the same, however their presentation

depends on the type of file used. There are mul-

tiple raw data formats presenting distances and

angle readings.

The raw surveying file contains much more data

on the surveyed point, like angles, distances

and offsets. The raw file is for calculation and

storage use. If the user wants to generate areport, then other file formats should be used,

since this raw surveying file is difficult to read.

If one is interested in coding, direction and dis-

tance, this information has to be filtered from

the rough data. The manufacturer likes to point

out that if the standard Sokkia file format was


Product Review


Reaction of the ManufacturerWith Sokkias SRX the surveyor will feel the freedom to move. Different

hardware and software configurations are possible and are selectable

by the surveyor. This puts the SRX within reach for every surveyor, which

is our aim. The SRX is Sokkias most versatile product. The surveyor

will experience no obstructions during its day-to-day use on the job,

no target loss, no difficult search routines and he/she will benefit from

intuitive software, which all ads to pure productive surveying. And thats

rather important for every surveyor at the end of the day.

With regards to the height of the pole configuration, the manufacturer

states that with the new RC-PR4, the pole configuration reduces the

overall weight by 1 kilogram and therefore will be very light.

On the readability of the raw data, the manufacturer points out that

raw data is for internal calculation purposes and should not be used

for making reports. For these purposes another type of format should

be chosen.


24/68

I believe in excellence.

The new Leica ADS80 Airborne Digital Sensor features advanced

line sensor technology and acquires imagery with equal resolution

across all bands for all applications from photogrammetry to remote

sensing.


25/68

Excellence gives you leverage by boosting the market value of your imagery deliverables.

You want to collect terrain imagery in minimal time, with the highest productivity, benefiting from a complete digital

workflow you want sharp, accurate data. Thats why Leica Geosystems is on a constant quest for excellence. Our

comprehensive spectrum of solutions covers all your measurement needs for surveying, engineering and geospatial

imaging. And they are all backed by world-class service and support that deliver answers to your questions. When it

matters most. When your work is airborne. When it has to be right.

You can count on Leica Geosystems to provide an excellent solution for every facet of your job.

Leica Geosystems AGSwitzerland

www.leica-geosystems.com


26/68

Development Priorities and Potentials for Innovation

INTERGEO 2008 Trend Analysis

From September 30th to October 2nd, 2008, Bremen hosted the world's largest conference and trade fair for geodesy, land

management, and geoinformation at the Trade Exhibition Centre of Bremen. This event attracted more than 15,000 visitors

together with delegates from over 50 countries. Bremens INTERGEO 2008 was the biggest assembly from the various industrysectors this year with the exhibition hall hosting approximately 500 companies. A team of scientific staff and students from the

Technical University of Munich were given the task of tracing the trends in the exhibition halls at the Centre. They were

commissioned by the Round Table GIS Initiative to carry out a trend analysis in terms of development priorities in the identified

sectors, and the potential for innovation in the market. This article consists of the most interesting findings of this survey.

By zgr Ertac

INSPIREIn most of the European countries, the

INSPIRE directive is currently being imple-

mented and experienced by the spatial data

access laws in national legislation. Within

these laws administrative authorities at all

levels (federal, provincial and municipal) have

been asked to observe their obligation.

Unfortunately, many of these authorities do

not have the sufficient expertise or a uniform

set of guidelines to ensure that the necessary

steps to build the required services will be

implemented. However, the major problem is

that many municipalities do not have enough

money to implement the directive, since costs

in the two-year planning budget have yet to

be provided. On the other hand, some of the

regional development funds, EU or other pro-

26

Conferences



27/68

motional opportunities, are available to build

spatial data infrastructures, such as in Berlin,

with the European Regional Development

Fund (ERDF). Today, its easy to see that thereare some country-level activities and initial

tests are currently underway, but at both the

municipal and county level, a wait-and-see

attitude prevails.

From the private organizations view, the time-

plan specified by the INSPIRE roadmap has

been a key discussion point. Different opin-

ions were observed at INTERGEO this year.

Some companies find the period of 12 years

in the fast-paced IT world, as too long, and

fear that the implementation of provisions will

be technically outdated. The negative experi-

ences within the implementation period of

ALKIS in Germany make people think that

INSPIRE might end up with the same results.

sor time series, 2D imagery, 3D image time

series and exploration data, 4D climate mod-

els, and many more. Data sizes frequently

range into the multi-Terabyte level, and in the

future it is expected multi-Petabyte volumes

for single objects will be seen. At this years

INTERGEO Trade Fair we saw the interest in

raster structures as a rapidly growing segment

of the GIS market.

Raster database applications provide interac-

tive navigation on unbounded continuous

raster maps as well as an ad-hoc generation

of compound map products. Companies try

to integrate all kinds of rasterized map data,

including user-defined hyperspectral imagery

and DEMs. Several tools are implemented as

the servlet-based Web application on top of

the RDBMSs or within the Server GIS

Solutions (i.e., MOSSs novaFACTORY on

ArcGIS Server).

On a technical level, the user input is gen-

erally transformed into a query sent to the

DBMS server. The server's response can

be in several image formats (i.e., jpeg,

png) which are then forwarded to the

client. Within the current applications

as state-of-the-art, any web browser

can be used as the front end tends to be

developed HTML-based. The commercial prod-

ucts shown at INTERGEO were operational at

many sites, and deployed with continuous

aerial images in excess of Terabytes of data.

The impressive capabilities of such software

are listed below:

easy and user friendly installation

interoperable service implementations, like

WMS and WCS

support for full and fast imagery in the

database

import and export for event and time-

driven datasets

support of several georeferencing

methods, reference systems and formats

on-the-fly projection availability secure server environments with access

control and logging

access in multiple image file formats from

multiple clients

customizable GUIs

meta data management for products,

layers and map sheets

development based on RDBMS and/or GIS

servers

Web-GIS, Desktop-GIS and Geo WebServicesWhen we compare the desktop-GIS and Web-

GIS, most of the INTERGEO attendees

expressed the opinion that a Web-GIS solu-

With this in mind, many GIS companies are

patiently waiting for the best time to invest.

They offer their customers the possibility to

make their products INSPIRE capable, but pre-

fer to wait for specific customer orders. On

the other hand, there are also early adopters

who are already trying to develop INSPIRE-

compliant products and bring them to mar-

ket, actively pursuing the various administra-

tions. With the help of good timing during

implementation, the directive should go as

smoothly as possible with the result that the

establishment of the European spatial data

infrastructure will be self-running.

RasterAt the moment there is an ever increasing

demand for expandable and secure access to

the growing archives of raster images and

maps of various types. Unfortunately, raster

structures have for a long time been disre-

garded in database research. In the past, the

testing of file-based solutions prevailed in

products and research-only prototypes, with

a relatively narrow functionality. However, it

has become well accepted that raster offer-

ings add value to geo information services.

Actually, 2D imagery is just the tip of the ice-

berg. The general concept of multi-dimension-

al spatio-temporal raster data covers 1D sen-


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tion is easier to use and market, since data

access through the Web is easy to keep up-

to-date and provides a high exchange speed.

However, Web-GIS does not have the full func-

tionality of desktop-GIS in the case of map-

ping and geo-processing. (This is mainly due

to the licensing data) While users are able to

process simple queries over Web-GIS, some

complex GIS functions are not provided, such

as Digitizing, and geo-processing. This is the

reason why desktop-GIS has had a dominant

existence for such a long period. However, we

did see some hybrid solutions at INTERGEO

this year, which suggests the obvious separa-

tion of Web-GIS and desktop-GIS has beenidentified and now these so-called hybrids

have hit the marketplace.

Since a lot of applications are running on

internet nowadays, Geo-Web services look

indispensable. At INTERGEO it was easy to see

that last years improvements have been

based on WMS and WFS for both commer-

cial and open source companies. Among the

open source companies CSW, WCTS (Web

Coordinate Transformation Service), SOS

(Sensor Observation Service) and WCS (Web

Coverage Service) were applied too. On the

other hand WPS (Web Processing Service) was

not well-known with most of the companies

except a few open source firms.

What looks more important

is the security issue - for

Geo-Web Services as well.

Each company assures users

that they provide safe ser-

vices. Most companies rely

on simple security procedures

such as user name and password, partly

based on a UUID, which is a standard for

identifiers. Also, https encryption is available

to ensure confidentiality. There is also the

concept of security through a unique IP

address or through a proxy OWS (OpenGIS

Web Services). The hedging allowances are

still largely ignored.

3D-GIS, 3D City Models,3D-VisualisationAnother important trend at INTERGEO 2008

was 3D and related subjects such as 3D City

Models and surface analysis, used in a vari-

ety of areas from urban planning to the envi-

ronment, tourism, and architecture. Therefore,

a 3D city model for every big city is a must.

Many companies have solutions for 3D ser-

vices for municipalities, which means the

municipalities count on the companies to get

their data ready to create a 3D city model.

Digital elevation and surface models, delin-

eated out of the laser scanning data, are

being used as base maps.

In the market this year, CityGML, which is

accepted as an OGC standard, has been the

commonly used exchange format for 3D City

Models. With CityGML, geometries can be

readily exchanged together with their

attributes. However, the question of the prac-

ticality of CityGML is not easy to answer affir-

matively, given it is now an accepted OGCstandard, but "only" in a text format.

According to interviews at INTERGEO, a bina-

ry file format would be much better. It was

also easy to see at INTERGEO this year that

some standards in Europe and America differ.

While CityGML is extremely popular all over

Europe, it is still mostly unknown in the

United States. Through the awareness and

acceptance of CityGML in Europe, many com-

panies seek the appropriate interface in their

software environment.

The scope of 3D city models varies. For exam-

ple, they can be used in planning with

XPlanung as another standard, which has

been designed specifically for this sector.

28

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Some requirements for indoor models (LoD4)

were requested as well. Although there are

already quite a few software companies devel-

oping interior design tools, LoD4 is still new

to many companies. The expansion of the

CityGML model for interior visualization was

far from any of the applications seen at INTER-

GEO.

Although Facility Management (FM) is increas-

ingly widespread, the software providers are

still far behind in coupling 3D city models with

FM usage. There is already much experience

and additional FM software, but no direct con-

nection to the city models. It was also inter-

esting to note that the Industry Foundation

Classes (IFC) - a building standard format from

the civil engineering field - was not used at

all and unknown by any of the companies at

the conference. LandXML also was very new

for the GIS vendors and has yet to be used.

However, the buzzword was BIM (building

information model), which is now being sup-

ported by various types of software.

Earth viewers - mostly Google Earth - still play

a significant role in many companies. All com-

panies try to export their 3D city model in

KML, which allows geo-data access from all

over the world through Google Earth. There

were a good number of import and export

tools for Google Earth, a result of the soft-

ware companies benefiting through such a

well known platform, and the huge demand

by its millions of users.

In summary the trend in 3D-GIS is moving in

the direction of "higher, faster, further". As a

result there are bigger data volumes being

traded, which are not just for visualisation

purposes but also for various other functions

such as analysis and simulation. In this con-

text another issue for many companies was

that more powerful database solutions in the

market will mean savings in time and costs.Comparisons between various 3D city models

show that detail is often limited to LoD2 in

some implementations, but the overall objec-

tive with current server technologies is fast

access.

Environmental Protection and ClimateChangeThe main theme of this years INTERGEO con-

ference was the topic of environmental pro-

tection and climate change. Accordingly sev-

eral companies were showcasing their

applications in this field with some imple-

mentation areas appearing more popular than

others, such as monitoring coastal and river

areas under flood risk and the detection of


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height changes through height detecting sen-

sors. This year it was emphasized that the tar-

get users have become not only institutions

but also the interested citizens. In this regard,

the Environmental Portal PortalU of the feder-

al and state governments of Germany, is now

offering a central access to over 2 million web-

sites and over 500,000 database records of

public institutions and organizations, making

it available to municipalities, government

agencies and other interested parties.

GIS Market or Highlights forConclusionINTERGEO 2008 showed that the GIS industry

continues to grow very quickly in many dif-

the technology. In addition to the technology

enhancements numerous merges and acquisi-

tions have been observed throughout the

industry. What are the consequences for the

development of the market and how far these

companies can diversify their product range

as a result these acquisitions, its difficult to

calculate precisely and only time will tell.

It was very evident at the conference that 3D

is still extremely popular and accepted as an

important value-added potential for GIS com-

panies. Many confirmed that Google Earth or

Virtual Earth were not only the trigger for 3D

development, but also an accelerator.

Innovative applications for 3D are still

required and the market is looking for ways

to expand it use and increase its efficiency.The goal is to use all available data in the

models by integrating various analysis and

simulation tools. This is a major area of inter-

est and will no doubt be one that remains for

the future.

zgr Ertac [email protected] is

a Research Assistant at the Technical University

of Mnchen, Germany.

Contributing team members:

Volker Kraut, Tatjana Kutzner, Rosina Bleifu,

Anton Gro, Felix Kraus, Michael Lill, Kathi Link,Christiane Radies

Links:

www.gis.bv.tum.de

www.rtg.bv.tum.de

ferent fields. Of course this development high-

lights the different issues which have to be

faced while the interdisciplinary GIS market

maintains a steady growth. On the other

hand, it was not easy to see brand-new inno-

vations, since the market seems to be focused

on the improvements of existing systems and

services. Several GIS producers think the

trends of recent years, such as Earth Viewer,

have become more mature and have found a

niche in the GIS Market. For instance, while

Earth Viewer has been totally accepted as a

part of the web-based solutions, desktop GIS

functionalities remain irreplaceable in too

many applications. The innovations of recent

years have now become an integral part of


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Using WorldView-1 Stereo Data with or without Ground Control

Automatic DEM Generation

The successful operation of the WorldView-1 satellite has enabled advanced

high-accuracy mapping using high-resolution satellite images, with or without

the use of ground control points (GCPs). The stereo capability of the

WorldView-1 sensor also provides the opportunity to extract high-resolution

digital elevation models (DEMs). This article will examine the effectiveness of

automatic DEM extraction using WorldView-1 stereo pairs with and without the

use of GCPs.

By Philip Cheng and Chuck Chaapel

The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a veryimportant precondition for many applications

such as map generation, three dimensional

GIS, environmental monitoring, geospatial

analysis, and more. In addition, continuousgrowth in the telecommunication and engi-

neering industries has created an even greater

demand for DEM data. This data allows engi-

neers to plan and manage infrastructure

growth with the high accuracy required by

new spatial applications. However, for most

areas, DEMs are either unavailable, outdated,

or available only in low resolution (such as

the SRTM DEMs, with 1 to 3 arc second spac-

ing). As a result, recent scientific efforts have

focused on enabling the creation of high-accu-

racy DEMs to cover the entire planet.

DEMs generated from satellite stereo-pair

images seem to fulfill both these two condi-

tions. To obtain DEMs from satellite images,

two methods are possible: along-track stere-

oscopy from the same orbit, using fore and

aft images, and across-track stereoscopy from

two adjacent orbits. The simultaneous acqui-

sition of along-track stereo data has a strong

advantage in terms of radiometric variationversus the multi-date acquisition of across-

track stereo data. The across-track approach

has been applied frequently since 1980, first

with Landsat from two adjacent orbits, then

with SPOT using across-track steering capa-

bilities, and finally with IRS-1 C/D by rolling

the satellite. Nevertheless, along-track stere-

oscopy has recently gained renewed popular-

ity. A large number of satellites are capable of

producing along-track stereoscopy, these

include JERS-1s Optical Sensor (OPS), German

Modular Opto-Electronic Multi-Spectral Stereo

Scanner (MOMS), ASTER, IKONOS, QuickBird,

OrbitView, SPOT-5, Formosat II, CartoSat, and

the latest addition of DigitalGlobes

WorldView-1 satellite.

WorldView-1 SatelliteWorldView-1, built by Ball Aerospace and

Technologies Corporation with the imaging

sensor provided by ITT Corporation, is a high-

capacity, panchromatic imaging system featur-

ing half-meter resolution imagery. With a nom-

inal swath width of 17.6 km at nadir and an

average revisit time of 1.7 days, WorldView-1

is capable of collecting up to 750,000 square

kilometers (290,000 square miles) of half-

meter imagery per day. Frequent revisits will

increase image collection opportunities,

enhance change detection applications and

enable accurate map updates. The satellite is

capable of collecting, storing and down-link-

ing more frequently updated global imagery

products than any of the other commercial

34

Art icle

Figure 1a: El Paso fore looking image. Figure 1b: El Paso aft looking image

Figure 2a: El Paso extracted WorldView-1 DEM.

Figure 2b: El Paso SRTM 90m DEM.



35/68

imaging satellites in orbit, allowing for expe-

dited image capture, processing and delivery

to customers where speed is a driving factor.

WorldView-1 is equipped with a state-of-the-

art geo-location accuracy capability, and

exhibits unprecedented agility, with rapid tar-

geting, efficient in-track stereo collection, and

maximum viewing angles of 45 degrees. In

addition, WorldView-1 provides the opportu-

nity to extract the highest resolution DEM

from satellite stereo images. An article pub-

lished in the Volume 11 issue of Geo -

Informatics magazine (April/May 2008)

demonstrated the possibility of achieving RPC

model accuracy within 2m RMS accuracy with-

out GCPs and within 1m RMS with a minimum

third Basic 1B ste

geoinformatics 2008 vol07

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