geoinformatics 2007 vol02

8/12/2019 geoinformatics 2007 vol02

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From ArcGIS 9.1 to Version 9.2 A Small Step for ESRI but a

ESRI ArcGIS 9.2 Reviewed

I had that happy feeling of anticipating something big when I received the

package from Redlands, California in the middle of January 2007. It contained the

brand new ArcGIS 9.2 release which I was to review during the next few weeks.

After installing it I took my first look at the desktop and, to my surprise, almost

nothing seemed to have changed. But appearances were deceptive and in fact the

jump from release 9.1 to 9.2 is significant. It is definitely worth looking at!

By Florian Fischer

The new release offers extended geodatabasemanagement, a new file geodatabase format,

advanced archiving and replication options, theconcept of cartographic representations, mas-

sive enhancements in the model builder con-

cept, hundreds of detailed improvements for

better usability and a new web-based process-

ing environment from ArcServer.

Just a Small Step?While not the first to ask this question, I still

wonder why ESRI has announced just a small

step in the version number while shipping a

version of ArcGIS that contains not only hun-

dreds of detailed improvements but also some

major increments that fundamentally change the

way ArcGIS is applied in spatial reasoning. I will

briefly mention some ArcGIS 9.2 improvements

and then proceed to a detailed discussion of

the major innovations. Besides adding to the

already extensive number (200) of shortcuts,

ESRI has equipped ArcGIS 9.2 to print tables,import Microsoft Excel files and enable double

marking within attribute tables to highlight lines

after selecting them. An extended identify tool

and measure tool, the new Go To XY command

and a zoom function that uses the mouse

wheel, simplify work and navigation within big

geodatasets. The full extent can now be defined

by the user which is a very interesting improve-

ment for editing tasks. Coordinates are stored

in a 64-bit double data type that actually leaves

53-bit for coordinates. Hence no restrictions

now exist that require the definition of a spa-

tial domain for coordinates. Nevertheless, spa-

tial domains remain useful to avoid mistakes

while entering coordinates.

ArcGIS 9.2 has a new chart engine and offers

more types of charts and functions to exportthe charts to other software packages.

Furthermore, a live connection between a chart

and the map makes the work with charts more

interactive than before. While bookmarks are

bound to an mxd file, ArcGISs project file, the

MyPlaces function allows one to save book-

marks bound to a user account. MyPlaces can

be exported to a file and it is even possible to

share them via a personal ArcWebService as

everyone can deploy their own ArcWebService.

Terrain, Value Attribute Tables andnetCDFAlong with better usability ArcGIS 9.2 introduces

a terrain data format, a new way to store mas-

sive datasets containing elevation or other sur-

face data in the geodatabase. Until now inte-

grating these huge datasets into GIS and

generating 3D surfaces from them has been dif-

ficult. Terrains let you store very large point-

based datasets in the geodatabase and produce

high quality, accurate surfaces. A terrain is a

multi-resolution, TIN-based surface stored in the

geodatabase and built from measurements

stored as features. The 3D Analyst extension is

required to create terrains. The terrain format

is mainly focused on surface-based analysis as

ArcGIS is not oriented towards the 3D visual-

ization domain further on but on analysis.

Raster data can hold an attribute table in ArcGIS

9.2 utilizing a Value Attribute Table that is sup-

ported by all geoprocessing tools. The toolbox

itself holds eighty more tools with an ArcView

license than ArcGIS 9.1 did. A very interesting

new feature in ArcGIS 9.2 is the support of the

network Common Data Form (netCDF) format

that is widely used for multi-dimensional datain the natural science domain. ArcGIS is able to

map three dimensions concurrently and offers

fast changes within the visualized dimensions.

Tracking Analyst and AnimationsThe Tracking Analyst Extension offers more

options for advanced spatio-temporal analysis,

that is, the prognosis of a spatio-temporal path-

way for collected data. Moreover, live input of

tracking data can be done via a local port with-

out the need of a tracking server. Unfortunately,

interpolation between measured data is still not

applicable. The creation of animations like vir-

tual flights, well known from ESRIs 3D-Analyst

Extension, is now possible in ArcGIS 9.2 for pro-

ducing exportable movies. To conduct a movie

March 20076

Review

The Go To XY tool and the enhanced Identify tool.


2/49

one can either arrange the order of feature lay-

ers to be shown in each frame or use times-

tamps from the attribute table. After this partial

overview of minor improvements, I will now go

further and talk about the enhancements in

geodata management, the concept of carto-

graphic representation, the extended concept

of the ArcGIS model builder and finally the

ArcGIS Server and its web-based geoprocess-

ing services. For deeper insight into the new

release, I talked to Gnter Doerffel from ESRI

Germany who provided some background infor-

mation.

ArcSDE Personal, Workgroup orEnterprise?In ArcGIS 9.2 one is spoilt for choice among dif-

ferent types of multi-user geodatabase manage-

Database administration using ArcCatalog is easyto handle but also allows for sophisticated geo-

database administration by experienced users.

The two sibling editions of Personal ArcSDE are

called Workgroup and Enterprise and come

with ArcGIS Server only. Workgroup ArcSDE

database servers are licensed to support up to

ten concurrent users, Enterprise ArcSDE technol-

ogy is the traditional ArcSDE technology that can

scale to databases of any size and any number

of users, running on computers of any size and

configuration. In most companies an IT environ-

ment already exists with a unique identifier foreach user to log into the system. This can be

used to authenticate an ArcSDE login, called

operating system authentication (OS authenti-

cation). It is a new and comfortable way of con-

necting to an ArcSDE database that ESRI has

finally integrated.

The New File Geodatabase FormatThe most outstanding enhancement concern-

ing geodata management in ArcGIS 9.2 is the

file geodatabase format (fGDB). It is not only a

new geodatabase file format, but an all-in-one

device suitable for every purpose.

Up to now, apart from unwieldy shapefiles and

full-blown geodatabases, geodata could be

stored in personal geodatabases. ESRI relied

on the Microsoft Database format which has a

couple of restrictions. First of all, it is a

Windows-only format and therefore cannot be

used by application developers using ArcObjects

on a Linux platform. Secondly, its maximum file

size of two gigabytes is problematic for handling

raster data. Technically, raster data is stored out-

side of the Microsoft Database using a refer-

ence in the database that points to the exter-nal data. Moreover, data compression and

encryption, crucial requirements for users, can-

not be fulfilled when using personal geo-

databases. The SDC format (Smart Data

Compression) from ESRI has in fact fully sup-

ported data compression since ArcGIS 9.0, but

compression can be applied to vector data only

and encryption is not available.

ESRI therefore developed the new file-based

geodatabase to overcome all the obstacles

mentioned above. Individual datasets can be

as large as one terabyte and there is no over-

all database size limit. File geodatabases are

also fully supported across platforms, and com-

pression and encryption can be applied to any

type of geodata ArcGIS is able to handle.

ment environments, all based on the familiar

ArcSDE technology. A customer can get the most

appropriate geodatabase management for the

process structures and number of users within

his firm while still being in position to scale up

the geodatabase requirements if necessary. ESRI

thus fills the gap between having a full-blown

ArcSDE and simply having none and relying on

personal geodatabases.

Personal ArcSDE technology is included for free

with ArcGIS Desktop at the ArcEditor and ArcInfo

license levels. It uses the SQL Server 2005

Express Edition, a lightweight database man-

agement system designed specifically for sim-

ple setup and administration and provided forfree by Microsoft. ArcView users can read the

data in ArcSDE geodatabases but cannot create

or edit this data. Personal ArcSDE supports all

the advanced features found in

ArcSDE. It handles up to four con-

current users, one of whom can

edit the data at any time. All

database administration is per-

formed using a new set of dialogs

in ArcCatalog. Consequently, in

small firms anyone can set up a

multi-user ArcSDE geodatabase and

administer it using ArcCatalog;

March 2007Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com 7

Review

Big Step for the User Community

The new My Places function in ArcGIS 9.2.

File structure of ArcGISs new file

geodatabase.


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Compression rates of 10:1 and more are possi-

ble, still with very short access times. Even

extended database constructs like the ArcGIS

network dataset can be handled with high per-

formance using the file geodatabase. When you

look at the file system you have a bit of a flash-

back to what you see when examining the morefamiliar shapefile structure. There are many files

indicating spatial indexes, geometric data and

tables, but for all that, the assignment to par-

ticular datasets is slightly blurry.

Nevertheless ESRI claims high performance of

the file geodatabase in distributed file systems

as well as multi-user access due to the numer-

ous small-sized files. While this also means low

performance in low-performing file systems, the

aspect seems to be important for mapping

applications (e.g. ArcGIS Server) not utilizing a

standard database. ESRI will provide an API to

the file geodatabase for developers to give

them full advantage of the new format. A small

downer is the read-only restriction for com-

pressed geodata and the slight differences

when executing SQL queries. In a nutshell, the

new file geodatabase fulfills many of the numer-

ous user requirements concerning geodata

management using file structures. It will defi-

nitely replace the Microsoft Database format,

and might supersede the shapefile format that

has got a bit long-in-the-tooth, to become the

new de facto standard of file-based geodata

management.

Versioning, Archiving andGeodatabase ReplicationIn ArcGIS 9.2, multi-user editing is possible with-

out versioning. Previously, a geodatabase could

only be edited by multiple users if it had been

versioned. While this presented few problems

for GIS-only databases, it did create difficulties

for organizations that used the same database

for GIS and non-GIS applications. Nevertheless,

non-versioned editing should be handled with

care as one has to ensure that the latest

database transaction is ultimately enforced.

Versioning allows historical records to be kept

by preserving some earlier versions of the geo-

database. This causes a large amount of data

Cartographic Representations Embracing the Entire CartographicWorkflowWithin the cartographic workflow, ArcGIS usual-

ly has to be left at a certain point due to a con-

flict of interests. For a GIS the geometry is con-

sidered sacred while for cartographic products

the intelligible representation of a geometry is

of significance. In certain cases, particular vari-ations of the representation including geomet-

ric insensitivities are necessary to create an

articulative cartographic product. Before, a user

of ArcGIS had to choose between producing

rather plain maps or switching to a cartograph-

ic software like Macromedia Freehand. The

changeover had several disadvantages as it

meant a break within the cartographic work-

flow, the termination of the geodatabase con-

nection for one dataset and the maintenance

of two lingering datasets. In ArcGIS 9.2 the con-

cept of Cartographic Representation solves thisconflict in compliance with geometric integrity

and enables an unbroken workflow to build

sophisticated cartographic products. ArcGIS 9.2

offers rules and overrides to define the carto-

graphic representation of a geometry and its

exceptions to certain features. For each repre-

sentation, the feature classes are extended by

two fields to store the rules and the overrides,

the latter organized as a BLOB to hold all the

different variances. Geometric effects enable the

user to diverge from strict geometric illustra-

tion, e.g. by using smooth curves. All effects

can be added on an additive basis either for a

single layer or as a global effect for all layers.

The effects from different geometry types can

be combined, e.g. line effect on a polygon.

Furthermore, the option of free representation

enables the user to dissolve totally the rela-

tionship between geometry and representation.

That is, all rules for the cartographic represen-

tation are dissolved and the representation

exists as a graphical element only. Conversely,

the geometry can be tied to the representations,

i.e. the geometry changes by changing the car-

tographic representation. In addition to manu-ally adjusting symbol properties like the width

of a line, symbol properties can also be given

as a value of a field in the attribute table of a

feature collection. This alternative is a key func-

tion for automated cartographic representations

and is utilized by the cartographic toolbox to

dramatically extend the potentials of carto-

graphic representations. These tools enable the

user to manipulate symbol properties by calcu-

lating individual geometric properties, e.g. to

align symbols by the orientation of polygon sur-

faces. Considering the potential of combining

all rules, overrides, effects and calculating val-

ues for an appropriate cartographic representa-

tion of individual features, ArcGIS 9.2 seems to

provide infinite possibilities of illustration. To

to be stored. ArcGIS 9.2 offers another method

of maintaining an historical record of ArcSDE

geodatabase data called geodatabase archiving.

Features for archiving can be selected individu-

ally. During archiving, all changes within the

default version of a geodatabase are stored in

an archiving class by a timestamp. The archiv-ing class overlocks the feature class and its rela-

tions. It must be pointed out that archiving is

only applicable on the default class and only

creates a database history, while sometimes the

real history of geometric objects is of impor-

tance.

ArcGIS 9.2 also provides a new utility called

geodatabase replication. It extends the check-

out/check-in model with various other scenar-

ios for replication by supporting one-way and

two-way replication. One-way replication means

checking out one part of the database. This part

can always be updated but only in one direc-

tion. Unlike check-in/check-out, both datasets

have unlimited endurance and only altered fea-

tures are updated. With regard to an update,

in the worst case all altered features are lost in

the part that has been checked out. Two-way

replication enables an update in both directions.Updates can be done online, by email, by a

data-storage medium or by a mobile device. All

features have a global and unique ID to be

identified by ArcGIS. The synchronization of fea-

tures is regulated by different exchange-man-

agement schemata. The particular advantage of

the geodatabase replication utility is the con-

sideration of spatial aspects during an update.

An ordinary database uses updating mecha-

nisms that compare for example BLOBs [binary

large objects] against each other. But ArcGIS can

even have a look into the BLOB and understand

changes in its content. Geodatabase replication

goes far beyond what normal database replica-

tion utilities do, says Gnter Doerffel from

ESRI Germany.


Review

Cartographic representation pipeline.

.. ArcGIS can even have a look

into the BLOB..


4/49

ensure effective workflow, a style manager is

provided to organize the cartographic represen-

tations and make them available once again for

reuse. Moreover, the toolbox enables carto-

graphic generalization by simplifying and aggre-

gating geometries. Generalization creates new

feature classes with a relationship class to the

original geometry.

All representations can be created and edited

with an ArcEditor or ArcInfo license and dis-

played using any license level. Gnter Doerffel

from ESRI Germany remarks: The concept has

much of the concept of annotations that is well

known from former versions of ArcGIS as rule-

based text symbol placement. But it is an enor-

mous advance. The whole domain of carto-

graphic representation in ArcGIS 9.2 is incredibly

powerful! Although it is a very powerful exten-

sion in ArcGIS 9.2 one can question how many

users consider it important enough to integrateinto their workflow. It will take a long time to

become familiar with the technology and to take

full advantage of it. It is attractive only for cus-

tomers who produce cartographic products and

use one set of geodata for several different map

editions. But for once-only map productions,

e.g. in the project-based branches of business,

it will likely be of little interest. Swiss Topo is

already adapting the methods of cartographic

representation for their topographic maps. ESRI

tries to intensively involve its customers while

creating new effects and cartographic tools to

improve performance in the cartographic

domain for the future.

Dynamic Simulation ToolOne of the key goals for geoprocessing at

ArcGIS 9.2 was to extend the existing framework

beyond the bounds of static, cartographic-style

descriptive modelling into the world of dynam-

ic, stochastic, process modelling, notes David

Maguire, director of products at ESRI, in his

weblog. Along with the branching function that

already exists in ArcGIS, the 9.2 release has sev-

eral new capabilities to perform dynamic mod-elling. Iterations enable the model builder to

loop models by an iteration counter, by condi-

tional logic and by values from an input list.

The creation of feedbacks is supported, which

is essential for system dynamic simulations, in

association with the ability to generate random

functions and values. ArcGIS 9.1 only supports

one data layer as input to a tool. ArcGIS 9.2

additionally supports both lists and series of

data values as input. Lists force all downstream

processes to execute once for each value in the

list, whereas series force an entire model exe-

cution once for each input value.

Feature classes and tables can be written to an

in-memory workspace to improve the perfor-

mance of models, especially when writing inter-

mediate data. Gnter Doerffel points out thatthese structural extensions in particular

address users who are either not able to code

or simply dont want to code. The work of these

users is considerably eased by the new poten-

tial of the model builder. Programmers already

had the scripting option to build dynamic mod-

els. An advantage of the new concept is the

ease of producing descriptive documentation

of workflows to be directly incorporated into

reports or illustrations.

ArcGIS ServerAdding a few lines about ArcGIS Server is defi-nitely a must in a review about the ArcGIS 9.2

release. Web-based GIS functionality is expand-

ed greatly and allows users to run models and

workflows on the server. Everything that can be

done with ArcGIS Desktop can now be done

server-based as well with ArcGIS Server. There

are many reasons to work server-based. First of

all, when using server-based processing, a desk-

top client is not occupied while processing.

Therefore a shift in workload from ArcGIS clients

to ArcGIS Server is possible. For enterprises with

many clients, this means a high investment inclients can be replaced by a low investment in

a server upgrade. Moreover, even an ArcView

licensed desktop can use server-based functions

delivered by ArcGIS Server. ArcGIS Server 9.2

introduces an out-of-the box web-based editing

functionality to serve Map Services, OGC WMS,

KML, Mobile ADF and many more. As well, web-

service standards like SOAP and UDDI are sup-

ported to enable every developer to connect to

ArcGIS Server. Web services are the future, and

this future already started with ArcGIS says

Gnter Doerffel. He notes that the service infras-tructure market will experience enormous devel-

opment. Not only viewing will be significant, but

server-based geoprocessing will also be in

demand in the future. It will be important to pro-

vide appropriate services to serve this demand.

And it does not matter whether it concerns a

web-gis application or any web application call-

ing a spatial query. ArcGIS Server covers differ-

ent application scenarios through three different

releases called Basic, Standard and Advanced.

The Standard release is somewhat equivalent

to the former ArcIMS release. Every release is

available in two stages of extension, one for

Workgroup SDE and one for Enterprise SDE.

ConclusionIn the ArcGIS 9.2 release, enhancements due to

user-driven demand play an important role. ESRI

offers many opportunities for users to give input

and feedback on their software. To make a long

story short, you do not have to go to Redlands

personally and tell Jack Dangermond what you

would like to have in a new release of ArcGIS.

The present release offers many new features

that will help a large number of users improvethe management of their spatial data. All in all,

ArcGIS 9.2 offers so many and such compre-

hensive improvements that this article could

feature only some highlights. It will probably

take quite a while to become ArcGIS 9.2 liter-

ate, but my recommendation is that meeting

this challenge is worth the time.

Florian Fischer ([email protected]) is

a contributing editor of GIS-Magazine. For further

information on this subject: ESRI Whats New in

ArcGIS 9.2: www.esri.com/software/arcgis/about/

whats-new.html; David Maguires weblog

GIS Matters: http://gismatters.blogspot.com/.

Also look at the movie section of

www.geoinformatics.com.

March 200710

Review

In the original streets and buildings are accurately

positioned

ArcGIS is able to detect a conflict in the

cartographic representation

Generalization: The illustration shows how

buildings are aggregated and aligned on the street

course. Concurrently the street course has been

simplified by ArcGIS 9.2


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Ordnance Surveys Research Labs

Shap ing a Future for Geograph ic I

Geographic information (GI) is used more widely than ever before. Ordnance

Surveys Research Labs uses foresight, a process spanning from scenario

planning to ongoing user research, to ensure Great Britains national mapping

agencys innovation, creativity, design, prototyping and imagination continue to

meet the challenges the future poses. The key is to understand what

opportunities this presents for Ordnance Survey (OS), its partners and

how this data will be captured, managed, traded and used.

By Chris Parker

Terra FutureOngoing projects range from improving

Ordnance Surveys data capture and modelling

processes to developing future products andservices. An important element is research

into how GI may one day be understood,

exchanged and integrated by both humans

and machines.To this end, collaboration with

partners and academia is paramount. This

joined-up approach, celebrated with thought

leaders from business, government and

academia at Ordnance Surveys annual

research event, Terra future, maintains

Ordnance Surveys reputation in rapidly

advancing technologies.

This years event focused on data integration,

with industry speakers sharing their insight

into the impact of such trends on information

businesses and expressing their views on new

and evolving technologies, societal change

and consumer demands. Keynote

speaker Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inven-

tor of the World Wide Web, explored

how the semantic web, an automat-ed extension of the web using

machine-readable information to

share and reuse data, has the poten-

tial to boost its reach and function-

ality: Everything can be given a uni-

form resource identifier (URI), which

describes concepts as well as

objects. Translating your data into

Resource Description Framework (RDF)

language means you can explain what

it does, make it available and connect it

to others.

Machine UnderstandableThe semantic web wont necessarily require a

change in how data is collected or used. It is

more a question of making it available in areusable, machine-understandable format.

Semantic web technology research is firmly

on the radar for Ordnance Surveys Research

Labs. This is concerned with improving com-

puters understanding of what humans mean

by terms such as buildings, roads and

rivers. It is developing ways for computers

to make sense of this data, making it more

meaningful than a series of points, lines and

polygons to create the potential to semi-auto-

mate processes such as the joining up of

datasets.An ongoing project is development of a topo-

graphic ontology to help understand the

meaning of real-world objects and how this

relates to OS data to develop a more com-

plete representation. This includes the devel-

opment of algorithms and methods for

authoring, merging or adapting ontologies

and datasets. Senior research scientist

Catherine Dolbear explains: Through the

authoring of ontologies, we have developed

a more complete understanding of our data

and the geographic domain it represents. This

has led to the suggestion of improvements to

modelling Ordnance Surveys knowledge and

recommended improvements to our spatial

database specification, such as hierarchy

accuracy and choice of semantic labels.

A speaker who captured the imagination of

Terra future delegates was Robin Mannings,

Research Foresight Manager in BTs Research

March 200712

Art ic le

Computer-based experiments to understand how people match a scene to a map.

Map Snapper: merging the

benefits of the paper map with

the power of the web.


6/49

and Venturing Department. He emphasisedthe importance of convergence and the impact

of a rise in disruptive technologies:

Convergence between ubiquitous computing,

positioning technologies and geographic

information is creating an opportunity explo-

sion. Sensors and intelligence everywhere are

going to make changes, with location data at

its core. Ubiquitous computing is a potential

disruptive technology and, like the web, may

change the established order.

Mannings also explained how 4-D can add a

temporal dimension to 3-D spatial data,superimposing dynamic information and

ensuring data is routed to the right display,

person or object at the right time. Mannings

The word location is evolving into position-

ing, with sensor technology knowing orienta-

tion and direction.


Art ic le

n format ion

A cognitive research pro-

ject eye-tracking gaze

trails to reveal how a

photogrammetrist looks

for changes in the land-

scape.


7/49

Real-world MapsOrdnance Surveys spatio-temporal research is

investigating the delivery of real-time informa-

tion to create a map of the world reflecting fac-

tors such as environmental conditions, traffic

situations and roadworks. By integrating third-

party, real-time information with the digital map

data OS already maintains, the system will

enable examination of the current condition offeatures rather than accurate to the time of the

last survey. Research scientist Tony Joyce

explains: Applications such as traffic manage-

ment, vehicle routing, location-based services

and environmental monitoring depend on real-

time data collected by sensors and other equip-

ment. Spatio-temporal research examines how

this dynamic information can be combined with

a static base of geographic data to create real-

time maps. Collaboration with data collectors

and other government departments is expect-

ed to establish a practical means of deliveringa service that supplies electronic maps that are

updated electronically.

In the Human BodyMannings predicted the next major

computing platform to be the

human body. Computers on and

within our bodies will be linked to

a digital bubble, which even today

can follow us about. Conventional

computing will become increasingly

ambient computing, where comput-

ers and computing is everywhere

but largely invisible and automatic,

making us more effective human

beings.

Research Labs is working on a num-

ber of projects which tie into

Mannings projections. Map Snapper

builds on the power of the web,

merging this with the paper map to

lock a depth of information into the

printed sheet. This has seen the

development of a system capable of

identifying a location from a photo-graph taken of a map by a standard

camera phone. This returns an electronic image

to the users mobile phone overlaid with points

of interest such as hotels, pubs and bus stops

which have associated information users can

interrogate to learn opening times, service avail-

ability, and so on.

Drilling into Rich DataResearch scientist Layla Gordon explains the

benefits of this convergence of traditional and

progressive technology: Map Snapper marries

up the paper map with the world of location-

based services and the vast amount of infor-

mation on the web. Map Snapper could make

the paper map more flexible in a time of access-

ing information on the fly, delivering detail

about where you want to go to as well as where

you are right now, drilling into rich data on both

as you go. Another project, Zapper, is offering

a way to dramatically enhance location-based

services (LBS) by allowing the user to query a

specific feature in the landscape simply by

pointing a hand-held device at it. GI technolo-

gist Chris Phillips explains: A risk surveyor foran insurance company could zap a house and

see his companys information on that proper-

ty; a tourist could zap a restaurant to see

reviews. Zapper picks out a specific feature in

the users surroundings through the incorpora-

tion of an electronic compass with the users

GPS-enabled phone or PDA. This adds a direc-

tional component to LBS search parameters. It

works against a backdrop of OS MasterMap,

which comprises over 450 million geographic

features contained within discrete polygons. By

processing the users positional information(their location and direction they point the

device) within OS MasterMap, Zapper deter-

mines the feature, and associated information,

by the polygon representing it.

Consumer and User TrendsCrucial considerations for foresight management

are consumer and user trends. User Needs

Research ensures Research Labs work remains

real and relevant in a world of rapidly-changing

technologies, attitudes and needs. This is build-

ing a knowledge base and conducting associ-

ated analyses of information needs to help

develop richer, usable, fit-for-purpose GI for the

future. Subsequent analysis will help inform the

development of richer, usable GI, for example

helping to define which real-world objects and

attributes need to be captured and modelled

in a database and identify the terms people use

for these objects.

Database is CrucialA substantial core of Research Labs operation

is geared to fine-tuning and evolving existing

processes. The maintenance of the National

Geographic Database (NGD), the central

database where data is maintained and from

which its product portfolio is derived is crucial.

Essential to its upkeep is the receipt and reflec-

tion of information on where change hasoccurred on the ground. This could be anything

from an extension to a building, to a forest

plantation. This information has traditionally

been obtained from field surveyors and exter-

nal sources such as local authorities. The recent

acquisition of a digital mapping camera (DMC)

has delivered the possibility of extracting more

information from an image than possible using

traditional scanned film images. Its infrared

band may help detect vegetation and deliver

an enhanced response in darker areas. Research

Labs is developing methods to automaticallydetect changes between information held in the

NGD and that present in one or more images

to deliver efficiency savings.

12-bit ResolutionAnother project looking to exploit the

benefits of the DMC focuses on its

multispectral capacity. The camera

actually consists of eight syn-

chronously operating digital cameras,

four panchromatic and four multi-

spectral, together building a single

virtual camera delivering five bands

of data; panchromatic, red, green,

blue, infra-red. This is the first time

Ordnance Survey has captured data

in the NIR spectral region and to 12-

bit resolution, with a key benefit of

improved discrimination between

features. Research Labs is assessing

whether this new data could be sig-

nificant for feature extraction and

data capture and if this would enable

processes including the capture of

wooded areas, the determination ofconiferous and non-coniferous areas

and the sparseness of vegetation, classify areas

of asphalt, as distinct from buildings with flat

roofs covered with bitumen, metal constructions

such as conveyors and gantries and moving and

stationary vehicles. Tests particularly highlighted

the potential for employing the infrared chan-

nel. The accuracy obtained separating conifer-

ous trees versus non-coniferous trees, versus

rough grassland without the band was 42.7%

whereas after introducing infrared, the classifier

obtained accuracies of 96.8%.

Boosting Existing ProcessesBoosting efficiency of data capture from aerial

imagery itself is also a priority. Currently

March 200714

Art ic le

Research with 3-D data has revealed the benefits for Ordnance Surveys existing,

and future data capture processes.


8/49

Ordnance Survey uses three distinct and sepa-

rate flowlines to capture OS MasterMap

Topography and Imagery Layers as well as Land-

Form Profile Plus. The Integrated Photo-

grammetric Flowline (IPF) plans to bring togeth-

er all data created as a result of the three

individual processes at each stage of the work-

flow to inform subsequent data creation. Some

of these can be considered as automated orsemi-automated, and rely on the current state of

the available technology. Others are largely

manual but their worth in adding value to sub-

sequent processes means that overall efficien-

cy is increased. Effectively, the IPF could dimin-

ish the requirement to recapture the same data

to create the product, saving time and reduc-

ing the number of stages in each process.

Further research into fine-tuning data collection

involves Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR).

This remote sensing technique uses a laser to

collect elevation data. A pulse of laser light isgenerated and emitted and the time it takes for

this pulse to hit the surface of the Earth and

return to the sensor is recorded. The position

of the sensor is also measured and recorded

using GPS and IMU (inertial measurement unit).

The GPS records the 3-D position of the sen-

to determine which represent terrain and which

represent buildings. The terrain can then be

modelled with a typical z (height) accuracy of

sor, while the INS records the orienta-

tion of the sensor. Given the position

of the sensor, it is possible to calcu-

late the distance the pulse of light has

travelled, giving the height of the sur-

face of the earth. Research Labs has

conducted a number of projects to

determine how appropriate LiDAR

could be for topographic mapping.Work so far has quantified the costs

of data capture and processing and

produced terrain surface and building

models for a small study site. In the

next stage, the study site will be

enlarged and laser data flown to match

Ordnance Surveys specific require-

ments.

Data Collection EfficienciesIt is also investigating longer-term pos-

sibilities, including near automaticextraction of objects from laser scan-

ning point clouds; laser scanning from

different platforms and the use of laser

data to detect change. Research scientist Sarah

Smith-Voysey explains: In collecting data we

need to be able to classify each of the points


Art ic le

Generalisation has demonstrated the automatic derivation of a vec-

tor dataset from Ordnance Surveys spatial database similar to the

style of its 1:50 000-scale OS Landranger Map.


9/49

15-20 cm, and the building points used to gen-

erate a building model. For many 3-D applica-

tions the accurate modelling of the building roof

is also very important, affecting the way rain-

water flows off buildings, the amount of noise in

an urban area and the visibility of buildings.Laser scanning offers a rapid technique for

data collection and associated efficiencies, but

its true strength lies not in these individual char-

acteristics but in our ability to combine laser

data with imagery and our existing vector

datasets. This will enable us to fully exploit the

benefits of this capture technique and gener-

ate higher specification products for an increas-

ingly demanding market.

True NatureA complementary programme is looking into

the capture and delivery of 3-D data. Many

models are created by simply extruding the

ground plan of a building upwards using a sin-

gle height. But these do not necessarily convey

the true nature and are sometimes referred to

as 2.5-D. Research Labs is looking into the cap-

ture and use of more sophisticated 3-D models

that can be easily maintained and are compati-

ble with its terrain models and OS MasterMap

products. This will ensure not only the contin-

ued provision of high-end products, but that

simpler models can be derived from these,

while maintaining compatibility across the prod-uct range. Research into fine-tuning data cap-

ture is complemented by a programme looking

to reuse this information. Following the com-

pletion of a detailed vector spatial database, the

creation of a single maintained source of data

for all Ordnance Surveys product data will

improve the efficiency of its data capture sys-

tem and support the production of current and

future products. This involves the capture of

information once, and using it to derive prod-

ucts at different scales to also promote greater

consistency between them.

Automation is KeyAutomating the transformation of source data

for use at different scales, generalisation, would

increase the efficiency of Ordnance Surveys pro-

duction systems and tune the process to cre-

ate new types of products more rapidly and cost

effectively. Generalisation is being trialled on

paper map products to demonstrate how a vec-

tor dataset can be automatically derived fromthe spatial database. The research has concen-

trated on developing the means to automati-

cally generalise buildings, dual carriageways,

woodland, hydrology, contour depiction and

road displacement.

Senior research scientist Nico Regnauld

describes some considerations still to be

addressed: The task has been challenging, as

the data still describes a cartographic view of

the world rather than a geographic one. The

process has to generate a representation of a

set of geographic phenomena (road network,

hydrology network, residential areas, wooded

areas etc), rarely represented explicitly in our

database, therefore needing to be deduced

from the features that represent them. This

requires the development of a number of spatial

analysis tools to identify and analyse thembefore generalisation algorithms can be

designed to represent them at the correct

scale.

However, with efficiency gains of 15 to 30%

using the research prototype alone, a well re-

engineered system could push these gains

much further. Work into Fuzziness and

Uncertainty (F&U) is investigating how to clas-

sify and model geographic entities that are

inherently blurred. The benefit of working with

this information is that it leads to a represen-

tation of the real world relevant from a wider

range of user perspectives. This flexibility will

enable the tailoring of far greater numbers of

applications to meet specific user needs. There

are two significant types of F&U that affect GI.

The first is uncertainty surrounding the bound-

aries of physical features, for example the pre-

cise extent of common land. The second is fuzzy

classification, recognising the discrepancy of

labelling certain physical features such as

mountains and hills. Research Labs is develop-

ing a method of how to include the difference

of opinions people have of geographic features.

The investigation could result in major changein the way GIS software packages handle GI.

Fuzzy data is not suited to being stored as the

crisp thematic layers of todays systems. Nor

will it be captured by traditional means. A new

data capture technique might be required to

account for the uncertain aspect of GI.

Airborne RobotsOS Research Labs is also investigating the use

of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in data cap-

ture. Optimising the use of airborne robots in

aerial survey may enable extremely usefulreconnaissance functions. Their effective use,

however, must go beyond simply programming

a series of waypoints for UAV navigation. An

aspect that must be explored is autonomous

target acquisition and investigation, which will

preserve their limited on-board fuel, battery,

memory and processor resources.

Research Labs is developing a system with two

levels of control. The first is waypoint follow-

ing, where the UAV follows a path marked by

GPS or other coordinates. The second is

salience, achieved by using a perception-action

loop. This is based around intelligent reactions

the software performs during the process of

image capture through to vehicle actuation, and

is rooted in artificial intelligence techniques,

which mimic human vision systems.

An experiment to test the system established

four waypoints across a virtual landscape. As

the UAV progressed, it deviated from its path

as the artificial intelligence-based neural net-

work responded to features seen through the

cameras. This enabled the UAV to track along

hedges or track-ways, collecting more data than

would otherwise have been obtained withoutsalience in operation. Foresight and user-centred

thinking are central to ensuring the delivery of

accurate and informed products and services,

and underpins the activity of Ordnance Surveys

Research Labs. By developing perspectives on

the ways in which the future may develop,

Research Labs is fine-tuning the delivery of

existing processes while safeguarding their

development and Ordnance Surveys position

in the progressive world of GI and the increasing

number of industries its influence touches.

Chris Parker ([email protected])

is Ordnance Survey Research Manager.

Further information is available at

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/research.

March 200716

Art ic le

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles scaled new heights for reconnaissance functions in a series of control tests.

.. the data still descibes a carto-

graphic view of the world rather

that a geographic one.


10/49

The Benefits of Working Together to Share Data

CAD and GIS Different as Oil and W

It has been said that CAD and GIS are as different as oil and water. It means

being asked for a totally current map of the local area when you are busy and

knowing that this simple-sounding and perfectly reasonable task could take

hours or even days of your time as you will need to sift through a backlog of

updates on new infrastructure such as buildings and roads.

By Dominic Jukes

The CAD department may well have theinformation, but you will have to convert this

data from one format to another and may

even need to do some customised program-

ming. Most likely the GIS team is in one room,

the CAD team in another. Its both literal and

metaphorical. Even if you do work in the sameoffice, it is as if theres the Berlin Wall between

you.

Destined to Meet

How did this happen? The emergence of CAD

in the early 1980s revolutionised design,

replacing pens, paper, slide rules and draw-

ing boards with the computer. This progressed

further when applications moved from main-

frame computers to the desktop. Today every-

body connected with design uses CAD and

most infrastructure asset information begins

life as a CAD drawing. The first GIS software

applications hit the market around the same

time. These offered powerful spatial manipu-

lation and mapping tools making it faster and

easier to perform spatial analyses and render

maps containing several types of spatial infor-

mation. For years, software vendors have

worked to blend GIS and CAD but organisa-

tions have resorted to investing in both sys-

tems. Consequently, each group has estab-

lished different workflows, standards anddata, even though this data is similar. GIS is

still a niche subject with sophisticated soft-

ware and highly-qualified experts. As a result,

it has become a closed shop to engineers.

But, on the other hand, CAD users believe the

GIS department lacks the precision needed by

engineers and when they need information

for the GIS experts, it always seems a com-

plex, drawn-out process.

A Wall BetweenTheres also still a wall between the technolo-

gies they use. The development in CAD sys-

tems has been dramatic. Engineers have intel-

ligent, powerful graphical tools at their

fingertips. In the opposite camp, GIS has

become robust and refined too. Users cantake advantage of powerful spatial databases,

perform complex spatial analysis and

generate compelling, intelligent maps. But

suppose a civil engineer needs spatial infor-

mation before they begin designing a bridge.

The engineer asks the GIS department for

data which is then compiled, converted and

perhaps digitised, a convoluted process that

can easily introduce mistakes. The data also

loses valuable precision. Are GIS and CAD

experts forever destined to wave at each other

across the great divide?

Can this Happen?The key is to develop software that bridges

the disciplines without asking either of them

to give up the tools they have been using.

GIS and mapping functionality must be

brought into the precision data capture and

creation tools in a CAD environment. And GIS

must be able to access and work with object-

based design information stored in CAD files

such as DGN and DWG, without losing preci-

sion through data conversion. Some software

vendors are helping drive this move by mak-

ing it easier to work seamlessly with CAD and

GIS data together in a single application or

share the same data across applications.

Autodesk Map 3D is an example. The software

is an extension to AutoCAD which enables you

to directly access spatial databases such as

Oracle Spatial and ArcSDE, plus GIS data, and

work with them in a hybrid CAD and GIS envi-

ronment. This enables organisations to

improve data accuracy and streamline work-

flow. Integrating the two means you can work

with high precision data in a map-based envi-ronment. For example, you can search seam-

lessly for a parcel and also pinpoint the pre-

cise location of utility connections and access

detailed design information related to struc-

tures on the property. These benefits are clear

when dealing with Ordnance Survey back-

ground mapping. Unlike OS Landline,

MasterMap is not so CAD-friendly because of

its large volumes of data. The most efficient

way of storing MasterMap data is within a

central repository, for example, on a spatial

database. Autodesk Map 3D enables users to

access the data directly regardless of whether

it is held in an Oracle database, a Shp file or

ESRI ArcSDE. When Map 3D is connected to

a central store of MasterMap data, accurate

March 200718

Art ic le

Saint Helena, Raster based surfaces can be edited using thematic mapping and hill-shading.


11/49

mapping is available across an entire enter-

prise whether they are CAD or GIS users or

both. These applications bring together CAD

design and the GIS data stored in many lead-

ing formats such as ESRI, Intergraph, MapInfo,

MySQL and Oracle Spatial. Further, Autodesk

has recently provided the code for many of

its FDO providers as open source and free for

anyone to download (see at the bottom of

this article).

Broken down Barrier

So once this great barrier between disciplines

has been broken down, what benefits can an

organisation expect? First, a streamlined work-

flow. Users can create and edit using CAD and

store the information in a central database for

other departments or applications including

GIS to access. Projects can be completedfaster when an engineer can easily pre-popu-

late a new design with current base map data,

such as property lines, curb information and

other associated data, from a central GIS. GIS

specialists can use the powerful precision edi-

tor tools from a CAD system to more easily

edit and maintain GIS data. The two disci-

plines are now recognising the benefits of

working together to share data, processes and

personnel. Its not unusual for a large engi-

neering department to have over 50 engi-

neers, but only two or three GIS profession-

als. Because there are not so many trained

GIS professionals, they are sometimes under

pressure to keep up with the constant stream

of work. Combining CAD and GIS will open

sion CAD providing the ability to include accu-

rate measurements and scale. In fact, the two

environments are integrated so seamlessly

that users dont see the information as two

different entities. The database also manages

associated documents, CAD drawings such as

cross sections can be included. Altogether the

system holds around 70,000 CAD documents.

One advantage is that UU can more easily

identify risk areas and so prioritise budget.

For example, using a 3D CAD model, com-

bined with rainfall data and OS MasterMap

information on ground types it can calculate

how quickly rain will seep through the ground

and identify risk areas for flooding on the

sewage network.

Centralised Model

This centralised repository model maximisesthe investment in technology as there is no loss

of valuable information when data translates

from one format to another. Using native data

means it retains integrity. As a result, theres

no need to search for the most current infor-

mation and decisions can be made safe in the

knowledge that the best information has been

available. So, now the technology to work with-

in a single environment is available, theres no

reason why either group of professionals

should hide behind their own high wall.

Dominic Jukes ([email protected]) channel sales

executive, GIS Infrastructure Solutions, Autodesk.

Download available at www.oseo.org.

doors for GIS experts who can support the

expanding role of spatial information. It will

also take away the need to retrain both dis-

ciplines to use the others technology. GIS

teams can use the pool of CAD-trained engi-

neers to help maintain data and provide a

detailed understanding of specific workflows

and data relationships. Similarly, CAD depart-

ments can leverage GIS databases to store

and share valuable infrastructure information.

Cant See the Join

Utilities are among the organisations well-

placed to benefit from these developments.

The roll-out of United Utilities (UU) electricity

GIS programme is now finished, completing a

five year strategy to implement GIS across all

areas of the business. This system is helping

the organisation meet its regulatory targetsand pass on practical benefits such as a faster

and more efficient service to the customer.

Now the entire lifecycle of both water and

electricity assets is managed by geospatial

solutions from Autodesk, based on a central

Oracle database. These geospatial solutions

and their object knowledge base ensure that

data is captured productively and to a con-

sistent quality. Workflows lead operators

through the data maintenance processes and

ensure standards are followed. Any user in

the business is able to see live and up-to-

date views of UUs assets via an Autodesk

MapGuide browser which connects directly to

the Oracle asset repository. As a result, data

can be created and maintained in high-preci-


Art ic le

ater?

ParcelMap, create, edit and maintain CAD and GIS data using CAD editing tools. Coloured polygons show land use for the city of Redding, California.


12/49

Dr. Chryssy A. Potsiou is a lecturer in the School of

Rural and Surveying Engineering at the National

Technical University of Athens, Greece. She is also amember of the Bureau of the UN/ECE Working

Party on Land Administrati on, and the chair

of Commission 3 of FIG (International Federation

of Surveyors). She can be reached at:

[email protected].

Informal Development:It Can Be an Asset

Informal, unplanned, illegal or random urban development is an issue of major

importance in a large number of countries worldwide. There is no clear, common

definition of what an informal settlement is. The most important factors for

characterizing an area as such are: land tenure, quality and size of construction,

access to services, and land-use zoning.

The common reasons for informal settlements,

whether in regions of Europe, Africa, Central

and South America, or Asia, are: insufficient

planning or unrealistic zoning regulations;

inconsistent and complex legislation; unnec-essary bureaucracy for land development and

permitting; marginalization, poverty and lack

of financing mechanisms for affordable hous-

ing; illegal subdivision and construction on

agricultural lands; political reluctance to con-

front the situation; and lack of important spa-

tial information.

Land values in fringe agricultural areas out-

side the formal urban plan, where informal

construction is usually located, are lower and

more affordable to those earning less than

the average household income. Squatting on

state land is a less common phenomenon

today. However, construction costs in such

areas may grow even higher than normal and

in most cases are inconsistent with construc-

tion quality, due to the risk of illegality andprosecution to the constructor. Despite that,

the majority of informal construction in many

places today is of a good, permanent type,

and can be characterized as affordable hous-

ing rather than slums. In some regions these

are single-family houses, while in others they

may even be as extensive as 10-story multi-

family buildings! In addition to the risks of

high penalties, demolition of buildings or

even imprisonment of the owner, such con-

structions are usually, due to legislation,

unable to receive infrastructure services from

the state. Most importantly, they cannot be

legally transferred or mortgaged.

The old-fashioned theory, which viewed infor-

mal settlements as threats to public safety

and health requiring demolition, seems to

have been gradually replaced by a commonrecognition that informal housing is a valu-

able capital asset which should find its way

to the real property market. Exceptions are

constructions leading to general environmen-

tal burdening, e.g., building on public land,

river routes, floodplains, coastal zones,

archaeological sites, forests, and high-risk or

radioactive waste areas. Today much informal

development is following quite acceptable

standards. Informal-sector housing has

become practically a component of housing

supply or an alternative, within a free market

economy, to the lack of state affordable-hous-

ing policies, a theory that in the past was qui-

etly supported by some governments but is

now acquiring growing recognition.

Still, informal constructions cause corruption

and loss of state revenue (taxation, building

permit and transaction fees, etc.), while mid-

dle or low-income owners are forced to make

financially bad investments. Informal building

owners are also considered second class

citizens who, through their activity, may cause

significant problems in the future such aswater pollution, soil erosion and traffic con-

gestion, while also demanding public services,

schools, clinics, and safety in these areas.

Informal development appears also within for-

mal urban areas, even in developed countries

with no earlier experience. For example, cen-

tral sections, neglected and deteriorated from

lack of maintenance, usually attract poor fam-

ilies, providing very insecure tenure and lim-

ited housing investment. In order to support

employment and entrepreneurship in urban

areas with a high level of decay in terms of

housing and social indicators, there is often

illegal conversion of old houses from

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com March 2007 21

...threats to public safety and

health requering demolition...

Column

residential to commercial use (restaurants,

entertainment, etc.) without recognition of

safety standards. Informal development

appears in attractive vacation areas, too, due

to the rapid increase of land demand by inter-

national market participants.

The steps needed to improve and control the

situation seem to be:

reduction of unrealistic and complex land-

use regulations and subdivision standards

to increase land supply and decrease land

values, and to expedite the developmentpermitting process, while making devel-

opment control possible

legalization of existing informal develop-

ments, where feasible, to support the real

estate market and the national economy

application of suitable controls. The

promising tools of today are: low-cost

technology such as satellite imagery and

automated photogrammetric procedures

for spatial data collection, spatial data

infrastructures and modern land adminis-

tration systems to support land market

assessment, efficient urban planning, e-

governance, transparency, and sustainable

development


13/49

A Dangerous Job in the Wild West

Surveyor Stars Shine Brightly

You wouldnt believe in how many Hollywood style movies and scenes the

surveyors, their instruments and measurements play their roles! Our colleague

surveyor from Australia makes this a little easier for you, collecting and

classifying information on such movies with his great care and enthusiasm.

On the following pages just glimpses of this interesting world of movies

are presented. You are of course invited to also make a step further that is

to enjoy in watching these movies.

by John F. Brock

The Duke Was a SurveyorSince my first screening of The Duke Was a

Surveyor And So Was God! at the XXI FIG

Congress at Brighton in the UK on July 1998 I

have collected another 39 Hollywood style

movies bearing some sort of reference to sur-

veying in one way or another. This makes an

impressive complement of just on 60 such

cinematic spectaculars not to mention a few

more TV shows and advertisements along the

way. However for this article I shall concen-

trate on those movies in which surveying is

the main theme or that the surveyor is the star

of the production. In my own original refer-

ence system which I have devised for the

identification of survey content in movies this

would refer to two categories: maintheme of movie is surveying related or built

around the main star/s as surveyors, and

star or one of the main characters are

surveyors or do survey work.

Surveyors in the Wild WestThe Fighting Kentuckian (1949, MS) starring

The Duke John Wayne himself was also

directed by him and co-starred the big man

Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy fame. It is a

quite entertaining western, where the bad guy

played by Philip Dorn sets out to steal landoriginally settled and staked out by French

settlers, by pulling out or relocating the survey

marks and then killing the town surveyor to

prevent detection. Our hero Captain William

Breen of the Kentucky Long Rifles played by

The Duke accepts the offer of the glamorous

widow of the murdered surveyor to pose as

the new Town Surveyor using the equip-

ment of her husband in an attempt to get to

the bottom of the scam set up by the crooks

to dispossess the French settlers. In one mem-

orable scene of the movie The Duke and

the big man are discussing the capacity of

each of them to successfully portray them-

selves as surveyors and Hardy points to the

transit (theodolite) set up in the middle of the

log cabin in which they are residing. He then

says: We dont know enough about those

things to fool anybody! to which Breen firm-

ly replies: Well. Sure we do! Youve seen Army

surveyors at work you grab that pole (staff)

and go out that way and Ill stand behind this

thing and wave at you! (gesturing with two

hands in a forward motion over his head) to

which Hardy retorts: Why dont you grab thatpole and go out that way and Ill wave at

you! Breen thinks a short while before say-

ing: Its pretty silly - isnt it? to which he

March 200722

Art ic le

Sarah Polley and Wes Bentley

in The Claim (2000).

James Mason in Journey To The Centre of the Earth

(1959).


14/49

responds: Yep! There are many other refer-

ences to boundary markers and surveyors

throughout the production, but another part

which I found rather catchy, was when Wayneholds up a survey stake he finds laying on

the ground to show Hardy what he had found,

only to have it shot from his hand by an

unidentified gunman! Yep! Surveying sure is

a dangerous job in the wild Wild West!

Just to demonstrate how perilous surveys

were in Hollywood western epics, we have

two such examples in Denver and Rio

Grande (1952, MS) and Western Union

(1941, MS). In the first cowdy we have

Edmund OBrien (Jim Vesser) playing one

tough guy surveyor for the Denver and Rio

Grande Railway Company, laying out the path

for their railway lines. Sterling Hayden and

Don Haggerty (Bob Nelson) play the two sur-

veyors for the Carson City and San Juan

Railway Company. They are surveying along

the same route for their trains, which is clear-

ly only suitable enough for one of the rail

lines to be laid. When the three men confront

each other, somewhere along the survey tra-

verses there is a tense verbal altercation,

where OBrien threatens to throw Haydens

survey stakes into the river, which provokesa fist fight between Nelson and OBrien and

ultimately Nelson is shot dead by Hayden, but

the blame for the killing is falsely transferred

However the local doctor, who is obsessed

with the beautiful damsel in distress, takes

exception to the scornful attitude of the sur-

veyor towards his princess, so sets about

planting a rock pick into the back of his rivals

neck then shoves the body and all of the sci-

entific equipment down a steaming fissure.

Now, not all that far away we have one of

Josef Mengeles SS henchmen throw the dam-

monitoring surveyor from the top of the dam

to a gory end at the bottom of the 300 metre

drop in The Boys From Brazil (1975,SS)

which stars Gregory Peck.

The Heritage of the Desert (1932, MS) is a

great western starring Randolph Scott, where

he plays the boundary surveyor employed by

onto OBrien. Western Union

was set around the survey to lay

out the path for the telegraph

line through Indian land. Dean

Jagger and Robert Young are the

two land surveyors employed by

the company to carry out this

task with Randolph Scott acting

as their security patrol. Onescene shows drunken Indians

being allowed to search through

the wagon train of the telegraph

surveyors for trinkets to seize.

When the leader of the band

wants to souvenir the surveyors

transit, Scott wrestles it from his

grasp and then attempts to ward

off the subsequent knife attack with the

instrument itself. However Young shoots the

Indian before he has a chance to damage the

vital piece of gear for the work in which theywere engaged, which prompts Scott to knock

him down for his extreme action. The camera

pans around to show Chill Wills dead at the

top of the telegraph pole with an arrow in his

chest! You better believe that Wild West sur-

veying sure is hazardous!

Deadly DangerousNow there are a couple of rather obscure

world movies (some with subtitles) in which

the surveyor character meets his fate in very

grisly fashion. In the love-spurned drama

Mararia (1998, SS) set on the Canary

Islands, the geological surveyor played by

British actor Iain Glen performs more than his

contract services, when he courts the island

beauty Maria before getting her pregnant.


Art ic le

Hugh Grant and Ian McNiece in The Englishman Who Went Up a

Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995).

"The Duke" - John Wayne in The Fighting

Kentuckian (1949).

Val Kilmer in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996).

Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet (1997).


15/49

one of the land barons of the sheep country

to confirm the delineation of his ownership

to thwart the bad-guy-dressed-in-black claim

jumper from staking a dubious claim over the

estate. On the way to meet his engager Scott

has his two horses shot from under him by

the bad mans henchmen only to be rescued

from dehydration by the very glamorous

female lead, portrayed by Sally Blane. In one

classic scene Scott wrestles a steer around

the pen without losing his hat! Jumping to his

feet he begins to discuss his planned move-

ments with the land owner at which time he

finally removes his hat to reveal that he was

carrying the boundary survey plan under his

hat all the time! Gun battles, bar room brawls

and the ultimate ride off into the sunset with

the fair damsel make this worth watching

especially for the superstar surveyor Scott.

Ties with HistoryComing forward a few more years to 1940, we

see one of Cary Grants first starring roles as

the land surveyor Matt Howard, who is a per-

sonal friend of none other than the future US

President Thomas Jefferson, another memo-

rable surveyor of the States. In The Howards

of Virginia (MS) Grant uses a circumferentor

during a survey of an estate in Albermarle

County, owned by the character played by

Cedric Hardwick. Obviously utilizing this

opportunity to impress the daughter of the

landholder he boasts that he will be lettingher father know that he actually owns more

land than he had originally thought. Pushing

even further forward to 1955, we emulate the

feats of Lewis and Clark on their epic quest

for the North-West Passage through North

America in Far Horizons (MS). During this

movie there are many improbable caricatures

and scenes. For example, who would script

someone like Donna Reed to fill the role of

the Indian guide Sacagawea and who indeed

would shoot footage of plane table surveying

on the moving boat but celestial observationswith a sextant on the land? Fred MacMurray

and Charlton Heston are cast as the two leg-

endary explorers in this colourful, if not

authentic representation of true history.

Just the Land SurveyorIn a movie called The Castle (1968, MS)

there is absolutely no similarities to the high-

ly entertaining Australian production of the

same from 1997. In fact this black Kafka satire

on the bureaucracy, set in some late nine-

teenth century Baltic village, is one of the

most excruciatingly painful and lengthy

wastes of celluloid that I have ever had the

misfortune to endure. Having said all of that

there is only one redeeming feature of this

tiresome monotedia being the character

played by Maximilian Schell, who has been

sent from a far off authority to survey the

boundaries of the village. His first assignment

is to make contact with the representatives

of the Castle, but the whole movie revolves

around his futile effort to do this because in

the end he is shown running after a horse-

drawn carriage, which has departed throughthe gates of the Castle. He is despised by the

local villagers, told by the Mayor that his ser-

vices are not required, refuses the job as jan-

itor of the local school much to the chagrin

of the headmaster and is left in no doubt

exactly what the lady teacher and students

think of him. He is referred to as The Land

Surveyor at least sixty times throughout the

3 hour ordeal, usually in a very dismissive and

derisive fashion. In one scene with a very

rotund bureaucrat, who he wakes from a rest-

ful slumber at 4 oclock in the afternoon, the

regard for this expert is proved conclusively.

The big man introduces himself as Bergin

but before our man can get his own name out

the big fellow cuts him off by saying:

March 200724

Art ic le

Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments (1956).

Cary Grant in The Howards of Virginia (1940).


16/49

It doesnt matter! Youre just the land survey-

or! Well, I never!

Surveying in the NorthIf ever you want to view a movie, which

makes a statement about the world with its

progress and prejudice along with casting sur-

veyors as the lead roles, then I have two

absolute beauties for you. Dersu Uzala(1975, MS) won the Academy award for the

best foreign film for the legendary Japanese

producer Akira Kurosawa for very good rea-

son. Russian army surveyor Vladimir Arseniev

and his survey party set about their task of

making a topographical survey of the Ussuri

River region of Eastern Siberia in a very harsh

climate. Along their exploration in the remote

jungle area they meet up with a Goldi bush-

man named Dersu Uzala, who had never seen

the city. Dersu lends his bush craft to guiding

them through the unforgiving and treacher-ous terrain, at one time saving both the sur-

veyor and himself from a snap blizzard at forty

degrees below zero by cannily, using the sur-

veying tripod with instrument atop as the


Art ic le

Patrick Bergin in Map of the Human Heart (1993).


17/49March 2007Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com 27

Art ic le

frame for a hastily constructed grass mini-yurt.

The tragic transition from bush jungle life to

the cement city jungle gives a stark portrayalof the dark side of progress forced upon

those, who would be better left alone. The

French-Canadian Map of the Human Heart

(1993, MS) is a moving story of the bond,

which materializes between a cartographer

(Patrick Bergin) mapping the Arctic in the

1930s and a young Eskimo boy (Robert

Joamie) and the effects of human prejudices

upon their lives. There is quite a humorous

scene of the young boys first encounter with

surveying instrumentation in the icy environ-

ment, which he calls home.

The Englishman That Went Up a HillBut Came Down a MountainWithout question my personal favourite in the

surveying movie genre has got to be the true

story The Englishman That Went Up a Hill

But Came Down a Mountain (1996, MS), star-

ring Hugh Grant and Ian McNiece, who play

the two surveyors sent to confirm the height

of the tallest hill in Wales in 1917. When the

townsfolk hear the devastating news that thesurveyors have determined that their moun-

tain is 16 feet shorter than what is required

by the Home Office to classify it as such, they

stop at nothing to keep the two men in town

until they have built up the height of their hill

to the necessary level. Despite torrential rain-

storms and the impatience of the two govern-

ment officials they succeed in building up

their mountain and also getting the survey-

ors to re-measure the height. Along the way

Hugh manages to win the affections of the

most glamorous lead-lady played by Tara

Fitzgerald to complete a warmly memorable

tale.

Many More MoviesNow if you think that there could not possi-

bly be any more movies, which have surveyors

as the hero characters, please remember that

I have told you about the ones in which the

story plot as well as the main roles are built

around surveying. Please do not forget about

the other great actors who have been survey-ors in movies such as Charles Bronson in

Death Wish (1974, SS), Val Kilmer in The

Ghost and the Darkness (1996, SS), Brad Pitt

in Seven Years In Tibet (1997, SS), James

Mason in Journey to the Centre of the Earth

(1959, SS), Gene Raymond with Clark Gable

in Red Dust (1932, SS), Edmond OBrien

with Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo as his assis-

tants in The Big Land (1957, SS), Nigel

Stock in The Great Escape (1963, SS),

Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

(1981, SS), Randolph Scott (again) in Carson

City (1952, SS), Charlton Heston as Moses in

The Ten Commandments (1956, SS), Wes

Bentley in The Claim (2000, SS) or Pierce

Brosnan as James Bond 007 telling Electra in

The World Is Not Enough (1999) that he had

always wanted to see the survey marks to

which she was about to ski to down precari-

ous slopes! You may like to look up my last

two papers on the net in the ACSM 2006

Conference Sessions Papers archives

(www.acsm.net/sessions06/Brock4241.pdf,

www.acsm.net/sessions06/Brock4242.pdf)

which list up to 101 Hollywood style movies,not all of which I have been able to procure

as of 2006. However, I am still trying and I

suggest you do the same too.

Happy viewing!!

John F. Brock ([email protected]) is a

professional surveyor at H. Ramsay and Co. Pty.

Limited, New South Wales, Australia. He is awarded

for his contributions to history of surveying and for

his excellence in surveying.

Robert Young in Western Union (1941). Charles Bronson in Death Wish (1974).

Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).


18/49

Now a Major Photogrammetric Systems Supplier

A Visit to Racurs

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the end of its communist regime,

gradually a substantial commercial sector in surveying, mapping and remote

sensing has been built up inside Russia serving government agencies and both

privately-owned and state-owned industrial and commercial enterprises.

Besides this development within the country, some of the companies involved in

the mapping sector either as system suppliers or service providers have also

entered foreign markets, both within the former communist bloc countries and

also further afield. One of the most prominent of these is the Racurs company -

which is both a system supplier and a service provider. The opportunity to

visit this company's main facility located in the north-eastern part ofCentral Moscow and to see and hear about its various products and

activities was presented to my wife and I during the recent conference

on Laser Scanning & Digital Aerial Photography held in Moscow.

It proved to be a most interesting and informative visit.

By Gordon Petrie

IntroductionThe Racurs company was formed in 1993 with a

group of four employees led by Dr. Victor Adrov,

formerly a mathematician employed at the

Russian Academy of Sciences. They first devel-

oped a set of tools for the digital processing of

individual stereo-pairs of aerial photographs. This

rapidly evolved into the PHOTOMOD software

suite, the first licence of which was sold to a

Russian agency in 1995. Since then, the software

has been developed in a systematic manner into

a full blown digital photogrammetric system

(Fig. 1). The software can now handle digitalimagery exposed either by frame cameras or by

pushbroom line scanners, irrespective of whether

the imagery has been acquired from airborne or

spaceborne platforms. Besides its main activities

as a software developer and supplier of systems

to the photogrammetric and remote sensing

communities, the Racurs company has also

entered other fields related to these communi-

ties. In particular, over the last four years, it has

offered a photogrammetric production service to

both Russian and foreign customers.

Furthermore, the company is now offering to its

customers, various digital mapping and GIS soft-

ware products that have been developed by

other Russian software companies. Finally, over

the last two years, Racurs has started to dis-

tribute certain types of spaceborne imagery, e.g.

those acquired by the SPOT-2, -4 & -5 satellites.

PHOTOMODThe software has, from its beginning, been

designed to run solely on PCs under the

Windows operating system. The user interface

is available in one of two languages - Russian

and English. PHOTOMOD is a modular systemcomprising a core module together with numer-

ous additional modules (Fig. 2). These allow

DPWs to be configured individually to satisfy

the specific requirements of each customer.

(a) Core ModuleThe core module is called Montage Desktop and

carries out the management and organisation

of all the operations and projects being carried

out on the PHOTOMOD system. This includes

the management of the input of the digital

image data, whether it comes from a

photogrammetric film scanner or from a digital

frame camera or pushbroom line scanner. Also

feeding into the core is the image data from

desktop (DTP) scanners, which first passes

March 200728

Art ic le

Fig. 1- A PHOTOMOD system showing the main hardware components - with the wireless glasses,keyboard, 3D mouse and standard mouse in the foreground; and the display monitor and

computer in the middle - with a display board acting as the background.


19/49

through aScanCorrectmodule. As the title sug-

gests, this module calibrates and corrects the

distortions that are inevitably present in the

scanned raster image data generated by these

low-cost devices. The core module is also used

to build up the database associated with each

project and displays the DEMs, contour lines,

vector line features and other objects generat-

ed by the system and does this on a block wide

basis.

(b) Orientation & TriangulationThe next group of modules are concerned (I)

with the selection and measurement of the

so-called Solver modules. There are two alter-

native modules depending on the type of

imagery - frame or linescan - that has to be

processed. The Solver-A module carries out

the absolute orientation of individual stereo-

pairs and the strip or block adjustment of

frame images, in each case fitting them to the

available ground control points (GCPs). The

alternative is the Solver-S module whichcarries out the equivalent operations for the

linescan images acquired by airborne or

spaceborne pushbroom line scanners.

(c) Data Generation & OutputModulesThe final group of modules that form part of

the PHOTOMOD system carry out the various

photogrammetric operations needed to

generate the various standard products

(terrain models, vector line maps,

orthoimages) that can be derived from theimagery.

(I) The DTM module allows the creation of an

elevation model either through manual

measurement or automatically using image

correlation techniques based on various alter-

native strategies. The module can then carry

out the formation of the final DTM using TIN

techniques in conjunction with measured

break lines and can create contour lines from

the elevation data. The editing and correction

of the DTM data and the contour lines can

also be carried out using the routines

contained in this module (Fig. 3).

(II) TheStereoDrawmodule allows 3D feature

extraction from stereo-pairs. The floating

measuring mark can be kept in contact with

the ground in the stereo-model automatically

through image matching as well as manually

by the operator. Again the module includes a

fu

geoinformatics 2007 vol02

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