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AFRICA I AMERICAS I ASIA I AUSTRALIA I EUROPE www.GISdevelopment.net
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eAPRIL 2010 VOL 14 ISSUE 04 Price: INR 150 / US$ 15 Subscriber’s copy. Not for Sale
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Web Mapping APIsUse Fast, Intuitive Web Maps to Share Your Geographic Knowledge
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tasks such as geocoding and routing. Discover how ArcGIS Web Mapping APIs can deliver
mapping and GIS functionality in your Web applications; visit www.esri.com/mappingapis.
Copyright © 2009 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcGIS, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
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Visit us at:- FIG Congress 2010, 12-15 April, Sydney
April 2010
Building Blocks on Earth
Watch this spaceBhanu Rekha
UN will create a culture ofrespect towards space
Education for a robust communityTania Maria Sausen
INPE, Brazil
Catching up with geospatial revolutionEduardo Freitas
MundoGeo
REGULAR FEATURES
Space Policy
07 Editorial 08 News 50 ISPRS:In Retrospect & Prospect 54 Picture This
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South America
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INTERVIEW
Ciro Arevalo Yepes
Chairman
United Nations Committee on PeacefulUse of Outer Space
ABOUT COVER
Conquering new frontiers has been part ofhumankind's journey through the ages and it is nosurprise that the final frontier, space, is being paidclose attention to. While space is where the actionis, it is on the earth where the challenge to ensurepeaceful use of space by various nations has to beaddressed
Radar satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X flyingin close formation Credit: Astrium GmbH.
6 April 2010
ADVISORY BOARD
Dato’ Dr. Abdul Kadir bin TaibDirector General of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia
Bhupinder SinghSr. Vice PresidentBentley Systems Inc.
Prof. Ian Dowman Former PresidentISPRS
Prof. Josef Strobl Director, Centre for GeoinformaticsUniversity of Salzburg, Austria
Kamal K Singh Chairman and CEORolta Group of Companies
Mark Reichardt President and CEO,Open Geospatial Consortium
Matthew O’Connell CEO, GeoEyeUSA
Dr. Prithvish Nag DirectorNATMO, India
Prof. V. S RamamurthyDirectorNIAS, Bangalore, India
KCM KumarChairman & Managing DirectorSpeck Systems Limited
Brian NichollsGeneral ManagerAAMHatch
Shailesh Nayak SecretaryMinistry of Earth Sciences, India
Prof William CartwrightPresidentInternational Cartographic Association
Dr Derek. G. ClarkeChief Director: Surveys and MappingSouth Africa
Bradley C SkeltonChief Technology OfficerERDAS
GIS DEVELOPMENT
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CONFERENCE REPORT
Map Middle East 2010
Enabling G-lateral ties in the region
Michael JonesCTO, Google Inc.
FIRST PERSON
Tomorrow is more
real than today
INTERVIEWInvestment in infrastructure is fuelling growth
Marcos Covre Commercial Director IMAGEM
A new view
pril is the start of a new financial year in India. Italso signifies the start of new projects and activities. True to this tradition, if I may call it that,this issue of GIS Development covers two new
areas.
This issue brings to our readers for the first time a perspective on South America, a continent famous in manyways, for many things, and now increasingly famous for itsactivities in the geospatial world. As the two articles and aninterview illustrates, the countries of South America havebeen making investments in geospatial technologies sincelong. Countries like Colombia are well ahead on the way to establishing their SDI. Brazil has a vibrant space pro-gramme and its joint efforts with China in remote sensingwith INPE's CBERS satellites are a source of valuable datafor the continent. The attention given to capacity building isalso remarkable and it ensures a steady supply of trainedprofessionals for the expanding scope of activities. SouthAmerica thus also presents a lucrative market for systemsand services. Given the burgeoning activities, we hope tocover South America in greater detail with more articles on specific applications and interviewswith personalities.
The Map Middle East 2010 concluded successfully at Abu Dhabi. This event drew many participants. A Symposium on Earth Observation Systems - Policy and Framework broke newground. For the first time we covered an area of policy which is critical for nations utilising thebenefits of space applications. The benefits of space applications are well covered by manysymposia but the importance of responsibilities and liabilities resulting from the use of spacetechnology are rarely the subject of discussion. This edition features a cover story highlightingvarious issues in the space arena. The speakers at the symposium covered a variety of topicsand these lectures are available as a printed volume from GIS Development.
Geospatial technology is a game-changer and a person who has used geospatial technology to change the rules of the game is Michael Jones, the visionary behind Keyhole which is now more famous as Google Earth. Read his first person account of his amazing career andthe ways in which he brought remote sensing and GIS down to earth and made it comprehen-sible to and usable by the common person.
7April 2010
EditorSpeak
Prof. Arup Dasgupta
Managing Editor (Honorary) [email protected]
A
GIS DEVELOPMENT
EDITORSPEAK
GIS DEVELOPMENT8 April 2010
SENEGAL
Power pact signedMinister for International Coopera-tion, Karim Wade and Chineseambassador, Yuan Xing Gong havesigned the financing agreement for aGIS-based power distribution project.Pegged at 35 billion CFA Francs, theproject is earmarked for the area ofGuédiawaye, a suburb in Dakar.According to the Minister of Energy,the project entails the construction ofaround 475 substations, unwinding of354 km of underground cable, 30 KVand 276 km of low voltage cable net-work, which will be fitted with GIS.
MAURITIUS
Indian ship forhydrographic survey Indian Navy ship INS Nirdeshak isen-route to Mauritius for conductinga hydrographic survey mission. Asper the Memorandum of Understand-ing (MOU) with the Mauritius Govern-ment, the ship will operate in Maurit-ian waters for about four weeks andconduct hydrographic survey ofimportant ports, harbours and desig-nated sea areas around the islands.The survey is aimed at assisting landbased ocean industries and collection
of supporting data for thecontinental shelf claims ofMauritius. As part of theMOU, Mauritian hydro-graphic personnel willundergo training atNational Institute ofHydrography in Goa, India.
KENYA
Maps of clinicsfor driversOil giant Shell, risk spe-cialist Maplecroft andNorth Star Alliance, whichbuilds roadside healthclinics at truck stops havedeveloped and printed20,000 maps for distribu-tion to truck drivers inKenya, South Africa, Coted'Ivoire, Burkina Faso,Togo, Tanzania, Uganda,Botswana, Guinea, Maliand Namibia. The mapsshow the locations of morethan 160 clinics where
truck drivers can undergo treatmentfor HIV and sexually transmitted dis-eases (STDs).
In East and Central Africa, maps arebeing distributed to truck drivers atSafe-T-Stops where wellness centresprovide a range of services, includingscreening of STIs, HIV testing andcounselling and tuberculosis screening.
GHANA
Optimisation of landuse stressedThe greatest challenge facing Ghanais the adoption of appropriate meas-ures to optimise land use, accordingto Surveyor James Ebenezer KobinaDadson, Vice President (AfricaRegion) of the Commonwealth Asso-ciation of Surveying and Land Econo-my (CASLE). Dadson has requestedprofessional surveyors to help buildrecords on land ownership, zoning,valuation and essential elements toguide future land administrators.CASLE will provide an interactiveplatform between national societiesand governments apart from organis-ing workshops and regional pro-grammes for surveyors.
Africa
Better climate dataavailable The International Research Institute for Climate andSociety hasreleased a reportnamed ClimateRisk Manage-ment in Africawhich states thatthe advances inclimate scienceare improvingthe availabilityand quality ofclimate data in the continent. Through improve-ments in data rescue techniques, satellite remotesensing and climate modelling, the region is nowbetter prepared to mitigate the risks associated withclimate change. Accurate and timely collection ofdata will not only improve climate forecasts but alsofacilitate an appropriate allocation of resourcesacross the region.
NEWS
GIS DEVELOPMENT 9April 2010
AsiaSAUDI ARABIA
Monitoring theenvironment Summit Geoservices (KSA) and aEuropean team lead by GAF andconsisting of DLR, Germany andItaly based e-GEOS, have completeda project to provide satellite basedenvironmental information and serv-ices to the Presidency of Meteorolo-gy and Environment (PME). Theenvironmental monitoring coversfour domains; land, air, coast andmarine.
The consortium has provided agamut of services to the PME thatincludes nationwide image maps,air quality monitoring and forecast-ing, oil spill detection and a geospa-tial portal on environmental infor-mation designed to facilitate easyaccess to data.
INDIA
First nano-satelliteready IIT-Kanpur is ready with the coun-try’s first nano-satellite, Jugnu.
Weighing lessthan 3 kg, thesatellite is fittedwith a camera fornear remote sens-ing and a GPSreceiver.
The imagesreceived from thesatellite will beused in studyingthe vegetationpatterns andwater bodies.Jugnu has been
handed over to the ISRO and will belaunched later this year. Most of theperformance tests for the subsys-tems of the satellite will be carriedout by IIT-Kanpur, however, thelaunch and other critical tests willtake place at ISRO’s centres
Land allotmentsmade easy Gujarat State Tribal DevelopmentDepartment (GSTDD) has used 3-Dsatellite imagery from ISRO’s Bhu-van programme to allot land titles inthe districts of Sabarkantha andNarmada under the Forest RightsAct (FRA) of 2006.
The satellite imagery clarified allthe doubts about land settlementsin these forest areas, according to TL Patel, Joint Director of the GSTDD.He further informed that Gujarathas become the first Indian state toemploy satellite imagery along with groundwork to determine the
original forest dwellers in the state’s forests.
Mapping the coastlineIndia envisages hazard mapping ofits 7,500 km long coastline to study
the impact of global warming and toprotect the coastal communities andinfrastructure. The study will be car-ried out over a period of two yearsusing an aerial mapping system bythe Survey of India. The entire cam-paign is a part of INR 11.56 billion
MapmyIndialaunchesnavigatorMapmyIndia has come upwith Road Pilot, a GPSnavigator pre-loadedwith maps of 620 Indiancities, 576,000 townsand villages, 30,000tourist locations and 2million unique destinations. Itprovides information about hotels, touristlocations, ATMs, petrol pumps and eating joints anddoes not depend on a SIM card or a GPRS connection. Itflashes the 'always on' GPS navigation feature even in areaswhich are out of network coverage. As bonus, the navigatorcan be installed in a car and has the necessary utilities of carmount and car launch.
Integrated Coastal Zone Manage-ment (ICZM) project, which will bejointly funded by the World Bank andthe Ministry of Environment andForests (MoEF). In the first phase,the project will focus on the coastalstates of Orissa, Gujarat and WestBengal.
SRI LANKA
New maps fornorthern forestsThe United States Agency for Inter-national Development (USAID) hasprovided GIS software and mappingequipments to the Ministry of Envi-ronment and Natural Resources andits Forest Department. The GIS toolswill be used to create new maps forthe conflict-affected northernforests of Sri Lanka. Maps of theregion have not been updated fornearly 20 years, and conserving nat-
ural resources of the troubled areasis a top priority of the Sri LankanGovernment.
TAIWAN
Mobile Tour to guideusers to scenic spotsSuperGeo has come up with Super-GIS Mobile Tour 3, a mobile applica-tion designed for outdoor tours. Theunique feature of this application is
that it guides users to all the scenicspots lying on a particular route.Moreover, it automatically updates auser’s location and flashes safetywarnings if a dangerous zone isbeing approached.
AFGHANISTAN
Wiki-like network fornavigationThe Office of the Director of NationalIntelligence (DNI) is building a wiki-like network in Afghanistan to help
non-military personnel navigatetreacherous terrains. DNI envisionsa system in which individuals fromnon-defence groups can type intheir location, the route they plan totake and their intended destinationto retrieve the latest information onsurroundings. The US Agency forInternational Development, theState Department and non-profitorganisations operating inAfghanistan can use this network toshare data.
UAE
Awards for Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi Urban Planning Council(UPC) has won the 2010 Excellencein GIS (EGI) Award in recognition ofits successful implementation ofGIS systems across three
GIS DEVELOPMENT10 April 2010
NEWS
Indonesia has embarked on acampaign to map indigenousforests using remote sensingtechnologies. The aim is toidentify forest spots prone towildfires and account for highcarbon emissions. It will alsobe explored whether theforests are able to absorb thecarbon emissions or not.National Aeronautics andSpace Agency (Lapan), whichspearheads the campaign,
informed that the operation aims at reducing forest fires by 20% annually.Indonesia envisages a 26% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 andsince a substantial portion of its landmass is covered by forests, the high-est amounts of carbon emissions emanate here.
INDONESIA
Maps to reduceforest fires
municipalities. On the other hand,the Abu Dhabi Education Council(ADEC) accepted the award for the
best GIS implementation for businesssupport. Both awards were presentedat the recently held GISWORX fifth
annual conference at Dubai. The EGI Awards have been imple-
mented by GISTEC, the official and sole distributor of ESRI softwareand the organiser of GIS events in UAE.
CHINA
RapidEye’s imageryahead of scheduleRapidEye has completed imaging of9.6 million sqm of China. As per thecontract with the Ministry of LandResources , RapidEye was to image7.8 million sqm, which is around 80%of the country.
The stipulated time period of thecontract was six months. But Rapid-Eye has completed the imagingahead of schedule.
DubaiSat-2 in 2012The Emirates Institute forAdvanced Science and Tech-nology (EIAST) is planning tolaunch DubaiSat-2 in thesecond half of 2012. Fundedby the government, the Earthobservation satellite will bean advanced version ofDubaiSat-1with better bettercommercial applications. Theresolution quality of images of DubaiSat-2 will be much higher and better.The images will be used for urban development, scientific research, tele-com, transport, construction and mapping. According to Salem Humaid al-Marri, project manager at EISAT, there are plans to launch DubaiSat-3Aand DubaiSat-3B in the future.
GIS DEVELOPMENT
EuropeIRELAND
Digital elevationmodel releasedIntermap Technologies has releaseda nation-wide digital elevation mod-el of as a part of its NEXTMapEurope digital mapping programme.The orthorectified radar images inthe model highlight Ireland’s topo-graphic features with a verticalaccuracy of more than 70 cm. Ire-land’s Office of Public Works (OPW)has licensed the digital mappingdata in support of the EU directiveaimed at reducing the risks andadverse consequences of floodsthroughout Europe. Intermap’s VicePresident and GM Adam Denmanstated that the nationwide coveragethroughout Europe is turning out tobe beneficial for various enterprisecustomers and government agen-cies.
UK
Shared data centreopens Ordnance Survey (OS) and LandRegistry have inaugurated a shareddata centre, the first of its type forthe central government. The jointdata centre is aimed at reducing theannual IT infrastructure costs byGBP 300 million and supporting theachievement of environmental andsustainability targets. By the end of2010, OS will have both the Glouces-ter Data Centre and the Southamp-ton Data Centre fully operational.Representatives from both organisa-tions will converge at the PublicSector Data Centres Conference inManchester in May.
12
NEWS
April 2010
REPORT
Space funding might take a dipAccording to a report released by Euroconsult, the worldwide govern-ment expenditure on space programmes has grown considerably duringthe past couple of years. During 2009, the amount reached an all timehigh of $68 billion, registering a growth of 10% over 2008. Countries likethe USA, Russia, Japan, China, France and Germany invested heavily indomestic space programmes last year. Also, the number of space agen-cies has grown rapidly in countries like Mexico, Vietnam, Venezuela andTurkey.
However, there might be a trend reversal in the coming decade. Euro-consult predicts that 2011 onwards, countries might curtail space fund-ing. Since the space programmes initiated by most of the countries havereached their culmination, governments might give more priority to theoverall economic development.
The most vivid example is US, where the 2011 budget foresees an 8%decline in Department of Defence’s space programme. Other nationsmight tread the same path in the next decade.
BELGIUM
Help for budding space oriented businessesEuropean Space Agency (ESA) will be extending support to new spaceoriented businesses through a dedicated venture capital fund calledOpen Sky Technologies Fund (OSTF).
The Euro 15 million fund is aimed at nurturing the most promisingbusiness opportunities arising from space technologies and satellite
applications for terrestrial industries. It willbe managed by the Triangle Ven-
ture Capital Group on ESA’s behalf and is expected to
touch Euro 100 millionby June 2011. Invest-
ments will bemade acrossESA’s 18 mem-
ber statesthrough theTechnologyTransfer Pro-gramme Office(TTPO) and its
partners.
GIS DEVELOPMENT 13March 2010
Bluesky has signed an agreement with Landmark toshowcase UK's largest collection of historicallyimportant commercial aerial photographs. Around 1million photographs from Bluesky's Old Aerial Photosarchive dating back to 1917 can now be viewed atEnvirocheck.co.uk. The collection includes commer-cial survey images, military photography from WorldWar II and many national archives. Details of contami-nated land, pollution, flooding and flood preventionschemes, landfill sites, hazardous substances, geo-logical features and industrial or sensitive land usesare intertwined with data sheets, site sensitivity mapsand historical site plans. The images are an invalu-able resource for people having interest in local stud-ies, genealogy, boundary disputes, environmentalland use research or town planning.
Historic aerial photosshowcased
GIS DEVELOPMENT14 April 2010
NEWS
Australia andOceaniaNEW ZEALAND
Trampers’ lives atriskMistakes in the latest batch of 50topographical maps of the Ruahine
Range can put trampers' lives at risk.The latest official topographical mapseries includes tracks which havenever existed or no longer exist,tracks put on the map in the wrongplace and tracks which are no longerconsidered safe. According to theDepartment of Conservation (DoC),the maps have been created usingGPS and aerial photos. DoC has nowinformed that the maps will bereprinted and has sought public sup-port for the task.
Oil reservesdiscovered Seismic and satellite data haverevealed that the Reinga Basin offthe northwest coast of North Islandhouses vast oil reserves. Accordingto GNS Science, the basin is full of oilbearing sedimentary rocks that areupto 7 km thick and are similar tothose found in the oil rich TaranakiBasin. Undoubtedly, the 150, 000 sqkm Reinga Basin has all the ele-
ments required for a working petro-leum system. The basin was openedup to bidding this year and therelease of GNS data is aimed atincreasing interest in the offer whichcloses in August.
AUSTRALIA
RapidEye capturesagri zonesRapidEye’s five satellites namelyTACHYS (Rapid), MATI (Eye), CHOMA(Earth), CHOROS (Space) andTROCHIA (Orbit) have completed theimaging of key agricultural districtsof Australia.
The images are available in RedEdge (679-730nm). Academic institu-tions, consultants and governmentscientists are evaluating the imageryfor a range of activities like environ-mental and catchment managementand agricultural applications. Rapid-Eye has an edge over other satellitesbecause it is capable of imaging
large areas in a short span of timeproviding clients with timely andcost-effective orthoproducts.
AUSGeoid09introducedGeoscience Australia has introduceda new version of gravimetric geoidmodel, AUSGeoid09. It allows GPSusers to convert between GPSheights and Australian Height Datum(AHD) to within ±0.050 metres. Itincludes a geometric componentdeveloped from GPS and AHD datawhich describes the approximate onemetre offset trend between the AHDand the gravimetric geoid. The gravi-metric and geometric componentsare combined together into a singlenational grid with a 2 km resolution.AUSGeoid09 is undergoing final test-ing is slated for release in mid-2010.
Deal with LogicaextendedVictorian Department of Sustainabili-
Australian scientists have chartedsome of the world's oldest riversand streams that flowed throughthe Simpson Desert 50 millionyears ago. Using a digital software,experts from Canberra's AustralianNational University have mappedthe underlying landscape for the
first time. Buried up to 35 metres below the surface and preservedlargely due to Australia's dry and stable environment, standard remotesensing methods were not able to detect these rivers. Experts opine thatthe digital software used to map the area can be instrumental in dealingwith modern drainage structures.
Ancient riversmapped
ty and Environment (DSE) hasrenewed a USD 5 million deal withLogica for another three years. Asper the deal, Logica will continue toadminister, oversee, store and supplyspatial data for the DSE. Logica willsource data from the Land Registry,local government, VicRoads and con-sulting surveyors. This data will beintegral in creating the Victorian Gov-ernment's Vicmap Property database,private addresses, crown land, postcodes and local government bound-aries and development sites.
Studying climatechange with GNSS Western Australia-based Curtin Uni-versity of Technology (CUT) is initiat-ing a USD 8 million space technologypartnership that will address theissue of climate change with the use
of its Global Navigation Satellite Sys-tem (GNSS). Along with CUT, theproject also includes RMIT University,the University of New South Wales,the Bureau of Meteorology, ElectroOptic Systems Space System, GPSat
Systems Australia, National SpaceOrganisation of Taiwan, and NOAA’sWorld Data Centre (WDC) for Metrol-ogy. The programme has been fund-ed through the Australian SpaceResearch Programme (ASRP).
NearMap wins prizeNearMap, the online PhotoMap media company,has been awarded a prize for Innovation in the2009 Western Australian Information Technologyand telecommunications Awards (WAITTA).NearMap solution enables PhotoMaps and ter-rain data to be quickly captured and automaticallyprocessed, giving users views of the landscapethat are current, clear and show change overtime. It has been designed to fully automate theprocess of creating very high definition Pho-toMaps of entire countries and continents.
GIS DEVELOPMENT
AmericasUSA
ERDAS’ newdistributor in RussiaThe Earth to Business Company(ERDAS) has appointed NAVGEO-COM as its official distributor inRussia. NAVGEOCOM specialises intopographic survey technologies andsupplies GPS equipment and high-precision navigation systems. Inaddition to providing local marketresearch, it also offers expertise indata sharing, enterprise and visuali-sation technologies. As part of themarketing tie-up with ERDAS, NAV-GEOCOM will provide local salessupport, technical support, and soft-ware customisation. Data+ whichwas the former ERDAS distributor inRussia is now NAVGEOCOM’s sub-dealer.
PBBI and DataMapjoin handsPitney Bowes Business Insight(PBBI) will soon integrate DataMap’sSTREETS data with its location intel-ligence solutions. The DataMapIntelligence data includes parcelboundaries, parcel centroids andstreet segments and will be inte-grated with multiple PBBI productslike Geostan, Mapmaker, Spatial+,Centrus Web Mapping and MapInfoProfessional. This new set of amal-gamated information is useful forindustries like financial services,insurance, telecommunications
which require precise geocoding andaccurate property identification. Onthe other hand, the government canuse this information to analysedemographics and environmentalfactors.
Avencia renamedAzavea Avencia Incorporated has beenrenamed as Azavea Incorporated.However, this will not change the
company’s business model and itwill continue to provide advancedGIS access to its clients. In additionto its research, analysis and soft-ware development services, the firmwill continue to offer the same webproducts that serve a wide variety ofindustries. Azavea’s web productsinclude Cicero, Sajara, Kaleido-scope, Decision Tree and HunchLab.
New imagery on theblockTerraServer has signed a reselleragreement with Aerials Express. Asper the deal, Aerials Express'imagery will be added to the Ter-raServer image library which cur-rently includes satellite photos, aerial images, topographical maps,aeronautical charts and more. Thenew set of data will allow users toget latest and high quality images ofmany locations nationwide. Thisimagery is currently being integrat-ed into the TerraServer system andwill be available online in April.
Demand 'notsufficient' According to Fred Doyle, Vice Presi-dent of Ball Aerospace, the currentdemand for commercial remotesensing (RS) satellites is not suffi-cient to maintain a stable workforce.While speaking at the InternationalCommercial Remote Sensing Sym-posium (ICRSS), he expressed thatcompanies have to balance labourdemands in order to avoid workforcegaps. Citing the example of BallAerospace, Doyle informed that thecompany is contending with work-force sustainability issues, but hasmanaged to retain workers byassigning them other tasks.
16
NEWS
April 2010
Lockheed Martin (LM) Space Sys-tems has bagged the contract tobuild GeoEye-2, which a high-res-olution Earth-imaging satellitesystem.
Lockheed has started sourcinglong-lead material and labour forthe design, engineering and man-ufacturing of the satellite and theassociated command and controlsystem. GeoEye-2 will be equippedwith enhanced tasking capabilitiesand the ability to collect moreimagery at a faster rate.
Lockheed Martin tobuild GeoEye-2
GIS DEVELOPMENT
Studying humanevolution A new report by the NationalResearch Council has recommend-ed four new research initiatives over
the next 10 to 20 years. One of themis to launch a major effort to locatenew fossil sites using remote-sens-ing tools and traditional groundmethods to survey new terrains. Themain aim of this new interdiscipli-nary research programme is tostudy the effect of climate changeon human evolution.
Software suite forutilitiesPictometry International has intro-duced a software suite of visualinformation solutions for utility pro-fessionals. The company’s aerialoblique imagery and measuringsoftware is now accessible online,providing utility professionals withfast, affordable and accurate solu-tions for asset mapping, corridormanagement, catastrophe assis-tance, vegetation growth analysisand more. By using this application,utility professionals can plan new
17April 2010
Southern forestsmapped The World Resources Institute (WRI)has launched a new online systemthat maps 35 years of environmental data of southern US forests. The sys-tem, located at SeeSouthernForests.org, highlights risks to these forestssuch as pest and pathogen outbreaks, active wildfires, potential climatechange impacts and suburban development. The system also maps otherfeatures such as the region's protected areas and forest ownerships. Itmarks the commencement of a multiyear WRI project named ‘SouthernForests for the Future’ and is aimed at enabling landowners and conserva-tion organisations to derive the benefits from these forests.
Help for non-specialistsResearch and Markets has released a report named 'Mapping: A CriticalIntroduction to Cartography and GIS', which discusses the critical issuessurrounding mapping and GIS across a wide range of disciplines for non-specialist readers. The report throws lights on the key influences that GISand cartography have had on Geography. Readers will get a better under-standing of the topic through theoretical discussions, case studies andtechnical explanations provided in the report. It also includes the first in-depth summary of the new cartography that appeared in early 90s.
Ice found onMoon NASA’s miniature syntheticaperture radar (Mini-Sar)aboard Chandrayaan-I hasfound ice on Moon’s NorthPole. More than thirty fiveice bearing craters havebeen discovered with theirsizes ranging from 2 to 15km in diameter. Theannouncement was made
at the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Congress held at Houston, Texas.Moon’s ice can serve as a natural resource for astronauts on future lunarlanding missions and can also be separated into its components of hydro-gen and oxygen to provide rocket fuel.
routes and corridors more effective-ly and improve overall operationswhile saving time and money. Theimagery is of high resolution,geospatially accurate and GIS com-patible.
Google's help forbikersGoogle has added Biking Directionson US Google Maps. The directionsinclude bike trails, bike lanes and
bike-friendly roads. All that a userneeds to do is to click 'Bicycling' onthe menu and enter a start pointand destination. The biking direc-tions also provide time estimates forroutes based on an algorithm thattakes into account the length of theroute, the number of hills, fatigueover time and other variables. Bik-ing directions is currently availableon desktop versions of Google Mapsfor the US, but a mobile version isplanned for the future.
New maps by TeleAtlasTele Atlas unveiled a latest versionof its database, MultiNet 2010.03.The new maps feature the additionof gradient data based on anony-mous GPS measurements onapproximately 95,000 kilometres ofroads in North America and 225,000kilometres of major roads acrossEurope. The application provides
GIS DEVELOPMENT18 April 2010
NEWS
New group formedTrimble has formed a new industry solutions group within its Mapping andGIS Division. The new group, known as the Market Solutions Team, will workwith key industries such as utilities, natural resources, transportation andmunicipal government to develop advanced data use solutions for field work-ers involved in the various domains of GIS. The team will initially focus onprojects in North America where a large number of organisations are relyingon field workers to manage geospatial information. It will also work with theUK-based Trimble Professional Services to study the trends in Europe.
COGO selects leader for 2011The current Coalition of Geospatial Organisations (COGO) has announcedthat it has selected coalition Geney Terry as the 2011 Coalition Chair. CurtSumner, 2010 Chair of COGO and the Executive Director of the AmericanCongress on Surveying and Mapping, indicated that Terry’s selection wasmade by unanimous consent of the Coalition
ASPRS elects officersAmerican Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) TellersCommittee has elected Roberta (Bobbi) Lenczowski as its Vice President for2010. Other officers elected include Becky Morton as Assistant DivisionDirector of the ASPRS Professional Practice Division, Douglas L. Smith asAssistant Division Director of the ASPRS Photogrammetric Applications Divi-sion and David Szymanski as Assistant Division Director of the ASPRSRemote Sensing Applications Division.
MAPPS seeks legislation in CongressMAPPS, an association of photogrammetry, mapping and geospatial firms,has urged the US Congress to fund the ‘Imagery for the Nation’ programmethrough the Making America Prosperous (MAP) Act. More than 100 mem-bers of MAPPS converged at the Capitol to discuss the proposition with themembers of Congress. MAPPS is of the view that if funding of geospatialprogrammes is centralised, it will result in substantial savings for thegeospatial community. Not only this, it will create private sector jobs, providebaseline data for economic development and will open a variety of avenues.
Three new board members of USGIFThe United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) hasannounced that its Board of Directors has voted on three new directors. Thenew members are Jeff Jonas of IBM, Stephen S. Oswald of The Boeing Co.and Peggy Agouris of George Mason University.
GIS DEVELOPMENT 19April 2010
locations and navigation contents of95 countries. According to Peter Davie, Director of Product Manage-ment, the strategy is to deliver thehighest quality and most up-to-datelocation and navigation content to theusers. He further stated that thecompany will strive for moreadvanced features in its applicationsin the coming years and continue to meet consumer requirements.
CANADA
Hemisphere releasesfinancial resultsHemisphere GPS has announced that
it has registered revenues of $53.6million in 2009, a 26% decrease fromrevenues for the same period in2008. Gross margins for 2009 were48% as compared to 51% in 2008.
The year-over-year expenses of thecompany have decreased by $1 mil-lion. However, for the fourth quarterthat ended in December 31, 2009, thecompany registered a 16% rise ascompared to the fourth quarter of2008.
Advanced FMElaunchedSafe Software announced that itsspatial extract, transform and load
(ETL) solution, FME, can now inte-grate Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3Ddata into a GIS. The advanced FMEcan be of immense help to munici-palities where large chunks of con-tractual data in Civil 3D format ismanually merged into the GIS. Withthe new FMS, Civil 3D datasets cannow be quickly translated and trans-formed into information that isimmediately usable within themunicipal GIS. Users can now savereplication time and preserve ele-ments that were previously notretained due to time constraints.
Teck for ESRI’s expertiseTeck Resources Limited, which is aVancouver-based mining company,has selected ESRI as a platform forbuilding a global enterprise GIS.Through a three-year enterpriselicense agreement (ELA), Teck willdeploy ESRI’s technology throughoutthe organisation to support its explo-ration projects, diverse businessunits and numerous operations. Thecompany’s spatial data managementfocuses on geological compilations,
topographical modeling, mineralresource targeting, asset manage-ment, 3D visualization and environ-mental analysis. Teck is of the viewthat GIS deployments will facilitateimprovement in operations andachieving economies of scale.
NASA and the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA)have jointly launched the Geosta-tionary Operational EnvironmentalSatellite-P (GOES-P) from the CapeCanaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Launched through a Delta IV rock-et, the satellite will take ten days tomanoeuvre to its geostationaryequatorial orbit. Once in Orbit,GOES-P will be renamed as GOES-15. It will be an addition to NOAA’sGOES range of satellites that pro-vide continuous observations ofenvironmental conditions of North,Central and South America. InitiallyGOES 15 will undergo five months oftesting and calibration. After that, itwill be stored on-orbit as a back-upsatellite if the currently operationalGOES satellites degrade or exhausttheir fuel.
GOES-Plaunched
It is becoming
important that each
country has its own
space policy in
tandem with
international polices
to ensure a rational
and responsible
approach to the
exploration and use
of outer space
GIS DEVELOPMENT20
SPACE POLICY
BUILDING BLOCKS ON EARTH
uter space has always caught the imagination of humanity from timeimmemorial. It has become an exciting field for the scientific commu-nity, because of its unique nature and the potential benefits it holds for
people on Earth. Many national and international bodies have been involved inspace science and technology for several decades now. It has become veryimportant that each country has its own space policy in tandem with interna-tional polices to ensure a rational and responsible approach to the explorationand use of outer space.
O
April 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 21
Space policy and law address diverse aspects like mili-tary activities in the outer space, building of satellites andlaunch vehicles, liability for damages caused by spaceobjects, settlement of disputes, protection of nationalinterests, rescue of astronauts, sharing of informationabout potential dangers in outer space and use of space-related technologies.
In order to build an easy road to monitor the activitiesand to improve understanding of the earth as an integrat-ed system, NASA has introduced the concept of EarthObserving System (EOS), which is a coordinated series ofpolar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-termglobal observations of the land surface, biosphere, solidearth, atmosphere and oceans. For proper functioning ofthe system and to achieve the desired results, EOSrequires well-defined policy guidelines and close coordi-nation between and amongst many national and interna-tional agencies involved in the process.
Space policy can be broadly classified into two cate-gories:
• International space policy, which governs the activities ofStates and inter-governmental organisations
• Domestic space policy, which governs the activities of indi-vidual countries.
Treaties governing outer spaceSpace law is associated with the rules, principles andstandards of international law appearing in the five inter-national treaties and five sets of principles governing out-er space.
The United Nations Space TreatiesThe United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space under United Nations Office for Outer SpaceAffairs (UN-OOSA) is the only international forum for thedevelopment of international space law.
The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Spacewas set up by the United Nations General Assembly in1959 to review the scope of international cooperation inpeaceful uses of outer space, to devise programmes inthis field to be undertaken under the auspices of the Unit-ed Nations, to encourage continued research and the dis-semination of information on outer space matters and tostudy legal problems arising from the exploration of outerspace.
Since its inception, the Committee has concluded fiveinternational legal instruments and five sets of legal principles governing space-related activities. The com-
mittee has put up efforts in considering space as a meansof uplifting mankind through peaceful use of outer space.It has also worked on many issues and looked at ways topromote regional and international cooperation in thefield of space.
• The 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities ofStates in the Exploration and
Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and otherCelestial Bodies (commonly known as the Outer SpaceTreaty);
• The 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, theReturn of Astronauts and the
Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space (common-ly known as the Rescue Agreement);
• The 1972 Convention on International Liability for DamageCaused by Space Objects
(commonly known as the Liability Convention);• The 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launchedinto Outer Space (commonly
known as the Registration Convention); and• The 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States onthe Moon and other Celestial Bodies (commonly known as theMoon Agreement).
The Outer Space TreatyUnder the Outer Space Treaty, a country is internationallyresponsible for its "national activities" in the outer spaceregardless of whether they are conducted by governmen-tal agencies or nongovernmental entities (Outer SpaceTreaty, Article VI).
The treaty further provides that, as the "appropriateState", that country's government is required to undertake authorisation and continuing supervision of the activities of non-governmental entities, which is generally understood to include private and commercialentities (Outer Space Treaty, Article VI). Should a space object be registered in the registry of a country, thatcountry retains jurisdiction and control over that spaceobject.
The Rescue AgreementUnder the Rescue Agreement of 1968, a country is obliged to inform the launching authority and the Secretary-General of the United Nations if it discoversthat the personnel of a spacecraft have "suffered accidentor are experiencing conditions of distress or have madean emergency or unintended landing in territory under itsjurisdiction."
April 2010
The Liability ConventionThe Liability Convention imposes a liability for damageincurred by another State in the form of "loss of life, per-sonal injury or other impairment of health, or loss ordamage to property of States or of persons, natural orjuridical, or property of international governmentalorganisations" (Liability Convention, Article 1). This liabil-ity is imposed on a "launching State", expressly defined as"a State which launches or procures the launching of aspace object or a State from whose territory or facility aspace object is launched," whether or not the launch wasin fact successful.
The Moon AgreementThe Moon Agreement substantially reaffirms or extendsthe existing body of space law as contained in the otherspace treaties, especially the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.The Moon Agreement imposes specific obligations onparties undertaking the exploration and exploitation ofcelestial body resources.
Space SecurityThe prohibition of military use of outer space has alwaysbeen an area of controversy. Keeping in view the spacesecurity issue, under Article IV of Outer Space Treaty, it ismentioned that: State Parties to the Treaty undertake notto place in orbit around the Earth any object carryingnuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of massdestruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies or
station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by allState Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful pur-poses. The establishment of military bases, installationsand fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons andthe conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodiesshall be forbidden.
Earth Observation - OverviewCountries like USA, Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan,Russia, and the European Union (especially France, Ger-many and Italy) are the major players in remote sensingdata collection and distribution. Other nations gaining afoothold in the industry include Argentina, Australia,Brazil, Malaysia, South Korea, Nigeria, Thailand andSouth Africa. All these countries express agreement andcompliance with UN resolutions on remote sensing of theearth from outer space, which are discussed in the follow-ing paragraph.
UN Principles on Remote SensingThe United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution41/65 in December, 1986, which contained general princi-ples related to remote sensing of earth by satellites. Theprinciples (specific to data related issues) adopted in the1986 resolution are as follows:
• In order to maximise the availability of benefits from remotesensing activities, States are encouraged, through agree-ments, to provide for the establishment and operation of datacollection, storage, processing and interpretation facilities, inparticular within the framework of arrangements whereverfeasible.
• As soon as the primary data and the processed data con-cerning the territory under its jurisdiction are produced, thesensed State shall have access to them on a non-discrimina-tory basis and on reasonable cost terms. The sensed Stateshall also have access to the available analysed informationconcerning the territory under its jurisdiction in the posses-sion of any State participating in remote sensing activities onthe same basis and terms, taking particularly into account theneeds and interests of the developing countries.
• Remote sensing shall promote the protection of mankindfrom natural disasters. To this end, States participating inremote sensing activities that have identified processed dataand analysed information in their possession that may be useful to States affected by natural disasters, or likely to be affected by impending natural disasters, shall transmitsuch data and information to States concerned as promptly aspossible.
Compiled byVaishali Dixit, Deputy Manager - Sales and Operations, GIS Development,[email protected]
GIS DEVELOPMENT22 April 2010
Space law is associated with
the rules, principles and
standards of international
law appearing in the five
international treaties and five
sets of principles governing
outer space
April 2010
Can you elaborate on the need for a United
Nations space policy?
The UN has so far pursued a highly decen-tralised approach to space amongst its agen-cies and organisations. This is not considereda tenable option for the future. This proposalfor a UN space policy charts a course towardsthe UN regaining an important place in theglobal space context as the current arrange-ments are not fully satisfactory and a far moreproactive approach is necessary to underpinand sustain the UN's capability to play its rolein the rapidly evolving space arena of the 21stcentury. Too much is at stake for the globalcommunity for the UN to watch from the side-lines and be only passive and reactive. Toimprove its ability to play a more strategic andpurposeful role, UN will need to develop a bal-anced space policy that properly addressesthe long-term requirements of the global com-munity in its uses of outer space
There is a growing necessity for the UN totake action providing an overall stewardship tospace activities for the following reasons:
Stable order in orbits: The sustainability ofspace activities in Earth orbits over the long-term is increasingly a matter of concern forspace-faring countries and regional spaceorganisations, as well as for emerging spaceactors and commercial satellite operatorsalike. The Earth's orbital environment is a truecommon good for humankind. However, thegrowing population of space debris poses amajor threat to the long-term sustainability ofspace activities. Improving the safety of spaceoperations is thus one of the most importantissues for the long-term sustainable use oforbits. Particular emphasis should be placedon the agreement reached by COPUOS onthe question of the character and utilisation ofthe geostationary orbit and the subsequentendorsement by the UN General Assembly inresolution 55/122 of 8 December 2000 forimproved management of orbital slots and
iro Arevalo YepesChairmanUnited Nations Committeeon Peaceful Use of OuterSpace (UNCOPUOS)
UN WILL CREATE A CULTURE OF RESPECTTOWARDS SPACE
C
Inte
rvie
w
GIS DEVELOPMENT 23
electromagnetic frequencies as a meas-ure for promoting more effective use ofouter space.
Integrated approach to the use ofspace: The treaties governing the explo-ration and uses of outer space havebeen in place for several decades nowand have served as the legal frameworkfor space activities. However, manyStates have not yet acceded to the fivecore treaties, including some membersof UNCOPUOS. Nonetheless, for pre-serving order in outer space, it is desir-able that States and international organ-isations should conduct their spaceactivities under the coverage of theseinstruments. Moreover, many Statesdevelop, own and operate spacecraftwithout participating in the rule-makingprocess of space law, or without havingratified the existing treaties and conven-tions, but this needs to evolve. Thereare many bodies (international, regional
and national) involved in rule-making onthe uses of outer space. There shouldbe, however, an integrated approachunder the auspices of the UN. TheUNCOPUOS will provide a forum forpromoting inter-regional dialogue andcoordination among these bodies. Inparticular, a greater involvement of theUN would facilitate the legal harmonisa-tion of existing domestic and interna-tional legal frameworks for outer spaceactivities.
Supportive environment for new andexisting space users: In the firstdecades of the space age, space activi-ties were the exclusive domain of theworld powers. But there is a rapidlygrowing number of States involved inspace activities. The changing spacecontext, and particularly its growingcomplexity, is raising the importance ofmultilateral fora to deal with the long-term sustainability of space activities. AUN space policy would help create asupportive system and a valuable learn-ing tool for emerging space countries.
Utilisation of space for the benefit ofall humankind: Space by its nature is auseful tool for the management ofissues that cross national borders.Satellite communication has becomethe most powerful engine of growth fordevelopment. UN-led activities like UN-SPIDER and GNSS, among others,have to be promoted to deal withtransnational issues such as supportingdisaster relief or mitigating the effects ofclimate change and contributing to thedevelopment agenda.
There should be similar activities con-ducted under the auspices of the UN forimproving human lives by sharing thebenefits derived from space hardwareand services. A UN space policy wouldhelp developing countries to learn anduse space systems for their nationalwelfare.
We are witnessing lot of private activi-
ty in space. How can the UN take an
active role in streamlining these activ-
ities and what needs to be done?
One of the first things to do is torecognise the importance of commer-cialisation of the space. A transforma-tion is seen in the last three years to thiseffect. We have to work with countriesin order to have a greater involvement ofthe private sector in decision makingprocess of the UN. At the same time,we have to remember that the UN is anorganisation of member States and wehave to respect that. We will evolve amechanism where private sector'sinvolvement is recognised and stream-lined.
Another pertinent issue is regarding
the definition of outer space and the
boundary between air space and out-
er space. Is UN space policy looking
at addressing this issue?
The limitation of outer space is one ofthe most difficult aspects of internation-al space law. It has not been welldefined. There are a couple ofapproaches that have been observed inthe past years though. There are variouscommittees trying to define the limit butthere has not been much successthough. The current proposal is notdealing with that aspect. It is dealingwith international cooperation andregional dialogue to support the estab-lishment of national space policies.
There is a lot of talk on regional coop-
eration. How do we bring in all the
countries together into a binding poli-
cy so that the space is not exploited
for harmful purposes?
Through its work, COPOUS always tar-gets for the preservation of major princi-ples to keep the space for peaceful pur-poses for humankind. The Outer Space
GIS DEVELOPMENT24
The proposal for a
UN space policy charts
a course towards the
UN regaining an
important place in
the global space
context as the current
arrangements are not
fully satisfactory
and a more proactive
approach is necessary
to underpin the UN's
capability to play its
role in the rapidly
evolving space arena
April 2010
Treaty of 1967 is binding on all membercountries with its main principles. Weare working on the new countries thatare arriving in the space arena. A spaceproposal will reach these newcomers tohelp them understand their own percep-tions on space matters. It is a measurein long term towards sustainability inspace. It is an important aspect to min-imise the risk of space debris by havingsome modus for conduct that can set anexample for new countries entering intothe space arena.
Kindly elaborate on the space mitiga-
tion guidelines proposed by UN?
The space mitigation guidelines are themost important and concrete results wehave achieved so far in COPOUS. Thespace policy will promote these guide-line. One of the problems we have with-in the guidelines is that they are notobligatory. In my opinion we should rein-force the very essence of these guide-lines by our policy by recommendationsto the countries to respect these guide-lines even if this is not compulsory yet.Creating a culture of respect towardsspace is one of the main objectives ofthe policy. This perception that outerspace is also an integral part of earth,that it has to be seen in a holistic way tohelp us better understand our environ-ment.
What kind of safety framework is UN
space policy looking at?
The safety framework deals with thenuclear power sources. This is verygood example of how two different enti-ties from the UN can sit together, worktogether and produce a positive resultwhile dealing with a very delicate andimportant problem that is power sourcesin outer space. So the corroborationbetween COPOUS and InternationalAtomic Energy Agency is one of the
finest examples on how a space policydealing with the coordination amongstUnited Nations entities can producegood result. That is why we promotewithin the space policy initiative, not onlyto continue to reinforce this particularframework but to seek possibilities withother specialized agencies like ITU, INSand International Meteorological Organi-sation. There are so many options thatcan be done in the same way that thepilot program with IAEA has been doneand has given good result.
Is the proposed UN space policy look-
ing at earth observation (EO) issues
as well?
Yes, the policy is looking at supportingfree data access, with limitations thatthe market imposes. The proposalinvolves consensual dialogue in whichprivate sector is also a part. But themain idea is to promote a free accessespecially when it is needed in world-wide problems like disaster manage-
ment and climate change. We know thatcountries like Brazil have a successfulpolicy of free data sharing but we wouldlike to have that in a much wider dimen-sion.
Is there a timeframe for this UN policy
to be formalised?
Things in space go slowly but I have tosay that we have been quite fast in thiscase, much more than any other pro-posal. The first step was the support theproposed policy is getting by manycountries. Then we obtained the man-date from UN General Assembly, whichis a success in itself.
In the meantime, I have had severalinformal consultations with memberStates who have come up with newideas and new proposals. We are articu-lating them and will propose the newtext in June and then it is up to themember States to decide what to do.The results will be seen in June but I amquite optimistic.
GIS DEVELOPMENT 25April 2010
COVER STORY
GIS DEVELOPMENT 27
pace is a unique frontier and a global commons.No single country owns it but every singlenation/political geography can make best use of
it. The unique vantage point offered by space enablesmany critical infrastructures and it is spinning off a myri-ad of applications and utilities through satellite communi-cations, navigation, and geospatial technologies.
National security and public safety apart, economiccompetitiveness and scientific capabilities, are all relianton access to space and space-based capabilities. Thegrowth of global space capabilities presents severalimportant opportunities and challenges for developed anddeveloping countries alike. It is thus imperative for acountry to evolve a national space policy to address its pri-orities and also understand the changing internationallandscape, from low earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit,to the Moon and beyond.
Today, a growing number of states are seeking to devel-op or extend their space capabilities and so formulatingspace policies. At the same time, a variety of privateactors are also extending their involvement in space activ-ities. This has brought in the United Nations, an inter-gov-ernmental forum, to deal with various space issues ofglobal importance. The United Nations has come a longway, since the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, in formulatinga framework and guiding principles for activities in space.
While space science and technology have taken giantstrides, policy issues are yet to catch-up. The Chineseanti-satellite test of 2007 and the retaliatory test by theUSA substantiate this perception. That individual coun-tries have space policies and guidelines that differ frominternational laws is another issue. Analysing the situa-tion and thinking ahead, Scott Pace, Director, Space Poli-cy Institute, Washington University, United States says, "Itdepends on individual nations. Some nations have fairlyadvanced policies given the technical capabilities. In othercases, country's techno capabilities have run ahead of thepolicies. I will be reluctant to have politicians look at thefuture. Politicians of our time at most look at the nextyear. Any law tends to function best if it reacts to real cas-es as apposed to making a law in anticipation of a tech-nology development. We need an ever evolving law."
But the growing reliance on space technology and theincreasing pace of international space activities necessi-tates a more coordinated and strategic approach to spaceactivities at
a global level than is currently the case. In such sce-
SSpace has always excited
and challenged the human
intellect. Starting with Sovi-
et Sputnik in 1957, human
endeavour in space has seen
several milestones including
the Apollo mission to moon,
International Space Station,
inter-planetary explorations
and very high resolution
earth observation satellites.
But the real challenge is on
earth, not in space. To coor-
dinate space activities and
to ensure peaceful use of
space, a policy framework at
various levels is the prereq-
uisite. In this cover story,
Associate Editor Bhanu
Rekha explores the need,
identifies the issues and
guidelines for a policy to
conquer this final frontier.
nario, a United Nations space policy is expected to provideover-arching guidance on space activities for UN stake-holders in the space arena. While the need for a UN spacepolicy and the guiding principles for one such policy arediscussed in the interview with Ciro Arevalo Yepes, Chair-man, UN Committee in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space(UNCOPUOS), in Pages 23 through 25, this article will dis-cuss the other pertinent issues of space and space policy.
Dual use of space technologiesWhile countries want to reap the benefits of space sci-ence, technology and the scientific information availablethrough these technologies, they ought to be mindful thatbeing in space club is actually a responsibility and a col-lective obligation. The technologies that enable access tospace can be used for peaceful exploration or carryweapons of mass destruction. "An example of this is quiteevident in the space activities of North and South Korea.Space launch capabilities are not viewed in isolation, butin the context of other behaviors such as nuclear non-proliferation and controls on missile technology. The Mid-dle East is on the cutting edge of this paradox of dual-usespace technologies, with much to gain and much opportu-nity to be lost from the peaceful development of spaceapplications," opines Dr Pace. On one hand, the benefits
of geospatial technologies, enabled by space systems,have the potential to diversify and improve the competi-tiveness of regional businesses enabling them to partici-pate in global markets. Adoption of supportive govern-ment policies is a prerequisite for this though. On the oth-er hand, it is possible that political and regional instabili-ties might lead to proliferation of militarisation of space."There is thus a direct linkage between the economicbenefits of space and international space security. Spacerepresents deeply integrated national capabilities, callingfor deeply integrated technical and policy approachesboth domestically and internationally," adds Dr Pace.
Air space Vs outer spaceAirspace is that the portion of the atmosphere controlledby a particular country or political subdivision on top of itsterritory and territorial waters. The Chicago Convention of1944 clarifies that every State has complete and exclusivesovereignty over the airspace above its territory. By inter-national law, the notion of a country's sovereign airspacecorresponds with the maritime definition of territorialwaters as being 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) out from anation's coastline. Airspace not within any country's terri-torial limit is considered international, analogous to thehigh seas in maritime law.
GIS DEVELOPMENT30 April 2010
The most simplistic definition of outer space is, "theregion of space beyond limits determined with referenceto the boundaries of a celestial body or system, especiallythe region of space immediately beyond earth's atmos-phere and interplanetary or inter-stellar space". But thisis an arbitrary definition.
While international conventions define the horizontalextent of airspace of a country, there is no internationalagreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace(the boundary between outer space - which is not subjectto national jurisdiction- and national airspace), with sug-gestions ranging from about 30 km (the extent of thehighest aircraft and balloons) to about 160 km (the lowestextent of short-term stable orbits).
Technology changes in aircraft, spacecraft, positioningsystems and remote sensing, combined with the growthin the number of space-faring nations, make the situationdifferent from the early days of the space era when it wasassumed that a boundary would be defined at a futureindeterminate date. Hence there is an immediate need toconsider defining a vertical or spatial boundary betweenair space and outer space, which in turn effectively meansdefining the extent of air law and space law. "There is nodefinition, and we have been unable to reach a consensuson a uniform boundary delimitation of the term outerspace. This is causing legal uncertainty in outer spaceand airspace law," opines Dr MA Tarabzouni, Director,King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Kingdomof Saudi Arabia. Differing with this opinion, Dr Pace says,"I don't think definition of outer space is a problem. Wecould do it well in the past 50 years without a perfect def-inition. As use of outer space evolves, defining spacecould only be an excuse for not doing anything and there-fore we should focus on practical uses of space ratherthan let the law catch up."
Space DebrisThe issue of space debris originated when Sputnik 1 waslaunched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Three months afterthe launch, the satellite ended its transmission and re-entered the earth's atmosphere and was subsequentlyburnt up. Since then, there are at least 80 satellites thathave broken up into smaller fragments. The recent Cos-mos Inmarsat collision and the Chinese ASAT test result-ed in major debris creation. At present, there are over40,000 pieces of space debris, each at least the size of agolf ball orbiting the earth. Scientists have acknowledged
the problem of space debris for nearly two decades. Thisissue is addressed by the Space Liability Convention. "Themost difficult long term issue is mitigation and removal ofspace debris. Space objects belong to the nations thatlaunch them. We do not have salvage rights in space theway it is in high seas. A new salvage regime to deal withthe abandoned objects in space is probably the next legaltask to do," opines Scott Pace.
Space LiabilityAny space policy is incomplete without a framework forspace liability. Space Liability Convention of 1972 expandson the liability rules created in the Outer Space Treaty of1967. Though the treaty has never yet been invoked, overthe years, this led to a fair evolution of space insuranceand space liability insurance markets.
While space insurance policies primarily cover damageto satellites during the pre-launch, launch and early orbit,in-orbit and de-orbit phases, space liability insurancecovers the financial consequences of the insured's liabili-ty for damage to third parties arising out of the launch andin-orbit operations of spacecraft. Under the 1972 LiabilityConvention, a launching State is ultimately liable to thirdparties but through licensing and contracts it can transferpart or all of its financial exposure to the launch serviceproviders or to the satellite operators. An estimate putsthe overall premium volume generated by this spaceinsurance market anywhere between USD 800 million and
April 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 31
The most difficult long termissue is mitigation and removalof space debris
- Dr Scott PaceDirector, Space Policy Institute
We have been unable to reach aconsensus on a uniform boundarydelimitation outer space. This iscauusing legal uncertainty in outerspace and airspace law
- Dr MA TarabzouniKACST
USD1 billion. The space liability insurance market is asub-set of the aviation liability insurance market. It isalmost totally isolated from the traditional (damage)space insurance market. As a rough order of magnitudethe premium volume generated by the space liabilityinsurance amounts between USD 15 million to USD 20million. Notes Christain Barnabe, Executive Director, AonRisk Services, France, "It is fortunate that losses areextremely rare in this market since the premium volumegenerated is extremely low compared to the limits boughtby the satellite operators (hence the potential extremelyhigh volatility of this market)." He then cites the mostrecent claims in the market - the Proton/Raduga failure in1999 with USD 270,000 claim and the Delta II/GPS NavstarII R-01 failure in 1997 where the immediate vicinity of theCape Canaveral launch site was affected. The claimamounted to USD 12 million. Though third party liabilityclaims rarely occur nowadays, the space object popula-tion has grown significantly in the recent years, especiallyin the low earth orbit. "With increase of space objects, itwill become difficult for operators to control their space-craft safely and to avoid space junk. Would they fail to actdiligently in that respect and provoke a collision with anuncontrolled object which could collide with a third partyspacecraft, they could be held liable at fault under the
1972 Convention. It is then possible that satellite opera-tors will see a greater interest to procure more space lia-bility insurance in the very near future," opines Christain.
Earth Observation Many countries have space laws or are in the process offormulating one which relates to launch and safety ofsatellites in orbit. These laws have been framed in accor-dance with the international law. But, only a handful ofcountries have so far addressed remote sensing dataissues through laws or policies.
According to Gabrynowicz (2003), countries which haveno legislation on remote sensing in place, follow interna-tional treaties. More often than not, US law is considereda benchmark and is therefore, given due considerationwhile framing policy directives.
Initiating to regulate earth observation activities, theRepublic of Korea has enacted the National Spatial Infor-mation Act in August 2009 to build the legal framework onnational spatial information and to promote the use andmanagement of spatial information and facilitate publicaccess to it. According to the Dr Joon Lee, Head of Strate-gic Planning Department, Korea Aerospace ResearchInstitute, government will make a five-year national spa-tial information plan and annual execution plan. The Spa-tial Information Industry Promotion Act was also enactedin August 2009 to strengthen the competitiveness of theindustry. In the Middle East, UAE sees the need for a leg-islation with which space activity could be coordinatedand it need not necessarily be a space law. "We are takingup the initiative to get people together from the region toform a committee and make them agree that we shouldwork together. A lot needs to be done on licensing, datasharing, using and data export in the region. Today, there
GIS DEVELOPMENT32 April 2010
It is fortunate that losses arerare in this market since thepremium volume generated islow comppared to the limitsbought by satellite operators
- Christain BarnabeAon Risk Services
is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, a country likeBahrain can utilise the capacities already developed in theregion," said a spokesperson from Space ReconnaissanceCentre, UAE.
A progressive space-faring nation, India, has RemoteSensing Data Policy (RSDP), where security aspects areparamount in framing the policy. The policy stresses thesignificance of remote sensing data for developmentactivities but mandates license/permission from the gov-ernment of India, through the nodal agency (NationalRemote Sensing Centre) for the acquisition and distribu-tion of RS data. The policy allows distribution of data ofresolutions up to 5.8 m on a non-discriminatory basis. Butdata less than 5.8m and up to 1m requires some proce-dural clearances. Data less than 1 m resolution requiresclearance from High Resolution Committee (HRC).
Taking a dig at the conservative data policy of India, LiamWeston, Advanced Systems Manager, Sr, OperationalSpace, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporationsays, "The policy of not allowing private companies selldata in India is more a protectionist act rather than asecurity concern. I have no doubt that India could be aworld leader in geospatial industry if the private sectorgets free access to data to manipulate it and create alter-nate services and products."
A more liberal approach is seen in the European experi-ence. The nations of the European Union have strength-ened their common policies in the Treaty of Lisbon,entered into force on December 1st 2009. The treaty setsthe common understanding of European nations to worktogether on issues of environmental protection and civilsecurity on a legally binding basis. Article 189 of thistreaty also calls for a European Space Policy and to takethe "necessary measures" to implement it.
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the EuropeanCommission have initiated the Global Monitoring for Envi-ronment and Security (GMES) project, where a fleet of
April 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 33
The policy of not allowing privatecompanies sell data in India ismore a protectionist act than asecurity concern
- Liam WestonBall Aerospace & Tech
US - Focus shifts tocommercial data
The United States Land Remote Sensing PolicyAct of 1992 confirmed US supremacy in landremote sensing technology through the FederalGovernment's Landsat programme. It statesthat "to maximise the value of the Landsat pro-gramme to the American public, unenhancedLandsat 4 through 6 data should be made avail-able, at a minimum, to US government agen-cies, to global environmental changeresearchers, and to other researchers who arefinancially supported by the United States Gov-ernment, at the cost of fulfilling user requests,and unenhanced Landsat 7 data should bemade available to all Observation users at thecost of fulfilling user requests".
The Act also states that the US governmentshould adopt a data policy for Landsat 7 whichallows competition within the private sector fordistribution of unenhanced data and value-added services. The Landsat 7 data, therefore,is available to all the countries that haveentered into an agreement with U.S thereby,becoming non-US ground receiving stations. Itis to be noted that USA retains ownership of allunenhanced data generated by Landsat 7.Another important policy that engages atten-tion is the U.S Commercial Remote SensingPolicy, released in April, 2003. Among otherthings, it states that "United States Governmentcivil agencies acting individually, or when bene-ficial, together shall acquire and operate U.SGovernment systems that collect data onlywhen such data are not offered and will not bemade available by U.S. Commercial remotesensing space systems." This suggests anincreased reliance on commercial remotesensing satellites for data purposes, signifyinga major shift from the dependence on data pro-vided by government controlled satellites.
satellites (SENTINELs) will deliver data for European wideinformation services, augmented by data from nationaland non-European earth observation systems.
ESA proposed a "free and open" policy for the distribu-tion of SENTINEL data under the GMES project underwhich data is accessible via a generic on-line accessmode and through a registration by anybody without dif-ference between public, commercial and scientific useand in between European or non-European users. Thischange in ESA data policy will also affect the data distri-bution scheme of the existing ESA mapping missions (i.e.ERS-2 and ENVISAT). Talking on facilitating archival data,Dr Gunter Schreier from DLR - German Remote SensingData Center, says, "Recognising the value of long timeseries of data for environmental observation, the last ESAministerial in 2007 has launched the Long Term DataPreservation (LTDP) initiative. Under this, a compilation ofthe existing European data archives and investigations inlong term archive technologies and policies are per-formed to allow implementing a permanent programme,in-line with the policies of ESA, its member states andinternational bodies, to take care for the growing earthobservation archives."
Talking about established practices in earth observation,Dr Scott Pace says, "according to UN remote sensingprinciples, a sensed State has a right to data about itselfon reasonable terms and conditions and does not haverights over data of other State. Other than that, nationshave the right to use space freely for peaceful purposesand they own the data acquired from space. If satellite isowned by government, then of course government ownsthe data and distribution is its discretion. If the satellite is
a private one, it is licensed by government and it holds theIPR. This is a fairly established practice."
Data as a commodityWhile for some nations, remote sensing data is a publicgood and is sacrosanct, for some others, data need not berestricted and can be viewed as a commodity and traded."This in my opinion is one of the most challenging ques-tions in the near future. Free flow of data is very impor-tant. It is a trend among nations to freely share data per-taining to disaster management, climate change," feelsCiro Arevalo Yepes, Chairman, UNCOPUOS. While ScottPace argues remote sensing data need not necessarily beconsidered as a tangible good, Liam vouches that it isalready a commodity. "One of the interesting aspects ofUS regulations that is different from other countries isthat the licenses attempt to regulate the operations of asatellite and not the distribution of data. In USA, the sys-tem is privately funded and the data that comes from thesystem is not classified. So it is a commodity," he argues.
Comprehensive policyDr Scott Pace believes a country's space policy should becomprehensive. "It should not only look at science,research and technology but look at practical applica-tions, security, education issues and development. Itshould encompass all these elements along with weigh-ing the interests of the country because space cannot beput into a small box. It cuts across multiple interests," hesays. Liam Weston identifies three essential aspects acountry should take into consideration while formulatinga space policy. According to him, the first and foremostfactor to be taken into account is the country's nationalsecurity. Second would be ensuring that activities complywith international treaties operational in space and for-eign policy concerns while limiting liability of host govern-ment. Protecting the interests of private operators isanother important aspect. "In space arena, there are veryfew truly private companies as this is a national objectivefor many countries. So the development of private side ofspace, whether it is in remote sensing or communica-tions, will benefit a country. A great example is USA. USMilitary relies 80% on commercial communication com-panies for military communications internationally. It ismuch cheaper and easier for US Military to rent atransponder from a commercial satellite company ratherthan have one of its own," Liam argues. Promotion of
GIS DEVELOPMENT34 April 2010
commercial space activity is also important, according toLiam. He says, "Every space-faring State in the USA likeAlaska, Virginia and Florida, that has launch facilities orspace manufacturers have special tax laws or free-taxregimes on things bound for outer space as this activityattracts lot of economy and highly educated employees.This is in fact creating a competition among the States.Citizens want a high tech, clean and progressive industrythat attracts jobs. Any space law has to contemplate cre-ating a competitive environment." Supporting his argu-ment, Scott Pace says, "I have a bias probably in this as theUS policy does not preclude or deter space activities exceptwhere it involves national security and public safety."
Global CooperationConsidering that the effects and uses of a country's spaceactivities are not limited to its own territory, cooperationand coordination at regional and global levels is pertinent.Says Liam, "Countries should become signatories of the1967 Outer Space Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty whilepromulgating national policies that conform to interna-tional laws. Also, countries should follow principle of rec-iprocity. If Israel allows selling of Indian imagery like US
and Europe do, I think India should reciprocate and allownon-Indian satellite imagery to be sold in India and notuse protectionist policies." Taking a different stance, ScottPace says, "The conditions for each space sector are dif-ferent. The conditions for remote sensing are differentfrom that of GNSS and from that of space launches. Wehave to look at specific sectoral situation. Internationalspace law in general is fairly clear. What often is lacking isnational policy and regulation that conforms to interna-tional law. There is no single authority like UN that isappropriate in all cases. It needs to be worked out amongcountries on case by case basis."
ConclusionSpace activity is a symbol of national power and a sourceof practical benefit. During Cold War, space explorationwas a symbol of rivalry between USA and the USSR.Today, the International Space Station is a symbol of themost complex, expensive and technically challengingexample of international cooperation. At this juncture, it isimportant for all space-faring and space-aspiring coun-tries to take this collaboration further to use space tech-nology effectively for the sustenance of the planet.
South American
countries are
offering a variety of
educational avenues
to strengthen the
GIS and remote
sensing community
in the continent.
Here’s a look at
some of them
GIS DEVELOPMENT36
SOUTH AMERICA
Tania Maria Sausen
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais-INPE Centro Regional Sul dePesquisas Espaciais-CRS Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
EDUCATION FOR AROBUST COMMUNITY
April 2010
emote sensing-related education activities in South America started inthe beginning of 1970s when the first remote sensing satellite, LANDSAT, was launched. In 1972, São José dos Campos, Brazil-
based National Institute of Space Research (INPE), decided to create a mastersprogramme in remote sensing. In the beginning, this programme was designedonly for INPE researchers, because at that time there were no post-graduateprogrammes in Brazil to qualify professionals in remote sensing.
In 1978, this masters programme was made open to professionals from dif-
R
GIS DEVELOPMENT 37
ferent institutions due to high demand from other institu-tions in Brazil and also because most of the INPEresearchers had received their masters’ degree. Today,more than 450 professionals have received masters’degree from INPE.
The 24 month-long programme includes theoreticalcourses on fundamentals of remote sensing, image pro-cessing and GIS and applications of remote sensing innatural resources including geology, agriculture, environ-ment, water resources, geomorphology, etc. In order to
get the masters’degree, a student hasto present a masterproposal and develop amaster research underadvisor supervision.
In 1998, INPE decid-ed to create a doctor-ate programme inremote sensing. Totake up this 48-monthlong programme, stu-dents have to clear thequalifying interview,the qualifying exami-nation, the thesis pro-posal examination anddevelop a thesis underadvisor supervision. Sofar, more than 30 pro-fessionals havereceived their doctor-ate degree from INPE.Today, both the mas-ters and doctorate pro-grammes are open toBrazilian and LatinAmerican profession-als. The fellowship
support comes from the Brazilian funding agencies CNPqand CAPES.
The post-graduate programme is not the only concern ofINPE. There are many other educational activities relatedto remote sensing and GIS conducted by the Institute. Oneof these activities is the EDUCA SeRe programme whosemain objective is to create educational material for teach-ing remote sensing in grammar and high schools. This
programme is divided into four projects: • 1EDUCA SeRe I Project-Development of text for remotesensing teaching;
• 1EDUCA SeRe II Project –Development of CD ROM andDVDs for remote sensing teaching;
• 1PROJETO EDUCA SeRe III Project – Development ofimage-maps for remote sensing teaching;
• 1PROJETO EDUCA SeRe IV Project- Development of home-pages for remote sensing teaching.
In partnership with the Brazil chapter of Latin AmericanRemote Sensing Society-SELPER Capitulo Brasil, INPEdevelops the following short term courses: Fundamentalsof Geoprocessing; Introduction to SPRING; Digital ImageProcessing; Geographical Data Base and Spatial Analysisof Geographical Data. A distance learning course in Intro-duction of Remote Sensing and Geotechnology in gram-mar and high schools is also offered.
In 1985, upon request from UN/OOSA, INPE created aninternational course on remote sensing at the specialisa-tion level. In the beginning, it was a seven-month courseand primarily dedicated to professionals from LatinAmerica, the Caribbean and Africa. From 1993 onwards,the course has been designed exclusively to professionalsfrom Latin American and Caribbean countries.
In 2003, the international course began to be coordinat-ed by the Brazil campus of the Regional Centre for SpaceScience and Technology Education in Latin America andCaribbean-CRECTEALC that was established in 2002. Thecourse was renamed “International Course on RemoteSensing and Geographic Information-CISR” and its dura-tion became nine months (March to December). It is stillheld in collaboration with INPE and the UN/OOSA. Formore than 15 years, it was supported by United NationsUniversity-UNU and CNPq. Since inception, more than200 professionals from Latin America and Africa havereceived a diploma in remote sensing.
The main goal of CRECTEALC (affiliated to the UN) is thedevelopment of skills and knowledge of university educa-tors and research and applications scientists, throughrigorous theory, research, applications, field exercises,and pilot projects in those aspects of space science andtechnology that can enhance social and economic devel-opment in each country.
Initially, two campuses of CRECTEALC were established,one in Brazil and one in Mexico. Each campus prepares its own annual programmes and budget, to be submittedto the Governing Board. In Brazil, INPE is hosting the
April 2010
Brazil campus and in Mexico the INAOE is the host institution.
The initial CRECTEACL programmes focussed onremote sensing and geographic information systems,meteorological satellite applications, satellite communi-cations and global-positioning systems and space andatmospheric sciences.
Besides the international course, Brazil campus hasalso developed many short term courses in remote sens-ing application, satellite meteorology and GNSS in part-nership with Brazilian and Latin American institutionsand UN/OOSA.
In the last two years, Brazil campus has held the springschool on space-based solutions for disaster manage-ment and emergency response, together with UN-SPI-DER Program and the Nucleus of Research and Applica-tion of Geotechnologies for Natural Disasters andExtreme Events-GEODESASTRES-SUL, from INPE. Thesecond spring school will be held in March, in Rosario,Argentina in partnership with CONAE.
In 1988, the Research Center in Remote Sensing andMeteorology (CEPSRM) was established in the Rio Grandedo Sul Federal University (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, insouthern Brazil. Since 1990, this Center has been runninga master course in remote sensing with two mainresearch areas: methodologies development in remotesensing and geoprocessing(including image processingcartography and geographi-cal information systems, nat-ural resources and environ-mental studies) and appliedgeoprocessing. It is a 24month-long course and inorder to get a masters’degree, a student has toattend theoretical courses,develop a master researchunder advisor supervisionand develop a paper to bepublished in a scientific jour-nal.
Specialisation courses ingeotechnologies are offeredby a few Brazilian universitiesand short term courses arealso conducted by private
companies. All these educational activities have helpedcreate a very large and active remote sensing and GIScommunity in Brazil.
Colombia Many countries in South America have very good educa-tional programmes in remote sensing and GIS, likeColombia where the Instituto Geografico Augustin Codazi(IGAC), through the development and research centreCIAF, holds a specialisation course in GIS.
This course has been developed in partnership with Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. The 32week-long course is designed for professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean and deals withdesign, development, implementation and administrationof spatial information and GIS, mainly for territorial planning.
IGAC/CIAF runs short term courses in Remote Sensingand Image Processing Applied for Land Cover; RemoteSensing and Digital Image Processing; Introduction to GISand GIS Analysis and Modeling for environmental studies
EquadorIn Ecuador, the Centro de Levantamientos Integrados deRecursos Naturales por Sensores Remotos - CLIRSEN(http:// www.clirsen.com) has a modern Training Center in Remote Sensing and GIS (CENPER), located in
the Instituto Geográfico Mili-tar, in Quito. CENPER isresponsible for training and technology transfer toprofessionals in remotesensing and GIS. RecentlyCENPER inaugurated newfacilities for training inGuayaquil city.
In July 2006, CLIRSEN/CENPER signed an agree-ment with CRECTEALC andbecame the CRECTEALCEcuador Node. Every year itholds a training course inapplication of remote sensingand GIS to natural resourcesand natural disasters. So farthere are three courses and anew one is being planned for2010.
GIS DEVELOPMENT38 April 2010
April 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 39
BoliviaIn Cochabamba, Bolivia, the Centre for Aerospace Surveyand GIS Application for Sustainable Natural ResourcesDevelopment (CLAS), in the Universidad Mayor de SanSimon, develops a masters’ degree course in Geo-Infor-mation Science and Earth Observation under a joint educa-tion programme with the ITC. The main objective of thiscourse is to qualify professionals from Bolivia and SouthAmerica in regional planning and natural resources usingremote sensing and GIS.
It is an eleven-month course, from February to Decemberand the main topics are remote sensing and GIS applica-tion in data collection and analysis, soil, water resources,natural resources and regional planning. The course isdesigned for agriculture, civil and agronomy engineers andbiologists.
CLAS has also developed a two-and-half month spe-cialised course in GIS and remote sensing for profession-als working in cartography, GIS and remote sensing in pri-vate companies and public organisations. The sixth coursewill be held in 2010. It is divided into 10 modules, nine ofthem about fundamentals of remote sensing and GIS,cartography and geodesy, data acquisition, GPS, imageanalysis and geostatistic. The tenth module is an individualactivity where the student has to develop a monograph.
Argentina Since 2005, the Lujan National University (UNLu), in Lujan,Argentina has been offering specialisation in remote sens-ing and GIS applications for environmental studies. It is a360 hour course divided into eleven modules, plus 200hours to develop the application project under advisorsupervision. The module activities take place for four daysevery month at Mario Gullich Institute in the ComisiónNacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), in Falda delCarmen, Córdoba Province.
The main topics covered are environmental manage-ment, fundamentals of remote sensing, mathematics andstatistics, sensor systems, image interpretation, digitalimage processing, GIS, regional planning, environmentalimpact and management of natural resources.
VenezuelaIn Venezuela, the Bolivariana Agency for Space Activities(ABAE) is developing an important programme to strength-en and impart requisite qualifications to the remote sens-ing community in the country. In the last four years,
Venezuelan professionals,supported by ABAE, havereceived a diploma inremote sensing and GIS atthe Regional Center ofSpace Science and Technol-ogy Education in the Asia-Pacific Region, in Dehradun,India, and in the Brazil cam-pus of CRECTEALC. Theseprofessionals (geologists,geographers, agronomist,biologist, etc) come fromprivate and public institu-tions around the country.The idea is to create a quali-fied critical mass in remote sensing and GIS in Venezuela.
In 2008, ABAE developed a training programme forschool teachers in Venezuela on remote sensing tech-niques to analyse environmental characteristics in the sur-rounding areas. The main objective of this project was totrain geography and science school teachers to useremote sensing data as educational material to study theareas surrounding their schools. Community participationin the design, evaluation and planning of the national,regional and local government policies was expected at theend of the project.
Conclusion The remote sensing and GIS community in South Americais very large and qualified. Many professionals comingthrough post-graduate programmes and specialisationcourses have created remote sensing and GIS laboratoriesin their institutions, introduced courses in the universitiesand created private consultancy companies. As a conse-quence of these educational activities in the region, thenumber of scientific events like symposia, congresses andseminars has increased and so has the number of partici-pants and papers at these events.
Besides, many countries have created scientific maga-zines and journals. Today, it is possible to find books inPortuguese and Spanish about fundamentals of remotesensing, GIS and their applications. Fifteen years ago therewere just one or two books or educational material pub-lished in these languages. This was one of the barriers instrengthening the remote sensing and GIS community inthe region, besides the high cost of the images.
As a consequence ofeducationalactivities in theregion, the number ofscientific events likesymposia,congresses and seminars hasincreased and so hasthe number of participants andpapers at these events
From being the ugly
duckling of global econo-
my, South America has
come a long way in
advocating for easy
access to spatial data,
building SDIs and is fast
catching up with Web
2.0. Read on to know
more on the continent's
geospatial advances
GIS DEVELOPMENT40
SOUTH AMERICA
Eduardo Freitas
Editor
CATCHING UP WITH GEOSPATIAL REVOLUTION
April 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 41
or several years, South America was seen by oth-er countries as the ugly duckling of the globaleconomy, a place where economic developments
never took place. Military coups and corruption were theproblems that made the entire region a black hole, withuncertainties about important projects and ventures.
But now, things have changed and a wave of enthusiasmis all over the region, mostly in Brazil which will host the2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The Brazil-ian pre-salt oil reserves are another indication that therewill be a lot of work over the next few years. Actually, theinfrastructure of the entire region needs upgradation, beit transportation, water services, sanitation, energy,telecommunications, environment, mining, oil and gas,security, defence or other areas.
To meet this challenge, almost all countries are devel-oping tools to make geospatial data available to institu-tions and companies that need geographic information intheir projects. Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) havealready been implemented in countries like Colombia andmany other SDI initiatives are under way in the region.
Wikipedia defines SDI as "a framework of spatial data,metadata, users and tools that are interactively connectedin order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way." Another definition for SDI is "the technology,policies, standards, human resources and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use,maintain and preserve spatial data." As we can see, SDIsare crucial for the infrastructure projects and buildingsthat will be implemented in South America in the nextdecade.
Covering multiple scales requires analysis of hierar-chies, a vertical approach, going local from global andgoing through the regions, nations, provinces and otherterritory divisions. This involves a complex set of interac-tions between diverse players, with significant differencesbetween countries in South America.
In Latin America, there are big contrasts, mainly onaccount of the significant differences in the economies,size of the countries, access to information and commu-nication technologies, availability of human resources,professional competition among those who lead organi-sations related to the territories and in the value that geo-graphic information confers on decision making. In thelast few years, development activities have gainedmomentum, contributed by popularisation of informationand communication technologies and availability of free
software. The investigationscarried out through universi-ties, public institutions andprivate organisations havecontributed towards thedevelopment of SDI. A goodexample is the InfrastructureProject of Spatial Data forthe Sustainable Develop-ment of Latin America andThe Carribean (IDEDES),that published a book in Feb-ruary 2007 analysing the status of SDI for 15 countries ofSouth America and the Carribean. There are a lot ofplaces in South America where diverse participatingmechanisms have been implemented successfully, likeColombia, but there are also others where this is in thenascent stage, like the National Spatial Data Infrastruc-ture (INDE) in Brazil.
Geotechnologies in BrazilThe geotechnology market in Brazil was estimated at USD350 million in 2008, including the data components, soft-ware and services, according to market research by IntareConsulting in Information Management. It is surprising tofind that among the biggest existing suppliers, less than10% of the suppliers of geotechnology in Brazil for solu-tions involving data, software or services have a marketshare above 10%.
The research broke new ground by focussing on the val-ue chain of products and services related to geographicinformation systems and remote sensing, consumeragents (public and private companies) that need to per-form tasks of production, storage, access, integration,analysis and provision of spatial information. The research noted that:
• When considering key market segments (government, edu-cation, environment, agriculture, oil and gas, mining, forestry,water resources, utilities, finance and services) there is noleadership from any supplier in terms of sales volume formore than three segments;
• The 40% growth in the number of active firms, mainly asso-ciated with data services and software, with different solu-tions for different market segments, indicates that the maincomponent of growth is the ability to offer integrated servicessolutions. It is precisely the service companies that tend to"spray" a market that had, few years ago, companies thatemployed up to 30% market share;
• Leadership perceived by the market on key suppliers ismore associated with components of the solutions in terms of
April 2010
FWe can wait forprojects andbuildings, but we need toaddress the challenges facedin geospatial datasharing
specific data or software than to the actual turnover, which ismore related to the services component;
• In terms of software vendors, it is important to note thegrowth of projects and solutions with free software. This sce-nario becomes increasingly dynamic where capabilities suchas perception and innovation represent differences in thecoming years;
• In solutions based mainly on software, higher volumes ofbusiness are focussed on those related to the integration ofenterprise systems. This market is dominated by large ITcompanies and some business originating in the area of geot-echnology specialising in specific segments. This increasingdemand for integration between GIS systems and corporatemanagement systems in national and international context,however, requires quality and performance;
• The planned launch of new remote sensing satellites overthe next few years, with spatial resolution ranging from 0.41to 20 meters, will provide a greater amount of data, mainlywith medium and high resolution. This entry of new technolo-gies in the market will meet the unmet demands and enhancethe creation of new markets;
• With the consolidation of web 2.0 and service-oriented sys-
tems, the online services offered by large IT companies willleverage the demand for GIS applications and increase servic-es involving location.
Web 2.0 and social mediaAccording to the research company Ibope Nielsen, thenumber of people in Brazil in August 2009 who used theInternet grew by 2.3%, to 37.3 million in August against36.5 million recorded in July. The number of people withInternet access at work or at home rose by 5% in the peri-od, to 46.7 million from 44.5 million. Ibope Nielsen esti-mates that about 64.8 million people have Internet accessin Brazil. Internet growth in Latin America is expected tocontinue on the back of increased region-wide residentialbroadband penetration.
Social media is media designed to be disseminatedthrough social interaction and is the key driver of the fast-growing Web 2.0, the combination of communication,media-sharing and feedback.
Examples of social media software applications includecommunication blogs, micro-blogging, social networking,online events, collaboration wikis, social bookmarking,review opinions, livecasting, virtual worlds, photo, audioand video sharing.
According to ComScore's research on the state of theInternet in Brazil 2009, Internet audience in Latin Americais to be taken seriously. Brazil is the 9th largest Internetaudience in the world. Mexico 15th, Argentina 19th andColombia 21st.
In Latin America, there has been a huge year-on-yeargrowth in awareness about geotechnologies. The numberof MundoGEO web portal visits and page views increasedalmost 25% from 2008 to 2009. MundoGEO web portal ispresent in many social media, with pages on Flickr,LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. This sites open up newways of communicating with readers from all over LatinAmerica region.
Brazil and the whole of Latin America are initiating anew development cycle, one that will last all through thenext decade. There will be a lot of work for geotechnologycompanies and professionals in GIS, remote sensing,geomatics, GNSS and related areas. Surely we can wait for many projects and buildings, but we need toaddress the challenges faced in geospatial data sharing.There are many companies and institutions producinggeoinformation, but there are no correct ways to find,access and share this data. This is our call-out for thenext few years.
GIS DEVELOPMENT42 April 2010
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GIS DEVELOPMENT
What kind of projects is your companyinvolved with at present?A. IMAGEM, the ESRI distributor in Brazil, is aleader in GIS market in Latin America. Wedevelop projects for several industries. Theseprojects include geomarketing applications,systems management and utilities. We alsohave a presence in oil and gas, agro business,mining and government.
Our main market is utilities including waterand electrical energy, followed by oil and gasand government. We work on cadastre andplanning for government. Our other key mar-kets are agro business and forest. Our proj-ects include the implementation of corporativesolutions such as AES Eletropaulo (an impor-tant utility in Brazil) in which GIS is the basis ofasset management.
What are the latest technologiees you are put-ting to use?The latest technologies we offer are ArcGISon the Web and GIS mobile. GIS on the Web
focuses on developing technical solutions tofacilitate geographic information among userswho are not familiar with the GIS technology.An example of this is publishing geographicinformation on the Intranet so that employeescan easily manipulate the data without anyspecific knowledge of GIS. GIS mobile solu-tions are aimed at professional GIS users,mainly to collect field data.
The latest technology implemented byIMAGEM is GISConneX. This solution canintegrate GIS with corporative systems (ERP)such as SAP.
How is the response from the user communi-ty? How reciprocative are non-traditionalusers to geospatial technologies?A. GIS community is divided into three groups:
•Professional users: This group uses ArGISsoftware or develops GIS implementations.
April 201044
Inte
rvie
w
arcos Covre Commercial Director IMAGEM
‘INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE ISFUELLING GROWTH’
M
•Corporative users: Corporative usersutilise geographical data manipulatedby professional users with tools suchas GIS on the Web.
•Common users: They access GPSmaps on tools of geographic localisa-tion on websites.
Solutions provided by IMAGEM targetthe first two categories of users: profes-sional and corporative users. Commonusers, who need maps on GPS as anexample, are not the target group forIMAGEM.
Professional users need GIS solutionsthat allow processing geographic dataaccurately. Corporative users need solu-tions to visualise geographic data.Examples of this are dynamic maps and3D visualisation that optimise decisionmaking. GIS on Web solutions arefocussed by non-traditional users, whileGIS desktop software is aimed at pro-fessional users.
What is the situation vis-à-vis availabilityof data for your projects?There is high availability of geographicdata. We have five satellites offeringhigh resolution imagery with accuracygreater than 1 metre. The challenge weface is not data collection but the abilityto analyse all this geographic data andtransform it into geographical intelli-gence to support decision making.
What do you think aree the challenges forthe growth of geospatial industry inBrazil in particular and South America ingeneral? What are the opportunities?The main challenge faced by companiesis to transform the data into knowledgeand intelligence for their business. Thechallenge is even greater in Brazilbecause we don’t have adequate man-power trained in IT, especially in GIS.
Another challenge is the perception of
the Brazilian government that GIS is animportant tool of public management. To meet this demand for specialisedpeople, IMAGEM has created AcademiaGIS.
What do you foresee for the growth ofthe geospatial industrry in South Americain the next five years?IMAGEM has realised that there hasbeen a growth in non-traditional users inthe last few years. Demands of profes-sional users are already being catered toby IMAGEM.
Now we are growing to target corpo-rative and non-traditional users. Thisgrowth is related to investments in infra-structure in Latin America in the nextfew years and changes in the standardsof public management. Another aspectis the valourisation of natural resourcesmanagement.
was adopted. My parents had no children of their own and were older than other par-ents. All their friends already had children, they were in high school and they didn’twant to play with me because I was not interesting enough. I had no childhood friends.
So my only examples were adults. When I was in 4th grade, I decided to learn whateverthere was to know about computers. I asked all my parents’ friends for old computer mag-azines. I read computer books in the library. I learned simple programming when I was 10.I have been programming computers ever since.
By the time I was in 7th grade, I was programming for money, consulting. And when I wasin high school, I lived pretty well. I worked part time as a computer programmer and went
April 2010
FIRST PERSON
GIS DEVELOPMENT46
I
to college part time. By the time I went to college, otherstudents seemed like children to me. Computer class wasintolerable. There was nothing for me to do, so I quit. Thehead of the computer science department ran a company.I went to work for him. I started on computers by reading.I tried to memorise what I read. As the articles didn’texplain everything, I was forced to guess what things real-ly meant.I was wrong sometimes, often maybe, but Ideveloped a comfort in guessing and understanding parts
of how things worked and presuming that later I wouldunderstand the rest. And that is something that has neverleft me. I still feel comfortable while going on a trip know-ing only half of the flights, going somewhere and notknowing what I am supposed to do, going to make aspeech and not knowing what I am supposed to talkabout.
PhotographyMy father worked as a journalist and did some photojour-nalism. He bought a camera and took a few classes inphotography. He would do his exercises and show us whathe was doing. I found that fascinating and it was some-thing he and I could share together. He was the profes-sional photographer, but it turned out that I was prettygood at photography too. With digital photography, I havea camera and a dark room in photoshop. I have gottenbetter and better. I was always passionate about otherpart of imaging computers more than even photography -real time computer graphics and interacting computergraphics. My interest was not just computers but comput-er graphics, particularly interactive computer graphics. Iwas very interested in computers but I also thought ofother careers.
For a long time as a child, before computers, I wanted tobe an airline pilot because I thought it was so exciting tosee the world. My grandmother would drive me to the air-port and I would go and meetthe pilots. I talked to them andI found out was that all they dois fly back and forth on thesame routes. So I decided thatI did not want to be a pilot.
Then I decided to be anarchitect. I met architects too.But it turned out that mostarchitects remodel houses,they build storage sheds, theybuild garages, they build eco-nomic office buildings. Theydo not really get to build thebiggest temple in city, only afew get to do that. I said I donot want to be an architecteither.
So I decided to stick to com-puters. You do not need a rich
April 2010 47GIS DEVELOPMENT
MICHAEL JONESCTO, Google Inc
MICHAEL JONESCTO, Google Inc
Michael at age three
GIS DEVELOPMENT48 April 2010GIS DEVELOPMENT48 April 2010
client to build a clever algorithm, to build a programmethat can do something new and marvelous. It is just yourmind and you. I think other things would have been goodtoo like painting or photography. In retrospect, I think Iwas wrong to have been dissuaded by those pilots andarchitects, they told me that life was pedestrian. I think Iwas talking to pedestrian thinking architects and pilots.
Keyhole to Google EarthKeyhole started by accident. The earliest possible origin ofKeyhole actually lies with me. I worked with a companycalled Silicon Graphics (SGI). One of the companies Iworked with had created a program to view satelliteimagery where you could zoom in and see the imagery ingreat detail. It was used in the Bosnia peace talks to drawthe border. Talking to these companies I realised thatwhat they were doing was really exciting. In computer
graphics they used a system called MIPmapping which made the texture on screenlook smooth. I needed to integrate the twoapplications and I created the CLIP Map –the clip version of the MIP map. We createda demo called Face-to-Face and weshowed it in several conferences aroundthe world. You could zoom in and see smalldetails like houses. Everybody loved it. Fouryears later SGI decided to focus on high-end computers and not on graphics.Around 100 of us, who worked on graphics,decided to leave. A friend of mine and Istarted a company. To start the companywe needed money so we approached ven-ture capitalists, and to show that we weresmart we needed a demo. We decided touse the Face-to-Face software because wewere sure the venture capitalists would likeit. That is exactly what happened.
That parent company was called IntrinsicGraphics and I was the CEO of that company. Our compa-ny demo was what you now know as Keyhole. My board ofdirectors told me that I was spending too much money onthe demo and that it had to stop, but I could not as I likedit so much. I hired John Hinky and took a few engineersfrom my company and sent them to work on the demo.The improved product was called Earth Viewer. Then wegot sued by Vexel. They did not like the name Earth View-er, as they thought it was too close to one of their productnames. So we changed the name to Keyhole after theAmerican satellite programme which is called the Key-hole programme.
During the 2001 meltdown, we sold our product to realestate companies and media companies like CNN and itworked out okay. Then at one time the people who found-ed Google became our customers. They liked the product.They called us and said that they wanted to buy our com-pany. We did not immediately say yes. We negotiated forsix months. We did not care about the money; we caredabout our vision. We wanted to know what they would dowith it. We also told them that they could not buy the com-pany if they didn’t take all the employees. Finally we soldthe company and Google took all the employees.
Google had noticed that some information needs mapsnot words. It was very clear that Google’s future at somepoint would include maps with information on it. That is
Michael driving a railroad engineer simulator in 1980. He used to make flight simulators for commercial and military aviation
I am very thankful to Google.
They could have just bought us
and done something real small
with us
March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 49April 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT
how Google got into mapping.Before they bought Keyhole, theybought a company called ‘Whereto,’ then they bought us, and thetwo of us together built 3D mappingas a platform to view the entireworld’s information in context.
The launch of Google Earth wasamazing. Journalists were actuallynot very professional, but personal.They were asking readers to gocheck this product. I knew then thatit was going to make a difference.
I am very thankful to Google. Theycould have just bought us and donesomething really small with us.Google Earth is a service to theworld. I don’t think any other com-pany could have hosted it.
Vision for the FutureOne thing I have realised is that inthe future we would not go biggerbut smaller. Mobile phones are animportant place to use things likeGoogle Earth and Google Maps. The fact is that a majorityof the world’s population cannot or does not accessGoogle Earth as they do not have access to a personalcomputer. But they have cell phones. Right now GoogleEarth runs pretty well on i-phone, but we are running teststo make it accessible to cheap cell phones too. That is thefuture and my focus. I am trying to get enough power togeneric web browsers - automating the web browsers,scripting add-ons and plug-ins. The future is not a betterGoogle Earth but a smaller Google Earth. I believed inKeyhole before anybody else, even before we ran the test.To me the future is more real then the present.
The new application we are working on is called the Star
Finder. It will map all the star loca-tions. It gives the GPS to showwhere you are, and it shows whereexactly you are looking in the sky.Imagine if instead of stars, it couldpoint to a building and tell youwhich room your third grader is in.Instead of labelling stars we canlabel shops and buildings and getparticular information and picturesregarding that. In the future all youwill have to do is point you phone atsomething and get informationabout it. That is the immediatefuture and we are working on that.
InspirationReading science fiction books as achild showed me that there might beworlds out there unlike ours. I alsoread a lot.
Message to the GIS industryDo not lose sight of the core values,
principles, and techniques of GIS just because web map-ping is in vogue. The thing that should be remembered isthat the more users products that I am associated withhave, the more value the thousands of GIS professionalswho actually make these products possible have. Theproblem with the GIS industry is that if I like ESRI and Ilike PSI and I want to use them together, it is basicallyimpossible. And that is a mistake. If they all workedtogether, they would all make more money and providebetter service.
The way to design things is to be as open as you can be.That should be the future of GIS - things that are builtupon building block that work together.
ConclusionI am pleased to have done some things and helped dosome things that have turned out well. Part of growing upalone is that I had no friends. I have learnt how to like peo-ple. It is new for me. I am proud to be likable. If you makeyour business from imaging the future and make it true,you have to have energy from somewhere. Things are realto me the moment I imagine it.
A photograph by Michael shows the Google Earth pushpinthat sticks through the roof of his house. The tip of it is justabove the front door.
The GIS industry should not lose
sight of the core values, principles
and techniques of GIS just because
web mapping is in vogue
GIS DEVELOPMENT
SPRS has had a profound and positive impact onmy personal life and professional career. Having anational and international forum for presenting,
discussing and networking with peers stimulates ingenu-ity and advancements which support and sustain the pro-fession. My early professional career was photogrammet-ric research and development at the US Coast & GeodeticSurvey (USC&GS), developing systems for calibration ofprecision photogrammetric instrument systems andcameras. It was at USC&GS that I worked under the guid-ance of Charlie Theurer, Helmut Schmidt, CarperTewinkel and Chet Slama, who all encouraged me topresent papers on results of my R&D and participate inASPRS technical and publication committees and in ISP.Although I had attended ISP workshops and symposia asearly as 1967 and was a member of the 1968-72 workinggroup (WG) on optical transfer function, my first full par-ticipation was at the 1972 Ottawa Congress where I pre-sented a paper. After this Congress, I became an activemember of the ISP WGs: WG I/1 on image geometry andWGs II/1 and WG II/2 on analytical instrumentation andanalogue-type instrumentation. Before the 1976 ISPRSHelsinki Congress the ASPRS appointed me as USAnational correspondent to ISP Commission II and I servedin that position through the 1980 Hamburg and 1984 Riode Janeiro Congresses.
During the 1976-80 ISP term, I continued as an activemember of WG I/1 on image geometry. My NOSAP devel-opment led me to serve as a member of WG II/1 on “a sys-tem for evaluation of analytical plotters” and in April 1980to serve as director of the Analytical Plotter Symposium &Workshop in which eight manufacturers introduced their
analytical plotter systems. At the Hamburg Congress Dr. Jarko Jaksic of National Research Council, Canadawas elected President of Commission II. During the1970s, I had significant calibration- and instrument-relat-ed collaborations with NRC and it was always a pleasureto work with Jarko who often served as my mentor. He selected me to serve as chairman of WG II/1 on “ana-lytical and hybrid photogrammetric instruments” during1980-84.
My professional career changed with the election ofRonald Reagan as President of the US when I was select-ed to serve as senior policy analyst in the Office of Scienceand Technology Policy (OSTP) on the White House staff.OSTP was a small staff of less than 20 individuals respon-sible for developing the entire national S&T policy for theUS. My subsequent positions in US government includedserving as chief of the photogrammetry division of theNational Ocean Service and as director of the NOAACharting R&D Laboratory for managing R&D in hydrogra-phy, photogrammetry, cartography and special programs.
This change was complementary to my ISPRS career. Atthe Rio de Janeiro Congress the General Assembly elect-ed the US to manage Commission II on “instrumentationfor data reduction and analyses” for the term 1984-88with me as commission president.
At the 1988 Kyoto Congress I presented the bid for theUS (for the 2nd time) to host the 1992 Congress in Wash-ington, DC. In Rio de Janeiro my presentation for the US tohost the Congress in Baltimore did not succeed primarilydue to the excellent presentation by Shunji Murai forJapan. Immediately before departing to Kyoto, I retiredfrom my government job. Three weeks later, I came back
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ISPRS: IN RETROSPECT & PROSPECT
April 2010
‘I SOUGHT TO MAKE ISPRS A LEGAL ENTITY’
Lawrence W. Fritz
Former President, ISPRS (1996-2000)
I
VIENNA
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from Japan and started in my new position in the privatesector as senior staff engineer for General Electric Aerospace. The two-week Washington Congress was suc-cessful.
My initial intentions did not include an ambition to con-tinue on Council. However, the Congress director positionrequires a tremendous amount of communication. Thisexperience, coupled with encouragement of my Councilcolleagues, convinced me that I should carry on as secre-tary general. I was now hooked on the scope and the chal-lenges facing the Society and sincerely felt that I couldhelp bring ISPRS to the role it deserves in the globalscene. Shunji Murai and I initiated ISPRS Highlights tocommunicate the message, revitalised interactions withthe United Nations and other intergovernmental organi-sations, expanded regional membership and introducedassociate membership.
I was elected president at the 1996 Vienna Congress.Being the only president from the private sector in mod-ern times and recognising the enormous potential ofISPRS and the leading roles it could, and should, take, Isought to make ISPRS into a formal entity to protect itsvaluable heritage and assets. I initiated steps to makeISPRS a formal legal entity, a status it lost during theWorld War II years. The Society and I were fortunate tohave perspectives from all six continents represented onthe Council – 1st VP Murai from Asia, 2nd VP Marcio Bar-bosa from South America, Secretary General Trinder fromAustralia, Treasurer Heinz Ruether from Africa, CongressDirector Klaas Jan Beek from Europe, and me from NorthAmerica. Together we objectively assessed the state andstructure of the Society, solicited ideas and constructivesupport of leading ISPRS colleagues and developed “AStrategic Plan for the 21st Century.” This plan not onlyredefined the objectives and goals of the Society but setforth specific actions to ensure its implementation. As aresult, a few of the noteworthy changes are: ISPRS hasbeen registered as a legal entity; the Society has instanti-ated spatial information science and has significantlyrestructured and clarified the domains of its commis-sions; it manages its programs with support from aninternational policy advisory committee and internationalscience advisory committee; it maintains an Orange Bookand a Green Book to ensure smooth transitions betweenterms of office; and the ISPRS Foundation has beenestablished. Once again I express my appreciation to myCouncil colleagues for their strong efforts to produce this
strategic plan. ISPRS has provided me a life of friendshipsand cooperative endeavours with innumerable peers inthis great profession.
There are too many people who have helped me in myprofessional and Society career to list here, but I expressmy heartfelt appreciation to all of them. John Trinder andI continue to this day to work together in managing TheISPRS Foundation (TIF). TIF is a philanthropic effort ofISPRS to recognise and enable the deserving, especiallyour colleagues from developing countries and emergingmarkets, to participate and contribute to advancing theISPRS sciences and technologies. We established TIF asan independent entity to enable systematic grants to beissued by ISPRS without detracting from the administra-tive dues and tasks of running the Society. It needs thesupport of all who wish to give back for the benefits thatthey have received for participating in ISPRS and its con-stituent professions.
As ISPRS culminates the completion of its first 100years, we can all look back at its many achievements ofthe past and its bright future to serve as a collegial organ-isation for voluntary sharing and promoting technical andscientific ideas and advancements for the good of allhumanity. It has been a pleasure for me to participate inits growth and success.
April 2010
ISPRS Council from 1996-2000. In the back row (from left toright) are Heinz Ruther (Treasurer), John Trinder (Secretary General) and Klaas-Jan Beek (Congress Director). In the frontrow (left to right) are Shunji Murai (1st Vice President) LawrenceFritz (President) and Marcio Barbosa (2nd Vice President).
he annual Middle East conference and exhibition on geospatial information technol-ogy and applications, Map Middle East 2010 (MME 2010), once again got togetherall the stakeholders in the geospatial arena to update themselves with the latesttechnological advances and explore business opportunities. Organised successfully
for six years in a row, the conference complements all the campaigns in the region to raise theprofile of geospatial technology and fulfils the need to bring in more coordination and userinteraction by national mapping organisations, to expand and connect with national andregional strategy. Organised by GIS Development Pvt Ltd and strategically partnered by SpaceReconnaissance Centre, UAE and Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, the three-day conferenceand exhibition saw the presence of several national and international dignitaries including DrJoo Jin, Lee, President of Korea Aerospace Research institute and Prof David Maguire, ProVice-Chancellor, Birmingham University, UK. The event witnessed attendance by 934 dele-gates and 40 papers being presented.
Geospatial awardsThe inaugural ceremony witnessed the presentation of geospatial excellence awards torecognise the contribution made by individuals and organisations towards the growth and useof geospatial technology in the region. The recipients include HE Majid Al Mansouri, SecretaryGeneral, Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, HE Engr Muhamad N Alrajhi, MOMRA, Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia and Dr Khalid A Rahman Al Haidan, Director, CIO, Bahrain, for pioneering theusage of geospatial technologies in the region. HE Rasheed Al Mansoori, Director General,ADSIC and Col Ali M Al Shehhi, Space Reconnaissance Centre, UAE bagged awards for suc-cessfully leading ADSIC and SRC respectively in the geospatial way.
Plenary sessionsTechnological advancements, trends and applications in geospatial arena dominated the ple-nary sessions. Dr Scott Pact, Director, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University,Washington DC, spoke on space-based PNT and the international policy issues involved. Hesaid GPS is a critical component of the global information infrastructure and informed that thebenefits of GPS are so pervasive that the USA considers it very important to provide it for free.Prof. David Maguire, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Birmingham University, UK, ignited a debatebetween GI systems and GI science. He talked about the science behind the technology andsaid that to think of one without the other doesn't make sense. Discussing 3D modelling oflandscapes and cities, Prof Armin Gruen of the Institute of Conservation and Building, SwissFederal Institute of Technology, Switzerland, said modern day technology is providing new sen-sors, new platforms, new data processing devices, spatial information technologies, new visu-alisation and imaging and simulation softwares and new possibilities for data dissemination tothe world. The world is looking at building new applications and is going way beyond mapping. Discussing the need for making GIS available for engineers on the move, Eng Mohammad Al Zaffin, Director, GIS Centre, Dubai Municipality, to make it less cumbersome for the 80% ofthe engineers who are on the field, Dubai Municipality has gone on to build a 'GIS on themove'. The choice was to go for mobile-based GIS, which a user can take along with him tothe field with ease and also utilise the network. Information convergence is the key and isgreater than the sum of the parts, according to John Sasser, President, Rolta Middle East andAfrica. He concluded by saying that GIS has become an essential tool for the success offinancial systems, asset management and is now mainstream IT.
SymposiaThe delegates had the opportunity to participate and deliberate on interesting and thought
ENABLING G-LATERAL TIESIN THE REGION
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provoking themes. One of them was EarthObservation System: Policy and Coordina-tion Framework, to understand the need toformulate space policies and raised thepertaining issues.
In his welcome address, Gen Khalid Abdul-lah, Former UAE Air Force and Air DefenceCommander, observed that space lawencompasses national and internationallaws to govern space activities. UAE has also started discussions to formulate itsown space law. Dr Scott Pace, in hiskeynote address, observed that the world of'space' has evolved since Cold War andtoday space based capabilities of a countryare paramount for national security, publicsafety and for several other sectors. Detail-ing the efforts of the United Nations in for-mulating a space policy, Ciro Arevalo -Yepes, Chairman, Committee on PeacefulUses of Outer Space, United Nations (UN-COPUOS), said UN looks at space as anobject of global governance and UN organ-isations are major users of space applica-tions. Discussing the emerging world spaceorder and its implications for national spacepolicies, Prof S Chandrashekhar, IndianInstitute of Managment, Bangalore, Indiasaid while looking at practical benefitsspace technology can provide, it is impor-tant to look at issues like debris and resolvethem. Dr Joon Lee - Head, Strategic Plan-ning Department, Korea AerospaceResearch Institute (KARI), South Korea,briefed the audience the ingredients ofKorean Space Law. While giving anoverview of the fundamentals of earthobservation policy, Dr Gunter Schreier,Deputy Head, German Space Institute, Ger-many, gave examples of German and Euro-pean missions and briefed on the policiesestablished through the Global Monitoringof Environment and Security (GMES) inEurope.
Talking on third party liability insurance,Christian Barnabe, Executive Director, AonRisk Services, France, outlined the maincharacteristics of space liability insuranceand its drivers, the main buyers andproviders and the main characteristics ofthe available insurance policies. CaptainKhalfan Alkaabi, Space ReconnaissanceCentre, Abu Dhabi, spoke on monitoringand control of remote sensing satelliteimagery distribution and services. He thendiscussed the goals and implementation ofcommercial satellite imagery policy of UAE.
The symposium also witnessed an interest-ing panel discussion. Significant observa-tions were made by Liam Weston of BallAerospace, Sanjay Kumar and Col Ali AlShhahi of SRC, UAE. The symposium onenvironment management also witnessedactive participation and interaction amongthe delegates and the speakers. Partici-pants included Adel Farid Abdel-Kader,Ph.D., Regional Coordinator, UNEP Divisionof Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA)-West, Asia, Kingdom of Bahrain, Steve Cin-derby, Stockholm Environment Institute,University of York, UK, Anil Kumar, DeputyManager, Environment Information Man-agement, Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi(EAD), Peter Nunda, GIS Manager, GreenBelt Movement, Kenya and Talaat MRamadan, Head, Minerology Department,National
Authority for Remote Sensing and SpaceSciences, Egypt.
The panel discussion revolved aroundbridging the gaps among policy makers,industry and local population. It unanimous-ly agreed that participatory GIS is a vital toolin environmental management. The panelalso sought the governments to make morelocal data available at the grassroots levelfor effective decision making.
ConclusionThe conference witnessed a workshop by Joseph Greenwood, Head-ProductDevelopment, Ordnance Survey, which dealtwith the changing roles and responsibilitiesof NMOs and exchanged the best practicesin formulating an NMO's strategy to meetthe country's objectives. The seminar onSDI for city management and governancesaw good participation from governmentand industry in the region and brought out afew success stories in the region andEurope.
GIS DEVELOPMENT 53April 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT
A big picture is essential for understanding long-term climatechange, but it largely smoothes away the "interesting" parts-theweather variability that has such a big influence on people's daily lives.This series of maps of land surfacetemperature anomalies for NorthernHemisphere winter 2009-2010 is acase in point. In late January 2010,NASA's Goddard Institute for SpaceStudies announced that the 2009average global temperature wasamong the hottest observed since1880. Looking at these maps,though, one can imagine how surprising that conclusion might havebeen to many residents of Mexico,the United States, central Canada,Sweden, or northern Russia. Each ofthose places experienced strong,sometimes deadly, cold-temperatureanomalies, and in some cases,record-breaking snow this past winter. Meanwhile, the land surfacetemperatures in eastern Canada,Greenland, northern Africa, and theMiddle East were much higher thiswinter than they were in other yearsthis decade. NASA images created by Jesse Allen.
The instrument used is Terra - MODIS
(Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer).
Text courtesy: Rebecca Lindsey
54
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