Geospatial world April 2014

Special Feature on Earth Observation P.48 Y o u r

G e o s p a t i a l

I n d u s t r y

M a g a z i n e

GEOSPATIAL WORLD TM

from increasing population, urbanisation, industrialisation, climate change...

Land is a limited resource We can create food, power, fuel...

But land is something we cannot create So how do we manage our land resources?

Effective land management is the only way out.

Read on P20

R.N.I No - UPENG/2010/34153; Registration no: UP/GBD-136/2014-16

OUR LAND IS UNDER PRESSURE

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April 2014 » VOLume 04» ISSUE 09 | ISSN 2277–3134

Mapping Africa’s Future In Africa, countries are striving to realise their future vision – to develop further, with an emphasis on infrastructure – but without accurate base map information, the development strategy cannot be executed.

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April 2014 • Vol 4 • Issue 9

Inside 43 Social Property Administration for Agrarian Governance

THEME: Land Administration

RAN-Mexico

Open New Frontiers

46 A Big Leap for a Small Nation in Land

Torsten Bondo, Anna Burzykowska and Stephen Coulson, ESA

Kate Rickersey (Dalrymple), Land Equity International

58 Mitigating Disasters with Help from Above

Reforms

Special Feature: Earth Observation

Antje Hecheltjen and Anne Knauer, UN-SPIDER

62 Crop insurance for every farmer in Africa

Cover Story 24 Global Agenda for Sustainable

Mark Noort

Tomorrow

Interview 55 Joseph F. Klimavicz,

Stig Enemark, Former FIG President

Geospatial World Survey 20 The Law of the Land

Viewpoint 48 Eye from the Sky

Article 37 Standards for Land Tenure and

CIO and Director, High Performance Computing and Communications, NOAA

Nigel Edmead, Thomson Reuters

Dr V.K. Dadhwal, Director, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), India Maranesi Marcello, CEO, e-GEOS, Italy Kumar Navalur, Director, Next-Gen Products, DigitalGlobe, USA John S. Ahlrichs, VP, International Sales, BlackBridge, Germany Nathalie Pisot, Head of Strategy and Analysis, Geo-Intelligence, Airbus Defence & Space, France

Cover Photo Courtsey: Pablo López Luz

Disclaimer Geospatial World does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors. Geospatial World is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.

Owner, Publisher & Printer Sanjay Kumar Printed at M. P. Printers B - 220, Phase-II, Noida - 201 301, Gautam Budh Nagar (UP) India Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52, Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida, India The edition contains 68 pages including cover

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Administration

Rumyana Tonchovska, Neil Pullar, David Palmer, Paul Munro-Faure, FAO

Case Studies 40 Painting a New Land Portrait of Uganda

Advisory Board

Articles 52 ESA Banks on Multilateral Agencies to

Aida Opoku Mensah

Bryn Fosburgh

Special Advisor, Post 2015 Development Agenda, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Sector Vice-President, Executive Committee Member, Trimble Navigation

Derek Clarke Chief Director-Survey and Mapping & National Geospatial Information, Rural Development & Land Reform, South Africa

Barbara Ryan Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations Chair-Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), The Netherlands

18 Product Watch 74 OGC Beat

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan Dawn J. Wright Chief Scientist, Esri

Ed Parsons Geospatial Technologist, Google

Greg Bentley CEO, Bentley Systems

Prof. Josef Strobl Prof. Ian Dowman First Vice President, ISPRS

Chair, Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

Lisa Campbell

Mark Reichardt

Chairman and CEO, Rolta Group

Vice President, Engineering & Infrastructure, Autodesk

President and CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium

Mohd Al Rajhi

Ramon Pastor

Asst Deputy Minister for Land & Surveying, Ministry of Municipal & Rural Affairs, Saudi Arabia

Vice-President and General Manager, Large Format Printing Business, Hewlett-Packard

Kamal K Singh

08 News

Dorine Burmanje

Dr. Hiroshi Murakami Director-General of Planning Department, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

07 Editorial

Stephen Lawler Chief Technology Officer, Bing Maps, Microsoft

Juergen Dold President Hexagon Geosystems

Matthew O’Connell CEO, Adhoc Holdings

Dr Swarna Subba Rao Surveyor General of India

Publisher Sanjay Kumar

Publications Team Managing Editor Prof. Arup Dasgupta Editor — Building & Energy Geoff Zeiss Editor — Agriculture Mark Noort Editor — Geospatial World Weekly (Hon) Dr. Hrishikesh Samant Executive Editor Bhanu Rekha Deputy Executive Editor Anusuya Datta Product Manager Harsha Vardhan Madiraju Sub-Editor Ridhima Kumar Graphic Designer Debjyoti Mukherjee

Vanessa Lawrence Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey, UK

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 5

From the Editor’s Desk

Convergence is the way forward for a sustainable world Prof Arup Dasgupta Managing Editor arup@geospatialmedia.net

A

n existential dilemma faced by geospatial practitioners is the retention of their unique identity as the technology becomes increasingly integrated into the day-to-day operations of different disciplines. The days of ‘remote sensing for agriculture’ and ‘GIS for rural development’ are long gone. Such titles were catchy in seminars and conferences but in the humdrum of real life it is more about crop insurance, fixing support prices, rural road connectivity and land acquisition for industries. Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS, LiDAR and other clever technologies are part of the armoury of professionals in addressing these real life issues. The professional here is a domain expert with geospatial knowledge and not the other way around.

For example, land management, the theme this month, is all about policies, processes and institutions that administer these. The administration may require, among other data, error-free measurement of plots, unique locations, details of tenure, equitable tax determination and so on. It also needs people’s participation and consent and above all transparency in all the dealings. Today modern land management must also take into account issues related to rapid urbanisation, sustainable development and the challenges of global warming and climate change. Technology does provide means of transparent, accurate and efficient data acquisition and processing but that is not the whole story.

The choice of technology is bewildering and this is where the geospatial professional can play a significant role by selecting technologies to suit the situation and finances. The integration of the land information system with e-governance and other IT systems is essential and

this is where convergence becomes important. It is here that the geospatial practitioner must necessarily submerge his identity in the general technology pool that is needed for the task on hand. The domain expert in this situation will opt for the best approach.

On the other hand, the recent advances in technologies, particularly earth observations, have opened new vistas. Here too the focus is on practical applications like land subsidence, urban development, water resources management, coastal zone management, marine environment, agriculture and forestry. It is interesting to note that ESA’s efforts in this area is not through technology-oriented institutes but through multilateral development banks, clearly illustrating the need for convergence of technologies, processes and institutions. In land management the talk is of systems ‘fit for purpose’, a term that can be extended to many other applications.

This mantra of convergence is leading to many initiatives. During a recent conclave, GeoQuest 2014, it could be observed that many geospatial companies are in the throes of acquiring companies which bring together a bouquet of technologies that can provide integrated solutions — sometimes solutions under a common GUI. Others, while remaining true to their technical prowess do acknowledge the need to converge with other systems. It is interesting to note that OGC now offers standards for many converged systems.

Therefore it is time now for all professionals to submerge their individual egos and converge to provide solutions that will lead to a sustainable world.

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 7

Americas News Business Companies pledge support for Climate Data Initiative Several public and private sector companies have extended their support to the cause of climate change preparedness during an open media discussion on the same, organised by the White House on March 19.

The discussion concluded with the launch of the Climate Data Initiative, an ambitious effort bringing together extensive open government data and design competitions with commitments from the private and philanthropic sectors to develop data-driven planning and resilience tools for local communities. As the discussions concluded, several private and public sector organisations announced new initiatives. While Esri announced that it will partner with 12 cities across the United States to create free and open maps and apps to help state and local governments plan for climate change impacts, Google said it will donate one petabyte of cloud storage for climate data, as well as 50 million hours of high-performance computing with the Google Earth Engine platform.

US Interior Dept appoints 17 members to NGAC Secretary of Interior, US, Sally Jewell has appointed 17 new members to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The advisory committee provides recommendations on geospatial policy and management issues to the Federal Geographic Data Committee. The appointees to threeyear terms are: Dan Cotter, US Department of Homeland Security; Patricia

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Cummens, Esri; Steve Emanuel, State of New Jersey; Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, University of Mississippi; Bert Granberg, State of Utah; Jack Hild, DigitalGlobe; Jeff Lovin, Woolpert; Keith Masback, US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation; Kevin Pomfret, Centre for Spatial Law and Policy; Major General William N. Reddel III, New Hampshire National Guard; Anthony Spicci, State of Missouri; Julie Sweetkind-Singer, Stanford University; Gary Thompson, State of North Carolina; Harvey Thorleifson, Minnesota Geological Survey; Molly Vogt, Oregon Metro; Jason Warzinik, Boone County, Missouri; and David Wyatt, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

USAF 2015 budget funds fewer GPS III satellites The US Air Force is proposing to scale back its planned procurement of rockets and GPS navigation satellites in 2015 while resuming the long-deferred work on a new weather satellite system. In 2013, the Air Force planned on buying two additional next-generation GPS III navigation satellites from prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems. It now plans to buy just one, according to the budget documents. The budget document also proposes allocation of money for the development of a new generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites, known as the Weather System Follow-On (WSF).

Raytheon bags $185-mn contract from NASA Raytheon has received a $185 million contract modification from NASA for the ground system for the nation’s

next polar-orbiting weather satellite constellation. The change brings Raytheon’s total contract value for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground System (CGS) to $1.7 billion. The new system is expected to increase availability and delivery speeds of data from the JPSS satellites, the first of which is scheduled for launch in 2017. The CGS will help support the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s three JPSS weather satellites through 2022.

MDA to monitor surface deformation in mines MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has signed contracts in excess of $1 million with two leading international mining customers to provide critical information to monitor surface deformation at and in the vicinity of their mines.

MDA will use its advanced contract to MDA RADARSAT-2 technology to detect subtle surface changes over a broad area. Early detection of changes, such as land shifts that could cause ground subsidence, allows remedial actions to happen before problems escalate and impact the environmental safety or production activities of the mine. MDA will also provide analytical reports that compare the historical to the current situation.

$1 mn

DigitalGlobe acquires Spatial Energy DigitalGlobe has acquired Spatial Energy, a leading source of digital

Americas News Google’s Project Tango whips up new mapping technology Google has launched a new research project aimed at bringing 3D technology to smartphones for potential applications such as indoor mapping, gaming and helping blind people navigate. Dubbed as Project Tango, it is an ambitious attempt by ATAP, a skunkworks division with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) roots, to give smartphones the ability to do realistic 3D mapping and create virtual experiences as the phone’s owner moves through the real world. Tango exists as a 5-inch Android phone prototype, running customised hardware and software which can track the full 3D motion of the device, while simultaneously creating a map of the environment.

imagery and related services to the energy industry. The acquisition will advance DigitalGlobe’s position as the leading source of geospatial information and insight. “Spatial Energy’s powerful cloud-based solution streamlines the process of acquiring and analysing complex geospatial information and aligns with our goal of delivering insight that answers vital questions for our customers. In addition, Spatial Energy provides DigitalGlobe with a talented, global sales force in the oil and gas vertical, positioning us closer to end-customers in this dynamic industry,” said Jeffrey R. Tarr, Chief Executive Officer, DigitalGlobe.

Miscellaneous GPS-based heart attack app unveiled The world’s first HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

The phone can build a single 3D model of the surrounding environment

Act)-compliant mobile application for cardiac patients and high-risk cardiac patients has been launched for the US market. Developed by Israeli Danny Oberman, the app is known as CathMaps+ and provides emergency assistance by integrating a patient’s cardiac history with an interactive map of all cath labs. CathMaps+, owned by Kickstart LLC, is available for most Android and iOS users, and

provides cardiac patients with tailored emergency tools in case of a followon incident, as well as GPS mapping of the nearest catheterisation labs in many countries around the world. It integrates a patient’s cardiac history with an interactive map of catheterisation facilities.

New tracking sys shows how far emails travel A new system called Email Miles has been developed that uses GPS technology to calculate the number of miles an email travels before reaching an inbox. The system aims to showcase how many physical miles has an email travelled before it reaches its destination. The system makes use of Internet tracking and GPS to determine from where the message was sent and where it was received.

Email Miles is a free plug-in for email programmes such as Apple’s Mail and Google’s Gmail. When an email is sent, the location of the server sending

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 9

Americas News the message is tagged into the code of the mail. Email Miles scans an email for this so-called geolocation tag. Every time an email is received by a new server, the new location tag is added to the email.

Seamless digital maps for US-Canada border The US and Canada have jointly developed new seamless digital maps which provide clearer views of waters along the borders of both countries. The maps will be helpful in solving complex water issues that require a thorough understanding of drainage systems on both sides of the international boundary. “In the past, cross-border maps were not always accurate, but now these new digital maps are fully linked across the entire US and Canadian border.

This cooperative project allows scientists on either side to look at the water just as nature does, irrespective of the artificial line separating the two nations,” said Peter Steeves, physical scientist with the USGS.

Digital surface watersheds along the US and Candian International Boundary

world’s oceans as part of an ambitious research project by Rutgers University researchers in New Jersey. Part of the Challenger Glider Mission Project, the underwater drones, each 2.2 m long, will cruise the oceans at a speed of 35 km per day gathering data about the current state of the oceans. Moving forward following a tooth-shaped gliding trajectory, the unmanned submarines will rely solely on energy from buoyancy changes to move forward.

The drones are based on the Webb Slocum glider platform developed by the American company Teledyne. Each of the gliders will be equipped with a GPS receiver together with an altitude sensor, depth sensor and an altimeter for precise navigation. Every time the unmanned submarine surfaces, it will send data to the operators via a telecommunications link provided by Iridium satellites.

Underwater drones to map world’s oceans A fleet of 16 autonomous underwater gliders will be sent off to explore the

An unmanned drone trawling through the ocean to collect data

10 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Courtesy AUVAC

Google grant supports mapping in US state A group of eight students, faculty and staff from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES) recently received a grant from Google

to map a 22,000 acre ranch in Wyoming, US. The partnership between the Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative (UHPSI) and the Ucross Foundation, which owns the ranch, will allow the FES students to construct a detailed map of the vegetation and topography of the land. The project will help the ranch monitor spurge, an invasive species of vegetation and fits into a larger initiative of cataloging land by analysing satellite images.

Brazil Microsoft maps ‘favela’ towns Microsoft has started a project to map shanty towns in Brazil, known as favelas, as it seeks to reduce the digital divide across the world. By bringing mapping infrastructure to these communities, the local economies can take advantage of localised information that is present online — which would help them to fully participate in the digital town square in ways that many in the developed online world take for granted, revealed Microsoft in a blogpost.

Europe News France Using satellites for UAV command and control The European Space Agency and the European Defense Agency (EDA) will extend their joint work on introducing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into civil European airspace through a €2.4 million ($3.4 million) campaign to test UAV command and control via satellite. The second phase of the DeSIRE project, or Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in Europe, campaign for UAV follows flights

$3.4 mn

in 2013 of an Israeli-built Heron UAV flying unsegregated air routes over Spain. Under the new agreement, ESA and EDA will test the use of UAVs for environmental monitoring and maritime surveillance beyond the line of sight of ground antennas to manage the unmanned vehicle’s performance.

Scotland Glasgow city council to publish OS map data Scotland’s largest council, Glasgow, has signed a nine-month licensing agreement to make data from Ordnance Survey (OS) maps available online. Under the deal, Glasgow City Council will place the information on its new open data portal. The trial has been regarded as a first of its kind initiative in the UK. Glasgow has been working in partnership with the national mapping authority to release information which has been

produced using Ordnance Survey data and mapping. Under the new agreement, data produced using Ordnance Survey’s detailed maps will be made available through the new open data portal. It could include anything from the location of cycle racks to gritting bins and recycling services.

Belgium EC launches Open Transport Net project Partners from six European countries — Belgium, France, Greece, Latvia, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom — have launched Open Transport Net (OTN) project.

OTN is a new European Commission funded project that aims to challenge the monopoly which large commercial vendors such as Google currently enjoy over geographic or geospatial data (GI). OTN will help to unleash public and private sector value in the area of transportation by creating collaborative virtual service hubs that aggregate, harmonise and visualise open transport-related data from a wide variety of sources to drive the rapid creation of innovative new applications and services.

range of environmental and security applications and decisions. “The budget for both European flagship space programmes, Copernicus and Galileo, for the next seven years is secured. Almost €12 billion will be invested in space technologies. It is my priority to make sure that this budget will multiply the benefits that European citizens will reap from our space programmes,” said European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship.

UK Crowdsourcing project to gather navigational data An innovative ocean mapping project, Teamsurv, is asking boat owners to help with logging the data about the world’s sea beds. Mariners are asked to log depth and position data whilst they are at sea, and upload the data to the Web for processing and display. The project is looking for thousands of boats to collect information using a small device that will be kept on board. Using this instrument, Teamsurv will be able to build up detailed maps of sea depths as boats go about their voyages.

European Parliament adopts Copernicus The European Parliament has given a green signal to Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation programme.

The Copernicus Regulation will ensure regular earth observation and monitoring of earth sub-systems, the atmosphere, oceans, continental surfaces, and will provide reliable information in support of a broad

Data logged by TeamSurv data loggers

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 11

Europe News Germany

Netherlands

Ireland

EUSI to distribute Skybox products

Fugro acquires 3D mapping solutions firm Roames

Property tax undervaluers targeted via Google Maps

European Space Imaging (EUSI) has signed an agreement with Emirates Space Imaging (ESI) to host a ground station and deliver products and services from the new Skybox Imaging (Skybox) SkySat constellation. ESI has given European Space Imaging the distribution rights for Europe, North Africa and CIS countries. EUSI’s parent company, Space Imaging Middle East (SIME), has also entered into a similar arrangement for the Middle East region. Both companies will soon start delivering global, timely, sub-meter resolution satellite imagery and highresolution, high-definition video to a wide range of customers.

Fugro has acquired Roames Asset Services (Roames), based in Brisbane, Australia, from Ergon Energy Corporation (Ergon). Roames (previously a services unit within Ergon) specialises in high-resolution mapping services and solutions for the electricity distribution sector.

Roames uses airborne sensors to generate accurate 3D models of electric power transmission networks and surrounding vegetation. The data collected through LiDAR and digital imagery are processed in a highly automated way. This enables electric utility companies to take preventative measures to cost effectively review and maintain their infrastructure.

The Revenue Commissioners in Ireland are using Google Street View and Maps to check up on those who may have undervalued their homes to reduce their level of property tax.

Revenue officials are mapping out every property in Ireland in order to highlight owners whose homes are valued significantly less than those of their neighbours. The nationwide map will show the identity of the homeowners in question and their PPS numbers. If people think they have undervalued, they will have an opportunity to correct the value of their property online. People can self-correct without fear of interest and penalties.

German court invalidates Microsoft mapping patent The German Federal Patent Court has invalidated a Microsoft mapping patent because it lacked an inventive step. Microsoft sued Motorola Mobility and Google in the Regional Court of Munich in October 2011, alleging it infringed on a patent that describes a method of obtaining a map from one database, resource information such as shop locations from a second database, and overlaying the two sets of data. Google Maps, which Motorola installed on its Android phones, uses a technique like this, according to the company.

Motorola Mobility was initially the only target in that case, but Microsoft added Google because Motorola maintained that it lacked sufficient information about actions occurring on Google’s servers.

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Sweden Hexagon acquires Aibotix Hexagon has acquired Aibotix, a manufacturer of intelligent multicopter systems for high-efficiency aerial applications. Headquartered in Kassel, Germany, Aibotix is the maker of Aibot X6, a new generation of Aibot X6 vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). “The Aibotix acquisition is an important addition to Hexagon’s photogrammetric and mapping technologies portfolio.

The growing number of applications for UAV-based solutions offers huge growth potential, especially in areas that require frequent and local updates such as smart city applications, dynamic GIS and emergency response,” said Ola Rollén, President and CEO, Hexagon AB.

Asia News

Malaysia Missing Malaysian flight MH370: Is satellite data not enough?

We live in an age and era where technology tracks our every little movement. Why then it is so difficult to find a plane like MH370? The Malaysian Airlines flight went missing on March 8, and every new piece of information seems to shroud the flight’s disappearance in more mystery. Theories ranged from hijacking to sabotage to a possible suicide by one of the pilots. Finally, citing satellite-data analysis by British firm Inmarsat, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has concluded that the flight, which vanished while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, had crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean and none of the passengers or crew on board survived.

Twelve countries joined in for the search-andrescue efforts. China deployed 10 high-resolution satellites to scurry South China Sea, DigitalGlobe opened its crowdsourcing platform Tomnod and Airbus Defence and Space mobilised its five satellites to find some leads. NASA also actively joined the hunt Courtesy: Dailymail for the missing plane. Despite Australian, French and Chinese satellites producing images of possible debris in the southern search corridor in Australia, no concrete proof emerged. This tragedy has provided a convincing case for the necessity of continuous and uninterrupted monitoring of our planet, and though there are a ‘plethora’ of imaging sensors orbiting, none were looking ‘where and when’ it was most needed. As for what actually happened to flight MH370, we still don’t know.

UAE Drones to be used for government services The United Arab Emirates is planning to use unmanned aerial drones to deliver official documents and packages to its citizens as part of efforts to upgrade government services.

“This is the first project of its kind in the world. The drones would be tested for durability and efficiency in

Dubai for six months, before being introduced across the UAE within a year. Services would initially include delivery of identity cards, driving licenses and other permits,” said Mohammed al-Gergawi, minister of cabinet affairs.

Dubai first Arab city on Google Street View Google has announced that Dubai will be the first Arab city to be

available on the Street View, a feature that offers 360-degree, panoramic, and streetlevel imagery of a selected street.

Currently, images from 48 countries are available. The images are captured by special cars equipped with camera that record their surroundings as they drive down the street. Google said it might also offers Street View inside malls in Dubai.

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 13

Asia News Indonesia Geojournalism takes off with Ekuatorial website As journalists continue to embrace mapping and online technologies to report local news to a global audi-

Oceanic Administration (SOA) said. It took three years of work by the aviation law enforcement forces with the China Marine Surveillance (CMS) to complete the collection of data.

India 360-degree imagery of heritage sites unveiled

ence within context, the Society of Indonesian Environmental Journalists (SIEJ) in collaboration with the Earth Journalism Network has launched the Ekuatorial site in Indonesia. The site provides easy to interpret, upto-date, and sharable maps about Indonesia’s oceans, forests, and natural disasters overlaid with stories contributed by member journalists from the SIEJ and partner media houses.

China Surveillance data of 10,000+ islands collected China has collected detailed topographic data and images of over 10,000 islands using aerial remote sensing to improve surveillance. The completion of the project marks China’s first ‘systematic and comprehensive’ move to collect surveillance information on more than 10,500 islands within its territory, the State

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Google has released the first 360-degree online imagery of 30 iconic Indian heritage sites through Street View, with the support of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

With this, people around the world will be able to explore the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Qutab Minar and other national Indian monuments online on Google Maps and the Google Cultural Institute, and on the link g.co/ treks. The Internet giant has also released indoor maps for 75 locations in the country. Users of Google Maps on Android and iOS can now access the floor plans of 75 places in 22 Indian cities. Most of these 75 places are shopping malls but museums and convention halls also find a mention in the list.

India to promote g-tech with BRICS partners India is planning to collaborate with the BRICS countries in science and technology to develop innovative products, services and processes, critical to its and the grouping’s growing economies. The five sectors picked by the ministers are geospatial technology and its applications; alternative and renewable energy; astronomy; climate change and mitigation of natural disasters; and water resources and pollution treat-

ment. India will lead with geospatial technology and its application, while Brazil with climate change and natural disasters. Russia will head water resources and pollution treatment. New and renewable energy and energy efficiency will be led by China while South Africa would steer astronomy.

India to launch EO satellites for China The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch three DMC-3 earth observation satellites for China by the end of 2015. ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch the satellites. The one-meter DMC-3 satellites are being built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSLT) in the United Kingdom. The satellites will be leased to Beijingbased Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Company (21AT) for a period of seven years. The three satellites form a new constellation, DMC-3, with daily revisit times, which is crucial for change detection, disaster monitoring and response planning, and essential for acquiring cloud-free imagery, according to the SSLT website.

Russia GLONASS ground stations to be deployed Russia is planning to deploy up to seven ground stations for GLONASS satellite navigation system monitoring and augmentation outside of the national territory in 2014, according to GLONASS/GNSS Forum Association Executive Director Vladimir Klimov.

Asia News

Malaysia Geospatial tech to help in sustainable industrialisation As the fallouts of the global slowdown continues to play across the world, the Malaysian economy, which has shown great resilience even in the most difficult times must now move towards technology adoption and enhancDatuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Mohd Noor, Minister of ing capabilities to continue on the growth path. This was the message Local Government and Housing, Sabah inaugurating the forum from Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Mohd Noor, Minister of Local Government and Housing, Sabah at the Malaysia Geospatial Forum. Over 450 participants from 10 countries attended the conference. The Forum was co-organised with the Sabah International Surveyors’ Congress 2014 in Sabah with the theme: Fostering Domestic Capacity for Economic Growth. Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakun Haji Johari, President and Chief Executive, Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA), also invited the geospatial industry to contribute towards the goal of sustainable development. Given the recent discovery of oil and gas resources, the Sabah region is now a hotbed for the energy sector and this is also where the most advanced mining technologies could play a big role. Lee Ming Tong, Advisor, Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) Lahad Datu highlighted how geospatial technology involving remote sensing, GIS, GPS could play a significant role in the development of the palm oil sector by making it more sustainable, environment friendly and cost-effective.

Africa News

Namibia After a year of field-testing, the World Wildlife Fund announced that unmanned aircraft and related systems can be effective in deterring poaching in Africa. The WWF worked with the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism on a project funded by the Google Global Impact Award, which included field-testing in two national parks in Namibia in 2013. The team tested several unmanned aircraft, including from Colorado-based Falcon UAV, and subsequently decided to use the Falcon in all the rhino and elephant areas monitored in Namibia. Combined with radio-frequency identification chips, ground-based sensors and other hardware and software, the UAV was able to help monitor wildlife The WWF and MET antipoaching team in Namibia with Falcon UAV’s fixed-wing unmanned aircraft movements.

South Africa First violence mapping project unveiled The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), South Africa, has launched the coun-

try’s first open access project to map all forms of public violence. Building on existing academic research and efforts to monitor protest action, the institute will track levels of public violence over time, as well as responses to incidents.

Each incident is uploaded onto a map to produce a picture of where hotspots exist and where they may be emerging. The results of this project will improve the way in which police, and government departments respond during such situations.

deCarta, TomTom Africa sign distribution deal TomTom Africa has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with

16 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Courtesy: Helge Denker, WWF Namibia

Unmanned aircraft to curb poaching

deCarta. The agreement will see TomTom Africa providing an integrated digital mapping offering running on deCarta’s acclaimed LBS platform which currently features over 30 million users across the world. The deCarta agreement will make it possible for companies operating in Africa to have free access, during the development phase, to a wide range of LBS application programming interfaces and services. TomTom Africa will then provide hosting services for its production applications.

Tunisia Monastir airport uses EU satellite navigation system New satellite navigation systems are being introduced at Monastir airport with the assistance of the EU-funded MEDUSA project, implemented under the Euromed Transport GNSS II project. MEDUSA had validated GNSS-based Localiser Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) approach procedures designed by the project for Monastir airport, as part of the project’s assistance actions for promoting the use of satellite navigation in the Euro-Mediterranean partner countries. Only a few months after the availability of partial EGNOS coverage in North Africa, the validation flights campaign was carried out with the support of the European Satellite Services Provider, the EGNOS Services Provider, which performed the EGNOS feasibility assessment.

MEDUSA is also helping the Tunisian authorities in the future publication of the validated procedures and in the process for the operational adoption of GNSS in aviation.

Australia/Oceania News

New cadastre strategy to shape up the future Surveyor-General of New Zealand has released Cadastre 2034 strategy.

Cadastre 2034 project includes official survey plans, information about boundary marks, survey measurements, and other supporting information provided by surveyors. The Cadastre 2034 strategy will look to set New Zealand’s cadastral system within the wider location system as part of a broader property rights framework. “While New Zealand already has a world-class cadastral system, a gap is developing between what we have now and will be needed in future. Advances in location-based technology in the next 20 years will transform the expectations of landowners, businesses, government agencies and the general public,” said Maurice Williamson, Land Information Minister, New Zealand.

3D models to improve disaster recovery Land Information New Zealand has released a new set of 3D models of central Christchurch which will make it easier for citizens and city planners to visualise the inner city as it was before it was damaged by an earthquake on September 4, 2010. The release is facilitated by 3D Enabled Cities — one of eight projects in the Canterbury Spatial Data Infrastructure Programme that began in 2013 to support the recovery effort by enabling improved sharing of location-based information between government agencies and the private sector. The model set is a virtual

record of the buildings that existed prior to September 2010, and the buildings that remain today. It covers commercial, heritage, and major apartment buildings in 36 ‘core city blocks’ and four ‘outer CBD blocks’.

uncertainty.” The map provides a reliable benchmark for Australia to monitor the influence that changes in land cover, climate, land management and greenhouse gas offset activities have on soil carbon stocks.

Australia

Australia uses drones for coastal mapping

Soil carbon baseline mapped

A coastal landscape mapping project using aerial drones is adding a new dimension of insight to Deakin University research in Australia.

Victorian UAS Training is surveying coastal areas from 100 metres above to create high resolution 3D maps in Ballarat, Australia. The joint partnership with Deakin University aims to provide in-depth detail of Warrnambool’s coastal environments and habitat, including shoreline erosion and wildlife behaviors at Middle Island, Lady Bay, Merri River, Hopkins River and Logans Beach. “The autopiloted, fully autonomous device has a 2-metre wingspan and stitches together multiple three-dimensional images to create the mapping data.

People probably recognise the concept from Google Earth. It’s a little different to Google Maps because the resolution is much, much higher,” said Mathew Herbert, Victorian UAS Training Director.

A new map of Australia’s stored soil carbon has been developed by CSIRO, and provides an important benchmark against which Australia can track future changes in soil carbon storage or sequestration.

Providing the most detailed and accurate representation of soil organic carbon stocks so far — to a depth of 30cm, at a national scale — the 2010 soil organic carbon map for Australia draws on soil sampling data and innovative prediction methods.

The map includes an estimate of soil carbon stock and an estimate of the uncertainty for area which measures to approximately 2 billion footballfields across Australia. According to lead researcher, Dr Raphael Viscarra Rossel, the map is “the first effective nationwide baseline of organic carbon levels in the top 30cm of soil, which comes with estimates of

Courtesy: CSIRO

New Zealand

Product Watch Leica Steer Direct ES Plus,

a steering solution for farmers Leica Geosystems has released Leica SteerDirect ES Plus, the enhanced successor to the Leica SteerDirect ES. The system gives farmers an independent steering solution to improve accuracy by diminishing skips and overlaps, saving fuel, fertiliser, chemicals, and reducing operator fatigue. It is a flexible solution that enables assisted steering on most tractor, sprayer and harvester models. Once installed, the electro-mechanical drive unit latches on and off effortlessly enabling quick and simple transfer across multiple vehicles via the innovative switch kit. Installation does not require removal or replacement of the steering wheel.

Focus3D X 130,

the mid-range laser scanner FARO Technologies has launched a new FARO laser scanner model called Focus3D X 130. With a scanning range of 130 meters, it is ideal for mid-range scanning applications such as architecture, BIM, civil engineering, facility management, industrial manufacturing, forensics, and accident reconstruction. It records architectural façades, complex structures, production and supply facilities, accident sites, and large-volume components. With its integrated GPS receiver, the device is able to correlate individual scans in post-processing. The scanner has battery runtime of 4.5 hours and a high level of flexibility and endurance.

Key features • Distance accuracy up to ±2mm.

• Range from 0.6m up to 130m.

• Noise reduction 50%.

• Multi-Sensor: GPS, Compass, height sensor, dual axis compensator.

18 / Geospatial World / April 2014

RiALITY,

iOS app for LiDAR visualisation RIEGL has unveiled the world’s first iOS app, RiALITY, that lets users visualise point clouds — containing up to 2.5 million LiDAR points — in RiALITY’s augmented reality mode traditional 3D and in augmented reality, on iPad. The new, innovative app, the first of its kind, allows users to experience LiDAR data in a completely new environment. RiALITY features true colour point clouds and 3D navigation. In a breakthrough technological development, the app features an augmented reality mode which allows point clouds to be virtually projected into the real world. The new iPad point cloud viewer is available for free in the iTunes App Store.

Key features • Touch navigation: Use standard touch gestures to navigate through the point cloud.

• Augmented reality: Print a reference image and experience point clouds in augmented reality.

• Single colour and True colour mode for point clouds.

• Adjustable point size.

• Orthographic and perspective visualisation mode.

Sokkia DX-200, a total

station for North American market Sokkia Corporation has added enhanced abilities and versatility to its DX series of total stations with the introduction of the DX-200 in the North American market. The DX-200 is ideal for the professional looking for a mid-range, auto-pointing total station that can become a full-robotic instrument with a simple firmware upgrade.

Advanced functionality such as hybrid positioning can be added to the robotic unit, making the DX-200 a versatile system for multiple applications.

Key features • It can be used with the RC-PR5 remote controller for increased Bluetooth wireless operating range.

• When configured for hybrid positioning, the DX-200 has the ability to use both GNSS positioning and optical positioning data simultaneously.

• The DX-200 is available in 1, 3 and 5 arc second accuracy models.

Land Administration / Survey

The

Organising and improving land administration system is not an option but a need and necessity for every country. Getting this system in place ensures better management and utilisation of natural and man-made resources, and infrastructure. Land as a sector is also one of the primary users and producers of spatial data, the very basis on which geospatial industry rests. In an endeavour to understand land management processes across the world, Geospatial World undertook a survey in various countries. A total of 70 national agencies responsible for cadastral maps and land registry from different parts of the world were approached with open-ended questionnaires on the status of land administration, the challenges and opportunities. The survey focuses on two key aspects of land administration, i.e. cadastral mapping and land registration. Here is a snapshot:

LAW LAND of the

Cadastral Mapping • It was observed that most countries which are economically and technologically developed were also the early adopters of land administration systems (LAS).

• These include most Western European and Nordic countries, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States to name a few.

• The developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America opened up to the importance of reorganisation of its land assets only in the mid 20th century and are now actively working to modernise their LAS. 20 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Availability of maps

In developed countries, a wider range of map resolutions are available in digital format, while developing countries are either using paper maps or are in the process of digitising them.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Developing Developed

1:500

1:1,000

1:2,000

1:5,000

1:10,000

Frequency of re-survey

A large number of developing countries are not able to frequently re-survey their land to update their cadastral maps. Perhaps due to shortage of resources, they are able to conduct re-survey either on demand or unable to conduct surveys at all. On the other hand, the developed countries frequently update their cadastral maps or are at least able to do so on demand basis.

Developing countries Developed countries

Challenges Data

50%

38%

22%

On demand

In frequent

Frequent

Technology

Frequent

On demand

78%

12% Features on cadastre maps

Developed countries have more features embedded in their cadastral maps as compared to developing countries. The most common feature found on cadastral maps include boundaries, both administrative and parcel, followed by parcel coordinates/dimensions/number, land-use data, geographical names/address/building identifiers etc.

8 7

Developing Developed

6 5 4 3 2 1

sca le

• Application of new technology • Continuous support/ maintenance and upgrade of computerised systems • Establishment of geospatial information standards

Human Resource & Capacity Development • Dearth of technical expertise • Continuous training of staff • Resistance to change as observed in different players, including grassroot level workers, administrators, politicians and even surveyors • Lack of exposure to technologies/ideas

Cost and Infrastructure

Map

s, e ase m

ents

tax Bur

den

Pro per ty

3D

buil ding

s

s

p

tion tric Res

Lan d ow ners hi

d co ver Lan

raph

ical

info

mes Top og

hica l na

e Lan

d us

Geo grap

tion orm a

Par cel inf

nda

ries

0

Bou

No. of responses

• Lack of up-to-date cadastral maps, records, and reports • Digitisation of archives • Information/data silos • Duplication of efforts • Use of different ID/referencing systems in all three agencies — cadastre, registration and tax — making it difficult for getting the information on one platform

• Ineffective infrastructure for land management • Difficult and costly access to cadastral information and maps Continued on Page 23

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 21

Land Administration / Survey

Geospatial technologies for cadastral mapping 8

Developing Developed

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

No. of responses

The most popular technology used for cadastral mapping is GNSS, followed by aerial photography, high resolution satellite imagery, total stations and traditional surveying techniques. More number of developing countries are using traditional surveying techniques like chain survey as compared to developed countries. Also, the number of countries using modern techniques is more in developed world than the developing world.

GNSS

Aerial photography/ Total stations etc Traditional surveying satellite imagery

Popular uses of cadastral maps The usage pattern of cadastral maps for various purposes other than land registration, brings out some interesting facts: they are being used for implementing and planning of energy/infrastructure projects, banking/insurance, local governance concerns like planning and management of services for health, education, urban planning, garbage collection etc., taxation, disaster management/ public safety, spatial planning, statistical purposes etc. Interestingly one developed country responded that its cadastral maps are not used at all, as they are still very primitive! This, of course, is just one case and not the norm.

Scope and methodology Countries in East Asia & Pacific; Europe & Central Asia and OECD high income regions were grouped into ‘Developed countries’ while ‘Developing countries’ were in Latin America & Caribbean; Middle East & North Africa; South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The break-up of responses received are:

6

21 total responses received 9 from developed countries

5 Developing Developed

4 3 2 1

e mgm t

Non

urce

I rout ing

NSD

ural

reso

ion/ igat Nav

king

/ins u

ranc e Lan d us Loc e al g ove rnan ce Disa ster Taxa mgm tion t/pu blic safe ty Spa tial plan Stat ning istic al p urp ose s

Ene rg

22 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Ban

fras

truc

ture

0

y/in

No. of responses

Geographical break-up of the respondents: 4 Eastern European countries 6 African countries 3 Asian countries 3 Nordic countries 5 Western European countries 4 private sector consultants were also interviewed on their views and experience of working in land administration sector across the globe

Nat

12 from developing countries

Continued from Page 21

Land Registration Days and procedures for property registration The graph illustrates the comparison between developing and developed countries in terms of number of days for property registration and the number of procedures involved for the process. It has been created using data from World Bank. Developing countries usually take more number of days and have more number of procedures to register property, as compared to developed countries. This is a key parameter to estimate the ease of doing business, and ostensibly, the group of developed nations score better in this.

70 60 50 40

64.07 Developing Developed

43.8

Legal and Political

30 20 10 0

6.25 No. of days

5.33

No. of procedures

Primary land owner There is a stark difference between the two worlds in terms of primary ownership of land: while in almost all of the developing countries, the primary owner of land was found to be the State, in the developed countries, land was primarily found to be owned by private individuals.

No. of responses

• Multiple entry points to land administration set-up • Handling high number of transactions in current set-up • Handling informal transactions • High capital outlay and financial requirements for the implementation of modernisation programmes • Low level of property development • Slow process of developing NSDI, completion of titling over remaining untitled lands

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

Developing Developed

Private

State/chiefs

State & private

Survey conducted and analysed by Megha Datta, Industry Manager-NGIOs, Geospatial Media & Communications, megha@geospatialmedia.net

• Land disputes management • Legacy of land deprivation, skewed commercial farm ownership • State autonomy creates problems of control in selecting a system for land administration • All land vested with monarchy — except free-hold/title deed land • Traditional structures — chiefs in charge • Creating awareness about advantages of proper land administration • Re-aligning all relevant legislations with the constitution • Creating a platform for a possible buy-in by stakeholders • Existing regulations do not support the positive and electronic system and land tenure guarantee/assurance • Lack of clear RoI models to motivate administrators to prioritise land administration concerns over other issues • Self-serving attitude of legal, administrative, political players Geospatial World / April 2014 / 23

Earth Observation/Development Cover Story/Land Management

Global Agenda for While governing the people-to-land relationships, land governance and the operational component of land administration systems need a spatial framework of large-scale mapping to operate. There is an urgent need to build simple and basic systems using a flexible and low-cost approach to identify the way land is occupied and used.

By Stig Enemark, Former FIG President

T

he best way to experience land management in practice is to ask for a window seat in the aeroplane. What you see of the land-use pattern on the ground is a picture of the land management process of the area/country you are flying over. Good or bad, the land management process of a country is the outcome of adopted land policies and implementation through land-use planning and administration; or sometimes it may be the result of the lack of such policies and sound institu-

24 / Geospatial World / April 2014

tions for land administration.

Land management is not a technical discipline. Land management and governance is about the policies, processes and institutions by which land, property and natural resources are managed. Sound land management requires a legal regulatory framework and operational land administration processes to implement policies in sustainable ways. Sound land management and governance should also support the global agenda by addressing issues such climate change, the

The Connection Chain Sustainable Development Economic, Social & Environmental Effective Land Use Management

Efficient Land Market Land Tenure Titles, mortgages & easements Secure legal rights

Land Value Assessment of land value Collection of property tax

Land Development Construction planning and permits Regulation and implementation Secure legal rights

Land Use Policies and spatial planning Control of land use

Land Information Cadastral and topographic data Geospatial data infrastructures

Land Policies

Institutional Framework

Figure 1: A global land management perspective (Williamson et al, 2010)

Millennium Development Goals, responsible governance of tenure, human rights, rapid urbanisation, and the overall issue of sustainable development.

Land management & administration

Land administration systems provide a country with an infrastructure for implementation of land policies and land management strategies in support of sustainable development. This is not a new discipline but has evolved out of the cadastre and land registration areas with specific focus on security of land rights. The need to address land management issues systematically pushes the design of land administration systems towards an enabling infrastructure for implementing land policies. Such a global land management perspective is presented in Figure 1.

The operational component of the land management concept is the range of land administration functions that include the areas of land tenure (securing and transferring rights in land and natural resources); land value (valuation and taxation of land and properties); land use (planning and control of the use of land and natural resources); and land development (implementing utilities, infrastructure, and construction planning). The four functions interact to deliver overall policy objectives, and they are facilitated by appropriate land information infrastructures that include cadastral and topographic datasets linking the built and natural environment.

These four functions ensure the proper management of rights, restrictions, and responsibilities in relation to property, land and natural resources. Ultimately, the design of adequate systems of land tenure and land value should support efficient land markets capable of supporting trading in

simple and complex commodities. The design of adequate systems to deliver land-use control and land development should lead to effective land-use management. The combination of efficient land markets and effective land-use management is then seen as a key component in delivering economic, social and environmental sustainable development.

Sound land administration systems deliver a range of benefits to the society in terms of: support to governance and the rule of law; alleviation of poverty; security of tenure; support for formal land markets; security for credit; support for land and property taxation; protection of state lands; management of land disputes; and improvement of landuse planning and implementation. The systems enable the

Land-use pattern as seen from an aeroplane

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 25

Earth Observation/Development Cover Story/Land Management

Courtesy: UNEP/GRIID Arendal

The Real Picture

Figure 2: A hypothetical world map generated using the gross domestic product as the scale for territorial size (2002)

implementation of land policies to fulfil political and social objectives and to achieve sustainable development.

Sound land management requires operational processes to implement land policies in comprehensive and sustainable ways. Many countries, however, tend to separate land tenure rights from land-use opportunities, thereby undermining their capacity to link planning and land-use controls with land val-

ues and the operation of the land market. These problems are often compounded by poor administrative and management procedures that fail to deliver required services. Investment in new technology will only provide limited solutions in the major task of solving a much deeper problem, namely the failure to treat land and natural resources as a coherent whole.

Many countries tend to separate land tenure rights from land-use opportunities, thereby undermining their capacity to link planning and land-use controls with land values and operation of the land market

The global agenda is three-fold and has changed over the recent decades. In the 1990s, the focus was on sustainable development; in the 2000s the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted as the overarching agenda; and in the 2010s there is an increasing focus on climate change and related challenges such as natural disasters, food shortage and environmental degradation. Finally, rapid urbanisation has appeared as a general trend that in itself has a significant impact on climate change and sustainability.

Good land management and governance should be seen as a means in support of the global agenda. If a hypothetical map of the world is generated by using the gross domestic product as the scale for territorial size — the so-called western regions North America, Western Europe, South Korea

26 / Geospatial World / April 2014

The global agenda

and Japan would “balloon” while other regions such as Africa and Central Asia would almost disappear (Figure 2). The global agenda is very much about bringing this map back to scale through poverty eradication, improving education and health, facilitating economic development, encouraging good governance, and ensuring sustainability.

Sustainable development

The global partnership for sustainable development as established through the UN Agenda 21 is a global action plan for sustainable development into the 21st century. Sustainable development is a process that aims to meet the needs of the present generation without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is not only about particular environmental issues such as species extinction and pollution but also about economic progress which meets all our needs without leaving future generations with fewer resources than we enjoy (UN, 1992).

This global partnership is still the foundation of the global agenda. In striving for sustainability most countries have recognised the fundamental relationship between people and land. The overall goal of sustainable development is an equitably distributed level of economic and social well-being that can be sustained over many generations while maintaining the quality of the environment. This calls for the elimination of poverty and deprivation, and it requires the conservation and enhancement of the resource base.

Land not only contributes to wealth and economic development but also is a part of the social and political fabric that sustains all communities. Additionally, land represents a fundamental component of ecosystems. Managing the relationship between land and people inevitably and universally raises emotions and is at the heart of many cultural sensitivities. It is of crucial importance that the issues raised by land governance, management and administration are openly and sensitively addressed.

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) form a blueprint agreed upon by all the world’s countries and the leading development institutions. The first seven goals are mutually reinforcing and are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal — global partnership for development — is about the means to achieve the first seven. These goals are now placed at the heart of the global agenda. To track the progress in achieving the MDGs, a framework of targets and indicators is developed. This framework includes 18 targets and 48 indicators enabling the on-going monitoring of the progress that is reported on annually (UN, 2000).

MDG Goal 1 targets to bring down by 50% the propor-

The Three-fold Global Agenda Sustainable Development (1990s) • Economic • Social • Environmental Millennium Development Goals (2000s) • Poverty alleviation • Human health, education • Global partnership Climate Change (2010s) • Natural disasters • Food shortage • Environmental degradation

tion of people whose income is less than $1 per day between 1990 and 2015. At a global scale, this target will actually be met — but with huge deviations for various regions throughout the world. The big contribution to meeting the target comes from China and Southeast Asia while poverty alleviation in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa is progressing at a much slower pace or hardly moving at all.

The Sub-Saharan Africa region has seen many positive developments and experienced progress in several areas in the past decade, primarily thanks to Africa’s own efforts and reforms. Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been considerable with a rate of above 5% per year for more than a decade. Projections of the World Bank indicates that this will continue for the years ahead while the global economy will grow at only 2.5% (and only about 1% in Western economies). So, Africa is expected to grow twice as fast as the global economy. However, Sub-Saharan Africa is still mostly poor and has been unable to translate its recent robust growth into rapid poverty reduction. Compared to other developing regions Sub-Saharan Africa has generally been left behind and are struggling with issues such as insecurity of tenure, informal settlements and urban slums, land ownership inequalities and landlessness, and degrading of natural resources. These facts indicate that poor land governance, including the manner

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 27

Earth Observation/Development Cover Story/Land Management the contribution of good land governance is vital. This perspective will also continue for the post 2015-development agenda for ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ where indicators are currently being considered for measuring the further progress, e.g. in relation to secured land rights, equal rights of women, and legal recognition of the continuum of land rights (FIG/World Bank, 2010).

Courtesy: Christiaan Lemmen

Land Governance Assessment Framework

Satellite imagery as basis for data collection. People immediately recognise the roads and spatial units on the images.

in which land rights are defined and administered, may be the root of the problem (Byamugisha, 2013).

The World Bank has addressed this problem in a new publication, Securing Africa´s Land for Shared Prosperity, presenting a 10-point programme to scale up land policy reforms and investments for improving land governance in sub-Saharan Africa. The key elements include: improving tenure security and land access; increasing efficiency and transparency in land administration services; developing capacity in land administration; and increasing scope and effectiveness of land-use planning. The programme indicates that it would cost African countries and their development partners a $4.5-billion spread over 10 years to scale up these policy reforms and investments.

The MDGs are also a good example of the phrase: “If we can measure it, we can better it”. This phrase relates to the fact, that without a road map for measuring the progress, most UN or government pronouncements will have little impact and are easily forgotten — no matter how well-meaning they may be.

But by monitoring and documenting the on-going progress, governments can justify activities and costs and also attract donor money toward meeting the country specific targets.

Land management and administration play an important role in providing the relevant statistics in measuring such progress.

MDGs do not mention land management and governance or security of tenure in specific terms. However, MDGs represent a wider concept or a vision for the future, where

28 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Another good example of measuring and monitoring is the Land Governance Assessment framework (LGAF) developed by the World Bank in conjunction with UN and other partners. The LGAF provides a holistic diagnostic review at the country level that can inform policy dialogue in a clear and targetted manner. This quick and innovative tool to monitor land governance is built around five main areas for policy intervention: rights recognition and enforcement; land-use planning, land management, and taxation; management of public land; public provision of land information; and dispute resolution and conflict management. The LGAF helps policymakers and other stakeholders to make sense of the technical levels of the land sector, benchmark governance, prioritise reforms in the land sector and identify areas that require further attention (World Bank, 2011). Further examples are the annual World Bank “Doing Business” reports, and the annual “Corruption Perception” Index of Transparency International that are both available on the Web.

Responsible governance of tenure

In regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, more than two-thirds (in some countries as much as 90%) of the land is outside

Customary tenure areas are normally outside the formal land registration system; a case of Malawi

Earth Observation/Development Cover Story/Land Management

Perceived tenure approaches

Occupancy

Adverse possession

Leases

Formal land rights

Informal land rights

Customary

Anti evictions

Group tenure

Registered freehold

Continuum of land rights, FIG/GLTN

the formal systems of land registration and administration.

This means that the existing formal systems do not serve the millions of people whose tenures are predominantly social rather than legal.

UN-HABITAT has developed an innovative approach through the so-called “Social Tenure Domain Model” (STDM) that includes a “scaling up approach” with a range of steps from informal to more formalised land rights (FIG/ GLTN, 2010). This continuum of land rights does not mean that societies will develop into freehold tenure systems, but rather that each step in the process can be formalised, with registered freeholds providing a stronger protection, than at earlier stages.

Furthermore, responsible governance of tenure is now incorporated as part of the global agenda through the recently published Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure, (see article on Page 37). The guidelines are an international “soft law instrument” that represents a global consensus on internationally accepted principles and standards for responsible practices. The guidelines promote secure tenure rights and equitable access to land as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment.

The guidelines outline principles and practices that governments can refer to when making laws and administering land, fisheries and forest rights. While the guidelines acknowledge that responsible investments by the public and private sectors are essential for improving food security, they also recommend that safeguards be put in place to protect tenure rights of local people from risks that could arise from large-scale land acquisitions, and also to protect human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment. The guidelines thereby place tenure rights in the context of human rights such as the right to adequate food and housing.

Land ownership and secure tenure can be a vital source of capital, which opens personal credit markets, leads to investments in land buildings, provides a social safety net, and transfers wealth to next generation. However, in sever-

30 / Geospatial World / April 2014

al less developed countries most people do not have legal documents for the land they occupy or use and thereby fall outside the formal management system. This means that most decisions are made without information. This will cause dysfunctionalities in the management of urban and rural areas from the household up to government level, which impair the lives of millions of people — (UN-HABITAT, GLTN, 2012).

Human rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948) states the universal rights of human beings based on the principle of respect for individuals — rights that can be enjoyed by everyone simple because of being alive. In relation to land and governance, the Declaration states that everyone has the right to adequate standard of living including housing, food, clothing, medical help and social services. This is further interpreted by the UN as merely a social right to “minimal property” such as “adequate food, clothing and housing”, and further, that the right to housing should not be understood in a narrow sense which equates it with for example the shelter — while, rather, it should be seen as the right to live somewhere

Fast Facts 70% of the growth currently

happens outside of the formal planning process

30% of urban population in less developed countries is living in slums or informal settlements 90% of all new urban settlements are taking the form of slums in sub-Saharan Africa

The issue of climate change adaptation does not necessarily relate to the inequity between the developed and less developed countries

in security, peace and dignity. The right to adequate housing therefore cannot be viewed in isolation from other human rights contained in the Universal Declaration.

The human rights to posses property and to enjoy adequate housing are fundamental and should be encouraged and promoted through building adequate systems of land administration that are relevant and accessible for poor people and serve their needs in a wider societal context.

Obviously, human rights and land management and administration are closely linked. Therefore, every state needs to ensure that efficient and effective land management and administration mechanisms are in place to pursue this interaction. More generally, human rights should be seen as an ethical responsibility of governments to ensure that people enjoy some basic rights as human beings. This relates to national political arrangements and standards for good governance. It also relates to historical and cultural development throughout the world including colonisation and armed conflicts.

Climate change

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stated (2009) that “climate change is the defining challenge of our time”. He had said that “combining the impacts of climate change with the global financial crisis, we risk that all the efforts that have been made by countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals and to alleviate poverty, hunger and ill health will be rolled back. It is clear that those who suffer the most from the increasing signs of climate change are the poor.

Those that contributed the least to this planetary problem continue to be disproportionately at risk”. However, the impact of climate change can be greatly reduced through careful land-use planning and administration so that cities keep their ecological footprint to the minimum and make sure that

citizens, are protected as best as possible against disaster.

Climate change mitigation refers to efforts and means for reducing the anthropogenic drivers such as greenhouse gas emissions from human activities — especially by reducing CO2 emissions related to use of fossil fuel. These emissions steam from consumption that of course tends to be higher in rich industrialised countries. The impact of this high level consumption in terms of global warming tend to be worse for the poorest countries who do not have the resources for protection against the consequences such as possible sea-level rise, drought, floods etc. Loss of healthy life years as a result of global environmental change is predicted to be 500 times greater in poor African populations than in European populations.

On the other hand, at the national level, the issue of climate change adaptation does not necessarily relate to the inequity between the developed and less developed countries. Adaptation to climate change can be achieved to a large extent through building sustainable and spatially enabled land administration systems. In fact, implementation of such systems will benefit all countries throughout the globe. The systems should enable control of access to land

Adaptation to climate change can be achieved to a large extent through building sustainable and spatially enabled land administration systems Geospatial World / April 2014 / 31

Earth Observation/Development Cover Story/Land Management as well as control of the use of land. Such integrated land administration systems should include the perspective of possible future climate change and any consequent natural disasters. The systems should identify all prone areas subject to sea-level rise, drought, flooding, fires, etc. as well as measures and regulations to prevent the impact of predicted climate change (Enemark, 2011).

Lagos in Nigeria is one the fastest growing cities in the world with huge slum areas expanding into the waters.

Rapid urbanisation

Urbanisation is a major change that is taking place globally. By 2007, half of the world’s population (or around 3.3 billion people) was living in urban areas. It is estimated that a further 500 million people will be urbanised in the next five years and projections indicate that the percentage of the world’s population urbanised by 2030 will be 60%.

This rush to the cities, caused in part by the attraction of opportunities for wealth generation, has generated the phenomenon of ‘megacities’ that have a population of over 10 million. There are currently about 25 megacities with about 15 being in Asia, the world’s economic geography having shifted to Asia. The agenda on sustainable cities is driven by UN-HABITAT through the State of the World's Cities Series (e.g. UN-Habitat, 2012).

This incredibly rapid growth of megacities causes severe ecological, economical and social problems. It is increasingly difficult to manage this growth in a sustainable way. It is recognised that over 70% of the growth currently happens outside of the formal planning process and that 30% of urban populations in less developed countries is living in slums or informal settlements, i.e. where vacant state-owned or private land is occupied illegally and used for slum dwellings.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 90% of all new urban settlements are taking the form of slums. These are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts as they are usually built on hazardous sites in high-risk locations. Even in developed countries unplanned or informal urban development is a major issue.

Urbanisation with the continuing concentration of economic activities in cities is inevitable and generally desirable. However, this increase in economic density needs to be balanced with environmental safeguarding through sustainable development policies and land policies need to manage and connect megacities and their hinterlands holistically to maximise the significant economic and social benefits across the region. Rapid urbanisation challenges the human right of access to land and shelter. Slum upgrading approaches need to be more holistic and integrated into broader slum prevention shelter policies, and appropriate shelter policies.

Sound land management, governance and administration are the key measure to address these urban challenges.

32 / Geospatial World / April 2014

The way ahead

There is a general consensus that governing the people-to-land relationship is in the heart of the global agenda. In this regard, it must be recognised that land governance and the operational component of land administration systems need a spatial framework of large-scale mapping to operate. This spatial framework shows the way land is divided into parcels and plots for specific use and possession. In many less developed countries this spatial framework is not yet in place and therefore leaves the majority of the land (often more than 70%) outside the formal systems of land management and administration.

There is an urgent need to build simple and basic systems using a flexible and low-cost approach to identify the way land is occupied and used. When considering the resources and capacities required for building such systems and the connected basic spatial framework in less developed countries, the western concepts may well be seen as the end target but not as the point of entry. When assessing technology and investment choices, the focus should be on a “fit-for-purpose approach” that will meet the needs of society today and that can be incrementally improved over time (FIG/World Bank, 2014). Building such frameworks will establish the link between people and land, and thereby enable management and monitoring of improvements in relation to meeting aims and objectives of adopted land policies as well as facing the global agenda.

Stig Enemark, Professor of Land Management, Aalborg University, Denmark Honorary President of FIG (The International Federation of Surveyors), President 2007-2010. enemark@land.aau.dk

THOMSON REUTERS AUMENTUM: AN ONWARD PATH TO LAND & PROPERTY INFORMATION MODERNIZATION LAND: it’s an ascending topic on governments’ development agendas. Just this past March the World Bank concluded its annual Land & Poverty conference held in Washington, D.C. with more than 900 representatives from government, think-tanks, academia, industry, and civil society groups, an exponential increase in attendees in just three years.

This May at the Geospatial World Forum, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will hold their annual Working Party on Land Administration conference in conjunction with the Forum’s Land Symposium – a big step in tying together the topic of land administration and the geospatial industry. And at last year’s G8 Conference, land was a central topic, specifically as related to transparency in investment in lands.

Yet, still today, in many parts of the world, the foundational information to support a robust property tax system is lacking. U.N. Habitat estimates that 70 percent of land in developing countries has no recorded or mapped rights.

Simply stated: many governments lack the essential recorded knowledge of who has what right to lands and also lack information on the physical extent and geographic location of those lands. Complicating this issue is the fact that there are often overlapping rights to the same lands – often with some rights not formally recognized by government, such as water use rights, or forest use rights.

History clearly shows us that these overlapping interests to land and resources are all too often a source of conflict.

Information is crucial to economic growth, social development, and environmental stewardship at all levels.

Yet for so many in the world what should be a simple act to register a land right is too time consuming, too expensive and too burdensome.

For us at Thomson Reuters, this increased focus on land in economic and social development is clearly evident.

For 45 years we have been assisting governments improve the way in which they manage and administer land and TRANSITION TO AN EXECUTIVE LAND AGENCY property information. Our mission is to help governments support Improving customer service by streamlining operations sustainable growth, provide better services for the public, and to manage revenue generation.

Shortened the land registration process for citizens Technology development is at the heart of our solution.

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tHE BENEFITS OF A MODERN SYSTEM Who benefits from improvements in the way in which governments’ value property, demonstrate fair and equitable taxation, and improve collection methods? The people living in these communities.

When the government has established institutions to define and maintain rights and has made that information freely available for multiple stakeholders in society, the people and communities have the most to gain.

from

15

business days

down to just

2

business days

Jamaica Transforms Government Services with Automated Land Registration tax.thomsonreuters.com/jamaica-nla

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 33

Our work at Thomson Reuters is taking us all over the world supporting governments build-out the digital infrastructure so that land registry and cadastre systems may support many facets of social and economic development, including the eventual linkages to valuation and property tax systems— that pathway to sustained operational funding for local government.

UNIVERSAL HURDLES – A WORLD OF COMMON CHALLENGES

SAFEGUARDING LAND RIGHTS Restoring confidence among citizens and investors From a numbers perspective, the reform has vastly improved Cross River’s land management record.

As of Summer

2013

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

Too often government maintained land records are at peril. Non-digitized paper records deteriorate or worse, are subject to fire or theft. Or data contained in older systems are in danger of being lost or mismanaged, a symptom of legacy out-of-date systems lacking support and maintenance.

Parcel maps are not linked in a common cadastre, resulting in conflicting land claims. Information is systematically gathered but then is not updated to reflect changes in the land. Or the government does not have a clear picture of the overlapping interests (or restrictions) to land.

Incomplete information also results in tax gaps – large swaths of the country simply not on tax rolls.

Our teams are frequently engaged assisting governments in the improvement of their information quality by creating an integrated digital archive – often the most difficult and time consuming part of our work. This is a common requirement for governments in Latin America or Africa; for a country government in the U.S. or a council government in Australia.

Advertorial

files processed

5,000

files nearly done

* from the Ministry of Lands and Housing to the CRGIA center for electronic record archiving.

For nearly every one of our customers along their technical modernization journey, they must overcome common universal hurdles. We hear from most that their property and land information is not always complete, accurate or secure – eroding public trust and confidence in institutions. This is a principle reason why transparency is lacking.

In many cases, the way governments’ process information and systems in use are not scalable, efficient, or flexible.

This is another common hurdle. We are developing the next frontier of land and property information

34 / Geospatial World / April 2014

12,375

20,724

files delivered*

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

NGN 1.6M

in fees for title searches and registration

!

NGN 471K

in fees collected the first three months

More NGN was collected in the first few months of 2013 than the total amount recouped between 2006 and 2010.

Cross River State, Nigeria: The Cross River Revival tax.thomsonreuters.com/crossriver-nigeria

systems by integrating workflows across functional areas of government to help better manage information more efficiently.

Clearly defined processes and procedures to register or transfer land rights can improve transparency. A digital record can affirm that the proper fees were charged, or leases for government lands paid, and be checked against a financial ledger to ensure that revenue had not been fraudulently skimmed. Land ownership interests can also be tracked, especially when such systems are public-facing and web-enabled. Additionally, with records linked to parcel maps, the extent of land claims can be verified, for instance to be assured that one interest is not overstepping the physical extent of other groups’ or individuals’ rights, a common issue especially in extractive industries.

Citizens and stakeholders are demanding improved customer service, and the Internet with web services is facilitating this drive to improved efficiency and less foot traffic to individual offices.

Governments worldwide are realizing to grow they need to enhance revenue generation and control internal costs, but this requires a transformation in the way in which land and property information is managed.

BUILDING A GLOBAL SOLUTION TOGETHER Over the last decade, Thomson Reuters has been working with our customers around the world and investing millions of dollars in research & development to build a global solution that addresses these world-wide challenges – Thomson Reuters Aumentum.

Thomson Reuters Aumentum provides a comprehensive solution for automating the entire land and tax administration function, including critical land registry, land administration, cadastre, valuation, property tax, and e-government modules.

Aumentum provides land administration and taxation officials the informational, planning and operational tools they need to optimize revenue generation and support sustainable growth while effectively serving the public.

LIBERIA’S LAND LEGACY: THROUGH WAR AND PEACE Ensuring peace and prosperity

Since early 2012, CNDRA staff members at the Scanning Laboratory have used Aumentum OpenTitle to digitize and index close to

6,deeds 000

Liberia: A continued Journey from Poverty to Prosperity tax.thomsonreuters.com/liberia-OT

representing almost

15,000 individual pages.

!

Some counties are seeing a 20% increase in registrations.

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO PROPERTY VALUATION Increasing transparency improves accuracy

3

the City of Cape Town reduced taxpayer objections by nearly

2

years

Cape Town, South Africa: Realizing the Benefits of Innovative Land Governance tax.thomsonreuters.com/coct

3rds

Since the year 2000, the city of CapeTown has added

236,154

properties to its tax roll

From

100,000

to

36,000

with an increase in assessment of

330% Advertorial

In just

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 35

INTEGRATION PROVIDES LASTING BENEFITS Our years of diverse experience allow us to provide insight to the standard functions and technical features that an integrated land administration and tax automation solution must contain in order to achieve maximum benefits and support sustainable growth. The standard functions are made possible by integrating key operations across various government departments, namely cadastre, registry, land management, valuation, and taxation offices.

Compare the standard functions and technical feature checklist with your current operations.

STANDARD FUNCTIONS

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Converts, Captures and Organizes Information

• Converts paper records to a digital registry • Consolidates & migrates legacy data • Builds the parcel data base • Links cadastre & registry data • Identifies data inaccuracies

Processes & Tracks Transactions

• Creates a new parcel diagram • Issues a title • Releases a mortgage • Creates a property tax ID • Conducts a property valuation • Tracks a transaction

Analyzes & Benchmarks Productivity

• Reports on staff productivity • Analyzes throughput • Examines tax collections • Conducts trends analysis

Search for & Share Information

• Searchable records • Serves information to the public • Shares information within government • Visualizes situational awareness

Simplifies & Sustains Revenue Collection

• Automates tax billing & collection • Tax bills payable online • Introduces mass appraisal techniques

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• Simplifies registration fees & payments

© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All Rights Reserved.

36 / Geospatial World / April 2014

THOMSON REUTERS AUMENTUM

P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

Land Administration/International Efforts

Standards for Land Tenure and Administration Geospatial technologies are increasingly playing a critical role in improving the governance of land tenure and its administration across the globe

F

or the past three years, tenure and land administration have been at the centre stage globally. International negotiations have centred attention on their pivotal relevance in addressing climate change, natural disasters, violent conflicts and migration from rural areas. They have even covered core land administration themes of registration and cadastres, property valuation and taxation, spatial planning, dispute resolution, and standards for sharing spatial and other information on tenure. Other topics under debate included transfers of tenure rights through markets, expropriation, land reform, land redistribution and land consolidation.

The negotiations resulted in the globally agreed document, Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. As the name suggests, the Guidelines address tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests as many people depend on access to different natural resources. Governments from all regions and with diverse political, economic, social and religious views negotiated the text.

Civil society and private sector organisations also participated in the process.

The Guidelines are based on a consultative process started by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The negotiations were led by the Committee on World Food Security, the United Nations forum for policies concerned with world food security, which officially endorsed the Guidelines in May 2012. The imple-

Courtesy: faowashington.org

mentation of the Guidelines has since been supported in the Rio+20 Declaration and by the United Nations General Assembly, G20, G8, l’AssemblÊe parlementaire de la Francophonie, and the Berlin Summits of Agricultural Ministers.

FAO is supporting the implementation of the Guidelines through a programme of awareness raising, capacity development, support to countries, development of partnerships and monitoring.

In representing internationally accepted practices, the

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 37

Land Administration/International Efforts Guidelines built on existing examples of responsible governance of tenure. Changes in technology can contribute to improved governance of land tenure by making services more accessible, accountable, affordable, effective, efficient, equitable and transparent, and by reducing costs and limiting opportunities for corruption. Here are a few examples of how the voluntary guidelines are improving land management across countries and helping authorities deliver good governance.

Solutions for Open Land Administration

“Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services.”

(Guidelines, paragraph 17.4).

In many countries, land administration procedures are complex and inefficient, and enable corrupt practices to flourish.

Open source software offers the promise of improving transparency and reducing costs of land registration services by using flexible, affordable software tools to standardise and maintain these services.

FAO, with the support of Finland, developed the SOLA open source software that has been used to improve the structure and accessibility of land records in pilot implementations in Samoa, Nepal and Ghana. The SOLA software was designed based on international good practice for service delivery, responsible governance of tenure (including transparency of process and of tenure details), robust data management and the need for enterprise software. Each pilot implementation was undertaken by a team of local software developers who customised the generic SOLA software to reflect local land legislation and administrative practices. The work has now been extended to include Tonga (to support processing of land applications), Lesotho (to support lease management) and four states in Nigeria (to support systematic registration).

“National standards should be developed for the shared use of information, taking into account regional and international standards.” (Guidelines, paragraph 6.5).

The SOLA database design was based on the standard of the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) in order to profit from the knowledge gained when LADM was developed. LADM was approved by ISO as a standard in November 2012 and is expected to improve the design of computerised systems supporting land administration functions and to facilitate information sharing. Newly introduced computerised land administration systems in Albania and Montenegro are also examples of systems based on LADM.

ICT for governance of tenure & administration “States and non-state actors should endeavour to prevent

38 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Cost-effective registries

corruption with Ukraine’s new law on cadastre and a regard to tenure new national cadastre system was introduced rights.” (Guideon January 1, 2013. The process to register a lines, paragraph land parcel was reduced from steps to and 6.9). the steps needed to obtain a cadastre extract re“As part of duced from to . Similarly, the cost for isbroader public insuing extracts dropped by while formation sharing, records of tenure the cost for registering a new parcel rights should be availwas cut by . able to state agencies and local governments to improve their services.” (Guidelines, paragraph 17.4).

Tackling corruption in the land sector is intrinsically linked to improving its governance. Transparent, accessible and accountable systems for land administration can create a basis for corruption-free land dealings. Many countries in Europe and Central Asia (including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine) provide data online, which minimises the need for clients to visit the local offices and reduces opportunities for corrupt practices. In Albania, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, online tracking modules have been implemented in the form of simple Web-based applications that allow citizens to follow the workflow of their applications relative to the time defined by the law for processing the transactions. In Russian Federation the case distribution is done automatically in order to avoid possible corruption.

Services and governance are being improved by linking spatial data through e-governance, thereby providing governments with new ways to integrate planning, taxation, disaster risk management, and the monitoring, mitigation and adaptation of climate change.

Computerisation of land administration systems can simplify and streamline workflows, and minimise the number of visits that clients need to make to public offices to complete a land administration transaction. Improved efficiencies allow agencies to cut fees, and improved responses times enable them to remove opportunities for bribing officials to accelerate services.

Computerised systems in Albania, Croatia, Russian Federation and Ukraine allow for monitoring of performance against new standards for turn-around times. Publicising of the monitored performance relative to the standards give clients confidence that they will receive the stated level of service.

Introducing digital archives (which SOLA provides) enables core information to be used across an agency which, in turn, allows for increased flexibility and the simplification of procedures. Land registration and cadastre agencies are able to harmonise records and so help protect society against

5

4 2

50%

31%

2

Digitisation is the key The Russian Federation is working on establishing a central digital archive and digitisation of old records which will allow processing of cases from any part of the country by any local office (in nine time zones). A test was made in 2013 to process applications from St. Petersburg by the Krasnoyarsk oblast office (in Siberia), which provided the same quality of service with half the staff. This could eliminate the long waiting time in St. Petersburg. fraud, illegal property transactions and money laundering.

Other benefits include improving the efficiency of operations, security of records, use of office space and disaster mitigation.

Crowdsourcing information

Crowdsourcing is being used to improve public confidence in land administration records in several countries in Europe and Central Asia. Land records are now available through the Internet and citizens are encouraged to report discrepancies so they can be corrected. Importantly, ICT can also provide safeguards to reduce the likelihood that women are dis-

advantaged in critical land administration transactions such as those recording and affecting marital property and inheritance. FAO and the World Bank are providing support to six Western Balkan countries to generate gender-disaggregated reports from the land administration IT systems and to train local NGOs, government staff and decision-makers to use the data for evidence-based policy making. Data shows that even if laws give equal opportunities to all, prevailing customs may limit women’s ownership of land. There is considerable variation among the countries, with the percentage of women registered as landowners ranging between 15-39%.

“States should establish policies and laws to promote the sharing, as appropriate, of spatial and other information on tenure rights for the effective use by the State and implementing agencies, indigenous peoples and other communities, civil society, the private sector, academia and the general public.” (Guidelines, paragraph 6.5).

Land administration information is a fundamental component of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). The information produced and distributed by cadastre and mapping authorities is an integral part of the SDIs and represents above 85 percent of the so-called reference data (base maps) without which the SDI could not be established.

The road ahead

FAO’s research has shown that improving governance of tenure is needed around the world. The need for improvements differs significantly from one country to another but all countries should keep a focus on governance of tenure as maintaining high standards is an ongoing process. There will always be a need to make improvements, for example, as a result of changing conditions, changing needs, or new technologies (e.g. SOLA open source software) that can be modified and used to improve the governance of tenure.

Partnerships play an important role in improving governance of tenure. Professionals who work with geospatial technologies can make a valuable contribution by developing relationships across borders and so exchange their experiences on how to improve governance of tenure and its administration.

Rumyana Tonchovska, Senior Land Administration Officer (rumyana.tonchovska@fao.org); Neil Pullar, Land Administration Officer (neil.pullar@fao. org); David Palmer, Senior Land Tenure Office (david.palmer@fao.org); and Paul Munro-Faure, Deputy Director (paul.munrofaure@fao.org) Climate, Energy and Tenure Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 39

Land Management / Case Study

Painting a New Land Portrait of Uganda With a plan that focuses on decentralising services and increasing accountability, Uganda is betting on a modern approach to cure its land administration ailments

M

ore than 80% of Uganda’s land was unregistered — and the security of the other 20% was uncertain. The nation’s land management system was laden with cumbersome and inefficient policies, questionable business practices and a near total lack of confidence from citizens and investors. The World Bank’s 2013 Doing Business report ranked Uganda 120th out of 185 nations on the ease of doing business — and 124th in registering property. Land transactions were conducted at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) headquarters on Parliament Avenue in Kampala. For many Ugandans, that meant a maddening trek of hundreds of kilometres, a journey that was often repeated again and again as the inefficient paper-based system moved at an interminably slow pace.

The process could take anywhere from 100 to 300 days — or longer. Between registration fees, stamp duty and travel costs — not to mention back-office bribes to grease the registry wheels — it wasn’t unusual for a single land registration to cost 300,000 Ugandan shillings (over $100). Documents were forged, parcels of land were often allocated to multiple owners, the entire system was vulnerable to theft and corruption and land disputes were rampant. Investors were reluctant to risk their money in such a tenuous environment.

“Land insecurity is an enormous obstacle to [Uganda’s] economic and social development,” says Nadege Orlova, Regional Director IGNFI, France and the DeSILISoR

Paper land records were time consuming , vulnerable to theft and took up huge space

40 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Project Director. “This was a situation where something very desperately had to change.”

Uganda’s land resurgence

Today, that change is in the air for title-seekers in southern Uganda. In 2010, a consortium led by IGN France International was awarded a World Bank tender to embark on a bold land reform effort — one that encourages development, promotes investment and bolsters the trust of its citizens. The $10-million project is called ‘Design, Supply, Installation, Implementation of the Lands Information system and Securing of Land Records’ (DeSILISOR). With the help of technology and consultation from Thomson Reuters, DeSILISoR is transforming an inefficient and error-prone land administration into a modernised, secure and transparent IT-based land administration framework. It is part of the $24-million Improving Business environment component of the Private Sector Competitiveness (PSCP) II initiative.

DeSILISoR is already painting a new land portrait in Uganda. In parts of southern Uganda, fragile paper records have disappeared — replaced by easily searchable digital titles and modernised cadastral information systems. In the pilot areas, Ugandans no longer endure long journeys back and forth to Kampala. Now, citizens can conduct their land transactions at the newly opened Ministerial Zonal Offices (MZOs).

And the labyrinth system of “hidden costs” that blocked title-seekers path and encouraged corruption is becoming a relic of the past. The digital system tracks every movement of the title, from a receptionist’s hands to a clerk’s desk. All fees are prominently posted. And registering a title — a process that once took months or years — can often be completed in a matter of days.

“This is a big achievement,” claims Richard Oput, the Assistant Commissioner for Lands at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD). “In many ways, this is something many people never thought they would see in their lifetimes.”

The DeSILISoR project targeted six pilot MZOs: Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, Jinja, Masaka and Mbarara. It also established a Kampala-based National Land Information Centre, which serves as both technical support and as a data repository for all the sites. The MLHUD headquarters was also upgraded and modernised.

Already, DeSILISoR has laid the groundwork for a comprehensive digital registry. To date, the project has converted half a million deteriorating paper titles into digital format.

Records dating back nearly 90 years old were validated before being entered into the system. And more than 16,500 torn and frayed maps were scanned in just six months.

Land legacy

In Uganda, land is at the heart of agricultural policies, rural development, territorial planning and the management of natural resources. But the nation’s land policy has been hampered by challenges — from failing institutions to population pressures. These pressures have spelled more competition for smaller plots of land.

Uganda operates under four types of land tenure as recognised by its 1995 Constitution. About 80% of Uganda’s land falls under ‘customary’ tenure, which remains largely unregistered and insecure, despite being codified by the 1998 Land Act law. In south-central and western Uganda, much of the land falls under the ‘Mailo/Native Freehold system’ (essentially Freehold).

Freehold and leasehold tenures are scattered nationally.

Each tenure system has its own registry: the mailo/native freehold and customary registries are decentralised; the leasehold and freehold registries are centralised. A major objective of the DeSILISOR project was to unify information systems and decentralise operations of all registries (other than the customary registry) under the newly created MZOs to eliminate multiple allocations of land rights.

Transforming tradition

In the past, MLHUD overlooked the long and arduous process of making a land transaction. In freehold or leasehold cases, most business had to take place in the capital adding costs and frustration to title-seekers traveling to-and-from offices. The poor infrastructure and lack of oversight encouraged corruption.

Despite previous attempts to overhaul the system, land records were often in poor condition. The MLHUD largely lacked indices and storage space. As many as 60% of the paper records were nearly unsalvageable. The irreplaceable titles were exposed to everything from rats to beetles to age and humidity.

Using Thomson Reuters Aumentum technology, the DeSILISoR project began the complex task of rehabilitating and reorganising the registries. Thousands of maps and docu-

ments were scanned and indexed. Staff began linking parcels maintained by the Department of Surveys and Mapping with titles maintained by the Department of Land Registration. In this way, geographic information was overlaid to uncover spatial patterns. Topographic information was overlaid with parcel information, and then demographic information. This

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 41

Land Management / Case Study Not business as usual

Digitisation of paper land records provided a powerful portrait of overlapping land rights

allowed the system to check the geometry of existing parcels and draw new parcels (particularly in rural areas), and also to share the data with other projects. If, for example, an industrial park or proposed highway were being developed, the government could use the centralised data to determine the human and environmental impact of the project.

Most significantly, the linked parcels allowed officials to visualise areas of land conflict in ways that were simply impossible by looking through paper property records. With state-of the-art aerial imagery overlayed with scanned, vectorised and geo-referenced cadastral sheets, the digital system provided a powerful portrait of overlapping land rights.

“That just was not possible when [land management] was conducted manually,” says Oput.

With the record restoration underway, the project concentrated on decentralising the land management administration. The centerpiece of the initiative was establishing the six MZOs. These centres served as “one-stop-shops” for the pilot zones, equipped to handle functions like surveying, planning, land administration, valuation and registration.

These decentralised offices saved title-seekers the time and expense of traveling to the capital for transactions. “Now, if you have to do a procedure for Jinja, you go to [the office in] Jinja,” says Orlova.

Next, the project addressed the inefficiencies and corruption in the titling-process. The manual system involved leafing through stacks of dusty paper each time someone requested a record. Searches were time-consuming — and often unsuccessful. On an average, each transaction involved 12 procedures. Staffers were unqualified and often unscrupulous.

About 35% of complaints garnered from the old system concerned fraud and counterfeiting. Another 33% were related to delays in transactions and the inability to find documents. In response, DeSILISoR embarked on a comprehensive training programme. Policy guidelines were devised. Audit trails were added to provide unparalleled oversight of office operations.

42 / Geospatial World / April 2014

Under the new system, a title-seeker presents his documents at an MZO reception desk. Assuming that his records are complete, he is handed an acknowledgement letter generated by the system. The letter officially recognises receipt of his documents. From there, the client’s role is finished. After he is told approximately when his transaction will be processed, he can return home.

The system then records every step of the transaction.

The file is traced to each clerk in the office. All documents are scanned. Documents are automatically generated by the system and bar-coded. Not only does this cut off potential fraud, it also adds a level of accountability that didn’t exist in the old system. “You know who-did-what with your file,” Orlova says. “You know if your file is stuck somewhere or if it’s been sitting on someone’s desk for two weeks.”

The biggest challenge to modernising Ugandan’s land administration was human capacity. Many of the MLHUD employees lacked the skillset needed to work in an archive or registry office. Prior to joining the ministry, few had experience with information technology. “Some people had never held a mouse,” says Orlova. “They would turn it upside down and wait for something to happen.” In order to make the system work, DeSILISoR had to recruit, train and motivate the new staff. Over the course of several months, training sessions were conducted to help the staffers become conversant with the new registry and cadastre systems. To date, more than 200 staffers have been trained on everything from basic IT skills to the details of the LIS process. “It is like night and day,” says Oput. “These were people who had no computer skills. Now, they are competent after just six months.”

Still the project hasn’t achieved its goal in entirety. So far, public awareness campaigns haven’t dispelled persistent gossip about whether the offices are open and the system is functioning. The next phase of the project will include an aggressive public awareness campaign focusing heavily on radio ads.

Already Orlova says she has seen signs of increased confidence among Ugandan citizens. Each month, rising numbers of Ugandans have walked through the MZO doors. At its onset, she says, the MZOs averaged about 400 transactions per month — in total over all six district offices. By spring, that number had jumped to 1,200, then 2,000. Today, the MZOs handle about 5,000 transactions each month.

“People are more and more certain that this isn’t something that will disappear anytime soon,” says Orlova. “They are starting to trust it.”

Nigel Edmead, Director of Training, Thomson Reuters nigel.edmead@thomsonreuters.com

Courtesy: Fresnillo at en.wikipedia. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Land Management/Case Study

Social Property Administration for Agrarian Governance Proper land administration procedures allowed certification to Mexico’s agrarian groups, integrated a reliable cadastre system, and provided property security to millions

M

exico has a high diversity territorial mosaic, which is compounded by its diverse geography, culture and social identity present in each territorial space. This territorial heterogeneity of geographic and social elements has created a high complexity when it comes managing the processes of land tenure.

At present, Mexico has different types of properties, of which ‘social property’ represents 52% of the national territory spread over 103.5 million hectares and owned by the peasant population. Social property is the result of the social struggles in the country in the early 20th century when large state models of land administration existed.

Those models were substituted the organisational model in which the land belonged to the rural communities. This organisational model operates through agrarian groups and

currently more than 30,000 agrarian groups compose the social property in Mexico.

Because of the diverse nature of land tenure administration in Mexico, the federal government has created different offices that deal with the human, social and political development of this community.

Consequently, the Ministry of Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU) was created to coordinate the efforts for the order and territorial development in the country. The National Agrarian Registry (RAN) depends on SEDATU and its principal aim is to contribute to the efficient use of the national territory, promoting

The government has reinforced actions to improve results on legal certainty over land tenure, which has resulted in efficient land management Geospatial World / April 2014 / 43

Land Management/Case Study

Fast Facts 30,258

agrarian settlements regularised, composed of 94,487,482 hectares, in which 80% of woods and forests, 74% of biodiversity and 2/3 of the coastline are located.

4,780,849 Mexican families live

in this area and are entitled to the use and exploitation of the land.

territorial sustainability and exploitation, through territorial regularisation and order actions. The objective of these actions is to deliver legal certainty over the land tenure to the rural domain population.

Among RAN’s responsibilities are the registration of documents that prove the original operations and modifications suffered by the property of the lands, and the legally constituted rights over the ejido (an area of communal land used for agriculture on which community members individually possess and farm a specific parcel) and communal property. There have been significant progresses in this area that has allowed efficient management of the social property.

A citizen showing agrarian certificate that grants her certainty and rights over her land

Social property in Mexico

The agrarian distribution was done from 1915 to 1992.

During this period the process of the land distribution of the ejidos and agricultural communities of the country started.

The agrarian distribution aimed to redistribute the land property. It also started conflicts between ejidos, communities, and private landowners because of historic land ownerships.

Therefore, upon completion of the agrarian reforms, the government’s priority was to organise the rural property, resolve conflicts over land tenure and promote comprehensive agricultural development through a system of social ownership, attention to land conflicts and comprehensive agricultural development. This land tenure regularisation policy was operated through the Program for the Certification of the Rights of the Ejidos and the Certification of the Urban Land (PROCEDE).

The main objective of PROCEDE was to provide land tenure security through regularisation of the process and deliver certificates for common use land, plots and urban lands.

The programme operated from 1992 to 2006, when the official closure of the Certification Program of Ejido Rights and Titling was concluded. Among its achievements are the certifications of 28,454 agrarian groups, formed by 93,132,667 regularised hectares; delivering 9,569,129 documents that benefited 4,445,213 individuals.

At the end of PROCEDE, there were 2,421 agrarian groups in the country that were not attended as they should have been, because they did not fulfill certain requirements: they did not accept the programme and could not demonstrate the ownership over the lands. They were facing conflicts over the land tenure, and there were reports of internal social conflicts and the directory was not defined.

Therefore, another programme called Agricultural Cores without Regularizing Support Program (FANAR) was created, which sought to help agricultural centres that were not regularised to start the process of granting legal certainty and security on land tenure.

Regularisation land management actions

RAN is a decentralised organ of the Ministry of Agricultural, Regional and Urban Development, which is responsible for the control and ownership of communal land. Among its principal responsibilities are: registry of the original operations and the modifications on the land tenure, and the legal rights over the ejidos and communities, as well as to provide documentary legal security over that property, through regularisation, certification and control of the agrarian documents.

Thus, through a series of programmes, some already completed and others in the process, RAN promotes regu-

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larisation of social property tenure generating documentary legal certainty. Thus, institutional projects not only focus on improving services and regularising the legal order, but also attention to the agricultural sector, projects of social bonding and transparency projects.

Another priority of RAN is the modernisation of the technical tools that integrate both cadastral information and the registration of social property in Mexico. Today, it has the advantage of generating comprehensive databases regarding social property, integrated in a federal system, which gives the possibility to show the complexity of the structure of geographically referenced cadastral and registry mosaic of social ownership of the country.

All this information integrates a highly reliable rural cadastre. This has allowed initiating the analysis processes that will contribute to determine the productive vocation of each territory, promoting an effective territorial planning under a sustainability and development foundation.

The federal government has recently reinforced actions in order to improve the results on the legal certainty over the land tenure, and has generated conditions for efficient land management, system-oriented and sustainability.

The results

There was significant focus last year on meeting the goals of the next programmes — Fund for the Support of the Non-Regularized Agrarian Groups, Alliances for the Territory Regularization and Order, and the Cero Rezago en trámites y servicios Zero Backwardness in Procedures and Services.

• Legal certainty is provided on land ownership to 406 members of agrarian communities, reducing the delay in the certification and regulation of social property.

• In 2013, a territory ordering process began over a surface larger than 584,000 hectares.

• The attention provided to procedures and services was updated, ending completely the backwardness presented in more than 236,000 applications that were in that condition.

• Strengthen the cadastre systems, making a constant actualisation of the processes and changes in the land rights, in order to create one of the most reliable cadastre systems in the country.

• Simplification and modernisation of procedures, by reducing steps in the processes of attention and accompanying procedures of information technology, a fact that provides certainty and transparency to users.

This impulse of RAN from the inside of the newly created Secretariat for Agricultural, Territorial and Urban

Cartographic plan printed on reverse side of an agrarian certificate

Development, as part of the National Development Plan, seeks modernisation and efficiency required to transform it into an institution that promotes the agrarian governability and governance, through simplification of procedures, the promotion of transparency, generating order and legal certainty in the field.

Challenges of land administration

Consistent with the new vision over the territory in which this resource is an important part of the country’s development, some challenges have been formulated. The most relevant among these are: • Initiate the creation of a national territories inventory to better use the resources offered by each territory.

• Boost agrarian development, within a peaceful environment, with legal certainty and environmental harmony. In order to achieve this, it is required to reinforce the land tenure regularisation actions.

• Promote territory planning in rural and urban zones so that these do not grow or develop at the expense of the social property, thus contributing to the orderly growth of the urban zones and the population groups.

Through RAN, the Ministry of Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development aims to attend to these problems.

This approach will contribute to obtaining an effective land administration, and this translates into specific benefits for the 4 million-plus families belonging to the national agrarian sector.

Courtesy: RAN

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 45

Land Management/Case Study

A Big Leap for a Small Nation in Land Reforms

Courtesy: Chris Lunnay, former team leader, Vanuata Land Program

A tiny island nation in the Pacific puts in place a land management programme to improve the decision-making process of the State

V

anuatu, the South Pacific island nation of more than 80 islands, is home to some 250,000 people and receives nearly as many tourists per year. Development issues and adaptations to climate change mandated that Vanuatu took a look at its land and the related socio-economic development.

In 2006, a National Land Summit was held in the capital city Port Vila and 20 strategic resolutions were adopted. This created an important vision and stimulus for land reforms in Vanuatu — ‘A prosperous, equitable and sustainable land sector for Vanuatu’. Evolving from the resolutions of the summit, a land sector framework was adopted in 2009 serving as the 10-year road map (2009-2018) to guide the implementation of land sector reform in Vanuatu. Strategic

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Collecting boundary measurements using handheld GPS

objectives were identified to guide the government, private sector and civil society in the use and management of Vanuatu’s land resources. The objectives were based on principles commonly reflected in good land governance practice: • Management of land resources must comply with social and economic objectives; • Stewardship of land resources must guarantee environmental sustainability; • Land agencies must be relevant, cost-effective, efficient and sustainable; • Planning, implementation, decision making and monitoring of activities must be participatory, transparent and accountable to protect the interests and rights of all stakeholders.

On the basis of this framework, the Malvatumauri Council

Prosperous and sustainable land sector

The governments in Australian and New Zealand responded to this country-level strategy by supporting the Government of Vanuatu with the funding of a programme known as the Vanuatu Land Program (previously known as Mama Graon).

The five-year programme, which is being implemented by the Australian managing contractor Land Equity International, aims to support the implementation of the National Land Summit resolutions and Land Sector Framework. It also aims to improve decision making about land, make land dealings more transparent, improve land management practices and minimise the potential for land-related conflict.

Technical programmes, such as this, often ambitiously target areas that may not require or are not ready for technical solutions, often pushing political boundaries or customary ideologies and often failing to achieve effective development results. After a few years of attempting strategies to support the development of customary land governance, the Vanuatu Land Programme was reviewed and it refocused its efforts towards land administration functions. This will allow internal processes among Kastom Chiefs to evolve under the principles agreed at the Land Summit without external influences.

The programme now clearly aims to provide support in the area of institutional strengthening, and will allow significant improvements towards infrastructure development activities that the government has planned to undertake over the next five years in Port Vila. Key areas of support are in the land registry functions, surveying and developing a digital cadastral database and valuation.

Results to date

With the help of programme support, the Land Registry Office of the Department of Lands has moved from a manual paper-based system to a computerised system for managing leases and cadastral surveys. Through the project they have eliminated a backlog of more than 6,000 unregistered applications which had developed during a period of strong activity in the land market. They have also completed updating of the lease registers. This has required the reprinting of over 10,500 lease registers and the manual checking of all existing lease registers that are on file. This is expected to improve transparency and accountability of the lease process and significantly reduce the time required to register a new lease. There have also been significant changes to the manual land registration

Courtesy: Chris Lunnay

of Chiefs have also contributed and shown strong leadership. They have provided guidance on how to take customary lands issues forward, engaging in the consultations and appointing provincial liaison officers as local focal points.

Scanning and recording land registry records from the manual system

procedures. Instruments lodged for registration are now registered in just 10 working days as compared to months earlier.

A document tracking system (DTS) has been developed for the Land Registry Office, which helps in the process of survey, valuation and planning. The system has also helped in streamlining the registry processes and enabled staff and users of the land registry to track the progress of an application, increasing the transparency.

In January 2014, new survey equipment was procured to help the government in carrying out efficient and accurate surveys. Additionally, a week’s intensive training was also provided to the survey staff in the use of this new equipment. In conjunction with this initiative, current cadastral surveying and plan presentation procedures are also being improved. These activities will facilitate in planning various infrastructure projects around Port Vila. The programme will continue till December 2015.

Lessons learnt

In preparation of a complete digital cadastral database (DCDB), huge efforts have gone into finding survey records from across the islands. Gaps remain and records are still being located or will be reproduced from original survey records before they can be entered into the system. These records will be cross-referenced with the lease register and quality control is also taking place to ensure the integrity of the DCDB from lease register records. The records are simultaneously being updated with new state land information of unallocated parcels, road reserves etc. Technical assistance has been working closely with government counterparts to prepare standard operating procedures that will ensure improved survey demarcation of parcels prior to registration and improved definition of unallocated or state land.

Dr Kate Rickersey (Dalrymple), Senior Land Consultant, Land Equity International, krickersey@landequity.com.au The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of the government of Australia, the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 47

Earth Observation/Viewpoint

The

Eye

from the

Sky

The earth observation industry is rapidly transforming into geoinformation industry.

While new and disruptive technologies like nano-satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles and video from space as a format are further enabling the industry in terms of technology, the market is moving up the value chain as it gets mature and becomes more user-driven. We asked some of the top players in this segment about the changing dynamics of this industry. Revealing the latest trends and insights about the EO industry, the experts also highlighted how they are bracing themselves for this changing scenario. Here’s what they have to say.

Dr V.K. Dadhwal, Director, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), India

DATA TO ANALYTICS

What does the future hold?

Maranesi Marcello, CEO, e-GEOS, Italy

Dr Kumar Navalur, Director, Next-Gen Products, DigitalGlobe, USA

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Kumar Navalur The number of sensors providing data has increased exponentially.

So, for the EO industry to survive, companies have to move up the value chain. They have to go from data to information. We call it knowledge, people call it information modelling. The definition of information in my opinion is to take not only one data source but multiple data sources and create something that a user or an expert can use to make a decision. I believe the industry is already there. All the companies will be forced to move up the value chain because each step of data information will get commoditised, so that the more value one provides, the more valuable one becomes to the end-user.

V.K. Dadhwal The earth observation business started with raw data or images — digital and photographic. Once you have collected so much data and in such high frequency, that alone does not solve the problems. Since people are paying, they are entitled to a variety of information — on water, crop estimates, forest etc. What is happening now is that with so many satellites covering large areas, all information come with their own idiosyncrasies — applicability and non-applicability error. The important thing is to convert this into actionable information.

More importantly, one needs to do a holistic and comprehensive analysis of that data, asking different sets of questions.

The question is: who will do it? The user is not an expert in analytics, so he needs somebody to do the job for him. The word analytics is used very loosely. It can mean so many different things in different applications.

Nathalie Pisot One of the challenges is to understand how we will work with the end-users, customers and partners to develop new applications and bring them to a new maturity level, which is not the case yet.

Another point is how to make all this [information] accessible to the end-user, both from technical and economic point of view.

The solution has to be cost-effective. We are developing data management services like cloud services, hosting, virtual tasking etc. because we think this is a key enabler to develop the user of geospatial data.

John S. Ahlrichs, VP, International Sales, BlackBridge, Germany

Nathalie Pisot, Head of Strategy and Analysis, Geo-Intelligence, Airbus Defence & Space, France

NANO-SATELLITES as the way forward

Kumar Navalur There are two things one can do with satellites — mapping and monitoring. Nano-satellites are not a good fit for mapping; the primary reason being their accuracy. When we talk about monitoring, a satellite is required to take a picture multiple times a day and nano-satellites are perfect for that. Further, traditional satellites take around 4 to 5 years to be designed. The lifespan of Maranesi Marcello a typical satellite is around 10 years, which means that one has This change from data to analytics is definitely progressive. About 10-15 years time to change any technology. Nano-satellites are 20 years ago, we were talking about remote sensing designed for 3-5 years which gives them the flexibility to adapt and that was our business. Then it became earth ob- to new technologies. Despite competition, nano-satellites will servation. Then the concept got broader and became become complementary to the existing EO business.

geoinformation. Now, we are talking about geomatics because the data and information layers, which are derived

from satellites, have to be compiled for application solutions. This means they have to be embeded into a software procedure that ultimately contributes to the operational workflow of an end-user.

EO is valuable only in the sense that it is capable of contributing to the process of decision making the end-user is looking for. We are just contributing to a solution; we are not the solution.

V.K. Dadhwal Nano-satellites bring some advantages as many of them can be launched together because they cost less. So in an industry where private companies are now building satellites, the cost factor will be a big advantage. But one has to worry about their performance over time. What companies need to figure out is how a group of nano-satellites as a whole are able to deliver at larger sites

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 49

Earth Observation/Viewpoint because they are simultaneously present over a more scattered part of the globe. Nano-satellites are here, and one must be prepared to make best use of this opportunity.

Nathalie Pisot The advent of nano-satellites will bring in huge zeal in the EO market. We are monitoring this quite closely both from technical and commercial point of view. The question is how long will it take for this technology to reach maturity. The resolution and accuracy they offer at present are not answering the needs of the main customer base. But they will evolve for sure. Seeing these new entrants as potential competition for the future is a sign that the EO market is maturing. This is quite positive as this will help to build, develop and offer a new segment in the market that is important for our customer base.

Maranesi Marcello Having a technology which is delivering high results at lower cost and faster time is going to dramatically change our business. Low cost will enable launch of many of these satellites in a constellation model. Therefore, we will have the capability of doing things at various times of the day.

Nano-satellites may not have the same performance capability as high-performing traditional satellites, but they will surely open up the markets, applications, and new arena of businesses for the industry.

John Ahlrichs Nano-satellite is an interesting concept.

But it won’t significantly affect the EO industry. There will be some downward pressure but they are going to find their niche in the market. Nano-satellites will work out for customers who do not have rigorous quality requirements. [Otherwise] they will have to pass the rigorous scientific tests to be really absorbed in the technical remote sensing market. They will primarily take the same business model as that of traditional satellites and set-up their distribution market.

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UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES as a disruptive media

Nathalie Pisot UAVs are already there in the market; especially, in the defence application sector for a while. For us, it is a complementary technology to the space asset that we have, but with a disruptive approach. So we see the emergence of UAVs in the commercial market in the same way. UAVs are great but they will never be able to acquire data at any point of the day as space assets can do. We are already integrating UAV data into our processing system because we have to combine different types of data as soon as it is relevant for our customers. Also, Airbus Defence and Space has acquired extensive portfolio of UAVs so this puts us on a strong track to keep close to this domain.

Maranesi Marcello UAVs will be another complementary injection to the overall geospatial information business. We are used to satellites,

aerial and in-situ measurements, so there is some space between the aerial and ground, which is not yet covered. UAVs are covering this, enabling the sensing of ground or infrastructures from very close to the target point. I am talking about points such as power lines, rooftops, volcanoes, and all these types of new measurements that are being made available by UAVs. Of course, the problem here is the authorisation for these UAVs. Legislations are being changed at international levels in Europe and US.

John Ahlrichs UAVs will not be a disruptive technology; they will be interesting; they will be different. UAV models that have come up in the last two-three years and the ones that are coming up are all very exciting. The field has not grown yet, but in the coming years people will find ways to take advantage of them, [and come with ideas] not thought before. And in the coming years this market will definitely grow and UAVs will fulfill needs that are not being fulfilled today.

VIDEO AS A FORMAT for EO data

V.K. Dadhwal Video is a very important approach to capture quick phenomenon but one needs to understand the capabilities of these imaging systems — how long you can capture a video and how will you position to look at that place where these changes are happening. As far as the analysis is concerned, videos are used on highways etc, so I am not that much concerned about processing of that data. The industry will find partners or appropriate companies or develop the technology if videos become a very important source of information.

How many cameras you need, how can you focus and what is the observation window for the video? These are the aspects one needs to consider in the overall design of the concept.

Nathalie Pisot Video is a brand new technology from space but we have to see how it develops, and how long it will take to mature. The question is not whether this will happen; because it surely will. [But as yet] there is no clarity on its application and the users who will benefit from the video technology. Also, the tools are not yet there. All of that will take a while to develop. We are monitoring this closely, and looking at how we can actively incorporate that in our portfolio.

Airbus has a geostationary satellite project which is designed to create videos. It can capture video in real-time. This is what the future beholds.

Maranesi Marcello Video is again an innovation in the EO business; from both micro- or nano-satellites or from space station. We have not yet fully evaluat-

ed this new product... it has to be understood better in terms of the interested market segments. We have to escape from the belief that satellites or space stations can look everywhere at one time of the day. We need to be realistic and know that these services are feasible but only for a limited period of time... for something like 60 seconds, 90 seconds or so. Not more than that. We will still have to learn how to make the best use out of that.

John Ahlrichs People are still collecting videos from polar satellites, so they have a limited amount of imaging time and it is still being limited to the time of day when they can collect it. Videos will come up with interesting observations; it will have interesting entrepreneurs; it will continue to encourage people to find new applications. It is just expanding the EO market, which I think is critical for its growth. If one is interested in continued coverage of an area then they have to rely on a geostationary satellite which opens several interesting possibilities. The videos that are available today are to my knowledge all collected by a polar satellite.

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Earth Observation/Development Projects

ESA Banks on Multilateral Agencies to Open New Frontiers European Space Agency seeks partnership with international development stakeholders for innovative solutions to address the sustainable development challenge the collaboration with the World Bank in 2010 to include 12 small-scale demonstration activities and the launch of a joint ‘Earth Observation for Development’ initiative, branded as ‘eoworld’. The 12 activities were spread across the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network and carried out in over 20 countries in Latin America, Africa, South and East Asia in the following thematic areas: climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, urban development, water resources management, coastal zone management, marine environment management, agriculture and forestry.

In parallel (and building on the experiences with the World Bank), ESA began widening collaboration with additional banks. Further 10 demonstration projects were completed with the European Investment Bank (EIB), and eight demonstration projects were completed with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In addition, ESA is planning to launch a new collaboration with the Asian Development Bank to support 12 projects.

These initiatives are being carried out through ESA programmes, together with the European and Canadian Earth Observation Services Industry (mainly small companies).

These are specialist suppliers that are in a world-leading position in terms of diversity and maturity of products and services. ESA can therefore be a key partner to international

Valuation of Ecosystems Services in Philippines The Government of Philippines and the World Bank aim to construct two ecosystem accounts using the SEEA (System of Environmental-Economic Accounting ) experimental ecosystem accounting methodology — one for Southern Palawan (around Bataraza) and one for the Laguna Lake Basin. Data demands for the construction of ecosystem accounts are extensive and require spatially referenced data that would allow study of not only the current condition of the ecosystem, but also how it changes over time. Remote sensing data is essential for this task to provide not only Laguna Lake is one of the selected sites for detailed spatial information, but also to fill quality and information gaps in existing demonstrating natural capital accounting data. In addition, it would provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate the uses of EO data when using the SEEA methodology. The timeline for the project is January 2014 to December 2014.

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Courtesy: www.wavespartnership.org/

E

arth observation information provides key contributions to the planning, implementation and monitoring of large international development projects. The European Space Agency (ESA) has been collaborating with multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2008 to demonstrate the value of such information to specific projects being carried out in developing countries.

Multilateral development banks provide technical and financial support to developing countries to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. This involves dealing with the complex challenges of climate change, rapid urbanisation, threats to food security, natural resource depletion and the risk of natural disasters. The provision of accurate and consistent geospatial information is a key component, and the world is looking towards development banks to bring the best available datasets to support strategic planning and to deliver quality solutions to the countries around the world.

ESA began working with the MDBs through three smallscale technical assistance demonstration projects for the World Bank in 2008. The trials demonstrated the use of earth observation-based services to support climate change adaptation projects in Belize (coral reefs), Bangladesh (coastal dynamics) and North Africa (land subsidence).

The success of the early pilots resulted in the scaling up of

development stakeholders that are seeking innovative solutions to address the sustainable development challenge.

The initial results have helped identify the potential of further exploiting EO information within Global Programmes and Partnerships (GPPs), managed by the development banks.

GPPs are important because they play a key role in creating and sharing knowledge (particularly on environmental issues), and in mobilising financial and technical resources of a larger community of donor organisations, as well as public and private stakeholders. Discussions are in progress to explore the potential of EO with the two new World Bank initiatives: the Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO) and the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES).

Why EO for international development?

In Jakarta, pumping water from deep wells (100 metres or deeper) causes the land to sink by as much as 10 cm a year.

Earth observation offers a unique insight into past trends as well as state-of-the-art tools for monitoring the present and future terrain deformations.

Project: In support of a World Bank project, Altamira Information (Spain) together with ITB Bandung Institute of Technology (Jakarta) gathered very high resolution COSMO-SkyMed data over a six months period from October 2010 to April 2011 which yielded very high spatial and temporal density of measurements in the specific constructed areas. Together with high resolution ALOS archived data from January 2007 to end of February 2011 information concerning terrain motion of higher amplitude over the period of 4 years was derived. Data were processed through the Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PS-InSAR) technique.

Result: The EO results revealed that the South Center of Courtesy: AltaMira Information

Public attention towards the changing impact of environment is increasing these days. For international development, this translates into promoting economic growth in an environmentally sustainable manner (so-called ‘green growth’). In this context, EO can be a valuable source of information for assessing environmental impact.

EO is an important and often unique source of information for management and protection of key ecosystems to counteract over-exploitation of resources. This includes desertification, land degradation, support to sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. In the same way, EO capabilities also extend to marine and coastal ecosystems to mitigate the negative impacts of both natural and human-induced changes on sensitive habitats.

Growing population is putting an increasing pressure on major urban areas. Recent advances in image classification have greatly increased the use of very high spatial resolution satellites for detailed urban mapping. EO is being used for operational monitoring of urban development with comprehensive, accurate, up-to-date geographical information to understand how cities are evolving over time at local, regional and global levels. Some 15 types of information layers are available including mapping of continuous urban fabric, informal settlement areas and slums, green vegetation and surface water, as well as impervious surface material. Furthermore, new EO techniques for precision measurements of land motion and building subsidence are being widely used.

EO is also used extensively to support risk management and disaster reduction, as well as crisis mapping including post-disaster recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Within the Committee for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), ESA was a founding member of the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’, which has provided, over the last 10 years, rapid access to earth observation data and information in support of aid relief from natural disasters to national and international dis-

Tracking Land Movement in Jakarta

Land subsidence map for Jakarta

Jakarta and a suburban district are affected by strong subsidence rates. In the Jakarta Bay where a system of sea walls, water draining channels and water reservoirs protecting the land from sea flooding are located, the maximal detected subsidence rate is more than -15 cm/yr, resulting in a deformation of more than -60cm over the period of 4 years.

Outlook: The precise assessment of subsidence trends enhanced an on-going World Bank dialogue with DKI (Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta or Special Capital City District of Jakarta) and the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) and prompted the creation of a national-level community of practice with local authorities and agencies responsible for the management of the urban areas affected by subsidence.

aster relief organisations worldwide. The Reduction of Emissions from De-forestation and forest Degradation (REDD+)

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 53

Earth Observation/Development Projects

Courtesy: Sarmap and Cosmo-SkyMed

Agricultural Mapping in Gambia International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is working with the Gambian government on development projects that will focus on the poor rural population and their participation in local government to implement strategies to improve agricultural production.

Project: ESA is working with the Swiss company Sarmap in mapping Gambia from space with radar. The aim of this is to establish baselines, understand current agricultural practices and document inter-annual changes. Sarmap, ESA and UN-IFAD are also working with local communities. The local people are involved in collecting crop information for validation of the space-based maps.

Result: Land-cover maps and maps of rice crop production patterns have been produced.

User Feedback: “It is pleasing to see the remarkable progress from the launch of this pilot a few months ago. In the case of The Gambia, timing is relevant as the expected results will show the impact of PIWAMP’s intervention in rice production since the beginning of the project as well as provide relevant data to complement the RIMS baseline survey for the newly started project, Nema. One of the important outcome from this initiative is to contribute to enhancing IFAD’s evidence-based policy dialogue in mobilising incremental resources from both government and other donors to invest more in smallholder agriculture to boast sustained pro-poor economic growth. Hopefully, the impact of this initiative would be demonstrated through the transfer of skills and building of local capacities in the use and application of this technology and the proposed in-country capacity building workshop is expected to fulfil this,” said Ides de Willebois, Director of IFAD’s West and Central Africa Division.

Gambia rice paddies as seen by radar satellites at 3m resolution

and the sustainable forestry sector is a key area of support by the international development community. EO has been used extensively for forest mapping since the beginning of the satellite monitoring era in the early Eighties. ESA has been working to strengthen the use of EO for forest mapping in support of REDD and is a leading organisation within CEOS where, along with other space agencies, it supports the Forest Carbon Tracking System and the Global Forest Observing Initiative.

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Finally capacity-building in the use of EO information in developing countries is key to international development.

ESA partners with main user communities to ensure that EO information services and products can be used to respond to real environmental sustainability needs. The on-going activities are TIGER, an initiative supporting African institutions in managing water resources; and the GLOB projects, delivering a range of global satellite information in support of international environmental treaties and conventions.

Operational environmental information

ESA’s current and planned technological capabilities place Europe at the forefront of EO. In the next decade, ESA plans to launch more than 25 new EO satellites, which will provide an enormous wealth of new data to be exploited by the scientific as well as operational user communities.

This includes the most ambitious, operational EO programme in the world — Copernicus, being developed in partnership with the EU. This system will combine data from the world’s biggest fleet of EO satellites and from thousands of in-situ sensors to provide timely, reliable and operational information services covering land, marine, atmosphere and cryosphere environments, and emergency response.

Preparations for adapting to this vast amount of information are in place in Europe for public sector users (mainly government agencies). However, the data will be available globally, and the potential for new applications with new user communities operating outside of Europe in the international development sector is evident.

Conclusion

The challenge now is to establish a stable connection between existing and upcoming European EO capabilities and the leading institutional players in sustainable development to exploit synergies with funding programmes behind them. The existing partnerships with the MDBs are a start to building a comprehensive approach towards this new user community, taking advantage of ESA’s three decades’ of experience in developing EO-based applications. The long-term aim is to promote the use of earth observation as a standard reference tool for environmental information and a component of ‘best-practices’ in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of future international development programmes, projects and initiatives.

Torsten Bondo (torsten.bondo@esa.int), Anna Burzykowska (aburzykowska@worldbank.org), Stephen Coulson (stephen.coulson@esa.int), Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes, ESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Earth Observation/Interview

‘NOAA’s products and services

Geospatial technology is transforming the way we deliver information, says Joseph F. Klimavicz, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director, High Performance Computing and Communications, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

W

hat is the vision of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in terms of creating resilient ecosystem for communities and economies?

For over 40 years, NOAA has delivered science and services that greatly impact the lives of Americans every day. Through our strategic planning processes, we develop the long-term vision, goals, and objectives for the organisation. This forms the basis of our corporate planning, performance management and stakeholder engagement. For example, one of NOAA’s long-term goals is climate adaptation and mitigation, creating an informed society which anticipates and responds to climate and its impacts.

To achieve this objective, NOAA will continue its world-class observation, monitoring, research, and modelling efforts, and increase efforts to close gaps in understanding the climate system and the role of humans within the system.

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 55

Earth Observation/Interview While data and information are wealth, there is a greater need for value added data or information. Is NOAA offering such services?

NOAA collects and produces at least 20 terabytes of data every day. Our weather forecasters rely on model outputs from supercomputers which are fed massive volumes of data from satellites, radar systems, ships, aircraft, weather balloons, and ocean buoys. We are working closely with the Federal geospatial community to build a National Geospatial Platform. This platform will provide a central location for all the shared geospatial data, maps, services and applications of the US Federal community.

We are ensuring that the information is easy to find and use by various end users. We have many other GIS-based applications like Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) which was used in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The ERMA application created a common operating picture with all GIS information during the response and recovery phase. To this day, the application is being used in the environmental restoration work in the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA collects and produces at least 20 terabytes of data every day.

Our weather forecasters rely on model outputs from supercomputers which are fed massive volumes of data from satellites, radar systems, ships, aircraft & ocean buoys

NOAA nowCOAST mapping application gives real time coastal observations, forecasts and warnings

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We also maintain the National Spatial Reference System for the United States, which is comprised of over 2000 stations.

This system is critical for having accurate survey coordinates and we work with the community to gather the best information possible to keep the system updated. At NOAA, we focus on providing access to high-quality data and ensuring that these datasets are useful to all users. We try to make all our data, whether it is on climate, nautical charts or weather, easily available in as many different formats as is practical to meet the user needs. For value-added product development, we partner broadly with all sectors, including all levels of government, academia, and the private sector. All of these information is provided to the public, including our international partners, free of cost.

But only a small percentage of NOAA’s extremely valuable data, about two terabytes a day, is efficiently and effectively made available to the public due to limited resources. To realise the full potential of this data and information, our partners and citizens need access to capabilities that will distill the massive volumes of data into tailored, usable decision- or investment- support products.

We are interested in establishing a public-private partnership where NOAA’s vast data is intelligently positioned in the cloud and co-located with easy and affordable access to computing, storage, and advanced analytical capabilities.

The expectation is that all NOAA data moved to the cloud would remain free to the public in its native, unaltered form.

This model will allow the private sector to establish a set of services and charge for value-added services.

We are trying to take the advantage of the cloud because it allows us to rapidly adopt a solution and access it from anywhere. Even the National Geospatial Platform is hosted on the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere.

NOAA’s information is hosted on national geospatial platform. Is it a sort of geospatial information infrastructure where variety of datasets can be accessed from one single point of address?

The National Geospatial Platform is built on Esri’s ArcGIS technology and fully complies with all the standards of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It also takes the advantage of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata standards and ISO standards. The catalogue for the application, as well as data.gov, is built using the CKAN technology. As a result, its foundation and components are open and transparent which are well understood by the geospatial committee. In terms of backend and catalogue, it might be of interest to users seeking comprehensive information that CKAN has been deployed in England, India and a couple of other countries. The Geospatial Platform is striving to meet requirements from the US government and all sectors of the US geospatial community. The data which is available spans from raw kind of machine data to the final products, and in compliance with applicable international standards for documentation, data access and services.

NOAA collects information through its fleet of satellites and sensors. Is there a mechanism through which it shares this data with other countries as well?

We have hundreds of NOAA-managed websites where we make our information accessible to public internationally.

There is also the National Geospatial Information Platform. We participate in a large number of international data sharing arrangements. NOAA is active in a number of international data sharing arrangements for example GEOSS, WMO ­— a meteorological association, IPCC, FGDC etc. These arrangements ensure that our climate data is discoverable and shareable. Some of our archives and data centres have to change the format of their data to create new products. They basically have a way to recover the cost but not make profit.

NOAA nowCOAST gives real-time wind data

NOAA is moving towards shared enterprise and information services, according to the strategic plan 2013-18. Can you elaborate on this?

We are trying to be as efficient as we can in delivering our IT services. We are moving away from the old model of a closed system. The old system was very effective but it was not efficient in scaling for bandwidth and storage. We want to move towards this new operating model, founded on the delivery of enterprise shared services. Our goal is to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of IT to advance our mission and providing cost-effective solutions.

NOAA claims that its products and services affect a third of the US GDP. Can you elaborate?

Weather and climate industry in the US accounts for one-third of the nation’s domestic product. Aviation and many other services rely on information from the National Weather Service.

Weather and climate information are essential to ensure public safety and protection of life and property. Weather forecasts support decision making at all levels, for example, what kind of crops should be planted, when to plant and what to plant, should one invest in corn, future prices of crops etc. We also assist in long-term decision making, for example, looking at climate simulations and yearly forecasts of climate, if summer will be dry etc. these products are particularly in demand.

NOAA is facing consecutive budget cuts. How are you innovating to optimise resources so that there is no compromise vis-a-vis your services and ongoing research?

I have been working with US government for the past 30 years. I have learned how to work in difficult budget environments, and utilise existing resources to meet the needs and expectations of a changing workforce. At NOAA, we are working to deliver the most cost-effective and efficient enterprise information services. This challenge also presents us with new opportunities to work across NOAA and leverage new technologies that help spur innovation.

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 57

Earth Observation/Disaster Observation/Development Management

Mitigating with help from By ensuring that all countries, regional and international organisations have access to all types of space-based information, the United Nation’s UN-SPIDER is helping nations to combat the adverse impacts of disasters

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n disaster situations, situational awareness is decisive.

Satellite imagery and earth observation products provide reliable data for decision makers before, during and after an emergency or a disaster. Such data can help anticipate, minimise or prevent the adverse impacts of disasters. The United Nations recognises the importance to access and use of space-based information and earth observation to both reduce disaster risks and improve disaster response — especially in developing countries. Unfortunately, many countries still cannot use space technologies for their benefit. This is why, in 2006, the General Assembly created United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, UN-SPIDER in short. UN-SPIDER’s mandate is clear cut: ‘Ensure that all countries, international

58 / Geospatial World / April 2014

and regional organisations have access to and develop the capacity to use all types of space-based information to support the full disaster management cycle’. The programme is implemented by the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) and has global offices in Vienna, Beijing, and Bonn.

The Value of Geo-Information for Disaster and Risk Management (www.un-spider.org/valid), a recent publication elaborated by UN-SPIDER and the Joint Board of Geospatial Information Societies (JB GIS), outlines the potential financial benefits of using geospatial information in the case of disasters and disaster risks. The publication is largely based on a stakeholder evaluation which reiterated that the user community greatly appreciates the benefits of spacebased information not just to support emergency response operations but also to map and monitor risks in order to reduce public and private losses and to support disaster risk reduction strategies for hazards such as floods, earthquakes, droughts, fires or landslides. Unfortunately, while space technologies are widely recognised as useful, they are not yet accessible to all countries. The reasons are manifold and range from lack of awareness to lack of funds and personnel.

This is the gap that UN-SPIDER aims to close.

Building capacities

Some countries face great challenges and limitations with respect to the integration of space technologies into disaster risk management and emergency response efforts.

Courtesy: NASA

Drought in California as pictured on January 2014.

Sometimes, practitioners or policy makers are not fully aware of the potential of these technologies. Sometimes, even if they are aware, they do not know how and/or where to access such data. In other cases yet, they might not have the capacities to adequately process, use or share the data or products they have received or produced. This can be due to a lack of technology, lack of trained staff or the absence of appropriate policies.

UN-SPIDER therefore places great emphasis on building the capacities of institutions and individuals in order to allow them to make better use of satellite data. Technical advisory support is a main pillar in the programme’s work.

The main target groups for these activities include governmental disaster risk management and emergency response agencies, research institutions, as well as regional and international organisations. The support ranges from providing policy-relevant advice to institutions and governments to the facilitation of access to space-based information in emergency situations via the UN-SPIDER network. For example, when Typhoon Hayian affected the Philippines in November 2013, UN-SPIDER compiled all freely available satellite information and maps and made them available on its Knowledge Portal.

One of the key ways in which UN-SPIDER provides support is through its five-day Technical Advisory Missions.

During these missions UN-SPIDER brings a team of international experts to a requesting country to evaluate the existing national capacity to use space-based information, to analyse the current institutional framework, and to identify existing constraints and gaps regarding the use of such information in all phases of the disaster management cycle.

The team meets with heads of all relevant organisations in the country, including governmental agencies, UN entities,

non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and private sector representatives involved in disaster risk management and emergency response. They look into issues related to plans, policies, data sharing, coordination, institutional set-ups and national spatial database infrastructures.

Typically, a one-day workshop involving all stakeholders is an important element of these missions. The mission team also highlights ways to access satellite information via the existing international mechanisms for emergency support, such as the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters. This mechanism is a global collaboration of space agencies which support requesting countries with satellite-based maps in disaster situations. In 2012, the mechanism rolled out its Universal Access approach allowing Member States to become Authorised Users and to request its activation in case of major disasters.

UN-SPIDER’s Technical Advisory Missions are carried out in response to an official request made by the respective Member State and result in a report with recommendations, follow-up actions and suggestions on guidelines and

In 2013, UN-SPIDER provided technical advisory support to 24 countries worldwide, including Technical Advisory Missions to, Indonesia, Ghana, Malawi and Vietnam Geospatial World / April 2014 / 59

Earth Observation/Disaster Observation/Development Management DER team continuously and systematically compiles the knowledge held by individuals and institutions in the form of good practices, data sources, tools and lessons learned.

The aim of the Knowledge Portal is to make available all this relevant knowledge in a global and user-friendly way.

Among the main services of the portal is the Space Application Matrix. This application serves as the search engine to a database that contains around 200 case studies and scientific papers searchable by hazard type, disaster phase, and space technologies. Another important feature of the portal is the Links and Resources section. It contains a database of freely available satellite imagery and derived products as well as a database focusing on GIS and remote sensing software.

Building bridges

Participants at the UN-SPIDER expert meeting on early warning systems in Bonn in June 2013

policies on disaster and disaster risk management issues. In 2013, UN-SPIDER provided technical advisory support to 24 countries worldwide, including Technical Advisory Missions to Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi and Vietnam.

Building up on these Technical Advisory Missions, UN-SPIDER and its partners provide technical training courses. For example, in May 2013, UN-SPIDER carried out a technical training course in the Dominican Republic to strengthen the remote sensing capacities of the members of an inter-institutional geospatial information team to derive flood-related information from optical satellite imagery using GIS and remote sensing software. This activity targeted 27 professionals from 15 ministries, government organisations and universities which have set up the Inter-Institutional Team on Geospatial Information for Disaster-Risk Management and Emergency Response in the Dominican Republic. Other training courses in 2013 were held in Bangladesh, Mozambique and Sudan.

A gateway to space-based information

For disaster and disaster-risk managers, fast and easy access to relevant information and knowledge is essential. The UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal (www.un-spider.org) serves as a gateway to relevant information regarding the use of space technologies in the context of disasters. The UN-SPI-

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UN-SPIDER was created to close the communication gap between the communities involved in space technologies and those involved in disaster response and disaster risk management. The programme does so by organising international conferences, workshops and expert meetings on various topics. In the past years, UN-SPIDER organised events on crowdsource mapping, early warning systems, rapid response mapping, or disaster risk identification, assessment and monitoring. For example, in October 2013, UN-SPIDER brought together close to 130 participants in Beijing from 39 countries for the ‘United Nations International Conference on Spacebased Technologies for Disaster Management: Disaster Risk Identification, Assessment and Monitoring’. The participants represented more than 75 organisations, including civil protection agencies, disaster management agencies, space agen-

Bonn Expert Meeting 2014 On June 5 & 6 , 2014, UN-SPIDER will gather international experts in Bonn to discuss the role of earth observation and other space technologies for drought and flood risk management. Among others, this expert meeting will focus on recent big flood and drought events such as the super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines or the extensive droughts in Bolivia in 2013. The El Niño phenomenon which will possibly develop in the second half of 2014 as forecast by the World Meteorological Organization will also be discussed. The application deadline for this event is April 22, 2014. (For more information log on to, http://www.un-spider.org/ BonnExpertMeeting2014)

Demonstration during the Technical Advisory Mission to Kenya in March 2014

cies, research institutions, science and technology agencies, environmental and natural resources authorities and other government and non-governmental agencies.

A global network

The UN-SPIDER network currently includes 16 regional support offices. These institutions are space agencies, research institutions, disaster and risk management agencies and remote sensing agencies. Together they form a powerful pool of resources and technical as well as regional knowledge. The regional support offices are heavily involved in elaborating useful material for the knowledge portal. Currently, several ‘recommended practices’ are being developed including step-by-step methodologies on the use of spacebased information for different hazards.

Although UN-SPIDER does not have own satellite imagery available, the programme relies on its strong network to provide the necessary information in case of emergencies or disasters.

For example, when Iraq requested UN-SPIDER to support with the provision of satellite data to deal with the extensive floods the country experienced in November 2013, the programme activated its network to facilitate the acquisition of high resolution satellite imagery provided by the China National Space Administration. Similarly, UN-SPIDER facilitated the provision of satellite data via its network and the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters when Typhoon Bopha hit the island nation of Palau and the Philippines in December 2012.

What the future holds

The UN-SPIDER community continues to grow rapidly. In 2013 alone, three regional support offices joined the network. The launch of the Spanish version of the website in February 2014 sparked new visits from the Spanish-speaking community. In the course of 2014, a French version will complement this effort. UN-SPIDER also plans to include several new and relevant features into its knowledge portal, such as a series of hands-on recommended practices for the use of space-based information in the context of disasters elaborated by its network of regional support offices.

In March 2015, the global community will gather in Sendai, Japan to discuss the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. The importance of space-based information was highlighted in the outcome document The future we want of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. UN-SPIDER and UNOOSA will continue to work for recognition of the value of spacebased information for sustainable development in the post2015 development framework and the sustainable development goals.

Antje Hecheltjen, Associate Expert, GIS and Remote Sensing, antje.hecheltjen@unoosa.org Anne Knauer, Associate Expert, Information and Media, anne.knauer@unoosa.org UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER www.un-spider.org

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 61

Earth Observation/Crop Observation/Development Insurance

Earth observation solutions are increasingly helping small farmers in developing countries in insuring their produce

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Courtesy:EARS

lthough human civilisation is built on farming, through the course of ages farming has remained a risky business. Bad harvests are particularly harmful to small farmers in developing countries and have even resulted in famine in some regions. That is why international financial institutions and developing agencies have sought poverty alleviation mechanisms that reduce the risk of farming and that go beyond relief operations and hand-outs.

Indexed insurance is one of the possible solutions.

The idea is simple: one chooses one or more parametres, determines a variety of thresholds (or just one) and if the value of the parametre goes over that threshold (or stays under it, depending on the definition), the farmer gets a pay-out, regardless of whether his crop has actually been damaged or not. This approach has the advantage that (after the pilot phase) virtually no field checks or other control operations are required, thus reducing costs and making the whole undertaking commercially viable.

The relative evapotranspiration across Africa as derived from Meteosat for the first 10 days of September 2005

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EARS, a Dutch company, in cooperation with a number of (re-)insurance companies has developed a system for indexed agricultural insurance that is based on evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is assessed by analysing Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite images. These images have the advantage of a very high temporal resolution and complete coverage of the target area; thus providing all the information that is needed. Supported by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), EARS has access to a 32-year database of hourly visual and thermal Meteosat imagery. This enables the use of historical time-series to assess the correct establishment of the evaporation parametre that is the threshold for pay-out. After all, if this is not done correctly, either the insurance is not attractive to farmers or the insurance company goes broke. One of the basic concerns of farmers is that they can at least recover enough funding to buy the inputs for next year’s crop. After all, the tragedy of famine is prolonged and aggravated when the affected population is forced to consume all they have and no seeds are left for the next cropping season.

Evapotranspiration is chosen as index, because it has certain advantages over alternative solutions. A possible alternative is the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) that gives an estimate of the (development of) total biomass. It measures total vegetation cover and not land under cultivation. Rainfall is another alternative index that is commonly used, but intensities and amounts may vary considerably over a small distance. As with NDVI, the relation with crop growth is not very clear and intensive campaigns on the ground are needed for calibration, taking into account that rain gauge data are not very reliable in Africa. Evapotranspiration represents actual crop water use and is therefore more closely related to crop yield than precipitation. Processing satellite data with the Energy and Water Balance Monitoring System (EWBMS) is therefore the most promising solution. The system is developed by EARS since the early 1980’s. It generates temperature, radiation, evapotranspiration,

WMO-GTS precipitation

Courtesy:EARS

Cloud duration

Hourly data

Temperature Albedo

Rainfall

Hydrological model

Flow forecast

Evaporation

Drought processing

Drought products

Radiation

Crop growth model

Crop yield forecast

Rainfall Processing

Energy balance processing

Overview of the energy and water balance monitoring system

cloudiness and rainfall data fields, covering the African continent at 3-km resolution.

Two insurance indices are derived from the Meteosat data.

One, dekad relative evapotranspiration (RE), as an agricultural drought index and second, dekad cold cloud duration (DDE), as an excessive precipitation index.

RE is the actual evapotranspiration (the amount of water actually used by plants and evaporated by the soil) divided by the potential evapotranspiration (the amount of water that would be used by plants (and soil) under optimum growing conditions). If a crop is close to or at potential evaporation during the different stages of the growing season, this will lead to increased yields. Indirectly, relative evapotranspiration is therefore also an indicator of crop health and the effect of (or potential for) fertiliser use, which rainfall is not.

Cold cloud duration (CCD) is a measure of cumulonimbus dwelling time. In the tropics, almost all rainfall is from very high clouds, making it a suitable index for the total amount of rainfall. CCD is expressed as a fraction of time and can be used as indicator for excessive precipitation insurance.

To translate the physical model into insurance products, additional information is needed on the growing season phasing (EARS applies three phases), the timing of the growing season and the start of the growing season window.

A trigger of a relative evapotranspiration of 65% works well in practice to determine the start of the growing season. The payout is ideally based on the relative yield that is lost, because of drought. There are different modalities of insurance and calculation methods, but relative evaporation serves as a good proxy for yield loss. The most basic form of insurance is where a farmer recovers the costs of his original input, which enables the investment needed for the next growing season. The insurance company indicates the level of risk coverage. EARS subsequently develops the index insurance, including design parameters such as strike (threshold where payout starts), exit (threshold where payout stops, or maxi-

mum payout), burning costs and pure risk premium (average payout) to arrive at a product that is viable for both the farmer and the company. Thanks to the historical archive, these parameters can be substantiated in a reliable way.

The indices provide a relatively low intrinsic and spatial basis risk. The data are uniform, objective and abundant.

They can be produced economically, which is important, because the paying capacity of the potential clients is limited. There is no need for extensive ground measurement networks and the approach can be scaled up easily. Pilot projects have been carried out for maize and cotton in Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin (with Planet Guarantee), for French beans in Kenya (with Syngenta Foundation), for cotton in Tanzania, for maize and rice in Rwanda (both with MicroEnsure), for maize in Malawi and Mozambique (with COINRE), for cotton and sorghum in Kenya (with Planet Guarantee and others) and for wheat also in Kenya (with FSD Kenya and the World Bank).

Andries Rosema, EARS Director, confirms that the results of the pilots were very positive: more than 20,000 farmers were insured and the programme is expanding rapidly. The availability of reliable measurements and historical data, the cost of data and the possibility of scaling operations are all limiting factors when using rainfall as an index but are no limitations to evapotranspiration from MSG images at all. There are some demand-side issues that still need to be resolved: the ease of understanding and trust in the concept (by the target groups) do not come as naturally with evapotranspiration as with rainfall. Taking this into account, the application of index-based micro-insurance for agriculture is expanding rapidly: already in 2015 more than 300,000 farmers are expected to be covered, albeit mostly still in the form of projects.

Mark Noort, Editor – Agriculture mark@geospatialmedia.net

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 63

Beat

Standards Critical for Geospatial Convergence

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onvergence of various geospatial technologies within and with other technologies, and the increasing need for such a practice is the need of the hour. Interestingly, at a couple of top geospatial conferences I attended recently, speakers echoed a similar theme. As topics ranged from greenway planning, to use of laser systems for land-use planning, automated access, processing and integration of the growing volume of geospatial data through analytics and cloud processing, the speakers provided insight on how geospatial information and technologies are underpinning success in business processes today.

Worldwide, a massive integration of geospatial information across government and business processes and enterprises is underway to improve situational awareness and decision making.

Location-aware, sensor-filled mobile devices are constantly sending location data into the Cloud and receiving location information from the Cloud

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In an article titled ‘Geospatial Workflows Redefining Industry Ecosystem’, the May 2013 edition of Geospatial World had highlighted how geospatial industry has evolved rapidly in the past decade through convergence, collaboration, and integration of constituent technologies. This convergence facilitated end-to-end geo-enabled workflows across vertical industries, triggering the sector’s transformation from a relatively small and highly compartmentalised industry to a much larger, richer and more richly connected industry at the centre of a much larger geospatial business ecosystem.

The benefits of traditional geospatial technologies are heightened by their convergence with new technologies and approaches such as Cloud, analytics, mobile processing and 3D data collection.

Overall data volume in the IT world is outgrowing data storage capacity. Much of the data is spatial in nature and is unstructured. Standards help by facilitating the creation of data that is structured rather than unstructured. Nevertheless, in the “signal to noise ratio” analogy, it becomes increasingly important to have analytical power to filter the extraneous data (noise) from meaningful data (signal).

Standards continue to play an important role in this continuing evolution -- facilitating the rapid integration of information, supporting processing and fusion of data sources to yield new levels of insight, enabling the rapid insertion of new technologies without major disruption.

A parallel convergence is taking place in the SDO world. There is a growing need to anticipate and identify new interoperability challenges. As technologies and industries evolve and as communities realise the value of data integration and analysis, these challenges can best be met with standards and related best practices. Here are some of the OGC activities that represent this convergence trend: • GeoPackage: The OGC GeoPackage standard lets developers of lightweight mobile apps tap into a mix of powerful standards-based location services available in the Cloud. GeoPackages are interoperable across

‘Sensors everywhere’ are creating a vast amount of location data

all enterprise and personal computing environments, and they can even be sent in emails and text messages.

They are particularly useful on mobile devices like cell phones and tablets in communications environments with limited connectivity and bandwidth.

• Indoor location: Most of us spend most of our lives indoors, but our mobile devices don’t support indoor navigation as they do outdoor navigation. The candidate OGC IndoorGML Encoding Standard has been developed to provide interoperability between indoor navigation applications, with a link to outdoor location systems. The international participants in the IndoorGML Standards Working Group work in collaboration with indoor navigation information standards groups in other standardisation organisations including ISO/TC204 and the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (RAS).

• Modelling: Environmental modelling is extremely

Integration of geoinformation across government & business processes and enterprises is underway to improve situational awareness and decision making at all levels

complex, and there is an explosion of models to address issues such as climate change and water resource availability. The OpenMI Association brought their Open Modelling Interface (OpenMI) into the OGC. The OpenMI Version 2, recently approved as an OGC standard, defines a means by which independently developed computer models of environmental processes, or indeed any processes, can exchange data as they run. This facilitates modelling workflows that chain multiple models together — creating a new capacity for efficiently solving increasingly complex issues.

• Internet of Things (IoT): In today’s world, most sensors have special purpose and often proprietary software interfaces. This situation requires significant investment in API development with each new sensor or project involving multiple sensor systems. Standardised interfaces for communicating with sensors and sensor systems permit the proliferation of new high value services with lower overhead of development and wider reach. It will also lower the cost for sensor and gateway providers and increase the industry’s overall market potential. An integrated constellation of open standards, including the OGC Sensor Web Enablement Standards and the candidate OGC Sensor Web for IoT Standard, will soon be essential infrastructure for the IoT. Mark E. Reichardt, President & CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) mreichardt@myogc.org

Geospatial World / April 2014 / 65

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