Geospatial World July 2013

Transportation

GIS for intelligent system | P. 34

Publication: 10th of every month I Posting: 15th / 20th of every month

Suriname takes to UAVs | P. 60

G e o s p a t ia l

In-focus How mature is your GIS? | P. 64

I n d us t r y

M aga z i n e

GEOSPATIAL WOR LD www.geospatialworld.net

Price: INR 150 / US$ 15 Subscriber’s copy. Not for Sale

R.N.I No - UPENG/2010/34153; Registration no: UP/GBD-136/2011-13

Y o u r

technology

July 2013 » VOL 03» ISSUE 12 | ISSN 2277–3134

Help

INSURANCE:

is at hand

TOGETHER WE ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY

ACTFAST

Smarter Decisions for Disaster Management In a disaster, fast and accurate information is critical. Save lives, time, and resources using Intergraph® ERDAS IMAGINE® 2013. informed decisions. After all, this is when it counts.

GEOSPATIAL.INTERGRAPH.COM/IMAGINE

© 2013 Intergraph Corporation. All rights reserved. Intergraph is part of Hexagon. Intergraph and the Intergraph logo are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Image Copyright: Pammy1140 - Fotolia.com

CLICK!

hexagon.com/geospatial

TWEET!

@HexGeospatial

Leica Pegasus:One Complete Mobile Mapping Solution

n Asset Management n Planning Verification n Compliance Management Capturing at Vehicle Speed – when it has to be right.

For more information visit http://di.leica-geosystems.com www.leica-geosystems.com

Inside...

July 2013 • Vol 3 • Issue 12 Articles

28 Transparency for risk assessment

Cover Story

47 Advances in rail measurement Jim Dickey and Anthony G. Cinquini

Andreas Siebert

34 GIS for Intelligent transport system Terry Bills

37 Geo-location enabling airports to do business Kevin Carlson

60 UAVs open up a whole new world Stef De Ridder & Egbert Moerland

64 How mature is your GIS? Greg Duffy

40 Towards a sustainable maritime trade

18

Be insured with risk mapping Anusuya Datta

Celine Roux Case Studies

32 Guarding fleet on the roads

54 Towards safer, accident-free roads

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan Publisher Sanjay Kumar

50 GIS for integrated waterways

56 Digital terrain model for highways

Publications Team Managing Editor Prof. Arup Dasgupta Editor — Building & Energy Geoff Zeiss Editor — Latin America (Honorary) Tania Maria Sausen Editor — Geospatial World Weekly 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 Circulation Manager Amit Shahi

52 Information system for transport networks

58 Managing airport leases in real time

Interviews

44 Rosina Howe-Teo

30 Iain Willis

Singapore LTA

Product Manager, EQECAT 07 Editorial

08 News

16 Product Watch

62 Techknow Buzz 67 Picture This 68 Conference Report COVER IMAGE COURTESY: earthblawg/AP

Advisory Board

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 72 pages including cover

Aida Opoku Mensah Special Advisor, Post 2015 Development Agenda, UN Economic Commisssion for Africa

Bryn Fosburgh Barbara Ryan Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations

Sector Vice-President, Executive Committee Member, Trimble Navigation

Greg Bentley CEO, Bentley Systems

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

Dorine Burmanje Chair-Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), The Netherlands

Prof. Ian Dowman First Vice President, ISPRS

Chair, Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

Juergen Dold President Hexagon Geosystems

Mohd Al Rajhi Lisa Campbell Kamal K Singh Chairman and CEO, Rolta Group

Vice President, Engineering & Infrastructure, Autodesk

Mark Reichardt President and CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium

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

5

Derek Clarke

Prof. Josef Strobl

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

Geospatial World Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt. Ltd. (formerly GIS Development Pvt. Ltd.) A - 145, Sector - 63, Noida, India Tel + 91-120-4612500 Fax +91-120-4612555 / 666 Price: INR 150/US$ 15

Geospatial World | July 2013

Stephen Lawler Chief Technology Officer, Bing Maps, Microsoft

Matthew O’Connell CEO, Adhoc Holdings

Vanessa Lawrence Dr Swarna Subba Rao Surveyor General of India

Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey, UK

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

Introducing the UltraCam Osprey oblique digital aerial sensor system.

The UltraCam Osprey brings UltraCam performance and quality to your oblique aerial data acquisitions. This new UltraCam sensor system collects oblique imagery along with nadir PAN, RGB and NIR data all in a single pass and at image footprints of 13,450 (oblique) and 11,674 (PAN nadir) pixels across the flight strip. In doing so, the UltraCam Osprey provides you with a highly efficient and ideal system for a wide range of projects ranging from 3D urban mapping to classification to photogrammetric applications requiring high-geometric accuracy and superior radiometry.

The UltraCam Osprey is fully supported in the UltraMap 3.0 workflow software to perform aerotriangulation (AT) and to generate high accuracy point clouds, DSM, DTM, and DSM/DTMorthos.

Get details and see UltraCam Osprey image samples at www.UltraCamOsprey.com.

©2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, UltraCam, UltraMap and UltraCam Osprey are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

EditorSpeak

Short-sighted policies vs long-term effects Prof Arup Dasgupta Managing Editor arup@geospatialmedia.net

J

une has been a month of disasters. In Canada, floods in Alberta resulted in the flooding of Calgary city leading to its evacuation. Similarly, flooding affected life in Christchurch in New Zealand. In Germany, the Elbe River flooded huge areas. In India, a cloudburst over Kedarnath, a pilgrimage site in the Himalayas, has created devastation. In all these cases, it has been unusually heavy rains that created havoc, and the cost of recovery is in billions of dollars and timescales of 5 to 10 years.

As governments come to terms with the cost and begin to prepare for recovery, individuals also have to come to terms with their losses in terms of damaged or destroyed homes, businesses and lives.

Insurers are going to be very busy, and coincidentally, this month we focus on how geospatial technology is being used to assess risk in deciding coverage and premia, and to compute damages and compensation. While this works well for movable and immovable properties, its extension to other areas is still evolving. For example, crop insurance is a major area of application. In developed countries, crop insurance is well known and there are commercial models to help farmers to evaluate their risks based on climate information and market intelligence. It is still at a nascent level in developing countries and tied up to government support. Determination of the quantum of support to individual farmers is not easy as most holdings are small. This is an area where geospatial technology should be brought to bear.

While debates on global warming and climate change can go on in seminar halls, extreme weather events and natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and drought will also continue to happen. As a part of risk mitigation, these events need to be understood and suitable early warning systems have to be put in place. This is a major arena for geospatial technologies. The insurance industry has understood the importance of this fast-evolving technology and is in the process of assimilating this into their evaluation system.

However, governments and local authorities do not seem to grasp the importance of the information provided by the application of geospatial systems to evaluate and mitigate risk. Thus, city developers build on floodplains, drainage is dammed indiscriminately, tectonically active zones are ignored while laying roads through mountainous regions, steep slopes are denuded of vegetation, and all this in the name of development. Short-sighted policies ignore long-term effects until nature strikes back and then the bickering over responsibility drowns out the cries of the affected. Administrators and vested interests make this out to be a battle between them and ‘the green brigade’. In reality both need to work together and find the golden mean through the use of geospatial systems.

Geospatial World | July 2013

7

Americas news Business

Google’s Waze acquisition draws FTC’s antitrust review Google’s $1.1-billion acquisition of Israeli mapping startup Waze has drawn the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It has been contacted by FTC lawyers intending to conduct an antitrust review of the acquisition. Google may have sidestepped the usual process of notifying regulators prior to its announcement of the deal. Filing is not required if the foreign company being acquired has sales of less than $70.9 million, which Waze is unlikely to have.

soft’s Online Services Division where he will likely work on Bing Maps and its related products. At Google Maps, Shah was responsible for the part of the operation that brought in mapping data from around the world and then integrated it into Maps.

Northrop Grumman delivers 8,000th navigation system

Google loses head of map operations to Microsoft Microsoft has just made a key hire that could help it re-energise its online mapping services. Raj Shah, who was previously heading up Google’s worldwide maps operations as the Engineering Director for Maps, will join Micro8

Geospatial World | July 2013

62%

New open data rules to enhance US govt efficiency

Aruba buys indoor mapping start-up Meridian Enterprise Wi-Fi network vendor Aruba has acquired Meridian, a US startup that offers apps and an app-making platform for indoor geo-location. With this acquisition, Aruba is looking to combine its enterprise Wi-Fi technology with Meridian’s location services to provide context about users and devices. The aim is to create an “indoor GPS” system to enable applications inside of malls, casinos, arenas and museums. The idea is that companies will be able to better deliver contextual ads, directions and various pitches.

President’s latest budget request would slash funding for mapping even further to $84 million — a drop of 62% over the last four years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has estimated the cuts would delay its map drop in mapping programme budget since 2010 by three to five years. The programme “will continue to make progress, but more homeowners will rely on flood hazard maps that are not current,” FEMA said.

An engineer at Northrop Grumman tests the LN-100 inertial navigation system

Northrop Grumman has achieved a significant milestone by delivering its 8,000th LN-100 inertial navigation system (INS), which provides primary and backup navigation information for a variety of airborne and shipboard platforms. In production since March 1993, the LN-100 has been delivered to more than 70 customers worldwide and is in use on both tactical and transport aircraft, including the US Navy and Air Force platforms.

Miscellaneous US cuts funding for mapping project The US Congress has cut funding for updating flood maps by more than half since 2010, from $221 million down to $100 million this year. And the US

US President Barack Obama has signed an Executive Order to make information generated and stored by the Federal Government more open and accessible to innovators and the public, to fuel entrepreneurship and economic growth while increasing government transparency and efficiency.

The move will make troves of previously inaccessible data easily available to entrepreneurs, researchers, and others who can use those files to generate new products and services, build businesses, and create jobs.

Earthquakes have created global-scale GPS errors Twelve years of high-scale earthquakes have contaminated GPS sites around the world, finds a new study.

Except for spots in Australia, western Europe and the eastern tip of Canada, every GPS site on the ground underwent small but important shifts since 2000 because of big earthquakes, claims a study published in the

Americas news

DARPA builds sensors with smartphone technology The Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA) has announced plans to roll out a programme for the rapid development and manufacture of sensors to help power unmanned aerial, land and

cial smartphone industry. The goal is to develop low-cost, rapidly updatable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors in less than a year, a marked improvement to the current three-to-eight year development process.

Courtesy: DARPA

Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid earth. The research confirms that earthquakes bigger than magnitude 8.0 can have far-reaching effects on the earth’s crust. And because GPS is critical for everything from calculating satellite orbits to sea-level rise to earthquake hazards, scientists can’t ignore these tiny zigs and zags, the researchers conclude.

USGS takes operational control of Landsat 8 satellite The new UGS can provide users with a costeffective ground sensing capability

underwater vehicles. DARPA’s Adaptable Sensor System programme aims to transform how unattended sensors are developed for the military by using an original design manufacturer process similar to that of the commer-

The US Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Center in Sioux Falls has taken over the Landsat 8 satellite mission from NASA. The Center will collect at least 400 Landsat 8 scenes per day from around the world which will then be processed and archived at the EROS facility. EROS specialists will also provide more than 2 million current and

AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI World Conference (GSDI14) 4-8 November 2013 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia AfricaGIS is the largest regularly occurring GIS conference in Africa with participants from the entirety of the continent. The GSDI World Conference has built a reputation for excellence in content and moves across the globe to offer geospatial specialists in all parts of the world opportunities to better exchange ideas and learn from global peers in building spatial data infrastructure.

The joint AfricaGIS 2013 and GSDI World Conference (GSDI 14) theme is Spatial Enablement in Support of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction.

More information at: http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14 Main sponsor

Hosts

Lead collaborators

Collaborators

Endorser

Geospatial World | July 2013

9

Americas news historical Landsat images per year free to users over the Internet.

NASA satellite captures 6,000-mile-long image of Earth NASA has captured the world’s largest panoramic photo at 6,000 miles long and 120 miles wide using a satellite orbiting 438 miles above the earth.

The swath is made up of 56 still images taken during the satellite’s final orbit and stretches from northern Russia down to South Africa.

NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) scanned the surface of the earth during orbit in April and took just 15 minutes to take the shots. The LDCM took 56 individual shots of the land as it orbited the earth and NASA stitched these images together to form the seamless swath.

RADARSAT-1 goes defunct after 17 years of service Surpassing its expected lifetime by 12 years, RADARSAT-1, Canada’s first earth observation satellite has been declared non-operational after a final anomaly consigned the satellite to what will be a very slow deorbit to a final fiery burn-up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Launched in November of 1995, its mission was to monitor environmental changes and the planet’s natural resources.

Ironically, it was just over a year ago when Europe’s newer ENVISAT satellite went offline and for which RADARSAT-1 was tasked to help fillin with the lost access to data.

MapBox develops cloudless atlas

Image of the globe showing the swath of land captured by NASA’s LDCM as it orbited the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour

Mapping site MapBox has created an interactive cloudless atlas using images taken by NASA satellites in the last two years. More than 339,000 images were collected from NASA’s Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer technology. Cartographers from MapBox sorted through the images, pixel-by-pixel, finding images taken on cloudless summer days and layered them on top of each other to create the atlas.

Ecuador Ecuador’s only satellite damaged in space collision

A clear image of the UK taken from MapBox’s cloudless atlas

10

Geospatial World | July 2013

A tiny Ecuadorian satellite, Pegaso, which collided in space with the remains of a Soviet rocket, survived the crash, but was damaged and is not transmitting any data, the national space agency has said. Ecuador’s space agency EXA’s director Ronnie Nader said that the satellite’s antenna had lost its orientation and the craft

was spinning wildly over two of its axes, so it could not currently receive transmissions or send commands.

Chile Digital map unveiled to improve decision making Chile’s Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales, roughly translated as the Ministry of Government Resources, has launched a digital map of the country aimed at improving investments and decisionmaking in Chile. The ‘Map Viewer IDE’ is the first Web platform with Chilean territorial information which will allow both businessmen and the general public easy access to the content for better project planning. So far, the map has information of the first four regions of northern Chile (Arica and Parinacota, Tarapaca, Antofagasta and Atacama).

It is expected to add one region per month, in addition to incorporating census data and emergency protocols, among others.

Europe news France

moisture. More rain meant that it immediately ran off as the surplus water could not soak into the soil, and this resulted in these terrible floods.”

Intel buys ST-Ericsson’s GNSS business

OHB inks contract for European data relay satellite Satellite manufacturer OHB AG has signed a final contract for the construction of a data-relay satellite that will use laser communications to speed delivery of European earth observation data to users. OHB has been working on the European Data Relay Satellite System (EDRS) for about two years under a preliminary contract with Astrium Services, which is managing the EDRS system as a public-private partnership with the 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA). The final contract is valued at 157.5 million euros ($205 million).

ESA satellite measures pre-flood soil moisture Massive floods have heavily affected regions in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and other European countries over the past days. In order to better prepare for such floods in the future, satellites such as ESA’s SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity)

UK OS to create 3D spatial data model for Bahrain

Courtesy: ESA

ST-Ericsson has sold its GNSS mobile business to Intel. ST-Ericsson, which focuses on mobile and wireless chips, announced the sale. Neither company revealed the price, but ST-Ericsson said the proceeds from the sale, combined with the avoidance of employee restructuring charges and other related restructuring costs, would reduce the joint venture’s cash needs by approximately $90 million.

Soil moisture from SMOS

could help to improve the accuracy of flood prediction by measuring the soil moisture. Prior to the torrential rains, SMOS showed that soils in Germany were showing record levels of moisture – in fact, the highest ever observed. ESA’s SMOS mission scientist, Matthias Drusch, explains, “Data from SMOS can be used to monitor the saturation of the soil. At the end of May we see that the soil was almost fully saturated, with record values for

Ordnance Survey International is collaborating with the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB), Bahrain to develop a new 3D-enabled spatial data model of Bahrain. Experts from the Ordnance Survey International will help the SLRB to design and build a new 3D-enabled national spatial data model. The new model will produce intelligent data, enabling effective analysis, decision-making and greater consistency in the way SLRB maintains data and distributes it to stakeholders. The model will be built on industry standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium and the International Organization for Standardization.

Rome Satellite imagery of Rome delivered in 11 minutes Gone are the days when processing satellite images used to take days and weeks.

Setting a record, DMC International Imaging (DMCii) and Spacemetric have delivered a satellite image to the end-users in just 11 minutes flat. An image of Rome was acquired at 09:17 UTC on June 5 and was processed and made available by 09:28 UTC the same morning. “Demonstrating that it’s possible to capture Rome, download the image and process it in just 11 minutes is hugely exciting and proves that an age where civil users can tap into near real-time data from space is just around the corner,” said Adina Gillespie, DMCii’s Product Development Manager.

Geospatial World | July 2013

11

Asia news China

High-performance satellite navigation receiver developed

Alibaba to invest $294 mn in mapping firm AutoNavi

A new-type high-performance satellite navigation receiver, developed by the College of Electronic Science and Engineering under the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has been unveiled. The satellite navigation receiver can simultaneously receive signals of China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System, US’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS, with a positioning accuracy of 10 metres. Therefore, it can be widely used in such platforms as aircraft, ships and automobiles. The new-type satellite navigation receiver developed by the NUDT creatively integrates three signal systems of the BDS, the GPS and the GLONASS into a circuit ID-card-sized high-performance board, thus increasing the selectivity in satellite navigation receiver different environments.

Alibaba Group, China’s largest e-commerce firm, will take a 28% stake in digital mapping company AutoNavi Holdings, part of Alibaba’s move to boost its competitiveness by beefing up its product lineup. Alibaba will invest $294 million to become the largest shareholder in the China-based firm. The parties plan to share certain data, including AutoNavi’s map data and location-related information of the merchants on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, including Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com.

Satellite data network reaches South China Sea China has commissioned a satellite data receiving station to observe the disputed South China Sea, where Beijing was involved in maritime disputes with a number of South East Asian countries. The station at Sanya in China’s southern island province of Hainan was launched by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China will now be able to obtain satellite remote sensing data of the country’s southern territorial waters for civil use directly from its groundbased receiving facilities.

Thailand GPS market on a growth path Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) 12

Geospatial World | July 2013

has said the country’s GPS market is growing, with its overall value expected to reach THB 4 billion ($133.4 million approx) this year. Passakorn Prathombutr, NSTDA Service Research and Innovation Program Director, predicted that this year’s Value of GPS market market share by 2013 would realise 23% more than last year’s at THB 4.2 billion, or around 378,000 devices.

par with Google Earth. The geoportal also includes Pocket Bhuvan. It is accessible on all smartphones and functions like Google Navigation,” said Himanshu Pandya, a scientist at the Space Application Centre (SAC). “The biggest advantage that Bhuvan has over Google Earth and Google Navigation is that it is able to map even the remotest corner or village of the Indian territory,” added Pandya.

India

ISRO has opened its navigation centre in Bangalore Rural District for the proposed Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a constellation of seven spacecrafts that will enable users to know their location and time accurately. ISRO Navigation Centre (INC), established at the Indian Deep Space Network complex at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, will be responsible for the time reference,

$133.4 mn

ISRO’s geoportal Bhuvan turns 3D India’s Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) geoportal Bhuvan, which helps in geo-mapping and navigation across the country, has turned 3-dimensional.

“The new 3D feature of the portal is ISRO’s attempt to bring Bhuvan on a

RNSS Navigation centre inaugurated near Bangalore

Asia news Pakistan adopts China’s Beidou navigation system

generation of navigation messages and monitoring and control of ground facilities, including ranging stations.

China’s home-grown satellite navigation system Beidou is expected to add yet another customer after Pakistan signed up to host ground stations for the service. Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites. With this agreement, Pakistan will become the fourth country to use Beidou navigation services in the Asia-Pacific region. Construction of continuously operating reference stations (CORS), which collect and transmit satellite data, will help to increase Beidou’s accuracy in Pakistan.

Survey of India to share expertise with Thailand Survey of India (SoI) is all set to share its expertise in surveying and urban mapping with geo-informatics experts from Thailand in the coming months.

An MoU was signed between the SoI and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand, as part of ‘Indo-Thai Geo Spatial Cooperation’ initiative during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Thailand. According to the agreement, SoI will map a town measuring about 100 sq km to demonstrate its expertise in urban survey and mapping. The survey would help in understanding the topography and developing maps for the town.

Philippines DST to adopt Indonesia’s open source disaster tool

Russia

A Russian satellite launched last year to map the Arctic has stopped working, a space industry source said, in the latest disappointment for the country’s once-pioneering space programme.

The orbiter, Zond-PP, was the first of

Courtesy: Satnews

Ordinance to regulate mapping standards

Illustration of Russia’s Zond-PP satellite

Courtesy: insafe.org

Satellite to map Arctic malfunctions

Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari has promulgated an ordinance to regulate and implement surveying and mapping standards in the country and to enable Survey of Pakistan (SoP) effectively assume its role of national mapping organisation. The ordinance aims to regulate and curb unqualified and unregistered firms to take part in surveying and mapping activities. It also aims to avoid duplication in mapping efforts in the country. The Bill prepared was duly approved by the Cabinet and was unanimously recommended by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence.

five earth-mapping satellites being developed by Russia. Launched in July 2012, it was expected to have a three-year life-span. The satellite was equipped to monitor ocean salinity levels and land humidity to help Russian meteorologists model ocean currents and ice floes in the Arctic.

Earthquake scenario in Indonesia. OSM building footprints likely to undergo damage shown in red

The Department of Science and Technology has revealed plans to adopt InSAFE, a disaster mitigation technology from Indonesia, to its Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazard (NOAH) project in a bid to improve disaster planning and preparedness in the country. InSAFE, or Indonesia Scenario Assessment for Emergency, is an open source software that produces realistic natural hazard impact scenarios to help decision makers in their disaster planning, preparedness and response activities.

Geospatial World | July 2013

13

Australia

Courtesy: AGDATA

Native vegetation database developed in Queensland

in the rugged forest of Connondale National Park, using a combination of GIS and LiDAR technology. “The technology effectively created a digital forest with different colours representing varying tree heights and canopy levels. It was by viewing information in this way that we first identified Big Bob, which has since been confirmed as the highest tree on record in Queensland,” Sunshine Coast Council geospatial analyst Toby Clewett said.

Free satellite mapping service to graziers soon Native vegetation classification

A state-wide landcover and tree study was undertaken by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources to identify and classify all vegetation zones across the state. Remote sensing technology along with field surveys was used to develop a vegetation database which the government can stipulate vegetation management guidelines by which all landholders must abide. The premise of this effort was to assist landholders, scientists, industry, and government with the world’s best-practice landscape management.

With the help of native vegetation classification software, landholders were able to load the spatial vegetation data, overlay it on their property, and view the classification of each vegetation zone.

Environmental icon uncovered via GIS The Sunshine Coast Council has discovered a new environmental icon, Queensland’s tallest tree, while surveying tree heights across the region.

The 73-metre giant was found hidden 14

Geospatial World | July 2013

The Federal Government and some state governments may soon roll out free satellite mapping services to all graziers across Australia. Currently, the Queensland Government is funding this service to graziers in North Queensland, but it could be rolled out at a national level by the end of the year. Mike Digby, regional mapping services co-ordinator with the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group in Queensland said they have mapped 200,000 sq km within the northern gulf of Queensland.

Port authority uses GIS for better decision making The Port Hedland Port Authority (PHPA) has created an intelligent multi-layered mapping platform to enable operators make well-informed decisions critical for the Port’s development, management and planning strategy over the next decade. PHPA’s multi-layered mapping platform draws on Esri’s ArcGIS technology to visually represent the Port’s core business information – such as the location of existing infrastructure, access routes,

Courtesy: PHPA

Australia/Oceania news

The map shows an overview of the Port Hedland Port Authority Landside area

unused land and development plans – with other data, such as sites of cultural or environmental significant.

New Zealand GIS-based database of sedimentary basins prepared The first systematic GIS-based compilation and interpretation of geological data, leading to improved understanding of the structure and distribution of sedimentary basins in the New Zealand region has been released. The New Zealand Extended Continental Shelf SEEBASE GIS project delivers a 1:3,000,000 GIS-based, geophysically constrained, depth-tobasement geological model across New Zealand’s onshore, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf. “The project provides new interpretation and modelling in a cohesive, country-wide GIS-based package,” said Dr Brad Ilg, Manager Petroleum Strategy, Planning and Promotion.

Africa news Nigeria Mapping of vulnerable areas for flood preparedness

Courtesy: This Day Live

The Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had carried out mapping of all the communities likely to be affected by the predicted 2013 flood as part of its preparedness against disaster occurrence in the country. NEMA’s Director General, Alhaji Mohammad Sani Sidi,

Vulnerability assessment of seven communities has been carried out by NEMA

said the organisation had also carried out vulnerability capacity assessment

of seven communities to determine the existing capacity in each community and its level of resilience. The Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET) had predicted rainfall with a possible flooding in some low plain areas.

Abuja gets remote sensing laboratory A laboratory for remote sensing, run by the Department of Federal in Nigeria, has been opened in the capital city of Abuja. The laboratory also doubles as the Forestry Geographic Information System (GIS). The facility, funded by the Ecological Fund Office of the government, also houses a Web-based National Forestry Information System, a platform for free online network access to information about forestry in the country. Remote sensing should help the national forestry department gain up-to-date information on the country’s forest resources “for the purpose of planning and sustainable management,” explained Dr Bukar Hassan, Director for drought and desertification ame-

lioration at the environment ministry, Nigeria.

Ghana Street, property naming project underway Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis has begun the street and property naming process. Around 180 field workers and supervisors have been trained for the project under which 3,440 streets in the metropolis are to be named, while 40,000 properties will be addressed.

The Managing Consultant of FD Associates, consultants for the project, William Hagan Amoah, said, “We want to keep a database which can make it easy for locating places and the GIS provides this tool”, he said. The streetnaming and property-addressing system will help all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to mobilise local revenue. GIS enables to put street names and property numbers on a single platform for easy reference and maintenance of the system, added Amoah.

3,440 streets in the metropolis to be named

Geospatial World | July 2013

15

Product Watch

iOne IMS for aerial mapping and surveying Visual Intelligence has unveiled iOne Infrastructure Metric Mapping System (iOne IMS). It allows aerial imaging companies to capture more imagery and data at a fraction of the up-front investment allowing them to do much more for less.

Key features: • It is capable of collecting ortho, multispectral, forward and backward oblique in one pass using the VI ARCA technology.

• It is mountable on helicopter or fixed wing air platforms.

• The sensor is light weight, compact, with a lower cost of ownership.

MapGIS IGSS 3D for information services Zondy Cyber Group’s new product MapGIS IGSS 3D is a smart solution based on 3D geospatial information service sharing platform.

Key features: • MapGIS provides 3D visualisation solution of aerial, above-ground, ground surface and underground objects.

• It offers 3D modelling and professional analysis tools which enable users to make more informed decisions.

16

Geospatial World | July 2013

• It also provides visualised development environment and a secondary development platform.

MapGIS uses quickly build-up, on-demand service pattern to supply 3D GIS solution to all industries. The new pattern will be more efficient, convenient and practical MapGIS IGSS 3D can show disaster information in graph or report forms; analyse historical data to forecast disaster; and share multi-dimensional data with high efficiency.

Product Watch

Autodesk BIM 360 Glue

to streamline construction processes Autodesk has launched a new version of Autodesk BIM 360 Glue, a cloud-based building information modelling (BIM) solution. Autodesk BIM 360 Glue extends the BIM process from design to construction by providing all stakeholders access to project information for model coordination and clash detection via desktop, mobile and web.

Key features: • Provides enhanced cloudbased collaboration and mobile access.

• One-click access to review the latest project models.

• Improved coordination with Autodesk Revit, Autodesk AutoCAD and Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D. • Reduces the coordination cycle and helps in saving on project duration and cost.

Architects, engineers, owners, and builders across the globe can collaborate and coordinate in real time from the office or mobile devices with Autodesk BIM 360 Glue.

UltraCam Osprey

aerial digital system Microsoft’s UltraCam business unit has introduced UltraCam Osprey, a new digital aerial system that combines a high performing photogrammetric nadir camera with oblique image capture capabilities.

Key features: • It’s 3D generation and custom electronics deliver a 1 frame per 2.0 second frame rate.

• The camera includes an optional embedded OEM UltraNav GPS/INS/ FMS system, and modular solidstate storage, providing flexibility for onboard orientation of equipment.

• It has an in-flight exchangeable solidstate image storage system to store more than 3,160 images, resulting in minimal ground time.

• It has a user-focused interface with touchscreen technology to ease configuration and operation and allow in-flight control of each image.

The UltraCam is fully supported in the UltraMap workflow software system.

The ability to perform aerotriangulation and dense matching allows for the creation of high accuracy point clouds, DSM, DTM, DSMorthos and DTMorthos.

TopoDrones map at 25 mm topographic accuracy in height South Australia-based DroneMetrex manufactures its own remote-operated drones and has developed the accompanying hardware and unique mapping software that can provide full topographical 3D images at up to 25mm resolution. TopoDrones can map at unprecedented 25 mm absolute topographic accuracy in height. So far, no other manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has claimed such accuracy.

Key features: • G enuine photogrammetric mapping system • Calibrated large-format camera (39Mp) • ‘Active’ Gimbal camera mount • Can be flown autonomously and manually

TopoDrone 100 Geospatial World | July 2013

17

Cover Story

Be insured with risk mapping √June 2013. With floods continuing to wreak havoc in central Europe, Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary, created a scenario model using event footprints to enable insurers to obtain a realistic estimate of their exposure. As the flooding continued, the footprints were updated with new developments. √March 2011. When a 9.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Japan setting off a devastating tsunami, catastrophe risk modelling firm EQECAT needed quick information to update clients on risk exposure. EQECAT’s webinar Catastrophe Watch was ready within a week and attended by a host of primary insurers, reinsurers, brokers, corporations, hedge fund managers and investment firms. √December 2005. A series of explosions hit the London Buncefield oil depot, impacting the neighbouring commercial and residential properties. Within 36 hours, UK insurer RSA provided an estimate of the damage to its policyholders and the likely payout in claims. Months later, with all claims finally in, the estimation was within 7% of the actual amount.

18

Geospatial World | July 2013

As globalisation and increasing catastrophes make risks around the world more and more complex, geoinformation and location analytics could open up a whole new vista for the insurance industry which needs to continuously innovate and develop new tools

N

atural catastrophes cost the global insurance industry $40 billion in 2010 while man-made disasters cost $3 billion. In contrast, the total insured losses for 2009 were $27 billion, according to a report The Reactions Guide to Insurance Markets 2012. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy alone is estimated to have cost around $50 billion in insurance claims.

Accuracy is one of the most fundamental elements for insurance players. The more accurate one is in assessing the risk situation, the more efficient will be its risk management. This also means accurate allocation of reserves and no unnecessary holding up of the capital.

With an alarming increase in the number and value of exposure in risk-prone areas around the world, it is becoming critical for insurance companies to adopt better risk management practices and move to risk-based pricing. However, an insurer’s ability to manage risks depends to a large extent on how well it knows the risk situation and the insured area; the primary question being ‘where’.

Location intelligence helps insurance companies to identify, manage and mitigate risks. “It is instrumental in catastrophe management planning and response, risk exposure management, pricing and cost control, and more importantly, financial survival,” says Bill Sinn,

Courtesy: ginabaksa.com

Strategic Marketing Director, Insurance and Healthcare Practices, Pitney Bowes.

Risk modelling firms like EQECAT and Aon Benfield, which use multiple data sources such as field surveys, land-use information, digital elevation models, satellite imagery, and develop on them with their internal experts from wide-ranging fields like seismologists, meteorologists, hydrologists, engineers, mathematicians, finance, risk management and insurance professionals, see GIS as the only tool to turn such disparate information into a meaningful solution. “h.

For instance, following the floods in Europe, Impact Forecasting used footprints based on its field survey, images from the German Aerospace Center and Astrium Services/Infoterra GmbH, and data from SERTIT supplied

by PERILS. The hazard was then superimposed onto the insurer’s portfolio to calculate the exposed sum insured.

“GIS is an effective tool in decision making of insurance business as it provides an integrated view of exposure, hazard and business data and helps unlock valuable information hidden in seemingly disparate data by analysing geographic/location linkages,” says Anup Jindal, Chief Operating

Officer, RMSI, a geospatial solution provider in this space.

Agrees Iain Willis, Product Manager, EQECAT. “The CatWatch visuals following the Japan earthquake showed where the disaster occurred, the magnitude and the likely insurance exposure. These aspects are of immediate concern for clients, who will ultimately be impacted by these events and therefore, the need to react to the market quickly.”

Esri sees a huge demand for Esri’s Disaster Response Programme, which provides software, data, and technical assistance for disaster response, such as hurricanes. “If you can model the impact in advance, everyone can be better prepared for possibilities,” says Simon Thompson, Director, Global Commercial Solutions, who feels Hurricane Sandy, which struck North America in 2012, was a big lesson. Esri quickly provided authoritative information — including after-the-event imagery — so insurance carriers could overlay these with their own portfolios and perform analysis, adds Thompson, “Our users were able to estimate potential losses, work out how to deploy adjusters, identify risks and work with customers to mitigate losses, as well as help to educate the public.”

Geospatial World | July 2013

19

Cover Story | Insurance

“

If you can model the impact in advance, people can be better prepared... our users can estimate potential losses, identify risk areas and work to mitigate losses Simon Thompson, Director, Global Commercial Solutions, Esri

GIS for reinsurance

“

Location intelligence is instrumental in catastrophe management planning & response, risk exposure management, pricing & cost control, and more importantly, financial survival Bill Sin, Strategic Marketing Director, Insurance and Healthcare Practices, Pitney Bowes.

20

Geoinformation tools and analytics are being widely used by dedicated solution providers like EQECAT, Aon Benfield, Willis, WSN, Insurance Services Office, Property Loss Research Bureau, AIR Worldwide, Risk Management Solutions, as well as pure insurance majors like Zurich Insurance, Allianz, Royal Sun Alliance, Amica and BMS. The importance of location and geoinformation is underlined by the fact that geographic analysis has come up from being a back-office, ‘after-the-fact’ function in the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry till a few years back, to a leading role in real-time underwriting decisions. After the record high losses due to natural catastrophes in 2011, carriers and reinsurers are demanding a vastly improved catastrophe risk management methodology, adds Sinn.

An encouraging trend, Thompson sees, is that these solutions are not predominantly GIS-centric, but are coming from a different angle, so often maps are not used. Instead, the outcomes of analysis and spatial data fusion are what the end users see.

Geospatial World | July 2013

Insurers control their exposure through risk transfer. This is vital to reduce acceptable levels of probability of a severe claim that could threaten its financial stability. Accumulation control, portfolio analysis and catastrophe analysis are integral part of risk management through which insurers apply risk transfer or reinsurance, cession limits, liability limits, etc.

Location is not a new buzzword for the reinsurance sector. Reinsurers and insurance advisory firms have for some time now been depending on geoinformation and catastrophe modelling. But as the world becomes more connected, recent catastrophes demonstrate new dimensions of risk correlation. Losses from the 2011 Thailand floods, for instance, revealed the magnitude of business interruption elsewhere. The floods disrupted automobile and electronics manufacturing in Japan — as a large number of automotive part

Flood footprint of Deggendorf develop by Aon Benfied

manufacturers and electronic chipmakers were hit — and caused contingent business interruption losses for thousands of insureds in Europe and North America. Such interconnections add another dimension to catastrophe modelling, notes 2013 Global Insurance Outlook by Ernst & Young, which says increasing natural disasters are reshaping the insurer views of risk and reinsurance, compelling them to cede more risk to reinsurers.

“Geographic information has a strong influence on risk management, mainly risk identification and assessment,” says Andreas Siebert, Head of Munich Re’s Geospatial Solutions Department. Munich Re analyses customer portfolios in combination with natural hazard information or man-made risks. In the case of major catastrophes, it does a lot of loss estimation and claims analysis with geo-tools.

The significance of geospatial in the insurance sector can be gauged from the fact that the world’s biggest reinsurance firm had started way back in 1995 with a local standalone GIS-tool, before making geointelligence an integral part of its underwriting process, mainly for its non-life business such as property, marine, engineering. Siebert says the advantages are on the qualitative side: improved risk transparency and risk dialogue with stakeholders; improved risk modelling and pricing; new perspectives in portfolio steering; better risk control; higher

efficiency in daily underwriting process, claims handling and risk mitigation.

Similarly, Swiss Re, the world’s second largest reinsurer, has a catastrophe network service that disseminates information to direct insurers and other organisations, including risk rates and CRESTA zones.

The London-headquartered Willis Group also uses the whole spectrum of GIS capabilities. The group’s Willis Research Network, world’s largest collaboration between the public, science and financial sector, has dedicated hubs such as climate risk, earthquake risk etc, each of which is essentially geospatial in nature, points out Sharon Palmer, Divisional Director, Global Analytics.

GIS for property & casualty With Google Earth opening up a whole new world, geoinformation systems have established themselves in the insurance industry more quickly than was anticipated. For an insurance company, especially in the commercial lines for products such as property and fire, having a geo-location capability is becoming a necessity. “It enables the tracking of the risk accumulation at a fine-grained level and provides an ability to do further analytics on whether the company is overexposed in certain geographies,” says Ram Medury, Vice President (Technology) ICICI Lombard, India’s largest private general insurer.

Zurich Insurance uses granular location information primarily to support risk selection, pricing, claims management for personal lines and risk/catastrophe management for commercial lines, reveals Vincent Branch, Chief Underwriting Officer, Motor & Personal Lines. Online resources and integration with non-GIS applications have also opened up a much wider vista for primary insurers. »Risk management: By combining geographic and location-related data with other business data, organisations can gain critical insights, identify a trend or recognise a pattern amongst customer and demographic information, and are empowered to

make better business decisions, notes The Next Big Wave — Location Intelligence in Insurance, a white paper from Cognizant.

“GIS has certainly helped us improve the quality of risk assessment, save time and reduce costs,” says Hiroo Shimada, Manager, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Group, Tokio Marine Holdings.

The Japanese insurance giant uses GIS mainly for risk assessment.

“GIS helps you gain insights by connecting predictive modelling and come out with different ways of managing a risk portfolio,” points out Manuel Z. Rios, President and CEO, American Modern Insurance (AMI), which provides specialty insurance products for homeowners, specialty dwellings, watercraft and collector vehicles etc. AMI, owned by Munich Re and part of the German insurance giant’s primary insurance operation in the US, seems to have learnt early lessons from its parent. It has all its policies geocoded and is now doing risk modelling for entire blocks of its business.

For contingencies like floods, pure street address information could lead to wrong conclusions, as Zurich Insurance learnt early.

“In catastrophe risk management, where we rely heavily on models, we need pure location-specific information to better predict our exposure,” says Jean-Pierre Krause, Zurich’s Head of Risk Engineering, Europe & Middle East/Africa. »Underwriting: Primary insurers need quick and accurate location-based information to come up with fair and competitive pricing models. They need solutions that organise, manage, and analyse extremely large datasets to measure risks such as proximity to hazards and emergency services, traffic patterns, commute routes, assets, and crime, which is how location data allows for better pricing, finds the report Understanding the Value of Location Intelligence Solutions by research firm Celent.

For the commercial property underwriter, location-based solutions can map other insured properties in the area. Depending

How they stack up Geoinformation is used by insurers in many business processes.

As the charts show, reinsurers and primary insurers do not have the same focus.

Reinsurance perspective

10% 50%

30%

10% Risk management Product development Client management Claims management Primary insurance perspective

10%

10%

10% 30% 40%

Sales & marketing Risk management Client management Claims management Product development Source: Munich Re

Geospatial World | July 2013

21

Cover Story | Insurance

G-tech to the rescue Risk management • A ggregated view of risk exposure across lines of business • Model impact of exposure to perils such as floods, fires, or windstorms

Underwriting • L ocation data allows for better pricing of risk taking into account risk of perils and accumulation of risk at that location • Supports better understanding of risk accumulation and resulting exposure • Affords new business opportunities with risks previously declined

Claims • I dentify fraud patterns using spatial analysis • Map location of incidents to support large response teams

Service • P inpoint locations where resources are needed in large-scale disasters.

• Allocate adjusters in real time

Marketing • B etter targeted marketing in areas where the insurer is currently underexposed • Identifying new prospects Source: Celent

22

Geospatial World | July 2013

on the appetite for new risk given the aggregate risk for the area, he can then decide to proceed or not. For instance, UK-based Allianz Commercial uses an accumulation and perils management tool to analyse various risk levels against postcodes and produce hazard rating for an individual postcode.

This means underwriters can make decisions using up to-date information, which could then be combined with other information, such as flood risk areas, contaminated land or potential terrorist targets. »Claims management: The speed and accuracy of claims processing is always an important factor for P&C insurers, especially during major disasters. New Jersey’s insurance regulator asked insurance companies to supply it with claims data soon after Hurricane Sandy struck in October 2012. It also gathered data on the National Flood Insurance Program claims. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an umbrella group for state insurance regulators, helped to crunch the data by county and ZIP codes. Despite use of all the available location intelligence, of the 4 million-plus claims filed in New Jersey alone, nearly 23% has resulted in no payment as of today.

Further, there are other areas where the claims department can act pre-emptively.

Location intelligence enables it to accurately forecast the number of adjusters and inspectors required to handle an incident. The forecasting can also help predict if independent inspectors and adjusters are required.

Accurate location information helps insurers to avoid fraudulent claims too. For instance, during Hurricane Katrina, social networks carried the news that homeowners could claim $500 for electrical outages and the claims, many fraudulent, flooded in. Adjusters used mapping to see if a claim was coming from outside the area hit by a power outage. »Marketing: In addition to risk analysis, geo-solutions also help insurers in marketing pitch like targeting underexposed areas, iden-

tifying prospects or change in pricing, write additional policies or depute more inspectors.

By combining geographic and location data with others, organisations can gain critical insights, identify a trend or recognise a pattern among customer and demographic information, notes the Cognizant white paper.

A typical example here would be insurers immediately reassessing their risk assessment strategies in cities following the 9/11 attacks. For instance, auto insurers who may have considered an underground parking facility safe some years ago today know that such structures are potential terrorist targets.

Geo-analytics for customer segmentation, market penetration, producer and channel effectiveness help agents better identify and target the best business and consumer sales opportunities. Once the exposure in terms of sum insured and claims are aggregated at a specific administrative level, a thematic map of the sum insured and claims by administrative unit could be prepared. Visualising this geo-tagged exposure and claims against the demographics gives insight for identifying areas for growing business, odd patterns in claims and possible reasons, says RMSI’s Jindal. »Customer service: A host of insurers are integrating location intelligence services with customer service portals. ICICI Lombard, a motor and health insurance provider, empowers customers with details of nearby garages, hospitals and branches, including real-time driving directions, via the location-sensing capability of the user’s mobile. “For both motor and health, customers get their claims serviced at various garages and hospitals, respectively.

This translates into hundreds of locations across India,” explains Medury. During a claim situation, one of the first questions that a customer thinks is ‘Where do I get my car serviced?’ or ‘How do I reach the nearest hospital that is part of my insurance network?’ Medury says this was the trigger for the company to create this tool.

Insurance companies could also use catastrophe modelling and their client information to send out a warning to policyholders to prepare for a storm or get cars into the garage. Because the system runs in real time, carriers can change plans and priorities as often as a storm changes course.

GIS for auto insurance Evolving technologies like connected car and telematics are opening hitherto unexplored areas for auto insurance players. Although motor insurance is a mature market and the largest class of business within general and property/casualty insurance in many countries, underwriting profits have remained elusive for the sector for some time now.

Aggressive and unsafe driving can cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee injuries, lost productivity, fines, asset damage, litigation, poor fuel economy and excess CO2 emissions.

Telematics devices can wirelessly monitor a vehicle’s geographic coordinates and driver performance in real time and has attracted huge consumer awareness, a Celent report on vehicle data and telematics has found. This has prompted auto companies like General Motors’ to come up with offerings like ‘OnStar’, a subscription-based communication on in-vehicle security, hands-free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics. Similarly, the ‘Sync’ service is available on all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury products. Within Asia-Pacific, ‘GBook Alpha’ is a standard in most Toyota vehicles. Though the adoption rates are quicker in commercial fleets, the trend is picking up in personal vehicle space too.

“As specialised analytics from these applications continue to grow, companies can gain real insight into driver activity. The right system can make a significant improvement to field service and fleet operations,” says Joyce Tam, Director of Product Marketing, Trimble Field Service Management. Trimble caters to fleet management and partners with carriers like Zurich for

telematics solutions to help fleet operators mitigate risk and protect their people and assets. Early results on the use of telematics as part of the Zurich Fleet Intelligence proposition indicate a very positive impact on collision rates, adds Branch.

Fleet intelligence solutions can also help customers to understand their drivers’ risks and initiate risk mitigation action in the form of behavioural assessments and trainings. Interestingly, Krause points out, location-specific information is just one element within the mix of data that is analysed to get a smarter understanding of risk.

“The ‘where’ doesn’t tell us the full story.

Often it needs to be brought together with the ‘how’, behavioural aspects, that drive the risk,” he adds.

Agrees Tam: “Whichever telematics solution is selected, data on its own is of little value — how that data is actually delivered, interpreted and put to use is the key.”

In the competitive world of motor insurance, insurers are looking at such data as a possible mine of information as this could be used to develop accurate pricing and reduce claims losses. For actuaries, such data could help determine new pricing variables and improve current variable quality; for underwriters, tracking data devices can provide validation of annual mileage, commute distances, garaging location, and other variables linked to leakage. For marketers, innovative products or unusual additional services could be used to reinforce positioning and branding.

The data thus collected can also be used in claims assessment process — in case of stolen vehicle tracking or crash data to support claims.

Use of telematics has led to one of the most innovative schemes in motor insurance — pay as you drive. As the name suggests, it allows the policyholder to pay premium based on the car’s usage. The scheme relies upon a device that tracks a vehicle’s position, speed and other information via GPS and transmits the data to a production centre.

“

GIS provides an integrated view of exposure, hazard and business data and helps unlock valuable information hidden in the seemingly disparate data by analysing geographic and location linkages Anup Jindal, Chief Operating Officer, RMSI

“

We have shown that by using disparate yet accurate data in our models, we can reduce the uncertainty in loss calculation

Chris Ewing, Catastrophe Model Developer, Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield

Geospatial World | July 2013

23

Cover Story | Insurance

“

Geo-location capability enables the tracking of the risk accumulation at a fine-grained level and provides an ability to do further analytics on whether the company is overexposed in certain geographies Ram Medury, Vice President, Technology, ICICI Lombard

“

The ‘where’ doesn’t tell us the full story.

Often, it needs to be brought together with the ‘how’, behavioural aspects, that drive the risk

Jean-Pierre Krause, Head, Risk Engineering, Europe & Middle East/Africa, Zurich Insurance

24

Geospatial World | July 2013

GIS for agri insurance Innovative technologies like precision farming are streamlining crop insurance reporting. While automatic data capture simplifies the time-consuming crop reporting process, the systems deliver accurate planting and harvest information, avoiding mistakes from missed fields or inaccurate reporting.

John Deere, the US-based agricultural machinery giant, has its own insurance division as also an automated crop reporting service for its clients. Geospatial major Trimble recently tied up with Great American Insurance Group to help farmers automate their crop insurance reporting under the US Department of Agriculture Federal Crop Insurance Program. The recordkeeping system makes it possible for Trimble’s Farm Works software users to submit their crop insurance records electronically to the insurer. Tools like Farm Works can be used to read precision agriculture data from a wide range of displays, including planting and harvesting data. Once the data is read into the software, it can be submitted electronically to crop insurance providers, thus making the process simpler and less time consuming, says Scott Nusbaum, Product Manager, Trimble’s Agriculture Division.

Return on investments The benefits of using location intelligence for the insurance industry are difficult to translate into figures though and have tended to be internal rather than externally published.

They can fall into one of the two areas: saving costs or generating new income.

As Rios spells out, RoI is loss avoidance.

“I can’t give a number. But if we put together portfolio maximisation and the returns on investment based on cost and loss avoidance, the damages we would have had to pay had this technology not been there is extreme. I think a robust, real-time geospatial programme can get a minimum of 10% improvement in loss cost.”

Esri’s Thompson thinks the RoI is hard to calculate since much of it is intangible. “If you

didn’t incur the cost because of certain better decisions, it is not going to show up on your balance sheet.” But he believes the consistent double-digit-plus growth in this sector is testament to its awareness of the RoI. Access to a single tool for the end-to-end risk assessment process can reduce the time taken to process a new application. Providing frontline staff with the automated decision on a new prospect reduces the volume of referrals, saving both the time of the skilled underwriter and the capacity in the team, finds the Celent report. Rios elaborates: “Even if my policies keep growing 10% every year, the staff count could remain the same because the technology takes care of the workload.

That is where the heavy RoI kicks in.”

The hurdles Why is it then that the market not flooded with P&C insurers looking for GIS solutions?

The reason is cost of investment and focus on core systems modernisation. Based on the data collected in its vendor review process in 2011, Celent found that a GIS project could cost around $1.6 million for single country implementation with 400 users and $600 million in premium income. This is a significant investment, and one that would require board approval and iterations through IT department. And herein, Celent identifies, lies the second problem. Many insurers are some way into their legacy modernisation programme and another large-scale IT investment against this backdrop is not a priority.

The main issue is convincing the top-level management about the potential of geoinformation. “A lot of them do not understand what longitudes, latitudes and real-time maps got to do with insurance. If they do not see the bigger picture, you do not get any funding,” says Rios, a rare case where the CEO is a geospatial enthusiast.

Also, in countries like India, primary insurers are not capturing structural and occupancy attributes of locations at the level of details that is enough for appropriate risk assessment from natural or man-made haz-

Courtesy: Esri

Insurance Program, which has been marred by reports of claims rejection following Sandy even after extensive use of geospatial data and technology. In developing countries like India, there is no system to even scientifically estimate the losses, let alone fix relief quantum after natural disasters like the recent flash floods and landslides in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

“

Latest developments from risk modelling companies show that there is a now a full integration of mapping analysis and direct links to the so-called financial modules within the risk analysis tools, Andreas Siebert, Head, Geospatial Solutions, Munich Re

The future

Swipe map of Hurricane Sandy

ards, point outs Jindal. This could be because of the inherent lack of awareness about location intelligence in the developing world. Lack of historical data about hazards, absence of standardised data, integration of spatial and non-spatial data are also major challenges.

Already, data from government agencies like meteorological departments, disaster management authorities, and security agencies like the police and armed forces are providing crucial layers to the primary data.

What is also required is, to facilitate proper and fair claims settlement in emergency situations, establishment of standards and best practices by the insurance regulators to address grey areas. For instance, insurance claims in the US due to Hurricane Sandy are expected to total $18.8 billion, according to ISO’s PCS unit which tracks catastrophe claims. The cost to private insurers might have been higher, but much of the damage was due to storm surge and subsequent flooding which was not covered by the commercial policies of standard homeowners or most small business owners.

In the US, coverage for floods is available from the federal government’s National Flood

Population growth, new businesses and wealth creation are driving growth in construction, land development, energy and transportation, all creating a greater need for insurance. Given that, it becomes all the more pertinent for insurance industry to use tools that spell out accurate location-specific requirements and risks. In times to come, new technologies like the emergence of unmanned aerial systems, Cloud, social networks and crowdsourcing are expected to add traction to the acceptance of geospatial data and technology by smaller players and further innovation by existing ones.

“Latest developments from risk modelling companies show that there is a now a full integration of mapping analysis and direct links to the so-called financial modules within the risk analysis tools,” says Siebert, who even sees pure insurance companies expand services on risk management in future.

Moving geospatial data and analysis to the Cloud is making the technology lot more relevant. Questions that might not have had answers only three years ago can now be solved with more data and powerful analytics, says Thompson, who feels the acceleration is phenomenal, leading to many more geo-centric solutions for insurers.

Further, there is a huge potential in the

“

Whichever telematics solution is selected, data on its own is of little value — how that data is actually delivered, interpreted and put to use is the key Joyce Tam, Director, Product Marketing, Trimble Field Service Management

Geospatial World | July 2013

25

Cover Story | Insurance

The insurance industry understood the need for accurate geo-information years back, which saw the establishment of CRESTA in 1977, an independent, non-profit organisation, aimed at creating an efficient, globally uniform system for the exchange of accumulation-risk data. Based on geographically defined accumulation areas, known as CRESTA zones, it now covers 79 countries

“

I can’t give a number.

But if we put together portfolio maximisation and the returns on investment based on cost and loss avoidance, the damage we would have had to pay had this technology not been there is extreme

Manuel Z. Rios, President & CEO, American Modern Insurance

26

Geospatial World | July 2013

health and life insurance market still to be tapped. “GIS is a powerful resource for sales and marketing because it brings together a company’s internal view of the customers’ life with public demographics, lifestyle and location information,” says Thompson. Companies are increasingly creating specialised products based on specific characteristics for each family or household. This wide range of offers benefit both the insurer and insured; things like life and health insurance, mortgage and income protection, auto, travel and even pet insurance. GIS improves the agency role so companies can better understand, price and target products to this sector which globally accounts for more than 60% of all written premiums.

Ruggedised data collection and infield devices have opened up the ability for both sales and customer care work to be done anywhere with mobile-based location analytics and GIS. New insurance models are arising from the ability to view and analyse telematics data for both commercial fleet and consumer automotive insurance industries.

The ability to aggregate, visualise and manage risks, in some cases, is fundamental to regulatory compliance, overall solvency and long-term viability, says Sinn of Pitney Bowes. “Yet, it has been difficult for most insurers to gain a single, operational view of

risks across their organisations. Operational, data and technology silos have obstructed a 360-degree understanding of the risk, and the ability to act on it. But new technologies now offer a single operational and map-based view of risk in near real-time.”

A demand for such accurate data also opens up the problematic area of geocoding.

Although street-level geocoding solutions exist for some countries, it is still an issue particularly in the developing world. Geospatial players see a huge potential there, something the insurance sector is also upbeat about.

“It will mean that exposure in emerging markets can be more precisely located,” says EQECAT’s Willis, who also sees a growth area for ‘lightweight’ geo-visualisation tools.

“Although GIS desktop tools will continue to be needed for the ‘heavy lifting’ for analytical work, I foresee an increase in the amount of spatially enabled dashboard reports.”

Insurance players also feel the sector is not a priority for the geospatial industry.

“Big geospatial companies are focussed on municipalities, governments, mining, agriculture… if they were to dedicate some resources just for us that would be a home run for both. There would be a whole new world, because insurance is big money,” emphasises Rios.

The global economic slowdown, a prolonged period of low interest rates and subsequent anaemic returns highlight a critical mandate for increased underwriting excellence for the insurance industry, predicts Deloitte’s 2013 Property and Casualty Insurance Industry Outlook.

The future success of location intelligence in insurance lies in how quickly it realises the opportunity, breaks away from the traditional GIS world and integrates into the key operations of corporations. Because, as Aon’s Ewing says, if you do not know where your risks are located you do not have an accurate view of your risk.

Anusuya Datta, Deputy Executive Editor anusuya@geospatialmedia.net

Insurance | Data Transparency

Transparency for risk assessment One of the many lessons learned from the devastating Thai floods, was that the growth of emerging Asia brings additional exposures that were not sufficiently identified or analysed

A

The need for transparency has become clear, and the market is seeking more detailed data on which to base their underwriting decisions

28

sia is developing rapidly, generating new exposures and more complex and higher-value risk scenarios. The 2011 floods in Thailand specifically was a wake-up call to the huge concentrations of values that have grown in Asia in recent decades. The scale of losses suffered by the insurance industry from the floods has raised awareness of the potential for similar losses elsewhere in the region. Unless insurers and reinsurers can track and assess these new exposures, they will continue to take risks onto their balance sheets which can cause shock losses.

The need for transparency has become clear, and the market is seeking more detailed data on which to base their underwriting decisions. Risk transparency, including geo-referenced locations of the risks, occupancies, business interruption plans and more, is therefore becoming more important. It is vital that all stakeholders along the insurance value chain ensure that exposures are assessed and managed professionally. This starts with physical risk mitigation, avoidance of underinsurance, adequate product design and pricing, and extends all the way to the government’s important role in the regulation of these perils to the economy. With the changing dynamics of risks, we have seen contingent business interruption (CBI) exposure around the world — originating from Asia. And after Thailand and Japan, many insurers and reinsurers have revised terms to limit exposure to contingent business interruption in supply chains.

Transparency of risk-exposed values is key The Asian region is extremely prone to natural

Geospatial World | July 2013

disasters. In the last 32 years alone, 42% of the global economic losses and 14% of insured losses were generated here. Weather-related catastrophes in Asia have more than tripled over the last 30 years.

Transparency regarding risk-exposed values is key for the future. In the past, the models underestimated loss potential, especially from Thailand, which created significant accumulation of losses from domestic business and from overseas cedants’ “interests abroad“.

Key industries with CBI exposure were affected, and the market was surprised by the clustering, ie the unidentified concentration of insured values in highly exposed regions.

There was a deficiency of knowledge of the fastgrowing hot spots, like large industrial parks or

Risk hot spots around Thailand

development zones.

Clusters of industrial exposures Some of the biggest recent losses occurred in the industrial parks which have materialised within the region over the last decade or so.

These industrial parks contain many multinational companies, with a high number originating from the automobile and electronics industry. Such industrial exposures are “clustered” together side by side, generating billions of dollars of values within a small geographical area. The industry needs to better understand the issues: • Lack of clarity with regard to risk locations and their interdependency; • Value concentrations, especially in emerging markets,triggering new/unknown exposures; • Identifying increased vulnerability in supply chains; • Increasing losses from natural catastrophes; • Demands from regulators for increased risk transparency.

With the RiskMapper tool, risk managers can monitor, identify and assess their own exposures and protect their business against such shock losses as witnessed within the region.

Tool to identify 'hot spots' Facultative and treaty exposures can be uploaded onto an interactive, flexible and easyto-handle Web-based application, which allows the user to search and track key risk exposures as well as identify peak exposure concentrations or hot spots.

The tool contains many features to allow underwriters to search their data and display the results. Real-time results are possible using the geocoding of data, and spatial analyses such as surface profiles and area calculations can be made. This includes the distance of industrial parks to rivers or the ocean, the level of elevation of the specific site, critical infrastructures like nuclear power plants or dams, and business-relevant industries like semiconductors or automotive industries. To identify the extent to which the population may be affected by a catastrophe, a circle-based function calculates the number of people within a defined radius .

Peakexposure concentrations or 'hot spots'

At the click of a button, a portfolio can be displayed down to street level, should such granularity be required. Event footprints and real-time catastrophes can be overlaid and assessed for a tailor-made analysis of the exposures. Munich Re’s global NATHAN natural hazard maps are also fully integrated.

Over 1,100 industrial parks or locations have already been identified in Asia, where the initial phase of the RiskMapper analysis is concentrated. The project is currently being expanded to cover other relevant markets.

The circle-based function calculates the number of people within a defined radius

Greater transparency is crucial One of the main lessons learned from the 2011 Thai floods was the need for greater transparency. The output of this risk assessment tool can be used to make transparent and holistic decisions. The exposure accumulation analysis results in improved confidence in the primary insurer’s day-to-day underwriting decisions. In addition,the output can be taken into consideration in the pricing process.

Obtaining the necessary transparency is crucial to adequately assess the exposures in the models. Only then can a risk-commensurate price be determined. The more the transparency, the easier it is to acquire large (international) capacity. Continued cooperation between reinsurer, primary insurer and other stakeholders will be vital for assessing exposure for any given risk.

Andreas Siebert, Head, Geospatial Solutions, Munich Re, asiebert@munichre.com

Geospatial World | July 2013

29

Insurance | Interview

Spatial data is a catalyst for understanding risks The insurance industry’s need for accuracy means geocoding and GIS are key tools in this business, says Iain Willis, Product Manager, EQECAT

Whether it is the ability to overlay these geographic sources as map layers or using spatial interpolation to produce a smoothed hazard surface, GIS is an integral part of our model development 30

Geospatial World | July 2013

How is EQECAT using geospatial technology as part of its workflow?

EQECAT was established in 1994 and from the start it became apparent that location was fundamental to catastrophe modelling. Whether you are modelling forest fires, earthquakes, hurricanes or tornados, the common denominator is that location dictates the extent to which you are at risk of these hazards.

For instance, the geographic distance between whether your property lies in a flood plain or in a safe, elevated area can be just a few metres. However, the insured risk potential of these two locations for our clients is entirely different.

Geospatial technologies are harnessed at every step at EQECAT. Our clients’ need for accuracy means geocoding and GIS are key tools in our business. In developing our European Windstorm Model, for example, we used multiple data sources to build our hazard components — global land-use information, digital elevation models, as well as discrete vector layers such as recorded windspeed at thousands of locations.

The only way to take this disparate information and turn it into a meaningful hazard is by using software tools like GIS. Whether it is the ability to overlay

these geographic sources as map layers or using spatial interpolation to produce a smoothed hazard surface, GIS is an integral part of our model development.

EQECAT’s report Catastrophe Watch, or CatWatch, was out within a week after the devastating Tohoku earthquake (in Japan) in March 2011. How did EQECAT manage all that in such a short period of time?

We really worked hard to get our CatWatch reports out as quickly as possible. Our subscribers rely on us to deliver a timely, well-informed narrative of a developing disaster, so it is important we use a wide range of sources. The Tohoku event is a good example of this.

As the event unfolded, we used a wide range of sources including USGS data, regional news websites, market releases, as well as the scientific resources available within the company. Given that we have several experienced seismologists, we were able to publish the CatWatch report that captured the humanitarian and economic scale of the crisis, as well as the scientific context of Tohoku, being the largest recorded earthquake in the Japan trench and something of a game-changer in seismology.

The report included digital maps showing tsunami flood zones, location of aftershocks, damaged areas, including roads and location of population centres in affected areas. Of course, a huge element of the reports is visual representation. The GIS-derived seismic maps, images and conceptual diagrams are a key tool in helping convey the story to our clients. The CatWatch visuals help show where the disaster occurred, the magnitude and the likely insurance exposure.

These aspects are of immediate concern to our clients, who will ultimately be impacted by these events and therefore, need to react to the market quickly and accordingly. Spatial data provides a catalyst for this understanding.

How does RQE, EQECAT’s catastrophe risk modelling platform released in 2013 use spatial technology to aid the insurance industry?

There is a great deal of uncertainty in the insurance industry around location data.

Since many insurers, reinsurers and brokers keep data at highly aggregated levels of geography (zip code, county), this poses a big problem for modellers when it comes to accurately locating these exposures. In our previous platform, as in RQE, we employ a technique called ‘disaggregation’, whereby we can take aggregate exposure data and suitably map this risk into the most likely locations in that zip code or county. Based on local demography, we are able to make informed decisions about the placement of risk and essentially downscale a client’s portfolio to a suitable level for risk analysis. Such techniques are critical to many of our clients, and thus help them manage risk that is difficult to locate.

While geoinformation systems were largely being used by reinsurers and modelling firms in handling of property insurance risks till a few years back, today they are used for a much

broader spectrum, including primary insurers. Your comments?

Definitely. There is no doubt there has been a continued growth in geographic information systems among the primary insurers the last few years. I think there is a number of factors driving this. Firstly, the rise in geo-information is something that is embracing every aspect of society, not just the insurance industry. Whether it is using your smartphone’s geo-mobile technology to find the nearest Starbucks, using Google Maps to plan a car journey, or GPS for Facebook check-in, all of us are becoming more aware of location.

This distributed availability of geospatial solutions, together with the increasing awareness of underwriters and chief risk officers as to the benefits of these technologies, are key factors in its rapid adoption by primary insurers.

Which are the future areas of application of geospatial technology you foresee for the insurance industry?

The key areas of application I see growing in the future are really around data precision and browser-based geo-visualisation.

Also, although street-level geocoding solutions exist for numerous countries across the world, they are still lacking in many places. I see a huge growth potential there and something that will be greatly welcomed by the insurance industry. It will essentially mean that exposure in emerging markets can be more precisely located.

Likewise, another growth area is lightweight geo-visualisation tools. Although GIS desktop tools will continue to be needed to do the ‘heavy lifting’ for analytical work, I foresee an increase in the amount of spatially enabled dashboard reports. With browser plugins and web map APIs, the capability to produce these reports already exists and is starting to be widely used. I see this trend continuing in the near future.

For our European windstorm model, we use multiple data sources to build the hazard components — global land-use information, digital elevation models, as well as discrete vector layers such as recorded windspeed at thousands of locations across Europe

Geospatial World | July 2013

31

Insurance | Case Study

Guarding fleet on the roads A leading truck insurance firm providing physical damage and non-trucking liability insurance turns to g-tech for accurate address validation, customer mapping capabilities and geolocational information for managing claims

Courtesy: 1st Guard

1

st Guard is a leading specialty truck insurance firm based out of Venice, Florida, providing physical damage and non-trucking liability insurance to leased owner operators and small fleet owners. With the responsibility of underwriting for more

With geocoding capabilities, 1st Guard can match the exact physical location of an address and provide latitude and longitude coordinates

32

Geospatial World | July 2013

than 15,000 vehicles, the company needed an efficient way to streamline operations, reduce amounts of returned mail and provide excellent customer and claims services to policyholders.

Business challenge With an abundance of returned mail, incomplete address data and no customer mapping capabilities, 1st Guard was looking to improve its use of geolocational data. Also with address-specific postal regulations and coding policies that differ from state-to-state,

it required a solution to help identify the appropriate tax jurisdiction requirements for its policies. With nationwide customers, the company also wanted to enhance its ability to pinpoint address locations for better business decision-making capabilities, and to establish a better process for validating, correcting and standardising customer address data.

In addition, it was taking truck drivers days to complete a claim while out on a job. The company wanted a faster way for truckers to submit an insurance claim from anywhere in the country. “We’re a niche player in the insurance market,” says Dan Ribar, CIO of 1st Guard.

“Therefore, we required an innovative solution that would address our needs and be easy to manage, along with a partnership to help lead the way from a technology standpoint.”

Solution As a result, 1st Guard turned to Pitney Bowes Software’s Spectrum OnDemand softwareas-a-service solution to provide accurate address validation, customer mapping capabilities and geolocational information for managing claims.

Using Spectrum, 1st Guard is able to validate addresses for policies and make precise tax jurisdiction calculations. With geocoding capabilities, it can match the exact physical location of an address and provide latitude and longitude coordinates. The company can also use latitude and longitude information to find the best possible address match for that location.

In addition, Pitney Bowes Software’s Spectrum is a crucial component in the claims portion of 1st Guard’s revolutionary Trucker1 iPhone application, helping to improve the speed of claims. If a driver gets into an accident, the application allows them to identify which truck they’re driving, take pictures of the damage, and record a statement. The claim is then sent directly to the adjuster to begin the appropriate paperwork. A process that used to take days, now takes 60 seconds, thanks to location validation in part powered by Spectrum.

“Spectrum has become a supporting service that we use across the company for any address

A screen shot of 1st Guard's Instant Quote application for truckers

validation or geocoding specific issue,” says Ribar. “The ease of integration and the service has been exceptional, making Pitney Bowes Software a pleasure to work with. The service is always up and running and we don’t worry about it.”

Results & benefits After using Pitney Bowes Software’s Spectrum OnDemand, 1st Guard gained the following benefits: • Reduce the amount of returned mail using accurate address standardization, correction and validation.

• P rovide precise tax jurisdiction information for all policies to ensure compliance.

• P inpoint the location of current and potential customers within a certain radius using geocoding and reverse geocoding, to capitalise on potential business opportunities.

• E nhance 1st Guard’s ability to field and process an insurance claim from drivers anywhere in the country.

• I ncrease the driver’s ability to access his coverage information and process claim information within 60 seconds, regardless of the time or the location of the incident.

Courtesy: Pitney Bowes

Geospatial World | July 2013

33

Transportation  |  Roads

GIS for intelligent transport system

Courtesy: US DOT

Apart from constructing impeccable transport facilities, governments across the globe are utilising GIS in their quest for smarter and safer transportation networks

T

he focus of most transportation professionals in the urban areas of the world has shifted from the construction of new highway facilities to maximising the utility of existing infrastructure, and the development of new public transport facilities and capabilities. At the same time, a renewed focus has emerged on using technology effectively to make urban centers more efficient, livable and sustainable. These trends have produced two overlapping initiatives: intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and the concept of smart cities. It is clear that GIS technology will play an ever increasing role in both initiatives. As a platform to integrate and

34

Geospatial World | July 2013

fuse vast amounts of information, GIS has already come to play a significant role in a large number of ITS systems which are briefly reviewed here.

Traveller information systems These systems were one of the first applications in ITS, and were designed to provide the public with current information on traffic conditions and alternative travel options. Such systems brought together information from various sensors and automated systems to provide a single source of up-to-the-minute travel information and choices. One of the early examples, and still one of the best, is the

system implemented for the San Francisco Bay region (www.511.org ). It combines information on real-time traffic speeds along with travel options (and a journey planner) for public transport, car sharing, bicycling and parking availability into a single application which is widely used by locals and tourists alike. The current traffic site fuses four separate services in real time to deliver information to the public: traffic speeds from embedded loop detectors, streaming video from CCTV cameras, incident information from the California Highway Patrol, and current construction activity from the California Department of Transportation, all organised and presented through GIS. In fact all of the information from the various model choices is managed by GIS in the background, including the stop, route and fare information from over 50 different public transport providers.

Similar systems have been developed throughout Europe and Asia, with Transport Direct and Madrid’s EMT system being some of the better examples.

As various traffic data and sensors become more ubiquitous, there is ever greater effort to develop automated algorithms to adjust traffic flow in real time with less human intervention

Incident management The Los Angeles County currently experiences over 3,000 incidents a day, all of which impact the levels of congestion on the freeway system and urban arterials. As such, great effort has gone into the coordination of the allied agencies responsible for dealing with (and clearing) such incidents. A GIS-based system helps identify the location of each incident as the telephone call comes in to the dispatch centre, and each of the allied agencies (highway patrol, tow truck operators, emergency response units) is notified through a central Traveller information system for San Fransisco Bay region

Courtesy: www.511.org

Traffic management systems Much of the same hardware installed for Traveller Information Systems was also designed to provide the information for urban traffic management systems. Initially, these technologies were often stand-alone systems, with the result that early traffic control centers were often an assemblage of large banks of CCTV monitors, and characterised by a number of non-integrated technologies for traffic management. As these systems matured, integration of these disparate technologies became a primary goal, along with the desire to achieve inter-agency coordination to facilitate better traffic management, incident management and emergency response. It was largely as agencies began to focus on inter-agency coordination, and ways to present a more effective “common operating picture” of their urban transportation systems that GIS came to the forefront.

A number of the leading traffic manage-

ment solutions now incorporate GIS as a way of better understanding (and managing) urban traffic. Siemen’s Stratos solution, along with other leading traffic management solution providers Transcore, Iteris and Kapsch, among others, have all integrated GIS components into their traffic management solutions.

The goal of such systems is to dynamically adjust traffic flow through urban centers responding to incidents and traffic congestion in real time. As various traffic data and sensors become more ubiquitous, there is a greater effort to develop automated algorithms to make these adjustments with less human intervention. In addition, such information can be fed back into the planning efforts of these transportation agencies to assist them in better designing new roadway improvements, and in better managing their existing traffic flows.

Geospatial World | July 2013

35

Transportation | Intelligent Systems

Freeway incident response service tracking for South LA County

As more sources of real-time traffic information become available, this will begin to influence other sectors of emergency response as well, with ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and such, making greater use of realtime and predictive traffic data 36

Geospatial World | July 2013

GIS-based system. In this way, inter-agency coordination is facilitated, with the result of a more efficient response to such incidents, and lower traffic congestion.

As more sources of real time traffic information become available, this will begin to influence other sectors of emergency response as well, with ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, among others, making greater use of real time and predictive traffic data. Existing research shows that ambulances responding to a traffic accident at the same location but at different times of the day should transport patients to different hospitals based on the relative congestion levels, with time differences on the order of 15 minutes, crucial time with an injured patient.

Safety management One of the major promises of ITS is greater safety on our roadways. Considerable research has gone into new technologies designed to be incorporated into the vehicle, as well as to utilise emerging technologies to better understand causes of traffic accidents. Both depend on the use of GIS, and are advancing rapidly.

In the first instance, there are a range of in-vehicle technologies which are designed to improve road safety and assist driver behaviour. Known as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), these constitute technologies designed for collision avoidance, lane departure warning systems, intelligent speed adaptation, and

pedestrian warning systems, among others. Each is designed to warn the driver of unsafe driving, and potential hazards unknown to the driver.

If a driver is approaching an upcoming turn at too high speed, ADAS technology would first issue a warning, and if not acted upon, the car would assist in braking without the driver’s active involvement.

Similar warnings would alert the driver of pedestrians in an upcoming intersection, or of any unsafe roadway conditions.

Central to such systems is a highly accurate road network with high-precision roadway geometrics, all managed in a GIS database. Many of the major commercial street network vendors have turned their attention to collecting such roadway characteristics, often utilising high-precision LiDAR data collection methods. In time, such efforts will lead to evermore automated guidance systems in our vehicles.

The same LiDAR data collection techniques are being used to extract roadway geometrics for use in crash analysis.

Extracting such characteristics as bank, slope and roadway curvature, these variables can now be added to other roadway and driver characteristics, for more sophisticated crash analysis. In addition, the rapidly evolving field of geospatial statistics is being applied to these analyses, all in an effort to better identify problematic locations of high crash frequency. A coordinated multi-agency research effort between the Utah Department of Transportation, Esri and the AAA Foundation is looking to apply such techniques to develop the next generation of crash analysis methodologies.

In each of these areas of ITS, GIS has become an essential technology for fusing together vast amounts of data, all with the goal of making our roadways safer and less congested, and ultimately our cities more livable and sustainable.

Terry C. Bills, Transportation Industry Manager, Esri, tbills@esri.com

Transportation | Airport Infrastructure

Geo-location enabling airports to do business Airports are not just places where airplanes land and take off. As highly secure, micro economies running their own businesses, airports need g-tech as information backbone at every step

I

n today’s always-connected digital world, we take for granted being able to access troves of information about almost anything from almost anywhere.

Increasingly, the concept that matters most is not what we are looking for or how we are connected to the grid, but that our devices always know exactly where we are. Coffee? We quickly access a list of the highest-rated establishments within a mile of where we are standing. Traffic?

Our phones tell us where to turn to find a less congested route. This paradigmshifting concept is called geolocation, and airports are employing it and other geospatial technologies to improve the way they do business.

Enabling ground workers Airports in the United States are required to inspect their facilities multiple times a day to ensure that the lights, signs, marking, pavement and other critical assets are in good working condition. Under the US Code of Federal Regulations, Part 139, airports failing to comply risk losing their operating certificate. At the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, paper forms and radio calls had long formed the backbone of airport operations and maintenance, as they still do at many airports today. By equipping airport inspectors with mobile devices in the field, General Mitchell now enables inspectors to electronically mark the precise location of any abnormal condi-

tion they find. No radio call is required, nor a trip back to the office to fill out a paper form.

Maintenance teams respond using the same mobile tools and can quickly find the pavement crack, broken airfield light, or missing sign that, if left uncorrected, could ultimately affect airport safety.

Oftentimes in Milwaukee, the item noted by the airport inspector is blanketed with six inches of snow, and without spatial data crews could literally spend hours locating and fixing the problem. Tim Pearson, General Mitchell International Airport’s GIS Coordinator, says, “Using geospatially enabled mobile devices in the field for inspection and work orders has made everyone more efficient — from inspectors to maintenance to management. Everyone is on the same page all the time. We know exactly where work needs to be performed, and we generate no paper.”

Airport situation management with a geospatial component

Property management Airports are not just places where airplanes land and take off. They are micro economies that support their existence by leasing property and charging fees for parking. Property management systems have been used for years at airports to track tenants and leases. Today, airports are using geospatial technology to turn these stuffy data warehouses Geospatial World | July 2013

37

Work orders for the terminal at General Mitchell International Airport

Using geospatially enabled mobile devices in the field for inspection and work orders has made everyone more efficient, from inspectors to maintenance to management.

Everyone is on the same page all the time 38

Geospatial World | July 2013

into real time sources of critical operating information.

Have a security problem somewhere in the terminal? A few mouse clicks on a geospatial system, and airports like General Mitchell can generate a list of nearby tenants and their contact information to spread the word quickly.

Airports are also embracing the analysis capability of geospatial technology to reduce time traditionally spent on tedious tasks. For example, Denver International Airport has invested in Web-based tools used by the airport’s planning department to evaluate potential construction and obstructions. Using the Internet browser, a highly-accurate base map and an airport terrain model, the staff at Denver International Airport can quickly determine the impact of planned construction. Information available includes which navigation surfaces — imaginary surfaces uses to protect airspace around aircraft flight paths — might be infringed upon by new construction and by how much; and whether the control tower’s line of sight to the airfield will be impacted in any way. Geospatial tools such as these reduce the time airport staff spend answering routine questions both internally and for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Real time spatial information Increasingly, real time spatial information is also available to airports. The FAA recently released official guidance defining how airport ground vehicles — hundreds of operations vehicles, escorts, catering trucks and snow plows that crisscross most major airports — can participate in the same real time spatial network that aircraft do. This technology, called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), relies on an aircraft or vehicle knowing its own position through on-board GPS equipment, and broadcasting that information out to other listening devices on a regular interval. With the path cleared for ground vehicles to participate in the network,

airports are working to figure out how to best leverage this new common operating picture.

In the near future, approaching aircraft and the control tower will both know if a ground vehicle, such as a snow plow in the middle of a winter storm, is lingering on the runway. Likewise, an airport operations vehicle responding to an arriving aircraft with a passenger in medical distress will see exactly where that aircraft is at any given time. Some of the most promising uses of real time positioning at airports, such as routing the nearest maintenance vehicle to the scene of a critical pavement flaw, depend equally on the vehicle’s onboard GPS position and a high quality airport geospatial basemap.

Security and situation management An emerging, security-related application of geospatial technology at major airports is called situation management. When an incident occurs at an airport, it’s often difficult to tell early on how severe the incident will become. For example, a piece of luggage left by itself in the terminal is most likely an innocuous lost bag, but airports have to be prepared for any alternative. Under the concept of situation management, airports design workflows in advance to manage most conceivable situations and handle any contingency. Effective situation management software deploys these workflows and depends heavily on the geospatial location of an airport’s assets.

The locations of security cameras, exits, key utilities, shutoff valves, access-controlled doors and many other assets are linked to situation management software.

At major airports today employing situation management, if a bag is left unattended and its location is radioed to the control center, a supervisor can immediately access the nearby critical assets necessary to deal with the situation.

Kevin Carlson, Associate VP, AECOM kevin.carlson@aecom.com

TAKE MAPPING TO A NEW LEVEL AND BEYOND The all-new Trimble UX5 Aerial Imaging Solution is setting a new standard for fast and safe aerial data collection by keeping you productive all day long – no matter what the job.

Whether you choose to fly in rainy conditions along windy seashores, in hot deserts, or in a snowy, mountain terrain, the Trimble UX5 is a dependable solution designed for mapping and surveying professionals requiring the highest accuracy. Combined with intuitive Trimble Access™ data collection workflows and powerful Trimble Business Center photogrammetry processing functionality, you’ll go to a level above and beyond the rest.

See it yourself at trimble.com/uas Join the conversation: #TrimbleUX5

© 2013, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. Trimble and the Globe & Triangle logo are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited, registered in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SUR-218

Transportation | Marine

Towards a sustainable maritime trade Innovative geospatial solutions can help reduce environmental footprint of the growing maritime trade, especially when private and public sectors cooperate closely

O

Figure 1: Polar diagram shows safe speed and heading

ceans represent an invaluable economic resource for many stakeholders, like the fishing or the mining industry; this also includes the international maritime trade. The Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) recently warned that “establishing a sustainable maritime transportation sector is essential to the development and growth of the world’s economy”.

The maritime traffic volume has increased substantially in the past years and the growth rate is expected to ascend even further in the years to come. The resulting amount of gas emissions from the international trade and the risk for ship accidents are proportionally intensifying. These two elements have a significant global impact on the marine environment and climate change.

Innovative geospatial solutions, such as vessel and voyage planning optimisation or the e-navigation an International Maritime Organisation concept, can help reduce the maritime trade environmental footprint. However, this is possible with cooperation between the private and public sectors.

Vessel and voyage planning solutions Vessel and voyage planning solutions integrate several geospatial data types in order to provide the navigator with an optimised ship route. When

40

Geospatial World | July 2013

planning the voyage, parameters like the vessel’s structure, weather prediction and of course marine cartography, are taken into account automatically by the algorithm. It is then possible to ensure an efficient and safe voyage, by minimising fuel consumption for the desired arrival times, thus reducing the green house gas emission of the ship.

Such an analysis can be made before the voyage using predicted parameters and the available marine charts database, and also real time on the sea via satellite communication — with updated data streams such as wind, wave, current as well as chart updates received directly on board.

In Jeppesen VVOS, a ship-specific model of the ship’s motion, engine and propeller characteristics is used to recommend speed and heading changes to manage ship motions according to the waves and wind forecasts (Figure 1). This helps the mariner make en route informed decisions to minimise heavy weather damage. The mariner can also download the latest ocean area forecasts and recalculate the passage plans as new forecasts become available or operational requirements change.

Route optimisation is performed on a user-defined grid using weather assembly and taking into account safe operating limits imposed by the mariner and ship responses.

A histogram is then produced, which can be used to minimise fuel consumption for a range of arrival times (as presented in Figure 2). Many other geospatial tools, including automatic routing, under keel clearance,

Courtesy: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US

tide current optimisation, are now fully operational and available to the mariner. Such vessel and voyage optimisation solutions allow for safer and more economical passage, by minimising accidents like groundings and collisions as well as reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions.

Recent technology developments, have increased the capacity of mariners to access near real-time information even further away from the coast. Data streams with information like weather predictions, wave heights or nautical charts updates are produced by various data originators.

The transmission means can be radio broadcasts, satellites messages or on board sensors, for example. For the vessel and voyage optimisation process to be possible, these data streams need to be interoperable. Then, in order to bring situational awareness to the mariner, the information will need to be rendered intelligently as a non-cluttered visual. Homogeneous data streams and coordinated implementation of new maritime capabilities is managed by the IMO, via the e-navigation framework.

E-navigation IMO defines e-navigation as “the harmonised collection, integration, exchange,

presentation and analysis of maritime information on board and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services, for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment�. As such, it aims at enhancing global safety of navigation and environmental protection by ensuring the implementation of intelligent information integrated solutions, which will provide critical navigational and operational information to the mariner. This information also needs to be delivered in a timely manner by combining real-time geospatial data streams from various data originators with the marine vector cartography. All the data streams, whether static or dynamic, require merging and appropriate rendering by the final visualisation system.

The data fusion process is made more complex as various parties and means of transmission are involved in the production and distribution of maritime safety information: hydrographic offices produce the cartographic base layer available on board the vessel as a core database and issue additional updates as necessary; in trafficked areas, maritime safety administrations broadcast traffic information to all ships using their Automatic Identification

Figure 2: Histogram of fuel consumption trade-off with arrival times and corresponding optimum route

Geospatial World | July 2013

41

Transportation | Marine

With efficient PPC, state-of-the-art geospatial solutions can minimise the risk of accidents at sea and the environmental impact of the growing maritime trade

Figure 3: ECDIS screen shot with e-navigation prototype

42

Geospatial World | July 2013

Systems (AIS), together with aids to navigation status updates for instance.

So as to ensure a harmonisation of existing and future data streams on board a vessel and allow for a safe passage, the International Hydrographic Organisation started working in 2001 on the S-100 data model. This data model is compliant with ISO 19100 series of geographic standards and will ensure the compatibility as well as the merging capacity of data streams produced by various data originators, emitted by different means and received by the multiple systems on board the vessel.

An e-navigation prototype, including schemes following the S-100 data model, were developed and implemented by Jeppesen for maritime safety information, meteorological and hydrodynamic data, as well as notice to mariners. This can either be broadcasted by AIS or via email, for early notice to the bridge crew and displayed directly on the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (Figure 3.)

With the guidance from IMO and IHO, intelligent and timely information is made available to the mariner on the bridge of a vessel. This improves the maritime situational awareness of navigators and significantly diminishes the risk of accidents at sea. A reduced number of groundings and collisions results in less oil spills and sub-surface drifting containers.

Therefore, improving navigation safety with the implementation of e-navigation and other innovative geospatial solutions also enhances environment protection.

Private-public cooperation Private-public cooperation in furthering the sustainability and safety of the maritime trade is also important. Public bodies produce reliable and quality geospatial information which is a necessary input to the above-mentioned innovative maritime solutions. For example, official marine vector cartography constitutes the base layer of e-navigation and geospatial optimisation algorithms. However, its availability

to the private sector is still critical. On the contrary, the cooperation can sometimes go further than simple data access when the private sector provide tools and services to data originators to help them improve their data gathering and information consolidation.

While public sector organisations manage public interest, create and maintain regulations, the private sector is well equipped to develop innovative products and manage product lifecycles. Publicprivate cooperation (PPC) allows both partners to focus on their core competencies and perfect the delivery in these areas.

Roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined for instance within contractual agreements and the private sector must respect the authority of the data originator. Both parties should acknowledge their respective competencies and communicate regularly to build a strong relationship.

Such PPC allows for full concentration on the common goal and an innovative future.

Private and public sectors are required to cooperate closer to provide the mariner with the best of both worlds: reliable quality data combined with innovative geospatial solutions. With efficient PPC, state-of-the-art geospatial solutions can minimise the risk of accidents at sea and the environmental impact of the growing maritime trade.

Conclusion Under the guidance of international bodies, together with reinforced PPC, innovative geospatial maritime solutions can significantly improve safety of navigation and enhance environmental protection.

Combining the effort of all stakeholders, we can speed up our journey towards a sustainable maritime trade and global “blue economy”.

Celine Roux, Business Operations Specialist, Maritime Industry, Safety, Affairs and Services, Jeppesen, A Boeing Company, Australia, celine.roux@jeppesen.com

Wherever decisions demand intelligence, terrago delivers When mission success depends upon finding and sharing the most accurate, timely and relevant location intelligence, from any source, TerraGo delivers.

TerraGo allows organizations to discover location intelligence, integrate geospatial intelligence and deliver situational awareness to the edge of operations and back. Find the location intelligence solutions that matter

NEWS FEEDS

to your mission at www.terragotech.com.

Social Media Documents

maps & imagery

Experience the all-new TerraGo at www.terragotech.com

Transportation | Interview

‘Building sustainable transportation with lower environment footprint is our aim’ Besides providing efficient transport solutions, the land transport authority of Singapore (LTA) has embarked on various innovative traffic-related solutions, including crowdsourcing, PPP models and open data framework. Rosina Howe-Teo, Group Director, Innovation & InfoComm Technology Group, elaborates how the agency is planning to leverage business intelligence technology and advance real-time analytics to mine big data and derive new insights to enhance business decisions What are the activities and mission of the Singapore Land Transport Authority?

The Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA) was set up under the Ministry of Transport to spearhead land transport developments. The primary role of LTA includes planning, designing, construction, management and maintenance of the transit systems, roads and related facilities. LTA acts as an agent for the Singapore government in the administration, assessment, collection and enforcement of various taxes, fees and charges, and other services relating to land transportation.

Our mission is to provide an efficient and cost-effective land transport system for different needs.

Singapore is a small island country with limited land resources. Keeping 44

Geospatial World | July 2013

this in mind, how challenging is it for the LTA to plan and manage road transport infrastructure?

Singapore has seen incredible growth and progress over the years. With a population of over 5 million, the LTA thinks continuous improvement of the public transport system is an imperative. LTA’s commitment to enhance the commuting experience has translated into initiatives like building new rail lines, introducing new bus routes and raising taxi service standards.

Given the small size of the country, we want to make public transport system more attractive and compelling so that it becomes a first choice for the commuters. This is also in line with the government’s blueprint of promoting sustainable transportation to achieve a cleaner, greener transport system with lower environmental footprint.

The centre of the LTA’s GIS infrastructure is the Data Hub, which manages more than 70 layers of road and rapid transit system features. How do you manage such large amount of data?

One key success factor for managing the GIS data hub is the establishment of LTA’s Data Management Framework managed by senior officials to drive key data initiatives, including the appointment of data owners, harmonisation and classification of data and usage of data. Through the Data Management Framework, LTA has put in place an enterprise metadata taxonomy, a well-defined information structure and data access policy to promote datasharing and open data as a strategic goal of the organisation. The framework has provided a common platform for open discussions and close cooperation among the user groups in resolving conflicts in a timely and efficient manner and enabling joint development, both within and outside the organisation.

However, we faced challenges like bringing numerous interest groups together and negotiating to streamline multiple data management processes, formulating an enterprise data dictionary for consistent interpretation of the GIS information as well as to establish ownership to measure accountability, data quality and accuracy.

With increasing population and travel demand, traffic information has become a ‘must-have’. What kind of real-time facilities do you provide to your commuters?

My Transport.SG is the LTA’s mobile service which provides a comprehensive and one-stop solution for mobility needs of the commuters, motorists and cyclists. The app allows users to personalise and choose their favourite services, receive updates on the latest real time traffic and disruption news. The app also informs the users about the latest

events and promotions near them.

Whether checking for the next arrival time of a bus, looking for parking in town, or getting an update on the traffic condition, commuters can now check all of their travel options to decide on how to reach their destinations. The app also reduces waiting time at bus-stops, and cuts down on traffic congestion since drivers can be apprised on the availability of carpark lots in popular buildings in the city before they embark on their journey.

LTA has experimented with crowdsourcing. How successful is your Snap&Send@MyTransport app? How do you plan to extend this initiative in other spheres?

The Snap&Send app allows the public to take photos of roads with defects such as potholes, faulty streetlights, footpaths, traffic lights and wrong signage using smartphones. LTA then takes remedial action based on these photos.

Using the embedded geo-location information from the photo, LTA engineers quickly conduct a visual assessment on the road defect, pin-point defect location and recommend appropriate treatments. The use of photo geolocation data and spatial analytics has enabled us to better analyse road defect occurrences and adjust its maintenance regime accordingly. It has also enabled us to reach out to more remote parts of Singapore.

LTA adopts a private-public-people partnership model for most of its initiatives. This approach has yielded significant returns as we are able to concentrate on what we do best while leveraging on the nimbleness of the private sector to offer innovative solutions.

Transport data is openly shared with the community on a cloud computing platform. There is our datamall@ mytransport service to facilitate community cooperation and collaboration

We sponsor the local annual programming competition ‘code::XtremeApps::’ to encourage local developers and young innovators to participate and create traffic-related applications that will improve the daily commute

Making roads safer Year

Fatalities

Injuries

2008

221

10,760

2009

183

10,748

2010

193

11,065

2011

195

9,760

2012

168

9,105

Geospatial World | July 2013

45

Transportation | Interview

Our aim is to engage all groups of citizens and partners to take part in the active development of an interactive transport community that can generate innovative and personalised services

Integrating GIS and traffic sensors

in creation of innovative applications and services by leveraging on the LTA’s data. Journey planners and other such applications give commuters access to integrated mobility information on the go, anytime, anywhere, on any device.

We sponsor the local annual programming competition ‘code::XtremeApps::’ to encourage local developers and young innovators to participate and create traffic-related applications that will improve the daily commute by making smart use of LTA data.

Our work with industry partners helps integration of transport data into high-impact consumer applications, furthering location-based services and innovative applications. One such notable collaboration is with Google for Google Transit & Traffic, Singapore.

We have embarked on future research collaborations with renowned research institutions such as the MIT, Stanford, ETH Zurich together with local institutes of higher learning to explore long-term transport planning and behavioural studies. The aim is to glean insights for better demand management and expansion of Singapore’s land transport network.

How do you ensure that your workforce is adequately skilled and updated to innovate and use these technologies?

Our staff development effort includes both classroom and on-the-job training. One key strategy of implementing an agile GIS infrastructure to support dynamic changes in organisational needs is the formation of project team comprising representatives from user departments and IT GIS team. This project structure has served us well in providing a platform for the teams to gain good understanding of the domain knowledge as well as business issues and to appreciate the complexity of the technology. The user-groups will define

46

Geospatial World | July 2013

the business requirements and business rules and the IT GIS team will architect the technology infrastructure required to support these business needs as well as ensure compliance with technology architecture standards. Over time, both teams have developed respect and strengthened their partnerships in handling complex issues that arose from time to time.

Singapore LTA has set an example by leveraging GIS technology for transport management. How according to you is your system different/evolved from traffic management systems in the developed countries like the US, Europe or Japan?

LTA has evolved from leveraging technology to enhance its operational efficiency to delivering effective public service, whether it is in the form of speedy transactions that are paperless and hassle-free, to disseminating useful information to public on any device or channel of communication and allowing third-party access to real time information and create new value-added services. Our aim is to engage all groups of citizens and partners to take part in the active development of an interactive transport community that can generate innovative and personalised services.

In response to the accelerated pace of public transport service delivery, our plan is to further leverage business intelligence technology and advance real-time analytics to mine big data and derive new insights to enhance business decisions. Going forward, we are planning to merge GIS with big data analytics to create impactful visualisation tools to support national decisions on strategic policies of transport plans as well as to develop our capability in applying predictive algorithms to aid operational effectiveness as land transport management becomes more dynamic.

Transport | Railway Infrastructure

Advances in rail measurement

Fast, mobile surveying systems capture rail data with increased productivity and accuracy

T

here is a growing need for accurate measurements on track alignments and locations in the United States. Much of this need comes from ever-tightening track tolerances as well as regulations for positive train control (PTC), which call for digital maps to show the location of track and related fixtures.

This information typically covers large areas and is accurate to a few feet, which is sufficient to meet the requirements to know a train’s location. But many other applications require measurements with much higher precision. For example, the demands for increased accuracy in track construction have introduced new challenges in positioning and measurement.

In addition to general track locations, design and maintenance processes can require precise top-of-rail measurements at short intervals. And, as windows for track access for maintenance continue to shrink, railway operators and surveyors face the challenge of gathering more information in shorter periods of time.

Wheels of change Railways always use a variety of technical approaches to gather and manage the large amounts of spatial information needed for engineering, construction and GIS. Many agencies utilise airborne or terrestrial LiDAR to acquire high-volume information. Airborne systems provide good coverage, and rely on ground surveys to fill in information from congested or areas

not visible from the air.

Terrestrial LiDAR, often collected using mobile systems installed on hi-rail vehicles, can provide additional detail. But since its positioning relies on GPS, terrestrial mobile LiDAR is also supplemented by ground surveys and still requires significant track time to get the equipment on track in the correct location. While both the LiDAR approaches can work well for general locations (including PTC), they can’t match the precision and detail produced by trained field crews collecting track data on the ground. For these ground-based surveys, new approaches are producing significant increases in efficiency and productivity.

Historically, surveyors have used rail shoes, gauge bars or other methods to collect individual points along the track, often making additional computations in the office to produce positions of rail or centreline points based on the field measurements. Recently, new techniques have emerged in the US to significantly increase the productivity of a survey team for gathering information on existing rails. These techniques, which utilise new trolley-based measurement systems, can match the precision achieved by ground-based surveying while radically reducing the time required to collect, store

Courtesy: www.sf.streetsblog.org

Geospatial World | July 2013

47

Surveyors working on the track at night to maintain normal train traffic

Moving at walking speed, the system collects essential data: track location, vertical profile, gauge and superelevation at specified intervals.

The 3D positioning data is captured using high-precision robotic total stations or GPS, with all data stored in a handheld field computer 48

Geospatial World | July 2013

and process the data.

Consisting of a small trolley that is placed on the rail track and pushed by an operator, these systems contain tilt and gauge sensors, 3D positioning equipment, a power supply and supporting electronics. The trolleys are isolated from the rails to prevent interference with the signalling system. The trolleys measure the railhead by providing a physical measurement along the top of the rail and along the inside of the railhead at the correct location, 5/8 inch (16 mm) below the top of the rail. These measurements are then related to the positioning data provided by survey-grade total stations or GPS equipment. With either setup, the trolleys can move along the track while taking measurements and can stop at specific locations to take single measurements of the track or surrounding features.

Moving at walking speed, the system collects essential data: track location, vertical profile, gauge and super elevation at specified intervals. The 3D positioning data is captured using high-precision robotic total stations or GPS, with all data stored in a handheld field computer. The trolleys may be quickly placed onto or removed from the track, making it easy for crews to collect data while complying with work rules for safety, track access and short work windows. Since the system is very portable, it is also possible to mobilise quickly to remote areas where rail information is needed.

Technology on track Prior to a survey, technicians can load the track’s design alignment information into

the field computer. As the crew moves the trolley along the track, the field computer calculates and displays the station for the trolley location. The field computer also displays the deviations of the track from the design alignment, gauge and elevation of each rail. The trolley enables the survey team to capture information at specified locations along the track, and to relate objects to track stationing as well as absolute geographic coordinates. At the end of the day, the field data is downloaded for quality checking, analysis and sharing with downstream users. If needed, reports can be created and delivered before leaving the project site. Output information includes coordinate information, rail warp, travelling chords for horizontal and vertical alignments, together with graphical output of the track information compared to the design data. This information is provided on the project coordinate basis, allowing the surveyors, engineers and owners to determine if the track was built per design or if the rail has shifted out of alignment.

While the trolley systems were originally developed to meet the tight tolerances of European freight, passenger and high-speed railways, recent work by surveying company Cinquini & Passarino Inc (CPI) in California demonstrated the effectiveness of such technology on US lines as well. CPI used a GEDO CE system manufactured by Trimble as a tool to provide track surveying services.

Under a contract from the Parsons Transportation Group, CPI conducted a survey for PTC on 52 miles (84 km) of track in central California. The work called for location of track centreline, switches and frogs, derails, roadway and pedestrian crossings, signage, wires and tunnel portals.

The job was all the more complicated as surveyors could work on the track only between midnight and 4 am to maintain normal train traffic. The narrow windows called for the surveyors to mobilise quickly and not waste time due to equipment malfunction or data collection errors. By using a library of defined features stored

in the field computer, the survey teams could quickly and consistently record information about the track and surrounding features. The pre-defined feature codes prevented errors in the point descriptions and attributes required for the PTC database and eliminated the need for rework.

Information was collected and managed using PTC data model definition formats.

The data was exported to spreadsheets and CAD as charts and reports.

In another instance, working for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART), CPI crews collected detailed information on SMART’s rail network. One project called for precise location of existing track as part of the design process for a new bascule bridge. The trolley enabled CPI to operate with exceptional efficiency to meet the design engineers’ request for detailed top-of-rail information, with an accuracy of 1/8 inch (3 mm) or less, for roughly 1,000 ft (300 m) on each side of the bridge. The designers wanted data at 25-ft (8-m) intervals. By using the trolley system, CPI could provide data every 10 ft (3 m) and with no increase in cost.

Prior to utilising the trolleys for client projects, surveying companies like CPI performed extensive testing to ensure that they could collect track geometry data that is accurate and comparable to information collected using traditional methods.

The trolley systems are also useful for track monitoring and maintenance activities such as tamping. Field crews can quickly gather information about existing track alignment and conditions. In Europe, the measurements are automatically compared to design alignments, with the results then loaded into the control systems onboard tamping machines. Similar approaches will also work well in the US. The system collects data very quickly, making it cost-effective over long stretches of track. And because data can be collected with a precision of 1/16 inch (3 mm) or better, the information for position, gauge, cant, superelevation and cross level can be used on a variety

of track classes ranging from low-speed Class 1 up through Class 9 high-speed freight and passenger trains.

Customising to local needs The trolley approach may be configured based on local needs. For example, precise GPS positioning (accurate to roughly one inch) works well for track location and alignments over large areas. In applications where higher precision is needed, a trolley can utilise robotic total stations as the primary positioning device. Trolley systems with total stations can be used for construction and inspection of slab track, where they have produced solid improvements in field productivity. The trolleys can also be equipped with 3D laser scanners and controlled with GPS or a total station to collect dense clouds of points similar to aerial LiDAR data. This configuration provides an excellent tool for railways to gather spatial information for maintenance and clearance envelope studies in tunnels, stations, platforms and other constrained A surveyor pushing the rail trolley and areas while simultaneously collecting the collecting data along the SMART corridor track information.

While such a system excels at providing detailed, precise measurements, the primary benefit comes from its ability to reduce costs and reduce track time needed to complete a survey. A CPI evaluation found that the speed of the trolley system cut field labour costs by a factor of six.

The cost savings came from speed and efficiency.

Jim Dickey & Anthony G. Cinquini, Principals at Cinquini & Passarino jdickey@cinquinipassarino.com tcinquini@cinquinipasarino.com Geospatial World | July 2013

49

Transportation | Case Study

GIS for integrated waterways The Brazilian national agency for waterway transport has utilised GIS solutions to integrate all waterways in the country for smooth maritime navigation and trade activities

Courtesy: Dredging Today

T

he National Agency for Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) in Brazil is a special agency which regulates, supervises and oversees the economic activities related to water transportation. It has the responsibility of looking after the entire waterway infrastructure, port facilities and water transport services in the country.

In 2010, ANTAQ tied up with the Laboratory of Transportation, Federal University of Santa Catarina (LabTrans / UFSC) to launch the National Plan for Integrated Waterway (PNIH), which also had the task of additional delimiting areas for waterway terminals. A georeferenced database and simulator logistics based on GIS were needed for this purpose.

The project With ANTAQ’s help, LabTrans/UFSC developed a geographic database for waterway transportation (inland, long haul and cabotage) and for the port facilities. Vector maps of water transport routes were prepared with the help of sat-

50

Geospatial World | July 2013

ellite images obtained from different sources.

Other vector files, usually in Esri model format, were obtained from other public institutions.

Waterway routes from other countries, bordering Brazil, were also added as they facilitate the simulation in sections of in-land international routes, which usually happens in the tributaries of the SolimĂľes River in Peru and Colombia, and the Paraguay River in Argentina and Paraguay. For port facilities, besides the cadastre of available ports in the database, ANTAQ also added ports in other countries, a procedure that facilitates the simulation in international sections. The georeferenced waterway database is now open to all users and available on the website of the agency.

Further, the waterway network was added onto the highway network and railway terminals to provide a complete a transportation network, available for use in future simulations.

Areas of influence were defined for the major waterway passage and the flow of goods was identified from the matrix of origin and

Rail net planned for the area of influence

into technical report and executive, where it is possible to identify the flows of port facilities and waterway passages. Altogether, the study indicated 41 potential areas and a projected demand of 458 million tonne cargo to the waterways by 2030. destination developed by the National Plan Transport Logistics (PNLT) of the Ministry of Transport. The flows were projected for the years 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. Additionally, the impedances of transportation were identified by the estimated investments and operating costs of each project.

The methodological steps culminated in logistical simulations with the identification of the flows through port facilities and waterway passages planned for the horizons defined.

The analysis of the simulations also resulted in the appointment of new areas for the installation of waterway terminals, promoting the expansion of waterway net and its penetration in domestic markets, unexplored until this moment, which can generate new productive rearrangement in Brazil.

A total of six watersheds in Brazilian territory were studied: Amazon, TocantinsAraguaia, São Francisco, Paraguay, Parana and South Study. The results are segregated into 14 volumes, two for each watershed, subdivided

The result In addition to the use of geographic database for defining the potential use of new terminals and sections of waterways, the project also helped other agency activities like, the analysis of logistics competition between national agencies and private companies in the navigation sector. ANTAQ’s current challenge is to follow the economic and social dynamics imposed by the evolving market and society, translating these inputs for their actions and for the relevance of its database.

In addition to the regulatory aspects associated with the ANTAQ work, the geospatial information used to design the National Plan for Integration Waterway can also help in research and development of water transportation in Brazil.

Eduardo Pessoa de Queiroz, Isaac Monteiro do Nascimento and José Renato Ribas Fialho Specialists in regulation of water transportation services, ANTAQ

Geospatial World | July 2013

51

Transportation | Case Study

Information system for growing transport networks The Dubai transport authority utilises enterprise GIS system for agency-wide access to geographical data and centralised visualisation, data management and access platform

O

ne of the world’s fastest growing cities, Dubai, has witnessed tremendous growth in infrastructure, construction projects and road networks.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is responsible for planning and executing all transportation projects in the city, preparing legislation and strategic plans, planning and constructing the Dubai Metro, developing other integrated solutions of road systems and marine networks that are safe and in line with the city's economic development plans.

G-tech for informed decisions In order to proactively manage the transportation system in Dubai, the RTA required a very strong focus on geospatial information management. There is a great deal of data which is generated, acquired and managed by various agencies, departments and sections within the RTA. This information comes in many formats and is acquired from consultants, other governmental agencies and various other data providers. To properly support the RTA’s goals and objectives, this data must be complete, easily accessible, accurate and up-to-date.

In the past, the RTA tried and implemented vendor-neutral geospatial technology to create an interoperable platform to manage and maintain its geospatial data. However, due to difficulties faced during spatial data administration and maintenance, the RTA went into an in-depth evaluation of the different GIS systems and technologies available, and by end of 2011 decided to go for a complete enterprise GIS platform revamp implementation project based on Esri ArcGIS Server, Geocortex Essentials and FME technology. The project was awarded to GISTEC, the local Esri distributor.

EGPR project highlights • The revamped enterprise GIS provides improved access, allows better management of geospatial data and facilitates GIS integration with other RTA systems.

• Utilises RTA’s Enterprise Service Bus to publish GIS Web services for consumption by RTA’s agency applications.

52

Geospatial World | July 2013

• Provides efficient problem solving.

The project was supported and executed under the leadership of the GIS Section, which is part of the Information Technology Department at RTA. There was a well-defined sense of direction regarding software platforms, data administration and project coordination. The RTA very clearly articulated the need for a central enterprise GIS system-based on servicesoriented architecture to extend the benefits of GIS technology and assets to more business processes and non-GIS professionals in a variety of business units.

GIS Web services framework The GIS services exposed by ArcGIS Server and FME were integrated and published on the RTA’s Platform Agnostic Enterprise Service Bus (TIBCO) for consumption by various agency applications within the RTA. This integrated solution offered platform-neutral support for heterogeneous IT and SOA environments, ensuring the RTA was not tied to any single product or vendor.

GIS portal Another key success criterion for the project was the migration of the existing Web portal to new revamped sites that enabled all key RTA businesses such as the rail agency, marine department, public transport, traffic department, strategy and corporate governance and corporate technical services support sector to visualise and manage their respective GIS assets.

The revamped portal provides advanced Web mapping capabilities and allows exposing out-ofthe-box, feature-rich, user-centric Web mapping applications. The revamped GIS portal was built to achieve the following objectives: • A llow agency-wide access to GIS data based on authorised content, whereby each agency can visualise data that they own against common vector and image basemaps.

• A llow each agency to perform Web-based editing for easy management of the GIS layers that they own.

• Deliver services such as driving directions,

data download, search, query, overlay, measure, charting, customised reporting etc. for all internal RTA agency users.

• Provide an interface for running the complex geo-processsing services hosted by RTA GIS administrators.

Advanced mapping capability and services offered by the portal

Update by CAD clients CAD drawings are widely used in RTA during all roads construction cycle.

The power of FME was utilised to give the RTA business users a Web interface whereby they could download GIS data into a CAD format. This feature has allowed the RTA to upgrade its enterprise GIS while maintaining compatibility for various versions of CAD clients for some of the specific tasks. This capability allows RTA business users to extract and download GIS data on-demand from the GIS portal.

Extraction and download of GIS data on demand from GIS portal

Conclusion The availability of SOA-style GIS Web services has ensured that the platform supports standards that promote enterprise wide availability of GIS services. The revamped system has thereby provided an operational focal point for delivering access to all of RTA’s geospatial data, services, applications, and the GIS infrastructure.

Hanan Bajash, GIS Manager, RTA hanan.bajash@rta.ae Saed Abu Helwa, Technical Director and CTO, GISTEC, saed.abuhelwa@gistec.com

Geospatial World | July 2013

53

Transportation | Case Study

Towards safer, accident-free roads With the help of road accident data management system, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has significantly reduced number of accidents on its roads

T

he number of registered vehicles on the Indian state of Tamil Nadu’s roads has gone up by almost 40% - from 8.2 million in 2007 to 13 million in 2010. With more vehicles on the streets and little demarcation of lanes for those travelling at different speeds, road accidents in the state were rising. This was compounded by poor road conditions, little driver education, and poor enforcement of traffic rules. To improve road safety, data was needed on the most frequent causes of accidents and the most accident-prone locations.

The paper-based First Information Report (FIR) process was not effective as it lacked important information, was cumbersome, and generated a heavy backlog of work at police stations. Moreover, actions between the key departments involved in road traffic management — police, highways, transport — were not coordinated, resulting in piecemeal efforts to improve road safety.

Road accident data management system The first step to improve road safety was the development of a comprehensive database on which appropriate road safety measures could be based. Accordingly, as part of its Road Safety Action Plan, the state engaged an international road safety consultant to develop a comprehensive bi-lingual software package to collect, analyse and generate crucial reports on road accidents on a day-to-day basis. Major stakeholders such as the police, transport and highways departments were involved in the software’s development.

In 2009, an easy-to-use software known as

54

Geospatial World | July 2013

the Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS) was developed. Its uniform, intuitive screens make it one of the simplest systems to use. After visiting the accident site, the police person on duty logs onto the system’s website at the police station and enters the details of the accident into a simple online Accident Record Form. The details of each accident include the registration numbers of the vehicles involved, the number of people involved in the accident, the number of fatalities, the severity of injuries, the exact location and condition of the road, whether helmets and/or seat belts were being used or not, the levels of intoxication, if at all, of the driver, the type of accident – whether headon or from the rear, etc. The system has made the cumbersome paper-based FIR reporting process a thing of the past.

RADMS was developed with the help of an international consultant, under the World Banksupported Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project.

The GIS-based RADMS software geographically maps all road accidents that take place on Tamil Nadu’s national and state highways, as well as on urban and district roads. The system identifies the most accident-prone spots and displays crash trends and other information at the click of a mouse. The RADMS software, developed after detailed consultations between the police, transport and highways departments, has been helping the authorities analyse the ‘how’, ‘where’ and ‘why’ of road accidents, and enabling them to plan and implement remedial measures. In the two years since the system has been operational, nearly 3,000 accident-prone spots have been identified. The implementation of road

Cluster analysis facilitates analysis of the density and severity of accidents

safety measures based on this analytical data has brought down the number of accident fatalities in Tamil Nadu, from 13.39 for every 10,000 vehicles in 2006 to 10.09 in 2010, exceeding the targets set by the state.

The RADMS software, developed at a cost of Rs 22 million (about $500,000), has been deployed at all the state’s 1,400 police stations and personnel at each station have been trained in its use. While similar software was first used in Kerala, Tamil Nadu is the first state to deploy it extensively. The software is constantly being improved. It is planned to provide each police station with a hand-held GPS device to enable personnel to enter the details at the accident site itself. It is also planned to link the system with medical facilities across the state for quick attention to accident victims. The creation of a national road accident database along these lines can help to markedly improve road safety across the country.

Accident analysis RADMS is supported by a powerful analysis engine that enables the authorities to identify high-density accident locations and generate automatic vehicle collision diagrams. This is designed to assist road safety engineers in improving the safety of roads and intersections.

• K ilometer analysis helps in analysing accidents along a selected stretch of road.

• Grid analysis looks at the frequency of accidents in a specified area and identifies accident hotspots.

• Cluster analysis provides an analysis of the density and severity of accidents in selected areas.

• Monitor sites analysis provides a visual comparison of the severity of accidents on selected sites. It also generates reports and graphs showing the effect of remediation measures.

• Collision diagram analysis helps in analysing the general pattern of accidents in select locations, usually junctions.

• Corridor analysis locates high-crash concentrations within a corridor.

• L ink node analysis helps in analysing acci-

Monitor site analysis is used to analyse the accident density in a defined region

dents occurring between any two nodes in the road network and is used when no maps are available to enter accident details.

• Safety benefit evaluations study the effectiveness of remedial measures to reduce accidents.

• Stick analysis gives a pictorial representation of accidents along a number of parameters.

Courtesy World Bank web.worldbank.org

Geospatial World | July 2013

55

Transport Infrastructure | Case Study

Digital terrain model for highway construction Integrating Bentley Software with machine-control technology allowed Creighton Manning to expedite bypass extension project delivery For the Slingerlands Bypass, state and town planners wanted to improve vehicle capacity, relieve congestion, improve safety, and provide sufficient lane capacity to meet 20-year traffic projections. They also wanted to enhance current land use, provide for projected land use changes, and facilitate economic development. In addition, this was to be done while maintaining traffic during construction—16,000 vehicles each day travelling about 60 miles per hour.

In all, the Slingerlands Bypass involved construction of 1.5 miles of new, four-lane divided highway and reconstruction of 1.75 miles of twolane highway into a four-lane divided highway.

3D modeling minimises environmental impacts Models were useful in most phases of the project, particularly environmental aspects, according to CME CADD Manager Karl Detrick. “The 3D model and the digital terrain models were instrumental in designing and constructing the project to minimise environmental impacts. For example, with the models we were able to compare several different alternative alignments during the design phase and find the best ways to avoid wetlands and historic properties,” adds Detrick.

Model-based design tools in the InRoads Suite, Bentley’s software for civil engineering,

Three two-lane roundabouts replaced signalised intersections to improve safety

T

he New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) retained Creighton Manning Engineering (CME), an engineering and surveying firm in New York, to design the $15.2-million Route 85 Slingerlands Bypass Extension project, which addressed capacity and service-level issues along a 3.25mile highway section near Bethlehem. CME used Bentley’s InRoads software to expedite design and construction so that the bypass could open on schedule despite delays.

56

Geospatial World | July 2013

were used to develop the roadway’s horizontal and vertical alignments to meet the following environmental goals: • Provide a buffer between the roadway and historic properties.

• Minimise the number of ravines crossed, thus diminishing the overall section footprint.

• Minimise the visual impact on existing homes and businesses by depressing the roadway.

• Minimise impact on wetlands, and mitigate impact with the creation of new wetlands at a 2:1 ratio.

Pilot testing machine-control technology NYSDOT had delayed the award of this contract by five months, so the contractor, Delaney Construction, was working under extreme time pressure from the moment construction began in February 2007. But time was saved during the construction phase through a close collaboration with NYSDOT and the design engineers, and the successful application of machinecontrol technology.

Slingerlands Bypass was named a NYSDOT pilot project — one of just three state-wide in 2008 — for the integration of machine-control technology and Bentley’s InRoads. The software allowed CME to provide a complete digital terrain model (DTM) to the grading contractors.

Demonstrating a commitment to the technology and training required to meet project goals, CME collaborated with NYSDOT during the initial use of the Quantity Manager tools within InRoads and formulated suggestions as to how to best work with the tools.

Quantity Manager was used to link the features from InRoads to the project’s pay items database. Contractors deployed the tools to grade the project with stakeless technology, while precisely monitoring quantities using Bentley’s OnSite. This facilitated the movement of more than 200,000 cubic meters of earth in a relatively short time frame. Grading using this approach was more efficient and was accomplished with improved accuracy, resulting in a higher quality project. InRoads reports were also a big help to

state inspectors on the project.

Construction-stage design change The DTM-enabled construction process was even flexible enough to accommodate a late project addition. During construction, the developer of a new technology park proposed that a fourth roundabout be added in the middle of the bypass to provide access to the park. But a change order contract would have meant unacceptable delays.

Instead, the new work was undertaken simultaneously under a highway work permit. NYSDOT, CME, Delaney Construction and the town of Bethlehem all worked together to execute the work permit, and the Slingerlands Bypass — even with the last-minute roundabout — opened to traffic on schedule in September 2008.

Energy, environment, and safety benefits The four roundabouts built into the Slingerlands Bypass have eased congestion and reduced fuel consumption and emissions. They are also more efficient: NYSDOT analysts say the average commuter delay per vehicle has been reduced by seven to 15 minutes during peak hours. Perhaps most importantly, the roundabouts are safer.

Before the bypass work, the signalised intersections that were replaced by roundabouts had an accident rate significantly higher than similar intersections statewide.

One of the new roundabouts in the Slingerlands Bypass is at Blessing Road, which created a gateway leading into Slingerlands Hamlet. The roundabout slowed traffic entering the hamlet.

Together with a new pedestrian network (including a pedestrian bridge, and a main bridge renovation that accommodates bicycling and pedestrians), a canoe launch, and a picnic area on the Normanskill Creek, the bypass has reduced the impact of heavy traffic on the surrounding community.

The bypass project has also facilitated sustainable development of a 1.4-million-square-foot mixed-use commercial space known as Vista Tech Park. This will make a substantial contribution to the town’s non-residential tax base.

Courtesy: Bentley Systems

Geospatial World | July 2013

57

Transport Infrastructure | Case Study

Managing airport leases in real time Apart from aiding smooth navigation, GIS is enabling an airport authority in managing its leases by providing real-time automated data and enabling data sharing

T

he Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which owns and operates three airports in Boston — Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport — started using GIS technology after recognising that paper drawings pieced together with data from various business systems failed to produce accurate location information for its property managers.

Often, the information that Boston Logan International Airport’s property managers accessed was inaccurate or out of date. Generating a floor plan to reflect an increase in the size of a tenant’s leasehold used to take hours.

Further, when employees made the change to the relevant map file, they had to enter the new measurements manually into the billing system.

CLMS for automatic updates Massport set out to remedy this situation by issuing an RFP for acquisition of a Common Lease Management System (CLMS) to update its existing lease management. The specifications for the new system included the ability to interact and interface with computer-aided drafting and design (CADD) drawings. The selected system was one of the first breed of the new browserbased applications that utilised a Web browser to deliver information to desktops. Use of a Web

The CLMS login screen of Massport

58

Geospatial World | July 2013

browser-based solution instead of a traditional desktop application provided an unprecedented flexibility to integrate the seemingly unrelated products into a single user interface. One of the cornerstones of the selected application was the ability to integrate and display floor plan drawings in the form of interactive maps beside tenant and agreement data. In essence, CLMS delivered a GIS-enabled application to users.

Portal for real-time information Subsequent to the implementation of CLMS, it became apparent that the GIS data available in CLMS would be extremely helpful for other users at Massport. An essential factor for making the GIS data available was the ability to restrict sensitive financial information to the appropriate users. The Massport Geographic Portal (MGP) was developed to provide real time spatial information to all authorised users.

CLMS has enabled a single employee to maintain lease plans and geospatial data for more than 10 million square feet of space, covering exterior areas and 39 buildings. All of the data is stored within an Oracle database and integrated with information from Massport’s business systems. The GIS engine of CLMS drives information sharing by delivering real time maps that blend geospatial and financial data to authorised users.

Terminal floor plan

Increased productivity When lease managers need to view a lease plan and contract information, they can find the information instantly on Massport’s intranet.

“Our GIS-enabled application has proved very valuable,” explains Greg Zanni, Massport’s manager, airport properties and leasing. “I use it every day to review vacancies and spaces that tenants occupy throughout the airport. Compared to our old system, it is a tremendous time-saver because we no longer require assistance from a CAD specialist to view electronic lease plans.”

The system also ensures the continuous alignment of spatial and financial information. If an airline acquires new gates or maintenance space, the system automatically adjusts the billing based on the tenant’s negotiated price per square foot.

“Space planning is a breeze. Just set up a proposed contract; code the rooms you want into it; and run accurate reports and drawings right out of the system in minutes” says Kevin Gabel, CADDspecialist, Massport Airport Business Office.

Moreover, access to information extends beyond lease managers. For example, grounds managers use the system to plan maintenance operations and measure landscaped areas.

Massport has witnessed a measurable improvement in the way it manages lease plans and shares spatial data. “Our system delivers real-time maps and business information, helping us to improve productivity and make better decisions. Our lease managers save hundreds of hours each year, and more than 200 employees access dynamic facility maps each day through

2MGP user interface

MGP,” says Gabel.

“Building a strong GIS platform to provide a fast flexible system that accesses trustworthy information has become a vital aspect of the airports daily function,” states John White, former head of the Geomatics Centre at Brussels Airport. According to White, GIS systems have become the cornerstone for decision-making at airports in the areas of: • A irport construction, infrastructure management, safety and operations; • Environmental issues and crisis scenarios, including 'what if' options; • Space, cable and asset management; • Security, including key and access management; • Utilities, including electrical, water, communication, gas, and fire prevention.

Data acquisition and maintenance is the single most expensive and vital factor for a successful GIS, and as the usage of geospatial data increases, a generic and a centralised approach for data storage is critical. One of newest trends in GIS is the development of a data-centric model instead of an application- centric one, based on an open and non-propriety database. In other words adopting and implementing a system/data architecture that enables full interoperability among all CADD/GIS software vendors.

As the role of GIS in support of all aspects of airport operations increases, a well-planned and executed approach to implementing such a system is the key to success.

Ed Maghboul, President, x-Spatial ed.maghboul@x-spatial.com

Geospatial World | July 2013

59

UAV technology | Suriname

UAVs open up a whole new world South America’s smallest country has started leveraging the many benefits of UAV technology in areas where traditional remote sensing or survey techniques fall short owing to its deep forest cover

U

nmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used for military applications for long, have now entered the civil market, opening up new possibilities within the mapping and remote sensing industry. With the ability to acquire highly accurate imagery from a low altitude, UAVs have proved to be helpful in the acquisition of remote sensing data in locations that are difficult to access or in regions where dense cloud coverage throughout the year makes it impossible for satellites to collect good-quality images.

Located in South America on the north of Brazil, Suriname is the smallest country in the region at just under 165,000 square km. With a number of national parks, including a UNESCO World Heritage Site — the Central Suriname Nature Reserve — in the upper Coppename River watershed, the country is famous for its unspoiled forest biodiversity. However, with 90% of it covered by tropical rain forests, Suriname is very hard to map using traditional remote sensing techniques. The introduction of the UAVs in 2012 formed a revolutionary breakthrough in the mapping business in Suriname with several applications being initiated in land management and mining in the past six months.

Mapping Closely related to the application of UAVs to support traditional authorities in preserving their community boundaries, this technology finds its use in mapping households and facili-

60

Geospatial World | July 2013

UAV X100 takes off

ties of traditional villages.

Suriname, with a population of around 0.5 million is made up of several distinct ethnic groups. To preserve the privacy and cultural integrity of such a diversity, data inventory by UAVs can take place without teams being actively and visibly present in the localities, thus avoiding social and cultural conflicts. Performing a settlement inventory and mapping the terrain in 3D provides the necessary data, e.g. to design water distribution networks or electrification projects.

A first pilot project is currently being planned.

Mining Suriname’s economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounts for more than 15% of the GDP and 70% of export earnings. It has also recently started exploiting some of its sizeable oil and gold reserves.

Likewise, the most common use of UAV technology in Suriname is within the bauxite mine

X100 orthophoto; settlement inventory

industry where weekly missions provide data to evaluate mine progression. By using low-altitude flights (100-150 metre above surface) images are acquired with an overlap of 75-80%. Following a six-hour post processing, both digital elevation models and ortho photos are available that provide up-to-date information regarding surface changes, calculating the amount of ore that is removed from the pit and transported to the different stockpiles.

Apart from providing an accurate tool to verify the transportation costs as billed by the contractor, mining companies now have weekly, accurate surveys to support their planning activities, something that could not have been possible in the same timeframe using traditional survey. When benchmarking the use of UAVs against traditional survey, a mining company calculated a cost ratio of 1: 187, a solid business case to invest in UAV technology to support planning and operations .

Border disputes Mining and forestry are the two major growing industries currently present in the interiors of Suriname on both, a large industrial scale as well as a small individual scale. Delineation of concession boundaries is therefore a very crucial aspect in regulating the activities but nevertheless rather difficult due to the dense canopy cover. Inaccessibility of suitable take-off and landing spots, however, pose a challenge to the use of UAVs in the small mining industry.

Traditional communities that live in the interior of Suriname, rely on the forest and savannah to provide food, building materials and natural resources for their village. The presence of illegal

operations along the community boundaries, often initiate disputes between the traditional communities and the operating companies or individuals. Obtaining legal proof of illegal border crossing activities is a necessity in such a situation, although often a difficult case to build.

This opens possibilities for the UAV business.

Within the village boundaries, suitable take-off and landing locations can easily be found and maintained and permanent ground control points can be constructed. In Suriname, GISsat closed an agreement with a local community to provide baseline inventory data on a regular basis. The imagery is acquired from an altitude of 300 metre, thus covering a large area within one flight. The purpose of the operation is to monitor activities along the official community boundaries in order to provide legal proof for the local community when illegal mining or forestry activities take place. Although still executed on a small scale, the authorities are striving to get this supported by an international forum and to assist in setting up a national monitoring programme to support local authorities.

Project management Baseline inventory and periodic monitoring form the two key aspects that define the application of UAV technology. Within the public works industry, UAVs were used to monitor as-built construction activities of a large social housing project. By comparing the imagery with the design plans, non-conformities could be identified during the construction phase and proper management decisions could be made before the construction reached its final stage. For the executing contractor, the imagery was used as a reference for progress overview.

Although still relatively new in Suriname, UAVs open up vast possibilities for land management, spatial monitoring and terrain visualisation, areas where traditional remote sensing or survey techniques fall short. Fast deployment, quick and highly accurate results and no impact by clouds are the key aspects that make this technology a winner for tropical environments.

Suriname factfile • Size: 165,000 square

kilometre • Population: Around

0.5 million • 90% of the country covered by rain forests • Bauxite industry dominates the economy of Suriname, accounting for over 15% of GDP and 70% of export earnings

Stef De Ridder & Egbert Moerland, nv GISsat

Geospatial World | July 2013

61

techknow Buzz

How does a GINCAN work?

Unjamming the GPS

Signal enters receiver with jamming removed GINCAN chip

Weighting network Weighting calculation

GNNS receiver

Jammer detect output 2.5V power Two or more elements in the antenna

T

he growing use of Global Positioning System (GPS) in various spheres of our lives is well recognised. From searching for the shortest route to a destination to guarding against a car theft, GPS impacts our lives in a lot of ways. However, despite its growing utility, it is the blocking of GPS signals which is hitting the headlines. GPS signals are known to be inherently weak and are prone to accidental and deliberate interference. With advancement in technology, jamming devices are extremely easy to obtain and instances of GPS jamming are growing by the day.

Courtesy: National Physical Library, UK

62

What’s the threat?

With the increasing use of GPS jamming devices, it has become difficult to rely on GPS for navigation and positioning. Carjackers can easily disable the tracking device in a vehicle and thus steal valuable cargo without being tracked. According to a news report, there were more than sixty cases of GPS jamming in just six months in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the effects of jamming can reach far beyond its intended area, thus endangering critical infrastructure that relies on GPS signals for its functioning.

Geospatial World | July 2013

In 2010, The Economist reported that a commercial vehicle fitted with a GPS jammer drove past the Newark airport as part of its daily route.

The jamming device inadvertently disrupted the airport’s landing system, which lead to an enquiry spanning several months, by the airport authorities.

Countering the threat As news is spreading about GPS jamming, technology to counter GPS jammers is also making rounds. By connecting a small, feather light device, you can protect your GPS receiver against jamming. Known as GINCAN (GNSS Interference Cancellation), the product developed by Roke, uses a combination of technologies. It is a bolt-on anti-jamming product, which can be installed by simply removing the existing GPS antenna from your unit and replacing it with the GINCAN device and its antenna.

The fact that the device does not require any major changes to the existing GPS receiver makes it a cost-effective solution to counter the threat of GPS jamming. Apart from protecting GPS devices, the GINCAN device can also shield other GNSS systems such as GLONASS and Galileo against jamming.

Super-continuum laser to revolutionise military surveillance

A

new laser that can show what objects are made of could help military aircraft identify hidden dangers such as weapons arsenals far below.

The system, which is made of off-the-shelf telecommunications technology, emits a broadband beam of infrared light. While most lasers emit light of one wavelength, or colour, super-continuum lasers like this one give off a tight beam packed with columns of light covering a range of wavelengths — a blend of colours. Because this beam is in the infrared region, it's invisible to human eyes. But it can illuminate deep information.

The infrared contains what scientists refer to as the

"spectral fingerprinting range" — frequencies at which they can detect echoes of the vibrations of the molecules that make up a solid substance. A substance's spectral fingerprint reveals which wavelengths of light it absorbed, and which it reflected. Different substances absorb and reflect different wavelengths. So by shining the new laser on a target and analysing the reflected light, researchers can tell the chemical composition of the target.

While broadband infrared lasers do exist, this one is more powerful, according to Mohammed Islam, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. His team tested a 5-watt prototype. They've built a 25.7 watt version. And they're now working on a 50-watt prototype.

These higher power lasers could give an aircraft flying at higher altitudes the capacity to illuminate a region with brightness comparable to sunlight, and then image that region. Many chemical sensors in use today work at close range, but few, if any, can do the job from a long distance. A paper on the research is published online in Optics Letters.

Courtesy: University of Michigan News

Create and interact with beautiful maps rganisations around the world use Google Maps Engine to host their geospatial data, be it ecological records used in the fight against habitat destruction, census income and age distributions or up-to-date store locations and hours. Much of this data is available for public consumption.

Making this initiative more user-oriented, Google introduced a new way for developers to visualise and interact with data hosted in Maps Engine: DynamicMapsEngineLayer. This class performs client-side rendering of vector data, allowing the developer to dynamically restyle the vector layer in response to user interactions like hover and click.

To get started making maps, developers can find public datasets of their interest hosted by Maps Engine at Google’s Earth Gallery. They can check out the detailed documentation provided for DynamicMapsEngineLayer and for a deeper dive, can check out the Google MapsEngine API, which allows developers read and write data stored in Google Maps Engine.

Courtesy: Google Maps

O

Geospatial World | July 2013

63

In-focus

How Mature is your GIS? By failing to gauge its maturity, enterprises are missing the essential strengths of today’s GIS and the awesome power of ‘where’

O

ften, those in the business of geobased Information and technology speak of “pervasiveness” and “maturity” of enterprise applications such as BI (business intelligence), ERP (enterprise resource planning), AMS/ WMS (asset management and work management systems) and other largescale, wide-reaching applications. These analyses are pursued in order to measure the progress towards a fully robust, widely accessible data and apps that enable employees and customers to foster efficient and effective business transactions and service relationships. The maturity of our GIS systems also should be measured the same way.

There are five levels of IT performance management maturity commonly cited by global consulting leaders such as Gartner, IBM, SAS and others. One common example is a five-step model series of Unaware

ingeniosus.net

64

Geospatial World | July 2013

(unknown), Tactical, Focused, Strategic and Pervasive. Another scale uses Chaotic, Reactive, Proactive, Managed and Utility. Categories and their names are not absolute but they do encourage us to think about where we are and where we want to be. The SAS Institute set prefers Operating, Consolidating, Integrating, Optimising and Innovating.

One can add a sixth to any list — Open — as in significantly publicly accessible.

By failing to gauge its maturity, we are missing the essential strengths of today’s GIS and the power of ‘where’. Twenty years ago we were satisfied with making maps and today we are still dissatisfied with not being at the senior management table. That is why today, more than ever, we must cheer loudly for what GIS does throughout the enterprise to deliver corporate bottomline results.

GIS is not just a ‘Geographic Information System’, but rather a ‘Geographic Information Strategy’. How we value that ‘S’ word is fundamental to targeting mature GI as a paradigm, not just a software. The ‘where’ of our business is a critical enabler of meeting the ‘what’, ‘how much’ and ‘when’ of our corporate KPIs (key performance indicators).

Most of us would agree that GIS is the best possible foundation for organisations that deal with assets, work orders, customers, markets, constituencies and so many other variables. GIS focuses on the importance of ‘where’ things are: what they do there, how they got there, who put them there, what they connect to and what their initial or residual values are. As we hear so

often: GIS matters. How can we accept that we do not have sufficient awareness about how mature our GIS may be or should be?

Maturity denotes a level of preparedness, of capacity, capability and responsiveness in enabling enterprises to fulfill their mandates. Maturity is not about server size, bandwidth, number of licences, years of practice, staffing levels, spans of control or how senior a GIS champion is. Maturity is about the level of direct valuable contribution to fulfilling the mandate of the organisation and its key performance metrics.

Given the importance of such a foundation, do you know how mature your GIS is today? Do you know what value accrues from your current level of maturity? What should you do if the current level is not satisfactory to you, your leadership and overseers, your regulators, your public?

To evaluate the maturity level of geospatial usage, let us assume that the more mature your GIS is, the more likely your return on investment continues to accrue.

Measurable levels of GIS maturity »Unknown or Operating or Chaotic: Till a few years back, only a handful of people even knew of the GIS team’s existence or potential. This team was unknown, anonymous and driven within by a couple of desktop enthusiasts. At this level, the GIS team was just the mapping people in engineering or planning. More regrettably, they were approached only for making paper maps and most often referred to as “those mapping people”, not on anyone’s radar.

The business model was a chaotic “overthe-counter” service scheme. Priorities were based on loudness or next in line. The GIS team reported to someone unfamiliar with their abilities.

The sign on their door only said: GIS: Geographic Imprint Storage »Tactical or Consolidating or Reactive: Rarely found today are these teams with one predominant business sponsor. They

are limited users who rely on a few narrow data feeds with much data inconsistency.

These teams of a few people are essentially reactive and they remain severely underfunded. Their champion is their own manager.

Their work programme is based on past needs that established them. Any alignment with higher corporate goals is by chance and by not design. Their software and other tools are not current. Funding is internal to their division and often equal to last year’s, so they are actually falling behind. They simply consolidate geocoded data in support of very narrow duties.

The door sign suggests: GIS — Geographic Improvement Services

Maturity is about the level of direct valuable contribution to fulfilling the mandate of the organisation and its key performance metrics

»Focused or Integrating or Proactive: GIS is a celebrated asset when it gets noticed because it serves a corporate need or divisional role. This GIS maturity model level is seen as contributing to a greater good.

In a focused sense, it targets the department’s role in fulfilling a greater corporate role for the overall corporate good such as engineering network design. This proactive but struggling GIS team is larger and better trained, representing a combo of power users and task-oriented users. The team leader is acutely aware of GIS potential but there still is no well-known respected champion in the corporation.

Focused but too inward looking, this team competes for funding, and wins often but does not move ahead in scale, scope or maturity. It is still focused on a few straightforward production project themes.

RoI, NPV and other paybacks are understood but not seen as reflecting contribution, which is simply to integrate data for specific outputs.

The door invitingly says: GIS: Geo-Info Specialists. »Strategic or Optimising or Managed: Like all IT, GIS is optimally driven by business objectives. GIS-budgeted line-item investments are managed for data, equipment, Geospatial World | July 2013

65

In-focus

Corporate vision, mission & goals Metrics of KPIs & other successes

software and expertise. The Geo-IT role becomes one Employees, resources of official geo& processes data custodian, official process leader and excellence bureau IT infrastructure with a difference. It is now able to optimise inputs and outputs, to optimise support for enterprise goals.

This GIS function has grown beyond a team, to become a way of doing business, and managing work and assets according to the ‘where’ element instead of just ‘what’.

This centre of excellence produces a highquality standard set of outputs as a form of business intelligence. These people are now at the thought centres of enterprise processes and results.

The sign on their door proudly says GIS: Geo Intelligence Strategies … An Enterprise Centre of Excellence.

A mature GIS system Applications accesing geo intelligence Mature GIS resources

In open GIS maturity, we have a new willingness by governments to respond to the energetic demands of citizens for access to information 66

Geospatial World | July 2013

»Pervasive or Innovating or Utility: Pervasive means “occurring throughout” and applies to GIS making an impact across the enterprise, reaching back to suppliers and ahead to customers and citizens.

Here we see the ability to innovate, to be instrumental in corporate success stories that exploited the ‘where’ ubiquitously throughout the organisation. They lead, consult, coach and train. GIS is a highly sought-after valued utility.

This GIS team is trusted and well known.

The spatial data under management is recognised as a valuable asset. They are consulted before projects take shape. Geo-data is integrated with business data, redefining or blurring what ‘our data’ really means.

GI is commonly applied to add creative insights. The CEO/CAO is the champion with the CFO on the right and the CIO on left.

Workload is the real challenge, not anonymity, credibility or reliability.

The door sign boasts GIS: Geospatial Informatic Sciences. »The OPEN (sixth) level: We could add a sixth level to recognise where our best practicing geospatial enterprises have located themselves: Open — internally and externally, locally and regionally, nationally and internationally. Motivated by cost management and corporate social responsibility, the GIS can drive increased transparency and public respect.

The open corporate website has a number of geospatially driven functions and search abilities because that is what best practices are today — they are collaborative with the citizens, customers and employees alike. In open GIS maturity, we have a new willingness by governments to respond to the energetic demands of citizens for access to information. Private sector firms and middle of the road utilities are similarly becoming much more accessible and transparent in many parts of the world and across most sectors. They are no longer the trademark of an ‘unknown’ GIS desk.

The sign on the GIS Centre door frame says: Open, no door needed, we are virtually everywhere.

The GIS strategic maturity loop Where does the mature, the pervasive GIS reside? Clearly it belongs everywhere that assets, activities, customers, employees or transactions occur. The enterprise begins with its vision, mission and goals. It involves employees, things and processes, and ensures an IT infrastructure as well as offices, work centres and field-oriented assets; assembles a mature geospatial resource; employs various applications to access geo and other intelligence; develops metrics to measure its goal attainment and other insightful KPI informatics.

Greg Duffy, Coach, consultant & speaker, woodfield@cogeco.ca

Picture This

A

stitch

in time...

A

Berlin-based artist, Daniel Schwarz, has revealed several instances of interesting incongruities in Google’s images of the Earth’s surface. The artist posted a collection of satellite images that have been gathered from different points in time and under different weather conditions which Google had stitched together. When Google updates its maps, it sources images for a given location from various periods in time. The images load automatically, on a grid, without the benefit of a discerning human eye. Schwarz, though, admits that Google may have replaced these images by now with more suitable ones.

“Due to their source and its constant flow of actualisations, the chosen glitches are potentially nonexistent, and replaced by more recent photos,” he says.

Courtesy: fastcodesign

Geospatial World | July 2013

67

Conference report | GeoIntelligence India 2013

1

Defence experts call for geospatial framework, new applications Top: Admiral D.K. Joshi, Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy addresses the gathering at the GeoIntelligence India Conference 2013 in New Delhi.

Bottom: A confluence of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force at the conference.

T

here is a need to harness the potential of geospatial information by developing applications in the military domain, said Admiral D.K. Joshi, Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy. Timely availability, integrity and security of information are the major challenge for the security agencies, according to him. Admiral Joshi was speaking at the seventh edition of the annual defence conferencecum-exhibition, GeoIntelligence India 2013, held in New Delhi recently.

Lt Gen Anil Chait, GOC-in-C, Central Command, Indian Army, called for a geospatial framework for the country while acknowledging that geospatial technology was a great facilitator of network-centric operations, both at the operational and tactical level. However, to facilitate and support such a framework, India needed a

68

Geospatial World | July 2013

national communication network that can leverage on a national information grid to harness national power, he added.

The two-day GeoIntelligence India 2013, one of the major defence meets in the country focusing on the use and application of geospatial technology in defence and internal security, was based on the theme, ‘Geospatial – Force Multiplier for Modern Warfare’. The panel of speakers comprised top military, industry, and policy makers, while the exhibition showcased cuttingedge technological solutions for security matters.

“China’s aggressive posturing against India necessitates review of security implications of our space assets and development of space weapons to protect them,” said Gp Capt R.K. Singh, IAF, Senior Research Fellow, United Service Institution of India. He discussed the

increasing Chinese military capabilities in space and its implications for India.

There was no excuse for taking a wrong decision citing the lack of information at the right time, said Kaushik Chakraborty, Vice President, Hexagon India, while giving the industry perspective. “In this period of transition and partnerships, it is important to take advantage of the legacy systems, work on them to build new platforms with the right use of technology,” he added.

Brig (Dr) Arun Sahgal (Retd), Director, Forum for Strategic Initiative, deliberated upon militarisation versus weaponisation. Calling space ‘the new frontier,’ he said militarisation of space implies developing and deploying assets in space for providing early warning, communications, command and control, position navigation and timing and monitoring remote sensing, and national technical means; and is aimed at enhancing military command, control and communications, strategic and battlefield surveillance and weapons targeting.

S. Suresh Kumar, Joint Secretary — Centre States, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI), discussed the initiatives taken by the government in implementing GIS in crime analytics. Visualisation of geo-enabled crime data is the need of the hour, he said.

Discussing exploitation of geointelligence in the Indian operational environment, Brig Rahul Bhonsle (Retd), Director - Security Risks Asia, mulled on the creation of a national agency for geospatial intelligence. He said the key enablers included the commander’s understanding of geoint potential, the geoint-enabled OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) loop, understanding of terrain and restrictions of geoint.

Wg Cdr Satyam Kushwaha, National Security Council Secretariat, underlined the need for a 3D system capable of handling all kinds of maps, something that is designed for Indian conditions and can be used by all the three forces. “But most importantly, what is required is that we should know how to use this technology,” he added.

Talking about the IED challenge being faced by security agencies throughout the world, Prof Subrahmanian introduced the audience to the new field of ‘geospatial abduction,’ in which

geospatial technology is being used to predict locations of IED weapons caches and/ or high value targets (HVTs) associated with IED attacks.

Dr Narayan Panigrahi, Scientist ‘F’, Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, discussed the robust computational techniques for computation of geospatial data registered temporally and geometrically. The areas in which these techniques can be used include coordinates, map projections, space visualisation of earth, multiplicity in GIS, image registration, GIS as a platform for sensors, data integration, and cross country mobility map generation.

Brig AS Nagra (Retd) discussed the promises and problems in network-centric warfare.

According to him, challenges that need to be addressed, include overestimating human capacity, underestimation of enemy’s capabilities, situational awareness being neither sufficient nor necessary for self sync, and so on.

Anil Pant, Sr DGM (D&E/NCS), BEL, elaborated on how situational awareness can be ensured through network-centric operations.

The fundamental requirement in such a scenario is that the right information should be delivered to the right place at the right time.

Organised by Geospatial Media and Communications, the conference was held in New Delhi on June 13-14 and was attended by a host of defence experts and various stakeholders working in the area of geointelligence.

Clockwise from top: S. Suresh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Centre States, MHA, GoI; Air Marshal SB Deo, DG Air (Ops), IAF; Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary, North East, MHA, GoI; People thronging the exhibition area at the Conference.

Geospatial World | July 2013

69

Streamline your workflow from beginning to end with unparalleled search functionality, exploitation capabilities, and product creation for commercial and defense industries.

Discover your data with GXP Xplorer. Search multiple data stores across an enterprise with a single query to locate imagery, terrain, text documents, and video. Exploit data using SOCET GXP® to create geospatial intelligence products with advanced feature extraction tools, annotations, and 3-D visualization for planning, analysis, and publication. Our Geospatial eXploitation Products give you the power to deliver actionable intelligence, when it counts.

Imagery courtesy of DigitalGlobe

www.baesystems.com/gxp

GXP XPLORER AND SOCET GXP. MAXIMIZE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY — FROM DISCOVERY TO EXPLOITATION.

Geospatial Technology for a

Better Tomorrow

Get ready to know how geospatial technology is addressing regional challenges, and its growing applications contributing to national development

24 - 26 SEPTEMBER, 2013

13 – 14 AUGUST, 2013

11 – 13 SEPTEMBER, 2013

Putra World Trade Centre

CTICC

Sul America Convention Center

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cape Town, South Africa

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

www.asiageospatialforum.org

www.africageospatialforum.org

www.lagf.org

Join Us and Be a Part!