TOP EVENTS

2006

April 14-17 Australian 3-Days, Castlemaine, Victoria. www.vicorienteering.asn. au/easter2006 April 22 Australian Middle Dist Champs, Inglewood, Victoria July 1-7 WMOC 2006 Wiener Neustadt, Austria www.wmoc06.com/ July 2-7 JWOC 2006, Druskininkai, Lithuania www.losf.lt/jwoc2006 July 8-15 Tour O Swiss www.tour-o-swiss.ch July 9-14 World MTB-O Champs, Joensuu, Finland. mtbwoc2006.orienteering.org July 15-22 Swiss O Week 2006 Zermatt, Switzerland www.sow2006zermatt.ch July 16-21 O-Ringen, Halsingland, Sweden (250 km north of Stockholm) www.oringen.com July 29-Aug 5 WOC 2006 and Danish WOC Tour 6-Days, Aarhus, Denmark www.woc2006.dk/ 29 Sept-12 Oct Australian Championships Carnival York, Western Australia http://wa.orienteering.asn.au/ auschamps 2006 10-12 Oct Australian MTB-O Championships Collie, Western Australia http://wa.orienteering.asn.au/ auschamps 2006 Dec 29-31 APOC 2006, Hong Kong http://www.apoc2006.hk

2007

Jan 3-7 Christmas 5 Days, Orange NSW April 6-15 “Burra to Barossa 2007” Aust 3Days & Middle-dist Champs, SA www.oasa.asn.au/2007 July 7-14 WMOC 2007 Kuusamo, Finland www.wmoc2007.fi/ July 7-15 JWOC 2007 Carnival, incl NSW Champs, Aus Champs & Schools Champs, Dubbo, NSW. http:// orienteering.asn.au/events July 22-27 O-Ringen Sweden August 16-26 WOC 2007 Kiev, Ukraine e-mail: info@woc2007.org.ua www.woc2007.org.ua August 19-26 WMTB-O 2007 Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic www.mtbo.cz/woc2007/ October 4 Australian Sprint Championships, Canberra ACT October 6-7 Oceania Championships, Canberra ACT November Australian MTB-O Championships, NSW Dec 27-31 Christmas 5 Days, NSW

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The LIDAR data, collected the same way as aerial photography, provides highly detailed, fine resolution elevation data. Data points collected may be as close as 20cm, producing a very dense cloud of points. Each data point is attributed with various elevations, including height of the terrain (impenetrable surface) and the top of the vegetation. Such a dense cloud of points means individual features differing in height by no more than 50cm, can be distinguished. These may be boulders, high points, or even fallen trees! This dense cloud of points can be post-processed to extract smooth contours at an appropriate interval.

The LIDAR technique allows most of the base data (contours, vegetation boundaries) to be extracted in a digital format. The raw data could be used by mappers to better locate specific features reducing time spent in the field. Data could be augmented with other information including aerial photography (maybe multiple images from different times) or a scan of an existing map to assist the mapper to interpret features. All this data could be taken into the field on a laptop or tablet computer and, with the assistance of a handheld GPS to determine position, the mapper could create the map ‘on-the-fly’.

The mapper would concentrate on interpreting the existing data sources rather than explicitly collecting data. We don’t suggest the mapper would be creating the final version of the map in OCAD whilst in the field, but rather collecting enough data, in a digital format, to inform the final drawing process.

LIDAR data is expensive to collect and would never be considered for the sole purpose of creating an Orienteering map. However, LIDAR data is being collected across broad areas of Australia by government authorities for a multitude of purposes. In Victoria, for example, a growing proportion of the state is being covered by LIDAR data of varying resolutions. We have seen a LIDAR image of the terrain around the Wimmera River with the road network being clearly visible because they are slightly raised above the surrounding terrain.

We, as an Orienteering community, should be exploring ways to reduce the time taken to create high quality maps of exceptional terrain. Techniques being used and explored in a range of disciplines may (or may not) be useful for our purposes. One thing is for certain, with fewer volunteers supporting Orienteering, anything that saves time should be explored.

You can get a sneak preview of the Middle-distance granite terrain by visiting and checking out the terrain photos at: http:// www.mapmedia.com.au/bendigo-orienteers/