May 2009 eNews
Highlights include: WALIS International Forum 2009 - Web Hot Registration Now Open!, Last Call for Entries for the WA Spatial Excellence Awards, Protecting Rare Species from Space, H1N1 (aka 'Swine Flu') Mapping and GPS Satellites Not 'Falling Out of the Sky'.
What’s Happening in the WALIS Community?
WALIS International Forum 2009 – Web Hot Registration Now Open!
Routable Road Centreline Network Group
Environmental Information Initiatives Stocktake and Assessment Workshop
The Data Group (Formerly the Metadata Group)
WALIS Stakeholders in the News
Draft Cane Toad Strategy for Western Australia 2009-19
Last Call for Entries for the WA Spatial Excellence Awards
State Liaison Committee on Remote Sensing (SLCORS)
Australian Angle
COAG Agrees to Establish National Emergency Warning System
Protecting Rare Species from Space
LINZ Accepts Mapping Award Honour in India
Bushfire Smoke Reaches Davis Station
NAVTEQ, Lonely Planet Announce Global Content Agreement
The A-Spec Group Announces the Release of a LandXML Format for the Drainage Standard D-Spec
FIG Article of the Month: Making Land Markets Work for All
Open Spatial Australia Prepares for Future Demand
News from Around the Globe
Outdoor Maps for United States Now Available on SD Card from Magellan and Intermap Technologies
H1N1 (aka ‘Swine Flu’) Mapping
Getmapping Teams Up with New Zealand Aerial Mapping
FME Paves the way for Innovative Uses of OpenStreetMap Data
Navman Wireless Identifies Underused Vehicles in Large Fleets
ESRI's Jack Dangermond: GIS Brings Better Government Transparency
Exploring the Moon in Three Dimension
Web Mapping Service Headlines Ordnance Survey Strategy Launch
Share and Exchange Knowledge at new GPS Tracking Forum
Universal Address Makes Blackberry Maps Work Everywhere
GPS Satellites Not 'Falling Out of the Sky'
Upcoming Events
Details of events in Australia and around the world
Interesting Website of the Month
What’s Happening in the WALIS Community?
WALIS International Forum 2009 – Web Hot Registration Now Open!
For those who are familiar with the format of WALIS Forum and/ or those who would like to register for Forum at a better-than-earlybird-rate, the web hot registration is now open.
Although limited program details are available, the cost will be at last year’s price, providing the opportunity for a significant saving.
Visit http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/forum/registration to register. Be quick! Registration at this special rate will only be open until July 3.
This month’s WMG meeting will be held at the ARRC building in Technology Park, Kensington.
Andrew Rohl, the CEO of iVEC will discuss, amongst other things, the benefits for state government agencies in becoming an iVEC associate.
The Department for Planning and Infrastructure Bathymetric LiDAR acquisition (Two Rocks to Cape Naturaliste) started early April. The data sets will be supplied as completed and the final report is due end August 2009.
For more WMG related activities visit http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/projects/WALIS_Marine_Group or contact Jenny Smith / (08) 9273 7093
A referential topology workshop was held on 29 April 2009.
The workshop was hosted and facilitated by WALIS and Landgate. 25 People attended and 6 key agencies gave presentations on referential topology issues within their work area.
After the presentations each agencies was given an opportunity for questions. Group discussions centered on Spatial upgrade, Shared Line Usage and a Fit for Purpose Dataset. A referential topology working group is planning to meet early in July 2009 to follow up on the outcomes of the workshop. Please contact Jenny Smith / (08) 9273 7093 if you wish to be part of this group.
Routable Road Centreline Network Group
The Routable Road Centreline Network Group met on 12 May 2009 to discuss a strategic approach to road data alignment and sharing across government agencies.
The next RRCN group meeting will be hosted by WA Main Roads in August 2009. Landgate, Local Government Authority, DEC, FESA, WA Police and Perth Transport Authority are participating. Contact Jenny Smith / (08) 9273 7093 if your agency makes extensive use and value-add to road centreline data or if you would like to contribute to the RRCN Group’s efforts.
Environmental Information Initiatives Stocktake and Assessment Workshop
The WA focus group for the National Environmental Information Stocktake and Assessment Project which was requested by the Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) met on 30 April 2009 to discuss WA initiatives.
The process included documenting and assessing the range of environmental information initiatives and their links. The workshop was hosted by WALIS and facilitated by GHD. If you would like further information or can provide input, please contact Angela.Bradburn@ghd.com.au at GHD.
The Data Group (Formerly the Metadata Group)
The Group will next meet on 8 June 2009. The next meeting will include question time with Landgate Account Managers as well as establishing the group’s Terms of Reference.
If you would like to attend the next meeting or for further information go to http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/projects/data-and-metadata-group or contact Jade George at jade.george@walis.wa.gov.au or on 9273 7039.
On 6 May, the SLICP Policy group met to draft a policy for the Shared Land Information Capture Program.
This draft is now being reviewed by the WALIS Spatial Management Group. For queries please contact Jade George on 9273 7039 or slicp@walis.wa.gov.au.
WALIS Stakeholders in the News
‘Location as an enabler for government business’.
This conference is s new event that will focus on the ‘business of government’ and how business at all levels of government can be made more effective and efficient through the application of spatial resources.
The conference is scheduled for 15 and 16 June at the National Convention Centre in Canberra and will provide many examples of the benefits of using ‘place’ or ‘location’ as a powerful enabler for government activities.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.spatialgov2009.com
Land Monitor, the coordinated initiative set up by the National Dryland Salinity Program and supported by the CSIRO, Landgate, Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), Department of Agriculture and Food WA, Department of Water, Water Corporation and Department of Planning and Infrastructure, recently held a successful User Group seminar at the Leeuwin Centre in Floreat.
The seminar was attended by interested representatives from partner agencies.
The topics presented were: Urban Monitor (Don McFarlane, Jeremy Wallace, CSIRO); DEC's Projects Woodland Decline; Wetland Management (Graeme Behn, DEC); and Native Vegetation Clearing (Craig Jacques, DEC).
The project now has Summer Landsat data covering the south west of WA across twenty years (1988-2002 every two years, 2003-2008 annually) and is soon to order Summer 2009 imagery.
The Land Monitor web map service has two FREE subscription access links "Public" and "Project Subscriber" (visit http://landmonitor.landgate.wa.gov.au/ for more information on how to subscribe).
The "Project Subscriber" Web Map Service has recently implemented FREE sub-set and limited download of the perennial vegetation products.
For more information contact Nicole Tudgeon, Land Monitor Technical Officer, Landgate nicole.trudgeon@landgate.wa.gov.au
Draft Cane Toad Strategy for Western Australia 2009-19
The DEC has released the draft Cane Toad Strategy for Western Australia 2009-19 for public comment.
The draft strategy outlines a 10-year management plan for cane toads and aims to provide an integrated response across the whole community to reduce the impact of the invasive species on biodiversity, social and economic values.
The six-week public comment period closes 5pm, Thursday 25 June 2009 and submissions can be emailed to corrin.everitt@dec.wa.gov.au or sent to DEC's Kununurra office.
Last Call for Entries for the WA Spatial Excellence Awards
Don’t forget to nominate your best people and projects for the WA Spatial Excellence Awards 2009. Applications for the 2009 Awards are invited from Individuals and Industries and close on Friday 29th May 2009.
Submit your entries at the SSIWA Office: 2/154 Hampden Road, Nedlands WA 6009.
Contact the SSIWA Office on telephone 9386 6601 or via email at ssiwa@iinet.net.au for additional information or to obtain application forms for both award categories.
For further information visit the link: http://www.spatialsciences.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=304&Itemid=1
The Department of Environment and Conservation recently developed a new website, www.marineparks.wa.gov.au, to inform primary school students about why it is so important to conserve Western Australia’s amazing marine environments I marine parks and reserves.
State Liaison Committee on Remote Sensing (SLCORS)
Earlier this month the State Liaison Committee on Remote Sensing (SLCORS) met at the Leeuwin Centre following a break of several years.
The goals of the committee were defined as: to extract the best social, economic, and environmental benefits from Earth Observing satellites for the state of Western Australia; to enable government to achieve policy objectives; and to provide efficiencies for the state in purchasing remotely sensed imagery.
This meeting was attended by representatives from DAFWA, DPI, DoW, DEC, WALIS, Landgate, Geoimage, GSWA, CSIRO and Curtin with attendees providing a member report about current remote sensing activities.
Representatives from other agencies with an interest in remote sensing activities are welcome to attend future meetings, with the next meeting proposed to be held late august 2009 at the Leeuwin Centre, 65 Brockway Rd, Floreat.
For further information contact Dr Matthew Adams, Manager Satellite Remote Sensing Services, Landgate at matthew.adams@landgate.wa.gov.au
Australian Angle
The April 2009 issue of Landmark online is now available. Read how the City of Melbourne is developing a digitised, spatially enabled model of Melbourne city which will enable planners to see in 3D format a variety of different development scenarios; the new tracking and timing system for the racing world which uses a Differential Global Positioning System to follow horses at every stage of the race or training; how the Australia spatial information industry s seeking Australian Government support to ‘spatially enable’ Australia; how the Government is calling for an agreement on an early warning system; and Australia’s need for an accurate, nationally consistent ‘one address = one place’ database for every location in Australia.
COAG Agrees to Establish National Emergency Warning System
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to develop a national telephone emergency warning system.
The Commonwealth will invest up to $15 million to assist the States and Territories to establish the national system. It will help warn the public in the event of a major emergency, and will add to a range of measures including television and radio alerts, public address systems, doorknocking, sirens, signage and the internet.
Technological gaps currently limit the system to sending alerts to mobile phones based on the billing address, rather than where the handset is at the time of the emergency. COAG has agreed to undertake collaborative research with industry on ways to deliver warning messages to mobile phones based on the handset’s physical location.
Web link to full press release: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/www/ministers/RobertMc.nsf/Page/MediaReleases_2009_SecondQuarter_30April2009-COAGagreestoestablishNationalEmergencyWarningSystem
Protecting Rare Species from Space
Australian scientists are developing a revolutionary way to monitor changes in biodiversity across vast tracts of the continent using satellites.
In research for the Desert Knowledge CRC, Dr Ken Clarke of the University of Adelaide has helped pioneer a new way to watch over biodiversity in the deserts – where some of the nation’s gravest extinction rates occur – and study what happens to it as the impacts of pests, human activity and climate change build up.
Web link to media release: http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/view/101430/dkcrc_sub/dkcrc-media-release-april-23-protecting-rare-species-from-space.html
LINZ Accepts Mapping Award Honour in India
In February this year, LINZ was honoured to accept the award for best national mapping agency at the Map World Forum in Hyderabad, India.
The award recognises LINZ’s contributions as a national mapping agency towards national development and services to citizens of the country at large. General Manager Customer Services, Sharon Cottrell, accepted the award on LINZ’s behalf.
Web link to full article: http://www.linz.govt.nz/survey-titles/stats-projects-notices/news-notices/2009/0416-linz-accepts-mapping-award-in-india/index.aspx
NZ Joins World’s Largest Geoscience Programme
New Zealand has joined a major international scientific drilling programme that will collect sediment cores from beneath the seabed in New Zealand waters later this year.
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), the largest and longest-running geoscience programme in the world, operates two scientific drilling ships – the JOIDES Resolution and the Chikyu.
Web link to full media release: http://www.gns.cri.nz/news/release/20090406geoscience_programme.html
Bushfire Smoke Reaches Davis Station
The devastating Victorian bushfires in February have produced unprecedented effects on the atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere.
As revealed by satellite measurements, smoke from the fires penetrated into the stratosphere and dispersed over a wide geographical area. This phenomenon was captured by NASA's CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation).
Web link to full article: http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=36250&source=5023&rank=1
2009 is the 150th anniversary of the release of wild rabbits on Australian soil. In 1859, 21 European rabbits were released near Geelong later becoming one Australia’s worst biological scourges.
RabbitScan, a national program to survey the extent and impact of rabbits, aims to collect over 5,000 surveys across Australia to gain an in-depth understanding of the problem in 2009.
Visit http://www.rabbitscan.net.au/joomla/index.php for more information regarding the program and to register to participate. Undertake a brief survey in your local area by recording a few brief measures of rabbits and the location on a digital map.
A short video of the launch of RabbitScan is available at: http://www.efarming.com.au/News/agricultural/04/03/2009/44943/scientists-use-web-to-capture-rabbit-numbers.html
NAVTEQ, Lonely Planet Announce Global Content Agreement
NAVTEQ, a provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, today expanded its travel and leisure guide portfolio with the addition of Lonely Planet for NAVTEQ: Travel Guide.
At launch, the travel guide will cover 19 cities in Australia and New Zealand, with expansion planned to other countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand soon thereafter.
Web link to full press release: http://corporate.navteq.com/webapps/NewsUserServlet?action=NewsDetail&newsId=729&lang=en&englishonly=false
AutoMap
AutoMap is focused on implementing and field testing technologies and systems for the automatic creation of digital maps in support of the rapidly growing data requirements of the personal navigation market.
The system relies on an image-recognition camera that has the ability to detect road shapes, as well as new road markers such as stop signs or traffic lights. The camera sends this data back to the GPS map providers, who can use it to quickly and easily update their maps.
The A-Spec Group Announces the Release of a LandXML Format for the Drainage Standard D-Spec
The A-Spec Group has released its LandXML data format for the drainage standard D-Spec.
LandXML is a data exchange format originally created by Autodesk then placed in the public domain for adoption and further development by industry.
Web link to press release: http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/news/assets/A-SPEC%20Press%20Release%20-%20April%202009.pdf
FIG Article of the Month: Making Land Markets Work for All
By Ms. Jude Wallace, Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration, The University of Melbourne, Australia
The design of land administration systems needed to support land markets now benefits from the broader theoretical framework of the discipline. The arrival of new “tool box” approaches has also enriched our capacity to design systems that work despite the diversity of national approaches and experiences.
The central feature of land markets is the concept of property. The concept is cerebral, conceptual and divorced from physical reality: this is both its challenge and its weakness. The property concept appears at an early stage in development of land markets but is not well understood. Despite popular thinking, design of land administration systems for land market operations does not revolve around managing land. Rather the design revolves around management of this abstract and cerebral concept, with management of land itself as an essential but secondary function.
An analysis of the stages of development of systems of market administration can help explain how markets develop abstract concepts into commodities. The stages can help national implementation of pro-market systems without sacrificing pro-poor initiatives. Sensible administration should deliver a balanced concept of property that fits both the way the local people think about their land and the capacity of their government to manage systems.
Web link to full article: http://www.fig.net/pub/monthly_articles/may_2009/may_2009_wallace.html
Open Spatial Australia Prepares for Future Demand
Open Spatial Australia has announced the senior appointment of their Solutions Architect, Gaby van Wyk.
As anticipated, the demand for specialised geospatial software and services continues to drive the company to meet the challenges of new and existing customers.
Web link to full press release: http://www.openspatial.com.au/atweb/site/uploads/news/documents/Open%20Spatial%20GVanWyk_press%20release%2020090520.pdf
News from Around the Globe
Outdoor Maps for United States Now Available on SD Card from Magellan and Intermap Technologies
Magellan, one of the leading GPS brands, and Intermap Technologies a leading provider of digital maps, have announced the availability of pre-loaded SD cards with Topo USA (powered by AccuTerra) maps for Magellan Triton and eXplorist handheld GPS products, providing outdoor enthusiasts with advanced topographic maps and off-road points of interest.
Web link to full press release: http://www.intermap.com/interior.php/pid/1/sid/306/tid/245/nid/2243
H1N1 (aka ‘Swine Flu’) Mapping
HealthMap brings together disparate data sources to achieve a unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health.
It integrates outbreak data of varying reliability, ranging from news sources to curated personal accounts to validated official alerts (such as World Health Organization).
Through an automated text processing system, the data is aggregated by disease and displayed by location for user-friendly access to the original alert. HealthMap provides a jumping-off point for real-time information on emerging infectious diseases and has particular interest for public health officials and international travellers.
Of current interest and concern, the H1N1 outbreak can be seen here.
Getmapping Teams Up with New Zealand Aerial Mapping
Getmapping has teamed up with New Zealand Aerial Mapping (NZAM) in an arrangement which enables both companies to share resources and equipment to increase their flying and aerial survey capabilities.
Getmapping has ambitious plans for the UK flying season in 2009 including the completion of its aerial survey of Scotland and a new survey of Wales. Thanks to this tie up with NZAM Getmapping has up to four aircraft at its disposal for UK surveys during the 2009 flying season.
Web link to full press release: http://www.realwire.com/release_detail.asp?ReleaseID=12089
FME Paves the way for Innovative Uses of OpenStreetMap Data
Safe Software has introduced read support for the OpenStreetMap (OSM) format in their latest release, FME 2009.
This new support offers the abilities to manipulate, mash up and share OSM datasets, making it easier for users to work with OpenStreetMap data in creative and innovative ways.
The collaborative effort of over 50,000 registered volunteers has used portable GPS devices and aerial photography to create this worldwide dataset.
With FME's new support for the OpenStreetMap format, users can now bring OSM datasets into their preferred applications and combine OSM data with datasets from other formats.
Web link to full press release: http://www.safe.com/aboutus/news/2009/128/index.htm
Navman Wireless Identifies Underused Vehicles in Large Fleets
Navman Wireless North America has announced that its OnlineAVL2 vehicle tracking and logistics system now has the ability to pinpoint vehicles that are being underused, based on travel distance and ignition time thresholds set by the fleet manager.
This information, contained in the software's new Out of Service report, can be used to make policy changes that improve vehicle productivity or reduce costs by decommissioning underperforming trucks or vans.
Web link to full article: http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Navman_Wireless_Identifies_Underused_Vehicles_In_Large_Fleets_999.html
Source: GPS Daily
ESRI's Jack Dangermond: GIS Brings Better Government Transparency
In a rare interview, Jack sat down with Government Technology to detail ESRI's growing Web presence and chart the company's future. He also explained FedStat, a proposed stimulus dollar-tracking solution based on a program initiated by Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley called StateStat; itself an evolution of New York City's legendary CompStat, a system of allocating police resources based on spatial data. In addition to stimulus spending and tracking, Dangermond explained the important role GIS will play in infrastructure, smart roads, energy, cloud computing and more.
Web link to full interview: http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/652976
Source: Government Technology
Exploring the Moon in Three Dimension
There has been a renewed interest in exploration of the moon.
A number of missions have been flown to the moon by many countries. Many of these missions have carried imaging systems that, collectively, have returned an incredible wealth of information on the shape and surface characteristics of the moon.
The making of moon maps requires development of new methods and techniques. Many of the basic principles derived from the mapping of the earth have to be reconsidered in the mapping of the moon. Chandrayaan- 1 is India’s first science mission to moon for remote sensing and mapping different aspects of the lunar surface.
Web link to full article: http://mycoordinates.org/april09/exploring.php
Source: P K Srivastava, Deputy Director Signal and Image Processing Area Space Applications Centre, ISRO Ahmedabad, India; B Gopala Krishna, Signal and Image Processing Area, Space Applications Centre, ISRO Ahmedabad, India; and Amitabh, Signal and Image Processing Area, Space Applications Centre, ISRO Ahmedabad, India
(Originally appeared in Coordinates, Volume V, Issue 4, April 2009)
Web Mapping Service Headlines Ordnance Survey Strategy Launch
A new business strategy for mapping agency Ordnance Survey has been announced at an event held at NESTA, the independent organisation with the mission to “make the UK more innovative”, and saw the enhanced web mapping portal, OS OpenSpace, showcased for the first time.
The free to use service, for which the event marked the official re-launch, provides greater access to Ordnance Survey mapping than ever before. As well as new terms that allow for businesses to use the service, boundary information is also available for the first time. This will make it possible for users to display information based on administrative regions. Map ‘mash-ups’ showing MP constituencies and environmental data divided by local authority were used to demonstrate the opportunities this enhanced service offers.
Web link to full press release: http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/media/news/2009/may/strategylaunch.html
Share and Exchange Knowledge at new GPS Tracking Forum
An innovative online forum has been recently launched to promote the exchange of knowledge in the field of GPS tracking.
The website is an online discussion site, similar to a message board or bulletin board, which publishes and manages user-generated content.
Rocky Mountain Tracking has created this online GPS forum in an effort to facilitate communication between leading experts in the industry and the general public who desire to feed from the knowledge of these businesses.
Web link to full article: http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Share_And_Exchange_Knowledge_At_New_GPS_Tracking_Forum_999.html
Source: GPS Daily
Universal Address Makes Blackberry Maps Work Everywhere
NAC Geographic Products Inc. has released NACMaps - a NAC enhancement for Blackberry Maps - to make Blackberry Maps work everywhere in all its covered geographic areas no matter whether there are no street addresses (such as in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)) or whether there are no standard street addresses in English (as in many Asian countries).
This technology is thanks to the power of Natural Area Code (NAC) which is able to efficiently and language-independently specify any location and area in the world.
Web link to full press release: http://www.nacgeo.com/nacsite/press/19may2009.asp
GPS Satellites Not 'Falling Out of the Sky'
You can put those maps away.
The US Air Force has shot down fears that the space-based Global Positioning System (GPS) is going to crash. A possible disruption in GPS service, relied upon by the US military as well as millions of drivers around the world as a navigation device, was raised in a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO, the investigative arm of the US Congress, expressed concern that GPS could be interrupted because of delays in modernizing and deploying the constellation of Air Force satellites which provides the service.
Web link to full article: http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/GPS_satellites_not_falling_out_of_the_sky_Air_Force_999.html
Source: GPS Daily
Upcoming Events
GeoTec Event 2009
1-4 June, Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The GeoTec Event offers its attendees high calibre and timely presentations from knowledgeable industry leaders, geospatial technologists and users from Canada and the world.
Visit the website for details.
ISPRS Hannover Workshop 2009 - High-Resolution Earth Imaging for Geospatial Information
2-5 June, Hannover, Germany
Earth imaging from air and space has undergone major changes over the last years. Examples of new and significant developments comprise a growing use of digital aerial cameras, an increasing number of high-resolution and hyperspectral satellite sensors, of laser scanning and SAR/InSAR. Calibration issues are important for every sensor.
Today, all these data are used for the production of geospatial information. At the same time, updating existing geospatial databases has gained more importance, and automation has had a significant impact on the processing chain. In addition, the stunning success of Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth along with developments such as GEO (intergovernmental Group of Earth Observations), GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) and GMES (Global Monitoring of Environment and Security) have significantly changed the remote sensing arena in the last few years.
These developments form the background for the ISPRS Hannover Workshop High-Resolution Earth Imaging for Geospatial Information 2009.
spatial@gov Conference 2009
15-16 June, National Convention Centre, Canberra
Spatial capabilities offer increased value to every facet of government operations. The 2009 spatial@gov Conference is a new event for the spatial community and will focus on the importance of spatial information in enhancing the business of all tiers of government. This conference will focus on the benefits of using ‘place’ or ‘location’ as a powerful enabler to support policy development, service delivery and internal business processes. The program will cover government spatial activities in the areas of national priority including Social Inclusion, Climate Change and a range of other government activities.
Visit the website for more details and for the preliminary program.
GEOG-AN-MOD 09 and ICCSA 2009
29 June – 2 July, Kyung Hee University-Global Campus, Yongin, Korea
The Fourth International Workshop on Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics will be held in conjunction with the 2009 International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications (ICCSA 2009).
The growth of Spatial Data Infrastructures, geo-portals and private sector initiatives produced an increase of geographical data availability at any scale and worldwide. This growth has not been fully coupled by an increase of knowledge to support spatial decisions.
Spatial analytical techniques and geographical analysis and modelling methods are therefore required in order to analyse data and to facilitate the decision process at all levels. Old geographical issues can find an answer thanks to new methods and instruments, while new issues are developing, challenging the researchers for new solutions. This workshop is aimed at contributing to the development of new techniques and methods to improve the process on knowledge acquisition.
Visit the ICCSA website for more details.
ESRI Survey and Engineering GIS Summit
11-14 July, San Diego, California
At this conference you'll see how to enhance your core business practices and expand your capabilities with the technology that's shaping the future of geospatial data management and analysis.
Registrations are now open.
6th International Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology
21-24 July, São Paulo, Brazil
The main objective of the conference is to discuss the most recent technology and its application, to exchange experiences and to promote future research aiming at the development and the production in the fields related to mobile mapping.
Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology
10th Asian Urbanization Conference
16-19 August, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
http://www.hku.hk/asia2009/ or asia2009@hku.hk
GITA Annual Conference
31 August – 2 September, Melbourne Australia
The GITA Annual Conference includes presentations from leading professionals, detailed workshop sessions and site visits, as well as a comprehensive technology exhibition. The conference includes plenty of networking opportunities and attracts a wide variety of local and international speakers, delegates and exhibitors. Visit the website for more.
IAG2009, Geodesy for Planet Earth
31 August – 4 September, Buenos Aires
IAG2009 will be an event that covers the whole of geodesy in an exciting social environment that extends knowledge, improves practice and widens networks. Following the long outstanding tradition of these scientific assemblies, IAG2009 will be a major scientific event, bringing together geodesists from all over the world, and demonstrating the vital role that geodesy plays in our society.
Visit the website for more.
10th South East Asian Survey Congress (SEASC) 2009
4-7 August, Bali International Convention Center (BICC), The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
Geospatial technology has been increasingly recognised as a vital part of our life. Geo-information as the product of this technology has found its application in various sectors. At the individual level, geo-information has now become a part of our lifestyle, with the use of digital maps and satellite based navigation systems.
Globally, the world is facing many issues that need mutual collaboration among organisations and countries, since a problem that occurs in a country may interface its neighbouring countries. Geo-information is one of the important key factors to overcome such kind of global/ regional issues holistically.
Many organisations have been collecting and managing various kind of geo-information for their own purposes. This situation creates isolated geo-information islands that are not connected and accessible to each other.
Therefore, “Integrating geo-information islands” has been chosen as the theme of the SEASC. For more information, visit the website.
Map Asia 2009
18-20 August, Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore
The 8th annual international conference and exhibition on geospatial information, technology and applications is being organised by GIS Development and the Singapore Land Authority.
The Asia and Pacific region demands and offers scope for application of the various Geographic Information technologies like GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing and Imaging.
To meet the requirements of the Geo-informatics community in the Asian region, every year Map Asia raises a platform for the Asian Geo-informatics community to realise, recognise, and reveal the stages of dissemination of Geospatial Information.
GISCA 09
27-28 August, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Geographic Information Science and Technologies have evolved into a key instrument for managing our societies, environments and infrastructures, as well as individuals’ daily lives.
The GISCA series of conferences aims at building a Central Asian network of GIS professionals supporting the sustained development of this region into an environmentally friendly, secure and prosperous society.
iGEOMAP Conference
28-29 August, Bangalore, India
The iGEOMAP 2009 conference will address India’s urban infrastructure issues using GIS along with presenting state-of-the-art practices.
ISPRS Workshop Laserscanning 2009
1-2 September, Paris, France
Laserscanning 2009 is the 6th ISPRS workshop dedicated to the processing and the analysis of point clouds acquired and generated from active airborne and terrestrial sensors. LiDAR data has been studied for many years. They are widely used, from accurate city modelling to many thematic approaches (eg. forestry, hydrology) where the topography and the land cover are involved. Based on LiDAR data as well as data from other sensors, surveyors and scientists have built an operational framework to extract spatial information, but also are facing challenging tasks to enhance current point cloud processes.
Laserscanning 2009 will focus on new data, methodologies, algorithms and applications related to the processing of point clouds as well as sensor improvements and new sensor-driven calibration techniques.
Visit the website for more details.
6th International Symposium on Digital Earth (ISDE6)
9-12 September, Beijing, China
The theme of the conference is ‘Digital Earth in Action’ and will continue the tradition of gathering world-class scientists, engineers and educators engaged in the fields of digital earth, earth observation, geo-informatics and relevant applications to review the progress of Digital Earth during the last decade and discuss the achievements of Digital Earth and the recent developments.
Click here for details.
GIS for Oil and Gas Conference
13-17 September, Houston, Texas, USA
The conference will provide opportunities to share knowledge with an audience of hundreds of industry professionals. The GIS for Oil & Gas Conference is the only event of its kind—nowhere else can oil and gas professionals get targeted, high-quality information that will help them maximise their geospatial information. Join the prestigious group of presenters who provide valuable information about real-world applications of GIS technology in the energy industry.
The call for papers is now open.
International Conference on Geo-Spatial Solutions for Emergency Management (GSEM)
14-16 September, Beijing, China
Geo-spatial technology is one of the three emerging technologies in the 21st century. Driven by societal and economical needs, geo-spatial solutions for emergency management techniques are now in the frontiers of the geospatial technology, and have received an increasing interest in the academic, government, industries, and beyond. CASM as the largest multi-disciplined comprehensive research institute in China in the field of surveying and mapping, will strive to make this event a symposium of the highest quality.
Visit the website for all the details.
Spatial Sciences Institute Biennial International Conference
28 September – 2 October, Adelaide, South Australia
This biennial conference is the premier event for spatial sciences in the Australasian region. It attracts a large and diverse audience and in 2009 will embrace a new format. It will provide cutting edge developments in the application of spatial science to a diverse set of disciplines, communities and people: indeed this diversity is the inspiration for the conference theme of Spatial Diversity.
The conference theme will be delivered via plenary and keynote presentations, technical papers, symposia, workshops, competitions, awards, site visits, dinners, lunches, coffee, exhibitions, breakfasts, walks and talks. The aim is to attract key players in the industries where spatial information is important – environment, mining, defence, land administration, agriculture, disaster management and more. Together with these people, a large range of exhibitors of technology and applications will be present.
Visit www.ssc2009.com for more information.
CoastGIS 2009
30 September – 2 October, Santa Catarina, Brazil
CoastGIS, the International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Management, is a series of conferences that began in Cork, Ireland, in 1995 as a collaboration between the Commission on Coastal Systems of the International Geographical Union and the Commission on Marine Mapping of the International Cartographic Association.
In the early 1990s, both were aiming to find a vehicle through which coastal issues and technological processes could be examined and means by which recent advances in the mapping of the world's coastal zones could jointly find an outlet.
As a major event, the CoastGIS series attracts an international audience of coastal researchers, managers and practitioners who use one or more of the geospatial technologies.
Visit the website for more.
22nd CIPA Symposium (2009)
11-15 October, Kyoto, Japan
The 22nd International Committee for Documentation of Cultural Heritage (CIPA) Symposium will be an international and inter-disciplinary event on recording, documentation, preservation and restoration of cultural heritage applying information and communication technology.
To be held in Asia for the first time, the topics to be covered will include GIS, intellectual property and open source, terrestrial/ aerial photogrammetry and terrestrial/ aerial laser scanning, remote sensing and strategies for long-term archiving of digital information.
7th FIG Regional Conference
19-22 October, Hanoi, Vietnam
The theme of the 7th FIG Regional Conference is ‘Spatial Data Serving People: Land Governance and the Environment - Building the Capacity’ and is divided into three sub-themes: Land Administration; Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and the Environment; and Capacity Building.
WALIS Forum
11-13 November, Perth Convention Exhibition Centre
WALIS Forum is one of the premier GIS events in Australia, attracting over 650 participants from a diverse range of professions. Held every 18 months, the Forum provides an opportunity to address issues related to the collection, management and application of geographic or spatial information. WALIS Forum
4th International Conference: Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions (2009)
1-3 December, Moscow, Russia
Rapid development of the space information technology has deprived the limited groups of specialists of the privilege to control telecommunications, navigation and remote sensing of the Earth from space. We can witness how Earth observation from space helps to resolve a wide range of practical tasks, becoming a modern public information instrument.
The International Conference "Earth from Space - the Most Effective Solutions" is the largest biennial event in sphere of Earth remote sensing in Russia and CIS countries, attended by around 350 participants from different countries. The goal of the conference is to show the experience of practical use of satellite monitoring in different branches of economy together with the recent developments in remote sensing as the backbone of cost-efficient functioning economic systems and is an opportunity to demonstrate the latest innovations, achievements and practical results in sphere of space information technologies.
Visit the website for more.
IGNSS 2009
1-3 December, Gold Coast, Queensland
The IGNSS symposium will include open forums where users can discuss the implementation and application of GNSS and other location technologies, and voice their concerns in an interactive format with representatives from all the satellite system providers, major manufacturers and applications developers.
The call for papers is now open.
FIG Congress 2010
11-16 April, Sydney, Australia
Facing the Challenges – Building the Capacity
Interesting Website of the Month
CIA World Factbook Reference Map
The World Factbook remains the CIA's most widely disseminated and most popular product; millions of visitors frequent the online Factbook each month.
In addition, tens of thousands of government, commercial, academic, and other Web sites link to, or replicate, the online version of the Factbook.
The site is updated biweekly to provide wide-ranging and hard-to-locate information about the background, geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for countries.
Visit: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
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