December 2007 eNews

Highlights include WALIS Forum updates, SLICP information and much more

Details of events in Australia and around the world

Interesting Website of the Month

What’s Happening in the WALIS Community?

Registration Now Open for the WALIS International Forum 2008!

Registration is now open! The WALIS International Forum 2008 will be held at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre on 12-14 March 2008. New to this Forum is an improved trade exhibition layout, interactive futurist discussion, FME Chillout Zone, five streams of concurrent sessions and a Teachers Stream. Visit http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/forum/registration to register now. Early bird registrations will remain open until 15 January 2008.

For more information, visit the Forum website at www.walis.wa.gov.au/forum or email forum@walis.wa.gov.au.

WAC

The WALIS Advisory Committee has welcomed four new members Paul Harris, Rebecca Handcock; Giles Nunis and Tom Gardner. WALIS also thanks the outgoing members Richard Bentley, Harvey Tipping and Phil Poole for their support and commitment. For more information on WAC visit the WALIS Advisory Committee — section of the WALIS website.

State Land Information Capture Program (SLICP) for 2008/ 2009

The annual call out for SLICP is now open. This year, we are strongly emphasising that ANY and ALL spatial data to be used in the next financial year (2008-2009) be listed through SLICP regardless of whether it may or may not be captured via SLICP mechanisms. This will enable Landgate and WALIS to better gauge the potential size of SLICP. Even if you think, “I won’t put in an application because they capture the metro area”, we would encourage you to do so anyway. Future funding may be at stake so please enter ANY and ALL requests this year! Contact Dan Sandison for more information on 9273 7037 or dan.sandison@walis.wa.gov.au.

Interragator+

Interragator+ is now live: https://www2.landgate.wa.gov.au/interragatorplus/.

WALIS Marine Group

The WALIS Marine Group (WMG) held its last meeting for the year on the 4^th of December. Steve Blake from WAMSI gave an overview of the Marine Data Seminar Workshop that was held on the 26^th of October and outlined a more strategic direction for the WMG following the dynamic first year since the groups’ rebirth. The outcomes from this workshop are available on the WMG web page. The group was taken on a tour of Cape Peron by Bob Gozzard from DIOR. This was to highlight coastal vulnerability issues connected to changes in sea level. The next meeting will be held on the 31^st of January 2008 the current Terms of Reference will be discussed. For more information visit the website:

http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/projects_and_activities/WALIS_Marine_Group/index.html

WALIS Stakeholders in the News

Kimberley Fire Project Heats Up

Initial results from a major fire research project have shed a new light on how threatened mammal species in the North Kimberly respond to fire. The joint project between the Department of Environment and conservation (DEC), throughout the State Government’s Saving our Species biodiversity conservation initiative, and CSIRO will help provide a better understanding of fire regimes and management procedures in the region.

Dr Radford said the project also involved constructing a detailed fire history for the Mitchell River region using Landsat remote sensing images from 1989 to now. This will allow DEC, CSIRO and other organisations to detail fire history and changes in fire regimes during this period, including the fire regimes since the establishment of the Mitchell River National Park in 2000. “The project is developing novel GIS and remote sensing methods to give a detailed fire history for the region and for specific sites,” Dr Radford said.

Nature Base

Gnangara Mound Sustainability

The planning horizons, climate predictions and key management actions for the Gnangara Sustainability Strategies decision support model have been decided on.

Recently a successful meeting was convened to discuss the collaboration of DOW, DAFWA, DEC DPI, Water Corp, CSIRO and Forrest Products Commission (FPC) to utilise SLIP Functionality to assist in studies of the future use of and development of the Gnangara Aquifer. Gnangara Sustainability Strategy

The Asia-Pacific Spatial Excellence (APSEA) Awards

The APSEA Awards were held at Luna Park in Sydney on the 21^st of November. These awards have turned into an annual institution, a time to celebrate the best in the industry. The organisers, led by NSW Spatial Sciences Institute chair Brett Madsen, organised an excellent awards night setting a very high bench mark this year. Perth entrants were awarded ten out of the sixteen awards, the award recipients were:

JK Barrie Award: GIS Post Tsunami Recovery; NGIS/ Indonesian BRR
Industry and Entrepreneurship: ioMAPS; NGIS Australia/ BHP
Infrastructure and Construction: New Metrorail: Fugro Spatial/ Leighton
People an Community: GIS Post Traumatic Recovery; NGIS/ Indonesian BRR
Research & Innovation: New Metro Rail; Fugro Spatial/Leighton
Spatially Enabled Government: Tsunami Risk Modelling: Geosciencs Australia/FESA WA
Spatial Professional of The Year Paul Harris
Student Professional of Year ( Undergraduate): Patrick Fitzgerald
Student Award Post Graduate: Georgina Warren
Excellence in Professional Development and Education: Bert Veenendaal

New Datasets Available Through SLIP

As of November 28^th several data sets have been moved from UAT to production are:

DOIR-014 (WA Petroleum Special Prospecting Authorities)
DOIR-015 (WA Petroleum Releases)
DOIR-016 (WA Petroleum Applications)
DOIR-017 (WA Petroleum Tiles)
LGATE-066 (Native Title – Determination)
LGATE-067 (Native Title – ILUA)
DPI-007 (Peel Region Scheme- Zones and Reservations)
DPI-007 (Peel Region Scheme- Special Control Areas)

Tourism Western Australia- Data Now Available

Tourism visitation data is now available on the Tourism Western Australia website.

Western Australian tourism has enjoyed continued and significant growth, with visitor spending once again breaking national records.Tourism Minister Sheila McHale said new figures from Tourism Research Australia revealed visitors to WA spent $5.065 billion during the year ending September 2007. “Spending by our international, interstate and intrastate visitors has reached an all time high for the sixth quarter in a row,” Ms McHale said.

To read full article visit: http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Research_and_Statistics/Pages/Quarterly_Tourism_Snapshot.aspx

[Back to top]

Australian Angle

Australia to Use GPS Vests to Stay Ahead of Competition

Australia will use Global Positioning System (GPS) vests in its quest to stay ahead of the chasing pack in world cricket in the lead-up to the 2009 Ashes and the 2011 World Cup.

Coach Tim Nielsen has asked that the majority of the data from the GPS vests - which are now regularly fitted to Australian players during matches - be kept secret to prevent rival nations gaining crucial intelligence. To Read on visit: Zeecric.com

Fleet Management Solutions announced that it has deployed systems into Australia, making that the 50th country where the company's GPS and all-satellite asset tracking services are in operation today. FMS is one of the few solutions in the market that allows a fleet manager to view, track and manage assets in a single system whether they are in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the Libyan dessert or the Australian outback. GPS Daily

Company Continues to Expand Internationally with Acquisition of Australian-based Software and Data Provider in High-Growth Natural Resources Industry

Pitney Bowes MapInfo, a company within the software division of Pitney Bowes Inc, and the global leading provider of location intelligence, announced the acquisition of Encom Technology, a leading innovator and major supplier of specialist software, data and services to the global mineral exploration and petroleum industries. Directions Magazine

Fleet Management Solutions Launches GPS and Two-Way Satellite Asset Tracking Services in Australia

New Times for Geoscience Australia

Following the November 24 General Election, Geoscience Australia is now placed within the new Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (DRET), with The Hon Martin Ferguson AM, MP as the Minister and Dr Peter Boxall AO the Department Secretary. Geoscience Australia

Navman slapped with $1.4m fine in Australia

Navigation equipment company Navman has been fined $A1.25 million ($NZ1.43 million) in Australia for trying to stop retailers from discounting its products.

Stuff.co.nz

[Back to top]

News From Around the Globe

Putting Canada on the Map

It seems perfectly normal now to access maps through our computers. In fact, it's hard to imagine where we would be without Map Quest and Google Maps and their ilk. In fact, we’d probably be lost. Had it not been for a soft-spoken young geographer doing work for the Canadian Department of External Affairs more than forty years ago, we might still be fighting fan-folds whenever we wanted to figure out how to get from A to B.

It was all a matter of survival, says Roger Tomlinson as he shared memories of the birth of the geographic information system (GIS), the enabler of our modern computer mapping and global positioning systems. The Globe and Mail

Lockheed Martin-Built GPS Satellite Poised For Lift-off from Cape Canaveral Launch Pad

The fifth in a series of eight modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellites built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Air Force is ready for launch aboard a Delta II rocket on Dec. 20, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-18M, is a modernized version of the Block IIR series designed to enhance the GPS constellation for military and civilian GPS users around the globe.

To read on visit GPS Daily

Galileo Signal Reflections to Monitor Waves and Weather at Sea

For the first time a signal from a Galileo satellite - the European alternative to GPS - has been captured after reflection off the ocean surface. The successful experiment carried out by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and the University of Surrey demonstrates the potential for determining the weather at sea with remote sensing satellites. The development offers the possibility of deploying a constellation of small satellites to take measurements over the oceans where there are large gaps in forecast knowledge at present. Gizmag

Satellite to Link Computers in Rural India Soon

The Indian space agency will launch a dedicated satellite mid-2008 that will connect computers in villages across the country for accessing Internet and transferring data, a top official said here Tuesday.

'We are going to launch an experimental satellite (Gsat-4) in June next year that will facilitate data transfer from computers located in remote and inaccessible villages,' G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters on the sidelines of a science event here. Earth Times

Indoor “sat nav” Could Save Firefighters

The recent tragic deaths of nine American and four British firefighters in warehouse fires throws the perilous nature of the job into all-too-sharp relief. But while finding a way through a blazing, smoke-filled building is never going to be easy, experts are agreed that the risks firefighters face could be significantly reduced if they, and their commanders, knew exactly where they were in a smoke-filled building at all times. That way, help could be quickly summoned - or sent - to the right place when it's needed. New Scientist

[Back to top]

Upcoming Events

ESRI Asia Pacific User Conference

17-18 January 2008, Tokyo, Japan

For more information visit the ESRIwebsite.

Global Workshop on High Resolution Digital Soil Sensing and Mapping

5-8 February 2008, University of Sydney, Sydney

The aim of the workshop is to identify potentially useful technologies for measuring and

predicting key soil properties. The workshop is to bring together researchers from various disciplines, including soil science, agricultural engineering, geophysics, spectroscopy, agronomy, spatial statistics, as well as commercial entities involved in the development and use of proximal sensors and digital soil maps. The applications of these techniques could be for example, Precision Agriculture and Soil Contamination but also any other applications, where there is a particular need for high spatial resolution (10 m or less) information. Enquiries to Alex McBratney <a.mcbratney@usyd.edu.au>, or visit their website

GIS and Location Intelligence Summit

20-21 February 2008, Liquid Learning, Melbourne

This summit explores how leading organisations are harnessing the value of Location Intelligence and GIS to enhance planning and improve service delivery.

<marketing@liquidlearning.com.au> on +61-2-9437-1093; www.liquidlearning.com.au.

Queensland Spatial Conference 2008 - Global Warning: What's Happening in Paradise

17-19 July 2008, Spatial Sciences Institute, Surfers Paradise

The purpose of this Conference is to identify the threat, present factual arguments, provide innovative methods of spatial analysis/monitoring and to develop sustainable solutions to a phenomenon that is now a household name but not very well understood. The QSC2008 Conference will facilitate the opportunity for spatial professionals to provide sound solutions to the potential effects of global warming.

Enquiries to Susan Harris <qsc2008@absoluteevents.com.au> on +61-7-3394 2310; www.qsc2008.com.au/.

Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference

29 Sep-3 October, 14th; Spatial Sciences Institute, Darwin

Enquiries to +61-2-6282-2282; <info@spatialsciences.org.au>; www.14arspc.com.

WALIS International Forum 2008

12-14 March 2008, Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth

Registrations for the WALIS International Forum 2008 are open ! WALIS Forum is one of the premier GIS events in Australia, attracting over 650 participants from a diverse range of professions. For more information, visit the conference website at http://www.walis.wa.gov.au/forum/ or email forum@walis.wa.gov.au.

[Back to top]

Interesting Website of the Month

The high-tech treasure-hunting game known as geocaching has exploded into a popular pastime. More than 440,000 registered geocaches -- hidden containers typically filled with a logbook and other trinkets -- can be found on all seven continents.

For the uninitiated, the game's rules are simple, and all you need is an Internet connection and GPS device. Participants can conceal a cache, record the GPS coordinates and post them on www.geocaching.com. Other players then use the coordinates to find the cache, sign the logbook and leave a trinket of their own behind.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is provided for general information purposes. It does not constitute professional or expert advice and you must not use or rely upon it for that purpose. WALIS and the State of Western Australia, do not guarantee and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness and reliability of the information contained in this newsletter. The opinions contained in the information do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WALIS or the State of Western Australia. Links to other Internet sites are provided for your convenience only and they do not constitute an endorsement, approval or recommendation of the material contained in those other Internet sites. It is your responsibility to evaluate the relevance, accuracy, completeness and reliability of material contained in those other Internet sites.

December 2007 eNews

What’s Happening in the WALIS Community?

WALIS Stakeholders in the News

Australian Angle

News from Around the Globe

Upcoming Events

Interesting Website of the Month

What’s Happening in the WALIS Community?

WALIS Stakeholders in the News

Australian Angle

News From Around the Globe

Upcoming Events

Interesting Website of the Month