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VLBI - a New Tool for Geodesy in New Zealand

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: June 2009

The following article on very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) was published in the June 2009 edition of Survey Quarterly, by Graeme Blick of Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and Sergei Gulyaev of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

The article covers:

AUT's radio telescope, opened in late 2008
the radio telescope's role in the Australia-New Zealand bid to host the Square Kilometre Array
what geodetic VLBI is
the expansion of radio telescopes (and use of VLBI) in the Southern Hemisphere
determining global reference frames, and
LINZ's role in supporting the radio telescope and global geodesy.

The article is available at the LINZ website in HTML and PDF formats:

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Motu Research Update Issue 16

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: June 2009

Motu is a non-profit Research Trust that carries out research in the areas of Environmental Regulation, Housing, Economic Geography, Labour and Population Economics, Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics. Motu’s economic geography research has a spatial or local focus.

Motu Research Update: Issue 16 June 2009 includes a piece on Spatial effects of rural infrastructure closures, a good example of how spatial information can help manage labour paterns.

The Motu Economic and Public Policy Research website contains more information about the organisation and research.

SDI Developments in the World’s Currently Existing Mega Cities

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: April 2009

The objective of this paper is to discuss the results of an internet search concerning the use of Spatial Information Technology in the world’s currently existing mega cities.

The search starts from a nationwide view on the execution and the progression status of SDI’s in the home countries of mega cities and zooms in to the specific aspects of spatial data management in the metropolitan areas of special interest. As a result, the authors come to the conclusion that current SDI development in mega cities covers the whole range from first stage conceptual ideas up to an almost complete operational SDI availability.

The article is made available by the International Federation of Surveyors in PDF and HTML formats:

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A Community Approach to Mapping New Zealand

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: 14 April 2009

The New Zealand Open GPS Project began as a sideline hobby in 2004 and went on to win the 2007 New Zealand Open Source Award for the software product category. The project offers free Global Positioning System (GPS) maps that include nearly every road and street in New Zealand (excluding the Chatham Islands). Land features such as forests and lakes, and places of interest sourced from Zenbu, have also been incorporated.

The project's creator, Graeme Williams, says the project began as a solution to the simple problem of becoming lost during business trips to unfamiliar cities. He purchased a Garmin GPS unit and replaced its American base maps with New Zealand street maps.

However, when zoomed out, the system reverted back to its base maps. New Zealand became a crudely constructed and near-useless set of polygons. Armed with a passion for mapping and a Do It Yourself attitude, Graeme decided to develop the necessary New Zealand base maps himself.

A history of collaboration

Graeme obtained detailed shape files of the New Zealand coastline from Ollivier & Co. He began filling them with a mix of topographic information sourced from NZ TopoOnline, hosted by Land Information New Zealand, and from Ollivier & Co. as prepackaged datasets. Towns and points of interest were originally compiled using GPSmapper and made searchable using Mapdekode.

Once the top third of the North Island was complete, it was time to put his maps to the test. Graeme discovered that higher resolution data for the lower zoom levels were required. Working alone, obtaining coverage of the whole of New Zealand would be an almost insurmountable challenge. Graeme sought help from friends in the industry who were able to provide much of the raw data he needed.

Supported by this group of contributors, Graeme continued to develop and test his maps, making sure they could be added to by users with differing abilities and desktop technologies. In late 2005 the maps went live and by the end of 2006 they included the much demanded autorouting (a navigational aid where the map displays directions to a selected destination). The maps were then split amongst fellow enthusiasts to edit and update.

Perfection is a circle

Road testing has remained key to the project. The maps are constantly being updated to extend their coverage and record changes to already captured features, such as roads. The process is surprisingly efficient. Online community forums allow issues or bugs with the system to be reported; regional mappers pick up these reports and make corrections to the source maps. Generally within 24-48 hours, revised versions are available to download.

The project is an excellent case study in how open source products can operate effectively. Maintained by the community making use of it, the product is user-focused, which generates interest, meaning the community develops and so again does the product.

Mapping is still carried out using the Garmin GPS platform due to its wide-usage and support of third party mapping tools.

Free is not always easy

One particularly disappointing problem Graeme has encountered has been people selling the entirely free maps on auction sites like Ebay. Little can be done about this but to lay complaints for the auction sites to follow up on.

Another problem not yet overcome is to integrate the maps with a global open source mapping application. A good example of such an application is the OpenStreetMap. At present, such integration is not possible due to conflicts between accepted licensing agreements for base data.

Take part

The Garmin compatible maps of New Zealand can be downloaded from the New Zealand Open GPS Project website. Visitors to the website will find all the user information they need, including access to the online community forums.

New Radio Telescope Improves Spatial Views

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Event Date: 19 December 2008

New Zealand's first radio telescope promises new possibilities for national and global geodesy. As an important astronomical instrument, the radio telescope also boosts New Zealand's chance of co-hosting with Australia the megascience project the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

The new $NZ1 million radio telescope was opened near Warkworth, north of Auckland, by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in October 2008. For geodesy, it is the atomic clock at the centre of the new telescope that offers an important opportunity.

In a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), AUT is able to measure the time difference between two or more earth-based radio telescopes when they receive data. The atomic clock, which provides the most accurate possible time-stamps when data is sent and received, means this difference can be translated into a physical distance with an accuracy of a few millimetres.

To harness this capability for geospatial precision, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) installed a Global Positioning System (GPS) station at the site of the telescope in November 2008. An accurate tie will now be possible between the telescope antenna and the GPS antenna, which feeds data into PositioNZ, a LINZ network for tracking Global Navigation Satellite Systems like GPS.

Combining the data from the telescope and other PositioNZ stations will result in having more precise global reference frames, which are used to determine points on the Earth in relation to each other. This includes the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, which New Zealand uses to define the national coordinate system, the New Zealand Geodetic Datum 2000.

A more stable global reference frame also means measurements of changing sea levels and shifts in tectonic plates, as well as other Earth observations, will be more accurate.

Astronomical advantages

There are 15 radio telescopes operating around the world that make VLBI measurements, though few are operating in the southern hemisphere.

The SKA project could see the number of southern hemisphere telescopes expand greatly. Named for the total dish surface area involved, one square kilometre's worth, the project would see up to 5000 radio telescopes working as one, virtual super radio telescope.

For the astronomical sciences, radio telescopes and the SKA project can help us better understand the history of the universe and our place in it.

A major advantage of radio telescopes is that they can penetrate dust clouds in outer space that otherwise obscure views of important objects, such as the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

The combined power of the SKA's telescopes would also enable scientists to observe radiation sources originating as far back as 13 billion years ago, close to the birth of the universe.

In Australia, 44 dishes will soon go live in a $Aus150 million trial. The core site of the Australian bid will be in Western Australia, with radio telescopes spread across the rest of Australia and several throughout New Zealand.

A working group supporting the SKA project has been formed in New Zealand, called Square Kilometre Array New Zealand, and is looking for support.

The successful bid will be chosen in 2011 by an independent panel, the International SKA Advisory Committee.

Local Government Sees Value of Geospatial Information

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Event Date: 22 October 2008

The importance of geospatial information to local councils' planning and services infrastructure was a focus of a day of presentations organised in Wellington in June by the New Zealand Geospatial Office.

A range of speakers presented on topics related to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and elevation data.

Wellington Mayor, Kerry Prendergast, opened the day and in her welcoming remarks said geospatial information was increasingly being recognised as basic infrastructure for many local government needs.

"We, the politicians, are beginning to understand how geospatial information can help us make better decisions and to monitor and improve many of our services," Kerry said.

"Wellington City has lots of very good base data and we want to become a leader in the way GIS [Geospatial Information System] data is used."

A highlight of the day was a presentation from Dr Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska of Ohio State University. Dr Grejner-Brzezinska, a world leader in the use of real time GNSS applications, spoke on concepts for terrestrial navigation using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology.

Among the other presenters were representatives from the Greater Wellington Regional and City Councils, Auckland Local Government Geospatial Information, Environment Waikato, the New Zealand Geospatial Office and Land Information New Zealand.

The day was coordinated by the New Zealand Geospatial Office in association with the Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI), GeoForum NZ, Land Information New Zealand and the Wellington City Council.

Brendon Whiteman, the Director of the New Zealand Geospatial Office, says the day of presentations tapped into a rich vein of interest. "The fact that over 75 people attended, from all sectors of the geospatial community and many from outside Wellington was very gratifying."

Available for download are pdf versions of the Powerpoint presentations that were given, listed here in order of presentation:

Wellington Mayor, Kerry Prendergast - Welcoming speech (pdf 110.3KB)
Dr Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Ohio State University - Terrain-based navigation: LiDAR (and terrestrial scanner)-supported navigation concepts, part I: ALS-based navigation (pdf 1.36MB)
Dr Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Ohio State University - Terrain-based navigation: LiDAR (and terrestrial scanner)-supported navigation concepts, part II: TLS-based navigation (pdf 1.19MB)
Matt Amos, Land Information New Zealand - NZ Vertical Datums and draft standard (pdf 284KB)
Glen Rowe, Land Information New Zealand - Tidal datums and height transfer across land-sea interface (pdf 288KB)
Graeme Blick, Land Information New Zealand - Update on new Topo50 map series (pdf 1.8MB)
Robert Gibb, Landcare Research - National Elevation Data Framework and NZ options (pdf 110KB)

The following local government body presentations were then given on LiDAR/Elevation data activities:

The day ended with the following presentation:

Stephen Bensberg, New Zealand Geospatial Office - Remote sensing for digital terrain models (pdf 79.6KB)

Geospatial Mash-up 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +1200

The New Zealand Geospatial Office recently teamed up with some of New Zealand's leading technical experts and budding enthusiasts in geospatial data and held a bar camp (pictured) and mash-up competition.

The purpose of the mash-up competition was to showcase new and innovative ways of using geospatial information about New Zealand. The mash-up involved combining (mashing-up) data, including census data from Statistics NZ, with topographic maps and coming up with new ways of visualising this information.

Prior to kicking off Geospatial Mash-up 2008, the office held a bar camp (an open workshop for generating ideas) on 1 May at Toi Poneke, Wellington Arts Centre. The purpose of the bar camp was to discuss how the mash-up might be arranged. In addition to finalising this, a key achievement of the bar camp was the establishment of a relationship between the office and geospatial data enthusiasts.

So who won?

The mash-up competition attracted strong interest. However, John Clegg from Project X was the only competitor who managed to fulfill the competition's demands with a complete and working solution - congratulations John! John's entry, Crime 10K, showed the number of recorded offences for every 10,000 residents across New Zealand, highlighting the crimes by colour over New Zealand's different police regions.

Thank you!

A big thanks to all the people who supported the bar camp and Geospatial Mash-up 2008, including Statistics New Zealand; Ian Tidy of the Napier City Council; IBM; the State Services Commission; the Spatial Sciences Institute; and last but not least, everyone who came along to the bar camp and entered the mash-up competition.

We've received valuable feedback and we're thinking about how to run a bigger and better mash-up event next time. Keep the feedback coming with any suggestions, criticism or praise of what has been achieved so far.

For what else is coming up, you can check out our Events section.

What is an SDI?

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: June 2008

The most often quoted definition of a Spatial Data Infrastructure is that it is a framework of spatial data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Another definition is the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data.

The difficulty with this definition is that it provides little insight as to what the software component of the infrastructure might amount to, or what the benefits and objectives of the infrastructure might be.

Click here to read the complete article.

Source: http://www.galdosinc.com/archives/category/media-center/blog/

Mapping Programs are Going Places

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: 15 July 2008

Geospatial technology is revolutionising business. For many internet users, Google Earth is little more than a fun website that enables them to look at their street, or find a restaurant. However the mapping technology which underpins it has been changing the way that businesses make important decisions.

However the mapping technology that underpins it has been changing the way businesses make important decisions.

Geospatial technology, which analyses information in relation to its physical location, has been around since Google was just a dream in a Stanford University dormitory, but the website has brought the potential of the technology to a wider audience and there are numerous examples of businesses taking advantage.

In March a study funded by the Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information found the spatial information industry was worth at least AUS$1.37 billion a year to the Australian economy more

Where Will the Geospatial Industry be in Ten Years?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +1200

To predict 10 years into the future is no easy task. For perspective, we need only look back to 1997. Clinton was President, the Euro was a proposed currency, and Harry Potter was about to be published. In computing, Windows 95 was the desktop standard, the Internet was the emerging medium for the masses, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin had begun to collaborate on BackRub, the search engine that later become Google.

Determining an outcome without knowledge of all facts is a fool's game, and, of course, many critical facts are unknown to us at this time. It's possible, however, to predict with reasonable certainly several trends that will shape our industry by 2017. So in the spirit of Alan Kay, the computer scientist who quipped "The best way to predict the future is to invent it," here are my thoughts on what the next 10 years might bring.

Prediction one: GIS disappears.
Prediction two: Infrastructure gains focus.
Prediction three: Hardware advances reshape the way we use computers.
Prediction four: Personal gives way to shared.

UK Data Mash-up

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +1200

Event Date: 2 July 2008

The UK government has launched a competition to find innovative ways of using the masses of data it collects.

It is hoping to find new uses for public information in the areas of criminal justice, health and education.

The Power of Information Taskforce - headed by cabinet office minister Tom Watson - is offering a £20,000 prize fund for the best ideas.

To help with the task, the government is opening up gigabytes of information from a variety of sources. This includes mapping information from the Ordnance Survey, medical information from the NHS , neighbourhood statistics from the Office for National Statistics and a carbon calculator from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

None of the data will be personal information, the government is keen to stress.

Mr Watson is hoping to attract a wide range of people from "the technology community we already work with, to hard-core coders to adolescents in their bedroom".