GEO: connexion articles from April 2003

GEO: connexion archives from April 2003

If push comes to shove.(use of satellite imagery during Desert Storm)
April 1, 2003... The fate of any further UN resolution on disarming Iraq will doubtless have been settled by the time this issue appears. But if push comes to shove, it's worth reminding ourselves just how much geoinformation has revolutionised military...

100GB mosaic online in Milan.(GEO:news)(General Direction of Territory and urbanism)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... General Direction of Territory and urbanism (GDTU) in Lombardia has launched an image Web Server developed By Planetek Italia (Milan, Italy) that provides visualisations of unstable geology and avalanches in the region. Over 100 gigabytes of...

3D-GPS controls excavators.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... By mounting two GPS receivers on an excavator, accurate position and orientation information can be obtained. This approach enables the vehicle operator to follow a detailed design plan that has been downloaded to the cab-mounted computer. The...

Slick business for airborne SAR.(GEO:news)(Synthetic Aperture Radar)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Intermap Technologies Corporation (Munich, Germany) has provided senior technical staff to the Italian consortium TELAER, to help with the detection and monitoring of oil from the sunken tanker Prestige off the coast of Spain. TELAER,...

New boundaries for Europe.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... EuroGeographics (Paris, France), the association of European National Mapping Agencies (NMAs), has launched a new version of the Seamless Administrative Boundaries of Europe (SABE) product. SABE is recognised as the definitive European...

Swiss subsidiary for GeoConcept.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... GeoConcept SA (Paris, France) has opened a Swiss subsidiary, International Software SA Switzerland. This is the result of a friendly takeover of its partner, SIT Conseil in Geneva. Led by Guillaume Beauregard, the new company has six staff...

Leipzig pioneers SICAD ESRI co-operation.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The city of Leipzig is expanding its spatial information system (SIS) to include planning, environmental and statistical data by integrating an ESRI ArcIMS internet platform into its cross-office SICAD (Munich, Germany) solution. Shape format...

ESRI puts the accent on topology with ArcGIS 8.3.(GEO:news)(Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc.)
April 1, 2003... ESRI (Redlands, USA) has released ArcGIS 8.3 focussing on topology with three new extensions and many new features. ArcEditor and ArcInfo have new tools enabling users to create, analyse, visualise and repair the topological integrity of...

East Midlands flies high with MAPS.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... UK Perspectives (Leicester, England) has been selected by East Midlands Electricity to supply 25cm ortho-rectified aerial photography from the Map Accurate Photography (MAPS) programme. This imagery will be held as a base dataset within their...

CeGi opens for business in Dortmund.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... "NordRhein Westfalia provides many significant advances towards the establishment of a geospatial data infrastructure in Germany", said Dr. Fritz Behrens, Minister of the Interior, at the opening of CeGi Center for Geoinformation GmbH in...

UK LiDAR service takes to the skies.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Precision Terrain Surveys Ltd (PTS) (Edenbridge, England) has announced a new Airborne Laser Scanning (LiDAR) acquisition service to supply detailed elevation mapping data, with a sensor operated from its twin engine survey aircraft. Designed...

Bornholm buys Intergraph.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions (Copenhagen, Denmark) has been awarded a contract by Ostkraft Net A/S for the implementation and deployment of an electric facility information management system based on Intergraph's G/Electric...

Pushbroom over Tarascon.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping, LLC (Heerbrug, Switzerland) and ISTAR have completed an evaluation of each company's unique offering in the field of digital imagery based on the "pushbroom principle" for scanning. Pushbroom is used in Leica's...

Third time lucky for Hitachi.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Hitachi Software Engineering (Olivet, France) has released Any*GIS Version 3, the latest version of its open spatial data integration solution. Any*GIS enables organisations to adopt open standards technologies while preserving legacy spatial...

New postcode mapping app is streets ahead.(GEO:news)(PostcodeAnalyst from Graticule, Collins Bartholomew)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Independent GI suppliers Collins Bartholomew, and software developers Graticule, have released a new UK postcode mapping application called PostcodeAnalyst. Combining high quality data from Collins Bartholomew with software developed by...

Penthouses revealed.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Cities Revealed aerial photos from The GeoInformation Group (Cambridge, England) are assisting First Penthouse, specialist rooftop developers, to realise the potential of London's skyline. First Penthouse are specialist developers who add...

Intelliscan and Metoc collaborate.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Intelliscan (Aberdeen, Scotland), specialists in GIS software development and Metoc management consultancy have announced a collaboration agreement. This is primarily to enable Intelliscan to distribute the vector Admiralty chart data produced...

Laser-Scan news.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Saarland and Thuringen have joined three other German states in a project to use Laser-Scan (Cambridge, England) 'generalisation' technology in their Offices for Land Surveying. The project is developing a standard software module based on...

Autodesk 2004 announced.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Autodesk (San Rafael, USA) has announced its next generation of design software, a full range of new technologies including AutoCAD 2004 and a new family of AutoCAD-based products. These include twelve design application releases for the...

PointX appoints distributors.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Peter Staniczenko, Managing Director of PointX (Exeter, England) says "I am delighted at the appointment of Landmark Information Group, Ordnance Survey and Thomson Directories as principal distributors of our national Points of Interest...

TENET software helps Ordnance Survey customers.(GEO:news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... TENET ITMapping Ltd (Crawley, Sussex) claims to offer a unique service to Ordnance Survey customers faced with moving their own data to conform to the improved accuracy of the latest 1:2500 maps. TENET is helping, for example, H.M. Land...

Codes captures pre-build plans.(GEO:news)(Collection of Data from External Sources)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... More than 2,500 site plans showing 88,000 houses and other proposed developments have been supplied by architects, house builders and developers to add to Ordnance Survey's (Southampton, England) most detailed digital map data. This follows the...

Four Map Vu from Lovell Johns.(GEO:news)(Lovell Johns)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... There are now four mapping databases in Lovell Johns' (Oxford, England) Map Vu collection--enabling customers to deliver mapping that is consistent in look and feel at a range of different scales. Map Vu cartography is created from Ordnance...

MapInfo supports standards.(LBS News in Brief)(miAware 2.0)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... MapInfo Corporation (Troy, USA) claims that miAware 2.0 is the industry's first mobile location services platform to adhere to Mobile Location Protocol specifications set by the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF), now part of the Open Mobile...

Wayfinder and Wanadoo use Tele Atlas.(LBS News in Brief)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Tele Atlas (Gent, Belgium) and Wayfinder Systems will provide an off-board, up-to-date navigation product. Based on Tele Atlas digital maps, it provides in-car and pedestrian navigation for mobile phones. Users can enter a destination on the...

Emergency services pinpointed.(LBS News in Brief)(PointX Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The precise locations of every police, fire and ambulance station, over 5000 in all, are now available from PointX (Exeter, England), which claims to have Britain's most comprehensive spatially referenced database of points of interest. The...

Navigation a la carte.(LBS News in Brief)(Navigation Technologies Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Navigation Technologies (Best, The Netherlands) has added the Harden's UK restaurant guide to the NAVTECH[TM] Real Time Map. Users rate 'restaurant finder' as a particularly attractive location based service. Real Time Map already has the ITIS...

Phare programme funds nave been made available to the Regional Water Management Authority.(European Commission)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * Phare programme funds nave been made available to the Regional Water Management Authority in Hungary for flood control development of the Koros Valley. GPS communication and IT equipment is specified, as is ultrasonic flow-measuring equipment...

The EBRD has granted funds for an extensive sewerage project.(European Commission)(European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The EBRD has granted funds for an extensive sewerage project in Constanta, Romania. It forms part of a wider modernisation project and covers the provision of topographical surveys and detailed design. Also in Romania, Phare funding is...

The centre for the study of aerial navigation has advertised for consultants to conduct research and development.(France)
April 1, 2003... * The centre for the study of aerial navigation has advertised for consultants to conduct research and development into the study of air traffic and the performance of aerial navigation systems

The Ministry of Housing in the Haut-Rhin region requires topographic and land surveying services.(France)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Ministry of Housing in the Haut-Rhin region requires topographic and land surveying services for planned improvements to the RN66.

The Haut Loire has advertised a large contract in four lots for the preparation of plans in the region.(France)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Haut Loire has advertised a large contract in four lots for the preparation of plans in the region. This contract includes the delineation of land parcels, preparation of cadastral documents and site demarcation.

Finally, the Loire Altantique seeks aerial photogrammetry.(France)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * Finally, the Loire Altantique seeks aerial photogrammetry to map road networks in the region

Authorities at Berlin Airport have advertised for mapping, engineering and planning services.(Germany)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * Authorities at Berlin Airport have advertised for mapping, engineering and planning services for a proposed new traffic link to the south of the city.

The Federal Office for Building, Industry and Area Planning seeks surveying services for a new museum.(Germany)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Federal Office for Building, Industry and Area Planning seeks surveying services for a new museum. The specification mentions establishing control, leveling, further plans and an inventory

Bord Gais Eireann wishes to let two contracts for inspection surveys of submarine gas transmission pipelines.(Ireland)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * Bord Gais Eireann wishes to let two contracts for inspection surveys of submarine gas transmission pipelines. Offshore and nearshore visual inspection, acoustic examination and cathodic protection monitoring is needed, as is an assessment of...

Kilkenny County Council requires ground investigation services.(Ireland)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * Kilkenny County Council requires ground investigation services as part of the planned N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford Road

The Military Mapping Institute seeks a contractor.(Italy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Military Mapping Institute seeks a contractor for geodetic leveling

The authorities in Campania require hardware.(Italy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The authorities in Campania require hardware to develop a GIS using photogrammetric techniques

The Hydrographic Confederation of Northern Spain seeks technical assistance.(Spain)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Hydrographic Confederation of Northern Spain seeks technical assistance to develop and restore natural channels in Lugo Province, Galicia

In Madrid the Ministry of Property has three linked contracts for urban cadastral mapping.(Spain)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * In Madrid the Ministry of Property has three linked contracts for urban cadastral mapping as well as orthophotography

The Federal Office for Construction and Logistics wants a contractor to undertake the acquisition and digitising of all federal office buildings information.(Switzerland)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Federal Office for Construction and Logistics wants a contractor to undertake the acquisition and digitising of all federal office buildings information in order to optimise facilities management data in the future

East Staffordshire Borough Council requires an integrated planning, building control, land charges and land terrier/asset management system.(United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * East Staffordshire Borough Council requires an integrated planning, building control, land charges and land terrier/asset management system with integral digital mapping facilities, for linkage to a corporate GIS

The Cornwall Enterprise Company requires web portal design and database upgrade services.(United Kingdom)(Cornwall Enterprise)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... * The Cornwall Enterprise Company requires web portal design and database upgrade services for its tourism destination management system

The Danish Mapping Agency has awarded digital mapping contracts to WS Atkins.(Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Danish Mapping Agency has awarded digital mapping contracts to WS Atkins, BlomInfo A/S and Scankort A/S

Authorities in Calvados, France have awarded a 11,700 [euro] contract for mapping services.(Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Authorities in Calvados, France have awarded a 11,700 [euro] contract for mapping services to GEODIS/GEOMAT

The Ministry of Works in Germany has awarded a 1.85m [euro] contract to GIS Consult GmbH.(Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Ministry of Works in Germany has awarded a 1.85m [euro] contract to GIS Consult GmbH for GIS software development

The Spanish Ministry of Housing has awarded a cadastral mapping contract.(Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Spanish Ministry of Housing has awarded a cadastral mapping contract to Geoplaning SA (23,000 [euro]) and Stereocarto SL (377,500 [euro])

In the UK, the Countryside Agency has awarded a contract to Halcrow Group Ltd.(Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... In the UK, the Countryside Agency has awarded a contract to Halcrow Group Ltd (655,840 [euro]) for CRoW appeal site mapping

OGC delivers on open reference model.(OpenGIS Consortium )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The world's first service framework for geoprocessing is a reality, thanks to years of endeavour by the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC). Enshrining every formal technical specification agreed by the industry interoperability body since 1994, its...

MapInfo pushes hard in Europe ...(GEO:news)
April 1, 2003... Already on offer in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, MapInfo's MiAware[TM] Mobile Location Services platform is being targeted at other European countries under an aggressive pricing strategy unveiled by Larry Delaney, MapInfo's director of...

PriceWatch *.(GEO:news)(Illustration)
April 1, 2003... Price Watch * stock price change Autodesk 13.41 [down arrow] -0.21 Intergraph 16.76 [up arrow] +0.28 MapInfo 3.10 [down arrow] -0.13 Trimble Navigation ...

GPS meets RPT.(GEO:news)(Global Positioning System)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Trimble is to combine its Global Positioning System (GPS) technology with television-based position-ing technology (RPT) from Rosum Corp., under a deal agreed between the two California based companies. The aim is to develop a universal...

Q4 results from Autodesk.(Results: all values converted to euros)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Fourth quarter 2003 results from Autodesk showed revenues up 4 per cent on the previous quarter to 179 million [euro]. Net income was 5.7 million [euro] (compared to a net loss of 3.6 [euro] million in the previous quarter). "We are...

Geomarketing tools from ArabiaGis.(GEO:Middle East)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... ArabiaGis (Beirut, Lebanon) has introduced its new line of GIS solutions to the Lebanese markets. The GEO Analytic Product Series provides businesses with the ability to visualise, analyse and manage their own data. GEO Analytic 1.0 has the...

EROS Import from IIT.(GEO:Middle East)(Earth Resources Observation Satellite)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Image International Technologies (IIT) of Tel-Aviv, Israel, has introduced an EROS Import module for Leica Geosystems' SOCET SET digital photogrammetric software. After importing the EROS satellite images, users will be able to view them...

Maps for a war?(GEO:Middle East)
April 1, 2003... With war clouds gathering in the Middle East, three new special reference maps for the country of Iraq, city of Baghdad, and the Middle East region have just been published by the United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). When...

Infoterra completes Marathon survey.(GEO:Africa)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Infoterra Ltd. (Leicester, England) has completed an airborne laser-scanner (LiDAR) topographic survey for Marathon Oil Company in Africa. In an area of dense tropical rainforest where traditional ground survey was a costly and time consuming...

Safer aviation.(GEO:Africa)(european global navigation overlay service)(global navigation satellite system )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Trial flights of the EGNOS (European Global Navigation Overlay Service) Test Bed system have shown how Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) services over Central Africa could be implemented to improve air safety. The trials were...

First South African property information portal.(GEO:Africa)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... A joint venture between Knowledge Factory (Johannesburg, S Africa) and DEEDSearch, a division of LexisNexis Butterworths, has resulted in the launch of a new property information portal. It is designed to serve the needs of South African...

Nairobi goes digital.(GEO:Africa)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Work has commenced on a Kenyan government project to compile a digital map of Nairobi. The project is funded by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) and will be completed in three years, providing up-to-date information for use by...

Cities revealed aids township renewal.(GEO:Africa)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Alexandra Renewal Project is relocating families from informal housing within the Alexandra suburb of Johannesburg to the Diepsloot Reception Area where a team of professional town planners, professional trainers and consulting engineers is...

Mapmakers meet in Cambridge.(GEO:connect)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Delegates have been flocking to register for this year's quadrennial Cambridge Conference, a unique gathering of representatives of national mapping agencies. Hosted by Ordnance Survey and to be held at St John's College, Cambridge (21-25...

IM2002--the best of the rest.(Information Management Awards 2002 )
April 1, 2003... In concluding our coverage of the Information Management Awards 2002 (see also GEO:connect February issue) runners-up prize in the GIS Project category went to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary for its SEE IT Geographical Reporting of...

Location 2003.(GEO:connect)(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... Location 2003 is set to be a leading resource for those seeking inspiration on location-based matters in the UK. Main sponsors ESRI (UK), CAPS Solutions and media sponsor GEO:connexion Magazine, welcome visitors to the forthcoming series of...

PROGIS users unite.(GEO:connect)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... This year's PROGIS International User Conference with its theme "Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development" was held towards the end of February in Budapest. Hungary. Attended by delegates from 1.5 countries, the keynote address was...

GeoSpatial World: getting smarter.(GEO:connect)
April 1, 2003... Organisers of GeoSpatial World 2003, the Intergraph GeoSpatial Users Community International Training and Management Conference, promise an expanded agenda for next month's event in New Orleans, USA (19-21 May). Its theme. "Smart...

MultiTemp-2003.(European Commission's Joint Research Centre)
April 1, 2003... Following on from last year's successful gathering in Trento, Italy, a second International Workshop on the Analysis of Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Images (MultiTemp-2003) is to be held at the premises of the European Commission's Joint...

Studying Land Use Effects in Coastal Zones with Remote Sensing and GIS.
April 1, 2003... A new event is planned in the International Colloquium Series on Land Use/Cover Change Science and Applications. Scheduled to be held in Kemer/Antalya in Turkey, 13-16 August 2003, Studying Land Use Effects in Coastal Zones with Remote...

Le GeoEvenement.
April 1, 2003... A report on Le GeoEvenement, France's leading geospatial event, held last month in Paris, will appear in the May issue of GEO:connexion.

European GI policy: is the UK ready? In reporting the proceedings of a recent AGI/IGGI seminar, Robin Waters wonders if the question is in need of an overhaul.(Geographic Information)
April 1, 2003... After attending this event, your correspondent is tempted to re-phrase the question as 'Is Europe ready for the UK?' It is apparent that Britain's GI community is more advanced in terms of data availability, sophistication of applications,...

AGEO: Osterreichischer Dachverband fur Geographische Information Austrian Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information.(EUROGI Member Profile)
April 1, 2003... Date of foundation: 1998 Status: Non-profit national umbrella association covering GI suppliers and user organisations in the public and private sector. No individual membership President: Manfred Eckharter (three-year term of office...

Transatlantic changes at eSpatial.(GEO:people)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... eSpatial (Dublin, Ireland) has appointed David Miller as chief operating officer. Miller joins eSpatial from Sepro Telecom, a telecoms rating and billing company, where he was both COO and chief technology officer. At eSpatial he will be...

Senior appointments at GIF.(GEO:people)(Geographical Industry Forum)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The UK-based Geographical Industry Forum (GIF) has appointed Lord Alexander Hesketh as its chairman and Ms Kathie Bowden as director. Lord Hesketh brings significant experience of the workings of government, being a former minister at the...

EUROGI presidential candidate.(GEO:people)(European Organisation for Geographic Information)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... A last-minute nomination for the election Of a successor to Ian Masser at the European Organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI) arrived too late for our March issue but we are nevertheless pleased to include the submission in respect of...

Moses to OGC.(GEO:people)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Dr. Robert Moses, president and CEO of PCI Geomatics (Ontario, Canada) has accepted a position on the board of directors of the Open GIS Consortium (OGC). Nominated by the Canadian government through GeoConnections, a national initiative...

Infoterra expand sales team.(GEO:people)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Infoterra Ltd has appointed Philip Cooper to its expanding sales team. Cooper, previously a sales manager with Earth Resource Mapping Ltd (ER Mapper) and consultant with Dotted Eyes Ltd. will play a key role in Infoterra's growing utilities,...

Pugh moves to Sentinel.(GEO:people)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Sentinel USA, Inc. (Newark, Ohio) a provider of automated mapping, facilities management and geographic information system services, has appointed Jim Pugh as business development manager. Pugh is a computer-mapping veteran with more than...

Canterbury tales: within a stone's throw of Canterbury Cathedral, a specialist unit at Christ Church University College preaches the GIS gospel to latter day pilgrims ... and generates much-needed income in the process.(Geographic Information Systems)
April 1, 2003... As with so many historic English cities, Canterbury in Kent suffers its fair share of traffic congestion. Yet those patient enough to wend their way to Christ Church University College in the city centre (and compete with its 12,000 students...

School pupils in the South West of England will be soon be visiting 'Infomapper' a new website featuring 2m aerial photography of the region.(Newsround)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... School pupils in the South West of England will be soon be visiting 'Infomapper' a new website featuring 2m aerial photography of the region from Getmapping plc and digital cartography (including MasterMapTM) from Ordnance Survey Designed...

The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) has been admired to membership of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).(Newsround)(International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) has been admired to membership of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), an umbrella body representing 27 scientific unions and 101 national scientific...

To reflect its changing mission, vision and targets, the European Organisation for Experimental Photogrammetric Research (OEEPE) has been renamed EuroSDR.(Newsround)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... To reflect its changing mission, vision and targets, the European Organisation for Experimental Photogrammetric Research (OEEPE) has been renamed EuroSDR (European Spatial Data Research). Its future agenda will be discussed at an...

Queen's University, Belfast.(Newsround)(Britain's Arts and Humanities Research Board)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Britain's Arts and Humanities Research Board has awarded 139,000 [euro] to Dr Keith Lilley and Dr Chris Lloyd of Queen's University, Belfast for an 18-month project entitled 'Mapping the medieval urban landscape: Edward I's 'new towns' of...

Celebrating a century of Swiss precision: in the first of a two-part series, Wolfgang Steinborn casts an admiring glance in Switzerland's direction.(Central European eye)(mapping used to manage Swiss resources)
April 1, 2003... Which country has the most meticulous definition and aerial control of its forests? Which country has the most restrictive rules for flood-prone zones? Which country will, by 2005, be the first to be fully covered with a laser-produced Digital...