Affordable housing but at what pace?
by Gavin Lloyd, SAGI
 There is much debate around the delivery of housing at the moment. Several well-attended conferences have been held in recent weeks and the debates have been focussed and articulate. NGOs and academic groups are working intensely with both the Department of Human Settlement and UN-Habitat to innovate solutions... ( more) |
|
Getting it right saves lives and mitigates risk
by Mike Livingstone-Blevins, Professional Mine Surveyor
 Getting it wrong in mine surveying can have fatal consequences. The San José mine rescue in Chile, resulting in the successful return to the surface of 33 miners after being trapped for 69 days, was a case of getting it right. This single event, captures what I regard as a fundamental differentiator between mine surveying and other geomatics professions... (more) |
Enhancing service delivery at all levels
by Zulch Lötter, CESA
 CESA is leading the call for a collaborative and sustainable approach to the manner in which the private sector supports government in enhancing service delivery at all levels so as to ensure the economic well-being of all business enterprises and to improve the quality of life for all... ( more) |
90 years of surveying and mapping
by Richard Wonnacott, CD:NGI
The South African national surveying and mapping agency, now known as the Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information (NGI), turned 90 years old in October 2010 and has proudly served the country by providing a sound, uniform, modern, geodetic reference frame and country wide coverage of topographical maps and data of various scales, types and formats... ( more) |
3D scanning of the Athlone cooling towers
Information from Optron Geomatics
Specialised surveying often calls for advanced 3D scanning technology that can offer the highest accuracy and speed. Optron Geomatics was recently asked to assist in demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of both the Trimble GX scanner and Trimble's Realworks software by performing a survey to show the effect of the failure of the top compression ring on one of the Athlone cooling towers before it was demolished... ( more) |
New view of tectonic plates
Information from Caltech
Computational scientists and geophysicists at the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed new computer algorithms that for the first time allow for the simultaneous modeling of the earth's mantle flow, large-scale tectonic plate motions, and the behaviour of individual fault zones, to produce an unprecedented view of plate tectonics and the forces that drive it... (more) |
Securing the 2012 Olympic Games in London
Information from ERDAS
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games will take place in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. In preparation, the London 2012 Organising Committee, the Olympic Security Directorate and the Olympic Delivery Authority are coordinating with a wide range of safety and security agencies across Great Britain with one goal in mind: to achieve a safe and secure Olympic Games... (more) |
Why GIS is a tool for enterprise information management
by Ana Moreira, Edge Evolve
A typical information strategy aims to build an information foundation that is integrated and actionable in order to equip business with the right information to support its decision-making. GIS technology is a powerful tool, which can be used to assist enterprise information managers to deliver a quality information strategy... (more) |
Remote sensing of archaeological ruins: a comparison
by Pam MacQuilkan and Karim Sadr, University of the Witwatersrand
Aerial photographs have long been used to survey stone walled ruins in South Africa. Google Earth, which was launched in 2005 has grown in popularity among archaeologists. To compare the relative efficacy of Google Earth with standard aerial photographs we recorded pre-colonial stone walled settlements in a part of the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve (Gauteng) using different types of imagery and statistically compared the results with ground surveys... (more) |
Understanding trio robbery crimes through spatial analysis
The CSIR undertook research to explain and illustrate the spatial behaviour of the "trio" crimes (carjacking and truck hijacking; robbery at residential premises; and robbery at non-residential premises). The research is based on spatial analysis at specific geographical interval levels. It uses a combination of remote sensing technology integrated with geographical information systems (GIS) analytical models that are overlaid with
geo-coded crime data... (more) |
Monitoring South Africa's national road network
by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is responsible for planning, designing, constructing, operating, rehabilitating and maintaining South Africa's national roads. This article outlines the technologies involved in monitoring the condition of over 16 000 km of South Africa's national roads... (more) |
Monitoring bathymetric changes at storm scale
by S T J van Son et al, Delft University of Technology
Monitoring and understanding coastal processes is important for the Netherlands since the most densely populated areas are situated directly behind the coastal defense. Traditionally, bathymetric changes are monitored at annual intervals, although nowadays it is understood that most dramatic changes are related to high-energy events like storms... (more) |
