PositionIT e-News
 
GIS, GPS, surveying and spatial applications in Southern Africa

     Issue  36,  March 2012  

OSD complicates professional registration
by Clare van Zwieten, editor

Clare van ZwietenTensions were high at the NSIF and GISSA workshop dealing with Geo-information Science (GISc) professional registration held in Pretoria earlier this month. It was very clear that there is a lot of disgruntlement with the PLATO registration process and the PLATO GISc professional academic model... (more)
Book review: "Mapping South Africa"
by Prof. Elri Liebenberg, UNISA 

 

The pre-publication notice of Andrew Duminy's book, entitled Mapping South Africa - A Historical Survey of South African Maps and Charts, was widely welcomed by everybody interested in historical maps. Prof. Elri Liebenberg, Emeritus Professor of Geography at UNISA, and chair of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography has reviewed the book... (more)
Author's response to book review
by Andrew Duminy 

Andrew DuminyProf. Elri Liebenberg's review of Mapping South Africa was forwarded to the author, who had this to say in response. "Prof. Liebenberg takes me to task for neglecting to include a number of developments in the history of mapping. What to include and what to exclude from a book is a problem all authors face, in preparing a short, popular survey of a vast subject"... (more)
Marketing the survey profession
by Altus Strydom, SAGI Northern Provinces

                            

Altus StrydomDuring the past 4 years, I have been a member of the council of the Northern Provinces Branch of SAGI. During this period the marketing portfolio of our branch became my responsibility and after a while I realised that neither myself nor most of the members of council understood the basics of marketing... (more

    

Professional insurance for SAGI surveyors
by Peter Newmarch, SAGI

Peter Newmarch SAGI has announced the introduction of a voluntary SAGI PI Insurance scheme. PI Insurance is known to all of us, but how insurance companies and underwriters calculate the premiums is a closely guarded secret. We are of the opinion that the rates on offer are reasonable. We hope that there will be a strong uptake on the SAGI PI insurance...  (more)
PositionIT Inbox
Letters to the editor 

 

In this issue we feature letters from Neil Ayres (Geodata Consulting) who discusses the South African Coordinate Reference System and "Lo" coordinates; and from Bridget Corrigan (Endangered Wildlife Trust) who expresses her serious concerns about the quality of a Master Class that she attended... (more
energize_win-a-prize_mb_feb2012
Seeing our land from above: the first decades
by John Illsley

In an age where we are able to take for granted the ability to survey any part of the world by way of aircraft or satellites, the use of earlier methods may seem lost in time. The first use of aerial platforms for surveying in  Southern Africa pre-dates powered flight and aerial photography in this region is now close to a century old... (more)
Surveying assistance to Ugandan NGO
by Don Talend, Write Results

The need for land surveying is not confined to developed countries. Since 2000, Ozark Laser & Shoring - which sells, rents and services laser and global positioning equipment - has donated time, expertise and equipment to the development of several villages in Uganda, a country with a troubled past... (more)
Promoting g-government in the Gauteng City-Region
by Chris Wray, GCRO

Accessing spatial government information, even between government departments, remains a challenge in South Africa. GCRO (Gauteng City-Region Observatory) recognised a need to open access to government data and in 2010 developed an innovative Web GIS viewer... (more)
Using GIS for optimisation of service delivery
by Nthabiseng Motsamai and Chris Munyati, North West University

The location of settlements has an important bearing on the effectiveness and feasibility of supply of municipal services. The use of GIS (geographical information systems) could assist in planning for a location that will support service provision and human safety... (more)
3D object segmentation of point clouds (Part 1)
by George Sithole, University of Cape Town and Willard Mapurisa, ComputaMaps

In the automatic processing of point clouds, higher level information in the form of point segments is required for classification and object detection purposes. Point cloud segmentation allows for the definition of these segments. In this article, an extension of a segmentation approach based on intersecting profiles is proposed... (more)
Surveying underground utility assets in 3D
by Jim Waite, Optimal Ranging

Until recently, accurate 3D mapping of underground utility infrastructures, so important for planning expansions and maintaining existing lines, has been either enormously costly and time-consuming or confidence in the results has been insufficient.  Now a new technology shows promise... (more)
Real-time location systems in underground environments
by Le Rich� Jordaan, MineRP

All of us are very familiar with global positioning system (GPS) technology. These days almost everyone has a smart phone or tablet with GPS capabilities and uses them on a daily basis. A lot of transport and logistics companies rely on this technology to deliver excellent service to their clients... (more)
Satellite navigation training for the reserve forces
by Kevin Bolton, Bolton's GPS Warehouse

In December 2011 Col. Ray van Zanten, SSO Reserves, Infantry Formation approached KJ Bolton Consultants to see if they could assist in the upliftment  of the navigation skills of the South Africa Reserve Forces... (more)
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In this issue...
- OSD complicates professional registration
- Book review: "Mapping South Africa"
- Author's response to book review
- Marketing the survey profession
- Professional insurance for SAGI surveyors
- PositionIT Inbox - Letters to the editor
- Seeing our land from above: the first decades
- Surveying assistance to Ugandan NGO
- Promoting g-government in the Gauteng City-Region
- Using GIS for optimisation of service delivery
- 3D object segmentation of point clouds
- Surveying underground utility assets in 3D
- Real-time location systems in underground environments
- Satellite navigation training for the reserve forces
- Views, comment and opinion
- Industry and institute news
- Training news
- Company and product news
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