PositionIT e-News

GIS, GPS, surveying and spatial applications in Southern Africa

Issue 72, Jan/Feb 2016

Getting Gordhan on to the geospatial highway

by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers

2016 is shaping up to be a very tough year. There's no water, there's no money, jobs are dwindling, local elections are looming, and political infighting is intensifying. This year we will all be paying the price for inadequate... (more)

Talking geo-enlightenment... with Jack Dangermond

by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers

During the 2015 Esri Africa User Conference in Cape Town, Esri President Jack Dangermond shared his views on the future of geographic information systems (GIS), the secret of his success, trends in urban GIS... (more)

Intelligent navigation and its downside

by Roger McKinlay, Royal Institute of Navigation

Is there a downside to our growing dependence on the computing horsepower in smartphones and tablets? Are our brains becoming flabby? In the world of navigation the answer would appear to be "yes"... (more)

PositionIT Inbox
Winning letter

This month's letter is a response to the article "Impact of red line diagrams on our national coastline" which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2016 issue of PositionIT. Send your letters to: positionit@ee.co.za ... (more)

Phantom state-owned land creeping out of the cellars
by Mike Caister, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

This paper reports on the process followed to resolve the status of land parcels recorded as owned by the State, but which were not reflected in current cadastral data. An audit of State-owned land in KwaZulu-Natal in 2007 - 2008 showed... (more)

Monitoring coastal instability using airborne and terrestrial lidar
by Dr. Neil Slatcher, 3D Laser Mapping

Monitoring coastlines is a challenging task, especially due to the typically inaccessible nature of the coastal terrain. With rapid erosion rates becoming commonplace, this is increasingly becoming an area of concern. To determine the associated hazards... (more)

Access barriers to public sector geospatial information
by Nicolene Fourie, Department of Environmental Affairs

Access to public sector information (PSI) has significant economic and, subsequently, social welfare benefits to the people in any given country. The potential value of public sector geospatial information (PSGI) within a country's economy can be... (more)

A digital elevation model for the African continent
Information from Airbus Defence and Space

Since its commercial launch in April 2014, WorldDEM provides a global digital elevation model (DEM) of high quality, accuracy, and coverage, benefitting multiple applications, including satellite image ortho-rectification, military and civil aviation... (more)

Increasing the value of lidar and UAV point-clouds

by David McKittrick, Blue Marble Geographics

Over the last decade, lidar data has evolved from a luxury commodity to a fairly ubiquitous and readily available resource. While the underlying technology has been around for more than 50 years, only relatively recently has lidar found... (more)

The rise of autonomous hydrographic systems

by Pierre Potgieter, EE Publishers

Unmanned and autonomous systems are already occupying the sky, and developments in recent years have also seen them take to water bodies. A big step forward in marine robotics, these systems can assist with numerous applications... (more)

Obstacles faced by location-based services in South Africa

by Marna Roos and Laurette Coetzee, AfriGIS

Location-based services (LBS) launched internationally in 2001. South Africa joined the global trend in 2004. In certain market segments we have seen radical growth, whereas other areas did not perform to potential. We have to investigate the reasons... (more)

Views, comment and opinion

Talking geo-enlightenment with Jack Dangermond

Intelligent navigation and its downside

Industry and institute news

IMSSA focuses on mine surveying in the information age

Hydro2015 - what was it all about?

GISSA puts the spotlight on job reservation and mapping

Call for academic papers for Geomatics Indaba 2016

SAGI's upcoming branch events

Aerial imagery to assist Operation Phakisa

RPAS - transformative and evolving

City of Joburg celebrates GIS Day