PositionIT e-News

GIS, GPS, surveying and spatial applications in Southern Africa

Issue 77, July 2016

Mini-bus taxi industry needs geospatial oversight

by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers

Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau recently pointed out that South African society has a tendency to criminalise the poor. And he is right. Entrepreneurs trying to make a living... (more)

Statistician General to keynote at Geomatics Indaba 2016

Dr. Pali Lehohla, the Statistician General of South Africa, has agreed to be a keynote speaker at Geomatics Indaba 2016. He will be speaking on the topic of spatial data... (more)

Mining operations need to get productive and smart

by Angus Bradford, ProcessFlo

This article was written on the back of recent experience in implementing a drill management system on a large open pit operation. The effect that the system has had on the drill... (more)

Reportback from the SAGI President

by Peter Newmarch, SAGI

This update from the President of the South African Geomatics Institute (SAGI) provides details on the institute's new logo, co-operation agreements with international bodies... (more)

Geomatics Indaba 2016: Keynote speakers confirmed

Chief Surveyor General Mmuso Riba, Statistician General Pali Lehohla, Rob Mahoney from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and Gary Gale, the Chief Technology Officer for What3words, have all confirmed their participation as keynote speakers at GI2016... (more)

Multimodal 3D mapping of the Rising Star Cave
by Ashley Kruger, Patrick Randolph-Quinney, and Marina Elliott, University of the Witwatersrand

Mapping the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave with reference to the excavation process is essential to understanding the development and movement of sediments and geological units. In response to practical challenges, a multimodal set of... (more)

Building a stable UAV platform for photogrammetry
Information from Phase One Industrial

Most of the early UAVs were not designed for professional use. These days there is increasing demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be used for professional photogrammetry, and this has created a higher demand on the functionality and... (more)

Using multi-spectral sensors for vegetation mapping
by H van Deventer, MA Cho, M L�ck-Vogel and L van Niekerk, CSIR

Wetland and estuarine vegetation is often difficult to detect and separate from adjacent land covers with multispectral sensors for a number of reasons. The spatial resolution of space-borne sensors is often insufficient for these features which occur along... (more)

Digital platform for mining activity data
by Ntandoh Khanyile, University of the Witwatersrand

Since the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand in 1886, several mines have been developed and hundreds of shafts have been dug in this region. Some were immediately abandoned when insufficient minerals were found, others were abandoned later... (more)

The use of spatial data to study informal settlement growth
by Rufus Ramotlou, University of Salzburg

This article focuses on how spatial data was gathered, put together and was used by the Housing Development Agency in 2012 to address informal settlement growth in Limpopo urban towns, particularly informal settlements with residents... (more)

Farming effectively with drones
Information from SenseFly

While training a crop consultant, Norbert Plate of iQlaser employed the client's new eBee Ag unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to assess the health of a peanut crop. The client plans to use his UAV to provide scouting and analysis services to other farmers... (more)

Situational analysis for health facility planning
by Francois Venter, Gauteng Department of Health

Modern times call for innovative ways to understand and plan for healthcare facilities. How does one determine where the gap lies in current provision of healthcare facilities in order to plan for the provision of these facilities in future? How can one... (more)

Implementing the right combination of printing technologies
by James de Waal, Canon SA

Within a rapidly evolving communications landscape, highly competitive business environment and with cost efficiency a key priority, reprographic and printing companies as well as internal reprographic departments are running extremely tight... (more)