A Publication for Geospatial Professionals • Issue 2014-3
Earthquake Recovery
Raising a Landmark Building
Imaging Rovers Get
Down to Work
UAS on the Ice in Antarctica
New Opportunities
in Transportation
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Welcome to Technology&more!
Dear
Readers,
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In traveling around the world I have the
opportunity to meet people engaged in
many facets of the geospatial industry.
Most are eager to share their experience
and insights about how geospatial solutions can benefit the lives and businesses
of people in their region. I’ve talked with
professionals who gather and process
geospatial data. They discussed the need
for increased productivity in capturing
and delivering information. Other users
Chris Gibson: Vice President
emphasized the value of new deliverables
coming from geospatial information that
penetrate deep into their client’s workflows and processes. Deliverables such as photorealistic 3D models,
point clouds and panoramic images support planning, review and
enterprise management. And I’ve met with educators and researchers
who are driving the effort to expose new regions, and new professionals,
to the value of geospatial solutions. They shared with me the need for
customizable solutions—at both the local and global levels.
Most of the stories I hear aren’t about technology. They are about
innovative people and organizations that create solutions to some very
challenging situations. We’re pleased that they have selected Trimble®
technologies and look forward to sharing their experiences. We will
constantly seek the ideas and feedback that come from the people at
work on their jobsites, in their offices and the offices of their clients.
This issue of Technology&more brings stories that illustrate how people
are using Trimble solutions to quickly develop information and put
it to work. Our cover story describes the beautiful Christchurch Art
Gallery, and the effort to raise and re-level it following earthquakes.
By combining measurement systems with Trimble software, a New
Zealand company provided real-time information that was essential
to the success of the effort. In Germany, a company used Trimble
software to achieve new levels of speed and precision in mapping
and classifying agricultural land.
In a visit to Florida, we meet a company that uses imaging solutions
to radically reduce the time and costs of collecting and delivering
detailed field information. The story presents a good example of
the increasing value of imaging—in both the field and office. This
issue also highlights imaging of a different sort in Italy, where a
mobile system is helping cities catalog street lighting to comply with
new standards for management and energy efficiency. Finally, as
innovation and technologies continue to advance, the need grows
for people skilled in acquiring, analyzing and utilizing geospatial
information. This is demonstrated in a story about universities in
Uzbekistan working to provide training and experience for new
generations of geospatial professionals.
If you’d like to share information with Technology&more readers
about your own innovative project, we’d be happy to hear about it.
Send us an email at: [email protected]. We’ll even write
the article for you.
And now, enjoy a new look to the future with this issue of
Technology&more.
Chris Gibson
• ANTARCTICA pg. 2
UAS on the Frozen
Continent
• NEW ZEALAND pg. 4
Lifting a Building
• UNITED STATES pg. 10
Imaging a Florida Canal
• GERMANY pg. 20
A New Tool for
Agricultural Mapping
Published by:
Trimble Engineering & Construction
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Phone: 720-887-6100
Fax: 720-887-6101
Email: T&[email protected]
www.trimble.com
Editor-in-Chief: Shelly Nooner
Editorial Team: Lea Ann McNabb; Ynez-Bernadette Belwan;
Lee Ann Fleming; Jocelyn Delarosa; Grainne Woods;
Anke Seiffert; Lindsay Renkel; Kelly Liberi; Jessica Sebold;
Echo Wei; Maribel Aguinaldo; Stephanie Kirtland;
Survey Technical Marketing Team
Art Director: Tom Pipinou
© 2014, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. Trimble, the Globe & Triangle logo, DiNi,
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Navigation Limited or its subsidiaries, registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
4D Control, Access, GeoXH, POSPac, TerraSync, and VRS Now are trademarks of Trimble Navigation
Limited or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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Protecting Canada’s
Largest Bridge
N
estled on Canada’s west coast in one of the world’s most
beautiful settings, the city of Vancouver, British Columbia
lies in a seismically active area. The region is predisposed
to earthquakes not only due to movement along the nearby
Cascadia subduction zone, but also crustal and subcrustal seismic
events. Because of the risk that earthquakes pose to British Columbia’s communities and infrastructure, the Geologic Survey of Canada
has placed a high priority on monitoring earthquake activity.
Planning for the bridge included requirements for monitoring
the complex structure. Working closely with the Ministry
and University, REF TEK, a Trimble Division, was selected
to supply and commission a strong motion seismic instrumentation network. In addition to detecting seismic motion,
the system provides a constant flow of information on the
Port Mann Bridge’s behavior and state of health. The REF
TEK system consists of an array of sensors installed on and
around the bridge structure. By using cable and structure
accelerometers, displacement transducers, extensometers
and piezometers, the system can detect ground motion and
structural responses that may result from seismic activity,
traffic activity or other extreme loading conditions.
One of the key components of the effort is monitoring the region’s transportation infrastructure. In 2008, the British Columbia
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, in collaboration
with the University of British Columbia, updated and expanded
its program of monitoring instrumentation on bridges and other
key transportation structures. The new program, named the British Columbia Smart Infrastructure Monitoring System (BCSIMS),
is designed to provide rapid damage assessment of key structures following a seismic event. A new bridge near Vancouver is
illustrating how well the program can work.
In addition to the structure sensors, a series of wind, temperature and humidity gauges supply data on environmental
conditions. The system is controlled by specialized real-time
monitoring software developed as part of the BCSIMS project.
The software provides post-processed analytical tools to help
engineers better understand the bridge’s structural behavior
under different loading conditions such as seasonal temperature changes and daily traffic loads on the bridge.
The Port Mann Bridge crosses the Fraser River and connects
Vancouver’s neighboring communities of Surry and Coquitlam.
Opened to traffic in 2012, the bridge replaces a smaller structure
that opened more than 50 years ago. With a total length of 2,020
meters (6,630 feet), the bridge includes a cable-stayed main span
of 850 meters (2,800 feet). The bridge provides 10 lanes of traffic
as well as a multi-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. The
bridge provides 42 meters (140 feet) of navigational clearance,
which ensures ample space for ships on the Fraser River.
The bridge data is combined with data from more than 130
ground monitoring stations in the Natural Resources Canada
(NRCan) Provincial Strong Motion network. In the event of an
earthquake or other event, engineers can quickly implement
emergency response measures.
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Aerial Imaging in Antarctica
It was quite an adventure: an all-or-nothing mission to map a research station in Antarctica.
L
geology, glaciology and microbiology, among other disciplines. The Maldonado Base began operations in 1990.
Currently it operates for three to four months during the
Antarctic summer and is scheduled to begin year-round
operation in 2016. Faced with the tight timeframe and
unpredictable conditions, IGM wanted to know if a small,
lightweight unmanned aircraft could provide a suitable
orthomosaic of the Ecuadorian research base and the
surrounding area.
ike numerous countries around the world, Ecuador’s
mapping agency, Instituto Geografico Militar (National
Military Geographic Institute of Ecuador, or IGM) is a
technical institution within the country’s military establishment. The IGM is responsible for developing the national
mapping and the geographic and cartographic files of the
country. The Institute also provides services in the scientific
fields of earth sciences
In 2013, the IGM was actively looking for an unmanned
aerial mapping solution to anchor an aggressive campaign to update Ecuador’s official cartography. The work
provided IGM with an opportunity to put an unmanned
aerial solution (UAS) to the ultimate test: to map the area surrounding the country’s scientific research base in Antarctica.
It would be one of the first times that a UAS had been
used in Antarctica.
Ivan Pazmiño, the owner of Instrumental & Optica, a Trimble
geospatial distribution partner in Ecuador, agreed to supply
a Trimble UX5 Aerial Imaging Rover, Trimble Business Center
software (TBC) and a technician to assist in the month-long
mapping operation at the Maldonado Base. One of the key
capabilities of the UX5 is its ability to reliably deliver mapping
and surveying data, operating in rugged terrain and virtually
any weather conditions. The Trimble UX5 solution includes
the UX5 aerial imaging rover with a high-quality camera,
a launching catapult and Trimble Access™ Aerial Imaging
application running on a Trimble Tablet rugged PC to plan
and monitor the automated flight. Each flight’s image data
is downloaded to the TBC Aerial Photogrammetry Module, which performs automatic aerial photogrammetry
adjustment and produces 3D, colored point clouds,
Ecuador’s Pedro Vicente Maldonado Base is situated at
Guayaquil Bay on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland
Islands, just a few miles off the coast of the Antarctic
Peninsula. Named for an internationally prominent Ecuadorian
scientist who lived in the first half of the 18th century, the
base supports scientific research programs in biology,
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northernmost of the South Shetland Islands. After another
two-day weather delay, the team embarked by boat to the
Maldonado Base on Greenwich Island, roughly 50 miles away.
The Maldonado research station receives three expeditions
of people each year. The first group arrives in early January to
open the base and prepare it for the arrival of the scientists. The
UX5 team would be members of the third expedition, the last
of the 2014 season. The total expedition comprised 38 people
including biologists, micro-zoologists, cartographers, weather
experts and soldiers. Accommodations were cramped; four men
shared a 1.8 m (6 ft) square room, sleeping in bunk beds.
The IGM team, left to right: Captain Juan P. Gómez E., Jorge Berenguela,
Lieutenant Rafael Peña, Geodesist José Sarzoza and Sergeant Carlos Gómez
give a thumbs-up to the successful completion of its Antarctic mission
For several days after arrival, base safety regulations prohibited the team from going outside due to bad weather.
Although the UX5 was capable of performing under difficult
conditions, the people were another matter. On many
occasions, the base commander prohibited personnel from
working outdoors during periods of extreme cold, high
winds or heavy precipitation. To complicate matters, the team
would conduct aerial photography over snow and ice—one
of the most difficult challenges for photogrammetry. The
weather finally improved to allow human outdoor activities
and the UAS team launched the first flight. Conditions were
challenging–5ºC (23ºF) and winds of 10 to 15 knots with
unpredictable gusts. The first flight was a success; the UX5
landed smoothly after covering the entire scientific base in
about 25 minutes with an overlap of 80 percent at an altitude
of 100 m (250 ft).
Prepared using the Trimble Business Center Photogrammetry Module,
this orthophoto of the Maldonado Base was taken by the UX5 from an
altitude of 100 m (330 ft)
Bad weather again kept the team confined indoors for
several more days. Then, when they could finally launch the
second flight, it was aborted after just seven minutes when
the weather suddenly changed for the worse. Again, the
team spent several days waiting for the weather to moderate
and allow them to leave the immediate base area. Time was
running out and the final objective to fly the entire peninsula
was still unmet.
digital surface models and orthophotos. The deliverables
allow users to create surfaces, perform volume calculations
and other measurements.
Timing was critical. Planning commenced in late November
and the expedition needed to leave in February in order to
be completed before the Antarctic winter set in. They had
less than three months to prepare.
The weather finally improved and Berenguela and the team
quickly took advantage. Everything worked as planned: the
UX5 climbed to 180 m (600 ft) and flew for 45 minutes, covering the entire peninsula with the planned 80 percent overlap.
When the aircraft landed, the entire IGM team embraced in
a “mission-accomplished” group hug. They had overcome
challenging conditions and narrow weather windows to
achieve their goals.
Pazmiño selected Jorge Berenguela as the technician to
make the expedition and fly the UX5. An experienced UAS
pilot, Berenguela had flown its predecessor, the Trimble
Gatewing X100. Berenguela completed training and
certification on the UX5 from Trimble shortly before the
departure to Antarctica.
With the flights completed, Berenguela processed the
images in TBC. The resulting ortho-rectified, georeferenced
photomosaics of the peninsula and the base area were beautiful and provided excellent detail. In spite of the difficult and
rapidly varying weather, the UAS had proven its worth.
The mapping team consisted of Berenguela and four IGM
scientists. Departing Quito, Ecuador they flew to Punta
Arenas, Chile, where they waited three days for the weather
to clear—a preview of things to come. From there, a C130
military cargo plane took them to King George Island, the
See the original article in xyHt, Sept. 2014: www.xyHt.com
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Technology&more
COVER STORY
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Rising Expectations
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In the wake of devastating earthquakes, a New Zealand
company uses a customized solution to help restore a
Christchurch landmark.
T
e Puna o Waiwhetu is a striking landmark on the
edge of the city’s cultural precinct. When the gallery opened in 2003 it stood in stark—somewhat
controversial—contrast to the 19th Century gothic revival
architecture of the city’s existing cultural buildings. But the
gallery differed in more than just appearance—Te Puna o
Waiwhetu was also built to withstand the earthquakes to
which Christchurch was susceptible.
Earthquake Engineering Put to the Test
On September 4, 2010 Te Puna o Waiwhetu took a
vigorous 7.1 earthquake in its stride. It even temporarily
housed the Civil Defense emergency response headquarters before re-opening to the public within a few weeks.
However, on February 22, 2011 the gallery’s construction
and engineering were put to the ultimate test. A violent
6.3 aftershock hit the city, wreaking additional havoc on
already-weakened buildings, city infrastructure and land.
Each of the 124 columns stopped about 2 m (6 ft) below the foundation.
Despite minor damage the Christchurch gallery stood
strong, with every pane in the glass façade remaining
intact—within 30 minutes the gallery was once again the
Civil Defense emergency headquarters. But the ground
beneath Te Puna o Waiwhetu had liquefied and settled
unevenly. Over time the gallery became bowed in the
middle.
The Repair Plan: Float the Gallery Up
In August 2013 Mainmark Ground Engineering, a company with extensive experience in correcting building levels,
set up headquarters in the underground car park of the
gallery. It would perform all its re-leveling work from this
confined space.
Personnel from Mainmark prepare the rapid-setting grout.
In a process called jet grouting, Mainmark’s team drilled
124 small (200 mm [8 in]) holes through the foundation
to a depth of 6.5 m (21 ft). They then piped high-pressure
grout into each hole. The grout mixed with the natural soils
around it to create a column of about 4 m (13 ft) diameter.
grout-jacking process) provides hydraulic lift,” says Deller.
“Only a small amount of material is injected at each pass,
at each location, so lifting is gentle and widespread. By
pumping grout into multiple spaces at the same time, we
slowly float a building up a millimeter at a time.”
JOG Integrated Computer Grouting technology, where
rapid-setting grout is injected into the space above
each column, was then applied to re-level the building.
“JOG (an acronym for Japanese terminology for the
Technology&more
Every step of Mainmark’s process was controlled above ground
with a computerized system operating the grout injections.
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A 50-inch display allows the onsite surveyor to view numerous The onsite surveyor and Mainmark personnel view the same data in real time via
points in the Trimble 4D Control software.
the Web interface.
Customized Output Streamlines Grout Injection
Manson monitored the Trimble 4D Control data on a 50-inch
screen that displayed every prism at once. Raw data was
displayed in the Trimble 4D Control Web interface and overlaid
over a plan of the gallery floor showing Mainmark’s grout
injection points.
Monitoring Progress and Measuring Success
In some places the gallery was 182 mm (7 in) too low, in others
just 40 mm (1.6 in), and in still others it had to be raised 90 mm
(3.5 in). To determine how much grout to inject and when,
Mainmark needed to precisely know the gallery’s position
at any given time. If a section of the gallery was raised too
quickly, the foundation would crack.
A traffic-light alarm system was set up in Trimble 4D Control
Web. If one injection point deviated 4 mm (0.16 in) from its
surrounding points, it would change from green to yellow on
screen. Often a yellow alert would indicate a simple survey
issue such as line-of-sight to a target being temporarily
blocked. If the point deviated by 8 mm (0.3 in), then it would
turn red—Mainmark would isolate the offending injection
locations and investigate.
Mainmark approached positioning solutions provider Geosystems New Zealand Ltd with a vision of the monitoring solution
they needed. They also hired Patrick Manson from Kevin
O’Connor and Associates as a surveying consultant.
A self-leveling monitoring network was not possible due to
the nature and structure of the underground car park, so five
robotic Trimble S8 monitoring total stations were installed
inside the gallery’s car park. Each instrument was connected
via WiFi to a central access point and had its own power supply
and router. A sixth total station was located outside. Approximately 290 prisms were installed on the walls, columns, floor
and around the perimeter.
This easy-to-interpret traffic-light system reduced the risk
of damage to the building and facilitated communication
between all personnel.
Representing the Future
Mainmark successfully corrected the gallery’s levels in less
than three months. Going forward, the company plans to use
their Trimble monitoring solution on projects in other regions
around the world.
Trimble 4D Control™ software controlled the instruments in
measuring rounds of angles to each point. Each round determined the exact positions of the prism targets approximately
every 45 minutes. To capture and process the same information using a “dumpy,” or conventional level, would have taken
at least four hours.
Meanwhile, Te Puna O Waiwhetu will stand strong at its
re-opening in 2015, right on schedule. Following the tragic loss
of the city’s heritage buildings to the earthquakes, the gallery
now represents Christchurch’s hope for the future.
Because the total stations were moving with the floor, each
real-time round measured relative displacements only. So the
surveying team checked control—and determined lift—three
times a day. They used a Trimble DiNi® digital level, which took
just 45 minutes.
See the feature article in The American Surveyor, Oct. 2014:
www.amerisurv.com
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The Roads of Pemba
A surveyor’s journey to a distant and different land.
J
common and I was a very impatient child. My father paid me
100 Schillings for every 15 minutes in which I sat still and was
quiet during the seven hours we had to wait. If you asked me
today, I would never do that again for so little pay.”
ust off the east coast of Africa, the island of Pemba is part
of the Zanzibar archipelago of the nation of Tanzania. In
2009, the regional government initiated an US$11 million
(€8.2 million) project to rehabilitate roughly 45 km (28 mi) of
rural roads to improve safety and maintainability. As part of
the project, the Swiss company GRG Ingenieure AG was hired
to develop post-construction information on the roadways.
GRG assigned surveying engineer Adrian Holzer to conduct
the field surveys on Pemba.
When he arrived in Pemba, Holzer rechecked his equipment
to make sure everything was in good order. Then it was off to
the neighboring island of Zanzibar, where he met the project
leader from Switzerland. Armed with a letter of reference
from the Ministry of Transport, the two went to the office of
the Minister for Surveys and Mapping, where Holzer began to
learn about how things work on the islands. “The Minister was
away,” Holzer recalled, “and no one in the office knew how to
find the data we needed. We were steered to several different
offices. Eventually we happened to meet a man from Finland
who explained how land surveying is organized in Pemba and
Zanzibar.”
Before traveling to Pemba, Holzer completed initial planning for
the work. Faced with limited information on the roads and conditions, he scoured numerous sources to find information about
the project. But compared to other projects he had worked on,
many details were still uncertain. With only one month to plan
and prepare for the work, Holzer needed to rely on his experience
and flexibility to get the job done. “Part of the road construction
was not even finished,” he said. “Although there was a lack of
basic information, there were many ideas floating around. In my
discussions with other surveyors, some approaches began to
take shape.”
Finally, Holzer’s task was defined. He returned to Pemba and
the next day got down to work. He was to map more than
40 km (25 mi) of road, developing information on horizontal
alignments, longitudinal profiles and civil structures such
as bridges, culverts and drainage structures. He also needed
to capture locations and data on distinctive objects such as
mosques, power lines and antennas. He would use RTK for all
of the surveying. Holzer was now on his own—a one-person
crew, functioning far removed from the familiar terrain and
culture of his home in Switzerland.
Holzer’s route to Pemba took him through Dar es Salaam on
the Tanzania mainland. He was not traveling light. Because of
the short time frame, he carried his equipment as baggage.
His “luggage” included two Trimble R8 GNSS receivers, a TSC2
controller, a laptop computer, a base radio for RTK and a generous assortment of cables, chargers and accessories. Holzer
said that the waiting room in the Dar es Salaam airport brought
back memories. “Twenty years ago I sat in the same room while
traveling with my father,” he said. “He worked as a physician in
Tanzania and made regular trips to Zanzibar. Flight delays were
Technology&more
An unexpected challenge quickly emerged: eating. There is a
large Muslim community on Pemba and Holzer had arrived in
the month of Ramadan. During the day, food is not available
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and he needed to persuade the cook to give him some basic
items to sustain him. “Eating was only possible in the car,” he
said. “Anything else would be considered impolite.” Holzer also
needed to plan his work to come near a mosque at mid-day,
allowing his driver to participate in noon prayers.
With a routine established, Holzer began to make progress,
measuring sections of road each day while dealing with the
rural region’s high temperatures and dust. Because he carried a
low-power radio for his RTK base station, Holzer frequently moved
the base station as the survey progressed. His work frequently
attracted onlookers, including crowds of children. When working
in forested areas he changed position often, lifting the receiver
and looking towards the sky while waiting for a signal. “I thought
the people watching me must be thinking I had lost my mind,”
he said, “but I was mistaken. In talking with the spectators, I found
most of them knew what a GPS receiver is. They even asked me
precise questions about the accuracy of the instrument.”
Pemba residents pose with surveyor Adrian Holzer. Holzer’s work often attracted
curious onlookers.
In order to put his own survey into the national coordinate
system, Holzer needed to measure some permanently marked
control points. He obtained documentation for the control,
which was in surprisingly good condition. However, using
the documentation was not an easy task. Holzer hired a local
surveyor, who easily navigated to the control points.
Holzer said he and the surveyor quickly developed a bond as
they found and measured the needed control. Even after Holzer
had collected sufficient data, the surveyor insisted on visiting
more control points that lay in scenic locations. Convinced by
the gleam in his counterpart’s eye, Holzer agreed to go along
and see the other points. They were, he recalled, “exceptionally
beautiful places.”
After a month on Pemba, Holzer had completed his fieldwork.
His data included roughly 4,000 individual points on about
40 km (25 mi) of Pemba roads. He captured centerlines; culverts,
ditches and bridges; electric facilities, radio and cellular antennas;
and stone gabions. He also collected the location of the
mosques along the roads.
After sunset, Holzer could dine with his local colleagues.
While on Pemba, Holzer used Trimble Business Center to analyze
each day’s data. With a return visit out of the question, Holzer
needed to be sure everything was in good order before leaving
the island. Using a local coordinate system, he confirmed that
his work was accurate and complete. Final processing and
adjustment to the national coordinate system would wait until
he returned to Switzerland.
With the work complete, Holzer flew to Zanzibar, where the
celebration marking the end of Ramadan was underway. He
filled his mind, and stomach, with the colorful scenery and
festive food. It was a happy end to a successful journey.
See the original article in The American Surveyor, Aug. 2014:
www.amerisurv.com
A typical deliverable from Holzer’s survey included plan and profile views
of a Pemba roadway.
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A Broad Solution for
Italy’s Narrow Streets
Geospatial solutions help reduce light
pollution and energy use.
W
ith urban activity accounting for 80 percent of
worldwide energy consumption and carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions, the European Union in
2008 committed itself to a 20-percent reduction of CO2
emissions by 2020. To support local action, the European
Union has promoted the Covenant of Mayors (CoM), a
movement designed to endorse and support the efforts
deployed by local authorities to implement sustainable
energy policies through the submission of Sustainable
Energy Action Plans (SEAP).
At the end of 2011 an ESCO (Energy Service Company)
composed by several CoM members enlisted the services
of Gemmlab, a firm based in Padua, Italy, to help put a SEAP
into practice. This would involve a census of the street lighting
systems within several towns. The effort would prove useful
for local authorities to the redevelop the overall public system,
with the aim of better managing energy consumption and
reducing light pollution.
tion. In addition, due to safety concerns, I sought to reduce
the number of operators out on the street,” Manta said.
In July 2013, in an effort to improve its surveying
process and take part in a viable commercial venture,
Gemmlab and its partner company Crisel acquired the
newly-released Trimble MX2, a vehicle-mounted spatial
imaging system that combines high-resolution laser
scanning with precise positioning to collect georeferenced point clouds. In early 2014 Gemmlab rolled out
its own mobile surveying system: a vehicle equipped
with the Trimble MX2, a LadyBug 360° video camera for
digital imagery and Trimble AP20 GNSS-Inertial System
to sync data to the route.
“Practically speaking, for me and my staff, the challenge was
to collect an enormous amount of spatial data in a relatively
short time period, in towns of varying population and landscape” said Gemmlab owner Giovanni Manta.
In operation since April 2014, Gemmlab’s system has
provided extraordinary benefits and allows for the surveying to be carried out directly along the streets. In the
event that the team of two operators (reduced from four)
encounters an inaccessible road, they can still perform a
manual survey. In general, however, the surveys can be
performed from the vehicle: the team can drive through
the narrow streets and alleys of medieval towns that are
otherwise inaccessible with vans or similar vehicles.
When the census began in early 2012, the teams in the
field, composed of 4 operators, manually surveyed the
streetlights with Trimble Juno® 3D handhelds. They captured GPS coordinates or—when urban canyons rendered
GPS signals unavailable—marked streetlights directly on
the map.
During data acquisition, the Trimble MX2 acquires 360°
point clouds of the surrounding scene. At the same time,
the video camera collects high-resolution imagery of the
scene, providing additional information for data analysis.
The information is stored and pre-processed with a laptop
computer located inside the vehicle.
“I was seeking out new ways to speed up the process, reduce
costs and improve the accuracy of data collection and utiliza-
Once in the office, Gemmlab’s staff uses Trimble POSPac™
software to improve GPS accuracy of the vehicle’s
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trajectory using RINEX data from the regional GNSS
network. They then convert the information into data
ready for feature extraction. The data is processed
through Trimble Trident Imaging Hub software, which
enables information classification and extraction from
digital imagery and point clouds.
Gemmlab’s GIS team then produces 3D shapefiles
ready to be unified into a single geodatabase. The
precision of data deliverables—about 8 cm (0.3 ft)—
is well within the range specified by the customer.
The spatial features of the database are necessary to
locate and access each and every streetlight and its
associated attributes (address, road width, distance
between each light pole, pole heights, etc.) within
CAD and GIS environments. Local specialists working
to optimize street lightning energy consumption
and reduce light pollution can rely now on a solid
information base upon to carry out their analysis.
The use of the laser scanner with digital imagery and
GPS, as well as the ability to create GIS and CAD data
deliverables, is a good example of the increasing role
of technology integration. The integrated approach
increases overall throughput by avoiding manual
data entry in the office and provides additional opportunities for utilizing the field data. For example, it
is possible to use the database as a road graph layer
or represent graphically the terrain and its features.
In 2012-2013, during the first phase (about 14
months of actual work) the survey was carried out
manually with handheld devices. Gemmlab’s team
identified 36,233 streetlights within 33 municipalities. The integrated survey solution doubled that
daily productivity. In early 2014 the new survey
approach involved five towns: in about 35 days of
work between April and June the operators covered
an average of 110 km per day, collected 7,441 points
and approximately 575 Gb of data. The work represents an increase of 20 percent over the estimates
of 5,980 points made by the municipalities. In addition
to bringing speed and higher precision, the solution
provides the ability to retroactively verify data as well
as increases the safety of the operators in the field.
The project is ongoing. Thanks to a combination of
strategic planning and a unique technological vision,
Giovanni Manta and his team expect to survey all the
streetlights of the towns included within the SEAP
by the end of 2014. In about seven months of work,
they will collect the same number of points that
once took more than a year to complete. The census
will provide authorities with data deliverables that
will help the implementation of sustainable policies
at a local level and will eventually foster European
Union’s commitment to a 20-percent reduction of
CO2 emissions by 2020.
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Picture Perfect
An imaging rover delivers solid results on a complex project.
W
eaving through the Miami suburbs, the Cutler Drain
canal system was built in the 1960s to provid drainage and water management in south Florida. Owned
by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the
Cutler is made up of several individual canals and comprises
22 km (13.5 mi) of navigable waterways that support fishing
and small boats.
One of the canals, the C-100A, runs though residential areas
and includes two small lakes. Over the decades erosion and
wear have caused changes to the canal, resulting in sloughing
and changes to the shape of the canal, and the District wants
to be sure that it is not creeping out of its right-of-way.
To solve the problem, the District is developing plans to rehabilitate the canal to bring it back to its original design. Planning
the rehabilitation calls for detailed information on the C-100A
canal itself and how it relates to the properties that lie along
its path. To gather the information, SFWMD Surveying and
Mapping Administrator Rick Barnes called on GCY, Inc., a Florida
professional surveying and mapping firm to survey 6.1 km (3.8 mi)
of the C-100A canal and surrounding properties. According to
GCY president George (Chappy) Young, GCY was required to
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survey key cadastral points in the 21 subdivisions that front
the canal and develop a map of the canal right-of-way as well
as profiles and cross sections of the canal. In addition, GCY
needed to provide locations of all improvements and planted
landscaping in the right-of-way, its adjoining maintenance
easement and within 3 m (10 ft) of the easement.
It would not be an easy project. “It’s a challenging area for this
type of surveying,” Barnes noted. “It’s all residential with a great
deal of fences, improvements and landscaping. There’s a huge
number of things to locate and not a lot of room to work in.”
GCY planned to use a Trimble R10 GNSS receiver connected
to the Trimble VRS Now™ service for locating improvements in
the more than 250 back yards along the canal. But the volume
of information encouraged them to look for a faster approach.
Young and GCY Vice President Pete Andersen decided to use a
Trimble V10 Imaging Rover to speed up the work. The Trimble
V10 works by capturing 360° panoramic images that can be
used to precisely measure the surrounding environment. GCY
opted to integrate the V10 with a Trimble R10. Alternatively,
they could mount a prism atop the rover to capture the
rover’s position with a total station. The panoramic images
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are processed using photogrammetry techniques built into
Trimble Business Center (TBC) software.
“The Trimble V10 equipment utilized in that environment could
reduce our field labor time,” Young said. “Any time we can reduce
our field labor cost—even at the expense of possibly increasing the
time in the office—the comparison is an advantage.”
GCY assigned two crews to the field work. Moving from one
back yard to the next locating all the improvements, they
quickly found that the imaging rover could radically speed
up the work. Rather than collecting individual points using
RTK, the crews could shoot photographs from a few locations.
Because the V10 uses the same field software and workflow as
Trimble GNSS and total stations, images could be captured with
no additional time or steps. Without the need to walk to each
object, a crew could complete a backyard in minutes. “When
we did our estimate on the location of improvements, we
figured it would take nearly two hours per lot per crew,” Young
said. “But it turned out to be more like 20 minutes per lot.”
At the end of each week, the crews returned to Palm City and
downloaded their data to the TBC computer. A CAD technician
used the TBC photogrammetry module to automatically detect
and generate tie points and register multiple photos into a
single model. From there, technicians could “survey in the
office” to develop coordinates for points, lines and polygons.
Descriptors for the individual improvements were assigned
from the same feature code library used by the field crews. To
check the accuracy of their work, the GCY teams measured
check points that would be easy to identify in the photos. The
accuracy of the photo-derived points consistently met the
project requirements.
Lucas Young operates the Trimble V10 Imaging Rover and Trimble R10 GNSS
along the C-100A canal. Young needed only seconds to capture RTK position and
360° panoramic images.
In two months of work, the two crews used the imaging rover
to collect roughly 98 percent of the needed information. As the
fieldwork for locations wound down, the crews filled in missing
data and completed cleanup and checking on the improvement
locations. GCY used TBC to prepare an assortment of deliverables
including hardcopy drawings and softcopy CAD files.
Even before the work wound down on the C-100A, Young and
Andersen began to identify new projects for their V10. “I think
it would be perfect for ALTA surveys,” Andersen said. He said
other applications could include pre-pour verification for
concrete forms.
Young is proud of his company’s ability to invest in new technologies. As a new technology comes along, Young looks at
it to compare potential productivity gains to the cost of the
equipment. He’s confident that their investment in the V10 will
turn out well. While the savings in field time are somewhat offset by increased work in the office, the technology has already
produced a significant net gain. And the ability to use photos
to measure additional features without returning the field will
provide long-term benefits.
Panoramic images were downloaded and processed in Trimble Business Center
software. The software displays locations of photo stations and tie points;
individual points can be selected and computed as needed.
Young compared the Trimble V10 with his company’s past
investments in early GPS systems. “There’s an advantage to each
acquisition,” he said. “You can’t be afraid of investing in innovation and new technology. Looking at the dollar investment in
the V10 and what it’s already done for us, it’s been a no-brainer.”
See the original article in xyHt, Sept. 2014: www.xyHt.com
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With the arrival of the first-ever laser scanner, and
graduates’ laser scanning expertise, Uzbekistan
may finally be able to survey, inventory and map
all of Uzbekistan’s many historical monuments,
such as Khiva’s city walls, shown here.
Photo credit: Bela Markus.
Masters of Education
I
t might not have made headlines, but a small contingent
of Uzbekistan graduate students made academic history
in September.
Indeed, when these students took their seats in their respective classrooms, they became the faces of the country’s first
crop of students set to receive a Master of Science in Geoinformatics degree. For the first time ever, masters students
can now obtain this niche degree at three Uzbekistan universities: the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration
(TIIM), Tashkent’s National University of Uzbekistan (NUU)
and the Tashkent Architecture Building Institute (TABI). A
fourth partner university, the Karakalpak State University
(KSU) in Nukus, is developing a summer school program.
Funded through the European Union’s TEMPUS program,
which supports the modernization of higher education in
non-EU countries through university cooperation projects,
the two-year masters program will provide a comprehensive
course of study, as well as the opportunity to experience a
range of advanced geospatial technology and how such
tools can be used to address the country’s real-world issues.
“The entire geoinformatics masters program was designed
around a needs analysis from university department heads
and industry project partners who will potentially be major
employers of these graduates,” says professor Bela Markus,
a TEMPUS project manager and head of the Land and
GeoInformation Knowledge Center at the University of West
Hungary. “These graduates will be able to offer the most upto-date skills and knowledge of key spatial technology. We
see big potential for them.”
Pioneering Curriculum
A groundbreaking educational platform for Uzbekistan, the
Master of Science in Geoinformatics course combines a tradiTechnology&more
tional classroom structure with an online learning platform for
all teachers and students to use. The eight-pronged core curriculum incorporates best practices in the areas of GIS, remote
sensing, geospatial technology, data acquisition, spatial analysis,
field work, geodatabase management and visualization.
Each university also established a new GIS computing lab to
serve as a learning system extension for the masters students’
research and field work.
Teacher training began in earnest in June 2013 and several
targeted training sessions were conducted in Hungary, Tashkent and Salzburg with support from the European partners.
To supplement classroom teaching with hands-on learning
of up-to-date geospatial tools, the project partners issued
an RFP to equip all four partner universities with needed
technology. In October 2013 they selected Trimble to supply
geospatial/surveying equipment and initial training.
New Perspectives
In March 2014, Trimble delivered eight total stations, four
GNSS rovers and base stations, several handheld GPS units,
one laser scanner, eight automatic levels, eight laser distance
measurement devices, and field and office software for the
first two-week teacher training session in Tashkent.
Professors from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm led the training, splitting their time between classroom
instruction and hands-on field workshops. They began with
the newest “toys:” the Trimble TX5 3D laser scanner and the
Trimble R4 GNSS rover.
After learning the proper installation and setup procedures,
the teachers were given the opportunity to scan the cafeteria
building on TIIM’s campus. Back in the GIS lab, they learned
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Uzbeki educators work with a Trimble R4 GNSS rover.
The training included a field workshop with the Trimble M3 total station.
Along with urban sprawl there has been constant construction of homes, buildings, roads and bridges but there have
not been adequate resources to plan, monitor and manage
all of this development. Graduates can help provide the
geospatial foundation needed to better prepare and execute
needed development.
how to use Trimble RealWorks® software to process the image data into point clouds and how to understand, analyze
and integrate the 3D information.
With the Trimble R4 GNSS receivers and Trimble Slate
controllers, the hands-on training focused on surveying a
range of features around the campus and using Trimble
Business Center survey software to successfully post-process
the data.
Due to excessive pressure on its land and water resources,
Uzbekistan is struggling with the detrimental consequences
of land degradation and water shortages. Masters graduates
have the opportunity to use geospatial information and
application techniques to help map soil erosion and salinity,
plan irrigation networks for agriculture and water resource
management.
In addition to the laser scanning and GNSS exercises, the
teachers were taken to a variety of locations to test and
learn the features of the Trimble M3 total station and the
Trimble DiNi digital levels. However, since the initial training
session was relatively short, teachers will have continual opportunities to learn the new technology through additional
training sessions and on their own time as the equipment
will be housed in the GIS labs.
With the graduates’ laser scanning expertise, a long-standing
desire to survey, inventory and map all of Uzbekistan’s many
historical monuments may also become a reality.
Although it will be a few years before the partner universities
can gauge the success of the masters degree, being able to
witness the first-ever group of geoinformatics graduate students take their seats in September was its own triumph.
“The teachers were amazed by the 3D scanner and its ability to produce such powerful results so quickly,” says Odil
Akbarov, director of the Land Tenure Development Center
at TIIM. “They could immediately see how the scanner technology and GNSS will benefit many infrastructure issues the
country is facing.”
Real-world Opportunities
Indeed, the geoinformatics masters program was specifically
designed to match some of the core land, water, infrastructure and environment issues in Uzbekistan with a workforce
who can help resolve these challenges.
For example, as a developing country Uzbekistan faces significant pressure from urban sprawl as its population continues
to grow. Although efforts have been made to computerize
land registration, the lack of skilled professionals in digital
mapping and GIS has required this process to be done
manually. MSc graduates can fill this gap and help bring
automation to land management.
As part of their training, the educators created a point cloud of the TIIM
cafeteria building.
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Day in the Life
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Maximum Flexibility
A solo surveyor in South Africa keeps a major project on track.
W
hen the call came from a former employer, Stephan
van der Merwe immediately knew that he was
not looking at a simple project. The South African
National Roads Agency (SANRAL) was working to redevelop
the intersection of two major highways northeast of Durban.
Known as the Mt. Edgecombe interchange, it was a complex
job that would challenge van der Merwe’s abilities as a surveyor, consultant and innovator. He was up to the challenge.
Van der Merwe completed his studies to become a professional
land surveyor in 2002, graduating with a four-year degree from
the University of Natal, Durban. He then joined MHP Geomatics
in Durban, where he worked under the supervision of a professional land surveyor. “At MHP, I completed the training and
experience required to write the exam and become registered
as a professional land surveyor,” he said. “Over four years, it
provided me with good experience in all the different aspects
of land surveying.” His experience broadened when he spent
an additional four years working with a geomatics supplier
covering the southeastern part of the country. The work provided the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of several
Trimble technologies, which he would soon put to good use.
The next step was to begin his own practice. “I’d been itching to
put the technologies to use for myself,” van der Merwe said. He
developed a business model based around technologies that
enable him to handle all aspects of a project. It’s proven to be
a streamlined and effective approach that gets him involved in
different projects quickly. “My clients like the fact that they deal
with one person,” he said. “They know that their project is in safe
hands because every phase is handled by the same individual.”
On the Mt. Edgecombe project, van der Merwe works as a subcontractor to MHP, which serves as the surveying consultant for
SANRAL. SANRAL hired a construction contractor to build the
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new bridges, ramps and structures, and the contractor provides
its own survey teams. Van der Merwe’s job is to check their work
on positions and elevations for new structures as well as verify
earthworks quantities. He provides his results and reports to
MHP. The day-to-day work on the project provides challenges
in logistics, surveying and human interaction.
The logistics can be daunting. Construction documents require
that the new interchange, which joins South Africa’s N2 national
freeway with the four-lane M41 highway, be constructed while
keeping all traffic lanes open. For safety reasons, workers are
not allowed to walk across the highways. Simply moving from
one part of the project to another (the two highways divide the
site into quadrants) requires advance planning. “It’s very tricky
to get in and around sites when you need to set up on control
points or measure for resections,” van der Merwe said. “You can’t
just quickly cross the road.” He described one situation that
requires him to drive 10 km (6 mi) to move between two points
that are 30 m (100 ft) apart but in different quadrants. Part of
his daily routine involves finding ways to manage his control
and setups to reduce the need to travel while still meeting the
demands for prompt checking of the contractor’s surveying
and construction work.
To handle the surveying tasks, van der Merwe uses a Trimble
S8 total station and Trimble R4 GNSS rover with a TSC3 controller running Trimble Access software. He doesn’t need a
base station, because all his work takes place in areas covered
by South Africa’s TrigNet real-time network. As a solo surveyor,
van der Merwe makes heavy use of his total station’s robotic
capabilities. He said that his most important piece of hardware
is his MultiTrack prism, which makes sure that the S8 only locks
onto his prisms. “On a site with multiple survey crews, it’s been
a great help,” he said.
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As the project proceeds, van der Merwe is looking forward
to a new challenge. The interchange includes a new bridge
that will be the longest incrementally launched bridge in
South Africa. The horizontal bridge structure is constructed in
segments on site and pushed (or launched) over the road to
its piers. The shape is complex—the bridge follows horizontal
and vertical curves and has a superelevation to provide for the
designed traffic speed. During a segment push, van der Merwe
and the contractor surveyor will be set up on independent
benchmarks. They will make sure that the bridge is following
the correct trajectory and monitor the piers to watch for any
unexpected deflection. The bridge’s complex geometry makes
computations tricky—van der Merwe expects that he will
come up with new methods for monitoring the trajectory of
the segments.
Van der Merwe said that working alongside the contractor’s
surveyors is a valuable experience. “On projects similar to this
it’s not unusual to encounter some disagreements between
the consultant surveyors like me and the contractor’s surveyors,” van der Merwe said. “My strategy is to stick to the data and
let everything else fall in line with that. It’s worked out very well
in that regard. For example, they appreciate me checking their
work on major structures, because it provides an additional
check that a bridge won’t be built askew. So from that point of
view it works well. When it comes to earthwork quantity there
have been a few frustrating moments, but we work through
any differences. There’s a good energy happening.”
On the jobsite, no two days are the same for van der Merwe.
He may have a general idea of what he’ll be doing at the start
of the day, but flexibility is key. Tasks like pre-pour checking of
concrete formwork are often scheduled in advance. But a lot
of smaller things have less notice. “In many aspects I feel like a
firefighter who’s on standby; when the phone rings you’ve got
to be in your gear and ready to go,” he said.
Van der Merwe credits his success to his flexibility. “I think it’s a
mindset to do things differently,” he said. “You’ve got to have an
innovative way of thinking. Fortunately for me, the technology
is there to help satisfy my mindset that there’s always a better
way to do something.”
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Capturing Amache’s
Life Story
Amache’s last standing structure is surrounded by flags marking locations of artifacts.
E
very other summer since 2008, Bonnie Clark has brought
students and volunteers to the Amache Japanese
American WWII internment camp in southeastern
Colorado to hold history in their hands.
Although four field seasons have yielded thousands of remnants of the internees confined experience, the teams’ ability
to spatially connect their findings has garnered the most significant fruit: the ability to write the collective life story of the
former camp.
“Every field study brings us new insight into how the internees
adapted under duress,” says Clark, associate professor at the
University of Denver’s (DU) department of anthropology.
“However, all of the objects we have discovered would lack any
context without the ability to accurately map their as-found
location with GPS technology. The ability to map allows us to
see activity in space. For example, finding four marbles within a
mess hall garden tells us that this was a play area for kids. Those
connections are key to accurately documenting the internees’
experience at Amache.”
Teachable Moments
Opened in late August 1942, Amache was located 1 mile
(1.6 km) outside the small town of Granada, about four
hours south of Denver. One of 10 such internment camps,
Amache’s 1-mile-square (2.6 km2) core contained 29 barracks
blocks, each of which contained 12 barracks, a recreational
hall, a mess hall and a combined bath house and latrine. At
its peak, Amache housed just over 7,300 detainees; by the
time it closed in October 1945, more than 10,000 people of
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Japanese descent had passed through the camp.
Today, barbed wire still rings the central camp area, along with
most building foundations, and remnant landscaping created
by Amache internees, including living trees they planted. As
one of the most well-preserved relocation camps in the U.S.,
Amache offers untold treasures to archaeologists and historians. Clark’s crew strives to identify and protect as many as they
can, and to share their research findings through interpretive
displays for the many visitors drawn to this National Historic
Landmark.
To achieve that goal, as well as to provide hands-on teaching
moments to students, Clark launched a four-week, intensive,
archaeological field school in 2008. Since then, 39 undergraduate
and graduate students and 25 volunteers—many of whom
are former internees—have contributed to the digging and
surveying at Amache.
According to Clark, the intense timeline coupled with 29 city
blocks to survey, graduate student-led teams and temperatures that regularly rise above 100° F (38° C), has made Trimble
GPS technology a critical element for their success.
Locating and Mapping Life
The 2014 field season brought a mixed crew of 17 to Amache
to predominantly focus on 3 unexplored barracks blocks.
Clark used existing control points to establish control with
the GeoXH™ 6000 handheld, and to confirm the validity of
the GPS data, she tested the accuracy of the data at a range
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of observation times. At 90 seconds, the accuracy over a stationary
point was 10 cm (0.3 ft)—sufficient for their research and, most importantly, their time crunch.
By 6:30 each morning teams were in the field. Walking at 2-m (6-ft)
intervals, they meticulously searched the ground for artifacts such as
shoe heels, porcelain pieces, shards of glass, or remnants of toys, as well
as features of interest such as sidewalks, activity areas or landscaping.
When they found an object, they marked it with a pin flag—it was not
atypical to have 200 flags clustered in one block. Once the block was
flagged out, the crew then returned to collect data on each item. At
each flag, one person analyzed the item, while another photographed
and logged it, and the third recorded its exact coordinates with the
GPS handheld.
Students comb the fields in search of artifacts.
Each afternoon the graduate student supervisors performed quality
control on the GPS data and uploaded it to a colleague off-site who
used Trimble GPS Pathfinder® Office software to further perform
quality control and post process the information. He exported the
data into GIS software to create user-friendly maps, enabling them to
visualize their findings and plan more field work.
By the end of the field season, Clark and her teams had surveyed 3
blocks, bringing the total explored blocks to 21. They identified,
documented and mapped about 500 artifacts and 50 features with
the Trimble GPS devices.
Singular Stories, One Collective Experience
With each new find, they dug a little deeper into the 7,000 personal
stories scattered across the wind-swept terrain.
A usu, used to pound mochi, a sweet sticky rice traditionally prepared
for the New Year.
Stories such as those undoubtedly left in what remains of a sumo ring,
found in a noticeably flat area within an otherwise rolling topography.
Referencing that against oral history and photographs, Zachary
Starke, whose thesis research focuses on traditions practiced in camp,
was certain they had found the ring.
There is the back-story to a handful of small childrens’ toys, including
a handmade, miniature glass pitcher lying in the thick sand next to
a Christian church—glass work they had not seen before—leading
them to believe it was a make-shift play area similar to a sand box.
A significant surprise of the season was the remains of what Clark’s
crew believes was a laundry line, a rarity in the camp. Positioned
behind one of the barracks were lumber, wire and buttons. Further
convincing evidence was the oral history from a gentleman whose
mother had asked him to collect lumber for a line from a nearby
construction area. The laundry line remains were found behind the
barracks in which he lived.
Bonnie Clark uses the Trimble handheld while student Coby Main digs.
Clark will have to wait until the next field school to uncover more of the
Amache story. Until then, she will continue to connect the spatial dots
of life left at and under her feet to weave together a dignified example
of the human spirit at a decidedly undignified time in American history.
See feature article in The American Surveyor, Sept. 2014:
www.amerisurv.com
Excavated remains of a Japanese bath called a “furo.”
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New
Deliverables in
Transportation
Information
Mobile systems combine images with LiDAR and positioning data.
G
eospatial information has long played a key role in transportation. Historically, mapping and surveying applications
for design and construction of transportation infrastructure
have expanded to include the use of spatial data in corridor
planning and optimization as well as construction inspection and
quality control.
Today, transportation operators can make even wider use of
geospatial information. Spatial data is combined with information
about fixed and mobile assets and shared via in-house and Cloudbased applications. Decisions and activities on maintenance, repair
and lifecycle management can be made using accurate, up-to-date
information. And a new set of deliverables—asset performance—
can provide the basis for improving an organization’s financial and
operational health.
Georeferenced images are essential for transportation planning and
construction.
Many of the traditional functions of geospatial information have
experienced radical changes. For example, aerial photography has
been extended to include airborne digital mapping systems that
can combine digital photographs with LiDAR. Tools such as Trimble
eCognition® object-based image analysis software automates the
work of identifying and extracting objects and features in an image
or point cloud.
With airborne data in hand, planners can assess potential routes
for new transportation corridors. It’s a complex process that blends
topography and environmental concerns with socioeconomic
aspects including land ownership, historic preservation and
urban constraints. Alignment planning solutions such as Trimble
Quantm® software enable planners to analyze and balance technical and social issues as well as control costs for construction,
operation and maintenance.
As transportation infrastructure moves into construction phases,
geospatial technologies take a more familiar role and 2D and
3D grade-control systems provide important productivity gains.
GNSS and total stations produce precise data for positioning, quality control and reporting. In addition to heavy civil construction,
geospatial technologies have moved into building construction.
Design-build systems utilize building information management
(BIM) and modern construction techniques for stations, maintenance facilities and support buildings. Solutions such as Tekla®
and Trimble Vico speed planning and construction by providing
constructability analysis and estimation in a virtual construction
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Imaging adds new capabilities to construction measurements.
Images and advanced software can cut costs and increase safety for
bridge inspection.
Rapid, precise measurement cuts cost and downtime in track maintenance.
In-vehicle displays deliver status and work orders to mobile workers.
environment and robotic total stations help ensure accurate
layout and installation.
organizations are blending geospatial information into their
operations management and enterprise resource planning. For
example, fleet operators use routing and scheduling systems to
improve asset utilization, reduce fuel consumption and control
overall transportation costs. In addition to route optimization,
fleet management solutions can track operator performance
and manage information ranging from scheduled maintenance
to the emergence of mechanical problems.
Once the buildings and infrastructure are in place, transportation agencies turn to maintenance and operations. In working
with assets that have service lifetimes measured in decades, the
lifecycle activities use geospatial technologies to help maximize
performance and control costs. Faced with long lifecycles, aging
infrastructure and limited funding, transportation agencies
must make complex decisions on repair, upgrades or replacement of their facilities and assets. By using an array of geospatial
information, planners can set priorities for repair, remodeling
and replacement.
For example, bridge inspectors must follow established protocols to collect information that provides a consistent picture
of a structure over time. Digital forms running on rugged field
computers help gather accurate information, which can be
quickly checked and recorded into maintenance and planning
databases. Visual information is important for inspections as
well. Imaging systems such as the Trimble V10 Imaging Rover
enable engineers to capture large volumes of information on a
structure. The rover captures high-resolution panoramic images
that can be georeferenced using GNSS or optical methods. In
the office, Trimble Business Center software uses the images
and photogrammetric processes to produce the individual
points, objects and dimensions needed for detailed analyses.
For inspection or cataloging of larger areas, geospatial professionals can use aerial and land-based mapping systems to
gather images and LiDAR data to produce 3D information along
transportation corridors.
To this point, we’ve looked at how geospatial systems support
the work of the people who create and maintain transportation
infrastructure. But there is another, much larger group of people
who also benefit from geospatial systems in transportation.
Geospatial Information and the Transportation Enterprise
While the creation and lifecycle management of transportation
infrastructure is essential, we must remember that transportation infrastructure exists to enable the movement of people
and goods. In addition to the general public, this “user segment”
includes public and private organizations such as bus lines,
trucking and freight companies, and railway operators. Many
New Deliverables for Transportation
When discussing geospatial technology as a measurement tool,
most people think of it as measuring positions and dimensions
in two or three dimensions. But geospatial systems support other tangible types of measurement. By combining positions with
data such as time, driver logs, inventories, vehicle information
and customer feedback, an organization can develop a detailed
picture on the activities and productivity of its assets and human
resources. This ability to measure performance is one of the
most important new deliverables of geospatial technologies.
For example, many organizations may not understand the myriad of sources that contribute to operating costs. With detailed
data in hand, an organization can gain a deeper understanding
of its cost structure. By analyzing and modeling the information,
it’s possible to identify opportunities to reduce cost or introduce more efficient work processes. Then, as new processes are
implemented, the results can be quickly measured to gauge
the accuracy of the model and effectiveness of the change.
In an era of rising cost and constrained revenues, even small
improvements in performance can affect the bottom line. This
ability to quantify details of business operations illustrates a
unique capability of geospatial technology—it can measure the
impact it has on an operation.
Geospatial information can be used to improve efficiency in
the development, operation and use of transportation infrastructure. Data from the same systems that helped facilitate
the improvements can be used to determine how well they
are working. By serving as the hub for this cycle of measure-improve-remeasure, geospatial technologies become the driver
for continuous improvement in the transportation sector.
See the original article in Geospatial World, May 2014:
www.geospatialworld.net
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Technology&more
technology&more
Automatic by Nature
eCognition Automates Vegetation Mapping
E
very day, when Europe’s roughly 12 million farmers step
onto their fields, they face a challenging duality: produce
enough crops to feed some 500 million people and equally
protect the environment.
To aid European farmers in this challenge, the European Union
(EU) established the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), which
provides agricultural subsidies and other financial programs to
support both farmers and the landscapes on which they work.
As the farming and consumer populations have grown, so too
have the CAP’s financial obligations—payments to farmers are
estimated to reach more than € 277 billion (US$ 372 billion) in
2014—and its need to sufficiently manage the program.
To help it meet its daunting mandates, the EU adopted an Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) to improve the
efficiency and accuracy of aid applications for direct CAP payments to farmers. These direct payments are targeted rewards
for both crop production and meeting “cross-compliance” rules,
which stipulate efficient agricultural practices aimed at pre-serving
biodiversity, soil quality and the environment in general.
To comply with IACS, member states need to create geodatabases that uniquely identify each farmer, their individual
parcels of agricultural holdings and aid applications specific to
each parcel. A critical element of IACS is that states develop a
Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) to accurately map their
agricultural land at a very high resolution, as well as classify
Technology&more
all vegetative features on each parcel by type and height.
Without an LPIS, states cannot apply for CAP aid payments;
and without a way to effectively archive and update the information to ensure claims can be validated, farmers and states
risk financial penalties.
With deadlines looming, and significant subsidies on offer,
Germany’s RLP AgroScience saw the opportunity to use
advanced spatial technology to automate this monumental
task in order to help its local authorities meet the EU’s requirements. Using available aerial imagery, digital surface models
and image analysis software, RLP AgroScience created an
operational system that completely automates the process of
mapping and classifying vegetation. Developed in conjunction with local authorities, the automated system allows for
the quick production of precise, standardized classification
datasets—the root layer of the vegetative features in the LPIS.
The first of its kind in Germany, RLP AgroScience’s system has
not only proven that large-scale, automated and repeatable
landscape-feature classification is possible, it has the operational
seeds to possibly grow this system beyond its regional borders.
Perfect Timing
A non-profit institute owned by the Federal State of RhinelandPalatinate, RLP Agro-Science, based in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse,
has been undertaking applied research in the areas of agriculture
and the environment for more than 20 years.
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One of its particular focuses has been on developing a methodology to automatically map and classify vegetation using
geospatial imagery and Trimble’s eCognition software—a
solution that was timed perfectly to help the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Agriculture prepare for the demands of IACS.
Under IACS, state authorities need to map their landscapes well
enough that they can prove—from their computer screen—
that any farmer’s aid claim is accurate. This requires that every
bush and tree on the ground has its geospatial counterpart in
the LPIS.
For the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Agriculture, that meant
inventorying and classifying individual vegetative features
across 19,000 sq. km (7,336 sq. mi)—a volume of vegetation that
wouldn’t be feasible to classify with manual digitization methods, jeopardizing their ability to meet application deadlines.
“Manual digitization is not only incredibly tedious, it’s subjective—15 people can interpret the same object 15 different
ways—and is prone to error,” said Dr. Matthias Trapp, RLP
Agro-Science’s head of environmental systems. “With eCognition’s objective image analysis, we can create standardized,
reproducible results in a fraction of the time. Its speed, accuracy
and data flexibility allowed our small team of image analysts to
develop a fully automated, and repeatable large-scale vegetation mapping system at no additional data cost to the ministry.”
An Exercise in Keystrokes
Aptly titled “ALEK,” (Automatic Landscape Feature Classification),
RLP AgroScience’s automated classification system combines
customized eCognition and ESRI workflows to classify and
map the entire region. Using existing 20-cm-resolution, orthorectified aerial images and digital surface models, eCognition
methodically and automatically analyzes the imagery to
identify and separate vegetation from non-vegetation.
Based on physical properties and pre-defined, region-specific
rules, it then determines each vegetation type such as trees or
hedgerows. And finally, it delineates each vegetative object
and produces georeferenced vector datasets of all classified
vegetation. Those vector classifications are then ingested into
ESRI ArcGIS to create EU-compliant data for the local ministry
of agriculture’s LPIS.
With the ALEK system, RLP AgroScience was able to precisely classify and map the entire 19,000-square-kilometer
Rhineland-Palatinate region in 3 months. The system significantly reduced the time, resources and costs that would have
been needed to manually produce the required datasets. (RLP
AgroScience estimated it would have needed 15 full-time
technicians and a full year to manually digitize that volume
of vegetation).
The map indicates the Rhineland Palatinate region mapped using ALEK.
applications for CAP aid on time. And with ALEK’s repeatable
platform, RLP AgroScience has the ability to quickly integrate
new data, run new classifications and allow for any unexpected
CAP-compliance rules issued by the EU.
Although a number of elements were key to creating its
successful solution, it is perhaps the reliability of a consistent
vegetation-mapping system within the highly variable nature
of agriculture that has enabled the operational ALEK solution to
take root in Rhineland-Palatinate. And as it grows, it may begin to
deliver crops of classifications to other EU regions as well.
See the original article in POB, Sept. 2014: www.pobonline.com
A true-color image from eCognition distinguishes different types of vegetation.
By transforming months of manual classification work into an
automated exercise in keystrokes, RLP AgroScience is enabling
the local authorities to build their landscape feature layers of
the EU-required LPIS, verify farmers’ claims and submit accurate
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Hedge
Vegetation < 50 m2
Tree Row
Orchard / Fruit Tree
Grove / Coppice
Overhanging Vegetation
Individual Tree
Forest
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technology&more
Rapid Return
A project in England sets a new standard in railway renewal.
T
he highly traveled section between Warrington
and Preston of the UK’s West Coast Mainline rail
corridor required the renewal of three miles (five
km) of track among four major junctions. In an intensive,
nine-day continuous spell, the Innovation Team at Network Rail completed the work almost 16 months earlier
than proposed—and avoided disrupting rail travel. More
importantly, Network Rail, the organization that runs,
maintains and develops Britain’s rail systems, achieved this
considerable feat by grading the sites with machine control; reduced tamping runs using real-time data; shared all
data across work processes; and monitored and recorded
track movement data via video. What’s more, the work set
a new standard in the UK for switch and crossing renewal:
at the time of handback, or return to service, trains could
operate at 130 km/h (80 mph), a 60-percent increase over
the normal 80 km/h (50 mph) handback speed.
As a long-term user of machine control for rail work, Track
Engineer Colin McAteer applied a single-mast 3D Trimble
GCS900 3D Grade Control System on site dozers—a
relatively new way to work in switch and crossing and
line renewal. McAteer and his team were confident
that the single-mast system would be sufficient for the
dozer operators to dig the formation and place ballast at
+/-15mm (0.6 in) precision using GNSS or at +/- 5mm (0.2 in)
with a Trimble Universal Total Station (UTS). The switch
from antenna to prism could be made in just 10 minutes.
The single-mast systems were run off a single Trimble
Technology&more
GNSS base station, which kept costs down. “The quality of
the GNSS positioning meant that we could position the
rail panels within 15 millimeters of final position and, in
fact, only needed to tamp once, saving us much-needed
time,” McAteer stated.
Trimble’s GEDO Vorsys pre-measurement system also
reduced tamping runs. The solution utilizes two trackmounted trolleys working together, one with a Trimble
S-Series total station and the other with the prism and
control unit. The trolley sensors measure the gauge
(distance between the running edge of the rails) and the
cant (superelevation of the track), and continually transfer
the data wirelessly to a Trimble TSC3 Controller. GEDO
Vorsys field software running on the TSC3 combines the
data from the sensors with 3D positions from the total
station to enable real-time data to be displayed live in
the field. This solution provides the high level of accuracy
required by the railway industry with operational speed
and flexibility.
Measurements are made using georeferenced control
points positioned along the track. Since the full track
design geometry is stored in the TSC3, GEDO Vorsys
field software can calculate and display the lift and slew
values to final design, the cant and gauge information,
and all the significant points where the track geometry
changes—a substantial time and accuracy advantage
over manual recording.
-22-
“Trimble Vorsys doubled our sampling rate and halved our survey time,” McAteer explained. “We could sample every
5 meters (16 ft) compared to every 10 meters (33 ft) with pegs. We were therefore easily surveying 500- to 600-meter
(1600- to 1900-ft) stretches in just 40 minutes rather than the half-day-plus it would have taken with traditional methods.”
Additionally, the speed raiser report, which included horizontal and vertical tolerances along with twist and gauge
parameters, provided an extra level of confidence that allowed the handback engineer to open the track at 130 km/h
(80 mph).
“The ballast and formation data is prepared in Trimble Business Center software as is the root data that goes into
Vorsys,” McAteer explained. “TBC also allowed us to visualize the design beforehand with the drive-through function,
which enabled us to spot issues on the DTM.”
This combination of interchangeable technologies proved to be ideal on Network Rail’s corridor job. “Our engineers
are all working from the same design data and using the same software interface whether they are carrying out a
grade check or an as-built survey,” McAteer said. “This brings familiarity, which means the team can skip between tasks
seamlessly. There is no additional training required and that cuts site downtime and improves the quality of work.
The precise efforts and rail work process advancements allowed construction to wrap up quickly. After the track
reopened, independent monitoring provided a clear indication that the track was behaving normally under load—a
prime consideration in the decision to go with an 80-mph opening. The track achieved full operating speeds of
110 mph (180 kph) in just 7 days. “We pushed the barriers,” McAteer said, “and thanks to a combination of great
systems, great people and great teamwork, we delivered the UK’s first-ever 80-mph handback.”
See the article in xyHt, October 2014. www.xyht.com
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Technology&more
technology&more
technology&more
A Fast
Flow of
Data
technology&more
I
f you need some information about the water and sewer
system in Southaven, Mississippi, ask Ray Humphrey. He’s
the one person who knows everything about Southaven’s
pipes, pumps, manholes, meters and valves.
To provide precise navigation for its field technicians, Southaven uses a Trimble GeoExplorer® 6000 series GNSS handheld
and Trimble TerraSync™ software. The real-time precision of the
Trimble handheld aids crews in locating crucial valves buried
by landscaping or in flooded intersections.
The City of Southaven lies just across the border from Memphis,
Tennessee. From 2000 to 2010, suburban expansion and the strong
Memphis economy helped Southaven to grow from 29,000
to 49,000 residents. Along with the growth came new and
expanded infrastructure including roads, utilities, and recreational amenities.
Southaven’s Utilities Division is planning to share the benefits
of its new solution. The city’s fire department can utilize information on fire hydrants, valves and flow rates. Engineers can
use the data to identify areas of inflow and infiltration into the
sewers. And the accurate position information is invaluable for
the utility technicians who respond to 10 to 15 requests for
utility field locations each day.
As director of the Southaven Utilities Division, Humphrey
oversees the operation and maintenance of the water and
sewer system that serves roughly 45,000 people in the city’s
88 sq. km (34 sq. mi). With his deep knowledge of the Division’s
facilities and operations, Humphrey recognized that the city
and its residents would benefit from a GIS-based approach to
help locate and manage the utility system assets.
Humphrey expects rapid payback and long-term benefits from
the GIS and Trimble GeoXH 6000 handheld. “Knowing what
you have and where it is in real time is invaluable,” he said. “We
can easily share accurate information across departments and
throughout the city.”
See the original article in POB, Aug. 2014: www.pobonline.com
Humphrey knew that GIS could assist the city in two ways.
First, Southaven would maintain accurate, up-to-date data on
its water and sewer facilities. Second, the information would
be immediately available to people who need it, within and
outside of the Utilities Division. The city teamed with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in a joint effort to produce
a comprehensive study of the city’s water and sewer systems.
Southaven contracted local consulting firm Civil-Link to gather
data and implement a GIS on nearly 25,000 valves, meters and
manholes. Civil-Link used data collected with Trimble R10 and
R6 GNSS systems to develop a GIS. Using feature libraries on
their Trimble TSC3 controllers, the teams captured data on
valves, meters, hydrants, manholes and pump stations.
Civil-Link crews send field data directly to the office for processing, quality control and transfer into Esri ArcMap software.
Civil-Link then developed a custom website for Southaven.
Using smartphones or tablets, Southaven Utilities Division staff
can log into the website to view maps and access information
in the field at any time.
Technology&more
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technology&more
technology&more
PHOTO CONTEST
technology&more
O
ur Facebook fans have spoken once again: after our editors chose the top three photos and posted them on
Facebook (www.facebook.com/TrimbleSurvey), our fans chose the top two winners. First place—and a Trimble
jacket—goes to “RTK on the Glafkos River,” Second place—and an iPod Shuffle—goes to “Trimble Sunrise.” See
the other prize-winning options, and be part of the action: check out Trimble Survey Division on Facebook for the next
issue’s photo contest winners, and vote for your choice.
“RTK on the Glafkos River”
Submitted by Andrew Mintzas, Civil Engineer. “I was helping a friend,
George Pachis, with a surveying project to define the Glafkos River, which
is the largest river in the area near the city of Patras, Greece. The two of us
did the entire job in RTK mode. We used two Trimble R10 GNSS receivers,
one as a base station and one as a rover, plus a TSC3 controller, for three
days, two Trimble total stations for two days, and took about one more
week to finish and process the project. We always had 15 to 20 satellites
(GPS and GLONASS) in view. The photo is of one of the many small steps
over which the river flows on its way from Mount Panachaikon to the Gulf
of Patras and the Ionian Sea.
”Trimble Sunrise”
Lewis Taylor captured this image on Memorial Day 2014 on Folly Beach, South Carolina. “I am a professional civil engineer with
16 years experience and started a side photography business in 2013. A former co-worker and friend, Justin Brown, was starting
his own survey company, Anchored Surveying. Justin uses Trimble equipment for design surveys, ALTAs, flood certificates, and
layout/staking for contractors. He asked me to help him to get professional-quality marketing photos for his new website. I
chose several locations around the Charleston, SC area that we visited to set up his equipment for photo shoots. The first stop
was on Folly Beach at around 5 a.m. to catch the best light at sunrise for several photos. This photo was set up to have Justin
stand behind and look through the instrument. Before I had Justin step into the frame, I snapped this photograph as a test shot
and it turned out to be a great picture.”
Enter the Photo Contest for the next issue of T&m. Send your photo at 300-dpi resolution (10 x 15 cm or 4 x 6 in) to
[email protected]. Be sure to include your name, title and contact information.
-25-
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SHARE YOUR STORY IN TECHNOLOGY&MORE
Each issue of Technology&more includes stories about
people who use unique and innovative approaches to
solve challenging problems. Whether you work in the
big city or back country; on large or small projects; at
a factory, farm or construction site, tell us about your
work—and we may share it with others.
If you’d like to be profiled in Technology&more, please
send us a brief paragraph highlighting your story. Include
your name, contact info and a photo or two. Send your
information to [email protected]. We look
forward to hearing from you and potentially spotlighting
your story in Technology&more.
Third place photo contest winner “Canyon
Vision” taken in Mohave County, Arizona, US
by Clifton Clark.
To subscribe to Technology&more (it’s free!), go to: www.trimble.com/tmmag.
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