says Maj Gen M Gopal Rao, Surveyor General of India while discussing the vision, status and
direction of Survey of India.When Survey of India (SoI) had the basic role of meeting Defence needs
of mapping, it fulfi lled this national commitment with fl ying colours.
Defence and Security agencies primarily depend on the topographical
maps in every activity of planning their strategy.

Says Dr Irwin Itzkovitch, Assistant Deputy Minister,Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada
while discussing various aspects of Indo-Canada relationship in the field of Geomatics.Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) helps shape the important contribution
of Canada’s natural resources sector to our economy, society and
environment. The segments on which NRCan focuses are forestry,
energy, minerals and metals, and Earth sciences, including geomatics,
geoscience and related industries. Canada’s natural resources industries
are high-tech, innovative and growing.

GIOVE-A transmits first Galileo signals

The GIOVE-A satellite is in good health and started transmitting the
fi rst Galileo signals from medium earth orbit on 12 January.
GIOVE-A was placed in orbit (altitude 23,260 km) by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket
operated by Starsem on 28 December last from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

250 Village resources centres by March end

As many as 250 Village Resource Centres (VRCs), aimed at providing
locale-specifi c information to rural population by effectively using
satellite techonology, will be set up in the country by March end this year,
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

Digital Thailand to launch mapping service

A system has been developed to conduct satellite mapping specifically for Thailand. Starting in February,
Digital Thailand plans to begin distributing satellite maps on compact discs to interested public and students. Digital Thailand’s online map service, also being launched in February, also will be made available to the public.

Lockheed Martin GPS updates enhance system accuracy

Lockheed Martin has upgraded the software processing and modeling forthe Air Force’s Global Positioning System (GPS), enhancing the Air Force’s ability to monitor GPS satellites and improve system accuracy 10-15 percent for users worldwide. The recently completed update, named the Legacy Accuracy Improvement Initiative (L-AII), doubles the amount of navigation data collected and provided to Air Force operators.

Thales ProMark™3 reduces survey time

Thales has recently introduced ProMark3 with which surveyors can reduce their fi eld data collectiontime by up to 33%, saving critical time and resources that all add up to profi tability for surveyors. It is also the first all-in-one GPS survey solution in the industry to offer both centimeter accuracy in post-processing and GIS capabilities included in a single rugged package. It provides submeter, real-time accuracy using WAAS or EGNOS, centimeter level accuracy in post-processing,and keeps working even in urban canyons and dense foliage using optimized multi-path mitigation.

February 2006
International GIS Conference & Exhibition
13-15 February, Kuwait
http://www.gulfgis.com/

The interface
Seventy per cent of India lives in villages.
And villages mean not ‘big’ problems but very ‘basic’ problems.
Where the question is to fulfi ll the basic needs such as food and shelter.
Where access to clean water, education and health facilities itself is an issue.
Where there is a struggle for survival on a daily basis.

says K Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of …