As traffic jam is getting a bad reality in our times, realistic information on the traffic situation together with optimized routing to reduce overall waiting time on the trip become more and more valuable all over the world. But how to vlaidate, if the information provided is reliable and trutsworthy? On the first look, this sounds easy, but as truth is in the details, a lot of hurdles have to be passed for a successful finish.

It is a battle about resources, which is scarce and precious
It is about spectrum.
Stakes are high and consequences are serious.
When in January this year, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) gave conditional approval to LightSquared,
To roll out its ground based wireless network (4G).
GPS community got nervous.
As testing indicates that LightSquared’s ground-based transmissions
overpower the relatively weak GPS signal …

August 2011: 7th International Symposium on Digital Earth,
23 – 25 August 2011, Perth, Australia, Perth, Australia, www.isde7.net;

What has triggered the idea of National GIS?

The idea of National GIS (NGIS) has been driven by the needs of the Planning Commission, Government of India. The Planning Commission looks for lot of information which helps them in the process of planning. The need has been felt to integrate many of these information so that they can utilized effectively for various planning processes and applications.

Guidance and steering control systems that are now in widespread use by farmers for ploughing and cultivating the land with unprecedented accuracy, require centimetre-level position as well as attitude information accurate to a few degrees. Additionally, position and attitude update rate of no less than 10Hz is required for successful guidance in agricultural environments. Guidance and steering control systems rely particularly on heading and roll measurements to steer the tractor on parallel straight lines or curves known as plough lines.

A S (quasi-zenith satellite), which was anticipated to be the original Japanese positioning satellite, was launched in September, 2010. As an augmentation system of GNSS, two MTSATs had already been put into orbit and their main purpose is to broadcast the correction data for wide-area DGPS. This has actually improved the accuracy of wide area DGPS as a result of reception of the correction data from MSAS (MTSAT Satellite-based Augmentation System). The QZS also enhances the ranging function and it already has signal characteristics for the GNSS that are expected in the near future.

I think this is the right time for a National GIS. There are 2 major reasons why I think so. First, see how as a nation we are tremendously progressing and growing and this will grow manifold in the coming 5-10 years.

July 2011: Esa International Summer School on Navigation Satellite Systems 2011, 20 – 30 July, Berchtesgaden, Germany, Berchtesgaden, Germany, www.munich-satellie-navigation-summerschool.org

About a decade back, Many data providers of the Government of India Initiated the process of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). And the journey continued and still continues…
Now, a user department of the Government of India (Planning Commission) proposes The establishment of The National GIS.

A precise digital map is needed to perform lane recognition using carrier-based GNSS position information.