GIS

Survey of India to use drones for mapping of villages in India

Survey of India (SoI) has now approval from DGCA for high definition aerial mapping of villages in India using drones. The mapping agency of India got permission for the purpose under the SVAMITVA scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj which stands for ‘Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas’. The target is to map India’s over 6.6 lakh villages by Dec 2024.

The objective of the scheme is to create accurate land records for property rights, direct benefit transfers and panchayat level planning. This program will also reduce land disputes that drag for years. The immediate target is to map 100,000 villages by drones by Dec 2020. This is a massive project of India and will boost the local drone industry of the country. It will offer decent employment to our youngsters working on this project too. SoI should define data, quality & process specs, and award work transparently. SoI should limit to program managing this massive initiative rather than getting into doing it themselves. If they think of doing it themselves it would be a resounding failure due to their resource constraints.

This initiative will be an important tool for the administration at the Local Self Government (LSG) level. The data captured should become a repository not only for the administration but for the NGOs and other stakeholders, who would be bringing in interventions to support the cause of the Village and the Community. www.medianama.com

Global Mapper Mobile v2.1 released

Blue Marble Geographics® has announced the release of version 2.1 of its innovative mobile mapping application, Global Mapper Mobile® with updates to both the free and Pro versions. It is a powerful iOS and Android application for viewing and collecting GIS data. It utilizes the GPS capabilities of mobile devices to provide situational awareness and locational intelligence for remote mapping projects. www.bluemarblegeo.com

UK Geographic Association welcomes new geospatial strategy

The AGI is proud to be highlighted in this strategy, celebrating the work of our Early Careers Network and our members’ long-standing history in developing geospatial standards. The council recognizes the responsibility they have to support UK geospatial community through early career development, skills, standards, ethics, business development, market understanding and to connect with the broader international geospatial community. This coupled with the commitment shown to a broad range of industry domains and implementation of the UN Integrated Geospatial Information Framework highlights the synergy this strategy has with its own mission: to be a thriving UK geospatial community, actively supporting a sustainable future.

AGI is pleased to see that the excellent work achieved in the National Underground Asset Register pilots will advance to a second stage, and the commitment to collaborate with local government and Devolved Administrations on standards, principles and guidance. It will continue to support the Commission in the ongoing work for the Geospatial Data Market and Skills Demand Studies. www.gov.uk

Visualize underground utilities using CesiumJS

Cesium has launched CesiumJS that enable visualizing underground data and allow to seamlessly transition from above ground features like entire cities to what’s underneath in the same scene, whether that’s utility data like water pipelines and electricity cables, or 3D structures like caves and mines. One can visualize all the relevant information in one place without the need to continually switch between specialized tools. For example, one can visualize earthquake occurrences over time and measure their proximity to critical urban infrastructure by adding Cesium OSM Buildings to scene. https://cesium.com