The Surveying and Land Information Discipline at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has delivered full time and distance education programs in surveying and related areas for over 26 years. Academics at USQ have recently embarked on multimedia enhancement and online delivery of curricula to provide an even broader and more contemporary learning environment. These enhancements, when developed professionally, require a significant commitment of resources and expertise, and often necessitate a team approach to their design and development. Although there has been a proliferation of activity in the area of online delivery, little consideration has been given to the support infrastructure that is necessary to establish, deliver and maintain these offerings. This paper examines the operational infrastructure that is critical to distance education students receiving a comprehensive, timely and quality learning experience.
Many geographical databases have been developed for different programs and applications, but data acquisition and data sharing are still a big problem because no interoperability exists among these different databases. This study presents a GML (Geography Markup Language) approach to build a geographical database in order to enable interoperability. As an open, non-proprietary industry standard, GML overcomes the problems of current GIS software proprietary data models and database structures. Compared with other standards, such as the Geographic Data File (GDF) and Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), the GML approach has the advantage of enabling on-line data exchange. GML holds promise in providing a standard way to share and use existing spatial data over the World Wide Web. A GML-based interoperable geographical database for the conservation of the Stone Forest Landscape is implemented as a case study. It shows how the public can access and use the GML-based spatial database through a user-friendly interface and that GML can deliver high quality vector data on the Web.
“Thomas Baines and the ‘Great Map’”, a CD-ROM published by Campbell Collections, University of Natal in 2001, is the result of a joint project comprising South African and Australian scholars working on Thomas Baines's “Map of the Gold Fields of South Eastern Africa (1872)”. Baines, the well known artist and explorer who died in Durban, South Africa, in 1875, made two trips to modern day Zimbabwe in search of gold bearing sites for the Natal Land and Colonisation Company. One of the large maps which he drew on this trip is the subject of study for this interdisciplinary team coordinated by Lindy Stiebel (Professor of English Studies, University of Durban-Westville). The other team members are Jane Carruthers (History, University of South Africa), Vivian Forbes (Chief Cartographer, University of Western Australia), Norman Etherington (Professor of History, University of Western Australia) and staff of the Campbell Collections, Durban, South Africa. The CD aims to make Baines's manuscript map of 1872, which is owned by the Campbell Collections, more accessible to scholars and the general public alike. The CD reproduces the map in digital form, plus accompanies the map with three essays that situate the map historically, cartographically and discursively. Four of Baines's paintings relevant to the Gold Fields expedition also appear on the CD. All legible place names on the map have been bookmarked for easy click-and- find access and the accompanying essays extensively hyperlinked. This paper discusses and assesses this pioneering project; plus points the way to other potential projects in which a similar ‘marriage’ of technology to the past can be implemented.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are important tools for various scientific aspects. Especially sciences related to cartography and geographical analysis should definitely employ GIS technology. In this study an Internet-based GIS is presented that was developed on the MapXtreme platform. This application gives access to numerous web-users through a server that controls both analysis and data retrieval requests. It is a practical and economical method in order to introduce GIS to educational institutions. This Web GIS may operate through a local or wide area network and, apart from educational purposes, offers a low cost information exchange solution between vast numbers of users.
Site-specific crop management requires matching resource application and agronomic practices with soil and crop requirements, as they vary in space and time within a field. As such, information on the composition of soils at either farm or paddock scale is essential. Soil composition over an entire paddock might not be uniform. For instance, it may not be efficient to fertilise an entire paddock if only the northeast corner show deficiencies. Furthermore, it is not possible to sample every centimetre of the paddock, as this would be a very time consuming and costly procedure. Ideally, we should be able to collect enough sample points so that continuos maps of soil properties can be accurately produced using spatial interpolation techniques, and good judgements can be made about the soil composition of an entire paddock. Two spatial interpolators, namely kriging and inverse distance weighting (IDW) are compared in this paper, evaluating their accuracy in the prediction of seasonally stable soil properties at paddock level. Organic matter content and soil reaction (pH) are the soil properties selected for this investigation, as previous research by Yule et al. (1996) and Brady and Weil (1999) has found these properties to be correlated to cropping potential. The selected spatial interpolators are tested on an existing data set (e.g. 100 soil samples) collected using a stratified random approach over a 60 ha paddock, located in the southwest of Western Australia. The research approach consists of three main steps. Firstly, basic descriptive statistical techniques are applied to identify the presence of outliers. Secondly, selected interpolators are applied to generate continuous maps of the soil properties, and finally the mean root mean square error (RMSE) is used as the validation index, and to select the best spatial interpolator for the soil properties selected. Therefore, for each soil property, every fourth sample is removed from the main data set and put aside to validate the result of the interpolation method. Likewise, the map of uncertainty generated by using the kriging interpolation method is used as an additional source for evaluating the quality of the prediction maps. The RMSE results show IDW to perform slightly better than kriging for pH (e.g. 0.38 vs 0.39) and organic matter (1.25 vs 1.34)
The south-western trans Iranian railway line connecting Tehran, Iran to Khoramshahr in the southwest crosses the great Zagros range. One of the localities on this line is the Shahbazan railway station. Shahbazan station is located in the Alwar section of the central Zagros belt in the southwest of Iran. Complex geological-geomorphological activities have created an immature and rugged landscape which in turn imposes various natural hazards (landslide, erosion and flash flooding) to both people and the railway infra-strucutre. In order to address these problems on a regional scale, a digital elevation model (DEM) was used in conjunction with selected field visits during which various parameters related to lithology (dip, strike and rock types), structures (joints, fracturres, faults and folds), soil types, landuse and land cover were obsereved and measured. For the creation of a DEM, a digital topographic map prepared by the Iranian Surveying Organization was used. The DEM was computed using x, y, z attributes in text format. The methodology includes an interactive visual calibration that adjusts parameters while referring to observed landslides. Based on field data collected, the DEM was calibrated to generate stability zone map and saturation zone map of the study area which address to natural hazards like landslide. The analyses of drainage morphometery, relief and saturation maps reveals zones of stability-instability and saturation within the study area which are in harmony with landslide and rock fall zones. However, the study also indicates that the DEM provides a useful tool for rapid evaluation of natural hazards and mapping of large areas with less time and good results.
The importance of toponymy in cartography makes the relevant standardization issue indeed decisive. This is particularly the case in the so-called less spoken languages. The cartographic use of Greek characters is implemented only in two small countries (Greece and Cyprus), and this very fact is creating discomfort in practicing transcription of geographic names to Roman characters. The occasion of the 2004 Olympics in Greece has given the issue a new dimension. The transcription of Greek place names into Roman is gaining relevance also as far as the cartographic implementation is concerned. Here, a simple system for an effective automatic transcription has been developed, which can be used not only for cartographic purposes but also in general relevant text and graphical applications.
To determine the effect of cartographic visualisation of tourist maps on their users, a survey was conducted among geography students. One of the aims of the study was to analyse the effect of a particular type of visualisation of a tourist map on decisions made by its users (e.g. a change in his/her tourist preferences). The analysis of the questionnaire suggests that the type of cartographic content has a profound effect on the choice of potential tourist attractions and planning tourist routes.
This paper examines the mapping situation in Nigeria. There are many organisations that are involved in mapping activities in the country, these can be classified into the public and private sectors, with the Federal Survey Department as the apex mapping organization. Generally, the country is poorly mapped as exemplified by the range and quality of mapping products. This is attributed to poor funding, which is responsible for the current state of mapping personnel and equipment. A detailed evaluation of mapping and how to improve mapping in the country is discussed.
