8th International Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology

From 1 to 3 May 2013, the 8th International Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology (MMT 2013) was hosted by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan. The event was attented by nearly 250 mobile mapping experts from 15 countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan.

MMT 2013 provided a platform for international young scholars and industrial sectors to learn knowledge and experiences of applying up-to-date mobile mapping technologies, according to the university.

NCKU vice-president Dr Hong-Sen Yan on behalf of president Hwung-Hweng Hwung attended the opening ceremony and welcomed the guests from the world. MMT 2013 is the premier event being organised jointly by the ISPRS, FIG and IAG. MMT offers a great forum for research and development in mobile mapping technology, systems and applications.

The advancement of mobile mapping technology had attributed to many aspects in Geomatics, said Dr Kai-Wei Chiang from the Department of Geomatics, NCKU. He also commented this symposium reflected the core spectrum of the latest developments in mobile mapping technology, ranging from the algorithm research to the system development, from land-based to airborne systems, from direct georeferencing to sensor integration, from mobile data collection to dynamic GIS management.

Thanks to the advancement of direct georeferencing and sensor technologies, mobile mapping has become a versatile technology applied for fast geospatial data acquisition, according to Prof Naser El-Sheimy from University of Calgary, Canada. A typical mobile mapping system (MMS) is composed of an integrated array of time synchronised navigation sensors and imaging sensors mounted on a mobile platform, such as terrestrial vehicles, water-based vessels, aircrafts or helicopters, unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV), and hand-carried by individuals, he added.