Smart Grid Partnership

Intergraph has entered into a partnership with meter data management (MDM) provider eMeter to integrate smart meter data into its Smart Grid Operations Command-and-Control Centre. The integration will provide grid operators with consolidated end-to-end network visibility and management capabilities to provide utilities with the full operational benefits of their advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart meter deployments for use in outage detection and response. The Intergraph Smart Grid Operations Command-and-Control Center integrates the various technologies that make up a smart grid, outage management, distribution management, SCADA, infrastructure management, smart meters, etc., into a consolidated, easy-to-use interface to maximise end-to-end grid... (read more)

2010-03-25 02:06:03

Better City, Better Life

Shanghai will host the World Expo from 1st May to 31st October 2010, whose central theme is urban development, under the banner Better City, Better Life. To mark this event, Spot Image and its Chinese subsidiary Beijing Spot Image searched in the large SPOT archive to tell the story of the works which have been carried out in the Expo area and of the city's growth. The Expo 2010 site covers 5.28 sq km in the centre of Shanghai, on either side of the Huang-p'u River. From 1994 to 2010, the SPOT satellites depict urban change as the future city... (read more)

2010-04-22 02:34:21

3D City Models

Supporting Tool for Urban Planning and Design

Abasabad in the north of Tehran has been designated a development area to serve the millions of people living in the metropolis. In order to progress from general zoning plan to detailed designs of buildings, roads, green zones and playgrounds, accurate and detailed geo-data was required, preferably in the form of large-scale digital maps and 3D city models. The authors describe how they produced this type of 2D and 3D geo-data using high-resolution digital aerial imagery and scale 1:500 maps. Tehran, the capital of Iran, is bordered in the north by mountains and in the south by desert, and is... (read more)

2011-02-03 04:18:05

New Frontier City Mapping

Discovering cities and their surroundings in the most realistic way possible is becoming the next frontier of online mapping services. Photorealistic 3D cities from C3Technologies are made available on Ovi Maps, Nokia’s free mapping and location service. The first release includes twenty major cities around the world as well as 3D street views for some European cities, including Copenhagen and London. C3’s Metro database of more than 100 cities in 3D is available as a platform for new social and commercial applications serving local search, real estate, travel, tourism, media, and entertainment, as well as uses in... (read more)

2011-04-27 11:11:28

City of Helsinki Advances 3D City Initiative

The city of Helsinki in Finland is mid-way through an initiative to capture the city and create a new 3D city model that is scheduled to be completed in 2017. Helsinki has a long tradition of 3D city modelling, dating back to the 1980s. Helsinki wanted to update its current 3D city model with new, innovative applications that could provide entire city modelling capabilities in order to improve its internal services, promote smart city development, and share data through an open format for citizens and other agencies. Helsinki also wanted to create a pilot portfolio to showcase the power of... (read more)

2016-11-23 02:03:59

Point Clouds and Smart Cities

The Need for 3D Geodata and Geomatics Specialists

The ‘smart city’ concept entirely relies on a permanent stream of massive amounts of data acquired by a great variety of sensors distributed throughout the city. Smart use of all this data requires integration with 3D city maps for which point clouds, acquired by laser scanning or photogrammetry, are the main sources. The author of this article identifies the abilities of point clouds to support the smart city concept. The benefits of point clouds for monitoring urban processes were recognised quite early on. Back in the early 1990s, airborne Lidar could accurately provide the height component which is so important... (read more)

2018-10-25 08:48:08

Singapore: Towards a Smart Nation

Underpinned by a 3D National Map

Since the inception of its Smart Nation programme in 2014, Singapore has emerged as a world leader in smart city initiatives. One of the centrepieces of Singapore’s strategy has been the development of a highly accurate 3D digital map of the country to support key functions such as urban planning, flood control and civil aviation. The creation of this national 3D map has involved the use, adoption and development of world-leading surveying, mapping and GIS technologies. Read on for an article explaining the various challenges in creating and maintaining the required data, and how it will be used to its... (read more)

2017-05-11 09:04:08

Smart Cities and Linked Data

Technological Background

The European Union defines a ‘smart city’ as “a city well performing in 6 key fields of urban development, built on the ‘smart’ combination of endowments and activities of self-decisive, independent and aware citizens”. Amongst the key fields are smart mobility and a smart environment. Smart cities rely heavily on reliable, accurate and available data. Linked open data (LOD) is a way to make that data available and therefore to ‘enable’ the smart city. (By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk, contributing editor, GIM International, The Netherlands) Linked data (LD) refers to data that is made available in a structured way through the internet.... (read more)

2016-09-30 10:14:33

Rugged GNSS SMART-AG Antenna

NovAtel Inc.has announced its new SMART-AG antenna. This L1 GPS + GLONASS receiver plus antenna system is housed in a single, low profile, rugged enclosure. Delivering smooth, consistent output and sub-meter accuracy, the SMART-AG is ideal for manual guidance and auto steer installations. The SMART-AG delivers position availability with 14 GPS L1 channels, 12 GLONASS L1 channels, and an additional two channels for satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS). Two NMEA 0183 compatible RS-232 serial ports, an NMEA2000 compatible CAN port, plus built-in mounting magnets deliver maximum flexibility. NovAtel's GL1DE technology is standard in every SMART-AG antenna. GL1DE uses the... (read more)

2008-12-08 09:42:46

Be Smart with Public Land

In every country, the state owns land. Kevin Cahill (‘Who Owns The World’, 2010) argues that Queen Elizabeth II is the largest land owner on Earth, as she possesses the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much more, amounting to one-sixth of the Earth’s surface. In his latest column, Paul van der Molen discusses various historical examples to show that state land is often land just stolen from the citizens. When Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay in Australia in 1770, he proclaimed the Declaration of Possession, based on the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’, bringing all land into the possession... (read more)

2017-11-09 12:55:02