A surveyor's shed showing equipment used for geomatics

Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information".[1] Under another definition, it consists of products, services and tools involved in the collection, integration and management of geographic (geospatial) data.[2] Surveying engineering was the widely used name for geomatic(s) engineering in the past. Geomatics was placed by the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems under the branch of technical geography.[3][4]

History and etymology

The term was proposed in French ("géomatique") at the end of the 1960s by scientist Bernard Dubuisson to reflect at the time recent changes in the jobs of surveyor and photogrammetrist.[5] The term was first employed in a French Ministry of Public Works memorandum dated 1 June 1971 instituting a "standing committee of geomatics" in the government.[6]

The term was popularised in English by French-Canadian surveyor Michel Paradis in his The little Geodesist that could article, in 1981 and in a keynote address at the centennial congress of the Canadian Institute of Surveying (now known as the Canadian Institute of Geomatics) in April 1982. He claimed that at the end of the 20th century the needs for geographical information would reach a scope without precedent in history and that, in order to address these needs, it was necessary to integrate in a new discipline both the traditional disciplines of land surveying and the new tools and techniques of data capture, manipulation, storage and diffusion.[7]

Geomatics includes the tools and techniques used in land surveying, remote sensing, cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), global navigation satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou), photogrammetry, geophysics, geography, and related forms of earth mapping. The term was originally used in Canada but has since been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and many other international authorities, although some (especially in the United States) have shown a preference for the term geospatial technology,[8] which may be defined as synonym of "geospatial information and communications technology".[9]

Although many definitions of geomatics, such as the above, appear to encompass the entire discipline relating to geographic information – including geodesy, geographic information systems, remote sensing, satellite navigation, and cartography –, the term is almost exclusively restricted to the perspective of surveying and engineering toward geographic information. Geoinformatics and Geographic information science has been proposed as alternative comprehensive term; however, their popularity is, like geomatics, largely dependent on country.[10]

The related field of hydrogeomatics covers the area associated with surveying work carried out on, above or below the surface of the sea or other areas of water. The older term of hydrographics was considered too specific to the preparation of marine charts, and failed to include the broader concept of positioning or measurements in all marine environments. The use of different data processing technologies in hydrography does not change the purpose of its research [11].

A growing number of university departments which were once titled "surveying", "survey engineering" or "topographic science" have re-titled themselves using the terms "geomatics" or "geomatics engineering", while others have switched to program titles such as "spatial information technology", and similar names.[12][13]

The rapid progress and increased visibility of geomatics since the 1990s has been made possible by advances in computer hardware, computer science, and software engineering, as well as by airborne and space observation remote-sensing technologies.

Science

Geospatial science or spatial information science is an academic discipline incorporating fields such as surveying, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and cartography. Spatial science is typically concerned with the measurement, management, analysis and display of spatial information describing the Earth, its physical features and the design environment.[14]

The term spatial science or spatial sciences is primarily used in Australia. Australian universities which offer degrees in spatial science include Curtin University,[15] the University of Tasmania,[16] the University of Adelaide,[17]Melbourne University[18] and RMIT University.[19]

In the U.S., Texas A&M University offers a bachelor's degree in Spatial Sciences and is home to its own Spatial Sciences Laboratory.[20] Beginning in 2012, the University of Southern California started to place more emphasis on the spatial science branch of its geography department, with traditional human and physical geography courses and concentrations either not being offered on a regular basis or phased out. In place, the university now offers graduate programs strictly related to spatial science and its geography department offers a spatial science minor rather than the original geography major.[21]

Spatial information practitioners within the Asia-Pacific region are represented by the professional body called the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI).[22]

Engineering

Geomatic(s) Engineering, Geodesy and Geoinformatics Engineering or Geospatial Engineering is a rapidly developing engineering discipline that focuses on spatial information.

Geomatics engineers apply engineering principles to spatial information and implement relational data structures involving measurement sciences, thus using geomatics and acting as spatial information engineers.

Applications

Application areas include:

Areas of knowledge

Geomatics integrates science and technology from both new and traditional disciplines:

See also

References

  1. ↑ ISO/TR 19122:2004(en) Geographic information/Geomatics — Qualification and certification of personnel
  2. ↑ "About Us". Applied Geomatics Research Laboratory. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Haidu, Ionel (2016). "What is Technical Geography – a letter from the editor". Geographia Technica. 11: 1–5. doi:10.21163/GT_2016.111.01.
  4. ↑ Sala, Maria (2009). Geography Volume I (1 ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: EOLSS UNESCO. ISBN 978-1-84826-960-6.
  5. ↑ "ACSG - Association canadienne des sciences géomatiques (Section Champlain) /// Des références utiles en géomatique". acsg-champlain.scg.ulaval.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  6. ↑ Arrêté du 27 décembre 1994 relatif à la terminologie de la télédétection aérospatiale, retrieved 2019-11-04
  7. ↑ Paradis, Michel (September 1981). "De l'arpentage à la géomatique". Le Géomètre Canadien (in French). 35 (3): 262.
  8. ↑ Boehm, Richard G.; Mohan, Audrey (2010). "Geospatial Technology: Curricular Keystone of Applied Geography". International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research. 1 (1): 26–39. doi:10.4018/jagr.2010071602. ISSN 1947-9654.
  9. ↑ Scholten, H.J.; Velde, R.; van Manen, N. (2009). Geospatial Technology and the Role of Location in Science. GeoJournal Library. Springer Netherlands. p. 1. ISBN 978-90-481-2620-0. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  10. ↑ Krawczyk, Artur (2022-11-09). "Proposal of Redefinition of the Terms Geomatics and Geoinformatics on the Basis of Terminological Postulates". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 11 (11): 557. Bibcode:2022IJGI...11..557K. doi:10.3390/ijgi11110557. ISSN 2220-9964.
  11. ↑ "Invited reply: Hydrography or hydrogeomatics?". Hydro International. 7: 34–37. 1 December 2003. ISSN 1385-4569 – via GITC BV.
  12. ↑ "Geomatics engineering & geographic information systems (GIS)". University of Colorado Denver- College of Engineering. University of Colorado Denver. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ "White Mountains Community College- Spatial Information Technology Transcript Checklist". PDFFiller. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Queensland University of Technology, Undergratuate Program - Spatial Science (Surveying)". Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
  15. ↑ "Curtin University - Spatial science courses". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  16. ↑ University of Tasmania, Centre for Spatial Information Science, Courses Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ "University of Adelaide, Major in Ecology and Spatial Science" (PDF). adelaide.edu.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  18. ↑ Melbourne University - Spatial Information Science
  19. ↑ "Surveying and geospatial sciences - RMIT University".
  20. ↑ Texas A&M University, Spatial Sciences Laboratory Archived 2008-09-05 at archive.today
  21. ↑ "Spatial Sciences Institute · USC Catalogue". Archived from the original on 2012-11-24. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  22. ↑ Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI)

Further reading

  • Geomatics Canada Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada ISSN 1491-5480
  • Dermanis, Athanasios; Grün, Armin; Sansò, Fernando (2000). Geomatic Methods for the Analysis of Data in the Earth Sciences. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-67476-4.
  • Kavanagh, Barry F. (2003). Geomatics. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-130-32289-0.
  • Yvan Bédard, "Geomatics" in Karen Kemp (2008), Encyclopedia of Geographic Information Science, Sage.
  • Yvan Bédard (2007), "Geomatics": 26 years of history already!, Geomatica, 61(3):269–272.
  • Gomarasca, Mario A. (2009). Basics of Geomatics. Springer. ISBN 978-1-402-09014-1.
    • "Geomatics", Chap. 1 in Mario A. Gomarasca (2009) Basics of Geomatics, Springer.
  • "Geomatics", sec. 1.3 in Mathias Lemmens (2011), Geo-information: Technologies, Applications and the Environment, Springer.
  • Ogaja, Clement (2016). Geomatics Engineering: A Practical Guide to Project Design. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-439-89511-5.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geomatics.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.