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We had, in the June 1998 issue, editorially commented on the news item regarding the recommendations of the National Task Force on Information Technology as reported in the national press. At that time we did not have access to the interim report. Courtesy GIS@Development, we reproduce in this issue, relevant extracts of the report. Whereas we must pay encomiums to the Vajpayee government for accepting all 108 action items recommended by the Task Force, the Geomatics Community is concerned that only 1 out of 108 action items concerns geomatics explicitly. Since the last date for submitting final report by the Task Force has been extended to December 31, 1998, we hope that the Task Force would accord due recognition to geomatics, which is a vital component of information technology. We also appeal to members of the geomatics community to send specific recommendations to the Task Force for consideration rather than just quibble about only "one out of 108 action items" in the interim report.

We note with great satisfaction that the Indian Society of Geomatics has acquired a home page on Internet [http://members.rediff.com/isg/]. We hope to disseminate the ISG newsletter through this website in future.

In this issue we are also announcing a new feature - Helpline. Through the Helpline members can seek any type of information or solution to any problem related to geomatics. The Editorial Board would make all attempts to provide the information, answers/solutions etc.

We would again like to remind the readers/members that a one-way newsletter would eventually curtail the zeal of the Editorial Board. Feedback and communication from the members only can sustain the enthusiasm to make the Newsletter useful and lively, and serve its intended aim.

Members may come across different sorts of stumbling blocks, while adopting the disparate set of hardware, software, algorithms and data sets available (either already owned or proposed to be acquired), towards configuring operational systems, for meeting specific end uses in the broad discipline of Geomatics.

Through this column, they can seek any type of information or solution to any problem that may be faced by them. The Editorial Board would make all attempts to provide the information/ answers/ solutions.

In 1985, the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Department of Space, prepared wasteland maps of all the Indian states and union territories on 1:1 million scale. The 1:1 million scale wasteland maps of the states and union territories of India provided only an estimate of wasteland area. Due to the small scale, and relatively poor resolution of the MSS imagery, wasteland areas of less than 100 ha could not be mapped. Further it was found that the maps were of little use in reclamation planning at the local level.

In 1985, the then Prime Minister of India set up a National Wastelands Development Board (NWDB) with the objective of rehabilitating 5 million ha of land each year for fuel-wood and fodder production, through a massive programme of seeding and afforestation. This programme required a very reliable database that provides details on even the type, extent, location and ownership of wastelands.

The 1:1 million scale wasteland maps prepared by NRSA showed that 146 districts had wastelands covering more than 15% of their geographical area. These districts were considered as critical (except for border districts) and selected for detailed mapping in Phase I and II (1986-89). In Phase III (1990-92), districts having 5 to 15% coverage of wasteland were mapped and in Phase IV (1992-93), the remaining seven districts of Madhya Pradesh were examined. This mapping exercise covered about 62% of the geographical area of India. About 35.64 million ha of area has been estimated as wasteland in the districts completed already.

The National Wastelands Development Board (NWDB) under Ministry of Environment and Forest has since been bifurcated into two separate departments:

On behalf of Department of Wastelands Development, Ministry of Rural Area and Employment, NRSA, Dept of Space have taken up the mapping of wastelands for the remaining 192 districts, covered in 3200 sheets of 1:50,000 scale SOI topomaps, using IRS LISS-III data. With this, the wasteland mapping on 1:50,000 scale will be completed for the entire country. The project is to be completed by December 1998.

The aim of this project Phase-V is to map the wastelands of 192 districts and create a digital database, which can form a part of NRIS database (Refer August 1997 issue of the ISG Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 1 for an article on NRIS - Ed.).

This project envisages the generation of wasteland database in digital (vector) form using a hybrid method, viz. digital analysis (5 districts) or visual interpretation (14 districts) of IRS LISS-III data. The final map will have, in addition to wasteland information, the base details and watershed boundaries from SOI topographical sheets and village boundaries from revenue maps. All these information will also be generated in digital (vector) form. About 25 work-centres and entrepreneurs are involved in the project. Further, the work-centres are distributed widely, all over the country. Therefore, in order to achieve uniformity of output database in their content, codification and format, a "manual of procedure for preparation of wastelands digital data base using remote sensing & GIS techniques" was prepared and provided to all the work-centres.

Once the project is completed, the toposheet-wise digital database for 192 districts will be available to users as per NRIS standards for taking up appropriate developmental activities. Efforts are also being made to convert all the wasteland maps prepared under Phase I to IV into digital media as per NRIS standards. With this one set of database for the entire India on 1:50,000 scale will be available.

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Dr. N. C. Gautam, Group Director, Land Use Cartography and Urban Planning, National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad – 360 037.

Several factors are responsible for maintaining good health in urban areas, which are often polluted, mainly due to high density of population, and congested built-up area, leading to poor environmental quality. Poor behavior of people in terms of personal hygiene, eating habits and awareness regarding general cleanliness and lack of availability of good quality of water in abundance are also causes of poor health of residents in Indian cities. Residents of Ahmedabad city suffer from waterborne diseases every year. Four major diseases have been included in this study. They are Gastro-enteritis, Viral Hepatitis, Typhoid and Cholera.

In order to have a spatial understanding of occurrence of waterborne diseases at a micro level, Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration has been divided into five homogeneous regions based on land use, socio-economic and demographic characteristics. These are: The Core Region (No. I), covering old residential and commercial area, the Eastern Region (No. II), covering old industrial cum residential area, the Western Region (No. III), covering mainly new residential-cum-commercial area, the Eastern Suburb (No. IV), which is residential and industrial in nature, and the Western Suburb (No. V), which is mainly of residential type. Taking the distribution of cases by ward, weights have been given to each ward, varying from very low to very high, for five years during 1989-1993. The overlaying of spatial distribution of cases for five years has been done with the help of a GIS software. A 3-D Environmental Behavioral Model has been designed for each region, to understand spatial variations of factors, taking twenty-two variables, which were collected through field work with a sample of 1000 persons in 1993. The GIS package used here is called "GRAM" (Geo-Referenced Area Management) which has been developed by the Department of Science and Technology (NRDMS Division), Govt. of India, New Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology (CSRE), Mumbai. GRAM can be used on a low cost PC. It is based on DOS operating system and its functions are menu driven. The package is capable of handling both raster and vector inputs and can integrate data gathered from both remote sensing and ground surveys using GEOTRANS function. In this study, individual choropleth maps for different variables have been prepared, with manually assigned weights, and then digitised with GIS. These maps are overlaid two at a time. After each overlay, maps are regrouped into five categories. After many such steps, the final overlay map is obtained to get the composite map with GIS.

The 3-D model has been prepared for each region, having behavioral factor, with seven variables, on the x-axis; environmental factor, with eleven variables on the y-axis; and quality and quantity of drinking water on the z-axis. Each region has shown relative importance of various factors on the occurrence of diseases. Socio-economic, demographic and ecological (climatic) parameters have not been used in the 3-D model as these are not varying much over space. However, some of these parameters are useful for the explanation of diseases in the city.

The city of Ahmedabad, located at about (72 degrees E, 22 degrees N), has grown rapidly during 1971 to 1991, both in terms of population and area. In 1971, Ahmedabad urban agglomeration had a total population of 17.42 lakhs with an area of 92.98 sq. km which increased to 32.79 lakhs and 190.15 sq. km in 1991, respectively.

Of the four major waterborne diseases that occur in Ahmedabad, by far, the largest number of cases are of Gastro-enteritis (73%) followed by Viral Hepatitis (13%), Typhoid (12%) and Cholera (2%).

The spatial distribution of diseases has not changed much over time (see Fig. 1). The centre of diseases also has not changed much over time. It is mainly located in the Eastern Region (No. II), followed by the Core Region (No. I). In 1989, the main centre of diseases was Kankaria (Region No. II). It was Gomtipur (Region No. II) in 1990 and Jamalpur (Region No. I) in 1991. Gomtipur became the main centre again in 1992 and 1993. The Eastern Region does not have enough supply of water for residents to maintain cleanliness. Due to lack of water, toilet and space, residents suffer from waterborne diseases.

The causes of waterborne diseases are many and complex in nature. These have been divided here into major factors including many parameters, which have been superimposed with GIS package. The environmental factor includes a composite spatial distribution of inner environment (within the house), outer environment (outside the house), yielding total environmental factor (see Fig. 2); the other two factors are drinking-water factor and behavioral factor. All these factors have shown variations over space. The characteristics of regions are different, and the causes related to cases of each region are different (see Fig. 3). For the city as a whole at a macro-level, it is noticed that, the relative contribution of the environmental factor is 42%, followed by the behavioral factor (32%) and the factor related to drinking water (26%) in explaining the occurrence of diseases. The pattern, however, varies from region to region at a micro-level.

In the Core Region No. I, the main factor related to the occurrence of diseases is the quality and quantity of drinking water (45%), followed by behavioral factor (30%) and environmental factor (25%). The factor of drinking water (42%) is again most important in the Eastern Region No. II. In the Western Region No. III, the behavioral factor, related to the residents’ habit of eating out, comes out as the most important one (45%). The Eastern and the Western suburbs show similar pattern of having all three factors of somewhat equal impact on the occurrence of cases.

It is quite clear that occurrence of diseases is related to many factors which vary from region to region within the city. In order to improve the health of urban residents, it is necessary to plan at a micro-level, as per the need of the region. In the Core Region, the old, rusted water pipes need to be replaced by new ones to check contamination of water. In the residential-cum-industrial area of the Eastern Region Nos. II and IV, more drinking water should be provided to the people for their daily needs to maintain cleanliness. These regions also need public toilets of "Sulabh Shauchalaya" type, to prevent open defecation and contamination of groundwater, which is used for drinking purpose. In the Western Region, behavioral factor has emerged as an important one. Here people of higher socio-economic class often eat and drink out in restaurants, which may not provide pure drinking water. Here residents should be aware of using mineral water, while eating out in hotels. Moreover, municipality should have a detailed data on quality of drinking water at a micro-level in various parts of the city for the purpose of taking prompt appropriate actions, prior to the spread of diseases.

1. Betty, C., Hobb (1976), Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene, Edward Arnold Ltd., London.

2. Camp, J.R., (1986), Water and its Impurities, Reinhold Book Corporation, New York.

3. Desai, Anjana (1990), Changing dimension of urban growth: The Case of Ahmedabad, Deccan Geographer, Vol. XXVIII, No. I, Pune.

4. Statistical Outline of Ahmedabad City (1991), Town Planning and Statistical Department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

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Dr. (Mrs.) Anjana Desai, Head, Geography Dept., Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380 009; and

Dr. (Mrs.) Avantika Prajapati, Cartographer, Geography Dept., Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380 009

The pressure on the country's natural resources (land and water) has been continuously and steadily increasing mainly due to increase in population and people's aspiration for improved quality of life. Soil erosion and resultant high run-off is the other major factor limiting the land productivity. Out of 329 mha geographical area of the country, about 175 mha suffers from one or the other kind of land degradation. On the other hand, out of the average total annual rainfall of 400 million hectare meters (Mham) only 60 Mham is used while the rest goes as run off. In addition, due to uncertain availability of water for use and frequent droughts in different parts of the country, the productivity becomes unpredictable.

After three consecutive droughts in many parts of the country during 1985-87, the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, made an appeal to the scientific community to find out scientific, long-lasting and sustainable solutions to mitigate drought. In response to the challenge posed by the Prime Minister, the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) was initiated by the Department of Space in 1987. After a methodology development study, taken up for parts of Kolar district of Karnataka, the study was carried out in 21 districts spread over 13 states by DOS, in close collaboration with respective State Remote Sensing Applications Centres (IMSD - Phase I). Early results of these studies were presented to the Deputy Chairman, Union Planning Commission by Chairman, ISRO in November 1991. Based on the recommendations of Planning Commission and to extend the integrated approach to other priority districts, IMSD Phase II mission was launched in 1992 by DOS, jointly with state governments. Watersheds from 150 districts were included in this Phase (Phase-II). Later on, in 1994, at the request of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment, one block each from 92 districts was included in IMSD (IMSD - Special). At present 84 Mha area from 175 districts are covered under IMSD. While NRSA, Hyderabad is coordinating IMSD, the other DOS Centres (SAC, RRSSCs and NNRMS) are involved in the execution of the Mission in collaboration with state governments.

The main aim of the IMSD is to generate locale specific action plan, by integrating natural resources information generated from satellite data and ancillary data, in conjunction with socio-economic data, to meet the needs of local people for sustainable development of the region.

The main emphasis in IMSD has been on the integrated approach rather than the sectoral approach. Planning based on the sectoral approach, with separate plans and financial allocations made for different sectors like agriculture, forestry, irrigation etc., fails to recognise the multi-dimensional inter-linkages between natural resources and environment and hence leads to results/plans, which would not be sustainable. Moreover, the information on various natural resources (spatial information), socio-economic, climatic, demographic (non-spatial), etc., needs to be integrated for preparation of a developmental plan. The integrated approach also helps in ensuring that the developmental activities suggested in the plan, should not exceed the ecological carrying capacity.

The basic approach in IMSD has been to generate thematic information on land use/ land cover, soil, slope, hydrogeomorphology, ground water potential on one hand and spatial data on surface water bodies, transport/ road network, settlements, watershed boundaries and drainage on the other hand, and to integrate these two data sets in conjunction with socio-economic data, and then use criteria based decision rules, to suggest developmental activities related to:

Initially, the integration of different thematic information was done manually. However, presently in many of the cases, the thematic information is digitized and a digital database is created. These digital thematic layers for various natural resources are integrated in a GIS environment, in conjunction with non-spatial data and suitable criteria based decision rules are used to prepare action plans, for land and water resources development. The thematic maps used as input layers in GIS based analysis, integration and action plan generation, are prepared on 1:50,000 scale.

One of the major advantages in preparation of developmental plans in a GIS environment is the retrieval of final action plans, on micro-watershed/ sub-watershed, village or cluster-of-villages basis, as per the requirement of the Project Implementing Agencies (PIA). The other advantage of having a complete digital database in a GIS environment is the flexibility available with the user. The user can ask different kinds of queries like where are the wastelands or orested areas in a given watershed, villages, and so on. This helps him in prioritizing the area for implementation. Moreover, the user himself can fix the criteria for generating alternate development scenarios.

A menu-driven package for generation of land resources action plan using IMSD decision-based rules called GeLAP-SOFT has been developed at SAC. This package works in the ARC/INFO GIS environment. The package has the flexibility to generate and manipulate the land resources action plan, even by user defined criteria.

For identification of water-harvesting sites using criteria based decision rules, a software package called Decision Space has been developed by ADRIN, Hyderabad.

A complete set of digital database has been generated at SAC for the entire district of Panchmahal (Dahod + Godhra) in Gujarat and Datia in Madhya Pradesh. Database and action plans generated under IMSD will go a long way in the watershed development programme pursued by state and central governments and ultimately in improving the productivity on a sustainable basis, without exceeding the ecological carrying capacity.

Anantapur (A.P.)
Munger
Palamu (Bihar)
Panchmahals
Bhavnagar (Gujarat)

Bhiwani (Haryana)
Chamba (H.P)
Bijapur (Karnataka)
Kolar
Hassan

Kasargod
Palakkad
Sidhi (M.P.)
Jhabua
Chandrapur (Maharashtra)

Ahmadnagar
Keonthar
Kalahandi (Orissa)
Nagaur (T.N.)
Dharampur (T.N.), and
Lalitpur (U.P.).

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Dr. Ajai, Group Director, FLPG/RESA, Space Applications Cetre, Ahmedabad – 380 053

National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation has taken up district planning map series for a number of districts of the country. A single sheet for each district contains a detailed map at 1:250,000 scale showing the basic topographic and infrastructural features of the concerned district. The maps include the following details as well:

The district planning map series project provides a comprehensive picture of the development parameters for possible science and technology inputs. The maps of this mega-project should be useful for planners, development authorities, NGOs and decision-makers. Available maps on 1:250,000 scale (list provided below), are priced at Rs.15.00/25.00.

Andhra Pradesh: Warrangal

Bihar: Kathiar, Lohardaga, Ranchi, Madhubani, Deoghar

Gujarat: Valsad, Vadodara, The Dangs, Kheda

HP: Solan, Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur

Haryana: Hissar

Karnataka: Bidar, Tumkur, Mysore, Kolar, Mandya,

Bangalore (R&U)

Kerala: Trissur, Kasargod

MP: Indore, Durg, Satna

Maharashtra: Akola, Nagpur, Pune, Bhandara

Orissa: Mayurbanj

Punjab: Ludhiana

Pondicherry: Pondicherry

Rajasthan: Jhunjhunun, Bundi, Kota, Banswara

Tamilnadu: Ramanathapuram, Salem, Thanjavur

UP: Mathura, Tehri, Garhwal, Ballia, Ghazipur, Kanpur

Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Jhansi, Varanasi

W.Bengal: Birbhum, Hugli, Medinipur

Ninety-six other district maps under the above series are listed as forthcoming publications. For ordering these maps, or other publications of NATMO, contact: Director, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, C.G.O. Complex, DF Block, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700064.

The year 1998, has been declared as the International Year of the Oceans by Inter-governmental Oceanographic Committee and United Nations. The World Meteorological Organization, realizing the importance of the Oceans, has selected this year’s theme as Weather, Oceans and Impacts. Hence in the International year of the Oceans, a "Tutorial cum Workshop on Satellite Oceanography" (SOMA) has been jointly organized by the Indian Meteorological Society, Ahmedabad Chapter and Department of Ocean Development (Indian Space Research Organization) during December 8-11, 1998 at Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad. The two-day tutorial will be held during December 8-9 and workshop during December 10-11, 1998. Themes of the workshop are: (i) Satellites for Ocean Observations, (ii) Ocean parameters from satellites, (iii) Applications of satellite-derived parameters, (iv) Satellite data and numerical models, (v) Indian Satellite Oceanography Program, and (vi) Global Satellite Oceanography Scenario. Tutorial will cover topics like (i) Retrievals and applications of satellite data to aid offshore operations and for mapping wave-energy potential, coastal bathymetry and sea mounts; and (ii) Retrievals and applications of satellite data in identification of Potential Fisheries Zone and Coastal Zone Management. Sponsorship of Rs. 5000/- has been fixed for a ten-minute presentation. For details, contact Dr. Pranav S Desai, Co-Chairman, SOMA, Chief Scientist, RSA, Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad 380 053. Phone & Fax : 079-6568830, E-mail : soma@sac.ernet.in

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Green Eminent Consultants, Vadodara organize two short courses, the first on Geographic Information Systems during December 14-18, 1998 and the second on Remote Sensing: Introduction and Applications during December 20-22, 1998 at Vadodara. Targeted participants include professionals, IT administrators and managers, in corporates and institutions in Gujarat.

For forms and other details, contact the Local Co-ordinator: V. Sridhar, Green Eminent Consultants, 20, Purnima Society, Fatehgunj, Vadodara 390 002 Phone: 0265-792034 Fax: 0265-370911. Course Co-ordinator: Dr. Nitin Kumar Tripathi, Geo-informatics Division, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT, Kanpur 208 016 Phone: 0512-597722 Fax: 0512-597395 E-mail: nitin@iitk.ac.in

A National Symposium on Remote Sensing Applications for Natural Resources: Retrospective and Perspective, and Annual Convention of Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) will be held at Bangalore during January 19-21, 1999. This has been organized by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) and hosted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The conference topics included are Agriculture, Soils, Forestry & Environment, Landuse & Urban Planning, Geology/Geomorphology/ Archaeology, Water Resources, Coastal & Ocean Resources/Dynamics, Disasters and Mapping from Space. In addition to these applications areas, there are three special topics - Education/Training, Advanced Techniques in Digital Image Processing and Platform & Sensors - in which papers will be accepted. As it is being organized just after the fiftieth anniversary of India’s independence, the emphasis will be on retrospective and perspectives and papers concerned with such topics are specially invited. An extended abstract of not more than 1000 words may be sent before October 16, 1998 the full paper before January 01, 1999. There will be separate presentations by industry. An exhibition has been also planned during January 19-22, 1999. For presentation by an industry, a charge of Rs. 5000/- has been proposed for a 15-minute duration. For details, contact Shri V S Hegde, The Organizing Secretary, ISRS-Symposium-1998/99, EOS Programme Office, ISRO Headquarters, Antariksh Bhawan, BEL Road, Bangalore 560 094. Phone 080-3612471 or 3415474 extn. 2359, Fax : 080-3416358 and 080-3415298, E-mail: vshegde@isro.ernet.in

Regional Workshop on Commercial Applications of Remote Sensing & GIS and Tutorial on Remote Sensing & GIS

Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Ahmedabad Chapter (ISRS-AC) and Space Applications Centre (ISRO) announce a regional workshop on Commercial Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS on February 19, 1999 preceded by a 3-days tutorial on Remote Sensing & GIS at Ahmedabad, with targeted participants from the western region (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Goa), for the benefit of private entrepreneurs, NGO’s, industries and organizations, which are already involved or intend to get involved in resource planning, environmental monitoring and management using remote sensing and GIS techniques.

The one-day workshop will comprise of invited lectures, discussions, demonstrations and contributed paper presentations on commercialisation of remote sensing and related aspects. The 3-days tutorial will cover (i) remote sensing fundamentals, (ii) visual and digital techniques, (iii) GIS fundamentals; and (iv) remote sensing application techniques in the areas of land use, agriculture, forestry, land and water resources applications and urban mapping.

Last date for receiving nominations for tutorial and/or workshop: December 31, '98

Last date for receipt of abstract for contributed papers in workshop: December 31, '98

Dr. R.R. Navalgund, Chairman, ISRS-AC and Deputy Director, Remote Sensing Applications Area, Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad 380 053 Phone: 079-6748862 Fax: 079-6462735 E-mail: naval@sac.ernet.in

The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun and the International Institute of Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), the Netherlands are jointly organising Geoinformatics Beyond 2000, an International Conference on Geoinformatics for Natural Resource Assessment, Monitoring and Management, during March 9-11, 1999 at the IIRS. There are four main themes in the conference :-

An extended abstract of about 1000 words on any of the topics related to the main themes of the conference may be sent to the organisers before 14th December 1998, and full paper before 4th January 1999

An exhibition on Geoinformatics is also being organised at the venue, where vendors and advanced users can provide on-the- spot consultancy to potential users of their products and services. A special session will be dedicated for presentation from industry, highlighting products, services and launching of new products.

The registration fee for Indian delegates is Rs. 1,500 and for bonafide students Rs. 500. Further information can be obtained from Dr. P.S. Roy, Dean, IIRS & Chairman (LOC), Geoinformatics: Beyond 2000, or Dr. P.K. Champatiray, Organising Secretary, IIRS, 4, Kalidas Road, Dehradun - 248 001.

XIXth Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) will be held at Amsterdam, The Netherlands during July 16-23, 2000. The theme of the congress is ‘Geoinformation for all’. This will be conducted by The Netherlands Society for Earth Observation and Geoinformatics (NSEOG). The main topics of the congress are organised by the seven Technical Commissions and forty four Working Groups. The commission-wise titles are:

The congress will be preceded by a set of tutorials during July 14-15, 2000 and succeeded by in-depth workshops on July 24 and July 26. There will also be an international exhibition during this congress. Last date for abstract is September 1999. For details, contact: Secretariat: ISPRS Organizing Committee, c/o ITC, Attn Ms Sasika Tempelman, P.O. Box 6, 7500 AA ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands. Upto date information is available on the website http://www.itc.nl/~isprs. For further information write to Secretariat - ISPRS Organising Committee, c/o. ITC, Attn : Ms Sakia Templeman, P.O.Box 6, 7500 AA, ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands.

Geographic information can be very useful in integrating, modeling, analyzing, and visualizing different types of data. Geographic Information can be of strategic advantage for a number of applications, including spatial planning, command and control systems, environmental protection, utility management, traffic regulation etc..

The Survey of India under the Department of Science and Technology has been conducting topographical surveys on 1:250,000 scale, 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scales. Survey of India has started creation of Digital Cartographical Database of topographical maps on scales of 1:250,000 and 1:50,000. These digitised base-maps will be made available for applications development, for planning and for Geographical Information Systems purposes. Individual states have also set up agencies, like the AP State Remote Sensing Applications Centre in the case of Andhra Pradesh, which are engaged in the development of digitised base maps.

There is no common standard for reference systems, scales, degrees of accuracy, formats and data structures for developing base maps, across the states. It would be useful to define the standards for such parameters at a pan-Indian level. While defining the standards, care should be taken to adopt international standards, so that data can eventually be shared at regional and at global levels.

Currently, there are restrictions on making digitised Survey of India maps available for public use. The restrictions have been imposed in view of the reservations of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Home and the Survey of India in making such data easily available. In the present scenario, when high resolution satellite systems are easily available for electronic surveillance, there is a need to have a rethink on this policy, so that digitised geographical information is made readily available for development of Geographical Information Systems and for use in value added applications.

The Survey of India should make available digitised base maps with a threshold scale, free of charge and free of copyright restrictions. This would stimulate the market for development of value added applications and create new products and services. Similarly the National Remote Sensing Agency should also make available, remote sensing data for easy access by the public. With the development of the INTERNET in the country, both the Survey of India and the National Remote Sensing Agency, should use this medium for transferring appropriate digitised geographical information to the public domain. The Committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary, set up a sub-committee on this, under the chairmanship of DG, NIC, and their recommendations were approved by the Committee of Secretaries. Notification by the Ministry of Defense is pending for more than six months. This has to be expedited.

The blueprint for the Freedom of Information Act is ready. The Act should be passed at an early date. All the information available with the NIC network should be made available to the public except those, which have a bearing on security. The Cabinet decision which was taken some time ago, that NIC should be enabled to make this information available to the public, should be implemented by additionally empowering NIC to do so, without waiting for the clearance of the Departments concerned.

iii) Electronic Governance and Citizen Charter for Effective and Responsive Administration

A suitable coordinating and monitoring structure may be set up to oversee and guide the implementation.

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Maharashtra, the most technology savvy state of the country, is going ahead with a multi-hazardous disasters management plan, as part of the Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme (MEERP). The project which is estimated to cost around Rs. 5 crores is being aided by the World Bank, UNDP and DFID (Department for International Development, UK).

This ambitious programme of the State Government emphasises on disaster management response, disaster awareness and education. The programme will identify administrative and technical measures essential to disaster preparedness, response, and mitigation efforts.

The key elements of the implementation strategy include establishing a communication network comprising of the VHF and VSAT, setting up of an emergency operation centre in the Mantralaya and all district control rooms, and creation of GIS-based diaster management information system by Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre (MRSAC).

As part of the project, the Government has undertaken the creation of a Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) for the state. It would involve digitisation of this data, the digitised mapping of all the talukas with the resources and facilities including a 1:50,000 scale of database.

The GIS will be based on whether the information system has to provide geometric analysis, attribute analysis or spatial analysis. Correspondingly, the system will comprise Computer Aided Mapping (CAM), Automated Mapping and Facilities Management (AM/FM), Geographic (topology) Information System (GIS).

The creation of DMIS is primarily meant to compile, store and update information related to hazards as it facilitates integrated analysis of the spatial and non-spatial data and generation of hazard maps relevant to the districts in Maharashtra.

The database will be made available to each district to enable district officials to plan better for disaster management, vulnerability analysis and response plans.

The spatial database will be available through satellite remote sensing techniques, in combination with attributed data properly analysed and integrated through GIS technique.

The DMIS will be an accessible information base to be used by all government agencies with proper networking and updating facilities built within. According to government sources this activity with its database on all the relevant parameters, its range of applications and multiple user-attributes, will be the first of its kind in the country.

The communication network will be provided by Global Wireless Telecom. Under this network, a total of 600 base stations, 56 repeater stations, 190 mobile stations and 150 hand-held sets will be installed. The entire network will be commissioned in six months. In Mumbai, all the important government departments/agencies will be linked through the VHF network.

The VSAT network for disaster management comprises of 31 fixed network stations in the district headquarters, and six fixed network stations in the divisional commissioners offices based on INTELSAT satellites.

The network control centre comprising a powerful network management system for complete system monitoring administration and control will be set up in Mumbai and a standby network management system is proposed to be installed at Pune. An Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at the Mantralaya has also been proposed.

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Anil Balan (Reproduced with permission from Express Computer, August 24, 1998 issue)

A sophisticated satellite-based real time vehicle tracking and monitoring system with wide application possibilities for the police, fire brigade, ambulance and courier services has been developed by a Bangalore firm.

The "Dynamic Platform Tracking and Information System", developed under a project with 50 per cent funding by the Department of Electronics, makes use of a combination of technologies of GPS (Global Positioning System), mobile communication and geographical information system software.

It could be used for surveillance, tracking and monitoring of any platform (vehicle or balloon), be it land-based, on sea, or in the air.

Explaining the system, K Leo Pushparaj, who is associated with the project, said the GPS device could even be a hand-held gadget, that can receive signals from specific GPS satellites and compute one’s position on ground, air or water, in terms of latitude and longitude as well as direction of movement. Currently, there are 24 GPS satellites circling the earth. A GPS device can cost between $100 to $30,000.

However, he said, GPS gives accuracy within 100 m, which could be enhanced by Differential GPS (DGPS) to an accuracy within 5 m, by placing a special GPS, known as reference receiver at a common pre-surveyed location, which computes any error dynamically in real time, and conveys corrections to the mobile unit, using wireless communication.

So the system they envisaged would have a control centre, a DGPS Reference Station, a VHF/UHF Transreceiver or Satellite Communication to communicate with mobile units. Using satellite terminals can give nationwide coverage though VHF/UHF restricts its use to 30-70 km or using high frequency to about 600 km.

The GPS would be panel mounted intelligence system in a box in the vehicle to convey its position to the control centre.

A GIS (Geographical Information System) softwre would display the positions of the vehicles over a local detailed digitised map. There would be communication control and dispatching software connected to a database.

Messages can be exchanged between the mobile unit through alphanumeric consoles with control centre. Emergency messages from vehicles generate audio visual alarms at control centres.

The graphical software provides a host of features to enable the operator at the control centre to make quick position related assessments like zooming, to have a close up view of the vehicle of interest and also an overall view by zooming out to be able to see all the vehicles on the screen. Multiple windows on the computer provide both an overall view and a close up view at the same time

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San Rafael, CA, October 7, 1998 - Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) announced that it has sold more than 50,000 units of AutoCAD Map software in just 18 months. AutoCAD Map is used for creating, maintaining, and producing maps and geographic data in private and governmental organisations worldwide. AutoCAD Map has been recognized for it’s unique ability to overcome many of the hurdles to expanding mapping and GIS use in organisations.

With its continuing sales surge, AutoCAD Map software has attained - in less than two years - an installed base of more than half that reported by ESRI for its flagship product, ARC/INFO, which has been on the market for 15 years.

AutoCAD Map software continues to receive critical acclaim from industry professionals for increasing productivity, decreasing training times, and letting companies get more value from their data. The currently shipping AutoCAD Map Release 3 has been praised for its significant new functionality and ease of use. "The best just got better", commented Jim Slocumb, in his review of Release 3 for Cadalyst magazine. This follows the success of AutoCAD Map Release 2, which Cadence magazine named one of the five products that made the greatest impact on the PC computer aided design community in 1997.

"The success of AutoCAD Map coincides with the increasing demand for our two other GIS products, Autodesk World and Autodesk Map Guide", says Joe Astroth, Ph. D., Vice President, Autodesk. "That’s because organizations realize that there is no substitute for an integrated family of products that gives users the right tools for each stage of the GIS workflow and enables the seamless sharing of information enterprise-wide. Time Warner Cable, Sprint, and Boeing are just a few of the many companies that have rejected the failed one-size-fits-all software approach of traditional GIS companies and instead are relying on the Autodesk GIS product family to increase productivity".

AutoCAD Map software is available worldwide in US and International English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese and Korean versions. Czech, Polish, Hungarian and Russian versions are expected in October, with other languages available later this year. The suggested retail price in the United States and Canada is US$4,250, with upgrade pricing for existing AutoCAD Map and AutoCAD software users. Outside the United States and Canada, users should contact local Authorized Autodesk Resellers for pricing.

One of the leading PC mapping and GIS software companies, Autodesk is changing the GIS industry by providing easy to use, cost-effective software to help businesses and governments manage their assets and infrastructure. The company’s award-winning family of GIS products includes AutoCAD Map software, the Autodesk standard for CAD-based precision map creation and maintenance; Autodesk World* software for integrating and managing spatial data in the Microsoft environment; and Autodesk MapGuide* software, the most powerful Web-based GIS in the world. For more information, visit <www.autodesk.com/gis>.

Autodesk is the fourth largest PC software company in the world and the leading supplier of PC design software and multimedia tools. More than three million customers use the company’s 2D and 3D products for architectural design, mechanical design, geographic information systems and mapping, civil engineering and surveying, and through its Kinetix division for film and video production, and video game and Web content development.

A National Seminar on Geoinformatics: Geoinformatics-98 was organised by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, India and the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands between October 26-27, 1998 at IIRS, Dehradun. Themes covered were Geoinformatics,-Concepts, Geoinformatics for management for Land and Water resources: Geosciences, Water Resources, Soil, Agriculture & Horticulture, Forest & Environment, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Rural development and infrastructure building, Landuse planning and sustainable development, Regional and Urban planning, Human Resources Development and Future Trends. For details contact: Prof. M D Shedha, Organising Secretary, Geoinformatics-98 Seminar, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (NRSA), Dehradun -248001, India.

ESRI India organised the third annual conference for ESRI/ERDAS (GIS/ Image Processing) users at New Delhi during November 17-18, 1998. The conference was preceded by seminars on Internet GIS and Arc/Info ODE Tools and succeeded by three training programs on Spatial Analyst for Arc View, Dynamic Segmentation, Regions and TINs in Arc/Info and Customizing Arc/Info with AML.

Further details can be obtained from Ms. Neera Kohli, ESRI India, NIIT GIS Limited, 8, Balaji Estate, Sudershan Munjal Marg, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019 Phone: +91-11-6203840 Fax: +91-11-6203838

IT Task Force Recommendations: The Vajpayee government has given the information technology community a big surprise by gazetting all the 108 recommendations of the IT Task Force constituted by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). And instead of concentrating on just the software exports, the government has also concentrated on faster IT usage in the government and giving faster access to the public to the government information. Some good news for GIS, at last...

Environment Remote Sensing for Mangrove Forest Management: Mangrove forests are one of the important coastal ecosystems in the world in terms of primary production and coastal protection. Along the Indian coasts Mangroves have been affected severely due to human induced stresses such as deforestation and other development activities.

Integrated Approach for Sustainable Development of Wasteland using Remote Sensing and GIS: Here is an attempt to understand the reasons for the increase in wasteland with respect to the physiographic and socio-economic aspects of Gurgaon region.

Mapping Chlorophyll-a in Upper Lake, Bhopal using IRS-1C Data: The surface water bodies like lakes and rivers are endangered due to indiscriminate dumping of domestic and industrial wastes. These can be mapped using remote sensing, GPS and GIS.

Terrain Mapping units of Bharatpur District: The conventional approach for GIS has been to map an area in terms of grid coordinates or in the polygonal mode using village, block or district boundaries for spatial display of data from a relational database. But are these artificial boundaries?

Census 2000: The GIS Way: Preparations for the Census in 2000 are in full swing. What is the role GIS should play?

Andhra Pradesh: The GIS Capital of India: Under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandra Babu Naidu, the state is building plans for electronic governance. Did you hear GIS there? The CM’s emphasis on IT has lead to creation of GIS wings in nearly every department of the state. This has given a boon to GIS industry. With a strong network of scientific institutions related to mapping, the entrepreneurial spirit embedded in the Andhraites and Naidu showing the way, Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the CAPITAL of GIS in India. An overview on what is in the pipeline for Andhra and GIS.

Urban Planning: A GIS Experience: For the successful implementation of any planning related tasks the planners need authentic and near accurate data and powerful computer tools that makes decision making easy. GIS are such tools, which help the planner to accurately create and manage their data. Read on an interesting application.

Computerization of Development Plans and Associate Information Using GIS: In the state of Maharashtra, it is obligatory for all local authorities to prepare a development plan for the entire area within its jurisdiction. How could GIS help make these plans more efficient and effective. A review.

GIS Data Policy: While the successive governments trying their level best to avoid discussing the Right to Information Bill in the Parliament, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been able to push Indian government to take the issue of data dissemination seriously. The cabinet approved the national policy on dissemination of statistical data. According to the new policy, a data warehouse would be created with the department of statistics as the nodal agency for its dissemination.

Adjustment Computations: Statistics and Least Squares in Surveying and GIS by Paul Wolf and Charles Ghilani: All measurements contain errors. And with Global Positioning Systems, total station instruments, digital metric cameras, and satellite imaging systems now generating vast quantities of data, adjustment for errors is crucial to accurate interpretation. This text provides a complete treatment of least squares adjustment, the most rigorous procedure available for computing adjustments to measured data. Advanced topics include the use of constraint equations and blunder detection. The accompanying disk contains three software packages: statistical analysis, the performance of least squares adjustments, and basic matrix operations. John Wiley & Sons, 1997, 584 pp. $82.50

Elements of Spatial Data Quality, edited by Stephen Guptil and Joel Morrison: The authors address the need for meta-data for digital spatial data. Members of the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on Spatial Data Quality identify and discuss seven elements of data quality: positional accuracy, attribute accuracy, completeness, logical consistency, lineage, semantic accuracy, and temporal information. They point out areas in need of further investigation and speculate about the use and transfer of digital spatial data in tomorrow’s electronic world. Elsevier, 1995, 250 pp, $140.00

Spatial Analysis: Modeling in a GIS Environment, edited by Paul Longley and Michael Batty: This book addresses spatial analysis, emphasizing its integration within GIS. It focuses on developing advanced GIS functions in order to achieve the zenith in spatial analysis for problem solving, prediction, and forecasting. Practical models and applications stress spatial systems of particular relevance to human geographers and spatial policy analysts. John Wiley & Sons. 1997, 392 pp. Item 76211. $71.50.