QUO VADIS, GEOMATICA?
T. Basic, D. Medak, B. Pribicevic
Department of Geomatics, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia — damir.medak @ geof.hr
KEY WORDS: geomatics, location based services, mobile positioning, geoinformation services
ABSTRACT:
Recent advances in measurement, computation and communication tied together geodesy, computer science and cognitive science.
What used to be just a new attractive technology (geoinformation systems) emerged first to the interdisciplinary field of
geoinformation science (GISc) and next to various application domains collectively called geoinformation services (GI-services).
Narrowly defined, geomatics - as a geodetic contribution to practical geoinformatics - is the backbone of all Gl-services, while it
provides accurate spatio-temporal reference frame for all attribute information gathered by other disciplines and stored in computers
for subsequent analysis and visualization. Moreover, geomatics actively participates in the investigation of the best practices for
information distribution, especially in dynamical environments, e.g. in navigation on the land, at the sea and in the air. In order to
keep the pace with growing social needs for Gl-services, geomaticians must be capable to communicate their knowledge with
computer and cognitive scientists. They need deep understanding of modern database systems, software engineering methods,
human-computer interaction, mobile communications and spatial data mining. This is a heavy burden to the educational process and
a good reason to reshape certain classical subjects in order to fulfill the needs and expectations of contemporary geomaticians. This
paper argues that the field of geomatics is the most prominent direction for future development of geodesy, which is going to provide
not only very attractive research tasks, but many new interesting jobs for the practice. We give the forecast of future developments in
geomatics, its relationships with neighboring disciplines with the emphasis on strong links between geodetic subdisciplines and
geomatics. Finally, we present the evolution of the former Institute of Higher Geodesy which became Institute of Geomatics few
years ago, stressing the shift of expectations from educational institutions in Croatia viewed from academic and practical perspective.
1. INTRODUCTION This is, however, a huge over-simplification. Data analysis and
presentation tends to be handled by the same software. It is
Geomatics is quite a new discipline: the term was first used in common for one expert to cover more than one of the above
Canada in the mid-1980s. But what is Geomatics? The answer four roles, and on small projects a single person may fulfill all
to this question is not yet definite. four roles.
1 : M. 1 = " . lw . B
According to Oxford English Dictionary geomatics is "the The universities have a growing number of Geomatics
mathematics of the earth; the science of the collection, analysis, Departments, offering courses such as Geographic and Land
and interpretation of data, especially instrumental data, relating Information Management, GIS, and Geoinformation
to the earth's surface”. It is a modern discipline, which ^ Technology. A good on-line list with spatial distribution is
integrates acquisition, modeling, analysis, and management of ^ given by (Kauper, 2002). In an attempt to reduce confusion and
spatially referenced data, i.e. data identified according to their produce a name that is marketable to potential undergraduates,
locations. Based on the scientific framework of geodesy, it uses the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has
terrestrial, marine, airborne, and satellite-based sensors to decided to offer a bachelors degree in Technical Geography (as
acquire spatial and other data. It includes the process of distinct from physical geography and human geography).
transforming spatially referenced data from different sources
into common information systems with well-defined accuracy New technologies, largely in the digital domain, such as Earth
characteristics. Modeling spatial geometry, making observations imaging satellites, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and
and estimating spatial positions and their uncertainty is a key the Global Positioning System (GPS) have transformed the way
component of the Geomatics Engineering education the professional surveyor works. Ultimately, this has lead to the
(Department of Geomatics Engineering, 2003). profession and academic institutions alike adopting the new
umbrella term 'Geomatics' in an attempt to better describe their
Where did geomatics come from? It stems from a fusion of land activities.
surveying (in its broadest sense) with the recently emerged
Geographic Information Systems technology. This explains why 2. GEODESY, GEOINFORMATICS, GEOMATICS
most definitions of geomatics focus on the collection,
management, analysis and presentation of spatially related data. 2.1 Geomatics and other disciplines
Within geomatics there are specialists, and these might be
categorized as follows (Edward and Parker, 2002): One effective approach to the phenomenon of terminological
e collectors of spatial data = surveyors confusion over geomatics is a survey of scientific disciplines
related to georeferenced information. Traditionally, geodesy
was collector of such information for centuries and a lot of
skills was required in order to gather and process the data, due
to lack of accurate instruments and automated calculations.
e spatial data managers = IT managers
e spatial data analysts = GIS specialists
e data presenters = cartographers
26
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