测绘专业英语1UNIT-1

Unit1WhatisGeomatics?GeomaticsDefinedWheredoesthewordGeomaticscomefrom?GEODESY+GEOINFORMATICS=GEOMATICSorGEO-forearthand–MATICSformathematicalorGEO-forGeoscienceand–MATICSforinformatics.Ithasbeensaidthatgeomaticsismanythingstomanypeople.ThetermgeomaticsemergedfirstinCanadaandasacademicdiscipline;ithasbeenintroducedworldwideinanumberofinstitutesofhighereducationduringthepastfewyears,mostlybyrenamingwhatwaspreviouslycalled“geodesy”or“surveying”,andbyaddinganumberofcomputerscienceand/orGIS-orientedcourses.Nowthetermincludesthetraditionalsurveyingdefinitionalongwith(and)surveyingsteadilyincreasedimportancewiththedevelopmentofnewtechnologiesandthegrowingdemandforavarietyofspatiallyrelatedtypesofinformation,particularlyinmeasuringandmonitoringourenvironment.Increasinglycriticalareareasofexpandingpopulations,appreciatinglandvalues,dwindlingnaturalresources,andcontinuingstressingofthequalityofourland,waterandairfromhumanactivities.Assuch,geomaticsbridgeswidearcsfromthegeosciencesthroughvariousengineeringsciencesandcomputersciencestospatialplanning,landdevelopmentandtheenvironmentalsciences.NowthewordgeomaticshasbeenadoptedbyseveralinternationalbodiesincludingtheInternationalStandardOrganization(ISO),soitisheretostay.Theterm“surveyor”istraditionallyusedtocollectivelydescribethoseengagedintheaboveactivities.MoreexplicitjobdescriptionssuchasLandSurveyor,EngineeringsurveyororHydrographicsurveyorforexample,arecommonlyusedbypractitionerstomoreclearlydescribeandmarkettheirspecializedexpertise.Thetermgeomaticsisarecentcreationtoconveythetruecollectiveandscientificnatureoftheserelatedactivitiesandhastheflexibilitytoallowfortheincorporationoffuturetechnologicaldevelopmentsinthesefields.Adoptionofthetermalsoallowsacoherentmarketingoftheprofessiontoindustryandschoolsonaworldwidebasis.Asaresult,bothcourseandawardtitlesinthetraditionalLandSurveyingsectoratmanyoftheworld’sleadinguniversitiesarebeingchangedto“DegreeinGeomatics”.Thisdoesnotsuggestthedemiseoftheterm“surveyor”andgraduateswillstillpracticeaslandsurveyorsorphotogrammetrists,etc.asappropriatetotheirspeciallization.Inthelastdecade,therehasbeendramaticdevelopmentandgrowthintheuseofhardwareandsoftwaresolutionstobothmeasureandprocessgeo-spatialdata.Thishascreatedandwillcontinuetocreatenewareasofapplication,withassociatedjobopportunitiesforsuitablyqualifiedgraduates.Asaresult,theroleofthe“surveyor”isexpandingbeyondtraditionalareasofpractice,asdescribedabove,intonewareasofopportunity.Inaddition,recentadvancesinthetechnologyofdatacollectionandprocessinghaveblurredtheboundariesofpracticeandactivitybetweenwhatwerepreviouslyregardedasrelatedbutseparateareas.Suchdevelopmentsareforecasttocontinueandwillcreatenewcareerpathsforgraduateswhoseeducationandtrainingisbroadlybasedandofahighacademicstandard.Toenablegraduatestotakefulladvantageofthesedevelopments,significantchangesineducationandtrainingarerequired.Academicandprofessionalinstitutionsarealsoresponding,inpart,byadoptingthetermgeomaticsbothasacourseandasanawardtitle.Aworkingdefinitionofgeomatics,whichreflectscurrentthinkingandpredictedchange,is:thescienceandtechnologyofacquiring,storing,processing,managing,analyzingandpresentinggeographicallyreferencedinformation(geo-spatialdata).Thisbroadtermappliesbothtoscienceandtechnology,andintegratethefollowingmorespecificdisciplinesandtechnologiesincludingsurveyingandmapping,geodesy,satellitepositioning,photogrammetry,remotesensing,geographicinformationsystems(GIS),landmanagement,computersystems,environmentalvisualizationandcomputergraphics.Severaltermssuchas“geomatics,”“geomaticengineering,”and“geoinformatics”arenowincommonusepertainingtoactivitiesgenerallyconcernedwithgeographicinformation.Thesetermshavebeenadoptedprimarilytorepresentthegeneralapproachthatgeographicinformationiscollected,managed,andapplied.Alongwithlandsurveying,photogrammetry,remotesensing,andcartography,GISisanimportantcomponentofgeomatics.BranchesofGeomaticsDataacquisitiontechniquesincludefieldsurveying,globalpositioningsystem(GPS),satellitepositioning,andremotelysensedimageryobtainedthroughaerialPho’tographyandsatelliteimagery.Italsoincludestheacquisitionofdatabasematerialscannedfromoldermapsandplansanddatacollectedbyrelatedagencies.Datamanagementandprocessarehandledthroughtheuseofcomputerprogramsforengineeringdesign,digitalphotogrammetry,imageanalysis,relationaldatabasemanagement,andgeographicinformationsystems(GIS).Dataplotting(presentation)ishandledthroughtheuseofmappingandotherillustrativecomputerprograms;thepresentationsaredisplayedoncomputerscreens(whereinteractiveeditingcanoccur)andareoutputonpaperfromdigitalplottingdevices.Oncethepositionsandattributesofgeographicentitieshavebeendigitizedandstoredincomputermemory,theyareavailableforusebyawidevarietyofusers.Throughtheuseofmoderninformationtechnology(IT),geomaticsbringstogetherprofessionalsinthefollowingdisciplines:surveying,mapping,remotesensing,landregistration,civilandmarineengineering,forestry,agriculture,planninganddevelopment,geology,geographicalsciences