Terranean News

September 2011

High Definition LIDAR, photography and feature mapping for the CopperString Powerline Project.

The AU$1.5 billion Copperstring Project is a proposed 1041-kilometre long, high-voltage electricity line between Woodstock near Townsville and Mount Isa. Once completed it will enhance the reliability of the power supply to the North West Minerals Province and open up the region's renewable energy assets to development.

The project is regarded as one of Queensland’s most important infrastructure projects and has the potential to be a genuine economic driver for the state and generate new jobs. It has recently been approved as an Infrastructure Facility of Significance (IFS) by the State Government. The project will create up to 750 new jobs during construction and approximately 30 ongoing operations and maintenance jobs.

CopperString Pty Ltd is a partnership between CuString Pty Ltd and Leighton Contractors Limited. Terranean was engaged by Leighton Contractors to map the broad corridor in which the final alignment would lie. . Once the feasibility for such a large project is given the green light, there is an urgent need to obtain accurate data so the final alignment can be determined and dependent activities, such as land holder negotiation, tower location and line design can be commenced without costly delay. Delays or inaccuracies in data collection have major negative impacts on these downstream activities.

Terranean collected High Definition LiDAR and simultaneous digital aerial photography within a tightly constrained time frame of August 2010 to November 2010. The line designers also required detailed feature mapping including three dimensional powerlines. Terranean carried out this mapping using the LiDAR and photography, and provided Leightons with 3 dimensional strings in CAD format.

In summary it was a large project with challenging technical specifications that was delivered on time and on budget.

June 2011

Terranean joins international consulting firm RPS

Terranean has recently joined international consulting firm RPS.

UK-based RPS operates from 25 locations throughout the Australia and Asia Pacific region providing a range of technical and professional services to clients in the energy and resources, environment, infrastructure and urban growth sectors.

Terranean clients will continue to receive the same high level of technical advice and professional services, and benefit from access to a broader range of skills and experience.

The move to join RPS is expected to help further cement Terranean’s market leading position in mapping and geographic information systems. It firms up a close relationship between the two organisations, which has seen significant collaboration on projects over many years, particularly with RPS’ environment and surveying services.

Terranean will continue to operate with the same staff and management team from its Brisbane premises.

Mar 2011

Inundation Polygons help prepare for Cyclone Yasi

Cyclone Yasi was the biggest and most powerful cyclone to hit the Queensland coast in living memory. However, Emergency Management Queensland had been preparing for such an event for years.

Over the last five years the Department of Community Safety through the Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) "Protecting Our Coastal Communities" (POCC) project has been acquiring LiDAR data and producing a highly accurate Digital Elevation Model (DEM) along the Queensland coast – covering communities from Coolangatta to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It has been large and logistically challenging to complete. This has involved using a panel of private LIDAR providers, including Terranean.

The DEM acquisition was part of a 2006 state government election commitment to more accurately identify storm tide inundation along the Queensland coast. The DEM data would also have future uses for other hazards such as flood and tsunami modelling. The DEM data acquired covers an area of over 60,000 square kilometres and is a massive dataset several terabytes in size. The size and complexity of this data raised serious issues on how this data would be used for real decision making, particularly in an emergency situation. The answer was to produce a simplified dataset called storm tide inundation zones or inundation polygons that could be quickly analysed by virtually any GIS software.

After a competitive tendering process Terranean was engaged by EMQ to create the inundation polygons. The project was a very challenging undertaking that involved creating highly detailed data over the 60,000 sq km project area.

The first step was to create 0.25m contours. One metre contours are generally regarded as very detailed and complex over large areas. Generating high integrity contours at an interval of ¼ metre over 60,000sq km from sea level to mountains as high as Mount Bartle Frere was an immense GIS processing exercise. However, the next step was even more challenging. Creating Inundation polygons involves making polygons of the areas between each two adjacent contours. Another name for these polygons is “hypsometric polygons” and no GIS package has a complete solution for developing these long thin and highly complex polygons. Terranean needed to develop a systematic approach that involved using a different GIS modelling software at different steps in the process.

Issues that Terranean needed to overcome were:

• the very high number of nodes within each polygon;
• the fact that the polygons were often nested inside each other;
• the extreme size of the datasets;
• the fact that the data needed to be 100% accurate because of the critical nature of what they would be used for.

EMQ also engaged Terranean Mapping to develop a tool which utilised the processed data and other datasets to produce the final storm tide zones in a format that could be supplied to other agencies.

Prior to Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, all coastal local governments were supplied with storm tide inundation zones as per the National Storm Tide Mapping Model. This data was supplied in a simple spatial format that enabled councils to incorporate the data into their own GIS applications to aid in disaster management planning.

The various storm tide zones produced were incorporated into internal EMQ mapping systems. Hard copy maps were also produced and used extensively in the planning for TC Yasi by the Queensland Government. This data was also made available to other agencies to enable them to overlay the inundation polygons in their GIS applications to see potential areas at risk.

EMQ has worked hard over the last five years to capture the data and then use Terranean to process the data into a usable form. In the end this practical and usable dataset was available for distribution to other state agencies and local government in time to be used as an essential disaster management tool in preparation for severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi and other emergency events in 2011.

Mar 2011

Lockyer Valley Flood Mapping

The worst event in the Queensland floods was the deluge that caused the “Inland Tsunami” that hit the regional centre of Toowoomba and the massive flooding that wreaked havoc through the Lockyer Valley . The majority of the deaths in the floods occurred in the Lockyer Valley. It also caused massive material damage to homes, farm infrastructure and the environment.

SEQ Catchments is the organization which is charged with land management stewardship over south east Queensland, including the Lockyer Valley. They wanted to know in detail what happened and they needed the information quickly so they could influence political decision makers while the public interest in the event was still high.

Terranean has a long term working relationship with SEQ Catchments and had mapped part of the area affected by the floods a year earlier.  Mapping the area soon after the flood would give a wonderful opportunity for detecting exactly what changes the floods had caused.

Terranean was given the go ahead to capture High Definition LiDAR over an area of 1,300 sq km over the Lockyer Valley, compare it to previous surveys and process the data into a form that was ready for geomorphological analysis and for use by decision makers.

Terranean focused all of its resources and completed the work in six weeks.  The comparison between the two detailed LiDAR surveys showed a dramatic change to the shape of the Lockyer valley water course – and in particular (as illustrated below) it indicated the exact shape and location of the deposition and erosion that occurred.

CEO Simon Warner argues that the mapping of such detail by High Definition LiDAR is a game changer in the process of engaging with land owners on issues of land management.  Previously mapping might have given a regional, community or paddock context to a land management issue.  Simon argues that “High Definition LiDAR data now allows you to communicate at the furrow level”. 

Land owners can see in real life detail the exact consequences of difference management practices; the impact of a stand of trees, a bridge pylon a patch of land clearing.    Detailed cause and effect is graphically illustrated and positive and negative practices become very evident.

The data made a real impact when presented to state government and it is now being used by individual land owners, geomorphologists and policy makers to restore the environment and to also position preventative measures at locations that will maximize their effectiveness and thereby extend the value of every precious land management dollar.

Oct 2010

Terranean Wins Spatial Excellence Award for MDBA Project

Terranean has won the 2010 Queensland Spatial Excellence Award for the Environment Category.

The project proved that airborne full wave form LiDAR could be used as an efficient and objective means of deriving complex environmental variables over large areas.

Despite record floods over almost the entire Murray Darling Basin, Terranean completed this huge, ground breaking project with only two months delay and within budget.    Australia simply would not have had the geomorphologists or biologists available to complete this survey by traditional methods.

Click here for a more detailed description of the project.

Also, Terranean Director, David Moore co-authored and presented a paper on the project and ARSPC 15 conference in Alice Springs.  If you are interestered in better understanding the science behind the project, the paper is available here for download.

03 March 2010

Getting maximum Value from LiDAR Data: the Casstech Experience

One of the main impediments to the effective use of LiDAR data is the difficulty for users to get value out of the large and complex files.  Casstech has overcome this problem by using Terranean’s LiDAR and orthophotography data within a low cost GIS package as a cost effective basis to designing and developing their massive agri-business enterprise.

CassTech Limited is an Australian unlisted public company which was established in 2008 to develop an integrated cassava farm, starch factory and cattle feedlot enterprise in the Burdekin region of North Queensland, with a view to exploiting projected global supply shortfalls of carbohydrate and protein. The proposed integrated agri‐industrial facility will comprise a commercial farm of 9,269 hectares with 6000 hectares cropping area, a starch factory and a feedlot holding 10,000 head of cattle.

In June 2009 Terranean carried out an integrated LiDAR and aerial photography survey over the 140 sq km project area.  A one metre DEM, filtered ground points and 0.25m GSD orthophotography was supplied.  The project engineers and designers had significant problems in using the large data files.

Terranean met with Farm Project Manager, Vin Sorbello, and recommended that he use the low cost GIS tool, GlobalMapper, to process and manage the survey data.  Global Mapper has enabled Vin – a self confessed non-technical user – to use the data to design various types of farm infrastructure and has also enabled him to become the central information manager of the data associated with the myriad of private contractors and government agencies involved in such a large operation.

• GlobalMapper facilitated the design of the all important irrigation system. The core of this system was centre pivot irrigation which requires large circles of land that have less than 6% cross fall and do not have any significant drainage lines or other impediments to the rotating irrigation system.  Cross-sections could be produced in seconds using GlobalMapper, and this together with its mapping capability enabled Vin to initiate the design of the farm irrigation system.
• Vin used the aerial photography to point out to Ergon that one of their remote backup high voltage lines was down - a fact that they were unaware of.
• An initial design for the feedlot was rejected because quick calculations using the LiDAR data in GlobalMapper indicated that the size and cost of the cut and fill excavations would have been excessive.
• Vin anticipates that the accurate vertical surface will mean a reduction in costs in GPS ground survey and base stations that will in itself cover much the cost of the LiDAR survey.   

Global Mapper generating 2 metre contours to identify water storage sites 

Global Mapper being used to design a combination Centre Pivot - T Tape irrigation System

These are some of the benefits already accrued.  The development of this project will also involve:

• Field formation and paddock design,
• Factory design
• Water delivery system design and construction
• Road design and construction,
• Equipment purchase,
• Environmental management including ground water management,
• Land and Water Management Plan (LWMP), 

All of these tasks will require ongoing use of the LiDAR data and orthophotography. 

Vin has become a proficient GIS manager with strong control of the information management of the project. The investment in LiDAR data and Global Mapper will be paid off many times over through the course of the project.

02 November 2009

Terranean wins $3.4M Murray Darling Basin LiDAR project.

Terranean Mapping Technologies has been awarded the $3.4M Murray Darling Basin Authority Sustainable Rivers Remote Sensing Data Acquisition Project.

The Sustainable Rivers Audit is a comprehensive assessment of the river eco-systems in the Murray Darling Basin and is the key tool to monitor the overall environmental health of the Basin.  The project will measure two of the key indicator themes, Physical Form (of the river channel) and Vegetation, using full waveform LiDAR and high resolution multispectral imagery.

The Murray Darling Basin covers a large proportion of Australia and by way of comparison is four times the size of the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland).

The project comprises of four main parts.  Full Wave Form LiDAR acquisition, Four Band Aerial Imagery capture and the GIS processing involved in generating the Physical Form and Vegetation themes.  Terranean will be carrying out the LiDAR survey and the GIS processing to produce the Physical Form and Vegetation themes.  Aerometrex Australia will be carrying out the Aerial Imagery capture and Conics the ground survey control.

Airborne remote sensing was seen as a cost effective way of capturing the required data over such a vast area. In particular it was recognized that Terranean’s Full Wave Form LiDAR could be processed into high resolution point clouds and used to measure detailed vegetation structural canopy measurements, and was considered more appropriate for this purpose than discrete return LiDAR data.

Full Wave Form point cloud which clearly illustrates detailed vegetation canopy structure and the physical form of watercourses

Terranean will coordinate the three survey components of this large and logistically complex project; for each site the imagery and LiDAR have to be flown within two weeks of each other and after the ground control has been established. The imagery and LiDAR must be flown under suitable conditions with no flooding or fire present.

Terranean will develop GIS algorithms to generate the Physical Form and Vegetation themes.  As they form the basis of the Audit process, this is an important part of the overall project.  MDBA will be provided with software tools to manipulate and analyse the LiDAR, Imagery and environmental data.

The project will capture 70 individual sites in 22 valleys, resulting in a total of 1540 sites, each of which cover 1km of river length and floodplain. In addition, 150 ground control and check sites will be surveyed making a total of 1690 sites.

The project highlights the range of value added information that can be produced from Terranean’s High Definition LiDAR data.  Physical Form variables to be derived from the LiDAR data include: 

• River center line; River bank shape; Channel width; Channel depth; Bank angle; Bank type; Vegetation cover of bed and banks; Sinuosity and Stream power

Vegetation variables to be extracted from a combination of the LiDAR data and aerial imagery include:

• Vegetation cover of bed and banks; Percent cover by type; Channel shading; Strata structure; Large tree height and number and Large woody debris

The core spatial products which will be used to produce the value added Physical Form and Vegetation themes include:

• Detailed LiDAR point cloud classified into ground and above ground points;
• Georeferenced, ortho-rectified multi-spectral imagery;
• 1m Digital Elevation Model (DEM);
• Digital Terrain Model (DTM);
• Canopy Elevation Model (CEM);
• LiDAR vegetation returns at various heights above the ground;
• 25cm contours;
• Wetted river area layer (WRA).

 

14 September 2009

STOP PRESS! Terranean wins Innovation Award.

Terranean has teamed up with Conics Townsville to win the “Research and Innovation” award of the Queensland Spatial Excellence Awards.

The award was given in recognition for the ground breaking work in applying High Definition LIDAR to the land development process in rugged terrain near Giru, West of Townsville.  Read on to find out more about this project…

High Definition LiDAR for Rural Land Development

Background

Shirbourne, 45km south-west of Townsville, represents some of the most difficult terrain in Queensland. A mandatory requirement for any new land development in this area is to obtain a detailed ground survey.   Historically this represented a difficult logistical challenge. Contributing to this challenge were issues of limited site access, dense vegetation and in the case described below, a very large survey area.

Townsville based surveyors and planners, Conics, were engaged to project manage the approval process for a large residential development on Giru Road in Shirbourne, right in the heart of the difficult terrain. Organizing the applications and approvals associated with the development was dependant on presenting quality mapping information.

Challenge

In order to meet the tight timeframe for the proposed development, Conics needed immediate, up to date survey information of the terrain and vegetation on the site to allow their environmental, planning and design team enough time to complete the necessary approvals.

In order to fast track the process, Terranean was engaged by Conics to undertake a High Definition LiDAR and Digital Aerial Photography survey over the site.

Objective

The objective was to deliver an accurate terrain and vegetation model to allow Conics to start work on the approvals.

Relevance of High Definition LiDAR / Benefits

Terranean was able to mobilize their aircraft immediately and the entire 322 ha site was surveyed and delivered in a matter of days.

The full wave form and short pulse length characteristics of the high definition LiDAR ensured good penetration of the dense vegetation to produce the excellent ground and vegetation modeling at required accuracies. Ortho photography was collected simultaneously using the integrated digital camera.

The mapping information, vegetation models and integrated ortho photography exceeding expectations in quality and were delivered in a fraction of the time of a conventional ground survey.  In fact it is doubtful if ground survey would have been viable in the difficult and thickly vegetated terrain.

High Definition LiDAR proved to be a practical and cost-effective solution to fast track the land development process.

Profile view of High Definition LiDAR Point Cloud model illustrating the terrain and vegetation integrated with the simultaneous ortho photography

Colour relief image generated from High Definition LiDAR terrain model overlaid with proposed property layout

Slope analysis generated from terrain model overlaid with proposed property layout

3D terrain model coloured by slope and overlaid with proposed property layout with projected water level

Applications

The High Definition LiDAR allowed Conics to:

• analyze slope,
• define features such as watercourses and ridges,
• determine flood risk,
• define tree heights and structure,
• report on sustainability,
• minimize environmental impacts,
• identify suitable building envelopes,
• complete all approvals associated with the proposed residential development.

 

06 October 2008

Scenic Amenity Mapping for Gold Coast City Council  

In order to manage and protect its scenic assets, the Gold Coast City Council commissioned Terranean to identify and map Scenic Amenity across the Gold Coast landscape.

Scenic Amenity refers to benefits the community obtains from the aesthetic visual character of the landscape. The high Scenic Amenity value of the Gold Coast’s beaches, forests, waterways, parks and farmlands represent valuable assets through their contribution to tourism and quality of life.

Scenic Amenity is a function of the community’s preference for different types of landscape and the visibility of landscapes from public viewing locations. It is calculated from two factors:

1. 1. Scenic Preference – a measure of the relative contribution of community preference for different landscapes, and
2. 2. Visual Exposure – a measure of the relative visibility of different parts of the landscape.

The primary outputs of the project were new Scenic Preference and Scenic Amenity maps. Both have a resolution of 10 metres, suitable for planning at 1:25 000 scale.  This project also produced the most detailed and accurate landcover map of the Gold Coast that will be useful for a wide range of projects. These maps were provided as GIS layers compatible with the Council’s GIS system and as a series of 1:25 000 scale maps in printed and digital format.

These maps will be used by the GCCC to:

• Address the requirements of the Queensland State Government’s “South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005-2026 Scenic Amenity Policies”
• Assist in developing key strategies, including Council’s “Draft Local Growth Management Strategy” and “Landscape Character Strategy”.
• Provide a basis for assessing the visual impact of proposed developments.

The project represents a significant advance in Scenic Amenity mapping methodology because it adopted the universal Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) developed by the United Nations FAO. This provides a number of tangible benefits; the methodology and models are not specific to the Gold Coast and these maps can be compared directly with other Scenic Amenity maps produced using the same system. This provides a basis for assessing the regional significance of the Gold Coast’s Scenic Amenity assets. The LCCS system also provides a basis for readily updating the Gold Coast Scenic Amenity map whenever new landcover maps become available and to provide a baseline from which to monitor Scenic Amenity over time.

Other Terranean Local Government projects »

 

27 July 2008

Major case study of climate change vulnerability.

Natural Solutions, Conics and Terranean have together won a major climate change study into the Pimpama catchment on the northern Gold Coast.

The study has been commissioned by the Department of Climate Change under the National Coastal Vulnerability Assessment program. It will examine the potential impacts of climate change on the coastline and ecosystems of the Pimpama River and adjacent parts of southern Moreton Bay.The area is important for cane production, aquaculture, recreation, tourism and, increasingly, urban development. The southern bay is a unique network of channels and low islands, separating the Bay from north Stradbroke island. The extensive mangrove and seagrass areas are  important contributors to the fisheries of the bay. The district is low lying and both the estuarine and land based activities are vilnerable to changes in sea level, storm surge and flooding.

The study will help to understand the mechanisms by which climate change may impact on the coastline and ecosytems of the area and in turn the socio-economic impacts on rural, urban and marine activities.

Land Development Planning

Gold Coast Surveyors, Michel Group Services engaged Terranean to undertake a detailed LiDAR and Aerial Photography Survey of a 5 square kilometer development site near Nerang.  The objective was to provide survey accurate data and ortho-photography over this heavily vegetated terrain at less than the cost of traditional field parties.  Specifically 0.5m contours and 15 cm resolution ortho-photography were required as a basis for master planning over the site.

Terranean’s “eye safe” scanner enabled us to legally fly at low altitude, and this, together with the high pulse rate of the scanner, resulted in the capture of very high resolution data. This in turn ensured that a large number of points penetrated the thick vegetation canopy to generate a detailed ground elevation model (DEM).

Digital aerial photography was captured simultaneously with the LiDAR data thereby avoiding the extra cost of a second flight. The LiDAR surface model was used to ortho-rectify the digital photography and generate the 0.5m contours.

Combining the 3 data sets, the Michel Group was able to: extract valuable information such as existing infrastructure; make a flood risk assessment; and determine possible development locations.

Subset of Digital Elevation Model overlayed with 0.5m Contours

Aerial Photography captured simultaneously with LiDAR Data

Other Terranean land development projects »

Coastal Mapping

This competitive tender was let by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)to carry out a LiDAR survey to produce a highly detailed Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and contours of a section of potential new national Park in South East Queensland. The EPA needed mapping of this level of detail so they could plan the implementation of the new National Park and monitor the possible effects of climate change over this low lying coastal land.

The EPA required 0.2 meter contours over the 64 sq km area to understand even the most subtle of the drainage dynamics of the project area. The area is covered by a variety of land types including dense littoral forest, sand dunes and mud flats.  

The key to a good result were high accuracy and good penetration of the vegetation to achieve a high number of points on the ground.  As illustrated in the diagrams below, the LiDAR scans achieved excellent penetration through the thick vegetation with no discernable difference in DEM quality between the vegetated and non-vegetated areas.  Checking of the control indicated an absolute accuracy of approximately 10 cm and a relative accuracy of a very high 15mm were achieved. 

The project was successfully delivered with the EPA receiving an accurate and reliable DEM on which they can base their assessment, planning and future monitoring.

0.2m contours generated through dense coastal vegetation

DEM showing sand tracks and holding ponds

Other Terranean environmental projects »

Pipeline Design

Like most pipeline projects Metgasco needed accurate mapping information, quickly and within tight budgets.  The challenge for Metgasco Ltd was to design a pipeline to take natural gas from the Clarence-Moreton Basin near Casino, over the Mcpherson Ranges, to the CS Energy Swanbank Power Station near Ipswich, in Queensland. The McPherson Ranges on the border of South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales represents some of the most picturesque landscapes in Australia. 

Mipela who were managing the GIS integration of the project contracted Terranean to carry out a 135 sq km LiDAR survey to provide 1m contours suitable for Metgasco engineers to carry out detailed route selection and engineering design.  The project had a number of considerable challenges:  Tight time constraints; significant areas covered in vegetation; and the project timing coincided with heavy rain and constant cloud cover.

The project successfully overcame these challenges.  The key factors were:

• The high pulse rate of the Terranean scanner enable good penetration of the vegetation and definition of the ground;
• The characteristics of the scanner meant that a “square” pattern of points reached the ground rather than a stretched “rectangle”.    This resulted in an even spread of points over the large area of the project which resulted in a consistently detailed DEM which in turn allowed route selection to be made with confidence.
• The flexibility of the plane and scanner allowed flying under the clouds, even in rugged terrain, meaning we did not need to wait for fine weather;

The end result was a high integrity DEM and one meter contours captured at a fraction of the cost of manual survey or photogrammetric methods which were ideal for the purpose of route selection and design.

Other Terranean mining and infrastructure projects »

Global Standards for Southern Gulf Catchments

Terranean Mapping Technologies has completed its second major Land Cover mapping project for Natural Resource Management Groups. 

The first project covered the rapidly growing, populated South East Queensland and was carried out for the NRM Group SEQ Catchments.  The project was recognised with a Spatial Excellence Award.  The second, just completed project, was carried out for the 195,000 square kilometre North Western Queensland NRM Group, Southern Gulf Catchments. 

In 2007 all the NRM groups in Western Queensland received complete coverage of rectified 10 metre SPOT imagery to provide up to date mapping of their respective regions.  A key objective of Southern Gulf Catchments NRM Group (SGC) is to work with farmers and other stakeholders to carry out weed control, on-ground conservation projects, riparian fencing and pasture monitoring. It was found however, that while 10m SPOT images provided a valuable visual reference, they do not provide specific information on landuse and condition to enable SGC to make management decisions and implement and monitor their management plan.

SPOT imagery gives a visual indication of what is on the ground however it does not identify actual land cover; whether land is woodland or pasture; savannah or bare earth. 

The project involved mapping of two pilot areas within the SGC that have significantly different land cover types.  The Mt. Isa pilot area covers semi-arid rocky terrain with mainly savannah type land cover, the more easterly Hughenden pilot area is dominated by extensive black soil plains of Mitchell grass.

The project successfully streamlined the process of producing standardised landcover maps using 10m SPOT imagery over large areas with a diversity of landcover types. 

The maps used the international Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) devised by the United Nations FAO making it applicable to Land cover mapping of any area in Australia, and establishing a basis for comparing these landcover maps with future maps of the same area and other areas where the same system is used. This provides a basis for monitoring local and regional changes in landcover and condition. 

Extensive field survey and checking against 2.5 metre SPOT imagery determined that the results achieved accuracies of over 85%.

Please contact david.moore@terranean.com.au for more information.

 GIS Services for Major International Mining Project

Terranean's expertise in GIS and cartography are often put to use in multi-disciplinary projects. An example is our role in the Guinea Alumina Project. The Guinea Alumina Project involves the development of bauxite mine, alumina refinery and associated infrastructure in Guinea, West Africa. The principle project partners are BHP Billiton and CBG which is partly owned by the Guinea Government. Bechtel is contracted to design and build the mine and refinery, perform the necessary feasibility studies and environmental and social assessments.

Terranean was engaged to manage the diverse datasets that are used for projects such as this. Initially Terranean conducted an inventory of available datasets and developed a structured and documented GIS system that included among other datasets, topographic mapping, engineering designs, aerial photography, terrain surfaces, landuse and landcover maps and ecological and geological data. The Guinea Alumina Project has a long history of exploration, resource estimation, and pre-feasibility studies. During this process, enormous amounts of information were collected, updated and superseded. Terranean has the responsibility of ensuring that the different sections of the project are using the most current information.

In November 2007, the project moved into a new phase and Terranean was required to produce a great number of maps and figures and perform spatial analyses for a number of sub-projects including resource estimation, feasibility study, telecommunications, engineering design and social and environmental impact studies. All the projects had tight time frames and Terranean worked closely with the different project teams to coordinate and manage datasets from Brisbane, Perth, Montreal Canada, Denver Colorado and Sangaredi Guinea.

More than 80 maps were produced during November and December 2007, ranging from A0 sized resource maps to A4 report figures and a "context" map of Guinea and west Africa.

Terranean continues to manage the complex and comprehensive GIS. The project is a good example of how Terranean provides GIS support to multi-disciplinary projects.

Terranean launches its state of the art LiDAR service.

LiDAR is the most cost effective method of capturing detailed height data, both of the ground and of features on the ground.  It is ideal for generating digital elevation models and contours, and mapping infrastructure such power-lines, and corridors such as proposed pipeline, rail and road routes.

• Terranean has the 1st of the 2nd generation LiDAR units to be introduced into Australia;  
• The technology has a very high pulse rate of up to 30 points per square meter making it ideal for collecting the detail required for infrastructure and corridor mapping;
• It provides an extremely fast turn around from flight to production of DEM and contours;
• It is 100% eye-safe at any flying height;
• It has an Integrated digital aerial camera that allows simultaneous LiDAR and photography capture;
• It allows 3D modelling of vegetation by capturing details on canopy, sub-canopy, branches and ground vegetation.

Read more about LiDAR»

Land Cover Mapping over South East Queensland

Believe it or not, up until now there has been no up to date map of "Land Cover" over the fastest growing area in Australia, South East Queensland.  Land Cover shows what is actually on the ground.  For example, the extent of urbanisation, the extent of agricultural land and the extent of forests - all essential information for planners trying to grapple with the rapid changes occuring in SE Queensland.

Terranean was contracted by NRM group, SEQ Catchments, to carry out this satellite imagery value-add work.  SEQ Catchments has made the large investment to create a seamless 2.5m colour SPOT mosaic over SE Qld.  However, while this data is very useful is little more than a picture.  Terranean used sophisticated techniques to combine this data with other geographic information to produce an accurate and up to date Land Cover map over the whole region.

Terranean developed a new innovative approach to what has previously been a labour intensive and subjective task. In summary, we used statistical image analysis techniques to map four Primary Classes - Trees, Non-Tree Vegetation, Non-Vegetated Surfaces and Water. We then developed complex GIS rules that sub-divided the Primary Classes into Secondary Classes using externally sourced spatial information such as Landuse, Zoning, Forestry, Agriculture and Vegetation. For example the Primary class, Trees, was allocated to secondary classes Plantation, Orchard or Native Vegetation depending on Landuse and Vegetation type.

Terranean is one of the few private companies in Australia that specialises in value adding Satellite Imagery and we are presently carrying out similar projects for other NRM groups, Government Departments and private companies.

Premier’s Leadership in Business Sustainability Award

As many of you may be aware, Terranean is the Mapping and GIS arm of the 500 person Conics Group.

Conics Chairman Jim McKnoulty was the proud recipient of the Premier’s Leadership in Business Sustainability Award at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2007 Sustainable Industries Awards, held in association with the 8th National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development.

The Hon. Peter Beattie MP, Premier of Queensland and Minister for Trade, was in attendance to welcome guests and present his Leadership in Business Sustainability Award. In announcing the winner, Mr Beattie said the award recognised an outstanding individual contribution to sustainable business and community leadership. Mr Beattie added:

Over the past 25 years, Jim McKnoulty has worked to forge partnerships between industry, government and the community to foster sustainable urban planning and development across Queensland. He was the founding president of the Australian Green Development Forum, and now chairs Conics Limited, a group of professional service companies providing growth management advice to infrastructure and property development industries. Mr McKnoulty is a major supporter of the Sustainable Homes Project.

Congratulations to Jim for his continued commitment to sustainable development and growth management in the development industry. 

Wal Mayr
Director

 

Detailed Gold Coast Aerial Photography and Height data now available!

Terranean is proud to announce the availability of extremely detailed aerial photography and height data over the whole of Gold Coast City:

This comprehensive data ranges from Beenleigh to Coolangatta, and from the Coast to the Hinterland.

The photography is ortho-rectified imagery taken in June 2005.  It has a resolution of 15cm and is the ideal backdrop for plans, CAD systems or your GIS.

The height data consists of detailed height points at approximately every metre on the ground produced by LiDAR survey.  We can produce a variety of sub-products from this data depending on your needs.  These might be one meter contours, or a a mesh of height points.  This mesh or DEM (Digital Elevation Model) can be produced at a regular interval of your choosing.  For instance we can provide a regular grid of 2m spacing.

We can also provide a second layer of data that defines the tops of houses, structures and trees.  This can be used to give an idea of the volume of infrastructure and biomass that lies on the ground service.

Terranean can quickly provide a wide variety of mapping products from this data.  So why pay for a resurvey of land when this detailed information is already available?

If you would like further information please call us on 3257 1011 and ask for Tim York.

 

Terranean Delivers Multi-layered PDF

Terranean Mapping Technologies have added GEOPDF, an innovative adaptation to the worldwide document standard PDF, to their unique range of mapping technologies and services.

GEOPDF delivers complex layered mapping data in a single portable document. Terranean can convert standard multi layered GIS data into a single PDF document. Clients only need the free GEOPDF toolbar to access the extended PDF tools.

The GEOPDF toolbar offers greater functionality than normal PDF documents providing users with the ability to measure distances, manipulate maps and access a greater depth of mapping information.

A recent project application of the GEOPDF involved the collation of data by Terranean from a number of project consultants, including PMM and Natural Solutions.

The document became a centralized data source for all the various project consultants and disciplines enabling the client to interrogate the site based on the parameters of each PDF layer.

In this instance, the client was able to turn layers on and off to assess the site’s boundaries, flood plains, examine existing lots, identify protected areas or endangered species and even evaluate alternative planning schemes.

The real benefits of this format are its accessibility and ease of use, particularly for non-technical professionals.  The depth of information is easy to interrogate, while its PDF format enables the document to be viewed anywhere.

Full working examples of GEOPDF are available from Terranean.

Contact Tim York, Client Services Manager tim.york@terranean.com.au on (07) 3257 1057 for further information.