A case study is then conducted to test the validity of the conceptual framework. 11 this entire dissertation, unless specifically indicated to the contrary in the text, is my own work .. and has not been submitted in part, or in whole, to any other university. For several years, there has been much talk within the land surveying community of the need for surveyors to become more involved in the field of geographic information systems.
List of Tables
Introduction
However, despite all the talk about surveyors being the ideal people to engage with the GlS industry, very few surveyors had actually put measures in place to do so. Finally, the necessity of the geomatics for the research carried out in the case study area is discussed.
Geomatics
West also argues that another role of the surveyor is as arbitrator or mediator to settle boundary disputes. However, there was general agreement that this was not a very common task of the surveyor.
POSITIONING
LEGAL
MANAGEMENT
The Environmental Geomaticist
Also, I have not included the LevellII or biophysical land use aspects of the UNEPfF AO table in the functions of an environmental geomatist. In the previous paragraph I indicated how important it is that the environmental geomatist can relate to experts in other fields.
ANALYSIS
COLLECTION
Chapter 4 - Case Study Background
The conceptual framework within which an environmental geomatician could operate has already been established (see Chapters 2 and 3). A further specialization of this concept was then developed and the conceptual framework of an environmental geomatician was established. To test the theory presented in Chapters 2 and 3, I became involved with an environmental team, filling the role of an environmental geomatician. [in this chapter I will examine the need for the case study that I undertook, after which I will provide a brief overview of the case study area and the research that has been conducted there to date.
TIlis is done to illustrate the need that the environmental project group operating in the region in question has for a person with the skills of an environmental geomatician. After a review of geomatics and the subsequent definition of a geomatician as someone involved in the collection and management of spatial data, I defined an additional specialization, namely an environmental geomatician. It is my intention to achieve this research by conducting a case study which involves research and scientific inquiry within an area located in eastern Botswana, bordering both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In the following section, I will detail the history of the research carried out to date in the case study area, as well as provide details of why the environmental project team requires the services of someone with the skills of an environmental geologist. Note that the purpose of this chapter is solely to provide background for the case study area. The area where the case study was conducted is known as the Tuli Block, and is located in the region where the South African, Zimbabwean and Botswana borders meet.
NORTHERH TUU GAME RESERVE
Case Study: Tuli Block
He defines a cartographic model as a graphical representation of the data and analytical procedures used in a study. The most important issue, as described by the NCGIA, in the raster versus vector debate, is that of the characteristics of phenomena. The next phase in the manipulation and integration of the three datasets was to enter the rainfall data into Idrisi.
It is important to note that the manipulation and integration of different data sets, especially .. DEM, was very deceptive. An important fact is that this reflectivity varies according to the nature of the material. Of these four techniques, change detection by classification is the simplest change detection process.
As a result of the argument that if one uses the NDVI image difference detection technique. The Idrisi output of this difference image histogram, as well as the actual reclassified image (with the major rivers overlaid for orientation... Chapter 5 Case Study: Tuli Block - Technical Approximation Purposes) are shown below. The positive change that did occur largely took place in the vicinity of the riverbeds.
This was followed by a literature review of the methods to be used in the case study, after which the factual findings of the case study were reviewed and discussed. The relevance of the case study to the conceptual framework established in chapters two and three above will be discussed in the next chapter.
Conclusion
The importance of this aspect was very evident in the case study, where, from the point of sorting satellite images, to entering those images and other data sets into GIS, the skills of the environmental geomathist proved absolutely vital. . Environmental geomatists' knowledge of which particular bands of satellite imagery would best serve the project team's objectives, as well as the format in which such imagery would be presented. Furthermore, the understanding of different coordinate systems and geodetic projections, skills acquired as part of the frequent training of a t.raditollalland topographer, was of great importance in the integration of ambiguous data sets.
This meant that such aspects were taken into account in the data used by the research team and illustrates the importance of the environment. Basically, it was the role of the image processor, which made up most of the environment. contribution of the geomathist to the research project. A major problem with the case study was that due to time and financial constraints, environmental geomatics was limited to using data that had not been collected considering the needs of this particular case study.
Ideally, an environmental geoscientist would be actively involved in the management of data collection, as set out in the Refmed conceptual framework (see Figure 5), if available resources allow. This would ensure a focus on the type of information that needs to be collected to best serve the user's needs. A good knowledge of the importance of this process, gained through experience working as a traditional surveyor, meant that I was able to overcome the difficulties associated with such a process.
LAND
I was also involved in systems analysis and providing decision support information to the project team, through the creation of maps of rainfall, topography and vegetation so that the relationship between these three factors could be qualitatively assessed, and through the construction of vegetation and rainfall difference images, to support modeling the dependence of vegetation change and precipitation change. In this case, the measurement component of its function is quite high, while the management of the actual land, although present, is not extremely high. This contrasts with position B, which could, for example, represent the position of the environmental geomatists in discussions with the research team about the results of the change detection analysis.
However, it is essential that the environmental geomatist does not lose sight of the extreme importance of involvement in acquiring those spatial data. Firstly, as the integration of the acquisition and management of spatial data, as already discussed, and secondly, it could be interpreted as referring to the need for the geomatist to be able to integrate his skills with the expertise of professionals from other disciplines . The Geomatics Business Model, shown in Figure 2 (page 22), illustrates how territory knowledge is obtained through the integration of the collection.
The importance of teamwork in achieving success in meeting the technical objectives of the case study cannot be emphasized enough. From the initial meeting between Forbes, Page and myself, to conduct a user needs analysis, through the acquisition, manipulation and input of the various data sets, all the way to the analysis of the developed models, it was only through the constant exchange of information, ideas and requirements that the final product could be achieved. This thesis has reviewed the need for a change in the profile of the traditional surveyor.
Appendix B - Summary of Georeferencing Transformations
BYTE ORDER: Byte order in which image pixel values are stored M = Motorola byte order (most significant byte first) LAYOUT: organization of the bands in the file. NBANDS: number of spectral bands in the image (I) NBITS: number of bits per pixel (16 or 32). BANDROWBYTES: number of bytes per band per row (twice the number of columns for a 16-bit image; four times for the 32-bit image) TOTALROWBYTES: total number of bytes of data per row (twice the number of . columns for a single tape 16-bit image; four times for the 32-bit image).
Appendix D - GPS and Vegetation Data
Appendix 0 GPS and Vegetation Data Table 0-2 - Venetia - Limpopo Nature Reserve
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