Printer iconLarger text size iconSmaller text size icon

Land Information Newsletter

June 2007

Welcome to the fifth issue of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s (DPI) Land Information Newsletter, where you will find updates on:

We have a new address

In May – June Land Information staff relocated from Nichols Place and Darwin Plaza to a new office building in the Chinatown development now called NAB House – also the new Darwin HQ of that bank. The Land Information Centre is now located on the 3rd floor and the new contact details are:

Land Information Centre

3rd Floor NAB House
71 Smith Street
Darwin  NT 0800    
Telephone:     8995 5300
Fax: 8995 5365

The postal address remains the same – GPO Box 1680 Darwin NT 0801.

Other contact details can be found on the Land Information Internet site at

http://www.nt.gov.au/lands/lis/index.shtml

New Lands and Land Information Web Sites

While on the subject of Web sites, the content covering the Department’s Land Group and Land Information operations has been restructured and updated.  The Lands Group site provides access to information about Planning, Development Assessment, Building and Land Administration services and operations as well as Land Information and the NT Land Information System. 

Our thanks go to the Department’s Web Team for completing these redevelopments.The Lands Group site is at http://www.nt.gov.au/lands/

2007 Customer Survey Results

During June 2007 Land Information again conducted its on-line Customer Survey by emailing details to over 400 individuals, government agencies and businesses listed in our customer register.  The results are just out and on average indicate our services meet or exceed the expectations of 96% of those who responded.

Many thanks to everyone who completed the survey. While the results are very satisfying from our perspective, the survey has again uncovered a number of areas where we need to improve and identified some services that we are not currently providing.  We will analyse the information in more detail over the coming months and determine whether we can resolve the issues identified.

As advised before the relocation to NAB House, we no longer supply Australian Government printed maps and tourist maps.  There has been some adverse feedback about this but the decision was made for valid reasons.  Australian Government maps can now be obtained from Digital Horizons at 4/57 Marine Boulevard, Cullen Bay – telephone 8981 8788 - and tourist maps are available at bookshops and other private sector suppliers.

Aerial Photography Programs - Update

The 2007 Program tender was awarded to Qasco Northern Surveys and is progressing.  The projects can be viewed at the Department’s web site at

http://www.nt.gov.au/lands/lis/aerial/capture/2007/index.shtml

and information on where things are at can be obtained from Doug Rannard on 8995 5319.

There were two outstanding projects from the 2006 Program – Katherine Rural and Douglas-Daly.  Unfortunately, the contractor’s aircraft was delayed in arriving in the Top End to carry out these projects and when it did arrive the smoke from bush fires prevented the work being completed.  Accordingly the timeframe for delivery of this imagery is now September-October 2007.

2007 Mapping Program - Update

Many thanks to all who assisted in defining requirements for the 2007 topographic mapping program.  The final requirements included in the tender can be found on the Department’s web site at

http://www.nt.gov.au/lands/lis/mapping/capture.shtml

The tender assessment and approval process was completed in June and on 5 July the Procurement Review Board approved the award of various work packages to five companies.

Further information can be obtained from Bob Schulze on 8995 5320.

National Geospatial Referencing System (NGRS) – Latest Developments

The first stage of the NGRS project requires GNSS base stations to be constructed near the National Tide gauge facilities in Darwin and Groote Eylandt.  Land Information Survey staff recently visited Groote and have proposed several sites for installation of the infrastructure.  Each site will need to be assessed and analysed in conjunction with Geoscience Australia (GA) for suitability before construction begins.  It is expected these GNSS base stations will be completed by the end of the 2008 financial year. 

Preliminary site inspections for other NGRS GNSS facilities and a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observatory have also been undertaken.  At this stage the Charles Darwin University campus about 15 km north of Katherine is considered a good location for both the VLBI and a GNSS station and has been put forward as a viable option to the geospatial community.  Again, the final siting of these facilities will be determined in conjunction with GA.  Over the next 4-5 years it is envisaged that a series of GNSS base stations spanning the Territory at target intervals of 200km will:

  • provide an overarching framework facilitating densification of positional infrastructure in user -driven locations; and
  • evolve into “strategic infrastructure” that will underpin many government and private sector activities that require precise positioning.

With respect to the local Darwin and Alice Springs GNSS network, it is expected a base station on the Royal Darwin Hospital will be operational by September 2007 and that two sites in Alice Springs (north and south of the ‘Gap’) will be ready for operation by the end of the year.  All sites will have the capability of collecting static data for post processing and broadcasting both DGPS and RTK corrections for real time positioning.

For further queries please contact Rob Sarib on 8995 5360 or Phil Verrall on 8995 5357.

Base Stations for Katherine and Douglas-Daly

Land Information is working collaboratively with Geoscience Australia and other agencies to establish GNSS Base Stations whenever an opportunity arises.  In June 2007 an agreement was signed with GA by the Departments of Planning and Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts (NRETA) to establish Base Station infrastructure in the Katherine and Douglas-Daly areas.  The physical stations should be in place by the end of 2007, ready to support equipment that will be installed by GA as part of the NCRIS initiative.  Once operating, these will contribute to the NGRS and enable NRETA to improve its natural resource monitoring activities in these areas.  For further information contact Rob Sarib on 8995 5360.

Metadata – Calling all Custodians

The NTLIS team has completed work on converting the NT Spatial Data Directory (NTSDD) or metadata repository to conform with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) spatial metadata standard that was finalised in 2006.  A new Metadata tool whereby people can capture and maintain metadata entries in the data base has also been completed and is available to Data Custodians.

NTLIS staff will be visiting Data Custodians in the near future to encourage them to review and update entries in the NTSDD, which contributes to the National metadata repository.  Further information from Ivan Price on 8995 5303.

Heritage Register signed off

The NTLIS team has also recently completed a new application to support the Heritage Conservation Branch at the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts (NRETA).  For many years the Heritage Register has consisted of a file-based system and a static Internet site that could not interface to any other applications.

Using NTLIS infrastructure and expertise a new register has been created, at minimal cost, using Oracle and Web technologies.  The new system will be able to interface to the Integrated Land Information System (ILIS), for example to automatically notify Heritage sites that affect land parcels or titles, and enable access by GIS users through the NTLIS Spatial Data Dissemination environment.

Heritage staff will now verify all of the information that has come across from the old system.  Once that is done the hooks to ILIS and other systems can be put in place with minimal effort.

NTLIS has documented this development as an example of how agencies should leverage off existing information infrastructure and technology, rather than try to reinvent the wheel, and get a speedier result at lower cost.  The case study can be read at

http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/forum/ntlis_documents/heritage-register-migration-case-study/

NRETA Maps now on the Internet

The August 2006 Newsletter included an article on the NRETA Maps application, which was built using the same infrastructure as ILIS Maps but focuses on natural resources information managed by NRETA.

For those outside the NT Government, NRETA Maps is now available on the Internet and can be accessed via the URL below, which also provides background information and guidance on how to use the application.

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/nretamaps/

National DEM Initiative

With climate change and rising sea levels there is a new focus on obtaining the information necessary to support strategic land use planning in coastal areas and to predict potential impacts on those areas.  It is recognised that detailed topographic and bathymetric information does not exist for most of the coastal areas of Australia and what is required are much higher resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) that can be used for predictive modelling.  DEMs also have many other applications in land and resource management.

Earlier this year the Australian Greenhouse Office, Geoscience Australia, ANZLIC – the Spatial Information Council and others participated in a workshop to discuss the creation of a Nation DEM that would ideally be multi-scale and seamless.

As a result of that workshop ANZLIC has undertaken a coordinating role in furthering the initiative which has now been named AusDEM.  Various workshops are being arranged to discuss what AusDEm would look like and the requirements of potential users and discover who captures such data.

Land Information has undertaken to carry out this initial investigation in the Northern Territory and will be contacting potential users and contributors over the next month or so.  Contact Vic Stephens on 8995 5349 for further information or if you wish to participate in these discussions.

Feedback

Email:              landinfo.dpi@nt.gov.au
Fax:                 Land Information Division (08) 8995 5365