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MIDRAND– February 11, 2010 – Engineering and environmental consultancy, PBA International (PBAI) has employed ST Group’s MapInfo Vertical Mapper to determine a 100 year flood line of a 100 km stretch of the Limpopo river in the North West Province on account of mining interest in the area. The project involved large-scale hydrological studies, hydraulic modelling, along with extensive terrain and flood mapping.
John Paterson, engineer at PBAI, explains that the size of the study area, which was in excess of 500 km², posed the main challenge. The area was assessed through an aerial LiDAR survey, resulting in over 40 million x, y, and z (latitude, longitude and height) coordinates. Using these points, Vertical Mapper enabled PBAI to develop a grid in digital elevation mode, visually creating a terrain model.
Due to the huge data set, which amounted to 2.6 GB, the area had to be broken up into 300 smaller tiles, which were then processed individually. PBAI’s recent investment in its IT systems, both in terms of hardware and software, was pushed to the limit of its capabilities..
“Due to time constraints, the ability to process this amount of detail was ultimately the biggest factor in determining whether PBAI’s involvement in the project was financially viable or not,” Paterson explains. “With an efficiency beyond that of any other topographic modelling software we’ve worked with before, Vertical Mapper permitted this segmented processing and subsequent ‘splicing’ of the multitude of terrain tiles together, to create a huge single terrain model of the whole area.”
Once the terrain model was developed, PBAI needed to extract topographic information and transfer it into specialist river modelling software. MapInfo output combined seamlessly with the ISIS hydrodynamic modelling software to create the hydraulic model, which would simulate the river’s flood characteristics. The model which was developed for the project allowed the simulation of variable flow conditions in the river, and subsequent flood management options. Vertical Mapper was used to extract over 70 hydraulically significant cross sections, consisting of detailed ground information, at significant points in the river. Integrated with MapInfo Pro, the software also assisted PBAI in terms of GIS to take into account the volume of water entering the river from outside the study area. The data was exported from Vertical Mapper to ISIS to calculate the water height at each cross section.
“The ease with which we could extract and export information from Vertical Mapper and again import data from other applications was remarkable and saved us a lot of time (compared to other software packages). Even though the ISIS results were presented in text format, we could easily append it to our MapInfo data tables through common labelling techniques. Because MapInfo was the starting point, and the finishing point of the modelling process, it was very simple for us to dictate how the data was managed throughout the whole process” states Paterson.
PBAI was then able to attribute a value – the water height – to each cross section in Vertical Mapper. By adding the z coordinate to the existing x and y of the cross sections, a water surface model was created. This was then combined with the terrain model already created, and the grid processing abilities of Vertical Mapper allowed the rapid calculation of floodlines.
“We are very impressed with the way in which Vertical Mapper accurately presents the final results and the ease at which data can be recalled, for example when zooming in or out, or moving across the map, without the programme recalculating data continuously. The DEM is incredibly easy to work with, especially considering the size of the data set that was used to create it.
“Furthermore, the visual quality of the final representation, using colours to indicate the depth of flow as well as the different ground level heights along the river, was impressive. The results look attractive and allow the non-technical reader to understand the practical implications of the floodline, which is exactly what you want when presenting results to a client,” Paterson continues.
“Traditionally, MapInfo Pro and Vertical Mapper are used for more commercially orientated studies, but despite this, the software’s ability to process and graphically represent large amounts of data, as well as being able to extract results from it, was notable. Vertical Mapper has been crucial in allowing us to be well placed as an industry leader in large scale projects such as this.”
According to Alan Ellis, CEO of ST Group, this project was a unique application of Vertical Mapper, which is often used for trade area analysis to identify the best locations for retail outlets. “It just proves again that Vertical Mapper is unmatched and features the most powerful suite of tools to edit, analyse and visualise any type of grid, allowing organisations to display, manage and interpret spatial information in new and exciting ways.”
About ST Group
Founded in 1994, Spatial Technologies is above all a solutions company, focused on the delivery of location-based business intelligence value to clients. The company’s technology harnesses the power of location to deliver a competitive advantage to their clients in the shortest time and as cost-effectively as possible by using Pitney Bowes world-class software and technology.
Today Spatial Technologies is part of the expanded ST Group, which also comprises UConnect (focused on mobility solutions and resource management) and Connected World Solutions (development support and training). ST Group strives to be the group of choice for providing location intelligence and mobility solutions across the enterprise. The group places a high value on developing long-term relationships with all stakeholders. Clients come from, among others, the banking, retail, logistics, finance and telecommunications sectors.
About PBA International
PBA International (South Africa) is a member of the PBA Group. Delivering total solutions for public and private sector clients worldwide, PBAI’s expertise encompasses all aspects of land development, sustainable development, civil engineering, buildings, transport, water and environmental management and has operations in continental Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Land development, in balance with sound environmental planning, is key to positive sustainable growth in developing countries. PBAI seeks international technical standard and social solutions to add value to each development site.
CONTACTS:
ST Group, Lisa de Kock, tel: +27 11 314 0788, e-mail: lisad@stgroup.co.za
icomm, Nicola Read, 083 269 2227, nicola@pr.co.za
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