From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Geomatics is the discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering of geographic information, or spatially referenced information.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Applications 3 Famous Geomaticians 4 See also 5 External links 5.1 International organizations 5.2 Professional/Licensing Bodies 5.3 Education in Geomatics

The term "Geomatics" refers:

• geodesy
• surveying
• mapping
• positioning
• geomatics engineering
• navigation
• cartography
• remote sensing
• photogrammetry
• geographic information systems
• Global Positioning System
• Geospatial

The term geomatics is fairly new, apparently being coined by B. Dubuisson in 1969. It is commonly defined as "hunter and gatherer" to include the tools and techniques used in land surveying, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and related forms of earth mapping. Originally used in Canada, because it is similar in French and English, the term geomatics has been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and many other international authorities, although some (especially in the United States) have shown a preference for the term “geospatial technology”.

The precise definition of geomatics is still in flux. A good definition can be found on the University of Calgary's web page titled "What is Geomatics Engineering?":

"Geomatics Engineering is a modern discipline, which integrates acquisition, modelling, analysis, and management of spatially referenced data, i.e. data identified according to their locations. Based on the scientific framework of geodesy, it uses terrestrial, marine, airborne, and satellite-based sensors to acquire spatial and other data. It includes the process of transforming spatially referenced data from different sources into common information systems with well-defined accuracy characteristics."

Similarly the new related term Hydrogeomatics covers the Geomatics area associated with surveying work carried out on, above or below the surface of the sea or other areas of water. The older term of Hydrographics was too specific to the preparation of marine charts and failed to include the broader concept of positioning or measurements in all marine environments.

A Geospatial network is a network of collaborating resources for sharing and coordinating geographical data, and data tied to geographical references. One example of such a network is the GIS Consortium's effort to provide "ready global access to geographic information" in a framework named the Open Geospatial Network.

A number of University Departments which were once titled Surveying, Survey Engineering or Topographic Science have re-titled themselves as Geomatics or Geomatic Engineering. anant The rapid progress, and increased visibility, of geomatics since 1990s has been made possible by advances in computer technology, computer science, and software engineering, as well as airborne and space observation technologies.

The *University of New Brunswick is known as a world leader in Geomatics Engineering

Applications areas include:

• the environment
• land management and reform
• urban planning
• subdivision planning
• infrastructure management
• natural resource monitoring and development;
• coastal zone management and mapping
• archaeological excavation and survey for GIS applications
• disaster informatics for disaster risk reduction and response

• Mark Smith
• Gerard Cowman
• Barry Ryder

• Geomatics engineering
• Archaeological field survey

• Geomatics.org.uk - Geomatics.org.uk is the portal to the UK Land and Offshore Survey Industries. We have free geomatics resources and equipment for schools to borrow, links to various websites from the geomatics community and career profiles of people working in the industry. Based at the Newcastle University, this project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK geomatics community.

• slashgeo.org - Community-driven and ad-free website for news and discussions about Geomatics and Geospatial technologies.

• Geomatics at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)

• International Association of Geodesy
• International Federation of Surveyors
• Iran Geomatic Science Forum

• The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• www.AOLS.org - The Association of Ontario Land Surveyors issues licences to Cadastral (Legal Boundary) surveyors and Certificates of Registration (C of R) in other branches of professional land surveying, namely *Geodesy, Geographic Information Management, Hydrography and Photogrammetry. Applicants must comply with the academic requirements, the term of articles and pass the professional examinations set out by the Academic and Experience Requirements Committee for their particular branch. All members are entitled to use the designation OLS or OLIP (Ontario Land Information Professional). Although the C of R branches of surveying are not regulated by law, practitioners in these branches who are members of the AOLS are indicating that they belong to a professional organization and are governed by a code of ethics and standards of practice.

• University of Waterloo - Dept. of Geography, includes Geomatics program
• University of Leeds School of Geography incorporating The Centre for Computational Geography
• University College London Department of Geomatic Engineering
• Newcastle University School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
• The University of Melbourne - Department of Geomatics Engineering
• California State University Fresno Geomatics Engineering
• University of Alaska Anchorage Geomatics Department
• University of Calgary, Schulich School of Engineering, Geomatics Department
• University of Sherbrooke - Geomatics Department
• University of New Brunswick - Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering
• Delft University of Technology - Geomatics
• Dept of Land Surveying and Geoinformatics - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi- Geographic Information Science, Geomatics
• Dublin Institute of Tecnology - School of Spatial Planning