Ubiquitous Positioning applied to Cadastre
Cyberland, towards an Ubiquitous Intelligent Land (part 2)
In the next points I’ll make reference to some research examples of ubiquitous positioning applied to Cadastre in Korea and Malaysia (mainly based on radio frequency identification technology (RFID)), to US and European patents to securing a land surveyor’s mark based on use of a radio frequency identifier tag, and to (Becek, 2014) proposition towards an active data acquisition method.
In the Korean case “A Study on the U-cadastral Space Data Modeling in Korea” (Tcha, 2006) proposes that in order to enhance public service by using the characteristics of cadastre, use of computerized graphical cadastral maps has to be more frequent. In order to support the function of surpassing time and space, reforming method as follows are needed. Namely, U-Cadastral Data Model is connected to the Ubiquitous communication system of electronic tag method which can maintain descriptive data on boundary on the ground, and should be developed as follows (Tcha, 2006):
- In cadastral management system, it is one way system focusing managing it. However, in case of Ubiquitous, it plays a role of a provider of information by n:m free space, supplying service both ways in real time.
- Through the method of setting up database of boundary point and standardization of it, the model of U-Cadastre is established. In this case, coordinate system for space recognition is maintained in RFID by data application of current cadastral map system and ITRF.
- Both the descriptive type of relative location information and absolute type of information on the field should be obtained in order to form management model of cadastral boundary points, operating mutually and being more stable than the current system.
On the other hand, in Malaysian case “Integration of Multi-Sensor for Modern Cadastral Boundary Mark: First Experience” (Musliman, et al., 2012), is presented ubiquitous positioning by integrating of multi-sensor and mobile database management system as an ICT innovation implemented to support modern Malaysian cadastral system and infrastructure. This research also could be seen as a contribute in terms of infrastructure for modern cadastral boundary mark.In (Musliman, et al., 2012) research is proposed a ubiquitous positioning approach into existing workflow of eKadaster system (Mohd Yusoff, et al., 2013) of Department of Surveying and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM). Therefore, RFID integrating with GPS technology is used to get non-spatial information and to navigate cadastral boundary mark easily in term of providing a low cost technology solution. Signal from GPS can be derived to determine the position of cadastral boundary mark. The RFID tag will activated or ‘wake up’ when it passes through a radio frequency range and send back response to RFID reader. Useable alternative of geo-location is to install RFID tags at specific landmarks (or points of interest) and if the user is in range, the tag information with its location can be retrieved. This would lead to the concept of active landmarks such as modern cadastral boundary mark (Musliman, et al., 2012). This ubiquitous positioning for cadastral boundary mark system architecture is presented in Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2 – Ubiquitous positioning for cadastral boundary mark system architecture (Musliman, et al., 2012)
Still according to (Musliman, et al., 2012) future research will concentrate more on integrating Internet Differential GPS (DGPS) correction for better position accuracy and introducing digital compass with the RFID for better tag discovery.Other Malaysian example can be found at “RFID-Based Cadastral Boundary Mark System (RCBMS)“ 2014 FIG congress presentation (Musa, et al., 2014). In this paper, a RFID-based cadastral boundary mark system (RCMBS) is discussed, following a presentation of ubiquitous positioning by integrating multi-sensor and mobile database management system as an ICT innovation, which can provide benefits to the cadastral surveying community, such as aiding users in finding and/or updating information on cadastral boundary mark on site (Musa, et al., 2014).Furthermore, according to (Retscher, et al., 2006) the significant advantages of RFID are the miniaturised unit, non-contact, non-line-of-sight nature of the technology. Some tags can be read through a variety of substances such as concrete, snow, fog, ice, paint, and other environmentally challenging conditions which cannot be achieved with barcodes or other optically read technologies. RFID tags can also be read in these circumstances at an amazing speed (< 10 milliseconds).
Moreover, (Retscher, et al., 2006) presented a RFID positioning system for indoor and outdoor location determination of a pedestrian proposing that RFID beacons are installed at known locations in the surrounding environment (e.g. at active landmarks, street crossings, entrances of buildings and offices, at regular distances inside buildings, etc.). Users of the system are equipped with a portable RFID reader module. If the tag’s information can be retrieved the user is located in a cell of circular shape with the location of the tag in the centre and a radius equal to the possible read range of the tag. The used location method is referred to as Cell of Origin (CoO) and this concept is also employed for the location determination of mobile or cellular phones. Several tags located in the smart environment can overlap and define certain cells that intersect. The position of the user can therefore be determined using a network of tags which can be made available in a database.
I present in the following points two examples of patents (USA and Europe) aiming to securing a land survey mark based on the use of a radio frequency identifier tag:
- European patent – EP 2035775 B1: Apparatus for securing a land survey mark based on the use of a radio frequency identifier tag (Secondo, et al., 2009); and
- USA patent – US 20120326872 A1: Securing a land surveyor’s mark based on use of a radio frequency identifier tag (Bauchot, et al., 2012).
Another approach, framed in the IoT, is propose by (Becek, 2014) opposing to actual methods used in geomatics which are based on a ‘passive’ way of spatial and attribute data acquisition on geographical objects. The adjective ‘passive’ means that an object of interest is simply just a subject of measurements and observations. However, in the context of IoT technology, an alternative situation is imaginable, which could be described as ‘active’ data acquisition. In this scenario, the object of interest makes all relevant data on its position, navigation and attributes readily available to an inquiring agent. So, the role of a surveyor would be reduced from facilitating data flow from a field to a map to just quering objects in the area of interest for relevant data via an IoT-enabled interface. This kind of arrangement means that all geographical objects would need to possess sensors to represent them in the IoT network. Obviously, these sensors must also be able to keep the data and metadata records assigned to objects in an updated state at all times. A basic requirement for creating such an IoT-enabled sensor is that each geographical object must be assigned a unique IP address (Becek, 2014).
Final notes
We should certainly not underestimate the technical and conceptual challenges of extending existing core Internet services to accommodate multi-dimensional data natively. However, the prospect of gaining accurate spatio-temporal context for many, if not all, Web resources and applications, while avoiding the complex and brittle manual configuration steps required today, is a prize worth striving for. The Internet of Places is a Web which sees and fuses information together in ways much more like our human imagining than simple keyword searches and mash-ups. In building the next generation of Web information services, we will need to dissolve the artificial barriers that surround spatio-temporal and other multi-dimensional data, and doing so will bring the substance of the virtual world an intuitive step closer (Conti, et al., 2011).
Finally, and according to (Becek, 2014) there is no doubt that a variety of societal, sociological, psychological, economic, legal and technical challenges must be faced before the fully operational real-time mapping based on IoT technology will become a reality. These various challenges are normal obstacles during a transition phase from the old paradigm to the new paradigm for all human activities, including geomatics. In geomatics, the dynamics of this paradigm change will be controlled by development of the Internet of Things. Moreover, rapid progress in the field of IoT is almost unavoidable, because 'A world where physical objects are seamlessly integrated into the information network, and where the physical objects can become active participants in business processes' (Haller, 2009) cited by (Becek, 2014) is already here and expanding.
PS: This text is extracted from my Master's Thesis in GIS and Science (published at RUN: The implementation of an Enterprise Geographical Information System to support Cadastre and Exp... ) Dissertation's State of Art chapter Annex 2 - Cyberland, towards an Ubiquitous Intelligent Land.
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