The September issue of AusGeo News is now available, with a special feature on Geoscience Australia's work in the spatial information area, including:
Other articles in Issue 71 include: Australia's sea borders; the latest in visualisation tools; recent seismic surveys in South Australia's mineral regions; product news; and the e-atlas of the minerals industry.
Download a pdf copy of AusGeo News Issue 71.
A seamless digital map of Australia's topography is one step closer to reality following completion of the latest series of topographic maps by Geoscience Australia.
"Completion of the latest 1:250 000 (250K) scale topographic maps of Australia known as NATMAP 250K, is a significant mapping milestone for Australia. For the first time since 1968, we have mapped all 7,660,000 square kilometres of the entire continent with information that has been collected over the past ten years," said Member for Eden-Monaro, Mr Gary Nairn, who added the final map of Kingston in Western Australia to the 17sq metre mosaic of 513 maps laid out at Parliament House on 22 September 2003.
The new map series, completed in five years, is a collaborative effort between Geoscience Australia and private sector mapping companies. The first national topographic map coverage at this scale began in the late 1940s and was completed in 1968.
"The completion of this stage of the project is a crucial stepping stone towards the production of a seamless electronic map of Australia which we will be able to update with the latest information as it becomes available. The seamless topographic database of Australia will be available on the Internet in early 2004."
250K NATMAPs are available in both paper and digital form. In line with the Government's policy on Spatial Data Access and Pricing, this fundamental spatial information in vector format is also available free online.
At the event, Mr Nairn also launched the new NATMAP Raster 2003, a CD product containing images of all the 1:250 000, 1:1 million and 1:5 million maps as well as a 50 metre resolution satellite image of Australia. All 513 250K maps are provided on just two CDs for $99.
Scientists from Geoscience Australia will join the emergency management community for the 2003 Australian Disasters Conference to be held in Canberra from 10-12 September. They will deliver a number of presentations and workshops on a range of topics including the development of a predictive model of earthquakes in Australia and using spatial data to communicate risk.
Geoscience Australia will also take part in the Conference's exhibition with a display about the role of the organisation in mitigating risk in urban areas from geohazards such as earthquakes, floods and wind.
The conference theme is Community Safety is Everyone's Business, and over three days, international, national, and State and Territory speakers along with representatives from the community, volunteers, academia and industry, will present the latest research and information in community safety and emergency management.
The 2003 Australian Disasters Conference is being held at the National Convention Centre, Canberra on 10-12 September 2003.
Geoscience Australia now provides all its services from one central location following relocation of the National Mapping Division (NMD) to our main building in Symonston, Canberra, ACT.
The relocation means that contact details for NMD have changed, although all 1800 numbers will remain the same.
For further enquiries, please call our main number +61 2 6249 9111.
Geoscience Australia has won an award for Excellence in Cartography in the category for best Satellite Image product at the International Cartographic Association’s (ICA) Map Exhibition held recently in Durban, South Africa. The Map Exhibition was held in conjunction with the ICA’s bi-ennial International Cartographic Conference. More than 800 map products from 33 countries were on show.
Known as the 1:5 000 000 scale Satellite Image of Australia - Landsat 7, the satellite image (pictured at right) was originally created for the Australian Greenhouse Office as part of their national carbon accounting project in 2001. It comprises 369 scenes acquired from the Landsat 7 satellite and shows land cover across Australia in pseudo-natural colours (sensor bands 2, 4 and 7). Forests are shown as dark green on the image, healthy crops and pasture lands as light green, bare earth and dry vegetation in red, brown and yellow tones, and water as blue.
The award winning image is available for $16.40 through the Geoscience Australia Sales Centre and our retailers.