[a colleague] ...took the Mayday call. He told me he was surprised that the guy knew what he'd hit.
Usually, boats hit reefs because they're lost.
Sadly these are probably repeated on an all too frequent basis.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Old News - Same Old Problem
I've just come across these stories of GPS assisted groundings, or GAGs as we affectionately call them. The first GAG listed is an absolute classic with the understated lines...
[a colleague] ...took the Mayday call. He told me he was surprised that the guy knew what he'd hit.
Usually, boats hit reefs because they're lost.
Sadly these are probably repeated on an all too frequent basis.
[a colleague] ...took the Mayday call. He told me he was surprised that the guy knew what he'd hit.
Usually, boats hit reefs because they're lost.
Sadly these are probably repeated on an all too frequent basis.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Hairy Northern Wood Ant
GPS is revolutionising nature conservation. Thank goodness for that.
Gone are the days when GPS was the preserve of geodetic geeks (and I raise my hand here). It didn't take us long to realise, back in the early 90s, that GPS was such a fantastic tool. It shouldn't just be kept in the world of surveyors but should be shared with anyone who wanted to position themselves. And, as you know data, makes so much more sense when it's related to a location.
I'm not downgrading the specialist profession of the geomatics surveyor, far from it - only a trained surveyor knows the details of accuracy, precision and repeatability of the data they have - but for locating ant hills, bring it on!
Gone are the days when GPS was the preserve of geodetic geeks (and I raise my hand here). It didn't take us long to realise, back in the early 90s, that GPS was such a fantastic tool. It shouldn't just be kept in the world of surveyors but should be shared with anyone who wanted to position themselves. And, as you know data, makes so much more sense when it's related to a location.
I'm not downgrading the specialist profession of the geomatics surveyor, far from it - only a trained surveyor knows the details of accuracy, precision and repeatability of the data they have - but for locating ant hills, bring it on!
Saturday, 31 October 2009
OK, Own Up - Who Really Did Name America?
Well, one thing is for certain, nobody really knows. This BBC article got the dicussion going and if you weren't paying attention you'd think it all made sense. Well, it does but if you read on to the comments beneath it you realise that nothing is ever straight forward.
What about Richard ap Meryk? Ah, as ever there is a whole fan club associated with the naming of America - see here. I knew this was going to get complicated...
Mind you, if I'd known about the Waldseemullar map in July I would certainly have sought it out when we were in Washington. Never mind, it's always good to have something to look forward to for a return visit!
Sunday, 25 October 2009
The Highest Point on Earth
I don't think I've been paying much attention to this debate recently. It took my Dad to e-mail me the question about the highest point of earth to wake me up to this. Yes, Everest wins the prize for being the highest mountain above sea level but it's not necessarily the furthest point from the centre of the earth. That prize goes to Mount Chimorazo in Ecuador. But it's only down to a geoidal bulge and, as this article points out, it isn't even the highest mountain in the Andes.
At the end of the day, it's not how you measure something, but what you measure it against that matters. The highest point of the earth can vary depending on how you define 'height'. It's like someone asking where the coastline is. Well, it depends if you own the foreshore, want a picnic, are interested in coastal erosion, have fishing rights, want to dump and dredge or whatever - the person and the question are often inextricably linked.
At the end of the day, it's not how you measure something, but what you measure it against that matters. The highest point of the earth can vary depending on how you define 'height'. It's like someone asking where the coastline is. Well, it depends if you own the foreshore, want a picnic, are interested in coastal erosion, have fishing rights, want to dump and dredge or whatever - the person and the question are often inextricably linked.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Where Has That Meridian Gone?
Now this is what I call good reporting! Well not 'good' as in accurate, but 'good' as in geodesy hitting the news in a way that most non-geodesists can relate to it.
As you know, Greenwich is a lure for me. Of course I know that its placement is arbitrary; but there is still that historical buzz around the place that will never go away.
I was most interested to read that it was the prevalence of sea charts that swayed the vote towards Greenwich and, as many people know, the Admiralty (set up in 1795) had been producing them for a while.
It's funny to think what would have happened if, say, Turkey (random country here) won the meridian then we in the UK would all be used to being 2 hours behind Turkish time. If most of world's population can cope with not being on the meridian then it can't be that hard eh?
We have a forum at work and somebody put on a lovely geeky post today about BST going back an hour next Sunday. The post was along the lines of "this Sunday, 25 Nov, we move to Central Universal Time which is near enough identical to Greenwich Mean Time". I love geeks that stoop as low as explaining what it means for mere mortals!
As you know, Greenwich is a lure for me. Of course I know that its placement is arbitrary; but there is still that historical buzz around the place that will never go away.
I was most interested to read that it was the prevalence of sea charts that swayed the vote towards Greenwich and, as many people know, the Admiralty (set up in 1795) had been producing them for a while.
It's funny to think what would have happened if, say, Turkey (random country here) won the meridian then we in the UK would all be used to being 2 hours behind Turkish time. If most of world's population can cope with not being on the meridian then it can't be that hard eh?
We have a forum at work and somebody put on a lovely geeky post today about BST going back an hour next Sunday. The post was along the lines of "this Sunday, 25 Nov, we move to Central Universal Time which is near enough identical to Greenwich Mean Time". I love geeks that stoop as low as explaining what it means for mere mortals!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
MMO
Spent some of yesterday at Defra talking to the MMO (Marine Management Organisation) implementation team. I really like Defra from their communications point of view. Their public downloads on subjects such 'Location Matters' and Inspire are actually a lot more readable than some of the stuff that passes by way.
I should have started this post with an apology for anyone living outside of England. I'm not even being UK-centric this time round. The MMO only covers England. So what to do in the Irish Sea when there is also Wales, Scotland, North Ireland, Ireland and Isle of Man to participate too? No different to any other marine area eh?
I should have started this post with an apology for anyone living outside of England. I'm not even being UK-centric this time round. The MMO only covers England. So what to do in the Irish Sea when there is also Wales, Scotland, North Ireland, Ireland and Isle of Man to participate too? No different to any other marine area eh?
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