Target audiences, media and messages for SDI training

This article aims to report on research conducted to identify the different target audiences and corresponding SDI education and training media and messages that will contribute towards the development of the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure (SASDI)… (more)

A luminance model for evaluating colour rendering qualities of light sources

Spectral vision of a colour scene is determined by the product of the spectral power distribution of the light source, the spectral radiance (reflection) factor of the scene components and the photopic spectral visibility or V() curve. With the introduction of LED lighting, the lighting industry is faced with an infinite number of colour sources of light with numerous SPDs. The summation of SPDs can create even more diverse sources of light through combinations of these LED sources… (more)

External health costs of a coal-fired power plant: The case of Kusile: Part 2

This article examines an important subset of the expected health costs associated with the commissioning of Kusile, the new coal-fired electricity generation plant. The subset of health impacts focuses on sulphur dioxides, nitrous oxides and large particulate matter (greater than 10 mm)… (more)

Should South Africa invest in high technology R&D?

Over the last decades South Africa experienced both success and failure in the development and commercialisation of complex high technology systems and large products. The question is of course how success or failure is defined. From a technology perspective a system could be successful, but from a market/user point of view could be a total failure. The Sasol technology system is a good example of success, both from a technology and commercialisation point of view. Based on the original localisation of the high temperature Fischer-Tropsch technology, scientists and engineers developed and commercialised the low temperature… (more)

External health costs of a coal-fired power plant: The case of Kusile: Part 1

This article examines an important subset of the expected health costs associated with the commissioning of Kusile, the new coal-fired electricity generation plant. The subset of health impacts focuses on sulphur dioxides, nitrous oxides and large particulate matter (greater than 10 mm). The analysis makes use of the impact pathway approach combined with the data transfer methodology. The plant, which is expected to contribute 4800 MW of additional electricity to the South African grid is found to have modest health impacts… (more)

Spatial analysis of the linkage between climatic and environmental factors and malaria vector habitat in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

Many studies have demonstrated that Plasmodium falciparum infection exhibits both spatial and temporal dependency. This variability is related to both climatic and environmental variability. Climatic and environmental factors play a large role by affecting the biological cycle of both vector and parasite… (more)

Identifying the target audiences, media and messages for SDI education and training in South Africa

The objective of the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure (SASDI) is to facilitate the capture, management, maintenance, integration, distribution and use of spatial information in South Africa. To realize this objective, SASDI stakeholders have to understand the purpose and benefits of SASDI… (more)

Voting patterns for the 2004 and 2009 national and the 2006 and 2011 local elections

This paper investigates the voting patterns at ward level for both the 2004 and 2009 national and provincial elections as well as the 2006 and 2011 local government elections to determine change in voting patterns… (more)

Land administration domain model: application to the City of Johannesburg land information system, South Africa

The aim of this paper is to explore the application of the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) to the City of Johannesburg Land Information System. The LADM is a conceptual schema which is being developed by the ISO/TC211 for modelling the rights, restrictions and responsibilities affecting land and their geospatial and/or geometric components… (more)

An evaluation of the suitability of three open source map servers for setting up a geospatial thematic web service

The objective of this research is to evaluate the ease of setting up a geospatial thematic web service in three open source web map servers, namely MapServer, GeoServer and QGIS Server. In the context of our current research which aimed at finding novel ways of visualising linked data in the form of thematic maps over the internet, this paper shows a procedure used in selecting one of the state-of-the art open source web map server.. (more)

An assessment of spatial data availability for renewable energy planning in sub-Saharan Africa

Electricity production constitutes a key factor in the development of any nation. Use of coal, oil or gas for electricity production has been identified as contributor to environmental pollution and climate change. Hence, the need to produce electricity from renewable energy sources that impact less negatively on the environment… (more)

Tertiary GISc education at African universities: Is the sun shining in South Africa?

South Africa faces challenges similar to the rest of the world: climate change, food security, sustainable development and humanitarian disasters. Scientists and professionals with GISc knowledge and skills are required to find sustainable solutions for these challenges… (more)

Exploring the potential suitability of an SDI model in context of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) of Namibia

During the 1990s Namibia marked the introduction and acceptance of desktop geographical information system (GIS) technology into various sectors at national, regional and local community levels. This technology quickly disseminated across many disciplines, and desktop GIS has now been established as an important component of research, strategic planning and evidence based decision making in the public and private sectors… (more)

Assessing the quality of repositories of volunteered geographical information

In this article we assess two repositories of volunteered geographical information (VGI) (the 2nd South African Bird Atlas Project and OpenStreetMap) against the seven commonly-used dimensions of the quality of geographical information.. (more)

Spatial data availability for renewable energy planning

This paper reports on a desktop study for Eskom to assess the availability of spatial data for electricity planning from renewable energy sources for the African sub-Saharan region, excluding South Africa… (more)

Analysing commons to improve the design of VGI repositories

Is there anything to be learnt for volunteered geographic information (VGI) repositories from the approaches, methodologies and technologies applied in open source projects and Web 2.0 encyclopaedias, which have been around for longer and have a larger user base… (more)

Criteria for an address assignment scheme in Botswana

Botswana is currently drafting a proposal for an address assignment scheme for location and postal addresses as part of the “Addressing Botswana” project. This article examines the address assignment scheme and proposes criteria for an address assignment scheme in Botswana… (more)

First African open source geospatial laboratory

The first African open source geospatial laboratory, under the auspices of the ICA-OSGeo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), was recently established at the Centre for Geoinformation Science (CGIS) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. CGIS engages in open-source research for geospatial software and data, either using open-source geospatial software and data as tools in research, or contributing to the software and data through research. Open source software and data are also used in formal tertiary education and continued education courses at the university… (more)

Call for papers for GISSA Ukubuzana 2012

Members of the geospatial community are encouraged to submit academic and general papers for GISSA Ukubuzana 2012. Details on the requirements and submissions can be found at the GISSA website (www.gissa.org.za). The deadline date for the submission of abstracts for general papers is 30 June 2012 and the deadline for the submission of full papers for peer-review for the academic track is also 30 June 2012. Dr. Serena Coetzee from the University of Pretoria is co-ordinating the academic paper submissions and Lerato Senoko from the Department of Science and Technology is co-ordinating the general papers, short papers and poster papers… (more)

Remote sensing metadata for global confidence

Satellite and aerial photography data is mostly known to the public through services such as Google Earth or Microsoft’s Bing Maps. Fewer people know that these remotely sensed images taken by satellites or airplanes are used by many professional people to complete their day-to-day jobs… (more)

QGIS courses at UP

Southern Mapping Geospatial in co-operation with Continuing Education at University of Pretoria, is presenting a short course in Quantum GIS. The short course will be offered at a post graduate level with the aim of supplying valuable education to individuals wishing to grow in their fields… (more)

More places available for BSc Geoinformatics at UP

The number of students who will be admitted into the BSc Geoinformatics programme at the University of Pretoria (UP) has been drastically increased for 2012. In the past, a maximum of twelve first year students were admitted, resulting in five to ten graduates every year and even fewer students continuing with BSc Honours in Geoinformatics and eventually postgraduate studies (MSc and PhD). The increased intake is in line with the current industry demand for Geoinformatics graduates, voiced at the GISSA annual general meeting (AGM) in March of this year… (more)

Tukkies students develop automated orthorectification module

At the 2010 annual project day of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria (UP), the “FoxHat” team which developed a module for automating orthorectification in the open source package, Quantum GIS (QGIS), walked away with the prize for the best project… (more)

The softer side of facilities management

With “Generation Y” taking over from the “baby boomers” – who are now approaching retirement age – the emphasis in workplace management is shifting towards accommodationg the needs of staff, rather than simply providing basic facilities… (more)

3D CMOS photodiode modelling and simulator design

University of Pretoria’s Carl and Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics (CEFIM) has been involved in cutting-edge semiconductor research since its inception. As a main focus of interest, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is arguably the most successful semiconductor technology to date… (more)

The quest to increase chip interconnect speeds

The world’s desire for faster and smaller semiconductor products with greater functionality is leading to smaller and more powerful integrated circuits. This creates technological challenges as companies seek to increase the interconnect speed, allowing it to match the increased processing speed of smaller devices… (more)