Google Earth Time Zones Clock

Here is a neat little Google Earth Time Zones file that has often been helpful on many of my field trips when trying to remember where time zones start and stop. Just open the file in Google Earth, then point and click your location to get info on that time zone.

Converting Decimal Degrees to Degrees Minutes Seconds

Often we are supplied with coordinates in decimal degrees but need to use Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds instead. Luckily, there are several solutions that you can use, here is a simple coordinate converter tool that I use.

Geomatics Acronyms and Abbreviations

Using acronyms and abbreviations is commonly practiced in the Geomatics industry and most of the time people just assume that everybody else knows what every acronyms and abbreviation stands for. Well that is obviously not the case most of the time and over the years I have created myself a little digital cheat-sheet of geomatics acronyms and abbreviations that I use with my work in my writing.

Geomatics – GIS data base modeling

The design of the spatial database is the formal process of analyzing facts about the real world into a structured model. Database design is characterized by the following phases: requirement analysis, logical design and physical design. In more common terms, you basically need a plan, a design layout and then the data to complete the process.

Geomatics – GIS Spatial Modeling

GIS Spatial Modeling is the process of modeling, examining, and interpreting geographic data. It uses a set of defined methodology and analytical procedures to derive information with spatial relationships between geographic phenomena. It can be useful for evaluating suitability and capability, for estimating and predicting, and for interpreting and understanding real world situations. …

Converting between UTM, MTM and LAT/LONG

Canadian using a UTM map

Geographic coordinate systems enable us to spatially locate features on the Earth using specified set of two dimensional numbers. The coordinates of each feature represent the horizontal position (and sometimes vertical position when elevation is available) of it and one of the most commonly used coordinates is Geographic with values of latitude, longitude. However many different coordinate systems can be used to map the same area depending on various factors such as map extent, scale, end user etc. Therefore we often find in Geomatics that we can have data from different coordinate systems that we need to use together spatially in one reference system.

I am sure that most of us have run into times when we have features that have defined coordinates of one system that we need to use with a different one. (E.g. your map is in UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) but you have been given GPS points in Lat/Long).

If you ever find yourself in need of quickly getting values converted from Geographic to UTM / MTM (Modified Traverse Mercator) or UTM / MTM to Geographic then here is a free online geographic coordinate convertor tool that I often use provided by Canadian Spatial Reference System

Color Shaded Relief Models

A color shaded relief (CSR) utilizes chromo stereoscopic techniques to help emphasize the depth of the Z dimension from traditional shaded relief models that already portray the presence of an elevation difference. Using carefully edited …

Digital Elevation Models (DEMS)

A digital elevation model (DEM) or sometimes referred to as a digital terrain model (DTM) is a quantitative representation of the topography of the Earth. DEMs are used as a source of elevation (and to create other digital terrain models) for many different purposes