XN000022-1976-05-14 — Page 9

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FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1976

PWD'S NEW PHOTOGRAMMETRIC UNIT OPENED

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HONG KONG IS NOW ABLE TO PRODUCE MAPS FASTER, CHEAPER AND WITHOUT OUTSIDE HELP.

THIS HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SETTING UP OF A HIGHLY SPECIALISED UNIT WITHIN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT'S CROWN LANDS AND SURVEY OFFICE WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL LAND SURVEYING AND MAPPING IN HONG KONG.

KNOWN AS THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC UNIT. IT CONSISTS OF A SPECIALLY TRAINED TEAM OF LOCAL EXPERTS IN PLOTTING TOPOGRAPHICAL DETAILS FROM AERIAL PICTURES WITH THE HELP OF SOPHISTICATED NEW MACHINERY WHICH PRODUCE THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS.

THE UNIT WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED THIS (FRIDAY) AFTERNOON BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE P.W.D.'S LANDS AND SURVEY DEPARTMENT, MR. IVOR STANTON, AT THE SAN PO KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE.

SAID MR, STANTON THE UNIT, IN EFFECT, PROVIDES THE 'MISSING LINK IN OUR AERIAL SURVEY MAPPING OPERATIONS AS IT MEANS THAT ALL STAGES CAN NOW BE DONE RIGHT HERE IN HONG KONG WITHOUT OUTSIDE HELP.-

SINCE 1963, WHEN PHOTOGRAMMETRY BECAME MORE WIDELY USED, THE P.W.D. HAS HAD TO RELY ON OVERSEAS CONTRACTORS TO DO THE MACHINE PLOTTING STAGE OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY — THE SCIENCE OF TRANSFERRING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS INTO MAPS.

+EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DONE HERE, INCLUDING THE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE R.H.K.A.A.F., BUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS HAD TO BE SENT TO OVERSEAS CONTRACTORS AS WE DID NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT AND TRAINED STAFF TO DO THE PLOTTING, HE SAID.

THE NEW UNIT WAS SET UP AT A COST OF ABOUT $2.5 MILLION INCLUDING THE COST OF THE EQUIPMENT AND THE TRAINING OF STAFF.

+QUITE APART FROM COST THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES IN DOING OUR OWN PLOTTING,+ MR. STANTON SAID. *URGENT JOBS CAN BE TACKLED IMMEDIATELY, PRIORITIES CAN BE EASILY CHANGED, AND MUCH TIME WASTING CAN BE AVOIDED AS THE GROUND CONTROL SURVEYORS WILL BE ABLE TO DEAL DIRECTLY WITH THE UNIT WHEN QUERIES ARISE.+.

HE SAID THAT IN ADDITION TO THE NEW PLOTTERS, THE UNIT WOULD SOON BE INSTALLING SPECIAL ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT WHICH WOULD ENABLE AUTOMATIC RECORDING OF DATA FOR PROCESSING BY COMPUTERS.

/+THE COMBINATION