Journal of Surveying Engineering

Coordinate transformations refer to mathematical processing that enables overlay of digital maps that use different coordinate reference systems, that is, map projections. The transformation from geographical to map (plane) coordinates is the conventional practice in cartography, which is called forward transformation. The inverse transformation, which yields geographical coordinates from map coordinates, is a more recent development, due to the need for transformation between different map projections, especially in geographic information systems (GIS). The combination of the inverse and forward transformation from one projection to another, which may be called grid-on-grid or map-to-map transformation, can be necessary for some custom applications in GIS and in automated cartography. Many different approximation algorithms can be used for this problem on desktop computers. In this paper a new local transformation method called a non-Sibsonian transformation, which uses non-Sibson local coordinates, is suggested for map-to-map transformation or for improving geometrical accuracy of scanned maps. A case study is performed using the Lambert conformal conic projection and is presented with results.

While entering the twenty-first century, the need to adapt to the technological and social developments requires an openness to the reforms in geodesy and related disciplines in developing countries such as Turkey. Geodesy and photogrammetry (surveying) engineering education in the universities along with problems, geodetic work, job opportunities, and the future of the private and public sector must be taken up and examined. It is obvious that education and training is very important for the development of the countries. A well-trained engineer contributes to his∕her country’s development. This paper discusses these issues in the context of geodetic education from 1834 up to now and its positive and negative future in Turkey.

The estimation of borrow pit volumes is common in many surveying and highway applications. The trapezoidal method (rectangular or triangular prisms), classical cross sectioning (trapezoidal, Simpson, and average formula), and improved methods (Simpson-based, cubic spline, and cubic Hermite formula) have been presented in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to compare volumes determined by the existing methods with volumes calculated by rectangular prisms using the gridding method of natural neighbor on example 2 in a paper by Chen and Lin, which was also used in a work by Easa. The multiquadric and minimum curvature gridding methods tested in Yanalak and Baykal are also applied to this example. For these volumes, excavation height values in a $1\mathrm{m}$ grid are interpolated using gridding methods of natural neighbor, multiquadric, and minimum curvature. Then, excavation volume is determined as rectangular prisms. The results are compared with the existing volumes in a paper by Easa.

Vincenty’s (1975) formulas for the direct and inverse geodetic problems (i.e., in relation to the geodesic) have been verified by comparing them with a new formula developed by adapting a fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme for the numerical solution of ordinary differential equations, advancing the work presented by Kivioja in 1971. A total of 3,801 lines of varying distances $\left(10\text{to}\mathrm{18,000}\mathrm{km}\right)$ and azimuths (0 to 90°, because of symmetry) were used to compare these two very different techniques for computing geodesics. In every case, the geodesic distances agreed to within $0.115\mathrm{mm}$ , and the forward and reverse azimuths agreed to within $5\times {10}^{-6}\text{seconds}$ of arc, thus verifying Vincenty’s formula. If one wishes to plot the trajectory of the geodesic, however, the fourth-order Runge-Kutta extension of Kivioja’s formula is recommended as a numerically efficient and convenient approach.

Now to ensure the quality of automatic extraction of buildings from aerial and space imagery is not comprehensively understood. Dedicated efforts are needed in examining both the theoretical and practical aspects of the problem. This paper first presents a review of building extraction research activities, with the focus on quality-related issues. Also addressed is recent progress in the use of high-resolution satellite images. As a theoretical study, a set of five quality measures of the extracted buildings is proposed that considers all possible types of errors and describes the accuracy of building extraction relative to the ground truth. To achieve a reliable and precision result, a step-by-step quality control strategy is implemented in a classification-guided building extraction procedure. Unreliable results are identified based on the proposed quality index and excluded from further processing. Empirical results using IKONOS images are presented to demonstrate the proposed quality measures and quality control strategy.