Introduction, and A Primer on Mapping Technologies, circa 1996

I started this blog as a way to discuss one of my great passions, geospatial technology. So far, I have yet to post. So, I guess it's about time. First, I'll introduce myself. I recently took a position as the Geospatial Territory Manager, which really means that I will train, support, demo and just plain talk about Autodesk geospatial and civil engineering software.

In my last position, I spent 11 years as a Programmer/Analyst working with geospatial software in an Information Services group supporting mapping, design and similar groups for the distribution side of a major private electric utility. Prior to that, I was a GIS Specialist for a small water/sewer utility (I did gain a Water Treatment, Water Distribution, Sewer Treatment and Sewer Collection Operators Certification while there). I also spent several years working for some consulting engineering firms doing hydrology modeling, airfield design, and general civil design. Throughout I was using GIS systems for the majority of this work. My career started with a 9 year stint in the US Air Force, as an Engineering Technician (also called a Site Development Specialist).

It was in the USAF that I began working with geospatial systems. I actually implemented the first one in the USAF. That was more luck though. There were three of us on different bases working on it. I was able to bypass the traditional procurement process, and we purchased our software, hardware and training through a contract with the Corps of Engineers. So I got mine in first. While in the USAF, I was able to do some pretty interesting things (at least to me) with GIS. One was the preliminary design for the Stealth Fighter beddown at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. Another was the reutilization of the Systems Command HQ, a very large office building in the Washington, DC (Andrews AFB) area vacated after the dissolution of Systems Command. The third significant project was the inventory of Harvest Bare equipment (portable facilities - buildings, hangers, etc) all over Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm.

I thought I'd start my blog with an introduction to geospatial systems. This is a document that I originally wrote in 1991 to introduce my colleagues to the subject. Later, in 1996 I revised it a bit for the same purpose. I'm not sure that I agree with everything in it now - for example, I'm not sure that I would use the same definition for AM/FM systems. At the time I equated network-based systems for utilities as AM/FM systems. Additionally, one of the major GIS software systems has dropped the traditional topological model, but has made it available as a form of overlay. Technically, the distinctions get pretty grey, but it's close enough.

Reviewing it, it still seems appropriate as a general introduction into the topic. So, without further ado, I present "A Primer on Mapping Technologies," the 1996 edition.



I'm not sure how well the Zoho Viewer works on all machines, so I'm including a link to the document as well.