SaLIS Vol. 67, No. 1

March 2007

 

Editorial Latitudes
Joseph Loon

 

This is my last Editorial Latitudes since taking over the editorship of this journal in March 2000. I have resigned my position as editor in order to hand over the baton to Steve Frank. Lots of luck to Steve, and I hope that he will have as much fun as I had over these seven years. And I thank all authors, readers, and reviewers for their support.

A belated correction. In  SaLIS Vol. 66, No. 3 (September 2006), we ran an article on “Solar and Celestial Observations for Position and Azimuth Determination: Artillery Surveying in Vietnam” by Daniel P. Engle, Joel Metzger, Joe Schott, Justin Hinchcliff, Charlie Kuckenbecker, and Cody Schanfish. In this article, all references to our deceased colleague, Prof. Ben Buckner misspelled his name. To all Ben’s friends, we apologize for this. All who were fortunate to know Ben dearly cherish his memory. Thanks to Wendy Lathrop who brought this to our attention.

Now to our present issue. This issue illustrates the wide field covered by the term “Surveying and Land Information Science.” (Readers will remember that we changed the word “systems” to “science” in our Journal’s title a few years ago). We present papers on corruption in land administration, use of GPS in flight vehicle position, a three-point resection method in photogrammetry, using GIS to address the problem of port ballast water bioinvasion, and issues relating to prove ownership of real property.

Our first paper is entitled “Corruption and Land Administration” by Paul van der Molen and Arbind Tuladhar of the Netherlands. This paper was originally presented at a session of FIG (The International Federation of Surveyors) and was also chosen as the FIG “Article of the month” for March 2007. We reprint it here because it presents a topic not much written or spoken about in land administration and land management—that is, the question of corruption. Using information available in the free press, the authors draw our attention to corruption of all kinds in many countries around the world. Surveyors dealing with cadastral issues may be surprised at the many cases the authors cite concerning corruption related to land administration. Surveyors world wide will be interested in the authors’ list of “…potential measures against corruption in the land sector… .”

The second paper in this issue deals with the use of GPS in determining the position and orientation of a vehicle in flight. Authors Kendall Heckroth, Kandiah Jeyapalan, and Jerald Vogel gathered data from multiple antennas on board a flight vehicle as well as some simulated test data. They were successful in being able to predict the camera position and its orientation, but they do conclude that further research needs to be undertaken in this area. The title of their paper is “Determination of flight vehicle position and orientation using the global positioning system.”

In photogrammetry, three-point resections are often performed. Said M. Easa in the third paper entitled “Evaluation of the Newton-Raphson method for three-point resection in photogrammetry” deals with some issues of this particular method of resection and suggests a new Excel-based method which may prove useful to those working in the space resection area.

The fourth paper deals with “A GIS data modeling approach to port ballast water bioinvasion” and is authored by Samuel Amoako-Atta and Peter Kuntu-Mensah. They discuss the use of ballast water used by ships for stability, maneuverability, and balance on transoceanic voyages. When this ballast water is discharged it is “…the single largest source of introduction of invasive marine species into coastal marine and estuarine environments.” They discuss a GIS modeling approach to deal with this problem.

The fifth and last paper in this issue deals with the concepts of law in writings to prove ownership of real property. The authors, G. James Dronick and Wesley Parks, review some legal aspects and outline some relevant statutes and common law regarding writings as evidence. Their paper is entitled “U.S. and Pennsylvania law of writings as indispensable evidence to prove ownership of real property.”

This issue is rounded out with the latest  “Review of recent literature” compiled by Mike and Mary Craymer.

 

Corruption and Land Administration

Paul van der Molen and Arbind Tuladhar

 

The paper* addresses corruption in land administration and land management. Based on information published in the free press, the conclusion was drawn that various forms of corruption occur as a result of abuse of discretion for personal gain, and nepotism or favoritism involving family or party members. Although the actual reach of corruption in land administration is difficult to determine, some measures are proposed on how to curb corruption.

KEYWORDS: Corruption, transparency, land administration

 

Introduction

·         Bribery (abuse of discretion in favor of a third party in exchange of benefits given by the third party);

·         Fraud (abuse of discretion for private gain without the involvement of third parties); and

·         Favoritism, nepotism and clientelism (abuse of discretion not for self-interest but for the interest of one’s family, clan, political party, or ethnic group (UN/Habitat and Transparency International 2004).

Corruption has the most devastating effects in developing countries because it hinders advancement in economic growth and democracy (UNDP 1998). Land administration is the process of determining, recording, and disseminating information about ownership, value and use of land; this function is crucial when implementing land management policies (UN/ECE 1996). Because land administration is closely related to land management (which it facilitates), in this paper we discuss both land administration as well as land management issues.

Access to land and land-related benefits is an important factor in reducing poverty and creating economic growth (World Bank 2003). Preventing the “abuse of discretion” in the public sector, where most issues pertinent to the administration and management of land belong, is crucial, since registering a property, granting a mortgage, imposing or lifting restrictions, or allocating certain land use all imply the use of discretionary powers. Curbing nepotism, favoritism, and clientelism applies to the land issue, as access to land under customary law often depends on kinship. Thus, in a world where corruption is increasingly becoming an issue in fighting poverty (see e.g., UN/Habitat and Transparency International 2004; Törhönen 2006; OECD 2000; UN Update 2006), paying attention to it is a must.

To avoid the impression that corruption is a matter of concern in developing countries only, we begin with our own country, the Netherlands, although the land issue seems not to be a dominant element here. Then we report on desk research on the occurrence of corruption worldwide. No selection was done in advance: we searched the web for free press and free publications. Although corruption is usually hidden, we were amazed by how much openness exists about malpractice in land administration and land management. We attempt to categorize the forms of corruption as we found them and then provide some ideas about how to curb corruption. The last section comprises conclusions and some recommendations.

 

Determination of Flight Vehicle Position and Orientation Using the Global Positioning System

Kendall Heckroth, Kandiah Jeyapalan, and Jerald Vogel

 

In this paper we document the development of a numerical method for the determination of the position and angular orientation of a body using the Global Positioning System (GPS). By using data collected from multiple antennas on board a single flight vehicle, and by employing differential corrections supplied by a fixed ground receiver, this numerical method can produce Earth Centered Earth Fixed (ECEF) coordinates for a specified point on a vehicle, as well as the Euler angles (pitch, roll, yaw) expressing the angular orientation of the vehicle at that point. This analysis has applications for any mobile platform where position and orientation information is desired. The particular application we tested is in regards to aerial photogrametry. 

 

Evaluation of the Newton-Raphson Method for Three-Point Resection in Photogrammetry

Said M. Easa

 

Three-point resection in photogrammetry (based on measured distances between three object points and the corresponding image coordinates) has been a viable approach because it does not require data on the object coordinates. Many iterative and closed-form solutions of the problem have been developed. The problem may have up to four solutions for the distances between the exposure station and the objects. Due to the complexity of the closed-form solutions, a simple method involving Newton-Raphson (N-R) search has recently been suggested for determining the unique (correct) solution for the Grunert’s quartic polynomial. The N-R method, however, may not converge to the unique solution. This paper first describes the geometry of the three-point resection and the difficulties with the N-R method. A new Excel-based method that identifies all four solutions of the quartic polynomial is then presented. The method does not require initial estimates of the roots. Situations in which the N-R method is useful are highlighted. Application examples are used to illustrate the issues and concepts addressed. The proposed method, which provides insights into space resection, should be of interest to both researchers and educators.

Keywords: Photogrammetry, three-point resection, image, objects, polynomial, unit vectors, Newton-Raphson

 

A GIS Data Modeling Approach to Port Ballast Water Bioinvasion

Samuel Amoako-Atta and Peter Kuntu-Mensah

 

The design and implementation of proactive strategies are the best and most cost-effective method of addressing port ballast water bioinvasion. Currently, no single comprehensive monitoring program provides the data necessary to produce an integrated assessment of the potential for ballast–water mediated species introductions into specific ports and/or coastal regions. The project uses a GIS-based data modeling approach that links relevant trade, climatological, water quality, and biological data sets to produce an integrated assessment tool for port-specific management of invasive species. The result is a database for assessing the risk, developing risk-reduction strategies, and preparing (e.g., predicting impact and budgeting for control) for the possibility of introduction.

 

U.S. and Pennsylvania Law of Writings as Indispensable Evidence to Prove Ownership of Real Property

G. James Dronick and Wesley Parks

 

National and Pennsylvania law of writings as indispensable evidence to prove ownership of real property is examined. General concepts from standard legal resources are presented.  A relevant federal statute is examined, and a representative case is reviewed. A Pennsylvania statute and relevant case are examined. A hypothetical land surveying example is presented, and principles developed from the review of law are applied to resolve the example.

 

Review of Recent Literature

Compiled by Mike & Mary Craymer

Editors’ Note: This is a collection of selected articles on geodesy, surveying and land information systems published in English in other subject-related journals. This information has been compiled from Tables of Contents in Geodesy, a free Internet-based contents service for journals in geodesy. Because of space constraints, coverage may not be complete for all journals. For more complete coverage and information about TCG, article reprints and journal publishers, visit the TCG web site at <http://www.craymer.com/tcg/>.