Volume 3 Number 1, February 1995
Volume 3 Number 1, February 1995
Hope you have had a wonderful holiday season and a great start of the new year.
I would like to use the president's column in the bimonthly newsletter to keep you informed about the progresses of the different activities organized by the association. Thank you for your support. The result of our first member survey has come out. Although we have received a small number of survey returns through both e-mail and postal mail, we have obtained many good suggestions and ideas to support CPGIS activities. The survey summary part (I) is included in the newsletter for your reference. It is interesting that the main reason to join the association indicated by almost all members who returned the survey is that CPGIS is a Chinese professionals' group, and most of the members would like to do something for GIS development in China. I think CPGIS was established for, is working for and will keep working for those goals in our bylaw.
We have seen the preliminary program for Geoinformatics '95 -- Hong Kong. This annual conference will bring us a great opportunity to exchange information and ideas, to meet old and new friends, and also to learn the current situation of the GIS development in China. The Urban GIS Workshop in Beijing is also under preparation. The finally selected presenters to the workshop will have a chance to share their expertise in this field with many urban planners in China. We appreciate those direct contributions to the GIS development and applications in China.
As we promised in the presidential campaign, we are trying to improve the membership service and benefit. From this year, the members in North America will have free subscription to the GIS World magazine. The free subscription cards are being mailed to you. You need to fill out the cards and return them. The members in Asia and Australia will have free subscription to a new magazine, GIS Asia/Pacific. I hope it will provide you with information about GIS development, applications and conferences in your regions.
December BOD meeting has approved the recommendation of the Bylaws amendment to strengthen several fundamental issues. This newsletter carries the Bylaw Amendment Ballot and the proposed changes to the bylaws. Please use your right to vote to show your support to the association. You can vote through either electronic mail or postal mail.
You may have noticed that the Newsletter has a big improvement. Now we have a very strong editorial board. They are working very hard to enhance the quality of the newsletter and to meet your needs. I appreciate their effective work. Thank you for all your support to the association!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Yuemin Ding, Ph.D.
President, CPGIS
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The BOD of CPGIS of this term had its first meeting in December of 1994. The following is
the summary of the meeting. From now on, all decisions made in BOD meeting will be
assigned a number for late references. The proposed Bylaws amendment is also discussed
in the meeting. Any comment is welcome, and please send it to cpgis @neuro. ensu.
ucalgary. ca. (Yuemin Ding)
The December BOD Meeting (BOD Solution 94-12-1: Bylaws Amendment) has approved the
recommendation of the proposed amendments to the CPGIS Bylaws. The major
amendments include:
The following special e-mail account has been set up to collect your votes:
bylaws@umgis.merrick.miami.edu. Please complete the attached ballot and return it to the above e-mail address no later than March 3, 1995. If
you can not access to the above e-mail address, you can send your ballot through surface
mails to Prof. Yanni Xiao, Department of Geography, University of Lethbridge, 4401
University Drive, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 3M4, FAX: (403)329-2016. (Yuanjun Li <
CLAD122 @RIS001. RIS.OR.GOV> , Yanni Xiao < xiao @rose. uleth.ca> , Co-chairs of
the CPGIS Bylaws Amendment Committee
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Abstain [ ]
Voter's Name (First Last): _____________________________
Date(Month/Day/Year): _______________________________
ARTICLE I. Name
The English name of the organization shall be "The Association of Chinese Professionals in
Geographic Information Systems (Abroad)", designated hereinafter as the Association.
The short form "CPGIS" can be used where appropriate. The Chinese name of the
organization shall be "Zhong1 Guo2 Hai3 Wai4 Di4 Li3 Xin4 Xi1 Xi4 Tong3 Xie2 Hui4".
ARTICLE II. Purposes
The Association shall be an academic and non-profit organization. The purposes of the
Association shall be:
(a) To promote the professional development of its members by fostering cooperation
among its members and by maintaining a central point of reference and deliberation.
(b) To promote the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and scientific development in GIS and
related sciences and technologies between Chinese GIS professionals abroad and those
in China.
[AMENDED] (c) To provide an efficient channel between its members and other GIS
professionals, through which mutual understanding and cooperation can be enhanced.
ARTICLE III. Membership
[AMENDED] Section 1. Members contain individual members and sustaining members.
[AMENDED] Section 2. An individual member shall be a person who is presently engaged
or has been engaged in GIS related work, is willing to recognize and follow the bylaws, and
has paid the annual membership dues as specified.
[AMENDED] Section 3. A sustaining member shall be an organization which is willing to
recognize and follow the bylaws, is willing to support the activities of the Association and
has paid the annual membership dues as specified.
[AMENDED] Section 4. An individual member shall be eligible to hold offices and to vote on
the Association matters.
[AMENDED] Section 5. The membership shall be terminated when
(a) The member gives up on his or her own, provided that a written statement of giving up
membership has been received and approved by the Board of Directors; or
(b) The annual dues have not been paid for three months after the due date.
[AMENDED] Section 6. Annual membership dues shall be established by the Board of
Directors.
ARTICLE IV. Officers
Section 1. Officers and Term
[AMENDED] The officers shall consist of a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, and a
Secretary General. The official term of the officers shall commence the first day of
November and shall continue until the last day of October of the next year.
Section 2. President
The President shall be annually elected by a majority vote of all members. The
President shall appoint other officers and take such actions as deemed appropriate to
complete goals as President of the Association and further the interests of the
organization. The President is the official spokesperson of the Association. The President
shall deliver an address to the membership in the beginning and by the end of his or her
term.
Section 3. Vice President
The Vice President shall assist the President in the Association affairs. If for any
reason the President shall be unable to carry out the duties, the duties will be filled by the
Vice President for the remainder of the term.
Section 4. Treasurer
The Treasurer is the chief fiscal policy officer of the Association responsible for the
development of the fiscal policy and annual budget report, maintenance of the financial
records, and collection of membership dues.
[AMENDED] Section 5. Secretary General
The secretary general shall assist the President to handle the Association daily
operations, such as membership database management, account administration,
newsletter distribution and help communicating with members and other parties interested
in the Association activities.
[AMENDED] Section 6. Unless authorized at any meeting and after notice for same shall
have been given, no officer or member of the Association shall receive any remuneration
for his or her services.
ARTICLE V. Board of Directors
[AMENDED] Section 1. The Board of Directors shall be the governing body of the
Association. It shall consist of the Officers, the last-term President, and the five percent
representatives of the total members, but not more than twenty-one or less than eleven,
from different geographical regions and various disciplines.
Section 2. The members of the Board of Directors shall be nominated by the President and
approved by the members by a majority vote. The President shall be the Chairperson of the
Board of Directors.
Section 3. The Board of Directors shall consider proposals from members. It shall respond
within two weeks to any proposal endorsed by more than ten members. It shall receive and
act upon reports from various Committees. It shall organize the president election for the
next term. It shall organize the Bylaws amendment when such a proposal is made.
Section 4. The actions of the Board of Directors may be amended by a two-third majority
vote of the members.
Section 5. Any director or officer upon a majority vote of all members in good standing may
be removed from office for any cause which the Association may deem reasonable.
ARTICLE VI. Election and Impeachment of the President
[AMENDED] Section 1. The Board of Directors shall form and authorize an Election
Committee to coordinate the Presidential Election.
[AMENDED] Section 2. The Election Committee shall prepare a list of presidential
candidates which shall be nominated or self-nominated by members, endorsed by other
members and accepted by the nominees. It shall conduct authorized mail/e-mail ballots in
which an introduction and a statement of each candidate shall be included. Four weeks
shall be allowed for the return of the ballots.
[AMENDED] Section 3. The Board of Directors shall organize a vote when at least half of all
members signed the petition for president impeachment. The President shall be impeached
by a two- third majority vote of all cast ballots in four weeks.
ARTICLE VII. The Seal, Account(s) and Documents of the Association
Section 1. The Association does not have a seal.
Section 2. The President and the Treasurer have the signing authority for the accounts of
the Association. Another member may have this authority only if this is approved by the
Board of Directors.
Section 3. The books, accounts and records of the President and Treasurer shall be
audited at least once each year by a duly qualified accountant or by two members of the
Association elected for that purpose at the Annual Meeting. A complete and proper
statement of the standing of the books for the previous year shall be submitted by such
auditor at the Annual Meeting of the Association. The fiscal year of the Association in each
year shall be November 1 to October 31 of the next year.
Section 4. The President or his/her designated representative shall prepare minutes of
proceedings of meetings of the Association and of the directors. The same person shall be
in charge of the custody of these minutes.
Section 5. It shall be the duty of the President or his designated representative to attend
all meetings of the Association and of the Board, and to keep accurate minutes of the
same. The President shall have charge of all the correspondence of the Association. The
President or his designated representative shall also keep a record of all the members of
the Association and their addresses, send all notices of the various meetings as required,
and shall collect and receive the annual dues or assessments levied by the Association,
such moneys to be promptly turned over to the Treasurer for deposit in a Bank, Trust
Company, Credit Union or Treasury Branch as hereinafter required.
Section 6. The books and records of the Association may be inspected by any member of
the Association at the Annual Meeting provided for herein or at anytime upon giving the
reasonable notice and arranging a time satisfactory to the officer(s) having charge of the
same. Each member of the Board of Directors shall at all times have access to such books
and records.
ARTICLE VIII. Meetings
Section 1. This Association shall hold an Annual Meeting on or before November 1 in each
year, of which notice in writing to the last known address of each member shall be
delivered in the mail or in electronic mail 60 days prior to the date of the meeting.
Section 2. General meetings of the Association may be called at any time by the President
in writing to the last known address of each member, delivered in the mail or in electronic
mail 30 days prior to the date of such meeting. A special meeting shall be called by the
President upon receipt by him or her of a petition signed by one-third of the members in
good standing, setting forth the reasons for calling such meeting, which shall be by letter to
the last known address of each member, delivered in the mail or in electronic mail 7 days
prior to the meeting.
Section 3. Ten members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting.
[AMENDED] ARTICLE IX. Committees
[AMENDED] Section 1. Executive committees shall be set up by the President at the
beginning of his or her term to assist the President in various aspects of the Association
affairs. The committees should report to the President at least twice at the mid and the end
of the term.
[AMENDED] Section 2. Special committees may be set up by the President, or by the Board
of Directors when necessary. The committees should report to the Board of Directors at
least once by the end of the term.
ARTICLE X. Endowment Fund and Borrowing Powers
The Endowment Fund shall consist of the permanent investment of the Association.
Donation shall be announced to all members unless the donor specified otherwise. The
income from the Fund shall be used at the discretion of the Board of Directors to further
the objectives of the Association or may be added to the principal of the Fund. In each
annual budget the income from the Fund for the past year shall be listed and its disposition
shall be specified. For the purpose of carrying out its objects, the Association may borrow
or raise or secure the payment of money in such manner as it thinks fit, but this power shall
be exercised only under the authority of the Association.
ARTICLE XI. Amendment
Section 1. Proposals to amend the Bylaws may be made by a petition to the Board of
Directors signed by at least ten members.
Section 2. Bylaws will be amended or repealed by special resolution. ("special resolution"
is required by the Corporation Act in Alberta as 21 days ahead of time notification to
members on the amendment of the bylaw and more than 3 quarters of votes approving
it)
Section 3. After the amendments are registered at the Association's registration office(s),
they shall take effect immediately unless otherwise indicated in the amendments.
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Xiaoming Zheng, the Secretary General of CPGIS, had a trip to Beijing during December 27
1994 to January 10 1995. He met and discussed CPGIS activities and plans with many
professionals in China, including Dr. SHI Peijun, Prof. LI Jing, Prof. YANG Kai, Mr. WU
Dengzhou, Mr. YAO Suihan, Mr. PENG Shengchao, Mr. ZHOU, Prof. LIN Hai, Mr. BAO
Shixing. The following is his report on this trip.
The following are results from discussions among:
The Natural Science Foundation of China can financially support 10 CPGIS members in
mainland of China to attend the conference of CPGIS'95 Hong Kong. The selection will be
based on:
1. Financial Source The Science Foundation of China will support 10 individuals from
CPGIS'95 HONG KONG to Beijing to give the workshop. Li Jing will prepare a report to The
Natural Science Foundation of China.
2. Lecturers and Topics The initially selected topics are good and interesting. The most
important thing is the representative and balance of the topics for the final ten people.
3. Attendants Most of the people will be the senior urban planners, managers, and the
people who are interested in environmental issues.
4. Requirements to the lecturers Presently, there are about 100 cities in China performing
urban planning. It is expected that GIS techniques can be helpful in urban planning,
management, and other urban applications. Therefore, the workshop should concentrate
on the practical techniques. Every lecturer is required to introduce the method and model,
and then give demonstrations.
The arrangement of the series of lectures should be systematic. There should be a
meeting for discussion between the attendants and the lecturers in the last day. The
attendants may have some specific questions and hope to obtain advice from the
lecturers.
5. Exhibition The time of the workshop is not good because it is in the period of "6.4". LI
Jing is negotiating with Beijing University to try to get an exhibition site on the campus. If
Beijing University refuse to provide a place for exhibition because of "6.4", LI Jing will find
another place beside Beijing University.
During the meeting with Yang Kai, the Secretary General of CAGIS, and WU Dengzhou, the
director of the CAGIS Office, ZHENG Xiaoming introduced the organization, member
structure, objectives of CPGIS, and the activities of CPGIS.
Yang Kai, then, talked something about the background, organization, main tasks, and
objectives of CAGIS. He emphasized the importance to develop the 3S information
INDUSTRY in China, that is, Remote Sensing (RS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and
GIS.
China has built four data bases over mainland of China, geodetic database, topographic
database, gravity database, and place names database. Presently, every city is setting up
1/500 ~ 1/2000 digital map and digital terrain model. People hope to use GIS in urban
planning, environment protection, resource management and other applications. CAGIS
hope CPGIS can make contribution to the development of GIS industry in China.
CAGIS has annual conference. For 1995, the meeting will be held in Beijing in mid
October. The topic of the conference is "The Development of GIS in China", which consists
of six sections:
It has been suggested that CPGIS and CAGIS jointly organize workshops, seminars,
conferences, or other activities, and jointly publish books, magazines, or proceedings.
It has been suggested that CPGIS Secretary General and CAGIS Secretary General keep
in touch and exchange ideas and activities regularly. (Xioaming Zheng)
Back to Contents
In order to serve our members better, the first member survey has been conducted. Total
25 completed survey forms have been received from both e-mail and postal mail. Although
the number of the returns is small, we have got very good suggestions and ideas to
support CPGIS activities. The statistic has shown the very interesting result, which will be
considered in the plans for the future of the association.
Here is the first part of the survey. The rest of the summary will be presented to you later.
Welcome to send your comments or suggestions to the BOD net: cpgis@
neuro.ensu.ucalgary.ca or to me directly. (Yuemin Ding, ding@nynexst.com).
1) More than 90% of the members returned the survey showed the reason to join the
CPGIS is that it is a Chinese GIS Professionals group. Almost two third of them would like
to do something for China's GIS development with CPGIS.
2) Friends/CPGIS members and CPGIS-L have been the two major sources for people to be
aware of CPGIS.
3) Almost two third of them have been CPGIS member since beginning.
4) 60% of them have attended at least one of the annual conference. Almost half of them
attended the first annual conference in Buffalo, USA. 20% of them have decided to attend
the annual conference in Hong Kong.
5) Most of the members are also a member of other related professional associations.
6) More than two third of them are willing to or may consider to be involved in the CPGIS
administration and leadership work.
PART I: Please choose the answer(s) and type "X" in [ ], or directly type the letter(s) in
the space between questions for your convenience.
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Second Group of Chinese EPA delegation, with twelve engineers from the National
Environmental Protection Agency of China, arrived in the US in the morning of November
21, 1994, led by Mr. Luo Guozhen, Director General, Department of Planning and Finance.
The group will stay in Harrisburg, Penn. for two weeks to attend a GIS training provided by
Dr. Minhua Wang and then visit Washington DC, Toronto and Ottawa of Canada.
On the same day, they visited the GIS and Remote Sensing Lab at UC Berkeley and will
spend two more days visiting some companies in the San Francisco Bay Area including
Sybase - a data base vendor. They will leave for Harrisburg on Thursday, Nov. 24. Their
entire training and visit program has been arranged completely by CPGIS members. The
enthusiasm of contributing to China's GIS development developed within CPGIS is
recognized by many Chinese institutes and government agencies.
Chinese EPA will send a third group to US and Canada for a similar training tour in March
1995. (Peng Gong)
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On January 3rd, CPGIS received 200 Canadian dollars donation from Mr. Shabai Huang and
Ms. Aining Zhang. Their strong support to CPGIS not only indicate recognition of CPGIS's
achievement but also carries a high expectation of CPGIS for a better future. (Peng
Gong)
Back to Contents
(from ZHENG Xiaoming)
(Editor note: We have added a new column Interview and Discussion, hoping
through interviewing some pioneers in CPGIS association and leaders in GIS to provide
insights in the development of the association and GIS field. ZHANG Zhihui, one of the
CPGIS editors, took the lead to interview Dr. LIN Hui, the Chairman of the Public Relations
Committee of CPGIS and the director of Hong Kong Information Exchange Station. We
appreciate their time and valuable information.)
I heard of LIN Hui's name for the first time in 1989 when I was doing a research project
at NLREIS. Several years later, right after I came to the U.S. and was surfing internet, Lin
Hui's name popped up from Gopher, and I sent an email to his address at SUNY-Buffalo,
asking information of a friend of mine there. The mail was bounced back.
Later on, I joined the CPGIS-L and knew that he had accepted a position in Hong
Kong. Then I saw him a lot in cyberspace: posting and forwarding valuable information onto
the network. I hadn't met him in person until last Summer at the CPGIS'94 Conference in
Calgary. Although I still didn't have a chance to talk to him in details due to tight schedule,
he impressed me a lot with his academic achievements and approachable personality.
When Dr. GUAN Weihe, editor-in-chief of our newsletter, asked me to interview Dr. LIN Hui,
I knew it is a high time for me to flood him with some questions.
ZHANG: Dr. LIN Hui, first of all, let me take this opportunity to thank you for accepting our
interview as I am pretty sure that you are tied up with your schedule.
LIN: You are welcome.
ZHANG: Could you give us an outline of your activities in research and teaching for this
year?
LIN: I will be very busy for the Geoinformatics'95 and the University Club, whose membership
includes many universities in the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, in the first half year,
plus my teaching task for two courses -- GIS and Cartography, and research commitment
for three projects -- Multimedia Investment Environment Information System, Modeling
Support System for coast change analysis, and Sustainable Study for the Three-Gorge
Reservoir Region.
ZHANG: Guess you also need to supervise graduate students?
LIN: Yeah, I need to take care of my graduate students and students in the STOT program.
In addition, I may work on a book editing project after June, depending on the funding from
China.
ZHANG: What does STOT stand for?
LIN: STudent Oriented Teaching program, similar to Independent Project in many American
Universities.
ZHANG: I see, you have four rush seasons.
LIN: I wish I could find more hands and heads.
ZHANG: Like a superman who has three heads and six arms? (grin)
LIN: I remember that before I came to Hong Kong, Dr. CHEN Zitan told me "Don't worry
about finding projects to do in Hong Kong. The most difficult thing for your future in Hong
Kong will be how to select projects and how to find time to do them."
ZHANG: Seems he has a good prophetic vision. Well, as the co-chairman of the
Geoinformatics'95, do you have any latest information on the preparation of the
conference to share with us?
LIN: Last December, We received around 200 paper abstracts from 19 countries and areas
in Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. In the meantime, we received requests from
other two countries for attending our symposium. United Nations ESCAP will send its
observer to this meeting. This symposium has the sponsors from several international
academic organizations such as ISPRS and the Mathematical Models Commission of IGU.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China has provided financial support to this
conference. The cosponsors of this conference also include several academic institutions
from U.S., Japan, and China.
ZHANG: By the way, who will be the keynote speaker?
LIN: Professor Michael Goodchild, Director of NCGIA in the US, will deliver the Keynote
Speech during the opening session. The title of the speech will be: Future Directions for
Geographic Information Science. Prof. Goodchild gave a keynote speech "Geographic
Information Science" at SDH six years ago. Since then, we have seen that many
universities have opened or renamed their departments or programs to Geoinformatics,
Geomatics, Geographic Information, or other related names. We are looking forward to
Prof. Goodchild's new ideas.
ZHANG: And who else would be in the Geoinfomatics'95's spotlight?
LIN: Prof. Shunji Murai, President of ISPRS, will join us too. Many leading Chinese scholars
and officials from central and local governments have also confirmed their attendance to
this symposium, including five academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and
officials from Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities and provinces.
ZHANG: That sounds exciting. Compared with previous CPGIS annual meetings, what's the
distinguished feature for the Geoinformatics'95?
LIN: Previous CPGIS annual meetings laid the foundation for the 4th annual meeting in
Hong Kong. In the first meeting in Buffalo, we established the CPGIS (bylaws and global
communication network) and the connection with colleagues in China. During the 2nd
meeting in Beijing, we set up a closer relation with the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (NNSFC), for example, the CPGIS journal issue was formally brought
into our agenda. In the meantime, CPGIS had contacted persons in Beijing, Shanghai,
Wuhan, and Nanjing, and CPGIS members in China increased. In the 3rd annual meeting in
the University of Calgary, we experienced the new model to organize international
conference with local institutions and government. All of those are the reasons that we
could have wider international supports for the Hong Kong annual meeting. From Buffalo to
Hong Kong, we are witnessing the development of CPGIS. The major difference may be
that CPGIS conference has become an important international academic event. In the
coming Hong Kong meeting, we expect a larger number of participants and higher quality
of the proceedings and panel discussions. CPGIS members will play a more active role in
the GIS development in China.
ZHANG: I learned about the distinguished gathering of the first CPGIS conference at
Buffalo from Overseas scholars from China. You were then elected as the first
president of the CPGIS. Can you tell me how you guys came up with the idea to organize
the CPGIS?
LIN: I mentioned this in the Buffalo meeting, and it was "Tian1 Shi2, Di4 Li4, Ren2
He2."
ZHANG: You mean opportunity of timeliness, favorable geographical position and support
of people.
LIN: In the late 1980's, we often met our Chinese fellow students in various conferences
and hoped to have a closer communication channel. When a group of friends met in
GIS/LIS'91 conference in Atlanta, they decided to set up an email network, initiated by four
ladies -- WANG Lu, LI Yuanjun, GUAN Weihe and LUE Yan. Since we had an active group in
Buffalo, I was asked to set up the home node of the network in Buffalo. This network
expanded very quickly during the first three months.
ZHANG: Just curious, how many members did you have at that time?
LIN: By the end of the third month, over 160 people subscribed to the network CPGIS-L
from 13 countries in America, Asia, Australia, and Europe in early 1992. The news was
spread and went to China. Our colleagues in China were eager to contact this overseas
group. Fortunately, there were several international conferences held in Washington DC in
Summer 1992. The Buffalo Group decided to organize a conference and to invite those
Chinese scholars in Washington meetings to Buffalo, in order to meet our overseas
students. Through the CPGIS-L network, The Buffalo Group received many supports from
friends around the world. As we all know, we had a very successful meeting. Very
importantly, the Buffalo Meeting was greatly supported by our colleagues in China,
including editing and printing the conference proceedings.
ZHANG: Is there any change in the composition of the membership since then?
LIN: Sure, there are a couple of changes. The first change is that more and more overseas
student members now have finished their programs in universities. We have seen many of
them working in various companies, universities, and governmental organizations. The
second change is that we have over 50 members in China now.
ZHANG: How do the changes affect the function and development of the CPGIS?
LIN: The first change has promoted the image of CPGIS in the international GIS community
while the second change has helped CPGIS to involve in more GIS related programs in
China.
ZHANG: While Hong Kong itself has been playing an important role as a gateway to China, it
is interesting to notice the significance of HKIES. It serves as a bridge to connect China to
the world outside. Can you give us some details of the functions of the HKIES?
LIN: Basically, HKIES contacts overseas fellows through the CPGIS-L network. To
communicate with our colleagues in China, I have used many channels including postal
mail, fax, telephone. To reduce the cost, I have several contact sites in China, such as
Beijing Normal University, Peking University, NLREIS, Wuhan Technical University of
Surveying & Mapping, Nanjing University, Eastern China Normal University, and
Hangzhou Agricultural University.
ZHANG: Wow, like a liaison net.
LIN: We communicate with our members and colleagues in China through these contact
sites. Since last November, we have had another channel in China - CAGIS. In the
meantime, Professor SHI Peijun has been actively handling CPGIS programs in China,
including distributing CPGIS Newsletters and contacting the NNSFC. I hope the workload
for HKIES can be reduced after more institutions in China are connected to the
international network systems.
ZHANG: From my observation, many members are interested in contributing to the GIS
development in China. I am curious about what HKIES can do to help our members to
establish a close connection with the colleagues in China. Say, if I am trying to look for an
opportunity for cooperation, how do I start?
LIN: Soon, you can directly contact our members in Beijing and other cities through email.
This will reduce the burden on my shoulder. What the HKIES can do may be to improve the
communication by making some index system (such as updating the contact persons'
information) and set up certain database with the help from our colleagues in China. One
thing we should do might be a database for the job information in China and position info
outside China. I have helped some CPGIS members to find jobs in China and helped several
students in China to contact foreign institutions. I hope we will have working groups or task
forces to take over this kind of work.
ZHANG: When direct connection is established between China and the world outside via
network, would you worry about that the change would lower the significance of the
HKIES?
LIN: Not at all. I will be happy to see the direct connection to be established. This will be a
very positive thing to CPGIS. HKIES can finish its historical task or take a new role in this
area.
ZHANG: Dr. DING also reminded me that you had a great plan for establishing a formal
relationship among universities and institutes in Asia. Is this a task of the Public Relations
Committee of CPGIS?
LIN: I am now working with our colleagues in the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to
establish a university network. We hope to bring some concrete projects to CPGIS'95 in
Hong Kong. At the beginning, we will focus on GIS education program and academic
exchanges among the member universities. At this stage, we would like to help more
universities in China to have access to the network and to have regular meeting in the
Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. For a long run, we are aiming at cooperative projects at
different levels. We would like to lay the foundation for future cooperation and do
something that can be done under current administrative limitations. We believe that this
foundation will show its significance when those administrative limitations are gone.
ZHANG: As the co-chairman of the committee, what would sit on the top of the committee's
to-do list?
LIN: Regarding the work for the Public Relations Committee, I am working with Dr. CHEN
Zitan to promote CPGIS' image through our projects, especially the Hong Kong symposium
in four months. This is our number one task this year.
ZHANG: What about some latest GIS developments in China? How can our overseas
members help GIS projects in China?
LIN: There is great potential for GIS in China. However, if we don't catch the opportunity to
develop the GIS industry in China, there would be some crises in the future. CPGIS has the
responsibility to participate in the GIS industry development in China. This issue has
brought into the agenda of Chinese government.
ZHANG: Any new opportunities in Taiwan?
LIN: There will be some common interests between colleagues in the Mainland and
Taiwan. CPGIS should bridge the two sides. This could be one item in our program for
visiting Taiwan this Summer. We also should discuss this in the CPGIS'95.
ZHANG: If you don't mind, may I ask you to brief your personal experience on life, academic
study and research?
LIN: As a member of the generation with the experience of the Cultural Revolution, I have
seen my responsibility to my family, my friends, and this nation. I am very happy to have the
opportunity working with all CPGIS members in an electronic institution. By using this kind
of high-tech, we are learning to improve ourselves for a new community, in which we all
respect the value of democracy, science, and friendship.
ZHANG: Let's look into the future, any comments on the prospects for the CPGIS?
LIN: The prospect for the CPGIS is the dream knitted by all members. I have discussed
with many members about this during the last three years. Some of our dreams have
become true, such as the CPGIS Journal. In 1992, we planned to use five years to publish a
high level CPGIS International Journal. We also wanted to see a group of active scholars
coming out from CPGIS, who would be leading scientists in China and even in the
international arena. If we work together, we even can build up our own foundation that can
be used to help new comers and support some long term projects.
ZHANG: Thank you, Dr. LIN Hui. I really appreciate your time and your valuable information.
Wish you have a productive new year in 1995.
LIN: Same to you.
Protecting the environment is a job that is inherently geographic in nature. Understanding
the spatial relationships of natural resources and human populations to potential and
known pollution sources is critical to successfully accomplishing the Agency's mission.
GIS provides, for the first time, a set of tools that allows us to integrate and analyze
existing environmental data in a spatial context. With GIS, we can dynamically combine
data about air, water, and soil to better visualize and understand the natural interactions
between these media and highlight areas of environmental interest or concern.
EPA's experience with GIS began approximately eight years ago with the phased
development of GIS capabilities in each of the Agency's ten Regional Offices,
Headquarters, and several labs. EPA currently uses Environmental Systems Research
Institute's Arc/INFO GIS products on a network of Data General and Sun Unix workstations.
There is currently a GIS support team of five to ten GIS professionals in each of the ten
Regional Offices. This article will review some of the current GIS activities at the Region III
office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
GIS is used to help EPA personnel and the public better understand the often complex
nature and extent of contamination at hazardous waste sites. EPA collects large volumes
of monitoring and sampling data for each hazardous waste site investigated. Much of the
data is interpreted by EPA contractors who provide reports to the Agency. It can be
difficult for EPA staff to verify the contractor's conclusions because of the large volumes of
supporting data. GIS has proven to be an effective tool in both managing and analyzing
this data, and in presenting results in a form that can be readily understood by
nontechnical staff and the public. GIS has been used to model soil and ground water
contamination, providing EPA scientists with much needed information. Maps are then
produced and used in public meetings, graphically portraying the nature and extent of
contamination.
EPA scientists managing hazardous waste sites have a critical need for easy-to-use
software tools that enable them to work with spatial data without the need for a GIS
analyst. These tools need to be capable of managing large databases and need simple
interfaces to commonly used ground water models, contouring algorithms, and tools for
complex spatial analysis. Our attempts at programming such a Graphical User Interface
(GUI) within Arc/INFO have not proven fully successful; nor have commercially available
software designed for this purpose. Desktop mapping packages, while easy to use, lack
the analytical tools.
EPA is charged with insuring that environmental laws are enforced equally, without
respect for race, ancestry, or economic status. To do this, it is necessary to identify the
spatial relationships between potential environmental hazards and the demographics of
human populations. GIS is being used to provide EPA staff and the public with detailed
demographic information about potentially exposed populations. Using Arc/INFO's Arc
Macro Language (AML), a GUI was written that allows users to specify a location, desired
demographic variables, and radii from the location. A series of maps is then produced and
demographic statistics within each radius specified are calculated. To date, maps and
statistics have been created for hundreds of EPA regulated facilities. These are used by
EPA staff to help insure that minority and low income populations are not
disproportionately exposed to potential environmental hazards.
Region III has an ongoing effort to characterize the environmental health of the Region
through the use of environmental indicators. EPA has traditionally measured its success
by tracking activities such as number of inspections, permits issued, enforcement actions
take, etc. However, the true measure of the Agency's success is by measurable
improvements in environmental quality. GIS was used to help identify key environmental
indicators and to establish a baseline for environmental conditions in the Region. Each
year these indicators will be reassessed and improvements, or a decline, in environmental
quality measured. The baseline study was completed in 1993 with twenty-six GIS data
layers having been constructed to help establish the environmental indicators.
The Region's Radon Program is charged with characterizing the extent of radon in the
Region and assisting the states to realize their goals in addressing the radon problem. The
Radon Program collects household radon readings and then uses the data to encourage
homeowners to test for radon. GIS is used to aggregate the sampling data to the zip code
and county level and maps are produced showing the percentage of readings above a
maximum acceptable level. These maps are sent to state and local governments for use by
their radon programs. They have also been used in public hearings and distributed to the
American Lung Association, Housing and Urban Development, and some Congressional
Offices. GIS has also been used to identify schools that are in high radon areas. The
results are used to determine where schools should be tested for Radon.
CCTV released an official document from Personnel Ministry of Chinese Government,
providing financial support to overseas Chinese scholars and students when they are
invited to work in China for a short period, or to give lectures or to attend important
meeting. The financial support from the Personnel Ministry includes one way or round-trip
international airfare.
Applicants are those who are invited to join "Gong1 Guan1" projects or other important
projects in China, or give lectures which are considered significant to the development of
the related field. There are two ways to apply for this funding: 1) The organization which
issues the invitation can directly contact the Personnel Ministry for the funding; 2)
Applicants in other countries can contact Chinese Councils for their assistance.
Applications should be submitted to the Personnel Ministry three months ago before the
project / lecture / meeting is conducted. (Lin Hui)
A coordinating organization for China's GIS development recently was formed. Chinese
Association of GIS (CAGIS) currently has 110 sustaining members and 600 individual
members from academia, government and private business.
CAGIS serves as an academic society to promote the development of GIS science and
technology and spatial data standardization. The organization plan to develop strategies
for China's geographic information industry and strengthen international
communication.
SONG Jian was named CAGIS honorary president, and LI Xiue was named president.
Executive vice president is JIN Xiangwen, and the secretary general is YANG Kai. Fourteen
vice presidents also were appointed. Seven special committees cover technology and
methodology, spatial data standardization and quality control, terrestrial information
systems, thematic information systems, urban information systems, resource and
environment systems, and GIS education and training.
A CAGIS conference is scheduled May 30-June 8, 1995, in Beijing, China. For more
information on the conference or CAGIS, contact Zizhuyuan Baishengcun I, Beijing,
People's Republic of China 100044 [86 1 842 4120, fax 86 1 842 4101]. (GIS World, Vol. 8 No. 1,
p.16)
(Business Wire 3 p.m. Mon., Nov. 14., 1994) Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 1994 -- The
Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park Conservation and Research Center
(CRC), Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., (ESRI) and Hewlett-Packard
Company (HP) today announced that they have formed a consortium known as the
Conservation Technology Support Program to distribute without cost more than $1 million
(U.S.) worth of computer hardware, software, training and support services to as many as
30 conservation organizations.
The program is now seeking proposals from qualified nonprofit organizations that need
geographic information-system (GIS) technology. Proposals are due Feb. 15, 1995. Grant
recipients will be announced May 22, 1995, at the ESRI International User Conference in
Palm Springs, Calif.
Each grant package will include an HP computer and ink jet printer, ESRI Arc/INFO and
ArcView-Version 2 GIS software, GIS peripherals from various co-sponsors, and technical
training from ESRI and CRC.
For application information, contact the Conservation Technology Support Program,
Conservation and Research Center, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA 22630, (703) 635-
6500, internet: CRCGIS@sivm.si.edu). A digital copy of the application in ASCII and RTF
format, plus news about the CTSP, is available at the following anonymous ftp site:
redlands.esri.com. (User name is "anonymous", password is your email address, and the
files are located under "/pub/ctg".) (From: O'CONNOR_ KEVIN /HP0000_81 @opnmail4.
corp.hp.com. For immediate release, contact Bob Hoage, SI/CRC -- (202) 673-4840; Jim
Bauman, ESRI -- (909) 793-2853 x1419; Kevin O'Connor, HP -- (415) 857-6906)
On December 6, 1994, David West, an Environmental Scientist and team leader of GIS group
in EPA Region 3, was invited to give a talk to the delegates of Chinese EPA on the
utilization and development of GIS in the U.S. EPA. Mr. West introduced the hardware and
software configurations, data collection and sampling, and the development of GIS
projects in Region 3.
The delegates expressed their interests in data processing and normalization,
environmental indicators, and spatial data analysis, especially in David's powerful and
speedy notebook PC, containing the full functionality of ArcView2 and demo data. (Hanming
Tu)
The National Forest Resources Monitoring System has recently been set up in China. Mr.
Zhenkui MA was invited by the Ministry of Forestry in China to help on the establishment of
the system.
The system is configured in the Institute of Surveying, Designing and Planning in Ministry of
Forestry. The software in the institute include ERMAPPER and GENAMAP installed on
Silicon Graphics workstation. Now, the project is on a stage requiring very practical
working procedures of Remote Sensing and GIS operation.
The TM data will be used for the calibration of AVHRR 1 km pixel. One of the references
used is from Zhiliang Zhu for forest cover types and predicted percent forest cover in U.S.,
using AVHRR data. A method of integration of Remote Sensing and GIS is adopted from the
procedures Mr. Ma developed for the Montana GAP project.
Mr. Zhou Changxiang, the director of the Institute, expressed that he would welcome
overseas Chinese Remote Sensing and GIS professionals to come to the Institute and
work or teach there if he could find money by the new policy (see News Brief: Fundings for
Overseas CSS working in China). (Zhenkui Ma, zhenkui@ selway.umt.edu)
Fort Collins, Colo. Jan. 3, 1995 GIS World, Inc. will launch a new publication, Geographic
Technology Markets, this month. The bi-monthly market research report will focus on the
leading markets and opportunities for GIS and other geographic technology products and
services.
Each report presents in-depth analysis on specific market segments for geographic
technology and services. In 1995, Geographic Technology Markets will present research on
the following market segments: natural resource management and environmental
protection, marketing and site selection, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, local
and regional government, federal government, and transportation.
GIS software revenue increased from $588 million in 1992 to $657 million in 1993 to $737
million in 1994 according to Dataquest, Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based market research
company. The average percentage change for the three-year period was 13 percent. With
the rapid expansion of the geographic technology industry during the last few years, we
found there is a strong need for better marketing information, specifically about GIS use,
says GIS World President H. Dennison Parker. Data on computer markets in general, or
even computer-aided design (CAD) or architecture /engineering /construction (AEC),
is not sufficient.
Subscriptions are available through GIS World for $595 a year. As a special offer, until the
end of March, 1995 Geographic Technology Markets subscribers will receive a FREE GIS
World Sourcebook 1995. For subscription information, contact GIS World, 155 E. Boardwalk
Drive, Suite 250, Fort Collins, CO 80525 [303-223-4848, fax: 303-223-5700; purvi@
gisworld.com].
According to Professor YU Lizhong, CPGIS member in Eastern China Normal University,
our colleagues in his university will be able to access to internet after the Chinese New
Year. Professor YU would like to introduce more colleagues to join CPGIS. Professor YU
would like to contact CPGIS HQ for organizing some academic activities in Shanghai under
the name of CPGIS.
A Key Lab for GIS has been established in Eastern China Normal University. They have
been working on projects related to the integration of GIS, MIS, and multimedia techniques.
Last two years, they have conducted the following projects:
They are using GIS now for projects related to real estate management, economic
geographic information management, wetland resource and environment management.
Professor YU and his colleagues were encouraged by those progresses of CPGIS in last
three years. They would like to expand CPGIS program in Shanghai and would like to see
more overseas CPGIS members to visit his university this year.
Professor YU, in his letter to Lin Hui, also supported the idea to establish a university
network for colleagues in mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This idea has been accepted
by our colleagues in Beijing (Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal
University), in Taiwan (National Taiwan University, Feng Chai University, and others), in
Hong Kong (The Chinese University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,
Hong Kong Polytechnic University). This issue will be discussed during CPGIS'95 in Hong
Kong. (LIN Hui, HKIES).
By December 10, the Organizing Committee of Geoinformatics' 95 Hong Kong has received
175 abstracts, one proposal for panel discussion, two request letters for arrangement for
National representatives to attend the meeting, one request for the observer from United
Nations ESCAP/Regional Remote Sensing Program, and three late-arrive abstracts in
Chinese, from 23 countries and areas.
The acceptance rate of abstracts for oral presentation and proceedings publication will be
around 58%. It will be a difficult job for the committee to select papers out from those 175
interesting works. The Committee would appreciate the understanding and support from
all authors who submitted their abstracts to the symposium, especially those whose
abstracts may be rejected. Even though we limit to 100 papers to be accepted, we still need
to publish the proceedings for two volumes which has doubled the costs.
The Committee has reserved 45 cheaper lodging rooms for participants in Hong Kong
Sports Institute (HKSI) which is close to campus and usually used to host athletes from
different countries. A coach (bus) will be arranged to send participants to campus and back
to HKSI. The lodging fees are
We encourage you to find a friend to share a standard room. Each of you only need to pay
US$28.5 per night. These rooms will be available between May 25-30, 1995.
To prepare this conference, the Department of Geography of The Chinese University of
Hong Kong (CUHK) will provide the following funding
1. HK$26,200 for travel and accommodation of Keynote speaker
2. HK$60,000 for proceedings printing (two volumes, 1000 pages estimated;
totally will be about HK$106,000)
3. Other expenses for accommodation of invited guests, conference site decoration,
proceedings editing, and student helpers for the conference.
The Chung Chi College of CUHK will be the Host of this conference, since our meeting,
workshops, exhibition, and other activities will be performed in this college. (Lin Hui, Co-
chair, Organizing Committee)
This year's conference will include over 20 sessions covering all phases of government,
science, technology and research in the areas of (1) Infrastructure Management and
Engineering Applications, (2) Surveying and Land Information Systems, (3) Applications in
Ecosystem Management, (4) Urban and Regional Applications, (5) Imaging and Mapping, (6)
GIS Development.
For those interested in submitting papers for presentation on these topics areas, contact
Shelby Johnson at (501) 575-6159, or e-mail shelby@cast.uark.edu. The preliminary program
and conference details will be mailed in March. Anyone who wants to stay on cutting edge
of GIS technology can't afford to miss this opportunity to network and exchange
information and ideas. Call the University of Arkansas Division of Continuing Education at
(501) 575-3604 or 1-800-952-1165 if you have any questions or comments about the 1995
conference. For those with e-mail contact Nita Arellano at NITAA@ctedmail.uark.edu.
Conference Fees: individual $125, multiple $95 each (3 or more from one agency), and $15
late fee after April 10, 1995. (Shelby D. Johnson, 501/575-6159, shelby@ cast.uark.edu).
The 2nd CAST Academic Conference of Young Scientists is intended to provide a high
level and multi-disciplinary forum for young Chinese scientists (at and under age 45) both
at home and abroad to discuss a wide range of issues related to the development of
science, technology, economy and society; to exchange new ideas, experiences and recent
results of scientific research; to make comments and recommendations on long term
national development plan of science and technology and to promote further cooperation
in the area of science and technology.
Papers are solicited to be written in Chinese with not more than 4000 Chinese characters
on A4 (210x297mm) squared or line papers. All interested individuals please send the paper
to Yaxin Wang, Ph.D., CAL President, 2496 Derbyshire Rd. #9, Cleveland Hts., OH 44106, by
March 5, 1995. Registration form can be obtained by sending an e-mail to yxw5
@po.cwru.edu, or post mail to the above address, or to call/fax at (216)932-1842.
For more information, please contact: Mr. Ren Xueke, 54 Sanlihe Road, Beijing 100863,
China, Tel: (861) 832-3811, (861)832-1924, Fax: (861) 832-1914. (Yaxin Wang < yxw5@PO.
CWRU.EDU> )
With the conferences in Santa Barbara (1989), Zurich (1991), and Singapore (1993), the
International Symposium on Large Spatial Databases (SSD) has become the premier
meeting for researchers, developers, and practitioners focusing on the integration
between database management systems and geographic information systems (GISs). SSD
'95 will again bring together computer scientists and GIS specialists to explore advances in
modeling, storage, and retrieval of massive spatial data sets, and to discuss the
requirements from new, demanding application domains.
Original research papers on all aspects of spatial data management are solicited. The
major topics of interest include but are not limited to: Architecture of geographic
databases and GIS; Benchmarks; Digital Libraries; Interoperability; Spatial data models;
Spatial data on Information Highways; Spatial query languages; Spatial query processing
and optimization; Spatio-temporal reasoning; User requirements for new applications.
As with the previous symposia, it is intended to publish the proceedings with Springer-
Verlag as part of their series, Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Please submit five
copies of a 5000 word original manuscript in English to the Program Chair. Font size should
be at least 10 points and double spacing is preferred. The important dates are deadline for
submissions: February 24, 1995; notification of acceptances: April 24, 1995; camera-ready
copy of papers due: May 22, 1995; Pre-Conference Tutorial: August 6, 1995; Conference:
August 7-9, 1995.
For further information, please contact: SSD '95 Conference coordinator, National Center
for Geographic Information and Analysis, University of Maine, 5711 Boardman Hall, Orono,
ME USA 04469-5711, Tel: ( 207) 581-2149, fax: (207) 581-2206, Email: ncgia @grouse. umesve.
maine.edu. (Yuemin Ding < ding @NYNEXST. COM> )
> From Wenjin Zhou < zhou @SYSTEM9. UNISYS.COM> , the 4th International
Symposium of LIESMARS-LIESMARS'95 will be held on Oct. 25-27, 1995, in Wuhan, China.
The topics of this symposium is Towards Three Dimensional, Temporal and Dynamic Spatial
Data Modelling and Analysis. The important dates for paper submission are deadline for
abstract(s): April 30, 1995; deadline for paper(s): July 31, 1995
The international symposium is open to all interested participants. Early registration is
recommended. For further information about the symposium, please contact the following
persons as early as possible:
Prof. CHEN Jun,
LIESMARSM Wuhan Technical University of Surveying & Mapping,
39 Lo-yu Rd., Wuhan, 430070, China,
Fax: +86-27-7814185, Tel: +86-27-7831292
Prof. Christopher, M. GOLD,
Centre de recherche en geomatique,
Pavillon Casault, Universite Laval,
Saint-Foy, Quebee, QC, Canada G1K 7P4,
Fax: (418)656-7411, Tel: (418)656-3308,
Internet CGOLD@vm1.ulaval.ca
CPGIS Hong Kong Information Exchange Station (HKIES) received a fax from Institute of
Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Nov. 21, 1994. Professor Cai Qiangguo
informed us that "International Symposium on Steep Slope Soil Erosion and Sustainable
Development" would be held in Kunming of Yunnan province in Southwest China, in June of
1996. Applications of GIS and Remote Sensing will be important topics in this symposium.
This meeting will be organized by Chinese Society of Geography and Institute of
Geography, CAS. Academician Huang Bing-wei is the honorary Chairman while the
organizing committee is chaired by professor Sun Honglie, former vice president of CAS.
The City of Kunming is called "Spring City of China". Chinese Academy of Sciences has
several important research institutes in Kunming.
Professor Zeng Qingchun, Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, has been invited to visit the Chinese University of Hong Kong for
three weeks starting November 16 of 1994. Professor Zeng is academician of Chinese
Academy of Sciences and was selected to be foreign academician of Russian Academy of
Sciences recently. Only five outstanding Chinese scholars were selected for this honor.
Professor Zeng is famous in numerical weather forecast and other numerical modeling
methods. Invited by the Department of Geography of Chinese University, Professor Zeng
gave a lecture last Thursday on "Silt Sediment and Development of Yangtze River Delta.
Everyone in the seminar was greatly touched by his clear and convincing description of the
processes and numerical models. He is looking forward to working with scholars in the
Geography Department. (Lin Hui)
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180 E. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3793, (614)466-9162
Introduction
On 1 October 1996, the U.S. will be officially metric. There will be a lot of concern in the
industries for the conversion. Maps and plans will all have to be metric.
Measurement has long been an item dictated by convenience and necessity. Fishermen
prefer to use their hands to air measure the distance of the nose to the tip of the tail of the
one that "got away". Cooks are confident to within a few grains how much a "pinch" of salt
contains. However, an ounce of gold must be exactly one ounce and .999 fine or 24 carat if
you are going to pay $384 each.
The conveyance of commodity has required a standardization of measurement accepted
by those selling and buying. The barrel of oil, the ton of gravel, acre feet of water, and
BTUs of energy all have unique definitions to the specific user but unimaginable
dimensions to outsiders.
The U.S. Customary System
The history of some of our presently accepted terms include some fantastic sources from
egomaniac and cultural dominance. The inch was defined in 1307 A.D. as the distance of
the first joint of King Edward II's thumb or three barley corns; the foot - his foot of 12
inches; and the yard in 970 A.D.- the distance from the tip of King Edgar's nose to his finger
on his outstretched arm. The mile was defined as 5280 feet by Queen Elizabeth (1570 A.D.)
by adding 280 feet to the Roman mille passus (1000 strides of 5 feet) to equal 8 furlongs
(furrow long) to the mile. Thus the square mile equaled 640 English acres (acre = the land a
team of oxen could plow in one day). These are only a few of the legacies handed down by
tradition and lethargy to the modern technical community.
The Metric System
The metric system was developed by the French and adopted in 1791. The Paris
observatory calculated the distance from the pole to the equator on the meridian passing
through Paris. 1/10,000,000 of that distance was defined as the meter and the basis of the
metric system. All other components of length, area, and volume were derivatives of the
meter. A cubic meter of water is one metric ton. A square kilometer is 1,000,000 square
meters. A centimeter is about the thickness of a stack of five (5) U.S. Nickels or 10 U.S.
Dimes. Thus, one meter equals about 500 Nickels or 1000 Dimes.
Systeme International d'Unites (sI)
The world community recognized the practicality of the universal recognized and definable
measurement units of the metric system. With conferences and agreements, the
International System of Units was developed using the metric definitions of length, mass,
time, electric current, thermodynamics, amount of substance, and luminous intensity.
These seven definitions enable all physical matter and physical events to be measured and
defined in universally accepted and reproducible units.
On July 2, 1971, following the report of a metric conversion study committee, Commerce
Secretary Maruice H. Stans recommended a gradual U.S. change over during a 10 year
period at the end of which the U.S. would be predominantly, but not exclusively, on the
metric system. The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, signed December 23, 1975, declared a
national policy of coordinating voluntary increasing use of the Metric system and
established a U.S. Metric Board to coordinate the change over. That Board terminated its
operations on September 30, 1982 and transferred its functions to the Office of Metric
Programs, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Throughout U.S. history the Customary System (inherited from the British Imperial System)
has been customarily used as our primary weights and measures system. However, the
Metric system (Systeme International d'Unites SI) is the only system that has ever received
specific legislative sanction by Congress. The "Law of 1866" reads: It shall be lawful
throughout the Unites State of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric
system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or
liable to objection because the weight or measures expressed or referred to therein are
weights or measures of the metric system.
Over the last 100 years, the Metric System has seen slowly-steadily increasing use in the
Unites States. In science and also in the pharmaceutical industry, the use of metrics has for
many years been predominant. Today, the manufacturing industry is steadily increasing its
use of the metric system largely motivated by the automotive industry, which is now
predominantly metric.
The Trade Act of 1988, and other legislation, calls for the federal government to adopt
metric specifications and mandates the Commerce Department to oversee the program.
The conversion process is currently underway.
The Federal Government is required by law and Executive Order 12770 - July 25, 1991, to
convert to the metric system of measurement. October 1, 1996 is the beginning of Federal
requirements that all contract dealing be only in the metric system. Presently Federal
agencies will accept dual systems of measurement with the metric measurements primary.
SI Units
What had been the Metric System became the International System (SI) for a more
complete scientific system. Seven units have been adopted to serve as the base for the
International System as follows:
Length = Meter
Area = Square Meter
Volume = Cubic Meter
Mass = Kilogram
Pressure = Pascal
Work = Joule
Power = Watt
Time = Second
Frequency = Hertz
Velocity = Meters per second
Acceleration = Meters/Sec/Sec
Electric = Ampere
Voltage = Volt
Resistance = Ohm
Temperature= Kelvin
Water Freezes = 0 degrees Celsius
Water Freezes = 273.16 dgs Kelvin
Substance Amt.= Mole
Concentration = moles/cubic meter
Luminosity= Candela
Light Flux = Lumen
Metric Activities In Ohio -the 1970s
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in the 1970's undertook to build two metric
projects to demonstrate the impact of metric conversion. State Route 618 at Belpre,
Washington County and State Route 93 near Ewing, Hocking County, Ohio were done
using metric stationing and earthwork coordinates. ODOT also supported a Metrification
Office for the introduction of metric units and distances to the public.
The Shell Motor Company in the 1970's also went metric at the gas pumps. The liter was
the dispensed volume for the various grades of gasoline. However, with the motorists
searching for low priced gas during the energy crisis, the liter pricing advertised on the
marquee signs at the filling stations were declared misleading to the public. Many people
seeing 30.9 cents for gasoline thought happy days were here again. Instead, filling their
tank rang up 80 gasoline units and the bill was still $27.26 for the fillup. Shell was forced to
derate their pumps and reconvert to gallons in both dispensing and pricing.
Presently, 1995, Taylor Lumber Incorporated of McDermott, Ohio is producing hardwood
lumber in metric specifications for foreign markets. 90 percent of the finished lumber is in
metric dimensions. Nearly all the softwood lumber industry in Ohio is producing and
measuring in board feet and U.S. Customary standard units.
The Ohio Department of Energy in 1978 developed an energy resource assessment of the
State of Ohio utilizing the cubic meter as the standard unit of volume of potential energy.
Metric maps of one degree by one degree at 1:250,000 scale were developed from various
other maps and data to compose an energy map of Ohio. With the conversion and blending
of the U.S. Customary System maps to a derived scale and metric structure contour and
isopach, the Department established a consistent quality of the data for the assessment.
The technology lead to the identification of giant oil field resources, containing 11,520,432
cubic meters of oil worth $14.074 billion dollars in 1979 dollars.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has developed a regulatory data base of the
certified service areas of the various utilities in Ohio. The digital data base is in Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM) Coordinates of Zone 16 and Zone 17. These Cartesian
coordinates are in meters from the equator for the Northings and Easting from the Zone
origins of Longitude 90 and 84 respectively. The 1,000,000 meters per zone of Easting at the
equator, truncate toward the poles to form a point at the geographic pole. This Cartesian
system enables the calculation of areas and distance to within a few meters. This
technology has proven over several data bases that Ohio has 41,263.03 square miles
instead of the 41,222 accepted by the U.S. Government.
Conclusion
The U.S. Customary Units of the inch, feet, yard, and mile will soon be relics equal to the
span, cubit, and stadion. Since 1866, metrification has been slowly but steadily utilized as a
system of rational measurement of commerce and phenomenon. Since the 1970's
government agencies as well as commercial and industrial interests have been
progressing toward American acceptance of the Systeme International d'Unites (SI) by
using meters.
The logical simplicity and universal comprehension of the SI will not only open new
applications for the global market of American products but will enable intimidated citizens
to forget that ounces in a pint are different than those in a pound but that a "pint is a pound
the world around". Meters are neater.
Disclaimer
The contents of this text reflect the views of the author, who is responsible for the facts
and accuracy of the data presented. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official
views or policies of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. This text does not constitute a
standard, specification, or regulation.
Dear CPGIS Members and Friends,
Happy New Year!
We, the third-term CPGIS newsletter editors, sincerely invite you to contribute materials for
publishing in the CPGIS Newsletter. CPGIS Newsletter is aimed on promoting
communication among CPGIS members, between CPGIS members and officials, and
between CPGIS members and friends.
Please share with all members and friends your local GIS related activities, your ideas and
suggestions to CPGIS, your GIS research achievements, your GIS working experience,
your job-hunting stories, and any GIS related information that you think would benefit
CPGIS community.
The Newsletter especially welcomes contributions reflecting new development trend of
GIS, new theories, new GIS products, and introduction of companies, academic institutions
and government agencies which develop GIS products, conduct GIS research or use GIS
applications.
Comments on previously published items and on the Newsletter in general are also
welcome.
You may submit your contribution in ASCII text format or uuencoded binary format (for
graphic image such as photos) to the editors' working net:
cpgis-editor@keowee.agecon.clemson.edu.
Please note that all contributions are subject to the executive editor's selection
and technical editing. The newsletter is published bi-monthly in even months.
Contributions sent before the end of odd months will be included in the coming
issue. After that, the selected contributions will be saved for future issues.
Thank you for your support to CPGIS Newsletter!
--CPGIS Newsletter Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief:
GUAN Weihe (weihe.guan@sfwmd.gov)
Editors:
BAO Shuming
(sbao@hubcap.clemson.edu)
LIU Lin
(lliu@cs.uno.edu)
SHI Zhongchao
(shizc@shunji.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
TANG Qin
(qintang@u.washington.edu)
TU Hanming
(htu@gic2.r03.epa.gov)
ZHANG Zhihui
(zzh@ufcc.ufl.edu)
Executive Editor: TU Hanming
Hypertext Version: ZHANG Zhihui
Editor-in-Chief: GUAN Weihe
CPGIS ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
First BOD Meeting
DECEMBER BOD MEETING SUMMARY:
1) BOD Solution 94-12-1: Bylaw's Amendment
BOD meeting has approved the recommendation of proposed Bylaws amendment. Please
see 'Amended Bylaw and Voting Ballot' in this issue. The Bylaws Amendment Committee
will organize members' voting on the Bylaws amendment in January through e-mail and
newsletter.2) BOD Solution 94-12-2: CPGIS delegation visiting Taiwan
BOD meeting has approved the proposal on sending a small delegation to Taiwan to
exchange with GIS professionals in Taiwan and to establish a relationship with CGIS, the
newly founded GIS Association in Taiwan. Currently Dr. Gong Peng and Dr. Chang Kuo-
Chen are working on this issue with CGIS.3) BOD Solution 94-12-3: Establishment of Annual Awards
BOD meeting has approved the proposal on establishing Annual Awards to recognize and
encourage member's achievement and contribution. The Annual Awards Committee will
work out the details and implemented them as soon as it is available.OTHER ISSUES:
The Amended Bylaws and Voting Ballot
BYLAW AMENDMENT HIGHLIGHTS
We have used "[AMENDED]" to mark the new sections or the ones that have been
changed.
CPGIS BYLAWS AMENDMENT BALLOT
BALLOT
My vote to the CPGIS Board of Directors' Solution 94-12-1: Bylaws Amendment is as
follows:
THE AMENDED BYLAW
The Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Systems
(Abroad) BYLAWS
(January 26, 1995, Amended for Vote)
Secretary General's Report On Business Trip To Beijing
I. THE JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE
II. CPGIS'95 HONG KONG
III. URBAN GIS WORKSHOP
IV VISITING CAGIS
CAGIS expect some CPGIS members can attend the conference.
CPGIS Member Survey Summary (I)
Survey Highlights:
Survey Tally:
Delegation's Itinerary Arranged by CPGIS Members
More Donation from CPGIS Members
New Member List
our new members.
INTERVIEW AND DISCUSSION
Dr. LIN Hui On CPGIS HKIES
GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
USE of GIS at The U.S. EPA
David West, Environmental Scientist, US EPA Region IIIHazardous Waste Site Characterization
Environmental Justice
Environmental Indicators
Radon
NEWS BRIEF
Fundings for Overseas CSS working in China
Chinese GIS Organization Formed
Conservation Technology Support Program
David West from U.S. EPA Talked to Delegates of Chinese EPA
National Forest Resources Monitoring System Established
New Market Research Publication from GIS World, Inc.
ECNU Connected to Internet
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
May 26-28, 1995, Hong Kong: Geoinformatics '95
May 1-2, 1995, Fayetteville, USA: GIS In Arkansas -- Meeting
Tomorrow's Challenge
July 26-28, 1995 in Beijing, China: The 2nd CAST -- Academic
Conference of Young Chinese Scientists
August 6-9, 1995, Portland, Maine, USA: International
Symposium On Large Spatial Database -- SSD '95
Oct. 25-27, 1995, Wuhan, China: Conference on 3D, Temporal and
Dynamic Spatial Modeling and Analysis
June of 1996, Kunming, China: International Symposium on Soil
Erosion and Sustainable Development
FOR YOUR INFO
GIS Discussion Lists
List: ACDGIS-L
List: AFRICA-EIS
List: AFRICAGIS
List: ARL-GIS
List: CANSPACE
List: COASTGIS
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List: CPGIS-L
List: EDGIS
List: ESRI-L
List: GIS-L
List: GIS-T
List: GISBUS-L
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List: GPS (via Usenet newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav)
List: GRASSP
List: GRASSU
List: IDRISI-L
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List: IMAGRS-L
List: INGR-EN
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List: WVGIS-L
Metrification and Some Ohio Experiences
Gene O. Johnson, Research Administrator
FROM EDITORS
Call For Contributions to CPGIS Newsletter
Editor of this issue:
Last Update: February 21, 1995