PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
April 2015
277
ASPRS
NEWS
ASPRS
WELCOMES
NEW BOOK
REVIEW
EDITOR
Dr. Melissa Rura has accepted
the Book Review Editor position
for
Photogrammetric Engineering
and Remote Sensing
(
PE&RS
).
For the past five years, this
position was previously held by
Dr. John Iiames of the U.S. EPA.
We would like to thank John
for all of his years of valuable
service to ASPRS and
PE&RS
and welcome Melissa to our
team.
Melissa J. Rura is the program
coordinator for the United
Methodist Neighborhood Centers
of Memphis, Inc. and an alumnus
of the University of Texas at
Dallas in the department of
Geospatial Information Science,
where she was the recipient of
the Science, Mathematics and
Research for Transformation
Scholarship for Service from
the Department of Defense.
She received her master’s
degree in civil engineering
with an emphasis in Geomatics
from Purdue University and
her bachelor’s degrees in
mathematics and geography from
Murray State University. Her
research interests include image
analysis, photogrammetry, and
spatial statistics, specifically how
these topics might be applied
and implemented in real-world
problems for more informed
decision making.
If you are interested in
submitting a book for review or
being a reviewer for
PE&RS
,
please contact Dr. Rura at
.
NEW ASPRS POSITIONAL ACCURACY
STANDARDS FOR DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL
DATA RELEASED
T
he American Society for Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is pleased to announce
the release of the new Positional Accuracy
Standards for Digital Geospatial Data. The new
standards are available at:
Readers can navigate
to the ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for
Digital Geospatial Data.
The new ASPRS accuracy standards fill a critical need for map users and map makers
alike. For centuries, map scale and contour interval have been used as an indication of
map accuracy. Users want to know how accurately they can measure different things
on a map, and map makers want to know how accurate maps need to be in order to
satisfy user requirements. Those contracting for new maps depend on some form of map
accuracy standard to evaluate the tradeoff between the accuracy required vs. how much
time and expense are justified in achieving it, and then to describe the accuracy of the
result in a uniform way that is reliable, defensible, and repeatable.
The new ASPRS standards address recent innovations in digital imaging and non-
imaging sensors, airborne GPS, inertial measurement units (IMU) and aerial triangulation
(AT) technologies. Unlike prior standards, the new standards are independent of scale
and contour interval, they address higher levels of accuracies achievable by the latest
technologies (e.g. unmanned aerial systems and lidar mobile mapping systems), and they
provide enough flexibility to be applicable to future technologies as they are developed.
Finally, the new standards provide cross references to older standards, as well as detailed
guidance for a wide range of potential applications.
No prior U.S. accuracy standard comprehensively addresses the current state of mapping
technology, which is why the new ASPRS standards were developed. The National Map
Accuracy Standards (NMAS), developed in 1947, are still used because they are simple,
but there is no scientific correlation between those standards and current mapping
methodologies. The ASPRS 1990 Standards were an improvement over NMAS; however,
they did not do well in representing the capabilities of Lidar, orthoimagery, digital mapping
cameras or other current technologies in wide-spread use today. The National Standard
for Spatial Data Accuracy (NSSDA) is a reporting standard that references the old ASPRS
1990 standards and is cross-referenced in the new ASPRS standards. NSSDA provides no
accuracy thresholds and does not by itself provide any new or updated guidance on how to
select or specify an appropriate accuracy for intended applications.
The new ASPRS standards were developed by the ASPRS Map Accuracy Standards
Working Group, a joint committee under the Photogrammetric Applications Division,
Primary Data Acquisition Division and Lidar Division, which was formed for the
purpose of reviewing and updating ASPRS map accuracy standards to reflect current
technologies. A subcommittee of this group, consisting of Dr. Qassim Abdullah, Dr.
David Maune, Doug Smith, and Hans Karl Heidemann, was responsible for drafting
the document. Draft versions of the standard underwent extensive review, both within
ASPRS as well as through public review by other key geospatial mapping organizations,
prior to final approval by the ASPRS Board of Directors on November 17, 2014.
New ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data
Released| ASPRS Welcomes New Book Review Editor
