Plans for the Coastal Zone
67
. . “The governing factor is not therefore, the age of the map, but the extent to which the
facts shown on it have changed since the date of its publication.” Today OS maps
nationally are as up-to-date as they have ever been. This reflects not only more efficient
and effective operational regimes, but also a recognition by the OS that today’s world is
one of “instant recall” and that the GIS environment is often data rich. Consequently
there is key process necessary to extract the most meaningful information from the
available data. This process, and the quality of the decisions that will ensue, demands
that the topographic “template” provided by OS as vehicle for correlating other user
data is, as far as possible, wholly fit for purpose (within the limits of the operational
constraints applied to OS).
OS currently operates a system of continuous revision of the core NTD large
scales database. This ensures that virtually all detected major and significant landscape
change is captured within six months of construction. Around 500 field staff undertake
this work. They are based in approximately 100 OS field survey offices around Great
Britain. In addition to the gathering of “intelligence” about change from many disparate
sources, and the survey and recording of that change into the NTD, these field staff also
operate a programme of cyclic revision. This is designed to ensure that less significant
local change, particularly in more open areas, is mapped on a regular cycle; five years
for rural mapping and ten years in mountain and moorland areas. Coastal zones will be
visited at a frequency dictated by nature of the change, or by default, according to the
cycle that applies to their hinterland landscape.
Supplementing these programmes of topographic revision, OS is making
significant investments in the development of new technologies and new applications.
These investments include growing use of pen computers for real-time updating of
changes to the topography, on site by the surveyor; increased and more sophisticated
use of GPS and other positioning and ranging devices for location and data capture.
Other work involves adding new information and more sophisticated data structures
within NTD, to ensure that the information held by OS becomes more accessible, more
flexible and more appropriate to the changing needs of the GIS community. Such
developments are also taking full account of the specialist needs of users such as those
operating in the coastal zone. As with any other well focused, customer-oriented
supplier, OS is always ready to respond to changing needs for information, and to map
the new phenomena that appear in the topography from time to time, particularly those
that result from other technologies impacting on the landscape.
These ongoing developments manifest themselves from time to time in new or
revised products and services. Meridian™ for example is an OS digital data product
launched in the autumn of 1995. It represents an innovative use of digital mapping
technology to integrate a variety of topographic data themes from existing OS
databases. This new, flexible “mid-scales” dataset is particularly suitable for a wide
range of GIS-based coastal applications at the sub-cell level of shoreline management.
Overall, OS intends to continue to evolve NTD with the aim of delivering even
more relevant information about the real world. To ensure that our users (and our
stakeholders - the taxpayers and customers who together fund OS) benefit to the fullest
extent from these investments, OS is increasingly moving towards a “Solutions” culture.
This promotes the concept of standard portfolio products being supplemented or
complemented as necessary by a growing range of “bespoke” services. These may
67
. . “The governing factor is not therefore, the age of the map, but the extent to which the
facts shown on it have changed since the date of its publication.” Today OS maps
nationally are as up-to-date as they have ever been. This reflects not only more efficient
and effective operational regimes, but also a recognition by the OS that today’s world is
one of “instant recall” and that the GIS environment is often data rich. Consequently
there is key process necessary to extract the most meaningful information from the
available data. This process, and the quality of the decisions that will ensue, demands
that the topographic “template” provided by OS as vehicle for correlating other user
data is, as far as possible, wholly fit for purpose (within the limits of the operational
constraints applied to OS).
OS currently operates a system of continuous revision of the core NTD large
scales database. This ensures that virtually all detected major and significant landscape
change is captured within six months of construction. Around 500 field staff undertake
this work. They are based in approximately 100 OS field survey offices around Great
Britain. In addition to the gathering of “intelligence” about change from many disparate
sources, and the survey and recording of that change into the NTD, these field staff also
operate a programme of cyclic revision. This is designed to ensure that less significant
local change, particularly in more open areas, is mapped on a regular cycle; five years
for rural mapping and ten years in mountain and moorland areas. Coastal zones will be
visited at a frequency dictated by nature of the change, or by default, according to the
cycle that applies to their hinterland landscape.
Supplementing these programmes of topographic revision, OS is making
significant investments in the development of new technologies and new applications.
These investments include growing use of pen computers for real-time updating of
changes to the topography, on site by the surveyor; increased and more sophisticated
use of GPS and other positioning and ranging devices for location and data capture.
Other work involves adding new information and more sophisticated data structures
within NTD, to ensure that the information held by OS becomes more accessible, more
flexible and more appropriate to the changing needs of the GIS community. Such
developments are also taking full account of the specialist needs of users such as those
operating in the coastal zone. As with any other well focused, customer-oriented
supplier, OS is always ready to respond to changing needs for information, and to map
the new phenomena that appear in the topography from time to time, particularly those
that result from other technologies impacting on the landscape.
These ongoing developments manifest themselves from time to time in new or
revised products and services. Meridian™ for example is an OS digital data product
launched in the autumn of 1995. It represents an innovative use of digital mapping
technology to integrate a variety of topographic data themes from existing OS
databases. This new, flexible “mid-scales” dataset is particularly suitable for a wide
range of GIS-based coastal applications at the sub-cell level of shoreline management.
Overall, OS intends to continue to evolve NTD with the aim of delivering even
more relevant information about the real world. To ensure that our users (and our
stakeholders - the taxpayers and customers who together fund OS) benefit to the fullest
extent from these investments, OS is increasingly moving towards a “Solutions” culture.
This promotes the concept of standard portfolio products being supplemented or
complemented as necessary by a growing range of “bespoke” services. These may