Английский язык (стр. 3 )

GIS

1. From the earliest civilizations maps have been used to portray1 information about the earth’s surface. Navigators, land surveyors, and the military used maps to show the spatial distribution of important geographic features. Land surveying and map-making were an integral part of Roman government, with the decline of Roman Empire, surveying and map-making declined as well.

2. It was not until the eighteenth century that map-making again rose to prominence2 in Europe as governments realized the value of mapping as a means of recording and planning the use of their lands. National institutes were commissioned3 to produce map coverage of entire countries. General purpose maps showing the topography of the land and boundaries of national or administrative units were produced. As the study of natural resources developed, thematic maps were used to portray the spatial distribution of such features as geology, geomorphology, soils and vegetation.

3. Maps are, of course, essential to geologic and mineral resource surveys, to marine geology and hydrography, to water-resource inventories, land utilization studies, urban planning, highway location studies, and countless other activities. In the twentieth century the pace of science4 and technology accelerated. This increase created the demand for ever greater volumes of geographic data to be presented in map form more quickly and more accurately. With the development of reconnaissance technologies5, such as aerial photography and satellite-based remote sensing6, there has been an explosion of geographic data production, wider use and more sophisticated analyses. Geographic data are now being generated faster than they can be analyzed.

4. Geographic data have traditionally been presented in the form of a map. Until computers were available, geographic data were represented as points, lines, and areas drawn on a piece of paper or film. They were coded using symbols, textures and colours that were explained in the map legend or accompanying geographic data base.

While it was relatively easy to retrieve7 small amounts of data or consider the spatial relationships of a few elements, these methods became unwieldy8 when large volumes of data were involved. It was only in the 1970s with the availability of suitable digital computers that the technology to handle spatial data leapt forward9. The computer-based geographic information system was developed to provide the power to analyze volumes of geographic data.

5. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – developed and pioneered in Canada close to 30 years ago – are among the most exciting and powerful geomatics decision-making tools in the world. A GIS used computer technology to integrate, manipulate and display a wide range of information to create a picture of an area’s geography, environment and socio-economic characteristics. Beginning with a computerized topographic map as its base, a GIS overlays and integrates graphic and textual information from separate data bases. The end result is a customized and reliable tool that can support decision making and problem solving and provide almost instantaneous answers to complex questions.

6. Today, Geographic Information Systems are commonly used for everything from basic mapping to supporting resource exploration and development, from environmental management to the planning and administration of transportation and telecommunications systems, utility infrastructures, urban development and land use.

Canadian systems can be found worldwide in the private sector and at all levels of government. In particular, Canada has world-leading GIS capabilities in the following areas:

-  transportation;

-  infrastructure management;

-  land environment and reform;

-  the environment;

-  natural resources monitoring;

-  strategic planning and business development.

7. Geographic Information is defined as the collection of data on real virtual objects which have a fixed place above, on, in or beneath the surface of the earth. Geographic information involves all information on buildings, roads, pipelines, cabling, etc. as well as boundaries, air corridors, topography and postcode areas10, the information can be administrative and geometric.

That is, a GIS is an information technology which stores, analyzes, and displays both spatial and non-spatial data from the real world. The power of a GIS lies in its ability to analyze spatial and attribute data together. It is these capabilities that most distinguish a GIS from automated mapping and computer-aided drafting systems. The range of analysis procedures in this group of functions is very large. They have been subdivided into four categories; retrieval (classification) measurement, overlay, neighbourhood, and connectivity or network functions.

8. Spatial data are data which present objects that have physical dimensions – they take up space. In the context of GIS technology, spatial data are landscape features, which can be represented on a map. They occur in three forms: points, lines and polygons or areas. In two-dimensional space, there exist no alternatives.

-  A soil type or forest stand appears on the land as a polygon.

-  Rivers and roads are lines (or very narrow polygons), and wells, stream intersections, or large nests are points. All features of the landscape can be reduced to one of these three spatial data categories. This is an important concept because GIS technology is a computer technology, that’s why three things must be specified for the computer (1). Where each feature is in geographic space (2). What each feature is, and what is each feature’s spatial relationship to other features on the map (3).

9. Changes in social and economic interests have caused the emphasis to shift over the years11. Virtual objects (areas, postcode areas) in particular have attracted more interest in recent years. This is closely related to the increased desirability of analysing and presenting policy information within certain spatial limits, in which the introduction of Geographical Information Systems and systems like GIS has played a significant role. Geographical information cannot be regarded as the informational side of one policy area. Geographical information is not only necessary for the layout and management of space, but also for things as taxation, environmental policy, water management, maintenance and protection of pipeline systems and making maps.

10. Human societies have become increasingly dependent for their well-being12 on the ability to collect and analyze geographic information. The world is becoming more scarce. A new urban subdivision13, a mine, a power plant or a waste disposal site14 are projects now scrutinized15 by diverse regulatory agencies and frequently subject to public opposition. At the international scale, nuclear fallout, acid rain, desertification16, toxic chemicals, and deforestation have become widely recognized problems that directly affect the economic and social well-being of the global human population.

11. GIS technology is important today because it offers an important – perhaps even a critically important – means of understanding and dealing with some of the most pressing problems of our time: problems like tropical deforestation, the future of the global climate, the need for the ecologically sensitive development17 of global natural resources, and rapid urbanization. GIS technology helps organize the data about such problems and understand their spatial associations and provides a powerful means for analyzing and synthesizing information about them. Scientists look forward to the day when GIS technology will be part of the decision support environment18 of everyone who makes decision about local areas to decisions about the earth as a whole.

Notes:

1. to portray	изображать, представлять
2. rose to prominence	заняло видное положение
3. were commissioned	было поручено
4. the pace of science	темпы, прогресс в науке
5. the development of reconnaissance technologies	развитие разведывательных технологий
6. remote sensing	дистанционное зондирование
7. relatively easy to retrieve	относительно легко (без затруднений) извлекать
8. unwieldy	громоздкими
9. leapt forward	сделала скачок
10. postcode areas	зоны почтовых индексов
11. changes in social and economic interests have caused the emphasis to shift over the years	изменение социальных и экономических интересов заставили с годами изменить их акценты
12. well-being	благосостояние
13. a new urban subdivision	новый отвод земли под городское строительство
14. a waste disposal site	размещение отходов
15. scrutinized	тщательно исследуется
16. desertification	деградация земель (гумусного слоя)
17. sensitive development	разумное развитие
18. decision support environment	поддержка режима относительной сохранности окружающей среды

Text 15

WHAT IS GEOMATICS?

1. Geomatics is the science and technology of gathering, analyzing, interpreting1, distributing and using geographical information. Geomatics encompasses a broad range of disciplines that can be brought together to create a detailed but understandable picture of the physical world and our place in it. These disciplines include:

-  surveying and mapping;

-  remote sensing2;

-  geographic information systems;

-  global positioning system.

2. An emerging technology sector. Geomatics was one of the fastest growing technology sectors of the 1990s – and Canada is at the forefront. Canada’s geomatics community is a recognized world leader in providing the software, hardware and value-added services3 that can help clients address problems and opportunities in such areas as:

-  the environment;

-  land management and reform;

-  development planning;

-  infrastructure management;

-  natural resource monitoring and development;

-  coastal zone management and mapping.

3. The Canadian advantage. Canada’s knowledge and expertise in geomatics are the result of decades of research and development and practical application in gaining an understanding of our diverse geography and managing our resources and environment for the benefit of present and future generations. Canadian-development geomatics products and services are now being used throughout the world, by clients ranging from government agencies in industrialized businesses and remote communities. Partnering with the Canadian geomatics community, which welcomes international collaboration through joint ventures or strategic alliances, will give you full and favoured access to these products and services, as well as to some of the world’s leading geomatics experts.

4. Why a Canadian Geomatics solution? The Canadian geomatics community is a respected and competitive player in international geomatics markets. Canada exports about $300 million worth of geomatics products and services annually, and many firms maintain offices and support capabilities abroad to meet the needs of clients. Canada offers you:

– a partnership approach to geomatics applications. The geomatics industry, along with federal and provincial government and the academic sector, often work in teams to develop technology and expertise and to deliver services.

– flexibility, responsiveness and creativity. The industry can provide value-added products and services that are tailored4 to the unique requirements of individual clients. Technology transfer and skill-sharing are important elements of many export arrangements.

– a commitment to technological innovation. Working together, government, industry and universities continue to explore and develop new geomatics applications and technologies through cooperative R&D.

– a focus on solutions. Canada can provide multi-disciplinary, integrated solutions to problems related to the natural and built environment5. Canadian geomatics expertise has already helped many government and industry clients around the world.

Notes:

1. interpreting	дешифрирование
2. remote sensing	дистанционное зондирование
3. software, hardware and value-added services	программное и аппаратное обеспечение и дополнительные ценные услуги
4. are tailored	отвечают требованиям, здесь: подстраиваются под пользователя
5. the natural and built environment	естественная и техногенная среда

Text 16

GEOMATIC ENGINEERING

1. Geomatics has been introduced worldwide in a number of institutes over the past few years, mostly by renaming what was previously called «geodesy» and «surveying».

Geomatics Engineering1. The task of the geomatics engineer2 consists in recording, managing, designing, developing and securing the structures inherent in our living space and economic environment. In this, he/she contributes to the better understanding of the planet earth, its resources and environmental processes and directly support rational decisions concerning a future-oriented existence and a sensible sustainable development3 of our environment.

2. The geomatics engineer is a graduate with an education based on science and engineering, which enables him/her to make good use of complex, modern technology as well as to develop new models, procedures and systems for the solution of demanding problems in geodetic sciences, land development and spatial planning. This also requires fundamental education in law, economics and management.

3. Professional Field. We foresee a great variety of professional activities for the geomatics engineer, including positions such as:

-  Head of acquisition, management, analysis and representation of data for geoinformation systems for private firms and public administrations.

-  Expert responsible for measurement tasks in engineering offices4, industry and authorities.

-  Expert for development and realization of activities in planning, land management and rural engineering5.

-  Head of projects for the improvement of the rural infrastructure in developing countries.

-  Leader and collaborator in research and development6.

Notes:

1. geomatics engineering	технологии в области геоматики
2. geomatics engineer	специалист в области геодезии и геоинформационных систем
3. sensible sustainable development	разумное и стабильное развитие в …
4. engineering offices	здесь: строительные фирмы
*****ral engineering	сельское и поселковое строительство
6. research and development	научно-исследовательские разработки

CADASTRE

Text 17

CADASTRE

1. Parcel-Based Land Information Systems1. In both the private and public sectors, land information is a primary resource for making land investment and management helping to identify problems, and possible strategies, information reduces uncertainty in the decision-making process2. Those who have access to land information have an additional capacity to evaluate situations, to analyze past conditions, and to plan for the future. But the value of the information, and thereby the effectiveness of the decision-making process, is directly related to the quality of the information available (доступный).

As with other resources, information requires explicit management to maximize its potential benefits. Over the last two decades, new capabilities for data collection and processing together with expanding requirements of diverse users, have directed the attention of many organizations to the need for improved land information management. Management strategies are concerned with reducing the costs associated with land information processes.

2. Land Information Systems (LIS). A LIS may be defined as a combination of human and technical resources, together with a set of organizing procedures, which produces information for some managerial requirement.

Parcel-based LIS, or cadastres, can be distinguished within the family of spatial information systems by at least two characteristics. A cadastre may encompass all or part of the information stored in any other LIS, but a fundamental objective of the system is the provision of institutional data concerning land ownership, value, and use. Furthermore, in a parcel-based LIS the primary means of organizing data is the cadastral parcel or proprietary land unit3. Information is therefore collected, referenced, stored, and retrieved primarily at the parcel level, although other referencing systems, (исходные системы координат) such as coordinates, may be added to facilitate data manipulation and the exchange of information among systems.

3. The Need for Parcel-Based Information. Parcel-based information is required in a wide variety of activities and frequent users range from the individual landowner (current or prospective), to lawyers, surveyors, appraisers (оценщики), real estate managers, and agencies at all levels of government. Cadastres may answer four basic information queries:

-  Who has ownership/control over, or interests in land resources in a particular area?

-  What is the nature of those interests?

-  What is the value of those resources and related improvements?

4. Parcel-Based LIS: The Cadastre. The cadastre is a subset (часть; раздел) of LIS that has been defined as a record of interests in land, encompassing both the nature and the extent (степень) of these interests. An interest in land (or property right) may be narrowly construed4 as a legal right capable of ownership or more broadly interpreted to include any uniquely recognized relationship among people with regard to the acquisition and management of land.

5. Components of Parcel-Based LIS. The cadastre is a public record in which complete, up-to-date information for all parcels within a given geographical region (e. g., a municipality) is maintained. It consists of three basic components:

-  the cadastral parcel as the basic unit for organizing information in the system;

-  cadastral record(s) which may contain both textual and graphical information;

-  parcel identifiers or index codes (PIDs), that serve as the primary linkage mechanisms among the graphical and textual records and serve as the primary spatial reference for information.

6. The cadastral Parcel. The cadastral parcel is a continuous area (здесь: конкретный участок земли, имеющий свои границы) or, more strictly speaking, volume of land in which unique, homogeneous interests or rights are recognized.

Classification of Parcel-Based LIS. Parcel-based LIS may be classified according to the information contained in the system and/or the primary purpose of the system. Three categories of cadastres are:

-  fiscal cadastres developed primarily for property valuation;

-  juridical cadastres which serve as a legally recognized record of land tenure;

-  multipurpose cadastres that can encompass both fiscal and juridical cadastres and contain a variety of other parcel-related land information.

Development of Parcel-Based LIS. The need for cadastral information is common to all societies; information similar to that required by administrators in the Roman and Napoleonic Empires is still essential today in societies at all stages of development. While we often have this information in some form, existing parcel-based systems are not always able to meet5 current information needs in the most effective manner. This has led to refinements (усовершенствование) and reforms of traditional cadastral arrangements (классификация, систематизация), many of which have remained virtually unchanged for centuries.

7. Early Cadastres in Europe and North America. The term cadastre is said to be derived from the Greek word katastichon, or notebook. In Latin it evolved to capitastrum, a term which referred to the register of territorial taxation units of the Roman *****dimentary cadastral arrangements could be found in the ancient agricultural societies of China, Egypt, and Babylonia. European rules required systematic inventories of property holdings to support land taxation, land tenure reform, and other aspects of land administration. Early examples of such inventories include the Doomsday Book compiled by the Normans in England in 1086–87 and provisions made for the first measurement and assessment of properties in France in the following century. The modern cadastre can be traced to property mapping based on land surveys instituted by the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy beginning in the early 18th century. The Austrians completed a plane table survey (мензульная съемка) of land holdings between 1720 and 1723 in Milan and Mantua, Italy, to provide a more equitable (справедливый) base for taxation. At the end of the century, improved mapping and spatial reference systems made more accurate graphical cadastral records possible.

In most of North America, cadastral arrangements derive from systems implemented by France, Spain, and England during colonization. Although France had conducted various census that included property inventories in both its New and Old World territories, it was not until the time of Napoleon that the cadastre provided uniform graphical and documentary information on land 1811, the New Civil Code of France contained 1,444 articles with detailed specifications for a cadastre based on systematic surveys, mapping, and valuation of land parcels throughout the Empire.

At the time of major settlement in British North America, land tenure in England was still characterized by remnants (пережитки) of the feudal system and private conveyancing6. Not until the 1800s did England develop the systematic, large-scale mapping program which today supports land title registration7. Major reforms to land law, begun in the mid-1800s, were not fully implemented until 1925.

8. The Multipurpose Cadastre Concept. One response encompassing most, although not all, of the above reforms is the implementation of the multipurpose cadastre concept. Like fiscal and juridical cadastres, the multipurpose cadastre is a parcel-based LIS providing a standardized, complete, and up-to-date public record of land interests for a given jurisdiction. The multipurpose cadastre can, however, offer several improvements over traditional parcel-based systems, including:

a) the provision of a geodetic spatial reference system and large-scale mapping which have wide economic and social benefits beyond the particular information system;

b) the coordination of existing fiscal and juridical records to reduce duplication and to provide an improved information base (e. g., completeness and reliability of records, indexing and graphical display) for both property assessment and land registration;

c) linkage mechanisms to allow integration of cadastral information with information in other LIS and GIS for planning and resource management.

Notes:

1. parcel-based land information systems	кадастр
2. the decision-making process	процесс принятия решения
3. proprietary land unit	участок земли в единоличном пользовании
4. may be narrowly construed	можно узко интерпретировать
5. are not always able to meet	не всегда могут отвечать … нуждам
6. conveyancing	восстановление нотариальных актов о передаче имущества
7. land title registration	регистрация права собственности (правовой титул)

Text 18

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

1. Throughout the world, in both developed and developing nations, the pressures on land1 and the need to achieve a balance between exploitation and conservation of land resources have lent urgency to resource management issues2. How can such massive problems as deforestation, desertification, and the greenhouse effect be forestalled?

2. Man’s relationship with the land is an essential part of any resource management strategy. Specifically, the role of land administration and cadastral systems is examined as the foundation for effective land management. As noted by the United Nations Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Cadastral Surveying and Mapping – «land forms a base for most human activity». Obviously, therefore, systematic records of land and rights in land have great importance for public administration, land planning and land development, and private transactions in land. This situation is particularly true in those developing countries where the rapid growth of population has caused increasing pressure on rural land, while simultaneously a massive migration of people to cities and towns has led to the uncontrolled growth of urban centres. Nevertheless, the need for accurate land records is often ignored by policy makers; and the cadastral systems of many countries are, in consequence, highly defective (слабый).

Land resource management is concerned with the inventory, allocation, development, and conservation of a community’s land resources. Resources management has been defined as the process of decision making whereby resources are allocated over space and time according to the aspirations and desires of man within the framework of his technological inventiveness, his political and social institutions, and his legal and administrative arrangements.

Without accurate information about the lands and waters, and without an up-to-date inventory of a country’s resources and what is happening to them and to the environment, the government and the people are handicapped3 in controlling their own destiny. It is not possible to make best use of the land and natural wealth, or to prevent its misuse without good factual knowledge of the country and its features.

Notes:

1. the pressures on land	давление (спрос) на землю
2. have lent urgency to resource management issues	привели к необходимости срочно решать насущные вопросы по управлению ресурсами
3. are handicapped	здесь: беспомощны

Text 19

«TWO PILOT1 SITES» – TO TEST METHODOLOGY

1. An initial survey was conducted at two sites in the Mopti region in partnership with the national mapping and survey agency, involving all the technical phases of a communal land survey project. A field team checked geographic information and village locations, and met villagers to gain a better understanding of village interrelationships and the rights governing use of local resources. The team used SPOT (System of Observation of the Earth) panchromatic images2 from 1995 on photographic media and CD-ROM, and maps supplied by the national survey agency. GPS was used to locate boundaries and record field survey data.

2. Surprises in the field and the benefits of SPOT. In the field, the problems are all too clear: many villages have never been recorded in any census (перепись), villagers often do not know to which commune they belong, and official documents regularly contradict the ground truth. For example, some villages belong to two communes while others are attached to none, and the situation is unclear for many more.

«You have to take the time to parley (вести переговоры) with the villagers, as everything is based on oral traditions. It’s the only way to understand why a village belongs to one community rather than (а не) another. The land allocation system3 in Africa is very complex, as nobody actually owns lands. Each village chief is appointed by God to allocate land use rights. Ignoring those rights and allocating lands arbitrarily can lead to serious disputes between communities. SPOT proved an ideal tool in the field, as I was able to print out and view the areas I wanted to on my laptop (здесь: компьютер). But what surprised me most was how easily the villagers were able to interpret and comment upon their environment, even though they had never seen a satellite image before. They could recognize huts and villages, and point out details we would never have seen without the SPOT views, which were ideal for highlighting land parcels4, fallow land, villages and tracks».