Emerging Trends in Surveying

This article is an adaptation on the presentation, which I gave yesterday in 7th FIG Young Surveyors Network (YSN) European Meeting in Bucharest.

Surveying as an industry is impacted by the larger changes in the society

There are many reports and articles published about the changes in the technology trends and in our societies, but for the scope of this article I will only reference two of these, Sitra's Megatrend report from 2023 and McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2024.

First on of these Sitra's megatrend report highlighted 5 major change trends happening at the moment:

1. Nature’s carrying capacity eroding
2. Growing well-being challenges
3. The battle for democracy intensifies
4. Competition for digital power gears up
5. Economic foundations are cracking

Out of these five trends the first and the fourth one are the ones most like to impact also the surveying industry. Nature's carrying capacity sets limits for example to future material usages and needs for better material circularity. Competetion for digital power on the other hand sets new targets for digital information availability, security and also possibilities, what comes to different data sources surveyors use and the type of data surveyors will publish in the future.

20 min presentation on these trends is available below.

From McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2024 3 topics raise up, what comes to possible impacts those will have on surveying industry.

1. Edge and cloud computing, meaning from surveying perspective that parts the data processing now done in the office, will in the future happen in the field or in the cloud, reducing possibly time spend on data management and processing
2. Applied AI, meaning from surveying perspective, that more data analytics will be done in the future will applied algorithms instead of current partially manual processes, where humans for example select the details in the data to be modeled.
3. Immersive technologies, meaning that wider audience will have access to digital models as well as technologies, which enable viewing data on the field.

Additional to these also future of mobility might change some of the current mapping processes as for example autonomous car navigation technologies might have secondary use also as autonomous mapping platforms. Topics that is also ready gaining interest in geospatial research organizations.

What are emerging technologies from surveying perspective today?

Based on my own experience and based on the client stories in Location Innovation Hub, I came up with the following list of topics that are still emerging for most surveyors in the field:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Building Information Modeling
• Edge and Cloud Computing
• Surveying Robots and Autonomous Mapping
• XR (Extended Reality)
• Crowdsourcing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Real applications for artificial intelligence and machine learning are still limited, but some interesting research on the topics is already happening.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory research on autonomous mapping with SPOT for example has shown that autonomous mapping is already possible at least, when supported by crew of experts on robotics and autonomous systems.

Also other AI and ML projects like ATMU and AI4TDB by Maanmittauslaitos, National Land Survey of Finland and FGI have shown that AI can be also applied as part of national topographic data production at least in an assisting role.

Full scale industrial application for AI and ML in surveying are not to be expected in next couple of years, but this topic is already worth following and new application emerge as the academic research on the topic advances.

Latest Machine Learning with Spatial Data seminar organized by CSC - IT Center for Science , Location Innovation Hub and EuroCC_Finland for example already included comparisons for different types of building extraction algorithms from different surveying data sources.

Building Information Modelling

Building Information Modelling as such is nothing new as the first stardards for the topic have been published decades ago. BIM for Surveyors as a topic was already on the agenda of 2017 FIG Working Week in Helsinki, which is almost a decade ago.

On the other hand its usage in surveying is new as first surveying equipment supporting for example the openBIM standard, IFC, were published just few years ago. Most BIM surveyors still today are still picking information from BIM models to be measured as points and lines in the field.

The use of BIM models so far has also been mostly limited to buildings, which has left most infrastructure and city surveyors out of the scope.

That is about to change as the lastest version of openBIM standard, IFC 4.3, was confirmed as an official ISO standards this year and as such will extend the existing BIM practices to bridges, roads and railways. A topic worth checking into, before it becomes a mandatory practice.

Edge and Cloud Computing

Edge and Cloud Computing is something that might seem a bit far away from most surveyors daily activities, but some surveyors might be partially already using it without noticing.

Some of the latest laser scanning and SLAM mapping solutions for example are already processing initial data in the field (Edge Computing) for showing data coverage or to speed up data matching in the office later. This is not full scale data processing on the go, but the first stage to it.

Cloud Computing on the other hand has become a normal feature on some of the popular point cloud softwares, which allows using external processing resources to speed up data processing at least in cases, where internet connection speeds allow data transfer faster than the processing on the office computer would take.

It will take a while until mobile computers inside the data collectors are able to do more advanced calculations, but, when that happens it will also open up new possibilities for autonomous mapping systems.

Surveying Robots and Autonomous Mapping

Release of SPOT few years ago, opened up a lot of new possibilities for surveying robots as it allowed studying of the topic on commercially available platform that was able to operate in varying terrains.

Even the platform is not yet fully autonomous and at its best it is able to do repetative measurement on pre-trained route, it already showed that use of such systems is viable at least in environments, where there is a high risks for human surveyors.

JPL research also on this topic has also showed the possibilities that the platform could have with a bit of more processing power and in collaboration with other autonomous mapping systems. Some of their dataset are also openly available in Github for further studying.

Other interesting topic are for autonomous mapping is different types of autonomous driving platforms, which generally also collect data about the environment and as such could supplement current surveying practices for asset data collection.

Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) for example has already studied this topics as part of their autonomous driving research with the aim to reduce the data storage needs for HD maps that autonomous vehicles today use to navigate. As part of the process they are already extracting features like buildings, trees and road details with semantic recognition algorithms.

Additional to these applications there are also many other sensors and moving platform, like delivery robots, that already collect data in the cities, and with could offer also new data sources city asset data collection.

For someone interested more on the mobility data available today, Forum Virium Helsinki mobility data catalog offers good insight on the possibilities.

Extended Reality

Extended reality solutions are already existing and in use also for example in industrial design applications. In this context hundreds of application are already existing and it is also possible to visit specific events showcasing many solutions at the same time. Last year's Match XR just as an example.

Still in surveying field use of extended reality today is limited to few applications and technologies, which allow for example projecting design models on top of mobile phone camera views or showing design models on earthmoving machines screens with video feed.

Reason for this is that in some solutions the usability of the systems is limited to indoor spaces and in some other application for example the inaccuracies of the positioning systems make it complicated to use the applications on the field.

This is expected to change as sensors in the mobile phones for example allow more precise positioning and, when the use of digital processes, including BIM, become more common place in construction. When papers get replaced by digital designs, there is also an increased need to get better access to the data in the field with digital tools. Some of these tools will also move to cloud based application, which reduced the processing needs on the mobile devices.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing data is not a really a new technology, but it is still changing the way some of the surveying tasks are already done in the field.

In Finland City of Helsinki has for example already used mobile games to collect information about thousands of city assets, tasks that would traditionally require an city surveyor or employee to do the job.

Maanmittauslaitos, National Land Survey of Finland has gained similar experience from using crowdsourcing and game platform for collecting information about boundary marks around Finland.

New and upcoming data sources are also changing the surveying industry

On top of new technologies, new data sources are also changing the surveying industry.

Mapping project that in the past required extensive field missions can be now sometimes done within few hours, if the right data sources is available.

Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem for example today gives access to global satellite datasets that just a decade ago required either knowing the right agency producing the data or at least very detailed knowhow on the downloading services.

While launches for the latest generation of Sentinel satellites is still ongoing, even more new satellite systems are expected to be on the orbit during this decade with the latest announcements from European Space Agency.

What kind of application the current and future Copernicus systems offer for cities are also still under research and EU-funded programs like, SPACE4Cities , also offer support to test and commercialize those future applications.

What does this mean for surveyors

Change is nothing new in the surveying industry, at least, what comes to last couple of decades. New solutions like drones, GNSS, mobile mapping platforms, digital cameras and smaller scale LiDAR systems have already disrupted some of the old practices in the industry.

What is new at the moment is that most of the emerging changes are not initiated by the surveying industry, but rather by advancements outside, in computer science, space technologies and mobile networks.

In the past decade or so smart phones and devices have become household items and as such allowed for example the development of mobile AR gaming industry and made positioning devices accessible to billions of people outside the surveying industry.

What skills surveyors need in the future

Basic surveying skills are still needed

Surveying industry is still one of the few industries understanding topics like geodesy, precise positioning and global reference systems, which are core to many other industries positioning application and also for urban modeling. Autonomous cars cannot drive without precise maps and positioning.

GNSS positioning and timing have also become so vital part of our society, that without access to those many society's processes would stop or at least slowdown significantly.

Understanding different technologies

As new surveying technologies emerge, it is very typical that in the early stages of the hype curve that the new thing is expected to solve all existing measuring problems and replace all the existing technologies in the field.

In practice this is not very common as most measurement technologies, like LiDAR, photogrammetry, Radar, microwave and acoustic sensor, all have limitation in the field.

Even with the billions invested in autonomous driving we still encounter situations, where each of these technologies come to their limits. Which is evident also from current study topics in the field.

Maybe in the future we will have technology, which can map large and small areas as well as works indoors and outdoors, but today that is not possible at least not on a price point that would make it commercially viable option for surveyors in the field.

Closest to autonomous and precise mapping are autonomous delivery robots, which today can themselves navigate in pre-mapped environments with in few kilometers from starting point. Possibilities that these systems offer in the future are still interesting.

Collaboration and communication skills with other professionals

Collaboration has been part of the current surveying practices, where most surveyors either collect data as source material for other professions or stakeout their designs to the field, so other could again do their work. Nothing new in that sense.

What is changing on the other hand is the widening access to digital models, like BIM, to professions, that did not earlier have access to the data or tools open it. User friendly cloud-based BIM model viewers and other solutions today allow even the end customers of building projects to see, what is in the models and sometimes take part in the design processes as well.

This means also that number of interest groups in the projects are not anymore limited to people, who to their daily work on the field with surveyors or understand any of the surveying jargon we often use in daily work.

In BIM context for example understanding a bit of the architects, structural designers, project managers and sometimes the end customer's perspective, could also help in ensuring that the surveying stays as relevant activity for the other professions.

A lot is happening and more is coming, but no need for panic

What is positive from many of the new trends is that there will be need for surveyors also in the future.

Importance of location and location intelligence is increasing and as we move towards digital twins development more and more data sources need to be matched to each other, which creates also new needs for interoperability and standardized data and models. This was also one of the final notes from the Young Surveyors European meeting today.

We also need collaboration over traditional industry boundaries as more complex problems are emerging. Sustainability, climate adaptation, circular economy cannot be solved by surveyors alone.

Personally after listening for the last 2 days presentations made by FIG Young Surveyors Network (YSN) member presentations around Europe, I am not too worried about that the coming change would be something we could not cope with.

A lot is already under development. We just need to share the information we have openly to others. That is also, why I decided to write this article and list the additional links, that I also shared in the presentation to the end.

As a last note I would also like to add, that it is also always ok to ask from others. Location Innovation Hub project for example shares free advices, consultancy and trainings to SMEs and public authorities about many of these upcoming surveying trends. All you need to do is ask or at least go to their website and check what is available.

More information and training resources for AI, ML and other upcoming trends in surveying from Finland

Location training Academy

Location Innovation Hub Training Materials

Finnish AI Region (FAIR EDIH) Skills and Training resources

Geoportal skill development and innovation services

CSC GIS and GeoAI self-study materials

Winter Satellite Workshop 2024 program with abstracts

AI for Data Accuracy 2023 seminar recording

GeoAI, Machine learning and other geospatial topic related news in English

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