|
BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 9, 2008) - The senior consultant for water
resources in Iraq, the Multinational Corps Iraq geospatial team,
and Iraqi surveying engineers from the Ministry of Water Resources
discussed the future of a geospatial reference project Iraq is
taking over at the U.S. Embassy in the International Zone on May
5.
The project, called the Iraqi Geospatial Reference System
project, will provide a more accurate reference system for
navigation, making reconstruction in Iraq much easier.
"[The IGRS] is a key part of infrastructure for Iraq," said
Linda Allen, senior consultant for water resources with the U.S.
Embassy in Iraq. "It establishes a key reference system, which is
important for the navigational system."
The system helps construction workers and civil engineers
throughout the country with building bridges, highways, buildings
and helps with the irrigation systems and the accuracy of dams,
said Staff Sgt. Anas Malkawi, a geodetic surveyor with 100th
Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Brigade, who spoke with his Iraqi
counterparts during the meeting.
"When you do global positioning system surveying, you have to
get real accurate coordinates," he explained, "and without a good,
accurate GPS reference system to start your work, you'll run into
some issues with surveying."
Six geospatial reference points, called continuously operating
reference stations, were installed by the U.S. military in 2005,
but since their continual operation has been a problem for Iraqi
engineers, new equipment has been purchased with Iraqi funds,
Malkawi said.
"We gave advice to the Iraqi Transition Assistance Office on
what equipment to purchase for the ministry of water resources,"
Malkawi said. "[We chose] equipment that would suit the Iraqis and
their operations."
The U.S. Army recently helped Iraqi surveying engineers install
the first of seven continuously operating reference station systems
that will be completed by the end of the Iraqi Geospatial Reference
System project, and provided training on the new equipment.
The Army has cooperated with the Iraqi Transition Assistance
Office and ministry of water resources to provide training on the
operation and installation of the new systems for the Iraqis,
Malkawi said.
The next six systems will be installed by Iraqi engineers. The
meeting focused partly on the future locations of those systems to
come, which were determined by Iraqi engineers with the ministry of
water resources, Malkawi said.
Iraq will benefit largely in many ways from the completion of
the geospatial reference system, but especially with construction
and reconstruction efforts across the country.
"The new equipment from the embassy will shortcut the time it
takes for us to do observations," said Wisan Hussein, a surveying
engineer with the Ministry of Water Resources. "It will also help
us revise our maps and publish them for all ministries."
|
