A new location data service maps building, address, structural and other key details for engineers, architects and construction companies.

PSMA Australia has announced a service using Geoscape technology that maps Australia’s economically important infrastructure. It includes buildings, addresses, planning zones, transport networks and more – all kept up to date as changes and additions are made. Clients can request the data attributes and geographical areas required on a project-by-project basis.

Geoscape data covers the whole of Australia, mapping every building with a roof area greater than nine square metres and every physical address: a total of 15,421,158 buildings and 14,718,218 locations.

In urban areas, the detail includes elevation, height, roof materials, nearby trees, solar panels (1,144,268) and swimming pools (1,089,285). It also captures all land and tree cover across the Australian continent’s 7.6 million square kilometres.

PSMA Australia CEO, Dan Paull, said organisations in diverse industries are incorporating use of the location data into their operations.

“We’re bringing the power of location to every organisation. Geoscape data is used to make evidence-based decisions, increase business efficiency and improve customer experience,” said Paull.

“Engineering firms use the data for noise and wind modelling, saving time and money on previously manual processes.”

Engineering firm GHD was one of the first users of the new service. The company accessed sophisticated location data to support the noise modelling work required to gain development approval for construction of the Port Kembla Gas Terminal in New South Wales by Australian Industrial Energy. Using Geoscape building footprints, heights and other details, GHD reported a 50 per cent reduction in the cost of noise modelling for the project.

“The data is ready to go,” said Pri Pandey, senior engineer in acoustics and vibration modelling at GHD.

“We don’t need to do any manual adjustments. Historically, we had to manually assign heights and conduct spatial filtering to ensure data was up to the standard needed for the modelling. Now we have it all in one package with heights, addresses and planning zones all part of the one Shapefile and this allows us to insert the data directly into the model.”

WindTech, a leader in wind modelling and wind effects analysis, used Geoscape building outlines and heights to accelerate production of building models and their surroundings. WindTech selects the data for the exact area needed for each project. It’s delivered via a Shapefile that integrates into their process with a single click.

“It was easy to see Geoscape had the specific geographical and building data we needed and the pricing, file formats and delivery processes were all clearly communicated,” said Marcel Bray, Project Engineer at WindTech.

“It was quite clear the product would integrate into our processes easily and effectively.”

Geoscape location data powers deeper analysis and smarter processes for noise modelling, urban planning, property development, emergency management, telecommunications, government service delivery and more.

Image: Building heights in Melbourne CBD mapped by Geoscape