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Welcome to XNATMAP
A site for preserving NATMAP's (The Division of National Mapping) history and
maintaining contact with the people who were part of that history.
As the Australian Landsat Station (ALS), later the Australian Centre for Remote
Sensing (ACRES) was part of the Division its history also forms part of this site.
What's New as of 1 February 2023
Hover over a title for a synopsis or click associated Item tag for its manuscript
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Kenneth Owen Johnson (1921-2001)
Ken Johnson was one of the first draftsmen to join the then National Mapping
Section in Melbourne in early 1948. Previously Ken had given over 6 years of
Army service during World War II (from 1941 to 1947); including some 874 days
of active service overseas in the Middle East, Papua New Guinea, and the South
West Pacific. Ken Johnson moved to Nat Map's Canberra office around 1956 and
served there until retiring in 1982. In this article Laurie McLean has prepared a
tribute to KO Johnson in consultation with some of Ken's former work colleagues.
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Ozcan Ertok (1929-2022)
Turkish-born Oz Ertok immigrated to Australia with his wife and teenage children in November 1970 and a few months later joined the Division of National
Mapping's Melbourne office as a Technical Officer (Engineering). Oz worked
with Nat Map until retiring in January 1991 and during his career there worked in
the field for extended periods with the Aerodist Measuring Program, Laser Terrain
Profiling, Coastal Aerial Photography, and the Bathymetric Mapping Program. Oz
also worked in Antarctica with Nat Map for 2 summer seasons and with the
Australian Antarctic Division for 2 winters (Mawson 1984 and Macquarie Island
1986). After retiring from Nat Map, Oz spent another winter in Antarctica with
Greenpeace (Cape Evans 1991). In this article Laurie McLean provides a tribute
for Oz Ertok.
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The Australian National Levelling Network Survey and Australian Height Datum updated 2023 to include the Australian Vertical Working Surface
The Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) introduced the Australian Vertical Working Surface (AVWS), in 2020, as the AHD was known to have a number of biases and distortions.
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WILD Heerbrugg Model T4 Universal Theodolite : their known Australian history
Wild produced a total of 439 model T4 theodolites between 1941 and 1981, of which it appears that four were used operationally in Australia. All four T4's still exist and as little was documented, this article attempts to summarise the use of the T4 by the respective agencies.
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Australian Primary Data Acquisition Progress Maps for Topographic Mapping 1827-1988
While there were various maps showing a south land from antiquity and the later navigator/explorers, these maps were mostly of coastline. Some forty years after the First Fleet arrived, in 1827 then Major (later Sir) Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792-1855) as Surveyor General saw the first systematic surveying and mapping of Australia. After that, settlement drove the need for mapping. As the XNATMAP website enters it fifteenth year an accumulation of information on Australian primary data acquisition for topographic mapping, gathered and standardised during those years, is presented by Paul Wise.
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