In one of the biggest bulk map production exercises the country has yet seen, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and AfriGIS teamed up to produce more than 250 000 A3 enumerator area (EA) maps in less than four months.

The challenge was to produce high quality maps of the country to facilitate the national population census conducted by Statistics South Africa. "This includes EA maps for fieldwork, index maps for fieldwork planning, EA maps for final quality assurance after fieldwork and office corrections have been implemented on the GIS, and digital plot files," explains AfriGIS project manager Shanta Vadeveer.

Numerous vector and raster datasets were acquired from various sources, which were integrated to compile the maps. The raster data included scanned 1:50 000 topographical maps, 1:10 000 and 1: 25 000 aerial photos, videography and high resolution satellite imagery.

AfriGIS developed a bulk mapping application integrated with the existing databases and front-ends. The front-end (GeoMedia and MapX) was used through the local area network to access the spatial data in Oracle and the alphanumerical data in the SQL server database. Raster data and the cache files, used for improved speed, were stored in the data server.

High-tech printing environment

AfriGIS set up a high-tech printing environment at Stats SA consisting of Canon high-speed printers, HP plotters and a Compaq server and workstation range. This set-up constructed in co-operation with Datacentrix was used to help the AfriGIS team meet stringent deadlines around the clock. Training and knowledge transfer between AfriGIS and Stats SA personnel also formed an integral part of the project.

"Scheduling bulk printing is an intricate process," says Vadeveer. "The scheduler had to take into account a vast majority of variables, including the availability of suitable information, ad hoc printing requirements, personnel needs, hardware failure and more."

This bulk mapping exercise consumed more than 3 tons of paper, 56 kgs of cartridge toner and took more than 33 000 man hours to complete. The end product was a complete set of enumerator area maps, laminated and bound books to assist the more than 80 000 enumerators to count every South African citizen in the Census 2001 project.

AfriGIS

012 362 3114

www.afrigis.co.za