Article of the Month in 2024

FIG publishes each month the Article of the Month. This is a high-level paper focusing on interesting topic to all surveyors. This article can be picked up from an FIG conference or another event or it can be a paper written directly for this purpose.

• December 2024 A paper from the FIG Regional Conference 2024, Nepal written by Sanjeevan Shrestha, Tina Baidar and Shangharsha Thapa, Nepal. Improving Cadastral Accuracy for Disaster Management: The Role of Segment Anything Model (SAM) in Digitizing Historical Cadastral Maps. It explores the application of the Segment Anything Model (SAM) for automating the digitization of historical cadastral maps, specifically focussing on land parcel boundary extraction, specifically in the context of Nepal.

• November 2024 A Position paper from the Commission 9 written by Peter Ache, Grazyna Wiejak-Roy, James Kavanagh, Eva Katharina Korinke, Bastiaan Reydon. Viewpoint on Transparency in Real Estate Markets The paper thus provides an excellent basis for clearly and definitively defining and measuring the concept of "transparency in the real estate market," as is fitting for geodesists.

• October 2024 is written by Asst. Professor Ts. Sr Dr. Nadzirah Hj. Zainordin et. al (Malaysia) The Emergence of the All Construction Performer to Drive Sustainable Construction and Internet of Thing (IoT): A Malaysian Perspective A case study by Commission 10 showcases how Malaysia's "all construction performer" model is driving the construction industry’s shift towards achieving sustainable development goals.

• September 2024 is written by Janet Praise Tangadzani et al. (Zimbabwe) Application of UAV-based Photogrammetry in Monitoring Slope Deformations in Open Pit Mining Environments: A Systematic Review This paper was awarded the NavXperience AWARD and was presented during the FIG Working Week 2024 in Accra, Ghana. The paper focuses on the role of mine surveyors in monitoring slope deformations in open pit mining, highlighting the limitations of traditional survey methods.

• August 2024 is written by Markus Schaffert and Torger Steensen, Germany: Demographic transition in aging neighborhoods: a GIS-based analysis from Germany's countryside. The paper was awarded the Survey Review Prize, and has passed through the reviewing and revision stage overseen by FIG, before being judged by members of the Editorial Board of Survey Review. The research examined the challenges faced by municipalities in Germany's aging single-family house neighborhoods, particularly in rural areas, due to limited demographic data

• July 2024 is written by Peter Bauer et al. (Austria): Interactive planning of GNSS monitoring applications with Virtual Reality The paper was awarded the Survey Review Prize, and has passed through the reviewing and revision stage overseen by FIG, before being judged by members of the Editorial Board of Survey Review. The research examined the mapping and analyses of existing polling units in the study area to provide scientific criteria for citing new polling units.

• June 2024 We are excited to present to you the opening speech by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for this article of the month, delivered at the FIG Working Week 2024. The address elaborates over the theme of the Working Week: "Your World, Our World: Resilient Environment and Sustainable Resource Management for All". Read more here

• May 2024 is a video recordings from the FIG Working Week 2023 plenary session Victoria Stanley, Senior Land Administration Specialist at the World Bank. Victoria Stanley talks about how the World Bank see land as integral to addressing climate change. Read more and watch the videos

• April 2024 are video recordings from the FIG Working Week 2023 plenary sessions. Juliana P. Blackwell, NOAA and Simone M. Lloyd, GISP, explains the mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean and coasts. Read more and watch the videos

• March 2024 are video recordings from the FIG Working Week 2023 plenary sessions of the four Platinum Corporate Members of FIG, Bentley, Esri, Leica and Trimble held a plenary presentation at the FIG Working Week 2023. Please dive into their considerations and thoughts for the future from their company perspective Read more and watch the videos 

• January/February 2024 is written by Dimitrios BOLKAS, Matthew O’BANION, Jeffrey CHIAMPI, and Jordan LAUGHLIN, USA: Collaborative Virtual Reality for Surveying Education. The article is a peer-reviewed paper published and presented at the FIG Working Week 2023 in Orlando, Florida. This paper presents virtual reality implementations following two different pedagogical frameworks, the first assessment results of collaborative learning and evaluate the role of collaborative virtual reality to enhance student learning and support surveying education.