● GIS, LiDAR and site data · Sydney
I'm Ed, a civil engineer. Show me where your site is and I send back the elevation, imagery, point cloud and services data for that area, clipped and ready to use.
33.8688° S, 151.2093° E · GDA2020 · MGA Zone 56
Try it
Click and drag a rectangle on the map. Press generate and see what comes back for that area.
The rectangle is called a bounding box. Its four corners are all I need to find the data for your site and cut it to size.
In a real pack, every layer comes with a note of where it came from and the licence it is shared under.
What I can do for you
Everything available for your site in one folder, clipped to your boundary.
One map that shows everything limiting what you can build on a site.
Ground levels for your site from open elevation data, ready for early design.
Send me a laser scan and I turn it into measurements you can use.
Design drawings, spatial layers and scans lined up in one place, on the right coordinates.
A phone or tablet setup so your team records site data once, with a location on every record.
Try it
Every dot is a measured point in 3D. Drag to turn it. Move the slider to cut a section through the ground.
I have a scan to processHow it works
Fill in the short form. It takes about a minute.
We talk through what you need to know and what data already exists.
You see both before any work starts.
For teams
I run short, hands on sessions for engineering and design teams, at your office or online.
Start from zero and finish with a constraints map of one of your own sites.
Find the right tiles, check the datum, merge, clip, and bring the result into CAD.
Open a scan, cut sections, measure volumes and compare two scans.
Learn
New to spatial data? Start here.
GIS stands for geographic information system. It is software that stacks map layers on top of each other using shared coordinates.
Once the layers line up, you can ask location questions. Does the building sit over a pipe? How steep is this corner of the lot? What is within 40 metres of the creek?
Clipping cuts a dataset down to your boundary. Everything inside the boundary stays and everything outside is dropped.
Open data often arrives in large tiles. Clipping is how a few square kilometres of data becomes the 50 metres of road you care about.
Reprojecting converts data from one coordinate system to another. A common case is moving from latitude and longitude, which are in degrees, to a map grid in metres such as MGA Zone 56, the zone that covers Sydney.
Once everything is in metres on the same grid, you can measure distances and areas and the layers line up.
A buffer is the zone within a set distance of something. Buffer a pipeline by 30 metres and you get a strip 30 metres either side, with rounded ends.
It answers questions like: which properties, trees or services sit within 30 metres of the new work? Try the slider on this page.
Yes. QGIS lets you chain tools into a model, so merge, reproject, clip and buffer run one after another in a single go.
That matters when the same job repeats across many sites. I can build the model and hand it to your team.
A constraints map puts everything that limits a site on one drawing: slope, flood extents, protected vegetation, easements and existing services.
It is most useful early, before design money is spent on a layout that cannot be built.
A point cloud is a set of millions of measured 3D points. It usually comes from a laser scanner, also called LiDAR, or from overlapping photos.
You can measure distances in it, cut sections through it, work out volumes, and compare two scans to see what changed.
All three are elevation models. A DSM, digital surface model, is the top of everything, including roofs and tree canopy. A DTM, digital terrain model, is the bare ground with buildings and trees removed.
DEM, digital elevation model, is the general term. In Australia it usually means a bare ground model.
Australian governments publish elevation data through a portal called ELVIS, the Elevation and Depth Foundation Spatial Data portal. You can download it at no cost.
Coverage, resolution and capture date vary from place to place, so the first step is always to check what exists for your site and how old it is.
Australia's current national datum is GDA2020. Older data is often in GDA94. The two differ by about 1.8 metres, so mixing them puts everything in the wrong place.
Sydney sits in MGA Zone 56. Checking the datum and zone of every file is the first thing I do.
From the blog
What QField does on site, how accurate a phone is next to a GNSS receiver, and how far the free plan goes.
QGIS · 4 minute readWhat each tool does, when you need it, and how to run all three in one go.
FAQ
No. In NSW, boundary surveys must be done by a registered surveyor. My work is mapping and analysis, and it works well alongside your surveyor's data.
No. What I offer here is spatial data and digital engineering support. Your design engineer stays responsible for the design.
The site address or lot, the question you want answered, and any files you already have, such as CAD drawings, a survey or a scan.
That depends on the job. It is usually a PDF map, the GIS layers, files ready for CAD, and a short summary in plain language.
I do not offer scanning here. If you already have scan data, or a surveyor is capturing it for you, I can process it.
You do. I set the project up on your own QField account, so the data and the storage stay with you and your team.
No. This is a desktop and software service. For field capture, QField runs on the phone or tablet you already have.
It comes from public sources, such as government elevation and imagery services, and from any files you give me. Each source has its own licence.
Every pack lists its sources and credits them. I only pass on data that the licence allows me to share, and I tell you if a source limits how you can use it.
Mostly QGIS and CloudCompare, plus Autodesk CAD products.
It depends on the size of the site and what you need to know. You get a price after the call and before any work starts.
● Free call
No obligation. If I am not the right person, I will tell you who is.
See my LinkedIn ↗