Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) was the official mapping agency
of Northern Ireland
. The agency ceased to exist separately on 1 April 2008 when it became part of Land and Property Services Northern Ireland, an executive agency
of the Northern Ireland
Department of Finance and Personnel
, along with the Rate Collection Agency, the Valuation and Lands Agency, and the Land Registry.
in the Northern Ireland Executive
. The two Ordnance Surveys of Ireland
and that of Britain
share a common heritage, the split into three separate organisations being one result of the partition of Ireland
in the 1920s.
) is amongst the most detailed and comprehensive in the world.
Digital products range from the Large Scale (1:1250 urban and 1:2500 rural) vector
database, 1:10,000 raster
mapping derived automatically from the L/S vector, 1:50,000 and 1:250,00 vectors, 1;10,000 orthophotography, 1:25,000 leisure maps, the 1:50,000 raster series, 1:250,000 Ireland North raster, street maps of the main conurbations, as well as paper derivatives of all the raster products.
In 2005 OSNI began, with the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), to digitize the complete set of historical maps dating back to the 1830s. (The earliest comprehensive and accurately surveyed large scale mapping in the world). These are being georectified to match modern mapping projections
and are being annotated with points of interest from PRONI's archives.
OSNI also maintained the UK's only common address database, Pointer, which cross matches and validates the address data from the Royal Mail
, Valuation and Lands Agency, OSNI and local authorities,and georeferences each address, as well as giving it a unique identifier. This allows spatial interrogation by customers of the >800,000 addresses in NI using computerised Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combined with digital mapping
and the customer's own data.
Supporting the interconnectivity of Geographical Information (GI) for the benefit of the Northern Ireland economy, society and administration was OSNI's primary purpose. In support of this, OSNI also provides the secretariat for Mosaic, the GI strategy for Northern Ireland, which is the first such strategy to be implemented in the UK. In support of Mosaic, OSNI is currently (2006) building a GeoHub for the region, which will be able to host and connect to spatial data from multiple sources, permit a metadata (data about the data) search and, using thin client browser applications, via the Internet, permit multiple data layers to be interrogated, connected, analysed, licensed, downloaded, uploaded and updated.
Starting in Spring 2006, OSNI's own full product range is available via a map-enabled e-commerce website at www.osni.gov.uk
OSNI's surveying technology is based on both photogrammetry
and ground survey using total station electronic theodolite
s in combination with pen (tablet) computers, so that the data is updated directly into the digital format. The photogrammetry (using flight-derived stereoimagery at high resolution) is also used to maintain height models of the topography
(Digital Terrain Model or DTM). Computer software
permits the draping of aerial photography
and/or mapping over such models for the purposes of fly-through or drive-through 3D visualisations.
OSNI's Geodesy
section maintains the positional reference system to millimetre precision and OSNI's ground stations allow high accuracy use of the GPS system.
National mapping agency
A national mapping agency is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastral matters.-List of national mapping agencies:...
of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The agency ceased to exist separately on 1 April 2008 when it became part of Land and Property Services Northern Ireland, an executive agency
Executive agency
An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...
of the Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
Department of Finance and Personnel
Department of Finance and Personnel
The Department of Finance and Personnel is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
, along with the Rate Collection Agency, the Valuation and Lands Agency, and the Land Registry.
Description
It was an Executive Agency within the Department of Culture, Arts and LeisureDepartment of Culture, Arts and Leisure
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
. The two Ordnance Surveys of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and that of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
share a common heritage, the split into three separate organisations being one result of the partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
in the 1920s.
Products
The vast majority of OSNI's income came from the licensing of its digital mapping data, which, because of the long history of mapping in Ireland (see Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
) is amongst the most detailed and comprehensive in the world.
Digital products range from the Large Scale (1:1250 urban and 1:2500 rural) vector
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
database, 1:10,000 raster
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
mapping derived automatically from the L/S vector, 1:50,000 and 1:250,00 vectors, 1;10,000 orthophotography, 1:25,000 leisure maps, the 1:50,000 raster series, 1:250,000 Ireland North raster, street maps of the main conurbations, as well as paper derivatives of all the raster products.
In 2005 OSNI began, with the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), to digitize the complete set of historical maps dating back to the 1830s. (The earliest comprehensive and accurately surveyed large scale mapping in the world). These are being georectified to match modern mapping projections
Map projection
A map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
and are being annotated with points of interest from PRONI's archives.
OSNI also maintained the UK's only common address database, Pointer, which cross matches and validates the address data from the Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
, Valuation and Lands Agency, OSNI and local authorities,and georeferences each address, as well as giving it a unique identifier. This allows spatial interrogation by customers of the >800,000 addresses in NI using computerised Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combined with digital mapping
Digital mapping
Digital mapping is the process by which a collection of data is compiled and formatted into a virtual image. The primary function of this technology is to produce maps that give accurate representations of a particular area, detailing major road arteries and other points of interest...
and the customer's own data.
Supporting the interconnectivity of Geographical Information (GI) for the benefit of the Northern Ireland economy, society and administration was OSNI's primary purpose. In support of this, OSNI also provides the secretariat for Mosaic, the GI strategy for Northern Ireland, which is the first such strategy to be implemented in the UK. In support of Mosaic, OSNI is currently (2006) building a GeoHub for the region, which will be able to host and connect to spatial data from multiple sources, permit a metadata (data about the data) search and, using thin client browser applications, via the Internet, permit multiple data layers to be interrogated, connected, analysed, licensed, downloaded, uploaded and updated.
Starting in Spring 2006, OSNI's own full product range is available via a map-enabled e-commerce website at www.osni.gov.uk
OSNI's surveying technology is based on both photogrammetry
Photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is the practice of determining the geometric properties of objects from photographic images. Photogrammetry is as old as modern photography and can be dated to the mid-nineteenth century....
and ground survey using total station electronic theodolite
Theodolite
A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...
s in combination with pen (tablet) computers, so that the data is updated directly into the digital format. The photogrammetry (using flight-derived stereoimagery at high resolution) is also used to maintain height models of the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
(Digital Terrain Model or DTM). Computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
permits the draping of aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
and/or mapping over such models for the purposes of fly-through or drive-through 3D visualisations.
OSNI's Geodesy
Geodesy
Geodesy , also named geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space. Geodesists also study geodynamical phenomena such as crustal...
section maintains the positional reference system to millimetre precision and OSNI's ground stations allow high accuracy use of the GPS system.
See also
- Irish grid reference system, the old coordinate system for Ireland.
- Irish Transverse MercatorIrish Transverse MercatorIrish Transverse Mercator , is the geographic coordinate system for Ireland. It was implemented jointly by the Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland in 2001...
, the new coordinate system. - Ordnance SurveyOrdnance SurveyOrdnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
- Ordnance Survey IrelandOrdnance Survey IrelandOrdnance Survey Ireland is the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland and, together with the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland , succeeded, after 1922, the Irish operations of the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey. It is part of the Public service of the Republic of Ireland...
- List of Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland