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Power |
Telecom |
Transport |
Others
Abstract
Integration of Locator and GPS Technology
Ashok Wadwani
President
Applied Field Data
Systems Inc., USA
Abstract
Integration of Locator and GPS Technology
In preparation for natural disasters and emergencies, such as the recent hurricanes
and wild fires, utilities need to have an accurate record of locations and other features
of underground assets. This need is critical during emergencies as often times
the assets are buried with debris or flooded and locating them is a difficult and also
high priority. The electronic markers and locators have been in use for some time.
With the availability of lower priced and more accurate GPS receivers, the two technologies
can now be integrated. This innovative way of utilizing the existing technologies
allows utilities to implement a state of the art GIS system to pin-point their
assets accurately and respond to any emergency rapidly and relatively inexpensively.
Some of the newer markers now have built-in read and write memory and therefore,
assets, features and attributes can now be left on-site for operators to review and
leave notes. In case of emergencies, field operators do not need to call dispatch etc.,
to determine attributes of the features since all the data is residing on-site on the
memory marker.
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