Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 20 Mar 10;
PULAU Semakau will soon be the sixth and latest point of an ultra-precise satellite navigation network that is several times sharper than traditional Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment such as car navigation devices.
The $50,000 facility, to be located at the site of Singapore's sole working landfill, will be used to study the environment around the southern tip of Singapore, measuring coastal erosion, natural habitats and tidal activity in the area.
The National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which manages the network of satellite stations across the island.
These are in Loyang, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University, Woodlands and the Keppel area.
TMSI's director, Professor Peter Ng, said the system will enable researchers to better understand the changes to the environment in areas around Pulau Semakau and St Johns Island, and devise methods to conserve biodiversity such as mangroves more quickly.
In beaches, only a few centimetres of sand are eroded every year, so tracking a trend over time is needed to devise the appropriate protection measures such as building sea walls, said TMSI research fellow Durai Raju.
Prof Ng said the new system could add 50 per cent to efficiency and save costs.
The three-year-old Satellite Positioning Reference Network (Sirent) system makes use of six signal receivers in fixed locations across the island to obtain the position of a user more precisely - within a 50cm radius - than conventional GPS networks.
This is because each station is able to access data from at least 24 satellites orbiting in space, up to twice the number that an ordinary GPS device installed in a car does.
At the start, Sirent was used almost exclusively by surveyors, but is now used by agencies such as the PUB and within the private sector, said Dr Victor Khoo, manager of survey services at SLA.
This is the second collaboration between SLA and TMSI on furthering environmental research along the island's coastlines.
Environmental monitoring gets a boost from NUS-SLA partnership
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 19 Mar 10;
SINGAPORE : Environmental monitoring and management is set to get a boost from a collaboration between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA).
Both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to inaugurate a Global Positioning System (GPS) reference station, dubbed "SiReNT" (Singapore Satellite Positioning Reference Network).
The station will be used for engineering, recreational and scientific activities, including the study of coastline erosion, bio-diversity and tides.
It is the sixth under SLA's management and is sited at Pulau Semakau, a man-made landfill island.
Through this first partnership with SLA, NUS will provide expertise on GPS applications for scientific studies.
The joint venture aims to break new ground in the way data is collected and analysed so as to better carry out environmental monitoring and management.
- CNA/al
'Eyes' to aid erosion study
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 19 Mar 10;
PULAU Semakau will soon be the sixth and latest point of an ultra-precise satellite navigation network that is several times sharper than traditional Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment such as car navigation devices.
The $50,000 facility, to be located at the site of Singapore's sole working landfill, will be used to study the environment around the southern tip of Singapore, measuring coastal erosion, natural habitats and tidal activity in the area.
The National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which manages the network of satellite stations across the island.
These are in Loyang, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University, Woodlands and the Keppel area.
TMSI's director, Professor Peter Ng, said the system will enable researchers to better understand the changes to the environment in areas around Pulau Semakau and St Johns Island, and devise methods to conserve biodiversity such as mangroves more quickly.
