Danger! Danger! Surveyors at work

There are no statistics about how many surveyors are killed each year – no one records that data, or if they do, it’s not shared with other people, other organisations and other countries. This is despite the fact the profession has members are more at risk than others, simply by virtue of where they work. From building sites to minefields, from flooding rivers to dry deserts, from mountain tops to the deepest caves, on foot, on boats, in cars, in planes – whether it’s on land, at sea or in the air, surveyors are there, trying to measure.

Naturally, some areas are more dangerous than others, but when the need arises, surveyors are still there to take the risks needed to record data. Fortunately, new technologies are helping to reduce those risks – while also making previously impossibly dangerous tasks possible.

This issue, we look at several such innovations. On page 28, we look at how higher-resolution cameras are helping surveyors to record the same data as before, but further away from danger. Meanwhile, on page 30, Mike Panzeri explains how earth observation data is helping to secure medical supply chains in Australia, where flooding and bush fires are on the rise. And on page ESRI, Ryan Lanclos looks at how a geographic approach can make communities more resilient.

I hope you enjoy the issue and find it useful in your (hopefully now-safer) work.