Auckland-based Unitec Institute of Technology’s new Centre of Computational Intelligence for Environmental Engineering (CIEE) is hoping to create a 3D model of Auckland to improve environmental monitoring and engineering.
The aim of the digital model is to enable mapping of Auckland’s changing environment in real time. In developing these computing technologies to improve environmental engineering, the researchers hope to eventually tap into a multi-billion-dollar export industry and sell those technologies to other global companies and countries.
The proposed digital model by the CIEE will map not just Auckland’s topography, but also its infrastructure, including power lines, and water and sewage pipes. Once this information is combined with live environmental data, the 3D model will become a powerful visual tool, providing in-depth insights into the city.
The CIEE was established by a team led by Professor Hossein Sarrafzadeh, who is head of Unitec’s computing department. The researchers created the Centre, which is based at the Institute’s Mt Albert campus, after two years of work.
By layering a city’s topographic and infrastructure information with environmental data supplied by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Prof Sarrafzadeh says the project effectively leverages big data analytics and applies it to environmental engineering.
The 3D map would eventually allow the researchers and engineers to integrate the environmental data from various sources into one system, and then use cloud technologies to deliver information and services derived from the unified information system.
For example, government environmental protection agencies and regulatory bodies would be able to monitor water and air quality in real time, and rapidly be alert to and respond to spikes in pollutant levels.
But the technology would not be limited to domestic use: the CIEE hopes to export the technology to the international market.
According to Prof Sarrafzadeh, the environmental engineering industry in countries like China is worth billions of dollars, creating prime opportunities for technologies which allow new ways of monitoring the environment. In particular, China has a major focus on air and water quality, with commensurate investment in technologies that allow effective management of those resources – technology that the CIEE is building.
With an eye on the Chinese market, the CIEE has established a partnership with Wuhan University, which boasts a 200-strong Faculty of Remote Sensing, and is in the process of building a centre similar to the CIEE.
It is also partnering with LJDY, a Chinese technology company which will provide additional funding, technical support, and eventually help sell the CIEE technology in China.
The CIEE says that once it completes the Auckland model, it will then turn its focus to creating one for Christchurch, which may be useful for the post-quake rebuilding efforts.