ZEB1, a truly mobile handheld rapid laser mapping system from 3D Laser Mapping, has been used to explore Aboriginal cave markings in South Australia. The strange markings, called finger flutings, were thought to have been left in the Koonalda Cave between about 30,000 and 10,000 years ago.

These finger flutings are the creation of hands dragged along existing grooves in soft limestone cave walls. It’s amazing they have lasted this long as the limestone is very fragile and crumbles easily at a mere touch. With the help of the ZEB1 handheld mobile mapping system, researchers have been able to create a detailed 3D Survey of the cave system. Combining this 3D survey data with high resolution photographs and analysis of the flutings,  archaeologists from the SA Museum can analyze them.

In July, Esri and MapmyIndia announced a Strategic Business Alliance that is designed to expand the use of geospatial technology in India. MapmyIndia has extensive data covering all of India’s 600,000 towns and villages, approximately 10 million points of interest and 1.9 million kilometers of highway and street network. The company plans to migrate its entire data production environment to the ArcGIS platform, so that it can take advantage of Esri’s cartographic tools and workflows. Over 80 percent of all automotive navigation systems installed in India use MapmyIndia data and the company sends out data updates every four to six months.