ambass/alvin from Geospatial: the use of skills, tools and data by people in Canterbury

Ambassador Alvin

Alvin loves travelling and sharing his adventures. Here he is on the Tangaroa; the NIWA research boat, during the Argo Floats field trip. Image: LEARNZ.

Alvin enjoys the view from the plane on the approach into Christchurch. Image: LEARNZ.

Alvin finds out more about how he can use open data. Image: LEARNZ.

Alvin checks out a drone used to take aerial photos 150 metres above the ground. Image: LEARNZ.

Alvin finds out more about the Ōtākaro Avon River and its importance for people who first settled here. Image: LEARNZ.

Kia ora koutou

I'm Alvin one of the LEARNZ ambassadors.

I am really excited about taking part in another year of LEARNZ adventures. If you join me you can come and visit out of the way places that you wouldn't otherwise be able to experience.

You can join me in Christchurch to see how geospatial information is being used to help rebuild Christchurch. I would love some company on this trip so if your class has a curious ambassador who would like to join me, sign them up now via your MyLEARNZ control panel.

See you there,

Alvin, the LEARNZ Ambassador.

Monday 11 August

Hi there,

Well it was a bumpy old flight today but at least it wasn’t so bad that I felt sick. Cloud obscured the view until we got further north. A spectacular nor-west arch covered the Southern Alps and it was really warm when we arrived in Christchurch.

I always love coming to Christchurch because I never quite know what I’m going to find. The city is changing dramatically as new buildings take shape and street layouts change. I can’t wait to find out more about the future of Christchurch tomorrow using 3D geospatial technology.

See you then,

Alvin, the LEARNZ ambassador.

Tuesday 12 August

Kia ora

It was a busy day in Christchurch today. We met lots of interesting experts from Land Information New Zealand and learnt about open data. It was cool to see inside the EPIC Centre which is a really modern building with lots of open spaces for people to share their work. I found out about open data which is free to use legally and all you have to do is credit the owner.

My favourite part of today was seeing the 3D displays of what Christchurch used to look like and what it will look like in the future. We even saw models of old buildings that had been printed on a 3D printer.

Tomorrow we will look at how aerial images are taken and used.

See you then,

Alvin, the LEARNZ ambassador.

Wednesday 13 August

Hi folks,

You could still see patches of white along shaded streets this morning after last night’s hail storm. It was a cold day to be out and about but at least we spent some of the day in the warm Land Information New Zealand office.

We looked at aerial photos which can be used for all sorts of things. They were even used after the earthquakes to find out which areas had been damaged the most. These photos are also used to make maps, plan subdivisions and show changes in land use. It’s pretty cool to see how accurate these photos are even though some of them have been taken from satellites over 700 kilometres above the ground.

Well it has been a busy day so I’ll catch up with you again tomorrow.

Bye for now,

Alvin, the LEARNZ ambassador.

Thursday 14 August

Tēnā koutou

It was bitterly cold today; it even started to snow when we were out at Tuahiwi. We met Te Maire today and he had some amazing stories to tell us about place names and how they came to be. I never knew that New Zealand is actually a Dutch name meaning sea land.

We also discovered that a lot of Māori place names are the same as place names in Tahiti and other Polynesian islands.

Well I hope you have enjoyed the trip as much as I have. I’m looking forward to a break after such a busy week. I’ll see you on another field trip soon.

Until then,

Alvin, the LEARNZ ambassador.