4DM Inc - Geospatial Information Technology Company

4DM Inc. and Sanchez Engineering Inc. awarded project to undertake a dam safety review of the G. Ross Lord Dam

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:23:18 +0000

Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) owns and operates several dams and channels across the Greater Toronto Area to mitigate flooding in vulnerable areas following the 1954 Hurricane Hazel event. The TRCA owns 2 large dams as classified by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). 4DM and Sanchez Engineering have been contracted by the TRCA to conduct a Dam Safety Review (DSR) of one of these two dams, the G. Ross Lord Dam, to determine whether the structure meets current dam safety guidelines.

4DM, working with Sanchez Engineering, is in the process of performing a full dam safety review of the G. Ross Lord Dam for the purpose of due diligence. The previous DSR was completed in accordance with the 1999 draft Ontario Dam Safety Guidelines, which has now been replaced by the 2011 Guidelines under the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act. This DSR will be conducted independently of the previous review, and will meet the current standards per the newly released guidelines. 4DM has been tasked with conducting the hydrological and hydraulic assessments as well as the inundation mapping and consequence analysis components of this project.

4DM is awarded funding support from the National Research Council – IRAP to utilize numerical weather prediction data for forecasting snow drifting events and applications in water resources

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:41:26 +0000

4DM is awarded financial support from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) to utilize numerical weather prediction data for forecasting snow drifting events and applications in water resources 4DM has developed a snow transport model for predicting snow drifting along transportation corridors. The model was developed from knowledge gained from ongoing consulting work and a previous IRAP supported project. The snow transport model requires meteorological inputs such as wind, temperature, and precipitation. The model produces a gridded distribution of snow depth and flux in tonnes/meter. Meteorological inputs can come from global weather services that provide access to numerical weather prediction and regional reanalysis data. These organizations use an internationally recognized generic format called GRIB developed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The goal of this project is to develop a streamlined process that utilizes GRIB data for estimating regional snow drifting along transportation networks such as roads, rail lines and airport areas, from both a predictive and historical perspective. The same process can be used as input into hydrological model to predict flooding events.

4DM awarded the project for conducting quality review and hydrological enforcement of LiDAR data acquired on the Mattagami and Abitibi River Systems for Ontario Power Generations

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:39:15 +0000

Ontario Power Generation is updating their base mapping using orthophotography and LiDAR data. The data sets are being used for corporate planning and to support operational needs. Additional data collection has been added to the existing project that includes 19 river systems across Ontario. 4DM is responsible for quality review of the data that involves confirming data coverage, ensuring data integrity is met and the quality meets the specifications. Another component of the project involves enforcing the natural drainage of the river system to better define the stream network and river shoreline. A set of tools developed in ArcGIS along with other LiDAR software tools are being used to conduct this process. The extent of the coverage area is approximately 600 sq km.

4DM is pleased to announce we have moved into larger and contiguous office space

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:25:10 +0000

4DM is pleased to announce we have moved into larger and contiguous office space. The move was implemented to support past and future growth and to better organize our staff into logical work groups. 4DM is still located at 671 Danforth Avenue in Toronto, but has acquired the entire second floor. The freshly decorated suite represents a significant upgrade in space quality and reinforces Management’s commitment to a great work environment for 4DM employees. In addition to the move, 4DM has upgraded its fax number to toll free to better service international clients. Please click here for our new address and fax number.

4DM presents and exhibits at the CDA 2010 Annual Conference, Oct 4th–6th in Niagara Falls, Ontario

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:25:23 +0000

The Canadian Dam Association 2010 Annual Conference will take place in Niagara Fall, Ontario. 4DM is presenting two papers on at the conference; “Application of LiDAR Technology for Hydroelectric Operations” and “Niagara Pump Generating Station Inundation Mapping and Consequence Analysis with ArcGIS and MIKE 21″. These papers highlight examples of two projects where 4DM and OPG have worked collaboratively together over the past year. 4DM will also be exhibiting at the conference showcasing expertise in water resources, environment and property mapping. Attendees at the conference will have an opportunity to learn more about 4DM’s products and services.

Dr. Zhen (John) Xiong completed post doctoral work at the University of New Brunswick and joins 4DM Inc. enhancing the company’s photogrammetry and remote sensing capabilities

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:02:57 +0000

Dr Zhen Xiong holds a PhD degree in Geomatics from the University of New Brunswick, where he specialized in photogrammetry and remote sensing.

Dr. Xiong has over fifteen years of experience in the areas of photogrammetry and remote sensing. He finished twenty two engineering projects and twenty eight research projects in photogrammetry, remote sensing, surveying, and mapping. He developed more than twenty software programs, and two patent pending techniques in DEM generation, image orthorectification, image matching and sensor modeling. Dr. Xiong is the co-author of more than thirty peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. He is the first place co-recipient of 2009 ASPRS president award for “An Initial Study on Vehicle Information Extraction from Single Pass Quickbird Satellite Imagery,” PE&RS, (74) 11, 1401-1411.

Dr. Xiong has extensive experience in building extraction from both optical imagery and LiDAR point cloud. He developed a program for automatic building extraction from LiDAR point cloud based on elevation, slope, and azimuth features. Prior to that, he developed a program to extract buildings from stereo IKONOS images automatically. He has published several papers on building extraction from remote sensing data.

Dr. Xiong joined 4DM inc. as a senior remote sensing scientist with his main focus is on technical development of both active remote sensing and passive remote sensing, such as LiDAR data processing, RADARSAT image processing, multispectral classification, DEM generation and image orthorectification.

4DM awarded National Research Council-IRAP support funding to develop a Snow Transport Model.

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:09:05 +0000

4DM is interested in building on earlier consulting work that assessed snow drifting using Geospatial information on Ontario provincial highways. The project identified a unique business opportunity to provide solutions, initially as a service focused on identifying snow drifting risk areas and determining appropriate mitigation treatments to reduce snow from reaching the highway. Current software simulation tools contain inadequacies in simulating and quantifying snow drifting. 4DM is proposing to develop and improve internal analytical capabilities by creating a decision support tool related to identifying snow drifting locations and its treatment as service-based tool and eventually a marketable product. The research will focus on improved understanding of the movement of snow over terrain including topography and devising interventions to prevent snow from reaching the highway such as snow fences, hedges/trees etc.

It is anticipated that the availability of advanced snow drift modeling tools will make 4DM highly competitive in the growing international market for snow drift management decision support services. Future evolution of applying this research can expand into real time sensor web integration and application into arid countries dealing with blowing sand.

4DM is growing and expanding into new office space in March 2010.

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:09:35 +0000

In March 2010, 4DM will be expanding their office space to include an additional floor within their current building. This will allow 4DM to accommodate additional staff and provide room to grow.