CHAPTER 2:
Historical Review of Wind
Related Disaster and Risk
Reduction in Malaysia
2.1 Introduction
______________________________________________________
Malaysia is a country situated near the equator and best known for its
unique Tropical Rainforest ecosystem. The uniqueness of the climate and the
abundance of its natural resources have played a major role in the pattern of
natural disaster. It is important to know the flow pattern of wind across Malaysia
which is controlled by two major monsoons. The characteristic features of the
climate of Malaysia are uniform temperature, high humidity and copious rainfall
and they arise mainly due to the maritime exposure of the country. The climate
variation in this country is almost similar throughout the year. Although the wind
intensity over the country is generally light and less variable, there are times
when some uniform periodic changes in the wind flow patterns takes place across
Malaysia. Generally, flow pattern of wind system across Malaysia is dominated
by two major monsoons.
a. Southwest monsoon flow from mid-April until September.
b. Northeast monsoon flow from early November until March.
During the transition of these two major monsoons, there are two shorter inter
monsoon seasons too. These two monsoons happen between two major
monsoons where in this transitional period, frequent thunderstorm events occur.
Although thunderstorms are localized phenomena, they often produce
significantly strong and gusty surface winds. These winds from thunderstorms
are relatively stronger and more turbulent than those of typical monsoon winds.
24
Storm is classified as meteorological sub disaster type which is defined as events
caused by short-lived from small (micro-scale) to meso-scale atmospheric
processes (in the spectrum from minutes to days) (Guha-Sapir, Vos, & Below,
2012).
2.2 Historical Event Review
______________________________________________________
At present there are no momentous and detail database have been
established related to windstorm related disasters and damages from allied
agencies. Even though the numbers of damage have been widely reported in
newspaper and mass media. Referring to the International Disaster Database
(EM-DAT), 2017 ([Link] wind storm has been categorised as the
top ten natural disasters in Malaysia. According to EM-DAT, disaster is defined
as, “a situation or event which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request
to a national or international level for external assistance; an unforeseen and
often sudden event that causes great damage, destruction and human suffering”.
For a disaster to be entered into the database, at least one of the following criteria
must be fulfilled:
a. 10 or more people reported killed
b. 100 or more people reported affected
c. Declaration of a state of emergency
d. Call for international assistance
From year 1960 until 2016 EM-DAT recounted that seven (7) major event related
to wind storm disaster. Two (2) events were recorded as tropical cyclone, one (1)
as convection storm and another four (4) as other types of storm.
25
Table 2.1: List of Wind Storm Disaster in Malaysia 1960-2005 (EM-DAT, 2017)
Total
Disaster Associated
Date Location Affected
Subtype Disaster
(Death)
7/1/1968 Johore Nil 10000 (21) Nil
Sabah -
Keningau,
Sulaman, Tropical
26 - 28/12/1996 4176 (270) Flood
Tamparuli, Cyclone
Kiulu, Kota
Kinabalu
Kedah, Perlis, Tropical
23 - 27/8/1997 2115 (2) Flood
Penang Cyclone
27/9/2000 Penang State Nil 500 (0) Nil
Klang Valley
(Sepang,
Setapak Jaya,
Jalan Pinang,
Convective
30/3/2002 Jalan Semarak, 155 (2)
Storm
Jalan Tun
Razak, Pudu
Boroughs,
Petaling District
16/7/2004 Kedah State Nil 1000 (0) Nil
Flood,
06/11/2004 Kuala Lumpur Nil 40000 (1) Land Slide,
Mud
26
From the statistical data shown in Table 2.1, it can be clearly noticed that
Malaysia is certainly a place where prone to wind related disasters such as wind
storm. Most of the time, these storms are also accompanied by its related sub
disaster such as flood, lands slide and mud slide. In the past due to its
geographical position, Malaysia is always considered at great safe from direct
effect of the tropical cyclone hit. However Table 2.1 undoubtedly shows that
Malaysia may also experience tropical cyclone in the future. Even though there
were only two recorded tropical cyclones in last 50 years, it has caused excessive
and remarkable loss in many aspects. For example, Tropical Storm Greg in
December 1996 had triggered landfall near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It carries
heavy rains that triggered floods and caused rivers to overflow their banks. The
storm also affected a total of 17,000 people from 226 villages along the
southwest coast of Sabah. It destroyed some 4,925 houses and killed 270 people
in one of the worst recorded natural disaster in Malaysia. Tropical Storm Greg
was the most devastating tropical storm ever to hit Malaysia with an estimated
economic loss around USD 280 million.
Apart from that, another significant tropical cyclone that hit Malaysia was
Typhoon Vamei in December 2001 which also triggered a landfall near south
east Malaysia. This uncommon event was first detected by observations of
typhoon with strong winds from a US navy ship, and the existence of an eye-like
structure was confirmed by satellite and radar imageries Malaysia. It caused
heavy flood in South East part of Johore. Typhoon Vamei also claimed 2 victims
and estimated an economic loss around USD 4.2 million. In spite of tropical
cyclone is severe weather phenomena, however it could cause substantial damage
and loss of lives and should not be taken lightly.
2.3 Tornado in Malaysia
______________________________________________________
Some major reported tornado events in Malaysia can be found in local
research publications (Abdul Shukur & Raihan, 2015). Tornado in Malaysia has
been recorded as localised and isolated affairs compared to other major country
where tornados have been local affairs for lifetime is more substantial. The
frequency of the tornado based on monsoon changes has been scheduled starting
from the northeast monsoon season, the monsoon transition in April and October
followed by the southwest monsoon season. Based on Table 2.2 the number of
27
cases has been recorded throughout the year 2010 up to 2014. The cases are
divided into two i.e. land spout and waterspout cases depending on where the
whirlwinds phenomenon takes place, i.e. on land or in water surface. It was found
that the highest case was recorded in the northeast monsoon season with 12
landspout cases and waterspout of 13 cases. Likewise, the second highest was in
the southwest monsoon season, which has recorded 6 landspout cases and 12
waterspout cases. However the least recorded cases was in the monsoon
transition period of April, which recorded two landspout cases and four cases of
waterspout only. During the monsoon transition period of October, the number of
cases recorded was even lower, where only five landspout cases and seven cases
of waterspout occured. Table 2.3 shows the numbers according to states in
Malaysia from the year 2010 until 2014.
Table 2.2: Tornado Frequencies in 2010 to 2014 According to Monsoon Changes in
Malaysia
Monsoon Landspout Waterspout
North East (Nov –Mac) 12 13
Transition (April) 2 4
South West (May – Sept) 6 12
Transition (October) 5 7
Table 2.3: The Occurrence of Land Spout and Waterspout in Malaysia by State From
Year 2010 to 2014 (Abdul Shukur & Raihan, 2015)
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Tot
State Type L W L W L W L W L W al
Perlis 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3
Kedah 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 11
Pahang 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
[Link] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Sabah 0 1 0 3 0 2 2 2 0 1 11
Sarawak 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 6
28
Selangor 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 5
Perak 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3
Johor 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 0 8
Melaka 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 4
Penang 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
Terengganu 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 5 11 4 8 1 5 6 8 9 4 61
L = Landspout , W = Waterspout
An analysis of tornado events can be classified based on the monsoon season as
the data is categorized by the month of the occurrence. This is an essential source
of input as this data can be very helpful in giving additional information to the
local authorities to predict, detect and prepare if a tornado were to occur at any
point of time.
2.4 Thunderstorm in Malaysia
______________________________________________________
The Malaysian Meteorological Service (MMS) has been monitoring and
recording the TD in Malaysia for more than 30 years. Since the 1990s, the
majority of the weather stations have been making these observations on a 24-
hour basis. Table 2.4 shows the MMS data, for the period 1993 - 2002, that have
been obtained from the 24-hour stations only (Abidin & Ibrahim, 2003).
The lightning ground flash density Ng, defined as the number of cloud-to-ground
flashes in km-2 yr-l, is an important meteorological data that is used in calculating
the risk of lightning strikes to a structure or system. The Ng used to be calculated
from the annual thunderstorm days TD, also known as the keraunic level. The
thunderstorm day is defined as a local calendar day during which thunder is heard
at least once at a specified station. Nevertheless, this process of calculation is not
precise since the period and intensity of the lightning activity on a given day is
not taken into consideration. The available information about the T D in Malaysia
29
has so far been erratic. Several maps that indicated the T D level presented in local
seminars and conferences seemed to be inaccurate when compared to the actual
data provided by the MMS (Abidin & Ibrahim, 2003).
However, these data will enable the reader to estimate the TD and Ng values for
their particular locations. If they are not located at the major towns/cities
mentioned in the table, then approximate values can be determined by taking the
TD and Ng values of the nearest location or by interpolating the values between
two known adjacent locations. Reliable information on the thunderstorm is
required to estimate the risk of storm. The availability of reliable information on
keraunic level makes this possible to derive this information. There are way ways
to calculated Ng. Once of the utmost aware equation is proposed by Anderson in
1984 which also been adopted in IEEE and Council on Large Electric Systems
(CIGRE).
Ng = 0.04 (TD) 1.25 Equation 1
Studies conducted in the United States have shown that about 50% of lightning
flashes strike ground at more than one place with the average number of ground
terminations at 1.7 per flash. This suggests that the number of lightning strikes to
surface bound objects can be up to 70% more than the value calculated with Ng.
Table 2.4: Annual Thunderstorm Day Figures for the Period 1993 – 2002.
Major Town / 10 – year TD Max TD Min TD
Cities Average
Langkawi 101 136 90
Alor Setar 165 197 145
Butterworth 172 183 164
Ipoh 165 239 185
Sitiawan 165 200 135
Subang 188 195 180
Melaka 137 165 103
Kluang 191 222 165
Senai 172 206 159
30
Mersing 171 188 151
Kuantan 154 173 128
Temerloh 112 156 92
Kuala 163 184 141
Terengganu
Kota Bahru 115 146 94
Kuala Krai 161 177 149
Kuching 184 231 151
Sri Aman 105 132 78
Sibu 103 115 85
Bintulu 103 180 102
Miri 88 101 68
Labuan 147 164 112
Kota Kinabalu 139 158 113
Kudat 79 96 60
Sandakan 155 193 118
Tawau 84 124 45
From Table 2.4, it is noted that the TD variation for peninsular Malaysia is
between 90 in Langkawi and 239 in Bayan Lepas. For Sabah, the variation is
between 45 in Tawau and 193 in Sandakan, while for Sarawak, the variation is
between 68 in Miri and 231 in Kuching. Data shows largely most of the cases
were concentrated to small building or small structures, which is almost non
engineered building (Majid et al., 2010). This data shows there is clear trend
where thunderstorm frequently occurs in Malaysia. Unlike in cyclone prone
region, the thunderstorms in Malaysia occurs in micro scale. Despite their small
size and short duration of thunderstorm which is about 15 to 30 minutes it may
still causes serious damages to building structures if proper measures are not
taken.
31
2.5 Wind Storm Assessment
______________________________________________________
Most of the time, the risk of wind hazard probability are based on recent
wind-induced damages to buildings and structures in Malaysia due to
thunderstorm. There were very little emphasizes given on design factor of
building structure such as roof and cladding to minimize wind induced damage to
buildings. Several studies made by previous researchers in Malaysia have been
summarized in Table 2.5.
From the numerous study reviewed there are several factors that are found to be
contributing damages to building component. It also can be concluded that most
of the failures caused by lack of the consideration due to wind effect during
design stage. Furthermore, it was clearly stated that most of the structural failure
is in roof and truss. The number of incidents of flying canopy due to strong wind
are also become wind related natural hazard. The consequence of flying debris
also has been noted as one of the most dangerous hazard due to wind.
32
Table 2.5 (a): Wind Storm Assessment in Malaysia
Author, Title Location
Year,
T.A. Majid et Past Windstorm Occurrence, Damage and Penang
al. (2016) Loses in Penang, Malaysia .
This study aims to investigate the past windstorm occurrence trend, including damage
and losses, in Penang districts from 2010 to 2013. Windstorm likely occurs in during
March, May, and November annually. This windstorm occurrence indirectly
contributes to the damage and losses in that particular area. Extensive damage was
observed in rural non-engineered buildings in Penang. It was also found that failure is
influenced by several factors, such as missing or poorly installed fasteners,
insufficient fasteners, and sub-standard roof sheathing, fasteners, and nails
N. I. Ramli et Wind-related Disasters in Malaysia and Malaysia
al. (2015) Changes in Regulations and Practice
Most of the building damage observed caused also by localized thunderstorm event.
It was also observed an increase in severe windstorm events is continuously increases
damage, losses, and even mortality. Prominent damage was observed in rural non-
engineered buildings in Malaysia. Approximately 80% of the cases that incurred
damages to the roofing systems were caused by thunderstorms in Peninsular
Malaysia. Damage breakdown shows that 47% damage targeted the steel sheet
roofing, 30% the truss system, 13% the roof tiles, and 20% other related components.
In particularly after the Macalister Road tragedy occurred in Penang Island the
construction industry stakeholder in Malaysia are more concern to get the view from
wind engineering expert to clarify uncertainty. Further study work also been carrying
out to gather more information for better understanding of wind characteristic in
Malaysia.
33
Table 2.5(b): Wind Storm Assessment in Malaysia (continued)
(Wan Chik et al., Development of Windstorm Database Peninsular
2014) System for Wind Damages in Malaysia Malaysia
Number of cases of windstorm occurrence in Peninsular Malaysia between the study
years, the occurrences shows slightly increases from years 2007 to 2012. From this
study, the total number of windstorm occurrences in Peninsular Malaysia between the
study periods is 74 cases. In six years’ data period, it shows that the highest number
of occurrence is in year 2012 which is 21 occurrences, followed by year 2011 (16
cases), year 2009 (12 cases), year 2008 (10 cases), year 2010 (9 cases) and the lowest
number of occurrence is in year 2007 by 6 occurrences. Kedah state represents a
maximum number of occurrences, 19 cases in six years data. Meanwhile the
minimum number of occurrences is 3 cases where is Melaka and Penang.
Windstorm Occurrences in Malaysia in
(Bachok et al., Malaysia
The Period of 2002 – 2012: An
2012)
Overviews
The paper review windstorm occurrences in all over Malaysia from year 2000 to
2012. Windstorm occurrences are collected from several sources such as mass media
or reports that published from government agencies. Summaries of 681 occurrences
which contains of 681 locations and dates, 463 times and 147 durations indicated that
windstorms can be expected in Malaysia each year, windstorm occurred throughout
the year, month with most frequently of occurrences between regions are difference
and influenced by monsoon,
Malaysia Country Report 2012: Wind
T.A. Majid et al. Malaysia
Related Disaster Risk Reduction and
(2012)
Wind Environmental Issues (APEC Wind
Workshop 2012)
The further understanding related to disastrous wind events in Malaysia are very
significant to towards the improvement of national and international wind standards
and building codes. Wind Related Disasters is not being given priority due to lack of
expertise and awareness among the Malaysian. Incidences of damaged houses have
been reported in daily Newspapers. From the reported news, it is observed that most
of the damage occurs in northern region on peninsular Malaysia. Damage due to wind
occurs due to lack of concern regarding wind effect to building structure. Moreover,
most codes of practice do not reflect much the structural system and materials used in
Malaysia practice.
34
Table 2.5(c): Wind Storm Assessment in Malaysia (continued)
Malaysia Country Report 2010 (APEC Wind
T.A. Majid et al. Malaysia
Workshop 2010)
(2010)
Recently highlight damage and injuries due to wind storm are recurrently reported.
Roof truss failure was frequently damage due to wind storm. Clay roof tile also found
uplifted during the storm and create flying debris hazard. Most damage to roofs
themselves is caused by local high suctions and large pressure fluctuations around the
roof periphery and protruding portions. Temporary structure Canopy Tent damage and
uplift and risk to community. Fatal incident was recorded during the event occurred.
Most of the building damage caused by strong wind mainly almost concentrated to
the roof structures. Several damages occurred to building structure which is not been
design accordingly. Flying Debris issues should be given priority to reduce the impact
of wind storm related damage
2.6 Wind Damage Database
______________________________________________________
Currently there are no single noteworthy databases which can be
referred. However, a number of past researchers had taken initiative to establish
the database. In past, the method of collecting data were proposed by (Bachok et
al., 2012). Windstorm damage can be identified from several sources but the
main source is from newspaper. Figure 2.1 show how the detail about windstorm
occurrence is noted from newspaper report. The data were summarized general
features of the windstorm occurrences scenario of the region, state, district, main
city, year, date, duration, diurnal distribution and geographical.
Based on (Abdul Shukur & Raihan, 2015) the data collecting information related
to damage can be categories into three categories such as shown in Table 2.6. All
cases have been recorded based on time, location, and type. It is recommended
that only data that can be categorised as strong and authentic is validly used.
35
Figure 2.1 : Typical Windstorm Information Noted from Newspaper Report
Table 2.6: Validity of Wind Storm Damage
Categories Criteria Information
Very Strong Photo and video of tornado/wind storm
showing the damage caused by the
phenomenon. Newspaper press release.
Strong Picture of a tornado / wind storm event
Weak No witness, the cause of the incident was
not confirmed witness observation.
36
2.7 Wind Storm Trend in Malaysia
______________________________________________________
Study conducted by Wan Chik et al., 2014 classified wind struck damage
as per location. The tendency of wind storm damage is repeatable and occurred at
typical location. Most of the damage located at terrain category one as
respectively described in MS 1553: 2002. Category one is classified as open
terrain with less obstruction. Therefore, the impact of wind load is higher
compared to the terrain with numerous obstructions. Study also found that the
number of windstorm from the year 2007 to year 2012 had expressively increases
as in Figure 2.2. Similarly, the numbers of wind storm damage too had
tremendously increased. It was also found that the damage increasing trend is
very significant compared to the number of windstorm cases. Most of the
structural damages observed were recognized as non-engineered and semi
engineered building. Hence, it can be concluded that design factor consideration
plays a greater role in order to resist wind storm damage. This finding also
supported by Ramli et al., 2015 which concluded that prominent damages were
observed in rural non-engineered buildings in Malaysia which approximately
80% of the cases that incurred damages to the roofing systems were caused by
thunderstorms in Peninsular Malaysia.
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Damage Cases
Figure 2.2: Number of Damage Cases year 2007 – 2012, ( source: Damage Cases - Wan
Chik et al., 2014 )
37
60
Damage Cases
40
20
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Borneo 3 0 2 0 11 4 4 2 6 2 2 0
Central 8 6 12 15 5 2 7 5 5 4 3 3
East Coast 2 1 5 17 18 16 13 21 32 2 13 2
Northern 9 22 43 42 22 20 23 21 20 23 8 4
Southern 9 5 24 14 16 6 10 12 6 8 6 5
Borneo – Sabah & Sarawak, Central - Kuala Lumpur & Selangor, East Coast
– Pahang Ternnganu & Kelantan, Northern – Kedah, Penang, Perak & Perlis,
Southern – Johor, Malacca & Negeri Sembilan
Figure 2.3: Windstorm versus Monthly from year 2000 – 2012 , (source : Bachok,
Shamsudin, & Abidin, 2012)
From Figure 2.3 the monthly trend of wind storm can be categorized accordingly.
All the damage cases are being categorized based on zoning area and month.
From 12 months in a year, 8 months show the number of occurrences is highest
compared to other zones. The highest peak of the windstorm number was found
between Mac and April in the northern region. Similar situations also occurred
where the south and central regions experienced high numbers of storm events in
March and April. Referring to the monsoon period in Malaysia, March and April
month is the transition phase between the northeast monsoons shifting to
southwest. Nevertheless, the east coast region of peninsular Malaysia
experienced the highest numbers during August to September which is situated at
the end of the Southwest Monsoon season. Figure 2.3 also show that Borneo
Zone which consists of Sabah and Sarawak experienced the largest numbers of
storm between May and June. In overall, storm events in Malaysia are seen
throughout the year. From the observations, there are two peaks of storm events
in Malaysia where they normally occur during monsoon transition.
38
2.8 Conclusion
______________________________________________________
Identifying historical data could be thought of as a first step in any
disaster reduction effort and these will help to identified hazards that are typically
recurrent. In fact, the preparation of this chapter is one of strategies for
developing resilient community due to wind hazard. In this chapter, a historical
review of wind related disaster is being discussed. Data from work that been
conducted from as early as 1968 up to new research conducted in recent years are
included in this review. This review provides insights into future directions for
developing and improving the activity related too risk reduction in Malaysia. The
chapter hopes to generate a framework to provide guidance for the preparation
for the future work.
Inadequate coverage of observational stations such as the automatic weather and
marine stations, and radar has to be solved. Disruption in information
dissemination and public awareness programs will only limit the capacity and
resources to educate the public. Wind engineering is not a hot topic
comprehensively discussed in the construction industry of Malaysia previously
(Ramli et al., 2015). However, after fresh number of damages occurred to
building structure due to wind storm the scenario has gradually changed. The
concerns among the stakeholder had increased to design the building structure
accordingly to withstand wind risk. In effect after the Macalister Road tragedy
occurred in Penang Island the construction industry stakeholder in Malaysia is
more anxiety to get the outlook from wind engineering expert to clarify
uncertainty. Further study has to be carried out to gather more information for
better understanding of wind characteristic in Malaysia. The Institution of
Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) has on the 17th June 2013 issued a Press Statement
entitled “ADHERE TO BUILDING CODES AND ADOPT SOUND
ENGINEERING JUDGEMENT TO MITIGATE DISASTER” written in
response to the occurrence of the Macalister Road Tragedy that wreaked havoc
and caused loss of lives and injury. IEM hopes that the authorities would ensure
that strict adherence to all building codes and other recommended guidelines, and
sound engineering judgement is being exercised, in order to reduce the
possibilities of disasters from freak weather and other unforeseeable natural
conditions.
39
References
______________________________________________________
1. Abdul Shukur, N., & Raihan, F. (2015). Kajian Awal Kejadian Puting
Beliung di Malaysia.
2. Abidin, H. Z., & Ibrahim, R. (2003). Thunderstonn day and ground flash
density in Malaysia. In Proceedings. National Power Engineering
Conference, 2003. PECon 2003. (pp. 217–219). IEEE.
[Link]
3. Bachok, M. F., Supiah Shamsudin, & Abidin, R. Z. (2012). WINDSTORM
OCCURRENCES IN MALAYSIA IN THE PERIOD OF 2000 - 2012 : AN
OVERVIEW. In Proceeding in International Conference on Science
Technology and Science Social (ICSTSS2012)2.
4. Guha-Sapir, D., Vos, F., & Below, R. (2012). Annual disaster statistical
review 2011. Retrieved from
[Link]
5. I. Ramli, N., Ali, M. I., Majid, T. A., A, W. C. F., N.C., D. S., & K. A, M. M.
(2015). Wind-related Disasters in Malaysia and Changes in Regulations and
Practice. Wind Engineers, JAWE, 40(3), 290–293.
[Link]
6. Majid, T. A., Ramli, N. I., Ali, M. I., Syamsyul, M., Saad, H., Hashim, M., &
Zakaria, I. (2010). Malaysia Country Report 2010. In Workshop on Regional
Harmonization of Wind Loading and Wind Environmental Specifications in
Asia-Pacific Economies. Retrieved from [Link]
[Link]/APECWW/Report/2010/[Link]
7. Wan Chik, F. A., S, C. D., Ramli, N. I., Muhammad, M. K. A., Majid, T. A.,
& Zulkarnain, N. Z. (2014). Development of Windstorm Database System for
Wind Damages in Malaysia. Journal of Civil Engineering Research, 4, 214–
217. [Link]
Author’s Biography
_____________________________________________________________
Noram Irwan Ramli is the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Civil Engineering and
Earth Resources, Universiti Malaysia Pahang. He is also involved in many works
under the scope of project management and consultations. His fields of interest
and expertise are related to wind engineering and disaster risk reduction
management studies.
Mohamad Idris Ali, PhD is a senior lecturer in Universiti Malaysia Pahang. He is
attached to the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Earth Resources and currently
holds the position of Dean. His areas of interest are in surveying and GIS.
40