A new basemap for the Maltese Islands has been launched by the Planning Authority, ” the new basemap reflects the realities of today and will serve as a ‘canvas’ for volumes of data to tell their story,” the Authority said.
Produced from high-resolution orthographic imagery with an impeccable precision and ability to collect detailed information, the Authority explained that the basemap is one of the “key deliverables of the €7 million SIntegraM project which was partially financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).”
“The launch of this new basemap is another important piece of the bigger picture which heralds a new exciting era for spatial data in Malta,” said Ing. Stephen Ferrito, the PA’s Director for Mapping, Information Technology and Digital Services.
He explained that “over these past few years, the Planning Authority, together with its strategic partner, has worked on the mammoth task in developing Malta’s first National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the GI Strategy and infrastructure development.
“The new basemap, 30 years after the initial basemap creation, serves as the keystone and will provide the canvas for how the spatial data we collect, manage, analyse and make available can tell its story,” said Ferrito.
The basemap offers key information on the terrain of the Maltese Islands such as buildings, open spaces, and the road network. It is composed of 18 layers and contains over 50 different classifications.
The PA said that the new Basemap is subdivided into a bottom to top approach where the surface layers act as a base layer and additional environmental features are superimposed, providing the possibility to identify ruins, cliffs, rubble walls, the characteristics of terrain and assist in the taking of informed decisions.
The Maltese basemap is widely used for environmental analysis, development planning, laying of new roads, ambulance detours, bus routes and a thousand other applications.
This basemap may be accessed from on the Planning Authority’s website by clicking here [1].