Coordinates and Geodesy infrastructure in Malaysia

Mohd Syahir Asyraf b. Halim

FACULTY GEOSPATIAL & REAL ESTATE, Geomatika University college , Prima

Peninsular, Jalan Setiawangsa 11, Taman Setiawangsa, 54200 Kuala Lumpur..
syahir.asyraf.halim@gmail.com

Abstract
Being of the oldest organization in Malaysia. JUPEM is in the onset has been instrumental is
transforming the country from a lay back entity into a fast developing nation by providing the basic
framework for land and ownership. This important undertaking plays a major role in allowing the
country to focus on nationhood, Promoting unity amongst it citizen and the economics and social
objective. In this respect, JUPEM has expanded its activities from its core cadastral and mapping
using conventional methods into a more advance digital methods to meet the advancing demands
and need of the nation. Two major projects, in the form of MyRTKnet and eKadaster are specifically
design to cater for such requirement by providing basic control infrastructure with nationwide
implementation.

Introduction
The early history of Malaysia (formerly known as Malaya) is very obscure because there are
extremely few historical writings available. In 1786, Captain Francais Light took possession of the
island of Penang to mark the beginning of British intervention in Malaya. However ,the history might
be said to date from the perion of Malacca Sultanate, founded just before 1400 AD. In the 19 th
century, the British introduced a bureaucratic system that turned each state into the apex of
authority for civil administration and not by the Sultan as before. By the end of 19 th century, the
Malay peninsula was divided into 12 states in three distinct administrative groups with the High
Commissioner for the Malay states being also the Governor of the Straits Settlement. The three
groups were known as

 The British States Settlement(S.S) of Penang, Malacca and Singapore.

 The Federated Malay States (F.M.S) of Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.
 The Unfederated Malay States (U.F.M.S) of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johore.

Positioning
Coordinate reference system have been established in many region around the world by national
mapping authorities since the 19 th century, using conventional surveying techniques and procedures.
Most of them use local datum that are confined to small areas of the globe. Fit to limited areas to
satisfy the national mapping requirements. This is also the case with Malaysia where it has in place
two old/classical triangulation networks. Namely the Malayan Revised Triangulation 1968 (MRT68)
for Peninsular Malaysia and the Borneo Triangulation 1968 (BT68) for Sabah and Sarawak.
GPS
With the recent advance in space-based positioning technology, many countries have begun to
Implement and subsequently adopted a global geocentric coordinate reference system. In relation to
this ,JUPEM itself has embraced in the early 1990s the Global Positioning system (GPS). Technology
with the eventual objective of adopting a global unified datum for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and
Sarawak. This later let to the establishment of the Peninsular Malaysia GPS Scientific Network 1994
(PMGSN94) and East Malaysia GPS Scientific Network 1997 (EMGSN97)

Malaysia Active GPS system (MASS)

JUPEM established the permanent GPS tracking station known as Malaysia Active GPS system at the
end of 1998, with 18 station making up the whole MASS infrastructure. Coupled with data obtained
from the international Global Navigational Satellite System. (GNSS) service (IGS) Station. The
coordinate of MASS station were derived from four years of continuous GPS data(1999-2002).
Collectively, these coordinate represent the basis for the determination of the Geocentric Datum of
Malaysia (GDM 2000), which was launch on 26 August 2003.

MyRTKnet
Between 2002 and 2008, JUPEM further developed a modern active GNSS network with the latest
state of the art technology to establish the Malaysia Real-Time Kinematics GNSS network or
MyRTKnet, which is meant to provide the real-time positioning services at the centimetre-level
accuracy to users in the field. By the end of 2008, Malaysia has 78 RTK reference stations for the
network with 50 station covering the whole Peninsular Malaysia, while 14 stations each covering
Sabah and Sarawak.

Vertical Datum.
Mean Sea Level (MSL) is a convenient vertical datum to act as a basis for height where it can be
established easily especially for a maritime country like Malaysia. Using such a datum ,JUPEM carried
out levelling works to obtain heights of benchmark (BM) by accumulating the height differences from
the reference BM near the coast along the interconnecting levelling routes. The lines can then be
carried further into the interior parts of the country without having to wait for the levelling network
to be fully completed. Thus, through the published heights from the adjustment of levelling
networks, the vertical datum can be realised.
Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Vertical Datum (PMGVD)
It was not until 1912 that the British Admiralty established what to become the first national levelling
datum for Peninsular Malaysia. It was based on tidal observation undertaken by the HMS Waterwitch
between noon of September 1, 1911 and May 31 1912 at Port Klang. The Vertical Datum then was
defined by fixing a zero elevation for Port Klang. This datum is known as the Land Survey Datum 1912
or LSD12 and it continued to serve vertical control users in Peninsular Malaysia for more than 80
years. In 1983 JUPEM began to re-determine the precise MSL value in conjunction with the
establishment for the new Precise Levelling Network for Peninsular Malaysia. This was achieved with
the setting up of a Tidal Observation Network that consist of 21 tidal Station in Malaysia.
Subsequently ,Port Kelang was selected for the adoption as a reference level for the new vertical
datum origin, based upon a 10 year tidal observation (1984-93). This new datum is known as the
Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Datum. In 1994 ,a monument to signify the establishment of the
PMGVD was build within the JUPEM compound in Kuala Lumpur.

Users of Vertical Controls that were established by JUPEM come from many different social sectors,
particularly those related to the planning of the social and economical development. Among the uses
that are supported by vertical controls are:

 Topographic Mapping
 Construction of water system.
 Monitoring of water system.
 Other construction such as bridges, excavation, earth movement and tunnels.
 Subsidence studies.
 Crustal motion studies
 Gravimetry, for prospecting and tectonic studies
 Navigation.
 Property relationship to water bodies.

CONCLUSION
JUPEM had crossed several technologies boundaries. Since its inception back in 1885, JUPEM has
taken every endeavour to ensure the integrity of its business process elements remained intact and
precise while embracing technology into its arms. Geospatial information gathered had been
transformed from manual handwriting into analogue, analogue into digital and now it can be
disseminated at the blink of one’s eye. Today, the advent of mobile technology, green data centre
server consolidation, cloud enterprise and semantic technology are among deliverables to be
integrated into service. JUPEM will strive to improve and smoothen its delivery mechanism both
internally and to the public by taking advantage of interactive media technology. These great strides
will continuously push JUPEM into a whole new level of excellence.

Reference
Department of survey and Mapping Malaysia(JUPEM) - A pictorial Journey 1885-2010

Government o f Western Australia – Geodetic Strategy for Western Australia to 2020

E.J KRAKIWSKY, D.E WELLS – Coordinate Infrastructure in Geodesy.