The Vienna Municipal Department of Land Surveying, MA 41, has made all of its geodata available for free. This data includes multi-purpose (surface) maps, orthophotos, terrain models, structure models, and surface models, all part of the Geodata Infrastructure.
According to Vice Mayor Maria Vassilakou, modern urban planning cannot do without digital three-dimensional modelling. The City of Vienna has this particular advantage of being able to use unique geospatial data such as the three-dimensional model of the city. MA 41 is one of the main suppliers of this data. Now it can benefit citizens as well as business users such as planners, architects and civil engineers, and universities.
Open Data Government
The publication of the Vienna geodata is part of the Vienna Open Data Government (ODG) initiative. The geodata is available for free and can be processed using generic CAD or GIS software. These packages are also available as open source. Image data such as the orthophotos and the multi-purpose (surface) maps can be processed and visualised using standard visualisation software. Like all other data published under the Open Government Vienna program, the geodata is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.
MA 41 is the central service point for all surveying tasks involving the Vienna City Administration. The geodata, covering all of Vienna, forms the basis for the analysis and presentation of the city's urban planning. The digital multi-purpose map of Vienna is produced in two ways: The objects on public roads are measured using electronic tachymeters. Other objects are detected using aerial photo analysis. The multi-purpose maps — and its derivatives: the multi-purpose surface maps, terrain models and structure models — are refreshed in a three-year cycle. The orthophoto is re-created every year.