Geo on Sascha Brawer

Method for Memory-Bounded Construction of a Globally Complete, High-Zoom-Level Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF from Tile-Access Logs

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A defensive disclosure of the technique behind OSMViews: how its builder turns a rolling window of OpenStreetMap tile-access logs into a planet-wide raster in constant memory. Published to prevent patentability; the reference implementation is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Automated Georeferencing of Archived Cadastral Plans

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An independent project, presented to the City of Zürich’s Geomatics and Surveying department. The talk was given in German.

Quick Transitions Between Indoor and Outdoor Maps

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

From the indoor-mapping work on Google Maps.

Map Content Driven by Location and Schedule

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A location- and schedule-aware Google Maps feature. The German entry is a utility model (Gebrauchsmuster), which runs a shorter term than the patents.

Building Exteriors from Interior Floor Plans

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

From the indoor-mapping work on Google Maps — deriving a building’s outside from its floor plans.

Proper Name Transcription/Transliteration with ICU Transforms

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This was a talk rather than a published paper — slides and a recording of the presentation, no separate written paper. Presented at IUC 34 in Santa Clara.

Conversion of Input Text Strings

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Patented technology for converting place names and similar geographic strings between writing systems — part of the same line of work as the ICU transforms talk.

ISO 19137:2007 — Geographic Information — Core Profile of the Spatial Schema

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was the editor and principal author, and took the standard through ISO/TC 211’s process. It grew out of a background paper I wrote for Working Group 7 on aligning commonly used spatial formats with ISO 19107. Available from the ISO catalogue.

Modeling Spatial Data

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Co-authored with Joseph Dorfschmid, commissioned by KOGIS/swisstopo. The textbook was written and published in German for a German-speaking audience — the PDF linked here is the original German text, not a translation. It alternates between the narrated Ilistal story and the underlying theory, so readers can go as deep as their interest and prior knowledge call for.

Current NSDI Activities in Switzerland Based on ISO 19100 Standards

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Presented by the Swiss delegation at the ISO/TC 211 plenary in Bangkok, with Hans-Rudolf Gnägi (ETH Zürich) and Claude Eisenhut (Eisenhut Informatik). I was at Adasys AG, Zürich, at the time.

Colors in INTERLIS 2

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Written at Adasys AG, Zürich, for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Directorate of Cadastral Surveying.