Double Take -- by Mark Sproxton

Like a drummer, with hands and feet moving in different directions to separate rhythms, the stereoplotter operator stares intently at the task at hand. The similarities to a drummer end there, however. This is a quiet environment and if you've heard of a stereoplotter operator, take a bow. Few others have.

"Nobody knows what this is unless they're in the survey field," explains Michel Gelinas, a manager and former operator with The Orthoshop. "Everyone knows what a map is, but they thought I was in the mattress industry. When you tell them, they think it's the neatest job around."

Stereoplotter operators are at the front-end of the mapping industry, ensuring raw data from aerial photos is transferred into digital images so maps of all varieties can be produced. Despite being a rather obscure job, that doesn't lessen its importance. "Without these guys collecting the information, you don't have a map," Gelinas said.

Operators take orthomaps -- essentially aerial photographs developed to correct for the curvature of the earth and the camera lens -- and transfer the information from the pictures into a digital format all the while looking through microscope-like eye pieces. The information on the photos can include houses, streets, trees, park benches, ponds, you name it. Once in a digital format, then those who buy the maps can add whatever they like to a map, be it roads, or buildings, or ball diamonds or all three.

Typically stereoplotter operators work in two or three shifts throughout the day in order for businesses to make best use of their super-expensive machines. At shift change, one operator takes over for the next, using the on-screen data to know where to pick up and how to proceed. It's solitary, quiet work -- some operators use personal-stereos -- but it also can allow for different views of the world.

"You get to see different parts of the country and even see different countries," Gelinas said. "If we're mapping in Mexico, you don't feel the heat, but you get to see what that's like." The work requires numerous skills in addition to a solid grounding in computer technology. "People have to enjoy accurate, precision work," Gelinas added. "If you're too sloppy, it's not acceptable. You have to be picky to a certain extent."

While there are no specific stereoplotter operator training or education courses, Gelinas said those programs with photogrammetry courses -- dealing with aerial or satellite photographs of the ground -- such as the two-year geomatics engineering technologist program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Alberta (SAIT) provide a good starting point. Typically all beginning operators at The Orthoshop will undergo about a month of in-house training to ensure the work they produce is accurate.

Although technology has made a huge impact on the mapping industry, Gelinas believes operators will be around for some time to come. "The computer can't tell as good as the operator what you're looking at. The computer isn't smart enough to distinguish between a house or a garage."