Ordnance Survey Ireland

Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) is the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland.

It produces and sells a very comprehensive range of urban, rural, tourist and leisure maps at a variety of scales in digital and printed form.

OSi also licences data for a wide range of computer based applications such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

OSi owns a network of 25 GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) stations around Ireland, continuously recording and streaming data from satellites back to the agency’s centre in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. That information is then processed in real time. In all, OSi stores a total of some 640 terabytes in 30 separate databases. OSi has significant experience in data management and database management.

How do they use mathematics?

Staff at the OSi use mathematics when they are surveying, such as coordinate geometry and trigonometry. Cartographers design, prepare and revise maps, charts, plans, three-dimensional models and spatial information databases, often using computer-based techniques such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and GIS (Geographical Information System (GIS).

Mathematics in the Curriculum
Coordinate geometry, trigonometry, area and volume, transformations (used for map projections), unit conversion (miles to kilometers!).