The Survey and Mapping Office (SMO) is responsible for the provision of various up-to-date maps for the Government to support the rapid and intensive land and infrastructure development of Hong Kong. In particular, it provides survey and mapping services to the Lands Department for land administrative activities, such as land disposal, lease modifications and land resumptions. The office is also responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the geodetic network, provision of aerial survey and photogrammetric services, and the provision of an up-to-date map at various scales. It is delegated with the authority for organising and coordinating the naming of geographical places and streets throughout the HKSAR.

    The SMO has established a Territorial Continuous Global Positioning System Array (TCGPSA) for Hong Kong to improve survey work efficiency. The system provides data that enables positioning measurements to achieve a high degree of accuracy. During the first phase of the TCGPSA, six GPS reference stations have been set up in the north-western New Territories. The second phase, in which the remaining six GPS reference stations covering the rest of the region are being set, is being implemented. When the system is fully operational, it will enhance many of the land and engineering survey operations, thereby generating substantial savings in manpower resources and equipment costs as well as in operation time.

    The office's Legislation Section assists the Land Survey Authority to administer the Land Survey Ordinance. The ordinance provides for the registration and discipline of Authorised Land Surveyors engaged in land boundary surveys, control of the standards of land boundary surveys, and establishment and maintenance of land boundary records.

    The SMO has established a Computerised Land Information System for maintaining different types of up-to-date digital map databases that cover the region. These map databases contain the graphic map feature with attribute information. Many utility companies, engineering consultants, computing system consultants and education institutes are using the digital maps provided by the office as a common graphical base and reference for various purposes, such as automated mapping, facilities management, customer support and geographical information systems.

    In order to help the business sector benefit from the availability of the digital maps, the SMO issues licences to permit business operators to use the data for various business applications. In addition, with the Internet Map Permittee licence, private enterprises can develop and deliver map or location-based applications at their websites, such as search for places of interest, finding routes, and performing demographic information analysis. In addition, many value-added-resellers (VAR) are using the SMO's digital maps as the reference base and add on specific information to develop their own tailor-made commercial map products or more advanced applications, such as for in-car navigation systems and for fleet management. These VAR products are available in CD-ROM and other media for use on personal computers and other mobile devices such as portable cellular phones and Personal Digital Assistants.

    The SMO has a computerised Map Archives Retrieval System that assists client departments and the public in searching and inspecting the maps and aerial photos archives. Two kiosks have been set up at the office's headquarters so that the public can access the items. It is planned to increase the number of kiosks at other map sales outlets for use by public and to establish a direct access linkage to the system for use by client departments.

    In aerial survey and photogrammetric services, the office is developing a new series of an orthophoto image covering the region. An orthophoto image is an image of the earth surface, which contains comprehensive and easy-to-recognise earth surface information with correct scale and position for planning, design, analysis, mapping, communications and presentation purposes.

    The SMO produces a wide range of survey and mapping materials such as 1:1 000 Basic Maps, Topographical Maps at scales varying from 1:5 000 to 1:100 000, Countryside Maps, Town Maps, Urban Maps, Hong Kong Guide 2002, thematic maps, land boundary maps, geo-community database, geo-reference database, aerial photographs and survey control stations. These products, apart from serving different government departments, are available for sale to the public in paper or digital form. Details of the products are provided at the Lands Department's website.