The island groups in the Fijian nation are mapped by the Department of Lands and Survey (FDLS) in Suva. 1:50,000 scale topographic coverage was established by the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys (now Ordnance Survey International (OSI)) in the 1950s. This map was eventually published for most larger and inhabited islands, in three-color editions with 100 ft contour intervals. Early sheets used the Cassini projection, which was later replaced by Transverse Mercator-based mapping. In the 1960s DOS also produced four of a seven-sheet 1:250,000 scale topographic map of the islands.
In the mid-1980s a New Zealand-funded project revised the specifications for the topographic mapping of the country. New 1:50,000 scale mapping was started based on a Transverse Mercator projection, WGS 72 ellipsoid, with the intention of extending coverage to the whole of the Fijian group including the smaller eastern islands. Maps in this new (FMS 31) series use the metric Fiji map grid and a 20 m contour interval and are compiled at 1:25,000 scale prior to full five-color printing at 1:50,000. The specification results in a similar design to Australian topographic mapping standards, 38 of the 93 sheets required for full coverage were published between 1985 and 1993, and the survey was completed by 1998. 1:25,000 scale mapping in series (FMS 30) is published on demand, as monochrome dyeline editions, which become available prior to publication of full-color 1:50,000 editions. Once the 1:50,000 scale mapping is complete it is planned to take the 1:25,000 series to full-color publication. Other coverage from FDLS includes administrative mapping of Fiji at 1:750,000 scale, a cadastral mapping program, as well as a revision program for 1:250,000 scale mapping started in 1996. A new urban specification for the (FMS 1) street map series was released in 1994, and the intention is to produce four-color fully indexed maps, mostly at 1:15,000 scale, to cover major settlements.
Soviet military topographic mapping of Fiji exists at the following scale: 1:1,000,000 (6 sheets, complete coverage, published 1965-1973). This product is available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
A land information system is currently being implemented by Terralink from New Zealand which is establishing the Fiji Land Information Center (FLIC) as a central hub for an integrated digital land database. A two-stage process involves scanning of published 1:25,000 scale national mapping, to be followed by digital photogrammetric capture from new aerial photographic coverage to update the topographic database. In 1997 the first digital topographic coverage was established, for Lakeba Island. Unmapped areas of Vanua Levu and the outer islands have the highest priority for digital compilation. Over 20 different data sets from 11 different agencies are to be integrated in the project. In addition to the structured topographic data these will include digital cadastral mapping data, land boundaries and census boundaries from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, as well as environmental data from a number of agencies. It is planned to complete this coverage by the end of 1999.
The Fiji Hydrographic Service in the Marine Department was established in 1970. Maintaining nine coastal charts and three oceanic charts as well as publishing four charts of the Fijian exclusive economic zone.
The Mineral Resources Department (MRD) in Suva is the Fijian earth science mapping agency. Full colour 1:50,000 scale geological mapping of Viti Levu, Lomaiviti, Vanua Levu, Kadavu and the Yasawa and Moala groups was completed by the end of the 1970s, using the DOS topographic base and published with geological bulletins. The Lau group was mapped at 1:25,000 scale. Geological, hydrogeological and geochemical coverage of the two main islands is mapped at 1:250,000 scale. MRD also published a set of nine bathymetric maps of the Fiji archipelago at 1:250,000 scale, completed in 1994, as well as compiling smaller-scale bathymetric cover. Digital earth science data have been captured since 1989 by FLIC. A 50 m resolution DTM of Viti Levu has been assembled, and digital geological mapping of Vanua Levu has been compiled in MapInfo format.
Soil mapping of Fiji was undertaken by the New Zealand Soil Bureau (NZSB) in the 1960s. Eight-sheet 1:126,720 scale soil and land use maps were compiled and are packaged with smaller-scale environmental themes and the monograph Soil Resources of Fiji. Soil data is currently the responsibility of the Agriculture Department. Other resources mapping was compiled under British aid projects in the 1960s and used DOS bases, including 1:125,000 scale land capability mapping of the two main islands, and 1:250,000 scale land use maps of Vanua and Viti Levu. Resources surveys of the eastern Fijian islands were compiled in the 1980s and published by the French Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM). These included 1:50,000 scale full-color soil, geomorphological, topographic and land use mapping issued with an accompanying French and English language monograph.
Forest mapping of Fiji is carried out by the Fiji Forestry Department (FFD). From 1991 FFD has been creating a 38-sheet 1:50,000 scale forest cover map in hard copy and digital form by interpretation of LANDSAT TM imagery, using ERDAS and ARC/INFO. There are also plans to derive a 1:500,000 scale generalized single sheet. These data are being integrated into the FLIC project.
An important regional mapping authority is also based in Fiji. The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) established in 1972, has its headquarters in Suva and two of its core programs include map compilation. A coastal series has been published since 1991 and now includes 13 geological and morphological maps of seven different Pacific states, whilst 29 charts have been published in the SOPAC bathymetric series, mapping parts of 16 different states.
Small scale maps of Fiji are published by German commercial publishers Berndtson and Berndtson (B&B), Hema and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
Copyright © 2014 De Gruyter for e-version of World Mapping Today, 2nd Edition | Copyright © 2019 East View Geospatial, Inc.
