GIS in Education

SPIE invites you to attend the Defense, Security, and Sensing Exhibition, a key opportunity for you to see the latest products and network with important people in the industry.

Registration is free and includes access to the exhibition floor and selected special events.

Over 500 leading companies will be onsite, displaying the latest infrared imaging, sensing, optics, and other technologies key to growth for the scientific community. You will see Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Germfree Labs, Goodrich Robotics, L-3 Sytems, FLIR Systems, and other top organizations.


Among the highlights, all included at no cost with your exhibition registration:

- Norman Augustine, Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin Corp., serves as the Symposium-wide Plenary Speaker this year. His talk, "Re-engineering Engineering," covers the need for engineers to reinvent their profession to meet 21st century challenges.

- Panel on Future Direction in US Government Funding, featuring representatives from US Army Research Laboratory, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research

- Robotics and Unmanned Systems displays and product demonstrations

Plan to attend SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing Exhibition - see the latest technology, find technical solutions, and make the personal connections that will help ensure your success.

SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing 2009
Orlando World Center Marriott
Resort & Convention Center
Orlando, Florida, USA

Exhibition:
14-16 April 2009

Conferences + Courses:
13-17 April 2009

u-bloxAG has acquired Geotate B.V. (a joint venture between Road Group Holding AG and NXP B.V.). Geotate develops GPS geotagging solutions based on software GPS technology and related Web services. The acquisition represents an important strategic step for u-blox, as it allows the company to expand its position in the consumer markets with unique GPS geotagging solutions for digital camera manufacturers and other portable device manufacturers.

Key terms of the transaction include:

• Patented technology and products in the area of software GPS and geotagging GPS
• Total consideration EUR 5.5 million in cash
• of which EUR 2.0 million for a royalty free patent license arrangement with NXP B.V. for selected patents
• and of which EUR 3.5 million for the outstanding shares of Geotate B.V.
• u-blox will integrate the Geotate business into its existing activities to leverage and further strengthen the mutual commercial activities

Through the acquisition, u-blox will gain access to a broad GPS patent portfolio and will be able to expand its GPS offering with GPS geotagging products. These products are based on Geotates software GPS technology Capture and Process, which enables portable devices to automatically add a geotag to a picture in a fraction of a second without compromising the user experience or the devices' power consumption. Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as photographs and video.

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG) will be holding their GIS Manager's Workshop at the California GIS Conference (CalGIS) on Thursday, April 9 at the Sacramento Convention Center in Sacramento, California. This workshop will show attendees how to secure funding and ensure success for their GIS initiatives in these hard economic times.

The GIS Manager's Workshop is being held at GIS conferences throughout the country and continues to be one of the most popular workshops for GIS professionals. In July 2008, GTG visited the City of West Sacramento, California, offering the workshop to a room full of attendees who stated that this is one of the most valuable classes they have taken in years.

Topics covered in the workshop include Managing GIS, the Governance of GIS, the Enterprise Implementation of GIS, and the Business Case for GIS. All topics focus on local government. Attendees will learn how to build a case for their GIS and guarantee its success.

To be part of this workshop, register to attend CalGIS at www.calgis.org/registration. For more information on GTG’s GIS Manager’s Workshop, visit www.geotg.com.

IceWEB, a storage company specialising in GIS, has announced that it has delivered additions to its custom-designed GeoBase system for the Air National Guard. The INLINE TE 246 solution includes multiple INLINE GIS servers and storage arrays, along with INLINE’s specially-designed Data Appliance for ESRI GIS software. VMware is now included as part of the new high-performance configuration.

"These new GeoBase configurations demonstrate our ability to stay in front of the market when it comes to ready-to-deploy, GIS storage solutions," said John R. Signorello, CEO. "Each configuration comes preconfigured with the OS, database and applications integrated and tested for immediate deployment. The system was designed so that customers could simplify the process of delivering GIS data in minutes."

The INLINE GeoBase system additions were delivered and installed during IceWEB's fiscal second quarter which ends on March 31, 2009.

If you want to find red light and speed cameras, and even DUI checkpoints, then try the Phantom Alert: GPS software. The Phantom Alert is a software that you download into your GPS, which claims to help you avoid those cameras.

How the Phantom Alert works? First drivers and spotters report speed traps and photo enforcement locations on the Phantom Alert website (phantomalert.com). Then you simply download the location database into your GPS and you will receive audio and visual alerts every time you approach enforcement areas. You will see them before they see you.

Fox News: PhantomALERT GPS based alert system

Space Shuttle landing delayed at Kennedy Space Center. The bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced the Space Shuttle Discovery to stay much longer in orbit before heading its way back to Earth.

Mission control radioed the crew of the Space Shuttle to let them know clouds were moving in near the landing facility and their return would be delayed.

A new agreement with Microsoft Corporation gives ArcGIS users fast access to Microsoft Virtual Earth for their GIS projects. As part of ArcGIS Online at the ArcGIS 9.3.1 release, ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server users will be able to connect directly to Virtual Earth and quickly start their GIS projects with ready-to-use content.

ArcGIS Desktop users who are current on maintenance and have an Internet connection will have access to Virtual Earth for a variety of up-to-date mapping content including aerial imagery, roads, and hybrid (aerial with labels) imagery. With a familiar look, imagery access will appear as another data layer in GIS. The imagery will provide excellent background maps on which users can overlay their operational data. This means users will be able to focus more on their business data than on its context.

ArcGIS users can build Web applications that support geospatial services through ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Web software developer kits (SDKs), including APIs for JavaScript, Flex, and Microsoft Silverlight. This enables them to provide their clients with access to Virtual Earth content from their applications.

Highly accurate 3D digital maps, captured from aircraft mounted lasers, are being used to assess the risk of flooding at critical utility sites across the UK. The project, undertaken by Ambiental on behalf of one of the UK’s water companies, used LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data supplied by aerial survey specialist Bluesky to help examine the likelihood, extent and depth of potential flooding as part of a review of flood defence measures at each of the five sites.

Ambiental, a specialist environmental risk mapping and modelling consultancy, used a combination of existing datasets, models and gauged data in combination with their proprietary modelling and mapping techniques to assess and quantify each flood source in turn. Potential sources of flooding considered during the analysis included fluvial (river), tidal, surface water, sewer and groundwater. The high resolution LiDAR data, supplied by Bluesky, was used to map each risk in 3D to ascertain the spatial distribution of different flood depths. The results of these assessments were used for business planning purposes, specifically within cost-benefit analysis for flood defence measures at each site.

Google will soon be coming to 11 of Canada's largest cities including Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg and Calgary. The company will take up driving around cities in the coming weeks to map the streets of Canada to include a street-eye view of streets, buildings and their surroundings.

The street view will provide users to help locate meeting spots, buildings and a better idea of their destination. With the added bonus of being able to see your own home on Google, many people raise privacy concerns, which Google is ready to handle. Images of people's faces and licence plates will be automatically blurred out, and any requested offensive images will be removed from the web site.

Google Street View - Canada will be added to the small list of available countries, including Australia, France and Britain. The service has been in use on Google for some time on mapping U.S. cities and streets for public view. Some popular street data has already been collected in Canada, where it will be made public soon, along with the 11 new major cities in Canada.

David Van Sickle is looking for a few pioneering asthmatics. He wants to attach a GPS device to their inhalers before they boldly go out into a spring world filled with allergens.

His goal is to map where and when environmental exposures trigger asthma symptoms, prompting them to puff on their "rescue" inhalers, which deliver the medicine that keeps them breathing. It's one of two asthma-related projects in which Van Sickle, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar in the Department of Population Health Sciences, has worked with students in biomedical engineering.

It's easy to predict problems when an asthmatic visits a "cat lady" or runs through a field of ragweed. But Van Sickle plans to use global positioning technology (GPS) to find previously unknown causes of the lung disease and help doctors better monitor whether treatment is controlling symptoms and improving quality of life.

In addition to tracing the causes of asthma, Van Sickle is also interested in better care for people who have the disease. Both interests have drawn him to work with the talented students enrolled in biomedical engineering classes. Past students designed early prototypes of the "asthmap" GPS device, which the CDC has now funded for use in the ongoing trial.

Current students enrolled in BME 201 are working on a low-cost spirometer, a device that measures lung function and is used in diagnosing asthma and other lung diseases.

Van Sickle, who has studied the increase of asthma in India, said commercially available spirometers are too expensive for most clinics there. The students are working on a design that could lower the cost from about $1,500 to $50. The project is set up as an "open source" endeavor on the Internet, allowing anyone access to their designs.

Raj B. Singh, chief respiratory physician at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, says that asthma is often misdiagnosed there due to a lack of proper equipment.

Availability of a cheap, accurate and robust spirometer would certainly create more interest in performing lung function measurements, resulting in better care for people with chronic lung diseases in India.

While the spirometers are likely to be of immediate benefit in the developing world, the GPS mapping may also someday help attack the spread of asthma.

Van Sickle says he can envision a time when GPS mapping of asthma outbreaks can allow researchers to see exactly what is making people sick.

Provided by UW-Madison, via

Maponics LLC, provider of geographic data, announced the official release of the Maponics Spatial API (application programming interface). With this, the playing field for companies looking to enhance their local search with relevant mapping has been leveled. Using the new spatial API, businesses with small or non-existent geographic data management capabilities can offer cutting edge Web-based local search and mapping, without making significant GIS (geographic information system) infrastructure investments.

AccuData, infoUSA, Trulia, Pitney Bowes/MapInfo, Dominion Enterprises (eNeighborhoods and Homes.com), Zip-Codes.com and Citysearch are among the companies for which Maponics' data improves local search and mapping.

Most Maponics datasets are now available for quarterly data delivery in common file formats or through the Maponics Spatial API, including:

- Maponics Neighborhood Boundaries
- Maponics Neighborhood Location Centers
- Maponics Neighborhood Names
- Maponics Neighborhood ZIP Codes
- Maponics ZIP Code Map Data
- Maponics Carrier Route Map Data

Leica Geosystems announced the Leica RCD100, claimed to be the first integrated medium-format mapping camera on the market. According to the company’s release, Leica RCD100 is a highly productive, yet affordable, mapping solution for those who want to convert from analog to digital airborne imaging and for those who want productivity and efficiency for smaller to medium-sized photogrammetric mapping and orthophoto projects.

The temperature-controlled Leica RCD100 camera housing contains the control unit, reliable and exchangeable solid state memory, Leica IPAS20 Inertial Positioning and Attitude System with IMU and up to two 39MP frame sensors for single head or dual-head operation. Dual-head operation allows simultaneous image acquisition in RGB and CIR.

Further, the Leica RCD100 offers 35mm, 60mm and 100mm exchangeable lenses and the most rigid lens mounting on the market. This ensures flexibility and photogrammetric stability without compromise where true mapping accuracy is needed.

DeLorme, announced the release of the latest version of its three-tiered XMap 6 GIS Software suite. XMap 6.2 offers functional improvements and performance upgrades for every level of XMap.

A significant component of this upgrade is the expansion of ESRI shapefile support to users of XMap Professional. This base edition of XMap now delivers entry-level GIS functionality, by offering access to readily available shapefile data as well as common aerial imagery formats.

XMap Professional users can now:

• Download and import shapefiles from GIS data archives
• Customize the symbology of point, line, and polygon layers
• Access all of the available attributes for each map object
• Search for specific records using XMap’s Attribute Search function
• Turn specific layers on or off to create custom maps
• Transfer GIS layers and aerial imagery to DeLorme Earthmate PN-Series handheld GPS receivers

For advanced GIS applications, DeLorme offers XMap 6.2 GIS Editor, which includes full data editing capability, and XMap 6.2 GIS Enterprise, which provides efficient tools for corporate GIS data management and distribution and which now includes support for ArcSDE 9.3.

[report] The U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) at Bamberg, Germany, doesn't have to wonder what it has in its ecological and other environmental inventories any more, now that this data is exchanged using a GIS. The electronic mapping tool allows 31 organisations across the garrison to share information in order to integrate efforts for greater benefit to the environment.

The garrison's environmental management division was the first activity of the USAG with a fully working GIS. The GIS includes a variety of themes that include geology, drillings, water and soil tests, surface waters, landscaping features, landscape maintenance responsibilities, cultural and archaeological resources, cultural monuments, contaminated sites, recycling points, oil water separators, hazardous waste accumulation points, hazardous material storage areas, above ground storage tanks, underground storage tanks, trees, biotopes and forests.

Using GIS is part of a robust environmental quality programme at USAG Bamberg that includes many successes. USAG Bamberg's environmental programme addresses pollution prevention opportunities, instills a powerful recycling programme, promotes the protection of public health and the environment, conserves valuable material and energy, and maintains sustainable use of Army land through the conservation of existing resources. Using a GIS, the environmental management division has implemented a maintenance program for disturbance-dependent species and their habitats.

A Lockheed Martin built modernized GPS Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellite, equipped with an innovative payload that will provide an on-orbit demonstration of a third civil signal, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

Designated GPS IIR-20(M), the satellite is the seventh in a line of eight GPS IIR satellites that Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems, Newtown, Pa., has modernised for its customer, the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

Modernized GPS IIR satellites include several features that enhance operations and navigation signal performance for military and civilian GPS users around the globe. In addition, the IIR-20(M) spacecraft includes a new demonstration payload that will transmit a third civil signal located on the L5 frequency (1176.45MHz). The signal will comply with international radio frequency spectrum requirements.

Leica Geosystems has announced the update of its ATHENA Program, a programme involving GNSS and Structural Monitoring for non-profit organisations, with the latest Leica GRX1200+ receivers and the Leica AR25 choke ring antenna.

ATHENA stands for ‘Advanced Technology for Higher-Education and Non-profit Associations’ and has the clear objective of introducing the latest GNSS Reference Station and Monitoring technology to the academic and research communities. Any non-profit organization providing education and scientific research involving GNSS and Structural Monitoring can benefit from the programme.

The ATHENA Program 2009 updates consists of a new set of Leica Geosystems GNSS Reference Station product bundles including the new generation of receivers and antennas with special discounts for qualified institutions.

Leica Geosystems announced it will release the Leica iNEX, a full-function mapping and guidance display with a large, color touch-screen, this spring. The Leica iNEX is a truly versatile solution that can be fully integrated with the Leica mojoRTK auto-steer system to offer advanced functionality, or purchased as a stand-alone guidance system for use with most GPS receivers.

With real-time mapping to show exactly where the vehicle has been working and Virtual Road view to display the line of steering, the Leica iNEX provides an accurate visual representation of every application. The display is also fitted with field data management software to store multiple vehicle setups and record data for all fields across the farm, which can easily be transferred back to the office.

In addition to AB Parallel guidance, the iNEX comes standard with A+ Heading, and Adaptive Curve guidance options and unlimited storage for all guidance points and waylines, providing customers with the information they need for repeatability year to year.

To ensure that customers only pay for the features they want and need, the Leica iNEX comes with a suite of standard guidance options, but offers optional upgrades. Those producers who require advanced guidance options or auto-section control can add just the options they need. Plus, when used with Leica's mojoRTK, the iNEX can be upgraded remotely at any time via Leica Geosystems' unique remote service and support tool - Virtual Wrench(TM).

Upgrade options for the iNEX include three advanced guidance options - Pivots, Contours and Replay. Replay is a guidance option unique to the iNEX that allows users to "replay" advanced guidance patterns on the most unique fields.

Additionally, auto-section control can be added to the iNEX display providing automatic on/off for spraying and planting applications.

The Leica iNEX mapping and guidance display has a retail price of $4,995 and is available from Leica's network of premium resellers. To learn more visit www.mojoRTK.com.

Autodesk today began shipping its new 2010 line of 2D and 3D design and engineering software. More than 50 new products offer new features and functionality as well as improved tools for Digital Prototyping, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Infrastructure Modeling, sustainable design and analysis, which will help architects, engineers and designers meet increasing commercial and public sector demand for more energy-efficient buildings, products and infrastructure.

The 2010 software for Infrastructure Modeling -- which includes AutoCAD Map 3D software, Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise software and Autodesk Topobase software -- allows users in telecommunications firms, state and local governments, and utilities to improve performance and increase ROI of their infrastructure projects. New features now enable users to more easily aggregate multiple sources of data, improving the design of smart electric utility grids, making planning city projects easier, and enabling more efficient design and repair of highways.

Autodesk has enhanced sustainable design and engineering functionality across the product portfolio. In its Digital Prototyping solution for manufacturers, the new assembly stress analysis and motion simulation tools in Autodesk Inventor Professional 2010 help users simulate and optimize their designs early in the process -- reducing both material waste and cost. A new circuit builder tool in AutoCAD Electrical 2010 software enables designers to analyze the energy efficiency of circuits and make more sustainable engineering decisions. Autodesk Moldflow 2010 software now includes an energy usage indicator so designers can further decrease manufacturing energy requirements, and with access to the world's largest plastic materials database of its kind, easily evaluate different materials and make product design choices that can contribute to sustainability initiatives.

For architects, engineers and contractors, Autodesk's 2010 portfolio provides significantly expanded tools for energy analysis including the new Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 green building software, a comprehensive sustainable analysis tool that delivers a wide range of simulation and analysis functionality including energy, water, and carbon analysis capabilities with desktop tools to conduct detailed environmental simulations and visualize results. Users of the 2010 Revit software platform for BIM can now make more informed decisions to optimize sustainable building performance. Revit MEP 2010 software now makes it easier for mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers to determine energy demands of a building with native heating and cooling loads analysis, and export enhanced gbXML that provides the ability to examine analytical models of a project before export.

Other 2010 product updates include new free-form 3D design tools in AutoCAD 2010 software, new conceptual design tools in the Revit platform and extended simulation capabilities in the Autodesk Inventor family for Digital Prototyping. Autodesk previewed the new software releases last month in three virtual press conference webcasts, which are available for viewing at www.autodesk.com/2010webcasts. Details on the full portfolio of 2010 software are available at www.autodesk.com.

GeoEye delivers GeoEye-1 Satellite Images to Google. The world's highest-resolution, color satellite imagery can now be viewed on Google Earth.

GeoEye, Inc., a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information, announced today it has started delivering high-resolution, color satellite imagery from its newest satellite to Google. The GeoEye-1 satellite images that are being highlighted by Google were all taken within the last 60 days and include images of the Pyramids of Giza, Mount Fuji, Sydney Australia, and many other recognizable locations. Examples of imagery can be seen here.

Bill Wilt, GeoEye's vice president of North American sales, said, "Google is a very important customer with a huge appetite for map-accurate satellite imagery. We will work hard to ensure we meet all of their expectations and provide them a continuous stream of the world's highest resolution color satellite imagery."

GeoEye image: One of the pyramids near Cairo, Egypt

The images were all taken from 423 miles in space as GeoEye-1 moved around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour. The 4,300-pound GeoEye-1 satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Sept. 6, 2008.

For less than RM2,000 you can now have a satellite image of your neighbourhood or a place of interest. The images from RazakSAT, Malaysia’s first home-grown remote sensing satellite, can be purchased from the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency from middle of this year.

According to a report, Malaysia sent off RazakSAT from the Royal Malaysian Air Force Subang airfield to Kwajalein Island in the Republic of Marshall Islands, from where the satellite will be launched on April 21. RazakSAT, named after the second Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdul Razak, is a mini class satellite weighing 180kg and the first remote sensing satellite in the world to be orbiting the equator.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said the equatorial orbiting satellite would enable observations of the earth’s surface to be made more often compared with a polar orbiting satellite.

RazakSAT can revisit the same spot four to six times a day and has a 2.5m resolution. “The satellite, which cost RM150mil, is the workmanship of local scientists and engineers,” he said in a press conference after the launch of RazakSAT.

Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency director general Darus Ahmad said a committee comprising government agencies such as the military and police would vet requests for “sensitive” images.

OxTS, an established manufacturer of inertial navigation systems and GPS, is pleased to announce that its RT2502-250Hz product can now be post-processed, giving exceptional position accuracy for aerial imaging applications.

The RT2502 GPS-aided inertial measurement system has an exceptionally high output rate of 250Hz, so that little or no interpolation between images is required. All the measurements are output at the high data rate including the position, orientation and velocity measurements. Now, with post-processing of the GPS, it is possible to obtain high accuracy position measurements at very low costs.

Perfect for high-tech airborne imaging systems, the RT2502-250Hz also includes dual-antenna GPS. This stabilises the heading so that it remains accurate regardless of the aircraft’s trajectory. The GPS corrected inertial data can then be used to geo-rectify the hyperspectral image with unpredicted accuracy. High speed real-time outputs mean that the user can perform on-line verification.

Connecting the RT2502-250Hz to any system is easy. Documented interfaces over RS232, Ethernet and CAN bus mean that designers can put this highly accurate GPS/INS system to work very quickly. Easy configuration software gets the RT2502 set up quickly and, after that, the system requires no user intervention. The RT2502 can start-up automatically without the user and will give stunning results.

VISualize 2009 is an event designed to bring together ENVI & IDL users to provide opportunities for networking, sharing ideas and working on strategies to move our scientific data analysis and visualization community forward. It is a two-full day event of presentations from professionals from a variety of industries who use visualization technologies for a wide variety of applications.

Day 1 - IDL User Group
Day 1 of VISualize '09 will focus on applications developed using IDL. Learn more about how the powerful visualization and analysis tools of IDL can be used to help you get the answers you need from your data.

Day 2 - ENVI User Group
Day 2 of VISualize '09 will highlight applications using ENVI. You will learn more about how ENVI helps you get the important information you need from imagery.

Cost for the event is $35 per day or $70 for attendance both days. No previous experience with IDL or ENVI is required for participation in this event. Pre-registration for this event is required.

For more information about this event, please contact Denise Goldstein at 303-413-3940 or deniseg@ittvis.com.

When
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:00 AM - 4:15 PM

Where
VISualize 2009
at the World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th St NW #6
Washington, District of Columbia 20037
USA

Google Street View captured a picture of a vomiting British dude with another guy wearing a reindeer hat. The Google Street View photo angered the Brits and they demanded that it'd be taken down. Google obliged!

This is not the first time Google Street View posted a controversial photo. Remember 'Google Street View car hits Bambi' photo?

Google Street View photo with vomiting British guy

Peek, a mobile email device, might come up with a new model with cheaper e-mail access and features Google Maps.

[via] "It looks like there is a new Peek handheld model coming out. Rumor has it that the new model is going to undercut even the cheapest BlackBerry, and deliver cheap push e-mail. I personally think that tactic works pretty well, with the iPhone eroding into RIM’s high-end and mid-end devices market."

The Australian-built GeoSamba Universal technology from iintegrate Systems – a subsidiary of NGIS Australia – has now been integrated with ESRI’s flagship server product, ArcGIS Server.

Already renowned as a proven enterprise framework for delivering business value through mapping technology, GeoSamba has now extended integration options by including a purpose built connection to ArcGIS Server.

iintegrate Systems CEO, Adam Hender said that this latest enhancement extends the capabilities of the product to be in sync with existing systems.

"ArcGIS Server provides very high quality map renderer and although we introduced support for it through our OGC Gateway, released in version 2.0 last year, we felt that having a purpose built GeoSamba Gateway will provide a more seamless integration of ArcGIS Server rendered maps and source features that are not easily achievable through the OGC standards," he said.

"Many of our clients and other spatial organisations have ArcGIS Server capabilities, so the dedicated gateway enables GeoSamba to easily fit with their existing systems. Making GeoSamba work with other existing systems and helping organisations make the most of their current GIS investments has always been the core purpose of the product."

"GeoSamba has earned a reputation as the leader for enabling organisations to leverage existing GIS and add value to their business processes. This new Gateway has further improved this aspect of the product," Adam said.

GeoSamba Universal is available as a standard or enterprise system, ready for use off-the-shelf, by emailing geosamba@ngis.com.au. More detailed product information is available at www.geosamba.com.

For more details, contact GeoSamba Software Manager and iintegrate Systems CEO Adam Hender on (08) 9355 6051 or email adam.hender@iintegratesys.com.

TrafficLand, Inc., based in Fairfax, VA, announced, today, that it is providing XML Feeds containing live streaming video and geospatial metadata from its national traffic camera network for integration into Crisis Information Management systems used by public safety agencies and emergency first responders.

TrafficLand is the single source for access to nearly 6,000 live traffic cameras nationwide utilizing its patent-pending technology to make the video available in a cost-effective, low bandwidth format from a tier 4 fault tolerant data center.

While the fortified service is designed to meet high demand traffic loads typically seen during emergency incidents and major events this network access provides assistance for state and local first responders on a daily basis. The real-time video data layer from TrafficLand’s national traffic camera network can be integrated into virtually any Global information System (GIS), common operational picture, or mobile application.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $7 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2010. Interested researchers can apply online at GRANTS.GOV under the funding opportunity number 10HQPA0001. Applications are due May 13, 2009.

The USGS awards approximately 90 research grants annually to universities, state geological surveys and private institutions. Key projects include cataloging earthquakes in Southern California to better prepare emergency responders, the public and the media about earthquakes; providing seismic hazard estimates so communities and critical institutions can engineer their buildings and roads to be structurally sound; and providing data on ground shaking to help minimize damage.

Apply for the USGS Earthquake grant here.

[report] The "Wenchuan Earthquake Disaster Atlas," a large-scale comprehensive collection of maps jointly edited by departments including China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as experts and scholars from related fields, was officially published on March 18.

The atlas panoramically records the massive earthquake, from its occurrence in Wenchuan to post-quake planning of recovery and reconstruction. It adopts advanced technological methods including three-dimensional GIS, databases, remote sensing and digital drawing. The presentation methods, colours and semiotic systems used in the atlas are designed in accordance with the disaster characteristics of the massive earthquake.

The maps' complete and accurate contents provide decision-making references for national defense against major catastrophes and offer comprehensive historical materials for earthquake research. It will also raise public awareness on disaster damage prevention and reduction.

Come learn how the USGS is working with partners to provide the science necessary for understanding current and future climate conditions and developing effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, to help prepare for an uncertain future.

What: The media and public are invited to a congressional briefing to learn how the USGS is working with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program to provide the science necessary for understanding current and future climate conditions and developing effective adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Who: Robert Corell, Vice President of Programs at The Heinz Center
Peter Schultz, Director of the Climate Change Science Program Office
Virginia R. Burkett, Chief Scientist for Global Change Research at USGS.
Thomas Armstrong, Senior Advisor for USGS Global Change Programs

When: Friday, March 20
10:00 a.m

Where: 1324 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Congressional Sponsors: Representative Vernon Ehlers (MI)
Representative Jim Moran (VA)

The price of the popular USGS (U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 scale topographic quadrangle map - often called a "topo" or a "quad") - will go up $2 per sheet to $8. Larger format ("poster") maps will go up $3 per sheet to $10. These prices were last increased 7 years ago.

The USGS began a systematic program of topographic mapping in 1884 as an aid to scientific studies in geology and hydrology. Since then, the maps have become a signature product of USGS because the public has found them to be a valuable tool for accurately depicting the land surface.

The nation is covered by more than 57,000 detailed USGS topographic maps that show the shape and elevations of terrain and delineate a wide range of natural features and built structures. USGS maps are particularly useful for natural resource managers, planners, engineers, and outdoor enthusiasts. During natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, thousands of USGS map sheets are typically rushed to the area overnight to assist emergency agencies in response and recovery efforts.

Information about where and how to purchase USGS maps is available at the USGS Store.

The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) was lofted into a near-Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit by a Rockot launcher lifting off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.

GOCE is the first of a new family of ESA satellites designed to study our planet and its environment in order to enhance our knowledge and understanding of Earth-system processes and their evolution, to enable us to address the challenges of global climate change. In particular, GOCE will measure the minute differences in the Earth’s gravity field around the globe.

The Russian Rockot launcher, derived from a converted ballistic missile, lifted off at 15:21 CET (14:21 GMT) and flew northward over the Arctic. About 90 minutes later, after one orbital revolution and two Breeze-KM upper-stage burns, the 1052 kg spacecraft was successfully released into a circular polar orbit at 280 km altitude with 96.7º inclination to the Equator. The launch was procured from Eurockot Launch Services, a German/Russian company based in Bremen, Germany.

3DVU launches Way2Go, the first and only personalized Web-to-Mobile route planner giving real-time turn-by-turn, GPS tracking, voice and text guidance navigation for PC and mobile phones with full 3D aerial photography and real terrain elevation of entire countries.

Way2Go is based on patented technology, enabling users to plan, preview, share and navigate their routes in a full 3D virtual world with smooth zooming and perspective angle maneuverability. Way2Go one-ups mapping solutions like MapQuest, Google Map and Yahoo Maps

Way2Go is now available for over two hundred million mobile users with Symbian S60 devices including Nokia's popular phones and hundreds of Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola. Way2Go's multi-language navigation, provides coverage of the entire USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France and Czech Republic with continuous imagery for smooth maneuverability, change of zoom level and perspective angel in full 3D unlike other websites and mobile navigation solutions.

Consumers can buy Way2Go from http://www.w2g.navi2go.com for a $4.99 monthly service providing up to 15 routes with maximum distance of 5,000 km. Way2Go will soon be sold on application shops such as Handmark, Handango, PocketGear, Mobile2Day, Handster as well as major mobile operator shops such as Sprint, Alltel and Verizon.

EARTH, Millennium House’s atlas, and its newest edition EARTH Concise will be unveiled in the UAE capital as the 19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) opens doors to the public at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

The participation of the 20-kg world atlas at the 5-day Book Fair will mark its final public appearance in the country. The award winning Australian publisher said that increasing global demand will soon take it to the exclusivity of collectors’ shelves.

Gordon Cheers, Managing Director of Millennium House and the brain behind the creation of EARTH, will attend the fair and will be at the pavilion to personally sign the copies.

“We are fascinated by the interest EARTH has created here. This makes the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair all the more important for us and the ideal platform to introduce EARTH Concise to the region,” Mr. Cheers commented prior to the opening of the event.

EARTH Concise has become very popular as an educational tool, the reason that Millennium House decided to launch it at the 19th Abu Dhabi International Book to enable schools and families own copies of this award winning publication. This move reflects Gordon Cheers’ belief that every child should grow up with an atlas at home.

EARTH Concise won the International Map Trade Award (IMTA) for Best Book in 2008, while EARTH won global acclaim for its excellent designer quality and incomparable content value. Created for a highly exclusive group and priced accordingly, the atlas is a one-stop print destination for almost every possible detail of Planet Earth. The 355 maps in it covering 170 countries are of the highest standard. A team of 100 cartographers have taken the art of cartography to a higher level through the 580-page atlas. The printing and packaging have been designed to take EARTH across several generations.

Its return to the country to take part in Abu Dhabi International Book Fair marks a milestone in its journey around the world inspiring book lovers to reach out to Planet Earth even without leaving their reading rooms. The interest with which Earth was received in this region has encouraged the publisher to produce it in Arabic.

Earth was originally produced in two editions: The Royal Blue and Imperial Gold editions which have been attracting book fans through two stunningly different variations in binding and packaging – both personally certified by Gordon Cheers for authenticity. The Dhs15,000 Royal Blue EARTH is hand bound in royal blue leather with silver-gilded cover and pages. Millennium House is printing only 2,000 copies of this edition.

EARTH, Imperial Gold collection, an upgraded version of the atlas, is targeting an even more exclusive group of connoisseurs. The 1,000 copies of this gold leather bound edition are not available through book shops and are sponsored by individuals, corporate houses, libraries and organisations.

Millennium House introduced EARTH in the UAE for the first time in 2008 at the Sharjah World Book Fair, while the 19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair will witness this unique publication’s final public appearance.

[report] The launch of a European Space Agency (ESA) gravity mapping satellite, called GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer), has been delayed. Controllers suspended the countdown when the service tower protecting its rocket failed to move clear of the pad and allow a lift-off. The tower is supposed to pull back from the rocket to allow it to launch.

Engineers hope to fix the problem, which should allow another launch attempt to be made. GOCE will give scientists new insights into how the interior of the planet is structured and how the oceans move. Researchers will also use the satellite's data to frame a universal system to measure height anywhere on Earth.

Manifold.net has announced a new world record for the number of processors used in a personal computer for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) processing. At the company's 2009 European User Meeting in London, Manifold demonstrated an upcoming new software product that simultaneously utilised over 1440 processor cores to perform a remote sensing image computation at supercomputer speed with over 3.5 teraflops of performance. Manifold demonstrated the new software on a desktop 64-bit Windows PC equipped with three NVIDIA GTX 295 GPU cards costing less than $500 each.

The demonstration showed how a desktop Windows PC using inexpensive consumer components and running a $245 Manifold GIS package can run over one hundred times faster than any other GIS or remote sensing software package, even those costing tens of thousands of dollars more than Manifold.

"Modern technology provides significantly lower cost as well as much greater performance," commented Dimitri Rotow, a product manager at Manifold. He continued, "The desktop supercomputer technology we utilise costs almost nothing to deploy, as little as $80 to start, yet it far outperforms any competitor's software, even packages costing 50 times as much. By using inexpensive, massively parallel GPUs Manifold can provide teraflops of computing performance for only a few hundred dollars."

NVIDIA GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) employ multiple parallel processing units for faster performance. Manifold's new software uses massively parallelised programming to execute general purpose computations within those parallel processing units for much faster performance than possible on the main CPU. Because of NVIDIA's success in consumer graphics markets, over 100 million NVIDIA GPUs have already been installed in computers throughout the world, ready to provide supercomputer speed to anyone using Manifold's new product. NVIDIA GPU cards are widely sold by many vendors for as little as $80 per card.

This new Manifold technology will ship in Q2, 2009, and will be offered to Manifold Release 8 licensees for an update fee between $50 and $100.

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced that PCI Geomatics has upgraded their OGC membership level to Strategic membership. PCI Geomatics (as PCI Remote Sensing) was one of the eight charter members of OGC at its founding in 1994.

Strategic Membership is the highest level of OGC membership. To help advance OGC programme objectives, Strategic Members provide significant resources in the form of funding and in-kind resources. As a Strategic Member, PCI Geomatics will contribute to the OGC process at a high level to help realise the full societal, economic and scientific benefits of integrating sophisticated but easy-to-use geospatial technology into consumer, commercial and institutional activities worldwide.

"Our original enthusiasm for the OGC vision of interoperability turns out to have been well-founded," said Dr. Robert Moses, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics, "and the business case for participation and leadership just keeps improving. We look forward to playing a larger role in the collaborative effort to expand the global consensus standards platform for a growing industry."

Mark Reichardt, OGC President and CEO of the OGC, comments, "We are extremely fortunate to have PCI Geomatics as a Strategic Member of the Consortium. In addition to their continued commitment to advancing OGC standards, PCI will mobilise significant energy and resources to help OGC further globalize its standards and programs in nations and regions where the OGC is underrepresented."

Google is attempting to collect detailed photographs from five cities around Ireland for a new feature on its Website, says report. The Street View feature is already available for a number of cities around the world, in tandem with the popular Google Maps and Google Earth services.

As the name suggests, Street View enhances the traditional two-dimensional map image with digital photographs that give a panoramic picture of any point along a city street. With a PC or a compatible mobile phone, users can also zoom in on particular details such as the name of a shop or restaurant.

The image-gathering exercise will begin next week when several black cars will start driving around the streets of Dublin taking detailed digital pictures as they go. The cars are hard to miss: mounted on the roof of each one is a five-foot high apparatus equipped with eight digital cameras, low-level radar and a GPS antenna which corresponds every photograph with its exact geographical location.

Google is quick to address privacy concerns, saying that pedestrians’ faces that appear in photographs are blurred before they are published on the internet, as are vehicle registration plates. However, useful information such as shopfronts, hotel names or bus numbers will not be obscured.

Anyone concerned that a photograph may contain inappropriate content can report this to Google. “We’ve implemented some clever technology to remove areas that might cause some privacy concerns,” said Ed Parsons, geospatial technologist with Google. “Individuals can have themselves, their families or their houses removed on request.”

The service has a range of practical applications. It could be used to describe a city street in detail to a first-time visitor or to decide on a meeting point. Prospective house buyers could explore a neighbourhood before visiting in person, while motorists can familiarise themselves with key points along a route before starting their journey. Initially, Google intends to cover Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.

The service, which is free, already includes photographs of cities and rural areas in the US, New Zealand, Japan, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. The Irish street view will include suburbs as well as city centres.

Google could not confirm when the service will be formally launched in Ireland.

Google announced Friday a major update to show more details of Mars both in its history and the present day. Originally the 3D maps of Mars were available with the release of Google Earth 5.0, just a little more than a month ago. The update shows how our knowledge of Mars, and our study of astronomy, has evolved over time.

According to Google, the new update allows us to travel back in time to see the antique maps originally drawn by astronomers Giovanni Schiaparelli, Percival Lowell, and others. It also show present-day Mars with a "Live from Mars" layer, which is a continuous stream of the latest imagery, including those from NASA's THEMIS camera aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

Users can have the feel of flying along with Odyssey as well as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to see what the two crafts have been observing lately and where they are headed next.

Historical Maps: In the late 1800s, Giovanni Schiaparelli created many of the earliest detailed maps of Mars. He famously saw, recorded, and named numerous linear features on the surface, some of which he termed cannali (Italian for channel). His contemporary, Percival Lowell, re-imagined and misunderstood these features to be artificial canals, sparking a media frenzy back on Earth and captivating the public with the idea of abundant water and an alien civilization on Mars. The Historical Globes layer lets you see these and other antique maps of Mars as virtual spinning globes.

[via]

Gothamist Maps site is the best way to see what's going on and where right now at the heart of New York. Do you wanna know the recent location of a bank robbery, a water main breakage, or a serious assault, Gothamist Maps points them for you. It employs Google Earth for its mapping system.

The accuracy defined in the TerraSAR-X data product specifications has been confirmed by the Civil and Commercial Applications Project (CCAP) Group within the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The group published the results of their geolocation accuracy evaluation of TerraSAR-X radar satellite imagery during the ASPRS Annual Conference in Baltimore this week.

Thomas P. Ager, NGA System Engineer for Radar, confirms that "the results of this evaluation are consistent with the accuracy values listed in the product specification", and even adds that "it is plausible that the TerraSAR-X accuracy is even better".

NGA's CCAP regularly performs geolocation accuracy evaluations for civil and commercial imagery being purchased or considered for purchase by the Agency. To Infoterra, holder of the exclusive commercial exploitation rights for TerraSAR-X data and provider of numerous services based on this data, "the independent confirmation of the spacecraft's performance by such a renowned institution is of course of immense value," states Joerg Herrmann, Managing Director of the German EADS Astrium subsidiary. "This endorsement will surely support our growing sales activities in the North American market."

University of Sydney scientists are behind a technology that will map most of the ice-free land surface of the globe over the next five years in order to create something akin to a "Google Earth" for soil quality.

Professor Alex McBratney, Director of the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Precision Agriculture, said the maps will provide information about the soil at about every 100 metres across the world. Current maps are at the scale of one to five million.

The idea is to bring soil knowledge into the digital age and to help the international battle to secure food resources, Professor McBratney says. "These maps will give us a good estimate of the production capacity for all kinds of crops all over the world, in some billions of places across the world."

Professor McBratney is working on the project, GlobalSoilMap, with a consortium of scientists in major agricultural organisations across the world. They are calling for greater recognition of the role soil plays in determining the planet's health.

The technology also has an important role to play in improving current climate change models, McBratney says. "The soil information that we produce will help global climate models by providing more detailed information about soil, which produces a lot of CO2 and sequesters a lot of carbon. The current information about soils in those areas is pretty poor."

The maps are using state-of-the-art and emerging technologies, including remotely sensed data from satellites and sophisticated geo-statistical models. These novel approaches are referred to as Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Using GPS receivers, field scanners, and remote sensing combined with other data, DSM processes information using computational methods such as geo-statistical interpolation, inference algorithms and GIS.

McBratney says his team has developed a number of approaches depending on the amount of prior soil and environmental information available. In Australia the information will help policy makers, catchment management authorities, and ultimately farmers in agricultural planning and management.

[via] Notes written by Filipinos on Google Map Maker can now be seen on Google Maps, allowing users around the world to see accurate and updated online maps as well as new roads and attractions in the Philippines.

Launched in the country in October last year, Google Map Maker – which allows users to edit Google Maps data – enabled local map enthusiasts to contribute to the building and updating of the country’s online map data.

Since the launch, hundreds of users have contributed tens of thousands of edits, reflecting the overwhelming enthusiasm by Filipinos to collaborate online and share their knowledge of their neighborhoods with the rest of the Internet community, a statement released by Google Inc. said.

Filipino civil engineers, business executives, programmers, entrepreneurs, and students have all contributed to Google Map Maker, the statement said.

Through a moderation and verification process, most of these edits, which include street-level data, landmark tags, and business establishments, can now be seen on Google Maps, it added.

“Because of the collaborative efforts of local map enthusiasts, we are beginning to see the “physical face" of the Philippines getting clearer over time for the global community to see. This is a great start, but know there is much more to do, so we encourage you to join your fellow Pinoys and contribute to Google Map Maker to give the Philippines an accurate virtual country map to be proud of," said Derek Callow, Head of Marketing, Google Southeast Asia.

SPECIM, Spectral Imaging, Ltd., provider of hyperspectral imaging technology and solutions, has released Aisa EAGLET, a hyperspectral imaging airborne sensor specifically designed for small aircrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Aisa EAGLET will be officially presented at the EARSEL Imaging Spectroscopy workshop in Tel-Aviv, Israel, 16-19 March 2009.

AisaEAGLET is a compact and lightweight hyperspectral airborne sensor that acquires full, contiguous hyperspectral data in the VNIR region (400-1000 nm) with high spectral resolution and up to 100 push-broom images per second. AisaEAGLET is also claimed to be provide high spatial resolution with 1600 pixels across the swath and excellent sensitivity even in low light conditions. This airborne system consists of the hyperspectral sensor, GPS/INS sensor, data acquisition computer and flight operation software. Its modular design and low total mass of 10 kg of the complete system allow quick installation in various payload compartments.

AISA Eagle hyperspectral sensor specifications/features, here in PDF.

Maplecroft has produced a new series of global maps of natural disaster risk for 2009, mapping the risk to human development and economic activity in 208 countries. The maps and risk indices are designed to support efforts to mitigate the effects that climate change and natural disasters can have on communities as well as economic activity. Four sets of maps explore:

1) All natural disasters;
2) Hydro-meteorological disasters;
3) Geophysical disasters and
4) Economic losses due to natural disasters.

Each map uses a unique index to measure disaster risk in each country. The maps are supported with background explanation and comprehensive analysis as well as discussion of how business can engage in natural disaster preparedness and response, supported by case studies of business engagement.

Top 10 highest risk countries for absolute natural disaster economic losses:

1. USA
2. China
3. Japan
4. Italy
5. India
6. Germany
7. France
8. United Kingdom
9. Mexico
10. Turkey

Top 10 countries with high hydro-meteorological disaster risk:
1. Bangladesh
2. Sudan
3. Mozambique
4. Niue
5. Haiti
6. Honduras
7. Djibouti
8. Philippines
9. Vanuatu
10. Antigua & Barbuda

For more information contact:
Jason McGeown or Ed Cole at +44 (0) 1225 420000 info@maplecroft.com

An attempt to map the potential effects of climate change across South-East Asia has found Cambodia to be unexpectedly vulnerable to disasters.

The map, which considers the region's risk of exposure to climate hazards as well as its ability to adapt to such threats, found that Cambodia's poor ability to deal with disasters dwarfs its relatively low exposure to the risks.

The project, 'Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast Asia', was carried out by the International Development Research Centre's Economy and Environment Program for South-East Asia (EEPSEA) as part of a larger-scale study.

The researchers combined historical datasets (from 1980–2005) with climate hazard maps for five climate-related risks. They compared these findings with the vulnerability assessment framework of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — based on exposure to multiple hazard risks, human and biological sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to climate change.

The study found that some of the most vulnerable areas in South-East Asia were the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Bangkok, because of their exposure to sea level. The northern part of the Philippines was also particularly vulnerable, being at high risk from tropical cyclones.

But the most vulnerable areas of all, occupying four of the top ten hotspots out of a total of 530, were in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Not only does the city lie at the intersection of all but one of five climate-related hazards — drought, floods, landslides and sea level rise — it is also densely populated. These risks outweigh its high adaptive capacity.

"This is the first comprehensive [climatic] picture of what the region looks like," says Herminia Francisco, director of EEPSEA. "The map illustrates the extent of climate change in the region and that most of the countries are vulnerable to the worst manifestations of climate change. To avert disasters, governments should take urgent and ambitious actions."

Richard Fuchs, IDRC regional director for South-East and East Asia, says: "The challenge for us is to put more pressure on the policymakers to better manage adaptation options in reducing vulnerability in the region."

Philippines senator Loren Legarda, who attended the Manila launch of the map last week (6 March), said that policymakers should now devise ways to prepare vulnerable people for the impact of climate change.

Download full report in PDF.

ESRI (UK) has announced the release of CrimeAnalyst 1.6 International Service Pack 1. The Service Pack 1 includes French language help files, as well as improvements for French and Spanish language usage. Quality improvements are also added with this service pack release.

ESRI (UK) recommends that all CrimeAnalyst users - including those in the UK - apply this service pack.

About CrimeAnalyst v1.6 International Service Pack 1
What's New?
# French online help now available

# English text on the data Clock output now correctly displays in Spanish or French, as appropriate

# English text on the Query Window now correctly displays in Spanish or French, as appropriate

# Improvements to the French language used on some dialogs

# Spanish text on the advanced options in the Hotspot tool has been corrected

# The Hotspot tool now allows use of selections on the point layer at the top of the table of contents

# An intermittent exception using the Contour tool has been corrected

# Selection of features by selecting segments of a data Clock has been improved

# An error in the Contour tool when saving to File-based and Personal Geodatabases has been corrected

# Other quality improvements

The Carbon Project has announced support for Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) GML 3.2 in CarbonTools PRO, a geospatial software developer kit for the .NET framework. This update allows programmers to build rich spatial data infrastructure (SDI) applications to support tomorrow's transportation, infrastructure and environmental challenges.

"The next generation of digital information flowing in and out SDI applications will be rich in details, and the chosen base specification for these many of these applications is OGC/ISO Geography Markup Language (GML) 3.2," said Jeff Harrison, President and CEO of The Carbon Project.

The Carbon Project enhanced its CarbonTools PRO GML parser and data management modules to support advanced models in GML 3.2. This GML 3.2 parser helps developers build a new generation of dynamic transportation, infrastructure and environmental applications powered by rich geospatial data.

"The parsed GML content seamlessly merges with the numerous data types and sources supported by our CarbonTools PRO product. In addition, internal feature management and caching tools as well as the robust rendering functionality are all supported to help developers build GML 3.2-powered applications," said Nuke Goldstein, CTO of The Carbon Project.

The latest version of CarbonTools PRO is available now from www.carbontools.com.

In addition to new GML 3.2 parsers The Carbon Project included a major update to its popular Gaia geospatial viewer in CarbonTools PRO. The full Gaia 3.3 source code is provided with the CarbonTools PRO product – making it possible for developers to create and deploy advanced applications in minutes.

PCI Geomatics, developer of products and solutions for the geo-imaging market, announced the release of a new cost effective system for automated satellite image processing and job scheduling. The ProLines GeoImaging Server, is an off the shelf, hardware based, high performance image processing system. Today’s announcement was made at the ASPRS 2009 Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

“The need for advanced image processing and increased throughput was apparent and PCI Geomatics recognized this requirement for organizations wanting to save time and money,” said Brad Schmidt, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, PCI Geomatics. “For PCI, the ProLines GeoImaging Server represents an extension of our GeomaticaX offering into the realm of high performance computing; this will enable organizations to remove processing bottlenecks while reducing operational costs. The ProLines GeoImaging Server is showcasing to the world, PCI’s expertise and knowledge in image processing and automation.”

PCI Geomatics currently delivers client configured ProLines GeoImaging Servers for orthorectification, pansharpening and mosaic creation, for most satellite and aerial sensors.

This system brings specialised geo-imaging processing to an open architecture leveraging high performance hardware components, controlled by an advanced Job Processing System (JPS). The ProLines GeoImaging Server can be configured as a desk-side or rack-mount system, and key components such as data storage and GPU processing can be upgraded to meet client demands.

The equipment now in Russia has successfully completed two weeks of tests, marking a major milestone for the project and the customer. Work is now underway to integrate the equipment into the first two satellites, under a joint operation with VNIIEM and SSTL engineers.

Under the contract, SSTL is supplying three suites of satellite avionics and software plus system design support, power management and batteries, on board computers and data handling capabilities for satellite subsystems and satellite operations. SSTL will also support spacecraft assembly and integration activities in Russia. This is the first major contract that SSTL has undertaken in Russia and the co-operation is a new and exciting development for both organisations, as well as the wider space industry.

Equipment for a third KANOPUS satellite platform is currently under manufacture and test at SSTL’s Guildford facilities and will be delivered to the customer later this year.

The Russian Space Agency plans to launch a series of KANOPUS Earth observation satellites, with the first two due for launch at the end of 2009/early 2010.

KANOPUS-V is being developed for Russia and will record abnormal phenomena to study the possibility of earthquake prediction as well as monitoring agriculture, water and coastal resources. The satellite will carry a Russian-built 2.1m panchromatic imager plus a 10.5m multispectral imager.

VNIIEM chose to work with SSTL because of the company’s established reputation and considerable experience in building small satellites. SSTL’s unique approach to satellite engineering allows the company to provide satellite platforms, subsystems and even complete missions within extremely tight schedules.

Commercial Space Technologies (CST) assisted in contract negotiations and continues to play an active role in facilitating communications.

About SSTL
SSTL develops innovative technologies to change the economics of space, delivering cost effective satellite missions within rapid timescales. The company is a world leader in the design, manufacture and operation of high performance small satellites with experience gained over more than 25 years and 32 satellites launched.

SSTL employs 300 staff working on LEO, MEO, GEO and interplanetary missions, turnkey satellite platforms and space-proven satellite subsystems and optical systems. The company also provides training and development programmes and consultancy services, and performs studies for ESA, NASA and commercial customers related to platform design, mission analysis and planning.

Based in Guildford, UK, SSTL is owned by EADS Astrium NV.

SSTL Contact:
Audrey Nice, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804200 Email: a.nice@sstl.co.uk

Press Contact:
Robin Wolstenholme, Ballard Communications Management (BCM)
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288 Email: r.wolstenholme@ballard.co.uk

mapNinja is the iPhone and iPod touch Mapping Software! Useful Networks, a leading developer of location-based products and services for mobile and Web, announces today the availability of mapNinja, a fully touch-enabled map viewer, which enables rapid development of location-relevant applications for iPhone and iTouch.

The mapNinja software development kit (SDK) enables developers to embed an interactive map viewer within their native iPhone applications in just three lines of code. Prior to mapNinja, iPhone developers had limited and unappealing options when deciding how to incorporate mapping into their iPhone apps.

Previous options included shutting down the app and linking to the pre-loaded maps application on the iPhone, using static map images which don’t offer interactivity, or investing heavily in creating a map viewer from scratch.

Key features of mapNinja include touch-enabled pan and zooming, customizable background loading tiles, the ability to display multiple map types (satellite, road, hybrid), vector and image graphics overlays, developer documentation and continuous re-centering in auto-tracking mode.

The mapNinja SDK also includes out-of-box connectivity to four different mapping providers including Microsoft Virtual Earth, CloudMade and Useful Networks mapping services, giving developers the choice of up to 12 different map styles.

Several licensing options, including a no-fee ad-supported license, will be available to suit the needs of commercial iPhone development shops, as well as independent iPhone developers. For more information, visit www.mapninja.com.

I found these LIDAR captured videos from activeimagingsystems.

LIDAR Video Street Image of Frederick, Maryland - 3D LIDAR point cloud with RGB textures registured to each LIDAR range point.


LIDAR Video of the City of Frederick, MD - Using a van-mounted 3D imaging system (4 LIDARS, 2 cameras), a 3-dimensional video is created of various streets in Frederick, Maryland.

Active Imaging Systems (AIS) announces today that they have multiple Urban Reality (URY) systems on the shelf ready for immediate delivery. Recent economic news has made everyone extremely cautious of capital expenditure. However, the government’s stimulus package will help to kick-start the US economy by pouring billions into shovel-ready infrastructure projects. AIS has been trying to find a way to support their customers in winning the contracts that will result from the stimulus package. Other vendors require order entry-to-delivery cycle times of 8-12 weeks. Because the stimulus money must be spent quickly, these long cycle times do not support quick use and delivery of the survey work-products that will get infrastructure projects running immediately.

AIS will deliver their URY systems from stock. Bill Gutelius, President of AIS says, “There is no other vendor in this market who is capable of immediate delivery and who has committed the capital to put systems on the shelf. We know that time is of the essence for our customers and we are committed to their success. We urge them to take advantage of the most cost-effective 3D imaging system available.”

Phil Arsenault, AIS’s CTO added, “Of course our turnover training and support will get you through your first few projects. We will work side-by-side with you until you say that you don’t need us to stay, not just until the end of the week. The URY system is a turn-key, end-to-end imaging and mapping system, and although we have assured that it is as simple to use as possible, we are there to support the demands of all skill levels.”

Call AIS for a quote on new or used systems immediately, so that you can bid on the stimulus package funded jobs.

CARIS is pleased to announce the release of Bathy DataBASE 2.2, implementing the very latest technology available to address the obstacles of storing and managing large volumes of multi-dimensional data.

With the ever-expanding volume of multibeam survey data and the large number of archived historical data sources, a data management system specializing in bathymetry management is essential.

Already adopted by the world's most progressive hydrographic agencies, Bathy DataBASE software is used to create and manage bathymetric surfaces generated from full density soundings. It allows users to validate, prepare and compile bathymetric data from multiple formats and sources to create products.

Bathy DataBASE 2.2 includes the new CSAR technological framework developed by CARIS for managing huge volumes of data. With its sophisticated, multi-resolution, multi-attributed georeferenced grid it can support billions of gridded soundings.

Further, Bathy DataBASE 2.2 also supports fully dynamic 3D point clouds, allowing for rapid visualization in 2D and 3D and handling hundreds of millions of multi-attributed points.

"Version 2.2 will stimulate users to a new level of data management, visualization and analysis," explains Karen Cove, CARIS Bathy DataBASE Product Manager. "Whether the need is to automatically create highly accurate bathymetric products like decimetric contours or to visualize data seamlessly in 3D, the robust and scalable environment of Bathy DataBASE is one that will meet user demands today and tomorrow."

Pictometry International Corp. announced a significant win in the re-examination proceedings instituted by GEOSPAN Corp. against Pictometry's U.S. Patent No. 7,424,133 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Capturing, Geolocating and Measuring Oblique Images." On February 2, 2009, the U.S. Patent Office upheld the validity of priority ownership to the inventive concepts claimed within Pictometry's patent thereby rejecting recent allegations made by GEOSPAN Corp. Furthermore, the Patent Office held that the majority of GEOSPAN claims are without substantive merit.

GEOSPAN has been repeatedly chastised by the Patent Office for failing to follow the correct procedures, including incorrect filings and failing to properly pay the required maintenance fees on its own patent.

This Patent Office ruling follows on the heels of GEOSPAN’s two declaratory actions being summarily dismissed in a lawsuit they filed against Pictometry last year. The dismissals were the first of their kind to occur in the nation since the Supreme Court changed the standards last year. As a result of the dismissals by the Court, Pictometry’s patent is no longer under challenge.

"The patent upon which Pictometry’s technology is built has withstood every challenge it has faced," said Dick Kaplan, President and CEO of Pictometry.

Background
In response to an inquiry Pictometry sent to GEOSPAN regarding a product it was marketing to customers in the U.S., on March 20, 2008 GEOSPAN filed a declaratory judgment action in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota that it did not infringe Pictometry’s U.S. Patent No. 5,247,356 (‘356 Patent). GEOSPAN also alleged that if it did indeed infringe the ‘356 Patent, that the ‘356 Patent be held invalid and unenforceable. GEOSPAN finally included a claim that Pictometry infringes GEOSPAN’s U.S. Patent No. 5,633,946. On August 7, 2008, the Minnesota court summarily dismissed GEOSPAN’s declaratory judgment actions thereby removing Pictometry’s patent from challenge. The Court’s dismissal of GEOSPAN’s actions was the first of its kind following the Supreme Court’s revisions to the declaratory judgment standards in 2007.

As part of a second issue, on November 11, 2008, GEOSPAN filed an action with the U.S. Patent Office for re-examination of Pictometry’s U.S. patent 7,424,133 alleging that some of the issued claims were invalid, due to a dispute over Pictometry’s priority claim on the technology. On February 2, 2009, the U.S. Patent Office upheld the validity of Pictometry’s claims to the priority of the inventive concepts claimed and further found that the majority of GEOSPAN’s claims were without substantive merit.

Pictometry’s primary U.S. Patent -- the ‘356 Patent -- predates the patent GEOSPAN sued Pictometry by more than three years and is unaffected and unchallenged by either of GEOSPAN’s actions.

Panorama specialists 360cities.net was cited for the great details on making panoramas for Google Earth.

The site, 360cities.net, posted the steps to creating/making panoramas for Google Earth via the article "Converting Large Panoramic Images to PhotoOverlays
for Google Earth with 360 Cities".

A sample video is posted below:

Global Marketing Insights, Inc. has completed the ‘2008 Africa Survey and Analysis of the Remote Sensing Market, Aerial and Spaceborne-10 Year Trends’ and delivered the final report to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS contracted Global Marketing Insights to conduct a research study of the Africa remote sensing market as it relates to aerial and satellite data technologies. Global Marketing Insights created a series of extensive on-line surveys encompassing trends impacting the remote sensing industry as well as application usage, and data needs concerning aerial film, aerial digital, aerial sensors and satellite data. These surveys were completed between January 2008 and January 2009.

“USGS's primary goal for the survey was to learn more about the remote sensing needs for Africa in order to support and assist the users,” said Dr. Shawana Johnson, President of Global Marketing Insights. “The survey study also provides a comparison to the Western and Asian studies that were previously completed (through NOAA contracts) and it provides insights into where the worldwide remote sensing market is heading – from the viewpoints of both data and service providers and end users.”

Some of the trends and insights of the study include:

• There is a positive movement in the use of remote sensing and opportunities for the use of geospatial data to make an even greater societal contribution to Africa's sustainable development in the near future.

• The private sector is starting to drive the process of developing geospatial data on the continent.

• Respondents believe they have an adequate amount of remote sensing expertise but they need a greater number of accessible geospatial data sets. Data becoming a commodity is the number one trend to impact them.

• Overall, the respondents believe that greater ground resolution is the technical advance that will impact their businesses the most followed by improved GPS units and increased data storage capabilities.

Based in the Philippines, Certeza Infosys Corporation (CIC) is not only the first local surveying company to use satellite-based GPS in this country, but also a famous surveying, mapping, and information system company in Southeast Asia.

Certeza is also the distributor of Spot Image (www.spotimage.com), the reputed satellite image company worldwide. After evaluating SuperGeo’s products, CIC purchased SuperGIS software, and is inquiring for the opportunity to be SuperGeo’s reseller in the Philippines.

With the broad network and abundant resources of CIC, SuperGeo is hoping to further expand sales & marketing territory in Asian market.

SuperGeo Technologies will release the Beta version of its first enterprise application server software, SuperGIS Server, by the end of March. SuperGIS Server is a set of comprehensive and integrated Enterprise GIS software.

With features of out-of-the-box and centrally managed in SuperGIS Server, it allows enterprises to integrated various GIS application functions such as different types of GIS data, visualization application and spatial analysis to server for distribution so that end users could attain and manipulate the data or function services provided by the very server via connecting to the server host that already installed SuperGIS Server with desktop software, mobile device application or browser.

As a result, SuperGIS Server fulfills the achievements of expanding the use of GIS capabilities within enterprise as well as saving the end user from installing specific software or giving training to its users.

CyberCity 3D, Inc. of El Segundo, CA announced a partnership with Minneapolis-based, GEOSPAN Corporation to produce 3D city models.

The agreement allows CyberCity 3D to build and publish new 3D city models with GEOSPAN's GEOVISTA imagery products. It also gives CyberCity 3D access to GEOSPAN's vast library of aerial/oblique images for 3D modeling. Future GEOSPAN customers will have the opportunity to utilize 3D city models when acquiring data from GEOSPAN and its partner companies.

CyberCity 3, a 3D geospatial modelling company specialising in emerging GeoWeb solutions for the real estate, travel destination, and geographic information systems (GIS) industries, will expand its growing city model library with the help of GEOVISTA imagery. CyberCity 3D, with its core business in web publishing, is a significant contributor of 3D city models to Google Earth. Municipalities such as Santa Monica, Paris, Honolulu, and Manhattan Beach are featured along with several other cities on Google Earth.