GIS in Education

Yesterday evening Facebook released a set of swine flu charts and maps that tracks the conversations surrounding swine flu. While it's an interesting map it doesn't really explain much. While there were some initial correlations between the level of conversation and the location of swine flu occurrences, comparing the lexicon maps to Google’s H1N1 Swine Flu map illustrates very little correlation between the two.

There is more at allfacebook.com.

[via] Wildgoose, the education division of Bluesky International, has developed two new products to support and promote the use of aerial photography in the classroom. A Local Area Explorers’ Kit provides everything needed to conduct local area studies while the Using Our School Aeroimage Deskmats pack is designed to maximise the use of Wildgoose Our School Aeroimage Deskmats. Aeroimage Deskmats are available for anywhere in England and Wales plus selected areas in Scotland, and are available to purchase online at www.wildgoose.ac.

The Local Area Explorers’ Kit contains 10 A4 aerial photographs centred on the school or other location of interest. Ordnance Survey mapping of the same locality, coupled with worksheets, 20 plus suggested activities and topics for discussion make this the perfect aid to local area studies.

IXSEA a manufacturer of high performance Inertial Navigation, Surface and Underwater Positioning Systems, announced a series of deliveries of LANDINS, the high-end Inertial Navigation positioning system specifically designed for mobile mapping and route mapping applications in dense urban areas, where GPS quality is often poor and the need for geo-referenced information is most critical.

"We are proud to help survey companies and academic institutions receive rapid geo-referenced data by extending their operational capacities when GPS is in difficulty," said Yves Paturel, Director for IXSEA, Land & Air.

Among the most recent deliveries: StratAG research group based at National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) - Ireland, is constructing an art mobile mapping system based around the latest high-grade GPS/IMU, Riegl VQ-250 LiDAR sensors and eight multispectral cameras. “LANDINS was chosen after public tender for its high performance and competitive pricing,” said Dr Tim McCarthy, NUIM.

LANDINS is now used in geoVISAT's VISAT system, an innovative and disruptive technology for creating and updating 3-D GIS databases very quickly and inexpensively. geoVISAT – a separate business unit within Vansteelandt bvba, has entered into a strategic partnership with AMS (patent holder of the VISAT technology) and holds the exclusive rights to deploy the VISAT technology throughout Europe.

[ESRI reports] With the signing of its K–12 statewide software license, Hawaii becomes the first state in the nation with a comprehensive set of license agreements that offers students in elementary and secondary schools, as well as those in colleges and universities, the opportunity to use the full complement of ESRI's GIS software products. State officials are enthusiastic about the potential for job creation through a greater emphasis on spatial literacy in the educational system.

The Hawaii Department of Education (DoE), which has been using GIS for administrative purposes for the past five years, can now install and use ESRI software on any number of instructional and administrative computers. Any school in the state will be able to do facilities management, safety planning, demographic analysis, and more.

The Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) is another strong advocate of the statewide licenses for GIS education and encouraged the DoE to expand its licensing agreements with ESRI.

Some schools have already included GIS instruction in their curricula, and the new licensing agreement will expand the opportunity for GIS project collaboration among students throughout the islands.

ArcGIS 9.3.1, which has begun shipping, helps create and share modern Web maps that are relevant for the entire organization. This release of ESRI's integrated collection of GIS software products focuses on improving the performance of dynamic map publishing and increasing the visibility of geographic information.

ArcGIS 9.3.1 includes an optimised map service that allows you to produce high-performance dynamic maps. The improved map quality in these services includes sharper edges to features, clearer labels, and better color transparency. ArcGIS Desktop users can fine-tune their maps for faster performance using the new Map Service Publishing toolbar. The toolbar allows maps to be analysed and makes recommendations for fine-tuning. The results can be previewed, and estimated draw times are provided.

ArcGIS now includes functionality to allow users to easily share and search for geographic content, such as maps, data, layers, and services. ArcGIS Online includes a new application in which users can create an account and, through a keyword search, find content; preview it; and, with a simple click, add it to ArcMap or ArcGIS Explorer. To facilitate the sharing of layers in ArcGIS, users can create layer packages that encapsulate ArcMap cartography and data, including a thumbnail, the extent, and spatial reference, in an easy-to-share package. Layer packages can be shared via ArcGIS Online as files, attached to e-mails, or included on DVDs. Joining the ArcGIS Online user community is easy and free to all ArcGIS users.

ArcGIS Desktop users are now able to directly connect to Microsoft Virtual Earth services and start their GIS projects with ready-to-use content at no additional charge. Virtual Earth services, which include imagery, streets, and hybrid imagery with street labeling, appear as just another data layer in GIS. Virtual Earth imagery and street maps provide excellent background maps on which users can overlay their operational data.

ArcGIS Server now supports Microsoft's Silverlight Web development platform for building fast, highly interactive Web applications. The new ArcGIS API for Microsoft Silverlight allows developers to use any .NET Framework-supported language to add GIS capabilities and consume services from ArcGIS Server and Microsoft Virtual Earth in a Silverlight application.

ArcGIS 9.3 users are able to easily upgrade to ArcGIS 9.3.1 without having to uninstall ArcGIS 9.3. In addition, ArcGIS 9.3.1 is completely compatible with ArcGIS 9.3, so users will be able to easily work in mixed environments within the same organisation.

With the release of ArcGIS Server 9.3.1, some licensing changes have been made to allow users more flexibility in their ArcGIS Server deployments. The editing feature of ArcGIS Server is now available for ArcGIS Server Standard users. In addition, ArcGIS Server 9.3.1 Advanced includes the Spatial, 3D, Network, and Geostatistical extensions for no additional fee.

G-Tek Solutions is optimistic in the use of KML file format and believes it will become more popular as a means of reducing production costs related to GIS. The objective of the KML converter software is to provide an alternative means at viewing data to organizations that may not have a huge budget and to help non-GIS users view data without expensive GIS software.

4MAT2KML Professional is a stand alone program that allows you to utilise your existing shapefiles and personal geodatabases and convert them into a KML format. This product currently supports files stored in NAD1927/NAD1983 UTM or SPCS projections.

4MAT2KML Lite lets you convert tabular data into a KML file format. The tabular data must reside in a DBF file format and it must contain LAT/LONG numeric data stored in decimal degrees.

Both programs allow users to customize the KML output by modifying the description of the fields, select the desired fields for data extraction, choose an icon and determine line width and color for polyline and polygon data.

NOAA, according to a press release, is helping Americans peer beneath the surfaces of the five Great Lakes by providing Google Earth with data that now includes detailed three-dimensional mapping of Lakes Huron, Ontario, Erie, Superior and Michigan.

"NOAA's data opens up the fascinating world underneath the planet’s largest fresh water system," said Richard W. Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research and a member of Google's Ocean Advisory Council. "As an oceanographer, I find this an exciting use of scientific data to serve society."

Visitors to the new Great Lakes feature can explore the canyons and sandbars in eastern Lake Superior, the Lake Michigan mid-lake reef complex, and the old river channel – now underwater – that once connected Lakes Michigan and Huron at the Straits of Mackinac.

NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, Mich., teamed up with the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colo., to produce the Google Earth tour to highlight some of the interesting coastal and subsurface features

The original Great Lakes bathymetric data were compiled by a NOAA NGDC-GLERL and Canadian Hydrographic Service team from archival U.S. and Canadian soundings spanning more than 75 years. David Schwab, a physical oceanographer at GLERL, generated a map of lake depths from the joint project and provided it to Google to form the basis for the Great Lakes topography.

The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on Earth, containing roughly 18 percent of the world supply. The lakes contain enough water to cover the entire surface of the continental United States to a depth of nine feet. The Great Lakes span more than 750 miles from west to east and their shoreline is equal to almost 44 percent of the circumference of the globe. Michigan's Great Lakes coastline alone is over 3,200 miles long, which is more coastline than any state but Alaska.

NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world, today unveiled a new look and enhancements for its NAVTEQ Traffic.com website at www.traffic.com. The new site design and improved features make it faster and easier for drivers to get more of the accurate, real-time traffic information they need to improve their workday commutes and leisure road travel.

Distributing real-time, digital traffic data since 1998, NAVTEQ Traffic.com, is the #1 traffic-only U.S. website for online and mobile traffic information*, providing drivers with comprehensive traffic information when and where they need it most. The enhanced site features include:

-- A location-aware homepage greets users with a real-time traffic summary for their city area
-- A streamlined, easy-to-use interface offers quick links to site features and content
-- New "Search Traffic" and "Browse Traffic" tabs help users easily find information they need
-- One-click "Save This Drive" buttons make it fast and easy to personalize MyTraffic alerts
-- New, more detailed maps display color-coded traffic flow and incident icons pinpoint hotspots
-- A real-time news ticker alerts site visitors to severe incidents in each city area

The NAVTEQ Traffic.com website is part of the NAVTEQ(R) product family which includes the NAVTEQ(R) Map, the most widely used map for navigation**. As part of the new NAVTEQ Traffic.com website design, site users will see links to NAVTEQ.com resources as well as a new NAVTEQ Traffic.com logo.

Site users will notice the increased ease and speed with which they can navigate using new and improved traffic tools at www.traffic.com. In addition, MyTraffic(TM) services will be enhanced with easier access to account management and personalized alerts. MyTraffic registered users can continue to access accounts with their current login and password and will continue to receive their traffic alerts by email, phone or text.

"The latest interface enhancements and location-aware features of NAVTEQ Traffic.com increase the interactivity and usability of our real-time information making the site even more beneficial for all drivers," says Alex Wiegand, vice president, NAVTEQ. "We are committed to helping drivers plan and manage their commutes and road trips with innovative tools that make it faster and easier to obtain the traffic information they rely on every day."

* SOURCE: January 2009 comScore Media Metrix

** SOURCE: Based on GPS-based in-vehicle and portable route guidance devices purchased in the U.S. since 2000.

ScanEx R&D Center has been realising the possibilities of fitting up Russian and foreign higher education institutions with the real-time high resolution (up to 1.8 m) remote sensing data reception technology in 2009.

ScanEx Center offers to the international education community the possibility to get the universal small-aperture ground station UniScan with licenses to receive 100 scenes of EROS A, 600 minutes of IRS-1D and the unlimited access to SPOT 4 images within the first year of station operations, all included. Initial inclusion of the license into the functionality of the UniScan station (as per the agreement with Operators of the respective RS programs) will enable to significantly decrease the total cost of the ground station and of space images for the universities and to make telemetry license prices affordable.

In such a way universities may efficiently use modern space technologies in education, research and development processes, applying up-to-date satellite data, received to own ground stations with the footprint of up to 2500 kilometers in radius.

Selection of specific satellite programs for UniScan station depends on the university specialization. Thus, for example, the Israeli EROS A satellite is intended to acquire very high resolution data (1.8 meters) for region development monitoring, detailed visualisation of middle and low resolution images and large scale maps updating. ImageSat Int. being the Operator of EROS A satellite plans to extent its operation till 2012.

UniScan ground receiving station with the license to receive raw data from satellites included is manufactured and installed turnkey together with software applications developed for satellites passes scheduling, programming orders submission, data acquisition, ingestion, processing, archiving and thematic analysis. In particular, software includes ScanMagic application (enables to process images in real-time mode) and ScanEx Image Processor (for preliminary and thematic processing of images, creation of end products – maps, physical indices, models, etc.). Therefore, functionality of a UniScan ground station will not require from the universities any additional time and expenses for the introduction of space technologies directly into the education process. At the same time the station itself shall become a core of an education center of geo-information technologies development.

"On-the-fly image process" is the main feature of SuperGIS Image Server recently released by SuperGeoTek. The function is based on the powerful image processing capability of the server to process the images on the server side to meet clients' request and send the processed results back to the client side. The advantage is that single image source on the server can immediately produce multiple image products; therefore, it can prevent the file managing problems caused by multiple images being processed in advance. Thus, the demand of image storage and maintenance can be reduced, and the value of the images can be improved greatly.

SuperGIS Image Server provides 18 on-the-fly image process methods, which are listed as below. These methods are frequently applied in GIS and able to thoroughly satisfy users' need.

1.Classify Pixel: Applies a simple classification of the pixels to the raster data used in the output image service.
2.Color Map: Transforms the pixel values to display the raster data as either a grayscale or RGB image, based on a color map.
3.Convert Pixel Type: Allows you to convert the pixel type of an image from one bit depth to another.
4.Convolution Filter: Performs filtering on the pixel values in an image, which can be used for sharpening an image, blurring an image, detecting edges within an image, or making other kernel-based enhancements.
5.Extract Bands: Extracts one or more bands from a multiband raster dataset.
6.Grayscale: Converts a multiband image to a single-band image and displays it using a gray color scale.
7.Histogram: Extracts a histogram and histogram statistics based on the image.
8.Image Algebra: Allows you to perform algebra on the spatially overlapping pixels from two raster bands or two raster datasets.
9.NDVI: Produces the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), allowing you to generate an image displaying relative biomass.
10.Ortho-rectification: Produces an orthorectified image based on a sensor definition and a terrain model.
11.Pan-sharpen : Fuses a high-resolution, panchromatic raster dataset with a lower-resolution multiband raster dataset.
12.Resample: Performs additional sampling of the image, if required. The process can be applied to a raster or raster dataset but not to a service.
13.Spectral Matrix: Applies a matrix to a multiband image to affect the spectral values of the output.
14.Stack Bands: Allows you to combine raster datasets of the same format and dimensions.
15.Stretching: Enhances an image by changing its contrast, brightness, and gamma.
16.Trend: Changes the radiometry of an image based on a correction surface, which can be used as a simple method to remove trends in images.
17.Visualize Elevation: Allows you to render (display) elevation data using various methods of visualization.
18.Watermark: Allows you to add digital watermark protection to the imagery you publish.

Google Flu Trends, a Web service provided by Google.org, has been updating itself with data and news stories about the swine flu pandemic. Social-networking tools such as Twitter have been blazing with members’ posts about the possible spread of the disease. As of April 27, swine flu has killed 103 people in Mexico and spread to the United States, Europe and possibly other locations around the world.

Google has been tracking the spread of the new swine flu pandemic.

Google’s Flu Trends site, a product of Google.org, has been updating itself with the latest wire reports and provides a search window where people can type in their ZIP code and locate the nearest flu-shot distributor.

Here is what the site says: "We've found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems." Visit Google Flu Trends for the latest Swine Flu outbreak maps.

Halcrow, one of the civil engineering consultancies, has used the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (VCL edition) as the GIS engine for its SANDS (Shoreline and Nearshore Data System) solution for sustainable asset management and analysis. SANDS is a data capture, monitoring and analysis suite developed for use by asset managers, engineers, researchers and scientists, typically involved with the maritime environment, coastal areas and ports, etc.

Once populated with the appropriate data, e.g., wind, wave and water level data, topographic and hydrographic survey data - SANDS can undertake tidal analysis and prediction, extremes analysis, wind/wave rose plots, sediment transport analysis, joint probability analysis; plus erosion/accretion analysis and area/volumetric analysis.

SANDS is used internally by Halcrow and externally by independent SANDS users for numerous projects in a number of countries.

In addition to SANDS, Halcrow's New York City office employs the TatukGIS DK-VCL extensively to create tools and utilities for on-going projects, including an extensive toolbox for use by underwater inspection of urban piers. In addition, CommunityCartography, which is a long-time user of the DK and now completely owned by Halcrow, continues to offer specialized urban mapping tools to the New York City metro region.

Tele Atlas, a provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location based solutions, announced the availability of new digital maps and related content covering Chile and Uruguay and updated maps of Argentina and Brazil.

The announcement strengthens Tele Atlas' regional lead by building on the company’s Latin American database, which now includes coverage of five countries, more than 1.7 million kilometers and more than 750,000 points of interest (POIs). Tele Atlas customers such as Digibase, Google and TomTom have already launched solutions using Tele Atlas Latin American maps.

The new Latin America digital maps are immediately available with additional content such as points of interest (POIs) to all Tele Atlas personal navigation, wireless, Internet, automotive and enterprise customers worldwide.

Tele Atlas' map of Chile encompasses 155,000 kilometers of roadways, covering approximately 95 percent of the population and more than 110 cities with complete street network coverage, including Antofagasta, Puente Alto, Santiago de Chile, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, as well as 77,000 POIs.

Lantmäteriverket in Sweden has awarded Blom Sweden AB, Blom’s subsidiary in Sweden, a NOK 105 million (USD 16 million) LiDAR project framework-agreement over the next 4.5 years. Lantmäteriverket is responsible for production and maintenance of geographic- and real estate information in Sweden. Blom is a pan-European Geographic Information company. The data acquisition and processing involve scanning of all of Sweden, covering an area of app. 450 000 square kilometers, to create a new national height model. The project is due to start immediately after the official complaint period of ten days and will be finalized by the end of 2013.

In addition to the creation of the new national height model, the dataset can be used for a wide range of purposes such as:

• Urban planning

• Road and infrastructure planning

• Defense and safety

• Analysis and risk assessment related to climate and environment

• Forest inventory

ESRI has recently installed an interactive GIS kiosk at the new Sam J. Racadio Library and Environmental Learning Center in Highland, California. The kiosk uses ArcReader and ArcGIS Online software to promote the use of maps for environmental purposes by those doing research or who are simply curious about a particular place.

Commenting on what is available at the kiosk, Ray Carnes, ESRI technical marketing specialist, says, "Data about the positive impacts that people are having on the environment are showcased through a variety of maps, which range in scale from the library itself to the entire planet."

The data necessary to create these maps comes from a variety of sources including the County of San Bernardino, ESRI, SustainLane.com, Readers Digest, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Jessica Sutorus, director of the Environmental Learning Center, says, "The center provides resources, activities, materials, and programmes to improve environmental literacy. Patrons are using it to learn more about the impact they, their community, and others, are having on the environment, and the implementation of the GIS kiosk is a big part of this educational process."

China launched the sixth remote-sensing satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Shanxi Province on 22nd of April. The satellite, 'Yaogan VI,' was successfully launched into the space on a Long March 2C carrier rocket at 10:55 a.m.

It will be mainly used for land resources survey, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments, according to the center.

China has so far launched five remote-sensing satellites. The first Chinese remote-sensing satellite blasted off in April 2006, and four more were launched in 2007 and 2008.

National Geographic's Maps Division and Center for Sustainable Destinations together have produced an online Geotourism MapGuide to support sustainable tourism across the Greater Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

The site, www.yellowstonegeotourism.org, is open to anyone to discover and share information about unique features, tours, and businesses that best represent and sustain the natural and cultural character of the region. Visitors can also request a free print MapGuide.

Geotourism is the kind of travel that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Online Geotourism MapGuides are Web versions of the print maps that National Geographic has developed for a number of regions around the world, including Crown of the Continent, Baja California, and Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom to name a few.

In addition to producing print and/or Web maps, these projects bring together diverse representatives from the local communities to collectively define what makes their region special and how best to communicate it to the rest of the world.

As reported, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has released two maps showing historic and pre-historic landslides in the West Bull Mountain area of Washington County and the northwest portion of Oregon City in Clackamas County.

Using LiDAR, DOGAMI geologists are working with local governments across Oregon to create a new generation of landslide inventory maps that are more accurate and comprehensive than any in the past.

Also, the new mapping protocols put in place mean all future landslides maps in Oregon will be consistent and standardized.

On a yearly basis, damage from landslides is the most costly natural hazard in Oregon, with some years exceeding over $100 million in damage statewide. In 2005, DOGAMI began a collaborative landslide research programme with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program to comprehensively identify and better understand landslides in Oregon. This new mapping programme using LiDAR data has identified up to 200 times the number of landslides in areas where traditional mapping methods have been used in the past.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2009, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) will conduct a free webinar demonstrating results from the OGC Web Services, Phase 6 (OWS-6) testbed activity.

In October, 2008 OWS-6 participants began a set of parallel development activities organized around geospatial interoperability requirements in the following areas:

1) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE)

2) Geo Processing Workflow (GPW)

3) Decision Support Services (DSS)

4) Aeronautical Information Management (AIM)

5) Compliance and Interoperability Test and Evaluation (CITE).

The webinar will demonstrate OWS-6 achievements involving Web services architecture and interoperability solutions that are documented in OGC Engineering Reports. The plan is to release the Engineering Reports as OGC public documents in July, 2009. The SWE, GPW and DSS portions of the demo will show how standards-enabled interoperability supports coordinated responses to a hypothetical disaster scenario involving an airport hostage crisis.

OWS-6 sponsors include:

US Dept. of Defense Joint Program Executive Office - Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD)
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) GeoConnections
US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)
EUROCONTROL - The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation
EADS N.V. Defence and Communications Systems (DCS)
US Geological Survey (USGS)
BAE Systems
ERDAS, Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corporation

For more information and to register for the free webinar, go here.

New Century Software has announced the release of version 7.0 of its SheetCutter and TemplateDesigner applications. The release includes significant enhancements to the workflow that pipeline operators and engineering firms experience when generating alignment sheets and area maps from a pipeline GIS.

SheetCutter is used for generating alignment sheets and area maps from a pipeline GIS implementation. With the release of version 7.0, users can create, delete, and generate sheets directly from the Table of Contents view within ArcMAP. This tight ArcMAP integration reduces the number of clicks needed to complete tasks and makes the workflow more intuitive for new users. The application has also been upgraded to accept both non-measured centerlines and non-numerical Route IDs.

TemplateDesigner allows users to create custom alignment sheet and area map templates for use within SheetCutter. The application now includes a Band Manager panel so users can quickly view the available band types and apply them towards a mapping template. Users will also find the process of configuring data sources and editing symbology.

Travelers on Tokyo's subway system are getting some high-tech help finding their destinations with the start of trials of an interactive map system, PC World reports. The maps run on 47-inch LCD panels that have been installed at Ginza station in the heart of the city. Three subway lines intersect at the station, which serves around 275,000 people each day heading to and from one of Tokyo's busiest shopping and entertainment districts.

Travelers can walk up to one of two screens being used in the trial and be presented with an area map. Alongside it are buttons to highlight popular destinations such as nearby banks, ATMs, convenience stores and post offices. Touching one of the buttons reveals the location of these places with an icon, and touching the icon draws the shortest route to that destination.

For other destinations travellers can enter an address. The system covers only the local area, so half the address is already decided and users just enter the two or three numbers that specify the particular area and building in the Ginza area where they're heading and the route comes up.

Owners of cell phones that support the Felica RFID technology can also get the destination coordinates transferred to their cell phones by pressing a button on the map to activate a Felica sensor and holding their cell phone close to it. Once above ground they can use a cell-phone mapping service to work out their route to the destination.

The maps feature Japanese most prominently, although most of the functions and labels are also displayed in English. The screens are being tested until the end of June.

Maponics LLC, provider of local geographic data, has announced the launch of Maponics International Neighborhood Boundaries. First released in beta earlier this year, this specialised spatial dataset will include neighbourhoods for approximately 100 cities in over 15 European Union countries by the end of 2009.

"Companies have had trouble finding high quality neighborhood boundary information for areas outside of North America," explains Darrin Clement, CEO and president of Maponics. "So we created this product in response to the needs of our customers."

According to the release, companies like AccuData, infoUSA, Trulia, Dominion Enterprises (eNeighborhoods and Homes.com) and Citysearch, all are using Maponics for U.S. & Canadian neighborhood boundary data. Maponics International Neighborhood Boundaries offers the same caliber of map data for the European Union with other international regions to follow.

Maponics International Neighborhood Boundaries is available for quarterly delivery in SHP, KML and many other file formats. It can also be accessed via the Maponics Spatial API, for companies who would prefer to outsource data hosting and management.

RNCOS, a market research and information analysis company has recently added a new Market Research Report titled, "World GPS Market Forecast to 2013" to its report gallery. Growing usage of GPS in automotive and consumer applications is propelling the mobile location technologies market, which is forecast to grow at a CAGR of more than 20% to cross US$ 75 Billion by 2013, says the new report.

The technology is fast gaining acceptance worldwide with rising penetration in previously untapped areas. Thus, the number of GPS-enabled LBS subscribers is expected to take a big leap in coming years with market revenue reaching around US$ 9.8 Billion in 2013. The positive outlook for the industry is accredited to the rapid development and enhancements in digital mapping software.

Although standalone products are quite popular, the most common applications are built around Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) and mobile phones. As of 2007, PNDs dominated the GPS device market with more than 90% market share. However, this share is expected to get disturbed by the availability of GPS-enabled handsets that will account for around 70% of the market share by 2013. The report says that the shipments of GPS devices will grow at a CAGR of more than 24% in the forecast period but cost will play a critical role in this projected growth.

The report also says that 2009 will be crucial for the overall development of GPS industry in regions such as North America and Europe owing to the current economic market turmoil. Emerging countries like India and China will continue to see rapid growth in the adoption of GPS technology with the launch of low cost GPS-enabled mobile handsets in these countries.

“World GPS Market Forecast to 2013” provides a comprehensive review of the GPS market across the world. The report thoroughly evaluates the current industry trends and developments vital for the success of GPS industry. Analysis is presented for major geographic markets such as the US, Canada, Japan and other Asian countries.

The report gives a detailed analysis of end-user applications, including In-vehicle Navigation, Survey/Mapping, Machine Control and others. It also says that opportunities remain untapped for various vertical segments of GPS market, which include new advanced access devices, chipset availability and PND market. [via]

SRO today successfully launched its first all-weather radar imaging satellite, RISAT -2. The PSLV-C12 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), carrying 300-kg RISAT and 40-kg micro educational satellite ANUSAT (developed by Anna University) lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan space Centre here at 6:45 am and placed into 550 km orbit around earth.

The PSLV, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky from the spaceport in Sriharikota, about 90 km north of Chennai. At the end of the 48-hour countdown, the 44-metre tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

RISAT has all-weather capability to take images of the Earth and would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities of the nation. It would also help keep track of ships at seat that could pose a threat.

A jubilant ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said "the year 2009 has started off well. The final moments of the launch were more thrilling than a cricket match as we hit a few boundaries and bowled some googlies." Nair said the performance of the PSLV-C12 launch vehicle was "precise and on the dot".

As per specifications, RISAT is different from previous remote sensing satellites as it uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), equipped with many antennas to receive signals that are processed into high-resolution pictures.

Nigeria will soon be able to map and monitor African resources with local expertise. Nigeria’s first satellite imaging engineers are receiving hands-on training at DMCii in Guildford, UK, to manage and process the images NigeriaSat-1 and the future NigeriaSat-2 and NX satellites upon their return to Nigeria.

Now in training, Oludare Mabogunje and Kennedy Uti will play a crucial part in Nigeria’s future space program, developing African satellite imaging capability for monitoring desertification, land use, water resources and international disasters.

The training and development program with DMCii complements the training of Nigerian engineers within parent company SSTL that is reinforcing Nigeria’s space program with fully qualified native talent. Oludare and Kennedy balance their weeks between lectures at the nearby University of Surrey, coursework and hands-on satellite image processing at DMCii as part of an intensive 16 month training programme.

Mr.Uti explained, ”It can be hard work but it’s very interesting learning about satellite imaging. We work with DMCii 5 days a week and fit in our studies too. We are also adjusting to the cold weather in England, but the DMCii operational team have given us a
warm welcome and we have been learning to use NigeriaSat-1 to acquire images.”

Mr. Mabogunje elaborated, “One of the most rewarding jobs so far has been tasking NigeriaSat-1 to map the course of the river Niger. There’s more to it than just processing the satellite images, for example we had to check the weather reports to plan when to acquire cloud-free images of the river and that’s something you can only learn from experience.”

NigeriaSat-1’s imagery is very valuable and effective for mapping changes in land use such as mapping city growth, predicting crop yields and water resource monitoring. The satellite is currently providing regular images in order to map the spread of desertification in West Africa. In separate campaigns it is also being used to map the course of the river Niger and contributing to land use mapping in South Africa.

Once the satellite has been told where to take the images (“tasked”) using a computer based planning system called an MPS, the images are downloaded from the satellite and processed to turn them into useful information.

To date, the Nigerian trainees have also honed their skills response to the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, which is a global effort to coordinate satellite imaging of natural disasters from space including flooding and wild fires.

An important part of the technical training is to learn about image processing techniques that remove distortion from data, and orthorectification – the process of lining up the image data with geographical navigation information so it can used to make maps for governments and relief agencies.

Mr. Mabogunje elaborated, “One of the highlights so far was imaging the recent flooding in Vietnam. We chose opportunities to acquire satellite imagery and then processed our own images. Synchronising the images with geo-navigation was the most difficult part because it requires a lot of skill and experience to get 1-2 metre accuracy, but we are learning about these things now.”

About DMC International Imaging Ltd
DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). DMC data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

In partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the other DMC member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter: ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunami, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the DMC with the support of the BNSC and in conjunction with the DMC member nations Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain.

The HySpex(TM) line of hyperspectral cameras are a result of the knowledge and experience accumulated through more than a decade (starting in 1995) of research activities in the field of imaging spectroscopy at NEO. The spectrometer design is flexible, and the specifications and performance can be tailored to the user's requirements and needs.

The HySpex camera is a line imager, meaning that all spectra across a spatial line in the image are recorded simultaneously. Some form of scanning, depending on the application, is used to record sequential lines, building up a hyperspectral image with two spatial dimensions. The scanning can be done by either camera movement (e.g. aircraft) or movement of the scene (e.g. conveyer belt).

All the HySpex cameras perform very well in terms of the characteristics commonly used to describe the quality of hyperspectral line imagers:

* Spatial resolution
* Spectral resolution
* Spectral keystone
* Smile effect
* Alignment of sensor, slit and dispersive element
* Responsivity
* Stray light
* Second order suppression
* Sensor characteristics
* Radiometric accuracy

All the spectrometer modules are based on the same general architecture, with lenses and gratings separately optimized for the different modules.

The fore-optics and collimating optics is based on a special configuration of two aspherical mirrors. This unique design avoids introduction of spherical and chromatic aberrations before the grating, and at the same time minimizes stray light. The transmission grating is polarization independent and has been chosen among a large selection tested gratings. The lens system for final focus is optimized for minimization and equalization of the point spread function across the FOV and spectral range. Additionally, spectral keystone and smile effects are only a small fraction of a pixel. The optical performance is nearly diffraction limited, as can be seen on the figure. A detailed tolerance analysis has been performed, ensuring that the tolerances of the optical and mechanical parts are specified sufficiently tight in order to make sure that the real performance is close to the simulated performance. The spectrometer modules are extremely rugged with no moving parts.

A detailed experimental characterization is performed for each camera to verify that the performance is according to the specifications. The results of this characterization are documented in a detailed test report which follows each instrument. The end user thus has full access to all relevant performance characteristics.

All the cameras are also spectrally and radiometrically calibrated. The basic output of the systems is thus a radiance spectrum in W/(m^2 nm sr) for each pixel in the image.

Dedicated image processing algorithms can be implemented to provide an output tailored for a specific application (anomaly detection images, thematic maps, etc), possibly in real time for e.g. on-line applications.

Geosoft Inc. has announced the commercial availability of their Geochemistry for ArcGIS extension for ESRI's ArcGIS software. The Geochemistry for ArcGIS extension adds a geochemical workflow to ArcGIS, enabling geoscientists to efficiently conduct their geochemical QA and analysis inside ESRI.

According to the company’s release, using the tools available within Geochemistry for ArcGIS, geoscientists can effectively extract knowledge from their data by examining multivariate relationships, uncovering underlying structures, identifying outliers and anomalies and present results by easily creating informative, visually impactful maps.

Using Geochemistry for ArcGIS, geoscientists are able to:

• Simplify their geochemistry quality control process and maintain data in an ESRI file geodatabase using a data model optimized for geochemical data.
• Select and subset data interactively from maps based on lithology and regions to enhance data display.
• Create advanced geochemical maps within the ESRI ArcGIS Desktop environment.
• Analyze multi-element geochemistry using interactive multiple histogram plots, Pearson’s correlation reports, scatter plots, probability plots, ternary plots and box plots, to identify outliers and define populations.

Intermap Technologies announced that uniformly accurate 3D digital elevation models and high-resolution orthorectified radar images of the entire country of Spain are now commercially available. Digital maps of Spain, collected as part of the company’s NEXTMap Europe programme, join France, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, and Italy as full country datasets in the NEXTMap data library. Portions of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland, and The Netherlands are also in the data library.

All of Intermap's NEXTMap datasets include uniform digital surface models that depict the earth’s surface (including cultural features such as vegetation, buildings, and roads). These datasets also include digital terrain models displaying the bare earth (with all cultural features digitally removed) and orthorectified radar images that accentuate the country’s topographic features.

The Company has also mapped the contiguous U.S. and Hawaii as part of its NEXTMap USA mapping programme.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) with the radar imaging satellite (RISAT) will be launched on 20th April from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, as reported. It will also put into orbit Anusat, a micro educational satellite built by Anna University.

The 230 tonne rocket will carry a weight of around 350 kg - the 300 kg RISAT and 50 kg Anusat.

According to officials, the rocket will sling RISAT at a distance of 560 km in a circular orbit and the 50 kg Anusat into low earth orbit.

While ISRO officials termed RISAT an all weather satellite to be used for remote sensing purposes, the presence of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) gives it defence capabilities.

None of ISRO's other remote sensing satellites are equipped with the SAR.

Report: Intergraph, a global provider of geospatially powered software, and SightLogix, maker of outdoor intelligent video surveillance systems, have seamlessly integrated SightLogix' GPS-based video analytic sensors with Intergraph's scalable decision-support system for comprehensive detection, assessment, and response to security incidents.

The SightLogix Enterprise Security System is designed to detect, track and zoom in on intrusions using the SightLogix SightSensor and SightTracker over large perimeters and outdoor areas. When linked with the Intergraph system, GIS-registered target data regarding the size, velocity and exact bearings of a detected target are combined into an easy-to-assimilate, common operational picture.

Capable of long-range detection in the harshest outdoor environment, SightLogix' automated, GPS video analytics are claimed to be well-suited for locking down perimeters and buffer zones, while the Intergraph system displays and fuses multiple sensor activities into a single interface. The combination of GPS-enabled intelligence within a single, easy to understand interface provides the critical domain awareness necessary for a proactive security implementation.

The SightLogix/Intergraph integration is well suited for organisations that must coordinate various sensor technologies among multiple security teams for a unified and appropriate response. Security personnel at airports, transportation centers, border patrol, utilities, petroleum refineries, nuclear plants, financial institutions, and other organisations with large outdoor areas can all benefit from the actionable intelligence derived from this integrated solution.

GeoSage has announced the release of near-global imagery mosaics on shaded relief and natural-colour satellite imagery. Each mosaic map is a single large-sized, GIS-ready JPEG2000 file, and it can be obtained on DVDs or external hard drives.

Seamless 90m-resolution hillshading maps are derived from the USGS SRTM data set. More than 14,000 raw SRTM tiles are first stitched into a single large mosaic (image size 432,000 by 139,200 pixels) with elevation gaps filled, and then a series of shaded-relief maps are cartographically designed and produced under various colour schemes and different hillshading settings.

Seamless 60m- and 90m-resolution satellite imagery mosaics are derived from the 30m-resolution Earth Land Surface 2000 imagery product, which consists of more than 880 regional tiles for the globe. These two imagery mosaics have the image sizes of 648,000 by 270,000 pixels and 432,000 by 180,000 pixels, respectively. Raw mosaics with the file sizes of a few hundreds of gigabytes are compressed into efficient and accessible JPEG2000 format.

Beidou II (COMPASS-G2), China's second geostationary navigation satellite, was launched on April 15th from the Xichang satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province, via a CZ-3C Chang Zheng-3C (CZ3C-2) launch vehicle. The launch is the first in a series of launches announced by China to form the complete Compass constellation. This constellation of satellites will consist of approximately 30 vehicles, including 27 MEO satellites, with nine satellites for each orbit plane - and four GSO satellites (58.75 degrees E, 80 degrees E, 110.5 degrees E, and 140 degrees E). The BeiDou-2 was developed from the DFH-3 satellite platform and has a lifespan of 8 years.

The Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS) is China’s second-generation satellite navigation system capable of providing continuous, real-time passive 3D geo-spatial positioning and speed measurement.

The first phase of the project will deal with coverage for the Chinese territory. However, a future Compass constellation will cover the entire globe.

A rain of navigation signals falls constantly upon the Earth from GPS and the initial satellites in Europe's Galileo system, enabling an ever-increasing number of positioning and guidance services.

Afterwards these microwave beams bounce back to space – where a proposed ESA mission aims to harness them as a scientific resource and explore their potential for terrestrial remote sensing applications.

Intercepting reflected satnav signals and calculating their travel time is a way to track the changing contours of the Earth's ocean, land and ice surfaces. And because this detector technology – known as the Passive Reflectometry and Interferometry System (PARIS) – can track multiple signal bounces at once, it can build up a rapid picture of fast-moving mid-sized phenomena such as storms, current eddies and high waves.

"At the heart of the mission is a double-sided antenna made up of many small elements that can track multiple signals from above and below in parallel" explains PARIS project researcher Manuel Martín-Neira of ESA. "The phase difference of original and bounced-back signals originating from the same satellite are then compared to reveal the difference in their travel time and obtain ranging information. The principle has been proven with airborne demonstrators, but the high-gain satellite-tracking antenna we require for maximum ranging accuracy can only be tested in space."

The proposed PARIS In-Orbit Demonstrator mission would include a 1.1-m antenna to prove the concept, with any future operational mission being equipped with a larger 2.4-m antenna.

PARIS is a passive variation on an existing instrument called a radar altimeter, currently flying on ESA's Envisat and other Earth-observing satellites. These altimeters fire 1800 microwave pulses downward per second then measures their echo return time to calculate sea surface height. As ocean currents and eddies form height undulations on the sea surface of the order of tens of centimetres, altimetry results gradually yield to a rich and scientifically valuable map of ocean circulation. Current altimeters sample only one point at a time, while PARIS would measure multiple points with a faster revisit time, yielding new data on rapidly-changing features.

Orion Technology, a division of Rolta Canada Limited, announced the release of its flagship product OnPoint 6.3. This release extends and adds new Web functionality to Rolta’s Geospatial Fusion solution.

OnPoint 6.3, an enterprise wide integrator of information content from multiple formats in disparate databases, now boasts of new capabilities that users have called for to better integrate their Web-GIS needs within the context of diverse business systems throughout their enterprise.

These capabilities include integration with Microsoft SharePoint, eCommerce, improved Metadata support and support for Geoprocessing using ArcGIS Server.

ThinkGeo has announced the release of Map Suite Silverlight Edition 3.0 Beta 1, the newest entry in the Map Suite family of GIS developer controls for the Microsoft .NET Framework. Silverlight Edition is claimed to be a full-featured GIS control designed to bring powerful spatial features to Microsoft Silverlight-based applications, where developers can take advantage of user interfaces and animation effects to give their applications visual appeal.

Microsoft Silverlight technology helps developers impress their customers with user interface designs, animation effects, mouse wheel scrolling, dynamic refreshes, track zooming and more.

Unlike scaled-down GIS software for Silverlight, Map Suite Silverlight Edition is a full-featured GIS control with the same power and flexibility of ThinkGeo's other Map Suite products. Developers can use it to add maps with advanced functionality like spatial queries, interactive shape drawing and editing, point animation, distance calculations, rich tooltips and markers, and projections.

ThinkGeo plans to release additional new beta versions of Map Suite Silverlight Edition 3.0 in the coming weeks, all of which will add even more features and capabilities.

Topcon provides receivers for China's Crustal Movement Observation Network. Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has been selected to supply GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) receivers for the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC). Topcon will supply 132 campaign-mode (portable) GNSS CORS receivers and GNSS choke ring antennas for CMONOC.

The CMONOC project was established by the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) of the People’s Republic of China, to monitor crustal deformation and to predict earthquakes using GNSS technology. In the context of the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake (8.0 on Richter scale) last year, the Chinese government hopes to use state-of-the-art technologies to enhance disaster-relief capability. CEA is planning to use the equipment to re-measure more than 2,000 ground monuments throughout China in 2009.

Crustal deformation is measured by tracking the movement of points on the Earth's surface, ground tilt and strain, as well as fault slip. The Topcon Net-G3 family of receivers will be used to record geodetic data for the CMONOC in campaign mode, also known as portable, episodic or survey mode. At the contract signing ceremony held on March 27, Li Qiang, director of Crustal Movement Monitoring Research Center of CEA, said, "The cooperation with Topcon on CMONOC project is just the starting point for both sides, we look forward to further strengthening communication and cooperation with Topcon in the future." Eduardo Falcon, senior vice president and general manager of TPS’ Emerging Business unit, said, "The accuracy and preservation of data are paramount to the CMONOC project and Topcon is honored to have been selected to assist in this scientific endeavor critical to earthquake prediction in China. “By better understanding the Earth’s natural processes through monitoring and tracking the deformation, the devastating effects of earthquakes can hopefully be reduced and avoided. The CMONOC project is an exemplary use of GNSS technology in geophysical research."

The Topcon Net-G3 family of receivers that will be used for CMONOC incorporate Topcon G3 technology, which allows for universal signal tracking compatible with all existing and planned satellite navigation systems.

Adventure Cycling's Routes and Mapping Department carefully links together rural roads to create low-traffic bike routes through some of the nation's most scenic and historically significant terrain. This bicycle route network was started in 1976 with the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Since then, it has blossomed into an awe-inspiring network of 38,158 miles.

CygNet Software, provider of the enterprise operations platform for the oil and gas industry, announced CygNet 7.2, an upgrade of CygNet's enterprise operations platform. With this release, CygNet is claimed to be the first company to combine GIS and asset management information with its operational SCADA module. This integration has been developed to ensure both systems maintain their individual system of record status, thus avoiding costly data replication processes. Release 7.2 also improves the methods of and performance for accessing and storing the massive amounts of data generated by oil and gas companies.

It is claimed that CygNet platform is currently used by more than 100 companies across oil and gas exploration, production, and gas transportation to improve operational efficiency and market responsiveness.

Golden Software Inc. has upgraded its Surfer contouring and 3D mapping package with the ability to apply transparency to solid colours, map layers, fill patterns, and images. Users have full control over the opacity percentage. Surfer 9 also boasts the ability to import and export georeferenced image files. Users can create fully rendered 3D surfaces and overlay aerial photography, satellite imagery and other images on these 3D surfaces with real world coordinates. Apply transparency to the overlaid imagery to create photo-realistic 3D models containing both terrain and ground cover detail.

You can download a free Surfer software trial online. However, for those who would want to buy Surfer 9, with more than 100 new features and enhancements, it is now available at a retail price of $599. Upgrades from previous Surfer versions are only $199. Purchase now, as after July 31, 2009, the full retail price increases to $699 and the upgrade price increases to $229.

Golden Software has also enhanced Surfer's capacity with the ability to calculate the length and area of lines and areas in a base map. Post maps have also been improved with the user now able to move individual post map labels with the mouse and the ability to save classes for a classed post map to a file for future use.

Surfer has been redesigned to make it easier and faster to use, allowing users to import all their data and performing all functions in a modern user-friendly interface.

The first session of the Committee on Development Information Science and Technology (CODIST-I) will take place from 28 April to 1 May 2009 at the United Nations Conference Centre Addis Ababa, (UNCC-AA) Ethiopia.

CODIST is one of the seven subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) composed of senior officials and experts from member States who meet on a biennial basis. The theme for CODIST-I is Scientific Development, Innovation and the Knowledge Economy.

The role of CODIST is to review challenges and issues pertaining to the ICT, Geoinformation, Science and Technology sectors, formulate policies and strategies to address Africa’s development challenges and determine priorities to be reflected in the work programme of the ICT, Science and Technology Division of ECA. Specifically, CODIST will strengthen the role of ECA in assisting its member States to develop their national information and communication infrastructure as well as integrate science and technology in their development programmes and strategies by bringing together experts and policy makers to advise it in these areas. The Committee would also address issues related to knowledge and information services that are important to move the African development agenda forward.

Sub Committee on Geoinformation – CODIST-Geo

With CODIST placing emphasis on the information society, CODIST-Geo, treats mapping and related activities as data collection and processing activities in the overall information management continuum.

The recommendations and resolutions of CODIST, including CODIST-Geo are submitted to the Conference of Ministers, and on approval become mandates for ECA and member States to take action.

Activities could also be initiated by member States and partners. The Windhoek Declaration, which articulates the principles of the AFREF project, was prepared at a workshop organized as a pre-meeting event of the Conference of Ministers of the member States of the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD).

The Durban Statement on Mapping Africa for Africa was adopted at a meeting sponsored by the Government of South Africa. Under this initiative, the Government of South Africa, through the Chief Directorate of Surveys and Mapping, has provided funds for studies on Fundamental Data Sets (FDS), conducted by EIS Africa and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa.

Another important function of CODIST-Geo is the coordination of SDI activities in Africa. A symposium that was convened to establish a permanent committee on SDI, similar to PCGIAP (Asia-Pacific) and CP IDEA (Latin America), recommended that instead of establishing yet another body, the terms of reference of CODIST-Geo should be revised to strengthen the SDI coordination and other related activities. The revised TOR for CODIST-Geo was approved by CODI III, including the establishment of an Executive Working Group to provide feedback and oversight in between the biannual CODIST meetings.

Though CODIST and especially CODIST-Geo are not implementing structures, they provide important oversight and advisory roles in the development of geoinformation in Africa. The CODIST approach combined the old cartographic conference with conferences of other development information practitioners, thereby creating synergies with these discipline groups.

Virtual Earth 3D 4.0 is now available for download from Microsoft. The latest iteration of the Virtual Earth 3D Control went live on the Microsoft Download Center on April 9, 2009, concomitantly with additional changes introduced by the company to its mapping, location and search platform. In this regard, Microsoft also delivered the April 2009 release of the Virtual Earth API (application-programming interface), which brings to the table an evolved AJAX control. While new features are available with the latest release of Virtual Earth 3D, Microsoft has emphasised that the upgrade is, in fact, focussed on delivering a consistent performance boost ahead of anything else.

Among the enhancements that end-users will be bound to notice, in addition to the boost in performance is the introduction of Anisotropic Filtering. Microsoft indicated that the appearance of the terrain was improved no matter the angle of view, but that the new feature was off by default in order to tailor Virtual Earth 3D to the array of graphics cards. But once switched on, Anisotropic Filtering will deliver a high level of detail and reduce blur.

3-D mapping company earthmine, Inc., has developed a stereo-panoramic camera array that generates full 360-by-180-degree spherical imagery. The array uses four camera pairs (eight cameras total) mounted vertically and spaced horizontally 90 degrees apart.

Images are typically captured at 10-meter intervals as the vehicle-mounted system is driven down a street or road. After post processing, each pixel in the earthmine digital images has an accurate 3D position — reportedly at the meter level for points 20 to 30 meters from the camera.

The camera system incorporates NovAtel SPAN inertial/GPS technology and 3D data generation software and algorithms created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and used on the Mars Exploration Rover missions.

The integrated GPS/INS provides accurate position and orientation information for each capture event, says John Ristevski, earthmine’s co-founder and co-CEO. "This is all post-processed differentially and supplemented with additional data from the imaging systems to get very accurate position and orientation information for the data."

The earthmine camera system is able to operate for limited periods of time using the inertial measurement unit alone when sufficient GPS signals are unavailable, but Ristevski says he’d be interested in enhancing the system with GLONASS capability as well for deep urban environments. [via]

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has become a Principal Member of the OGC.

Principal Members evaluate and provide guidance on market direction and Consortium focus, and have authority over the development, release and adoption of OpenGIS Specifications through their voting rights in the OGC Planning Committee (PC). Principal Members also have approval authority for OGC policies and procedures.

Mark Reichardt, President, OGC, said "NOAA's move to Principal Membership in the OGC reflects the significant value the Agency places on the OGC international standards and programs as a means of improving information sharing and reducing costs. By becoming a Principal Member, NOAA increases its leadership role among the OGC's government, industry, academic and research members, who are working worldwide to tackle interoperability challenges related to monitoring, forecasting and predicting of weather, climate, and ocean processes."

Ken McDonald, Data Management Architect of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, Technical, Planning & Integration (TPI) Program Office, said, "the motivation to raise our level of membership was really driven by the widespread and growing interest in OGC specifications and activities found in numerous NOAA programs and projects from across the agency. As a Principal Member, we look forward to becoming more engaged with OGC's many relevant and important initiatives."

Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, has joined ESRI's Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) program to provide local governments with enterprise-wide licenses for ESRI’s ArcGIS software and Tele Atlas’ comprehensive street data to power essential GIS deployments. The ESRI Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) program will help local governments better serve their citizens with functionality to perform emergency response and preparedness, permitting and inspection, incident/crime analysis, hazardous materials inventory, planning and many other vital government functions and services.

Many smaller governments do not have the financial resources or personnel to leverage the GIS software and data that could protect lives and property while saving time and money. Through the ESRI ELA, local governments gain access to a central, enterprise-wide resource that can provide seamless geocoding, mapping and routing functionality across all of the local government’s departments and agencies. The license permits enterprise-wide access to ESRI’s ArcGIS software and Tele Atlas’ highly accurate street data for a period of three years.

ESRI President Jack Dangermond says, “Tele Atlas’ participation in the Small Municipal and County Government ELA program is in keeping with our long-standing collaboration. By making our combined services available through one agreement, Tele Atlas and ESRI put the geographic approach to solving problems within easy reach of local governments.”

“Tele Atlas and ESRI have always worked together to bring data to governments when they need it most,” said John Cassidy, Vice President of GIS and Government for Tele Atlas. “The most exciting aspect of this collaboration is the ability to quickly and easily enable GIS capabilities to help local government best serve its citizens.”

The ESRI Small Municipal and County Government ELA program provides access to the spatial technology that local governments need with a straightforward three-tiered pricing schedule. The program is designed for governments in the United States that serve populations of 100,000 or less.

For more information on ESRI’s Small Municipality and County Government ELA, visit www.esri.com/smallgovela.

geoXMF LLC and GIS Solutions, Inc. have announced the signing of a strategic value-added reseller agreement. This agreement allows GIS Solutions customers to buy geoXMF products directly from GIS Solutions. In the agreement, the partnership allows geoXMF to broaden its reach into the federal, state and local GIS markets where GIS Solutions services and products are well known.

Under the terms of the agreement, GIS Solutions will market and sell XMF Alerter and XMF Accelerator software. XMF Alerter is a monitoring solution for Enterprise GIS providing automated real-time vertification of map services, spatial databases and overall system response times. XMF Accelerator provides fast, easy enterprise wide search and access to GIS data. [via]

ERDAS announces "How Fast is too Fast" (with ERDAS Image Web Server), a free webinar on April 14, 2009 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. (EST).

ERDAS Image Web Server now makes creating a public portal for your image data easier than ever before. ERDAS Image Web Server now includes Optimized Tile Delivery, serving more than 4,250 map tiles in one second. With Optimized Tile Delivery, a single ERDAS Image Web Server replaces an entire server farm and/or caching system when providing tile-based geographic data. ERDAS Image Web Server also offers persistent cache in the ECWP web browser plug-in and an ESRI ArcGIS Server ECW connector.

To register for How Fast is too Fast, please visit the site.

How Fast is too Fast will be presented by Richard Orchard, ERDAS Image Web Server Product Manager.

For more information about ERDAS or its products and services, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit www.erdas.com.

For more information about ERDAS, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 877 GO ERDAS, or visit www.erdas.com.

Nominations for URISA's GIS Hall of Fame must be submitted by May 1, 2009. The Hall of Fame recognizes and honors the best in GIS. Started in 2005, the URISA GIS Hall of Fame documents the contributions made by key individuals. URISA welcomes nominations from any profession and is not restricted to those having a past or current relationship with URISA. This award is not given every year, and some years there may be multiple recipients.

The selection criteria for this honor are:

* At least 25 years of sustained professional involvement in the GIS field.
* Original and creative contributions to the field.
* Well known and respected by a wide range of peers.
* Consistent demonstration of sound professional and personal ethics.

Previous inductees include:

* 2005 Inductees: Edgar Horwood, Ian McHarg, Roger Tomlinson, Jack Dangermond, Nancy Tosta, and the Harvard Lab
* 2006 Inductee: Dr. Gary Hunter
* 2007 Inductees: Don Cooke and Michael Goodchild

URISA's GIS Hall of Fame nominations must be submitted to URISA by May 1. Visit
www.urisa.org.

Applied Spatial Technology, Inc, developer of add on tools for GIS, has released Freeway 2009 and Freeway 2009 Premium.

The standard US and Canadian versions have been enhanced with the up-to-date street networks from TIGER 2008 and 2008 Statistics Canada while the premium versions have incorporated NAVTEQ streets.

Freeway creates drive time polygons, as well as output table matrices of drive times and drive distances between multiple origins and multiple destinations.

Freeway is widely used in site selection to delineate trade areas and to analyze spatial relationships between locations based on drive time and distance. Users have the flexibility to specify road conditions and speed limit assignments.

Freeway can be used to produce:

* polygons representing the area which can be driven from a specified point within a specified amount of time under user specified traffic conditions
* point-to-point drive times between a single origin and single destination point
* tables of drive times between a set of one or more origins and a set of one or more destinations

Freeway is available as a standalone Windows application, as a MapBasic application for MapInfo Professional, or as a callable DLL for developers in 16-/32-bit Window applications.

Freeway 2009 comes packaged with a nationwide roadway system using current year TIGER data for the US version, and current year Statistics Canada data for the Canadian version.

Freeway 2009 Premium uses current year NAVTEQ data.

Freeway is fully documented and is designed for the end user.

Freeway calculates drive times quickly and efficiently, and provides flexibility for user specified road conditions and speed limit assignments.

You can download a demo version of Freeway 2009 for the state of Wyoming, here.

ArcPad 8, ESRI's mobile GIS software for field mapping and data collection is now available. The new release claimed to have new usability and performance enhancements, includes the ability to synchronize edits with ArcGIS Server. Any device that can connect to the Internet (e.g., cradle, USB, Wi-Fi, or phone connection) can synchronize ArcPad edits directly with the enterprise geodatabase via ArcGIS Server. Field staff can now share data faster and save time by no longer needing to return to the office to update their GIS database.

ArcPad 8 includes a new user interface. New icons and toolbars occupy less screen real estate than in previous versions. Toolbars can be docked, minimized, and maximised, and users can either modify the out-of-the-box toolbars or create their own with a new desktop tool called ArcPad Toolbar Manager.

The GPS user interface also gets an overhaul in ArcPad 8. The GPS position dialogue box has been replaced by a translucent toolbar that appears at the bottom of the map screen. It shows much of the same detail as the previous position dialog box but now uses colored visual cues to indicate the quality of the GPS fix.

ArcPad Studio, the development framework for customizing ArcPad, is now included with every ArcPad license rather than being sold separately. Combining the customization tools with ArcPad will help users modify ArcPad for their specific application requirements and encourage more deployments within their organizations.

GPS-Enabled Nikon Camera with Photo-Mapping Software. GeoSpatial Experts, developer of the easy-to-use GPS-Photo Link photo-mapping software, has been selected by Nikon USA to sell the new GPS-enabled COOLPIX P6000 digital camera. GeoSpatial Experts is offering the Nikon camera bundled with its GPS-Photo Link Express software in packages starting below $750.

The beauty of the Nikon COOLPIX P6000 bundle is that both the camera and GPS-Photo Link software are simple enough for anyone to use, but they each offer capabilities that will meet the diverse needs of business users and mapping professionals.

The Nikon COOLPIX P6000 is the highest end point-and-shoot camera sold by Nikon USA and the only digital camera with fully integrated GPS. The GPS is built into the body of the camera so that location coordinates of each photograph are automatically tagged to the photo without any input by the photographer. For GPS applications, the main appeal of this 13.5-megapixel camera – aside from its attractive price and legendary Nikon optics – is that it's small enough to fit in a pocket.

Nikon believes GPS technology wedded with photography not only has recreational applications, but as GeoSpatial Experts has proven to us, it has industrial, commercial, engineering and other specific business applications.

Business people can use the Nikon COOLPIX P6000 with GPS-Photo Link mapping software to document the location of their photos. The software uses the location data acquired by the built-in GPS receiver to display photos with maps in a printed report, in Google Earth or in a geographic information system (GIS) such as ESRI.

Any industry that requires photographic documentation for regulatory compliance, reporting purposes, or evidence gathering can benefit from this fast and easy-to-use software. With the Nikon COOLPIX P6000, capturing GPS data is as simple as taking a picture. Anyone can learn how to use the GPS-Photo Link Express software in about 15 minutes.

In business applications, the Nikon camera and GPS-Photo Link Express will appeal to law enforcement, assessment, real estate, emergency response, engineering & construction, and oil & gas personnel. The camera and software packages are available with an optional ruggedized, waterproof Pelican case. All of the Nikon COOLPIX P6000 bundles offered by GeoSpatial Experts are priced below $1000.

To buy or place an order, visit www.geospatialexperts.com.

Telvent has announced the availability of ArcFM 9.3 Rev2, the newest version of the ArcFM Solution. Telvent's latest ArcFM GIS release provides numerous product enhancements, tool additions, and expanded functionalities for electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities.

ArcFM Solution is the enterprise GIS application that provides a single utility network representation and allows integration of business and operational applications. As such, it is the foundation of Telvent's Smart Grid Solution targeting efficient electric energy supply.

- ArcFM offers a variety of new functionality and enhancements including:
- Stored Items- Organise and categorise stored displays, page templates and stored documents.
- Mass Create Related Objects- Add related objects to multiple selected features in the Attribute Editor.
- Attribute Editor- Tree view enhancements significantly decrease the time necessary to load related objects.

ArcFM Geodatabase Manager enables administrators to automate reconcile and post processes on versioned geodatabases, streamlining database size and maximizing performance. Key features include preconfigured, out-of-the-box reconcile and post services; stand-alone product and licensing architecture; and a single, multi-faceted dialog interface.

ArcFM Server includes a new Attribute Viewer with an easy-to-use tabular view of data fields, featuring drag-and-drop columns and field sorting capabilities, new map interaction tools, and hooks for custom tools.

Scientists in Canada are mapping the underground water supplies across the country to provide policy makers information for developing water conservation laws. The study is the first modern water survey in Canada using such advanced tools as computer modeling, satellite imagery and airborne geophysical surveys, after the last national mapping study of aquifers in 1967, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)reported.

The study, which started in 2003, aims to collect information about 30 major aquifers across the country, out of which 12 have been surveyed so far. Alfonso Rivera, chief hydrogeologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said so far the study has found there are close to 100,000 cubic kilometers of water hidden in aquifers across the country.

However, most of the rich resource is "fossil water" that was trapped underground long ago and is not rechargeable, he said. The data obtained will be used to develop computer models that decision-makers can use to forecast the effect of human use, oil and gas extraction, climate change and other factors. [via]

[report] GeoNova Publishing, Inc. announced a new iPhone travel application, DISCOVERY GUIDE MAP WASHINGTON DC, the first in a series of guides which also includes Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Manhattan, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

The company's new city DISCOVERY GUIDE MAP applications are designed for intuitive reference by first-time visitors to major U.S. destinations, offering mobile access to interactive downtown maps. Each app features a handy "Locate Me" button that instantly marks the user's exact location with a red pin on a city map. These maps also show the locations of all the must-see attractions in town. Every attraction location is hot-linked to its web site, giving tourists quick access to useful online information from their mobile devices as they explore a new city.

New DISCOVERY GUIDE MAP iPhone applications for U.S. cities sell for $1.99 on the iTunes App Store.

There are a lot of free maps of Australia from the Geoscience Australia's website. You can download maps or even satellite images of Australia free of charge. You can download free data like: Topographic, bathymetric and boundary maps of Australia; Satellite images of Australia; Geophysical maps of Australia - Digital Elevation Model, Gravity Anomaly Map, Magnetic Anomaly Map, Radiometric Map; Geological maps of Australia; Minerals maps of Australia - copper, diamond, gold, manganese, nickel, uranium.

The maps are for personal or in-house use only. If you wish to use these maps commercially, please contact the Geoscience Australia copyright officer: mailto:copyright@ga.gov.au

Antarctica's glaciers are melting more rapidly than previously known because of climate change, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report prepared in close collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey. The report is based on the historical and recent satellite imagery, aerial photography and other data, as well as the newest mapping techniques. The study has released maps of recent glacier retreat along Antarctica’s Larsen and Wordie Ice Shelves.

The new report and map of the Larsen Ice Shelf are part of a project to research the coastal change and glaciological characteristics of the entire Antarctic margin. The research is also part of the USGS Glacier Studies Project that is monitoring and describing glacier extent and change over the whole planet using satellite imagery.

Two prominent conservation groups are teaming up with Google for an online mapping project that will help renewable energy companies decide where to locate projects.

The National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council are working with the search engine using Google Earth technology to develop maps of 13 western states. The maps will show where renewable energy development is legally permitted and which areas are sensitive wildlife habitat involve other environmental factors.

"This is the first step in reducing energy development conflicts by giving people from all walks of life the information they need to participate in critical site-selection decisions," said Audubon president John Flicker in a statement.

The organisation noted that the map technology comes at an important time, in light of a federal stimulus bill that invests billions in renewable energy and with more government policies promoting its development on public lands. [report]

Google Maps in Kenya! [via] In its attempt to lead generation of local content, Google East Africa has launched detailed maps for Kenyan towns. Mobile-phone users in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru will be able to access Google Maps and search up-to-date online maps, look up businesses, advertise free via Google Maps Local Business Centre, create their own maps and even check locations while on the move.

Google has maps for Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, but the level of detail is not what it is for Kenya, said Mark De Blois, Google Maps lead.

Google Maps is available in 23 African countries, but the company is providing more detailed maps that go beyond the capital cities and include other aspects of life. The company will divulge more information once the team finalizes its plans.

The company has boosted the popularity of the maps by including content from local celebrities such as Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize winner), Julie Gichuru (TV presenter), Churchill (comedian) and Humphrey Kayange (Kenya Rugby 7's team captain).

Google is also working with local software developers by providing APIs for Google Maps to help programmers, Web masters and designers to incorporate the functionality of Google Maps on their sites and develop new services based on local information.

eSpatial, the global Web GIS and Geographic Business Intelligence company, today announced the world’s first full-function Web GIS as a software as a service (SaaS) at CTIA Wireless Conference, April 1-3 at the Ireland Pavilion, Central Hall, C3 Booth #6310.

Geographic information is vital for Telecommunication companies when determining where customers are located and managing the roll out of services effectively. With eSpatial’s Web GIS as SaaS, Telcos can integrate geographic and related business data from a variety of sources and present it in a controlled manner over the web. Departments can migrate core aspects of planning and engineering and other key workflows to a single shared environment and therefore increase efficiency in network rollout processes for design, planning, optimization and maintenance. As the solution is web based, this same environment can be used to improve Facilities and Assets Management, Marketing and Sales and Customer Relationship Management e.g. use same web based system to determine geographies for customer base growth and aid marketing departments on where to concentrate efforts and therefore use budgets more effectively.

Telcos have large complicated spatial applications generating huge quantities of stove-piped spatial data. With Web GIS as SaaS from eSpatial, Telcos can log in to an intuitive, easy to use application to organize and understand complex business processes, answer questions, solve problems and plan ahead by looking at data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared as digital maps.

"This is the first and only online solution providing secure, full-function GIS capabilities over the Internet as SaaS," said Philip O’Doherty, CEO, eSpatial. "eSpatial’s Web GIS offers immediate return on investment to telcos by consolidating databases, increasing individual employee productivity using a single, consistent architecture delivered over the web. It can also replace outdated CAD and GI tools. This means that decision-making can be scaled rapidly throughout a company on mission-critical projects and services."

For more information about eSpatial visit: www.espatial.com

Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has released a new version of its CAD-based survey software, SurveyMaster version 1.1. SurveyMaster is claimed to be a complete survey software solution to manage job site and surveying data efficiently while providing a deliverable print or plot. Designed by surveyors, it provides the user with survey specific routines, traverse adjustment and CAD drafting tools in one product.

SurveyMaster offers the user many options for office configurations. It can handle critical data efficiently and the application can be taken with the surveyor anywhere he goes. The program is contained and runs on a single USB key making it easily transportable from computer to computer. An optional Network version and/or PC installation are also available.

SurveyMaster can be synchronised with Topcon TopSURV 7 field controller software. According to company’s official SurveyMaster and TopSURV 7 synchronise automatically making data upload and download seamless. He added that Version 1.1 is designed to give TopSURV 7.2 users an advantage in the office but also supports data input from many third-party programmes. It provides all the drafting and surveying tools for any surveyor to complete their project on time and under budget.

In addition, SurveyMaster acts as an extension to field software for TopSURV users. Directly open and save TopSURV jobs, export points, linework and road design data to TopSURV from any open SurveyMaster project. Users can optionally configure SurveyMaster to synchronise with TopSURV every time a connection is made.

Features of SurveyMaster version 1.1 include:

-- Improved TopSURV 7.2 compatibility;
-- Improved synchronization utility;
-- Network least squares adjustment;
-- Pointless creation mode;
-- Floating network license installation;
-- AutoDesk Real DWG technology;
-- Creation and deletion of points from entities;
-- Show entities with attached images;
-- Hayes Cogo import; and
-- Improved trim/extend and other drafting functions.

RapidEye, the geospatial solutions provider owning and operating their own constellation of Earth observation satellites, announced their partnership with the Moscow based company Sovzond. Sovzond will be the distributor of RapidEye satellite imagery for markets in Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uszbekistan, Kyrgystan, and Turkmenistan. The agreement was signed this week between Mr. Vladimir I. Mikhaylov, Sovzond's Director General, and RapidEye's CEO, Wolfgang G. Biedermann.

RapidEye will mark the start of its commercial operation in Russia at the III International Conference Remote Sensing – the Synergy of High Technologies. The conference will be held on April 15 - 17, 2009 in Moscow. Currently, RapidEye is working on completing its worldwide network of distributors in order to facilitate their customers easy access to RapidEye products in their own language and region.