GIS in Education

ThinkGeo announced the availability of a Map Suite Desktop Edition 3.0 Release Candidate. The Release Candidate software incorporates a combination of bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features as requested by ThinkGeo's active user base, providing a major enhancement to the company's GIS development software for the Windows desktop.

Among the changes in the Desktop Edition 3.0 Release Candidate are the new Events system, continuous panning for WPF, a customisable mouseMode for the map, freehand drawing mode for shapes, tons of new APIs and properties, and much more.

ThinkGeo has also released updated versions of the other members of its Map Suite 3.0 family of GIS software products. Map Suite Silverlight Edition Beta 2 is now available, incorporating a number of promised enhancements and fixing bugs identified in Beta 1, the most significant of which is a higher-performance replacement for the Microsoft Deep Zoom control. Also refreshed were Map Suite Web and Services Editions, each featuring a host of additions, bug fixes, and API improvements.

The Brazilian government informs that Egypt will soon start receiving images from the Cbers satellite, which is jointly owned by Brazil and China. A memorandum for expanding the satellite's reception to three stations in Africa was signed, during president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's trip to China.

In addition to the one in Egypt, stations in the Canary Islands and in South Africa will also receive the signal. Images from the Cbers are distributed free of charge, but require a reception system in order to arrive in the countries.

According to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), China and Brazil's decision of distributing the images to Africa is a recent one, and will enable African governments and organisations to monitor natural disasters, deforestation, threats to agricultural production, and hazards to public health. Brazil and China use the data for environmental monitoring, agricultural development, urban planning and water management.

The images and information are available to all users, however, according to the Inpe, South American countries benefit the most, as they get the data from the Inpe's receiving antennas in the city of Cuiabá, capital of the state of Mato Grosso. Since 2004, over half a million images have been broadcasted from Brazil to 20,000 users. In China, 20,000 images have already been distributed, according to the Inpe.

In Brazil, for example, the images are used by organisations such as the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), for updating maps in soil systematisation, and by the National Institute for Colonisation and Land Reform (Incra), for processes linked to land reform.

The Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute (Ibama) also use images from the Cbers.

I didn't know that there is a free S-PLUS Software Student Edition available online, until now.

From Insightful:

As a university student using S-PLUS in your classroom, you are eligible for a FREE home copy of S-PLUS Student Edition--the data analysis tool preferred by industry leaders worldwide in the finance, life science and manufacturing industries.

The free version of S-PLUS is intended for student home computer use. Faculty do not qualify. Academic lab managers interested in more information about licenses and pricing options for Insightful software or North American and South American students interested in purchasing a full-featured version of S-PLUS should contact bpan@insightful.com.

RapidEye, announced that they have collected more than 69 Million square kilometers of at least 80% cloud-free images during their first 100 days of operation. The imaging campaigns were concentrated in Europe, the U.S., Brazil and China. More than 36 Million square kilometers of the Earth's surface, or about one quarter of the total landmass were imaged, often several times.

With the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere, RapidEye is in the process of imaging most of the agricultural land in the United States and Europe. These areas will be repeatedly collected throughout the growing season to provide valuable data for agricultural service customers. In the span of just two weeks in May, over 10 Million km² of low cloud coverage images were collected, demonstrating not only the high imaging capacity, but also the feasibility of high revisit rates.

All of the highest quality multi-spectral data acquired by the RapidEye system is now available in their Library. The Library is continuously growing, with new images being downloaded from their satellites every day. Customers will have the opportunity to choose from the expanding collection of imagery by contacting a RapidEye distributor, a Sales Team member, or a Customer Service representative.

ESRI (UK), has launched the Enterprise Lab; a purpose-designed suite at ESRI (UK)'s HQ that will encourage public bodies and private companies to explore the power and potential of GIS.

Underpinned by an enterprise standard infrastructure comprising the latest ESRI and partner technology, the Enterprise Lab brings data to life, modeling real-world examples to demonstrate how GIS can join up every part of an organisation – from local government to utilities to insurance or any other sector - to bring significant benefits.

The Enterprise Lab also provides ESRI (UK) with a research and development facility to build industry-based scenarios, working alongside customers and business partners in a realistic enterprise environment. As well as encouraging organisations to think more widely about GIS, this offers invaluable insight into how GIS at an enterprise level can easily share information, ensuring that decisions can be made with complete knowledge.

Current scenarios include using GIS to manage a flooding emergency with multiple agencies involved and planning security and logistics around a VIP visit. Scenarios developed in the Lab focus on various individual roles, not just GIS professionals but also senior executives, revealing where GIS can improve productivity and efficiency through accurate information, improved analysis, idea sharing, integration and collaboration.

There are a number of sites mentioning how to convert GPS data to KML or KMZ format for Google Earth use. Google Earth only allows KML file format to display geographic data in its Earth browser. Therefore, any GPS data you have, which most likely are in UTM (Easting and Northing), must be compatible with Google Earth's requirements.

If you have a GPS data in Easting and Northing, convert them first to latitude/longitude format. Read this post for the easy steps on how to do it.

Once you have the data converted into lat/long format, you can save them as a text file or put it in an excel file. If you opt for the excel file, put the data in three columns: first column is the description, then the latitude, and lastly the longitude values.

Then use this very handy online tool: The GPS Visualizer. It has a link where you can "convert your GPS data for use in Google Earth." Import your GPS data file, or plain-text data (tab-delimited or CSV), and create a KML file that you can view in the Google Earth application or import into Google's "My Maps" system.

Upload your GPS data then click "create KML file." It will immediately create the file for you and will give you an option to save it to your hard drive. The file will carry the extension .kml.

If you have already installed Google Earth, double clicking the .kml file should open the application (yes, in Google Earth). Of course you can send the kml file to your colleagues and let them view your GPS coordinates as well.

I hope this helps.

For more readings:

- Submit Your Geo Content to Google

- KML Tutorial

Leave your comments for questions.

I have a GPS data in UTM coordinates, that is in Easting and Northing. I wanted to convert the UTM coordinates into latitude/longitude format so I could use it for Google Earth. The problem was, it was hard to find the right conversion tool or software online. I only have few coordinate records to convert and a free tool online will be a big help.

The Australian government website (ga.gov.au) has good links that always come in handy. These are few of what you find.

- Calculate Bearing & Distance from Latitude & Longitude
- Convert from Latitude & Longitude to UTM coordinates
- Convert UTM (Easting, Northing) to Lat-Long coordinates
- Transformation of Coordinates

The site even gives a downloadable Excel file so you could do the calculations yourself. However, some of the links are limited to Australia alone. I wanted to convert Easting, Northing to Lat-Long coordinates from a U.S. data.

I have read that conversion can also be done using ARC-GIS and Envi software. But I have not tried them yet. If you wanna try the ENVI conversion, go to ENVI Help and search for UTM. It will give you a step by step procedure on how to do it. Also, here is a PDF file on "Converting Shapefiles between UTM and Lat-Long Formats in ArcView."

If you have a data from UK, I have read that you can use NBGeocalc to convert UTM to and from New Brunswick Stereographic Double projection. But it the software costs $100!

Manifold GIS is another option for conversion. Manifold GIS is Geographic Information System software. Their website is: http://www.manifold.net.

After browsing for the right tool online, I finally landed on gis.wvdep.org "Long/lat UTM" free conversion online. Amazing tool indeed! You need to specify the zone for conversion accuracy. The site also gives you a map and other details of the coordinates.

Some other links that might help you:

- Geodetic to Easting/Northing UTM Converter

- Find UTM zone - This utility finds Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone and its central meridian for a given geographic coordinate. It takes into account existance of non-standard UTM zones which are used in North Atlantic regions and Norway.

- U.S. Geological Survey UTM Grid Fact Sheet

- Converting Latitude/Longitude to Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) - might be of use to people performing coordinate system or datum transformations.

- GEOTRANS - Geographic Translator software and source code from the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Please leave a comment if you like the post. Or if you know of some other helpful links. Thanks.

LizardTech, a division of Celartem, Inc. and a provider of software solutions for managing and distributing digital content, announced the release of GeoViewer 3.0, now offered as a free, standalone application for viewing geospatial imagery and vector overlays.

The free GeoViewer application replaces LizardTech's previous GeoExpress View utility that was offered for $299. GeoViewer 3.0 enables users to view and export layers from varied sources, such as local repositories, Express Server catalogues, and WMS and JPIP servers.

LizardTech GeoViewer supports a wide range of input formats and exports to GeoTIFF, PNG and JPEG. It's the most efficient means of viewing MrSID and JPEG 2000 images.

To download your free GeoViewer, it is here.

The Manual of Geographic Information Systems is the latest addition to the rich collection of manuals published by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). Until now, there has never been a manual devoted to GIS.

Edited by Marguerite Madden, PhD, with the Foreword by Jack Dangermond, President, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), this volume is designed to be a comprehensive resource on GIS for students, researchers and practitioners who are interested in asking spatial questions, assessing landscapes, building geodatabases and envisioning a world of integrated geospatial technologies.

The GIS book has been organized in eight major sections: Background and Overview; Data Models, Metadata and Ontology; GIS Data Quality and Uncertainty; Spatio-Temporal Aspects of GIS; Analysis and Modeling; Blending GIS with Remote Sensing, GPS and Visualisation; GIS and the World Wide Web; and, GIS Applications. Top researchers in GIS from around the world, along with emerging scholars, have told the story of a discipline that originated alongside advances in computer technology and is increasingly incorporated into our daily lives. The Manual of GIS provides a conceptual framework for data connected to location, the language needed for spatial conversation and analysis tools for discovery of geographic place, proximity, dimensions, trends and correlations.

The GIS Manual is available at a pre-publication price of $95.00 plus shipping and handling until June 30, 2009.

DBx GEOMATICS inc. announced the release of CartoVista 2.0 with new cartographic publishing tools and application extendibility through Adobe Flex.

The new CartoVista Publisher is a state-of-the-art desktop application designed to support every aspect of a CartoVista 2.0 deployment. The CartoVista Publisher features advanced management tools to create and maintain any maps or data used by the application. It centralises the management of the users’ map files and style settings so that they can rapidly create maps without having to find map files each time, or reapply style settings. CartoVista Publisher provides tremendous cartographic freedom to create very high quality maps from existing GIS data.

The CartoVista 2.0 display engine features enhancements to thematic display and visualisation. The addition of new color schemes, selection views and new histogram options significantly enhances the display of strategic data.

A CartoVista Flex API is now available, leveraging Flex to extend CartoVista and create interactive dashboards. The Adobe Flex framework already includes a comprehensive set of components to create Rich Internet Applications (RIA). Combining CartoVista with the Flex framework allows users to implement additional graphs, charts and windows to deploy a customised CartoVista application.

Location Intelligence company Integeo announced the launch of Integeo SE Asia Pte Ltd to meet demand for map-based applications across the region. Based in Singapore, Integeo SE Asia is the regional distributor for Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines of Integeo’s Map Intelligence spatial hub.

Map Intelligence is the world’s first intuitive platform for spatial application development that enables seamless interoperation between all the major Business Intelligence (BI) and mapping products. By representing report charts and tables of data within dynamic maps, plans and images, Map Intelligence allows business domain experts and C level users to quickly reveal and solve issues and target hot spots. Map Intelligence is a turnkey product that offers out-of-the-box a large range of spatial visualization and analytics.

Map Intelligence has customers in a large range of sectors, ranging from US Army Recruiting throughout the United States, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Northern Territory Police Force and Emergency Services and the Department of Families, Housing and Community Services, through to telecommunications, real estate, marketing and retail companies.

As reported, Australia's newest telescope - SkyMapper - is now online and will spend the next five years conducting the first full digital survey of the southern skies. The $13 million telescope is located at Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran in New South Wales but will be operated by Australian National University (ANU) researchers at Canberra's Mount Stromlo Observatory.

ANU project leader Professor Brian Schmidt says the state-of-the-art technology will lead to countless discoveries, offering insight into the creation of galaxies. "SkyMapper is a new breed of telescope," he said.

"It's going to allow us to catalogue every single object in the southern sky - planets, galaxies, stars - to a level more than a million times fainter than what you can see with the eye."

The SkyMapper is 1.35 metres in diameter but it is equipped with a 268 megapixel camera. It is a fully automated telescope able to assess the weather and decide if it is suitable to collect data. SkyMapper is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Spatial Wave, Inc. announced today the release of Mapplet 5.0, which is now shipping to new customers and those on maintenance.

Mapplet is the most advanced GIS viewer that takes advantage of proven technology from ESRI and Microsoft to offer a framework for developing in-house GIS portals. Mapplet 5.0 is built on ESRI’s Application Development Framework (ADF) technology and supports both ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS simultaneously. Using Mapplet.NET any organization can build powerful GIS portals with ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS to view and analyze data within hours without the need for any programming. Mapplet.NET has many powerful features which make it an ideal platform for utility companies interested in developing GIS portals that allow them to view and query not only GIS data, but other related facilities databases such as: Customer Maintenance; or Document Management Systems.

This release builds on the success of Mapplet.NET 4.1’s ease-of-use and functionality and includes a completely redesigned Graphical User Interface (GUI). The new design allows for a larger view area of the map and the ability to dock different windows based user's requirements. New features of Mapplet 5.0 include new Smart Client, and Web GUI, support for multiple map windows, map based collaboration, map tips, comprehensive linked data viewing component, among other features. Mapplet 5.0 is the first ArcGIS Server based viewer with support for display, query, and viewing, of dynamically segmented routes, which is a key capability for supporting utility and transportation data models. Mapplet 5.0 has support and optimization built-in for taking advantage of the ArcGIS Server caching technology to deliver high quality maps with fast performance.

“We have continued the innovation of our Mapplet product to take advantage of ESRI’s technology in ArcGIS Server. Mapplet 5.0 represents our best response to meeting the requirements of our users to get them started quickly with ArcGIS Server”, said Dr. Ali Diba, President of Spatial Wave.

Brenda Weaver, American Geophysical Union (AGU) Director of Meetings has few announcements:

The Joint Assembly Committee invites you to watch the live webcast session on "Space Weather Prediction: Are we There Yet?" It will be on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 10:30 a.m eastern standard time. To watch the session, go to the Joint Assembly web page at www.agu.org/meetings/ja09/lectures/ and click on the session with title: SH22A Space Weather Prediction: Are We There Yet?

Other Upcoming Meeting Deadlines

2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting, 22-26 May, 2009, Portland Oregon Session Proposal Deadline is 29 May, 2009.

2009 Fall Meeting, 14-18, December, San Francisco Session Proposal Deadline is 12 June 2009.

Check out AGU Meetings for more.

Nokia presented the next step in its social location journey with the announcement of the latest version of Ovi Maps - sychronised and shared between the mobile and the web - upon which people will be able to add personal location-based content. This also marks a shift from the one-size-fits-all static bitmap maps commonly found on the web, to using Nokia's dynamic vector-graphic maps as a browser for all personal map experiences - whether on the web or on the compatible mobile device.

Nokia also announced the release of the Ovi Maps Player API, a simple way to embed the rich and dynamic Ovi Maps experience into any compatible website using basic JavaScript. This opens the Ovi Maps service and technology for third parties wishing to add greater contextual innovation to their websites for a deeper level of integration, sharing and collaboration with their audiences. Now websites like lonelyplanet.com or social networking sites can include Ovi Maps which can be personalized with their users' collections of content and then synchronized onto their compatible mobile devices.

Ovi Maps on the web can also search for addresses and POIs, find places and save them into Favorites, and organize them into Collections. Check the weather situation and preplan routes for walking or driving - and then save them.

The 2009 edition ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC), the event dedicated to GIS technology, will be held July 13–17 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. The week-long gathering draws thousands of GIS software users, working in diverse industries, from across the globe. The theme of the conference this year is GIS—Designing Our Future.

The ESRI UC is where GIS users come together to learn, collaborate and get updated on the latest in geospatial technology. With approximately 300 technical workshops, 600 user presentations and 100 special interest, regional and user group meetings, participants have a wealth of opportunities to become more knowledgeable about GIS and strengthen their skills as GIS users.

The deadline to register for the conference is May 22. For information about the event and to register online, visit www.esri.com/uc.

With the new Leica Rugby 260SG, 270SG and 280DG Leica Geosystems extends its wide range of rugged construction lasers. The user friendly lasers are packed with latest technology of highest quality. They are easy to use and are suitable for flat, grade and even interior applications (Rugby 280DG).

For many years Leica Rugby lasers are recognized as being the most reliable in the market. The Leica Rugby 260SG, 270SG and 280DG lasers are a new generation of multipurpose horizontal/vertical grade lasers for the general construction market addressing a large customer base. They offer contractors a real choice of features and functionalities for virtually any application. All lasers are equipped with a large LCD display and an easy-to-use five button key pad.

Leica Rugby 260SG – A highly accurate single grade laser for general construction. The Rugby 260SG is a high accurate single-grade laser designed as entry model in the general construction market. It has a rugged housing, full LCD display for ease of use, includes a highly visible red beam laser and semi-automatic leveling mode with a working range of up to 600 meters in diameter.

Leica Rugby 270SG – A fully automatic, single grade laser. The Rugby 270 SG is based on the same platform as the Rugby 260SG but has the full automatic leveling mode and has an extended working range of up to 700 meters in diameter.

Leica Rugby 280DG - Horizontal, vertical dual grade laser for any exterior and interior application. The Rugby 280DG is a multipurpose laser with full automatic, dual grade capability. Featured with a red bright beam the laser additionally features a plumb beam, scan mode, horizontal and vertical self-levelling, a dual grade up to 15% in both axes and is available with a two-way remote control.

Swiss Technology – built to last with warranty extension options up to five years. All Rugby models are rugged and reliable and built on Leica Geosystems’ Swiss Technology to withstand harshest construction environment. The new Rugby lasers are backed with a two-year plus knockdown warranty and a factory warranty that can be extended up to five years.

ERDAS Inc. announces that EDISOFT, S.A. is now the official ERDAS distributor to customers in Portugal. Established in 1988, EDISOFT offers technologically advanced software solutions and highly qualified IT consulting services.

EDISOFT specialises in photogrammetry, remote sensing and the development of critical systems and complex architecture, namely in the technical scope of geospatial consulting solutions.

EDISOFT will provide sales, technical support and training for ERDAS products throughout Portugal. As an ERDAS distributor, EDISOFT provides local market reach, as well as proven experience with data sharing, enterprise and visualisation solutions. [report]

Experts at the INTERGEO preview in Karlsruhe hosted by former DVW President Hagen Graeff and addressing the topic “3D – dimensions of geodata” called for a change in mindset: People must get used to thinking three-dimensionally rather than seeing in three dimensions but thinking in two. The tenor of the discussion at Karlsruhe’s ZKM (Centre for Art and Media Technology) involving Karl-Otto Funk of the Landesamt für Geoinformation und Landentwicklung (Regional Authority for Geoinformation and Land Development), Thomas Hauenstein from the City of Karlsruhe's real estate office and Jörg Herrmann, CEO of Infoterra GmbH, was that an appropriate geodata infrastructure (GDI) needed to be created to expand the dimensional perspective. The preview also marked the debut of a new communication channel – INTERGEO TV.

The experts offering a taste of what is to come at INTERGEO – the world’s largest congress trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management, which is being held from 22 to 24 September 2009 in Karlsruhe – stressed the importance of a global coordinate system. However, Karl-Otto Funk demonstrated just how difficult it is to amalgamate data – even for a much smaller unit such as the German state of Baden-Württemberg – to implement the European Inspire directive. He explained that although the various administrative bodies – from surveying to nature conservation and veterinary services – have portals and have built up internal GDIs for the 35 administrative districts and 1,109 municipalities, “amalgamating them is difficult.” Funk added that, in order to develop a geodata infrastructure covering all these areas across the entire state (GDI-BW), the Ministry for Nutrition and Rural Areas had set up the GDI-BW supervisory committee to act as a coordination body. He also indicated that a GDI competence centre had been created at the Regional Authority for Geoinformation and Land Development for specialist/technical coordination.

Intermap Technologies announced it has delivered 100,000 square kilometers of 3D digital elevation data to the Istituto Geografico Militare Italiano (IGMI), a national institution delegated to provide the Italian government with digital cartography and integrated feature data.

This most recent delivery to the IGMI reinforces the value of Intermap’s proactive creation of elevation data across Italy under the company’s NEXTMap Europe programme. Before the completion of NEXTMap Europe, organisations were forced to settle for outdated, inaccurate, and non-uniform digital elevation data, or had to rely on expensive custom data collection efforts, to meet their needs.

IGMI is using the NEXTMap elevation data to improve the national geospatial data infrastructure in Italy. The decision to acquire NEXTMap data was based on the success of the Torino 2006 IFSAR elevation mapping project. Covering 5,600 square kilometers of the Piemonte region, that project included some of northwestern.

Russian / Soviet Remote Sensing -- Arrested Development
As a successor of Soviet Union, Russian Federation takes lions part of the credit for development of modern space tech. It is well deserved in the rocket propulsion technology, X-ray and Gamma astronomy, exobiology and facilitation of manned space travel. Though, Russians hold slightly different position in Earth research from orbiting platforms (remote sensing.) Officials in the federal space agency report figures on successful launches, delivered people, produced platforms, but not on designed sensors, received terabytes of surface signals or produced and sold remote sensing products.

The situation is explained by military focus of Soviet space program where scientific and even practical civil payloads rarely could make it to the orbit. This is on one hand, but on the other hand, some military applications did require remote sensing data, but due to the nature of the program could not be released for civil use or published as research results.

These issues did not let the remote sensing in Russia go beyond the level of exotic science projects and evolve into an industry. However, to maintain its international scientific image, USSR had a few missions dedicated to science. OKEAN, Interkosmos, METEOR and RESURS are considered the most relevant polar orbiting platforms carrying research worthy equipment. They represented general geophysical and weather monitoring instruments of various spectral and spatial resolutions, yet the general public has limited access to the data even in Russian Federation.

- OKEAN takes its origin in KOSMOS Program where the payload of ELINT platform/bus Tselina was replaced with a set of scientific instruments that included side looking radar, microwave radiometer, and a moderate resolution optical sensor. Several OKEAN satellites were launched by Soviet and then Russian space agency. Later, Ukrainian space agency attempted to lunch its own version of this spacecraft (named SICH) with the enriched set of instruments. The later agency plans another launch attempt this year.

- Intercosmos, was a space program for Warsaw Pact countries to conduct space research as well as manned space flight. 25 launches delivered various scientific instruments to their orbits predominantly for studying magnetosphere, ionosphere and near Earth solar radiation fluxes. Again most of the instrumentation and buses were developed in KB 586 (KB Yuzhnoye, Ukraine) aiming to deliver cluster of small satellites to study ionosphere in the near future.

- METEOR – Russian weather satellite mission is still operational (on METEOR 3M apparatus). The payloads of the numerous launched platforms have been varying but in general it had a TV camera, microwave radiometer and several optical sensors of moderate and high resolution. This mission was the only soviet designed platform carrying foreign made sensor (SAGE-III, USA). The data from METEOR 3M high resolution (38m) scanner is the most popular Russian remote sensing product.

- RESURS satellites (successors of military surveillance projects) are equipped with one high resolution and one moderate resolution sensors. The three bands of the first instrument cover green, read, and near infrared portions of spectrum. Second sensor also has green and red channels but the infrared is split in 2 reflective bands plus the third thermal channel. After 2006 the failure to put the platform into orbit the program is put on hold.

The technology on all of the mentioned equipment was developed during late 80s of the 20th century and undergone minor updates in the recent years. With the end of the cold war, the demand on ELINT and military surveillance dropped drastically. In addition to that the organizational structure of old Soviet Space program had multiple centers of remote sensing technology development. These centers ended up in different countries after the USSR collapsed. Almost all of the research was stripped of funding and conserved on the level of 1991. Though, some small commercial projects, joint missions and foreign contracts kept the specialist base on a stagnation level. Despite the difficulties, KB Yuzhnoye (Ukraine) and PO Lavochkin (Russian Federation) survived the post collapse times and now are actively seeking for opportunities to reengage in remote sensing research and data markets.

Information sources: sputnik.infospace.ru, space.skyrocket.de, astronautix.com, russianspaceweb.com, laspace.ru, and yuzhnoye.com

[via] GeoDecisions, a Pennsylvania information technology company specialising in geospatial solutions, recently developed a Web-based mapping application for the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (DHCA).

The solution, developed in collaboration with the Delaware Government Information Center (GIC), efficiently manages the protection of historic properties and assists in preservation planning. The Cultural and Historical Resource Information System (CHRIS) gives users the ability to quickly and easily access historic resource data and valuable historical information to preserve, maintain, and foster awareness of Delaware’s historical resources.

It also helps to streamline workflows, enhance data access, provide the public with access to Delaware’s national register information, and helps to establish partnerships with other state and federal agencies that work with historical resources.

GIS Development and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) have teamed up to organize Map Asia 2009, the largest geospatial conference. The conference and exhibition will be held from 18 – 20 August, 2009 at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. This will probably be the biggest gathering in Asia of the international geospatial community with an expected attendance comprising of geospatial professionals and practitioners across the globe.

This is the 1st time that Singapore is hosting the Map Asia conference. The organisers are delighted that the Conference is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) under the “Business Events in Singapore” (BEIS) incentive scheme.

The theme of the conference is “Connecting Geospatial Communities- Creating New Dimensions.” This theme was chosen to highlight the new dimensions that geospatial tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have created, or can create, for businesses and Government in their strategic planning and business operations.

The conference agenda will comprise topical issues such as spatial economics, e-city and location-based services. Vincent Hoong, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Land Authority said: “SLA is delighted that Singapore has been chosen to host this year’s edition of the Map Asia Conference.

Sanjay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, GIS Development said: “With this collaboration with SLA, we are sure to provide the companies with a unique opportunity to reach out to a global audience with their company message. Both the companies have made tremendous contribution to the development of geospatial technologies in the Asian market. We are confident that Map Asia 2009 will prove as an apt platform for companies to market their services to the target audience and for delegates to develop a broader perspective on the application and usage of geospatial technologies.”

A 4.7 earthquake hit near Lennox, CA at around 8:40 p.m. Saturday. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that damage was minimized due to its depth of about eight miles below the surface.

More details provided by USGS:

Category: Geo
Event: Earthquake
Urgency: Past
Severity: Unknown
Certainty: Likely
Sender Name: CISN Southern California Management Center
Headline: EQ 4.7 Lennox, CA - PRELIMINARY REPORT
Description: An earthquake with magnitude 4.7 occurred near Lennox, CA at 03:39:36.00 UTC on May 18, 2009. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Web: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci10410337.php
Contact: http://www.cisn.org/scmc.html
Parameter: EventTime=2009-05-18T03:39:36+00:00
Parameter: EventIDKey=ci10410337
Parameter: Version=Q
Parameter: Magnitude=4.7
Parameter: Depth=15.0 km (9.3 miles)
Parameter: HorizontalError=0.2 km
Parameter: VerticalError=0.3 km
Parameter: NumPhases=178
Parameter: MinDistance=6.0 km
Parameter: RMSTimeError=0.48 seconds
Parameter: AzimuthalGap=43 degrees
Description: 1 mile (1 km) ESE of Lennox, CA; 1 mile (2 km) N of Hawthorne, CA; 1 mile (2 km) S of Inglewood, CA; 10 miles (16 km) SW of Los Angeles Civic Center, CA
Circle: 33.937,-118.345 0.0

Intermap Technologies announced that its NEXTMap Europe 3D digital elevation models and high-resolution orthorectified radar images of Western Europe are now complete and available for sale.

The company's NEXTMap Europe programme includes complete nationwide digital maps for Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Italy, Vatican City, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Intermap's NEXTMap Europe database includes digital surface models that include cultural features such as vegetation, buildings and roads; digital terrain models with all cultural features digitally removed; and orthorectified radar images that accentuate topographic features - all with a vertical accuracy of 1 metre or better. The company has also created value-added products such as contours, 3D road centerline geometries, and other high-resolution geospatial products as part of the programme.

Google has launched a localized version of its Google Maps in Malaysia, which it said would benefit local businesses by enabling them to better connect with their customers via relevant information.

Companies keen to use this feature can sign up with Google, upon which they will have complete control over their entries and can update their information anytime.

Google Maps Malaysia at present has information on roads, addresses, property and tourist information, as well as over 100,000 business directory listings, all of which are not available through the site's international version.

Google Maps Malaysia is also available on a variety of mobile phone platforms and users can download the software.

Intermap Technologies announced that it has completed production of the first dataset of highly accurate 3D road vectors for Germany. Covering all classes of roads, the dataset features more than one million line kilometers of highly accurate road centreline position and elevation data for the entire country. Derived from the company’s recently completed database of uniformly accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) for all of Western Europe, these geometries can be used by the automotive industry to support advanced driver assistance systems’ (ADAS) safety and energy management applications that rely on accurate road vector geometry. Additionally, Intermap is producing 3D road vectors for other European countries that will be integrated into a dataset covering all of Western Europe in the near future.

Academic research teams and automotive tier-one suppliers have already taken advantage of the xompany’s highly accurate road geometries for studies and development efforts related to next-generation fuel enhancement and safety applications. A joint study with Clemson University demonstrated that Intermap’s 3D road vectors can significantly enhance energy efficiencies in hybrid electric vehicles through innovations like predictive road topology.

In addition to the Western Europe programme, the company is creating accurate 3D road vectors for the contiguous U.S. and Hawaii as part of its NEXTMap USA nationwide mapping programme.

The goal of the Full Spectral Imaging Project is to develop a New System for Remote Sensing. The New System for Remote Sensing will provide high spectral and spatial resolution remotely sensed information, as well as a wealth of auxiliary information, to any user with an Internet connection, in near real-time, in a format that is easy to use.

Full Spectral Imaging Project is the concept of John Bolton, Earth Science Systems and Remote Sensing Instrument developer. Currently he is in the Earth Science Program Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Background:
Current optical remote sensing instrument technology allows the acquisition and digitization of all of the reflected energy (light) across the full-spectral range of interest. The current method for acquiring, transmitting, and processing this data is still based on the "multi-band" approach that has been used for the past thirty years. Full Spectral Imaging (FSI) intends to do remote sensing the way it would have been done in the first place if adequate technology would have been available.

The goal of the Full Spectral Imaging Project is to provide high quality, easy to use, remotely sensed data (information) to researchers. This project seeks to investigate the feasibility of using alternative methods for pre-processing, transmitting, and extracting information from full-spectral, remotely sensed data. The primary concept is that of transmitting remotely sensed data in which the data rate is proportional to the rate at which information is acquired by the instrument. One feature of the project will be to change from the current "bytes-per-band" approach to the "spectral feature" approach. This approach has the possibility to greatly simplify instrument characterization and to significantly reduce data transmission and storage requirements. Full Spectral Imaging (FSI) has the potential to remove most of the objections to, and fully exploit the capabilities of, "hyperspectral" technology. FSI utilizes all the advantages and technologies of hyperspectral imaging, reducing some of the problems and adding greater usefulness.

We expect that a basic application of the Full Spectral Imaging principle will reduce data transmission and storage requirements by an order of magnitude. Refinement of the principle and supplementing Full Spectral Imaging© with the principle of spectro-spatial compression© could produce another order of magnitude reduction. And finally, and probably most importantly, if the FSI system is implemented fully, it will be possible to make measurements that give researchers spectral reflectance at the target, rather then the current measurement of spectral radiance or spectral reflectance at the top of the atmosphere. This process is called Empirical Reflectance Retrieval.

The end-to-end remote sensing system (A New System for Remote Sensing) would be completed by employing the principle of Autonomous Remote Sensing. This principle would make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Neural Networks and a collaborative computing and distributed data storage capability. Like any good AI system, its performance would improve with use.

Specifics:
Full Spectral Imaging (FSI) is not "hyperspectral", "superspectral', or "ultraspectral" imaging. It is an end-to-end system for doing remote sensing. It involves everything from the technology of the observing instruments to the processes for producing the data products.

Though many ideas will be investigated in this project, the key concept of Full Spectral Imaging is that it transmits all of the information acquired by the instrument rather than all of the data acquired by a traditional instrument. The information acquired is determined by the instrument performance characteristics that, presumably, have been determined by the science requirements. On the other hand, all the data acquired by a traditional instrument includes signal, noise, redundant, and occasionally, useless bits. If the instrument characteristics really are determined by the science requirements, then the quality of the data acquired by the instrument will be sufficient to remove current objections to not having all of the raw data transmitted to the ground.

The quantity of information available from typical imaging satellites is compromised by the volume of data that it must transmit. The FSI system will extract the information from the data before transmission.

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) is a German hyperspectral mission, scheduled for launch in 2012. The primary goal of EnMAP is to offer accurate, diagnostic information on the state and evolution of terrestrial ecosystems on a timely and frequent basis, and to allow for a detailed analysis of surface parameters with regard to the characterization of vegetation canopies, rock/soil targets and coastal waters on a global scale. EnMAP is designed to record bio-physical, bio-chemical and geo-chemical variables to increase our understanding of biospheric /geospheric processes and to ensure the sustainability of our resources.

EnMAP will monitor the Earth's surface with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 30 m x 30 m (30 km x 5000 km per day) measuring in the 420-2450 nm range by means of two separate spectrometers covering the visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral regions with 250 contiguous bands. The mean spectral sampling distance and resolution is of 6.5 nm at the VNIR, and of 10 nm at the SWIR. Accurate radiometric and spectral responses are guaranteed by a defined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ≥ 500:1 in the VNIR and ≥ 150:1 in the SWIR, a radiometric calibration accuracy better than 5% and a spectral calibration uncertainty of 0.5 in the VNIR and 1 nm in the SWIR. An off-nadir pointing capability of up to 30° enables a target revisit time of 4 days.

In this program the GFZ Potsdam has the scientific lead, Kayser-Threde is the industrial prime and OHB Systems provides the bus. The German Space Agency is managing the project and the German Aerospace Establishment is responsible for the ground segment.

EnMAP - Requirements and Technical Outline
Multi- versus Hyperspectral / Potentials

Every material is formed by chemical bonds, and as such can be characterised by spectral absorption features in the electromagnetic spectrum. EnMAP has the capability to detect individual absorption features in the spectra of many materials, solids, liquids, or gases. Actual detection depends on the instrument´s spectral coverage, spectral resolution, spectral sampling, signal-to-noise ratio, the abundance of the material and the strength of the materials absorption features in the wavelength region measured.

Spectral Requirements

Spectral sampling interval

VNIR-range
420 nm - 1000 nm ----- 5 nm

SWIR-range
900 nm - 1390 nm ----- 10 nm
1480 nm - 1760 nm ----- 10 nm
1950 nm - 2450 nm ----- 10 nm

Spectral bandwidth (FWHM)
VNIR-range
420 nm - 1000 nm ----- 5 ± 1.0 nm

SWIR-range
900 nm - 1390 nm ----- 10 ± 1.5 nm
1480 nm - 1760 nm ----- 10 ± 1.5 nm
1950 nm - 2450 nm ----- 10 ± 1.5 nm

The Number of bands may vary due to overlap at 900-1000nm and non-linearities of prism design.

[as released] High resolution aerial photography from Bluesky is helping in providing better services across public sector organizations in the North East of England. Purchased by Tyne and Wear Research and Information (TWRI) on behalf of a consortium that includes local councils, emergency services and the Passenger Transport Authority, the GeoPerspectives imagery will provide benefits for a variety of applications. These include frontline use within emergency service response vehicles and supporting decision-making within the planning application process. At an impressive 10 cm resolution, the digital aerial photomap is detailed enough to view individual property boundaries, specific land uses and even street markings.

TWRI was established in 1986 to support the 5 Tyne and Wear district Councils through the assembly and analysis of statistical information. It provides a wide range of services including research, advice and consultancy within the themes of Census and Demographics, Crime, Gis / Mapping, Economy, Social, Area Profiler 2, Housing, Land and Property and News. TWRI also works with a wide range of organisations, including the police, fire service, probation, Government Office North East, Association NE Councils and North East Assembly.

The GeoPerspectives dataset was captured in the summer of 2008 at a resolution of 10 cm as part of a five-year update plan to maintain national coverage of the most accurate and up-to-date aerial photography of England and Wales. Using the latest digital imaging technology GeoPerspectives, a joint venture between Bluesky and Infoterra, provides national coverage of orthorectified aerial photography, digital terrain and surface models for 3D modelling, and colour infrared imagery for vegetation analysis.

Topcon Positioning Systems' (TPS) released GRS-1, a modular, all-in-one, dual-constellation mapping system that incorporates high-accuracy capabilities into a single, small hand-held device. The GRS-1 has a high-speed processor, increased memory, built-in compass and an integrated digital camera and cell phone modem that provides flexibility for the user in the field.

The GRS-1 addresses mobile GIS applications as it incorporates an optional internal GSM or CDMA modem used to dial up to a reference station network for real-time correction data. An extra cell phone modem to make the connection is no longer required. Wireless connectivity via wireless LAN and Bluetooth technology enable a user to access a GIS server to download maps and other GIS data to use in the field.

The new receiver has sub-meter DGPS capability with an internal L1 antenna. One can add an external antenna at any time, to increase accuracy. Add a single frequency PG-A5 antenna and connect to a GNSS network via the internal cellular modem for sub-foot accuracy. Add a dual-frequency, PGA-1 external antenna and a high-accuracy software module and the receiver moves to dual-frequency, dual-constellation GNSS for GIS RTK (<5cm) accuracy. The GRS-1 is designed as a modular solution – the user can choose from a variety of accuracy levels for a myriad of projects. The GRS-1 uses the Windows Mobile operating system to run TopSURV-GIS, Topcon's field mapping software. Visit TopCon.

A free tool and satellite data provided by NASA and the US Geological Survey called TerraLook, provides time series of geo-referenced jpeg images plus image processing/GIS software [press release]. It is intended to provide easy access to free satellite images for users with little or no prior experience, though it also proves useful for experienced users who want a quick image.

The data includes global coverage layers of "best available" Landsat images from about 1975, 1990, 2000 (and, soon, 2005). ASTER data are also available, and access is provided to the entire ASTER archive of about 2 million images going back to 2000. While full ASTER datasets cost about USD100 per scene, these jpeg images are completely free.

The open source tool supports basic image processing and GIS functions; a major update will be available around the end of the year. In fact, participation in tool development is welcome for those who enjoy programming.

Visit TerraLook for free Remote Sensing Image downloads.

GeoEye, Inc. reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2009. First quarter 2009 revenues were $45.2 million, a 26 percent increase compared to $35.9 million in the first quarter of 2008. The increase was primarily due to our GeoEye-1 satellite beginning commercial operations in February 2009 resulting in increased imagery orders from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). In addition, we began recognising deferred revenue related to the cost share from NGA for GeoEye-1.

Income from operations was $1.7 million for the first quarter 2009 compared to $5.6 million for the first quarter 2008. The decrease was due to increased costs related to GeoEye-1 becoming operational, offset by our initial revenues from GeoEye-1. Beginning in the first quarter of 2009, operating expenses included operating costs related to the GeoEye-1 satellite including depreciation, satellite insurance and salary costs.

Our net loss for the first quarter of 2009 was $1.7 million compared to a net loss of $0.8 million for the corresponding period in 2008.

NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced that NACMaps - a NAC enhancement for Blackberry Maps has been released and available on the Blackberry App World of Research In Motion (RIM), to make Blackberry Maps work everywhere in all its covered geographic areas no matter whether there are no street addresses such as in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and no matter whether there are no standard street addresses in English as in many Asian countries thanks to the power of Natural Area Code (NAC) which is able to efficiently and language independently specify any location and area in the world.

Although Blackberry Maps is the most comprehensive mobile map application in the world, providing locating, nearby business searching, turn-by-turn driving directions and navigating services in 67 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Carribean and North America, it can specify locations only with street addresses which have many problems:

• Many countries such as UAE don't have street addresses, which makes users no way to specify destinations on the Driving Directions of Blackberry Maps even though it has a perfect street network database;

• Many countries and areas such as Hong Kong don't have standard street addresses in English, which makes Blackberry Maps frequently fail;

• More than 99% of locations in the world such as accidents don't have street addresses, which makes Blackberry Maps not work in all these locations;

• Street addresses are also full of variations, often duplicated in multiple locations, frequently changed and too new to be added in databases, which makes Blackberry Maps either fail to find or find wrong locations;

• Even street addresses are available, they are always very long and not efficient to input.

All these seriously restrict the uses of Blackberry Maps. Now NACMaps inserts two items to the menu of Blackberry Maps: NACLocating and NACRouting to allow users to specify any location with the Universal Address (i.e. eight or ten character NAC). The advantages of using Universal Addresses instead of street addresses to specify locations are:

• All locations including houses and buildings in the world have their own Universal Addresses;

• Universal Addresses are language independent and easy to input;

• Universal Addresses are highly efficient and 80% shorter than a typical street address;

• Universal Addresses are standard without variations;

• Universal Addresses never change without addresses outdated or too new to be found;
• Universal Addresses are mathematically equivalent to longitude/latitude, do not need geocoding and don't rely on any databases;

• Universal Addresses can be directly measured with GPS and pinpoited on all maps with Universal Map Grids;

Enhanced with the capabilities of Universal Addresses, Blackberry Maps now works in all its covered countries. Regardless the existence or completeness of street addresses, can easily specify any destination on the map, search its nearby businesses and get the driving directions to it.

Universal Addresses of any location in the world can be obtained on Free Geocoding Service and NAC Enhanced Google Maps. Universal Addresses of businesses can be found on the NAC Enhanced Google Local.

The country’s supplier of land and property search information, Landmark Nederland, has taken a significant step forward in helping to make public sector information more accessible to both public and commercial users following a three year campaign. Landmark is the first organisation in The Netherlands to have brought together a national dataset of environmental risks such as contaminated land from a range of sources including Dutch council records. This data is used to create a portfolio of products including Milieuscan environmental reports for home buyers, which sell via estate agency brokers.

The Milieuscan reports were launched in 2006 with the co-operation of national and local authorities providing supporting data for environmental search purposes. However, the City of Amsterdam sought substantial compensation for supplying the data and also wanted to limit its reuse, arguing a substantial investment had been made in compiling the original dataset. However, after three years of legal hearings, the Dutch Raad van State, the highest Administrative Court in the Netherlands, ruled that the City of Amsterdam does not bear the risk of investment in the database as this has to be provided and funded anyway as part of the City's public task. Consequently, the City is not entitled to attach excessive financial conditions and limitations to the reuse of the data by Landmark.

HealthGIS 2009 invites you all to attend the "3rd International Conference on HealthGIS 2009", which is going to be held in Hyderabad, India on the 24-26 July 2009.

The Conference Theme for year 2009 is "Enabling Better Health Geospatially". The Conference will hold Keynotes, Technical Sessions, Workshops, Exhibitions, Plenary Sessions and other exciting events. We believe your active participation in the conference will make it really fruitful and promote the better healthcare and prevention of diseases using Geoinformation Technology. Be assured of an excellent networking experience with executives from government and non-government organizations and delegates from many countries around the world.

The detailed information about the conference, submission of your abstract, important dates, venue, registration and accommodation can be found online: http://e-geoinfo.net/healthgis2009/

The deadlines are:

Abstract Submission = 20 May 2009

Full Paper Submission = 19 June 2009

Complete Registration deadline for Inclusion of the paper in the proceedings = 19 June 2009.

The Space Shuttle launch is today. Atlantis is set to launch at 2:01 p.m. EDT on a mission to upgrade the world's most famous telescope.

[via] At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis and crew are nearing liftoff at Launch Pad 39A. They're ready to begin the final mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The countdown clock is holding at T-9 minutes. This is the last built-in hold today and is scheduled to last about 40 minutes.

A five-person "Red Team" is at the launch pad to check ice formation on the liquid hydrogen umbilical.

The weather forecast remains "go" at the launch site and the Transoceanic Abort Landing site in Moron, Spain, as the countdown clock ticks backward toward an on-time launch at 2:01 p.m. EDT. See the launch live.

Autodesk India, unveiled the latest releases of its 2D and 3D design and engineering software for manufacturers. Significant enhancements and newly packaged suites of the company’s products will help manufacturers build better products, ranging from mobile phones to bulldozers, in less time.

The new 2010 product lineup for manufacturers includes Autodesk Inventor family of products, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD Electrical, Autodesk Alias family of products, Autodesk Moldflow, Autodesk Navisworks, Autodesk Showcase, Autodesk 3ds Max Design and Autodesk Vault software - industry-leading applications that constitute the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping. The 2010 software releases introduce an even greater range of design, visualization and simulation capabilities, along with tighter interoperability than ever before with both Autodesk software applications and other CAD tools.

Autodesk Digital Prototyping software gives manufacturers the ability to digitally design, visualise and simulate how a product will work under real-world conditions before it is built. Digital Prototyping reduces reliance on physical prototypes, which helps reduce cost and accelerate time to market in highly competitive industries.

As part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness about the urgent need for action against desertification and land degradation, the UN is calling on all aspiring photographers to participate in its second international photo contest.

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is looking for images that artistically highlight either the efforts of people trying to conserve soil, land or water in drylands or the relationship between people and dryland ecosystems.

Drylands cover more than a third of Earth’s land surface and are the habitat and source of livelihood for nearly two billion people. These areas are increasingly threatened by desertification, which puts the health and well-being of over 1 billion people in more than 100 countries at risk.

The good news is that dryland desertification can be remedied, or even reversed, provided information is available on what areas are most at risk. Satellite images can highlight land use change and reveal increased surface reflectivity, temperature, dryness and dustiness.

The view from space can also support authorities in getting an overall picture of key pressures on land, such as burned land due to forest fires and erosion processes and their trends over time. This information, together with climatic data and socio-economic information, provides an overview of the main causes and effects of land degradation.

ESA has worked closely with the UNCCD secretariat for more than six years to develop standardised information services based on satellite observations to assess and monitor desertification and its trends over time.

Photo contest winners will be selected by an international jury led by world-renowned photographer Michael Martin, National Geographic editor Jürgen Nakoff, Mali’s Minister for the Promotion of Women, Youth and Family, Maïga Sina Damba, and French environmentalist Nicolas Hulot, among others.

The first-prize winner will receive 1500 euros and be invited to participate in an award ceremony during the UNCCD’s Convention of the Parties in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The second- and third-prize winners will receive 1000 and 500 euros, respectively.

Photos should be submitted via email by 17 June, which is the UN’s celebration of World Environment Day. This year’s theme, ‘Conserving land and water - securing our common future’, was chosen to raise awareness of the global interdependence of worldwide natural resources like land, soil, water and the climate as a whole.

GeoEye, Inc., a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information, announced today that it has completed an expansion, nearly doubling the production space, of its St. Louis, Missouri advanced production facility. A ceremony to mark the opening of the new space took place on April 27, 2009 and included a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by GeoEye's Chief Operating Officer, Vice Presidents of engineering and product engineering and many St. Louis employees.

GeoEye's St. Louis facility employs 83 highly skilled professionals - many with advanced degrees in geospatial engineering, mathematics and geography. There are a dozen job openings to support the increased workloads. St. Louis employees generate advanced image processing products, engineering analysis and related services for the U.S. Government and other commercial customers. It can produce satellite imagery products from multiple sources including those acquired by U.S. Government satellites, GeoEye's GeoEye-1 and IKONOS satellites, and imaging satellites operated by competitors in the U.S. and overseas.

Bill Schuster, GeoEye's chief operating officer, commented, "Our St. Louis facility provides us with a unique ability to provide our customers with the information they need. These days, what matters is not only collecting pixels, but what you do with them. GeoEye believes that we're the only operator of high-resolution imagery satellites that also operates a source-agnostic production facility that can assimilate imagery from any source to generate the sophisticated information products required by our customers."

GeoEye is also expanding its production facility that supports U.S. Government customers within its Thornton, Colorado office near Denver, Colo. Together, both regional facility upgrades represent a 50 percent increase in services' production capacity. To explore GeoEye's career opportunities please visit: http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/careers/Default.aspx.

Fly over Ohio at 30,000 feet and its cities and counties like much of the Midwest look like a patchwork quilt. Until recently, so did imagery and GIS data across the state, via press release.

But information that was once "stitched together" is now seamless, thanks to a multiagency effort called the Ohio Statewide Imagery Program (OSIP). The program's data is making government technology professionals' jobs more efficient and their work far more precise.

In 2006, the state decided to replace its decade-old, 1-meter black-and-white aerial photos with high-resolution digital color imagery. But the imagery would need to be orthorectified (corrected for surface elevation changes) in order to truly be usable as maps depicting accurate distances.

One alternative would have been to compile a new DEM of the entire state using traditional methods of surveying and photogrammetry (determining geometric data from photographs). But these methods are often time and cost prohibitive.

Lidar is a method of collecting highly accurate elevation data via an aircraft with mounted laser equipment. The data is accurate within plus or minus 1 foot in most terrain. Billions of lidar-generated points represent 3-D location/elevation data of terrain, waterways, roadways, buildings -- even tree cover.

"The imagery can be shown in 3-D and offers multiple views simply by rotating the images," said Brian Stevens, project manager for Woolpert. "Because the DEM data accurately maps the shape of land surface in three dimensions, it has many engineering uses beyond its primary purpose."

Ohio is one of the first states to create a seamless and highly accurate imagery data set, a blueprint for a larger goal of a seamless data set for the entire nation.

Education professionals will gather to explore the power of spatial thinking July 11–14 at the 2009 ESRI Education User Conference (EdUC). The conference, to be held this year at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California, will provide an exceptional forum for collaboration among educators, administrators, researchers, librarians, and museum professionals with all levels of geographic information system (GIS) experience.

Attendees will kick-start their conference experience during the Plenary Session as ESRI education team members explore the latest applications and resources in the ESRI education community. Keynote speaker Dr. Henk Scholten will talk about the role of GIS in the development of spatial thinking. Scholten is professor of spatial informatics on the faculty of business economics at the Free University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as well as scientific director of SPINlab at the Center for Research and Education on Spatial Information at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Scholten is also the president of UNIGIS International, the association of 17 universities around the world that coordinates GIS education and research.

Following the plenary, a collection of paper sessions will address a wide variety of interests including GIS in teaching, administration and planning, libraries, museums, and youth programs. During these presentations, educators will delve into topics such as building a GIS program and community mapping projects. Attendees will also be able to visit the EXPO to network and take a look at GIS products and services provided by educational, commercial, government, and nonprofit organizations.

Attendees will have several opportunities to test-drive ESRI's GIS software. The Hands–On Learning Lab will offer GIS tutorials that can be completed at each individual's own pace. Computers will be set up with 45-minute prerecorded lessons, and ESRI staff will be on hand to answer questions. ESRI instructor-led computer labs will provide another way to improve GIS software skills. These 75-minute workshops will cover ESRI software including ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Explorer, and ArcGIS Server.

EdUC registration includes Monday, July 13, and Tuesday, July 14, of the 2009 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC), the world's largest gathering of GIS professionals. The education community will greatly benefit from ESRI UC activities including the inspiring Plenary Session—where special recognition is given to invited youth—and the Academic GIS Program Fair where attendees will be able to talk with representatives from higher education GIS programs. To find out more about the EdUC and to register online, visit www.esri.com/educ.

SPOT Image Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement with KAI Image as the distributor of KOMPSAT-2 products to customers across North America. Through this partnership, SPOT Image Corporation can now offer users very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery for projects requiring the detail of a 1-meter image.

By signing this agreement, SPOT Image Corporation will promote, distribute, service, and support data capabilities for KOMPSAT-2 in the United States. KOMPSAT-2 is a 10-bit system featuring four bands (red, green, blue and near infrared), which simultaneously collects 1-meter panchromatic and 4-meter multispectral imagery to produce a standard 1-meter natural color product. The blue band capability of KOMPSAT-2 makes it an ideal solution for mapping shallow water, differentiating soil from vegetation and water penetration studies, such as corral mapping. This will allow SPOT Image to further enhance its current high resolution satellite offerings to a broad marketplace that includes defense, homeland security and commercial applications.

Teachers with access to ArcGIS Desktop software (ArcInfo, ArcEditor, or ArcView) will be able to use Thinking Spatially Using GIS and newly created educational materials to integrate geospatial technology into primary-level classrooms. The new GIS teaching materials are available for download from the Web at no cost and complement the lessons that are currently available in the Thinking Spatially Using GIS book.

"The materials include ArcGIS software-based student workbook pages, teacher notes, map documents, and a few revised data layers," says Laura Bowden, ESRI K–16 program coordinator.

Thinking Spatially Using GIS is level 1 in the award-winning Our World GIS Education book series, which was created to enhance geospatial learning for students of all levels—grade school through college—and provide teachers with comprehensive and easy-to-use resources for the classroom. Lessons in Thinking Spatially Using GIS align with National Geography Standards and introduce students to basic concepts in spatial inquiry through conventional third-through-sixth-grade topics. Students practice map reading and pattern recognition skills by exploring, for example, Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world, where tornados occur in the United States and why, and early settlement patterns in the United States. Within the new ArcGIS Desktop teaching materials, there is an activity that has been added for lesson 2, "Touring the Zoo," that gives students the opportunity to use ArcGIS to draw their zoo tour route.

As reported, tThe Middle East's map publisher, Explorer Publishing has released Dubai's complete street atlas which includes over 3,000 streets and 110,000 buildings. Two years in the making, the Dubai Complete Street Atlas provides both residents and visitors with 200 pages of detailed maps and an index comprising 13,000 entries.

Alistair Mackenzie, Publisher, Explorer Publishing comments: "To be able to develop and release the Dubai Complete Street Atlas has been extremely rewarding, as it is an indication of how much Dubai has developed in recent years. We feel privileged to be part of such a fast-growing region that has witnessed vast changes."

With a team of highly skilled cartographers and designers, combined with award-winning print quality and mapping capabilities, Explorer has published numerous mapping products includes mini maps, city maps, image maps, road maps, country atlases and off road maps.

Explorer Publishing was founded in Dubai in 1995, and has rapidly expanded its portfolio of residents' guides, mini visitors' guides, mini maps, maps and atlases, lifestyle guides and photography books, covering the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.

ERDAS and Spot Image announce a new partnership, increasing both organizations' involvement in the Heterogeneous Mission Accessibility - Interoperability (HMA-I) project.

The European Space Agency (ESA) issued the HMA contract in 2005, defining the architecture and interoperability standards for harmonized data access across the ground segments of the European and Canadian missions contributing to the ESA's Global Monitoring for Environment & Security (GMES).

ERDAS developed the EO Proxy Framework to expose legacy catalogs through Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) HMA interfaces. Spot Image is already contributing to ESA’s Global Monitoring for Environment & Security (GMES), with plans to implement the HMA interfaces on top of its existing legacy ground segment architecture.

The EO Proxy Framework can be interfaced on the legacy catalogue side with a web service. Spot Image has been working with ERDAS since 2007 on HMA project to develop a prototype exposing DALI, the Spot Image legacy catalogue, through OGC HMA catalogue interface, and has selected ERDAS technologies for implementing its operational services. ERDAS is providing the software, the maintenance and the technical support. Spot Image is developing the connector between DALI and the EO Proxy Framework and deploying the different components on a dedicated server, which will act as a gateway between the business Spot catalogue (wsDali) and ESA generic HMA client (EODAIL).

URBANWARE Neighborhoods Database Surpasses 84,000 Neighborhoods for over 2,700 municipalities in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Urban Mapping, Inc. (UMI), the leading provider of location-rich content for interactive applications, today unveiled enhancements to the company’s URBANWARE® Neighborhoods database. Already used by industry-leaders in the portal, map platform and Internet yellow page markets, such as Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, MapQuest and AT&T's YellowPages.com, the database’s market-leading coverage incorporates nearly 8,000 new neighborhoods in the U.S. and 500 new neighborhoods across Canada and Europe. In addition, Urban Mapping has raised the bar for quality of neighborhood data by adding the capability to dynamically incorporate user feedback in its offering. The company can now merge data from its thousands of existing sources with input from local residents that best understand the dynamics of their neighborhoods.

"Outsourcing expertise to local markets is a critical piece of what we’ve always done and adding user input to the equation was the next logical step to further increase product quality," stated Ian White, CEO of Urban Mapping. "There can be many wrong answers for neighborhoods and few correct ones. Urban Mapping is the neighborhood data provider of choice by the who’s who of the industry because we take the extra steps necessary to deliver quality data that truly reflects the way people think about their local communities."

Yahoo!, a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide, utilizes neighborhood data from Urban Mapping to provide detailed and accurate content to its user base. "In evaluating Urban Mapping and others, it is clear that not all neighborhood data is equal," stated Bob Upham, director of business development at Yahoo!. "Over our two years of working together, Urban Mapping has been instrumental in helping us power great consumer experiences."

Understanding the Challenge with Neighborhood Boundaries
Neighborhoods are informally defined spaces that have formed over time due to historical or cultural reasons. As they are rarely administratively or politically defined, there are no clear rules that dictate how neighborhoods are defined or named. Because of this informal nature, boundaries are often fuzzy. While it may seem like a good idea to draw hard boundaries between neighborhoods, exclusive boundaries do not accurately describe locations situated on or close to the boundary. "Saying one neighborhood ends where another begins is simply incorrect—it distorts reality," added White.

Urban Mapping's neighborhood data defines boundaries in a way that accounts for the informal nature of urban geography. By recognizing that a location can technically be in two or more neighborhoods, Urban Mapping eliminates binary boundaries and replaces them with conditional boundaries. Because conditional boundaries incorporate this inherent fuzziness, they are more in tune with the way people understand informal spaces, resulting in neighborhood boundaries that are more realistic and accurate. This underlying data representation formed the basis for Urban Mapping’s patent pending approach to defining informal space.

The neighborhood database also assigns a "prominence" factor to all locations situated within the conditional boundaries. This "prominence" factor determines and then assigns a dominant neighborhood to each location, allowing applications to produce binary boundaries while avoiding double counting.

About URBANWARE Neighborhoods
Urban Mapping's neighborhood boundary database is the most comprehensive product of its kind, enabling increased relevance for users and greater precision for advertisers. The boundary collection for the U.S. now totals nearly 70,000 neighborhoods for over 2,500 cities and towns. In addition, Urban Mapping's set of international boundary data now includes roughly 15,000 neighborhoods across Canada and Europe. By geographically encoding boundaries of thousands of neighborhoods, UMI provides precise latitude and longitude points for every neighborhood. The neighborhood data can be accessed through a simple and cost-effective API, and is also available in other formats including XML, WKT, ASCII and SHP.

About Urban Mapping, Inc.
Urban Mapping's location-rich URBANWARE products enhance the value of local content for interactive applications. The company's flagship product, URBANWARE Neighborhoods, is a database of informal space and is used by all major portals, map platforms and Internet yellow page publishers, including Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft's Virtual Earth, Idearc's SuperPages.com, MapQuest and AT&T's YellowPages.com. Urban Mapping also offers databases of mass transit systems and off-street parking lots, as well as a novel geotargeting solution focused on the needs of local search. For more information about Urban Mapping, visit http://www.urbanmapping.com or call 415.946.8170.

SuperGeo Technologies announced that the company will release the Beta version of its key product, the Mobile GIS software called SuperPad 3.

Different from SuperPad 2, SuperPad 3 is using the brand new SuperGIS Mobile Engine 3.0 as its operation core. Therefore, it is claimed that regarding the functions, SuperPad 3 can provide powerful performance, higher speed and user-friendly manipulation interface than SuperPad 2. Besides, SuperPad 3 also supports developers to develop the self-developed plug-in extensions, such as self-developed layer format, legend, GPS Protocol and toolbar buttons, in order to meet more users’ request and improves efficiency and expansion of field surveying.

The features of the Mobile Phone GIS software, SuperPad 3, are stated as below:

1. With brand new .NET CF core component, it is able to run in any device that supports .NET CF (WinCE/Smart Phone/Desktop), such as PDA, smart phone, etc.
2. Brand new toolbar design gives users more user-friendly and convenient manipulation.
3. Screen Lock function can reduce the risk of changing map by accidentally touching during manipulation.
4. The transparent setting of layer display has improved the display and harmony of overall screen.
5. Brand new editing tools, such as Undo and Redo, and writing in all editing actions at a time, can improve the entire access performance.
6. Brand new photo layer management combines image and GPS information, so the creation of photo layer can be rapidly done. Then photos can be opened by hyperlink on the map, making users feel like in the scenery.
7. As GPS function is activated, the current latitude and longitude of GPS position will be displayed on the GPS status bar at the bottom of the screen, allowing users to catch the correct coordinate all the time.
8. Brand new PC version Image Rectification 3.0 supports to export to JPEG format (*.jpeg), and the rectified image layer can be used in SuperGIS series software.
9. The developer can self-develop plug-in extensions to enlarge the SuperPad practical utility. Developers can use SuperPad Builder to customize the needed functions, for example customization of Sketch Labeling function can sketch labels on mobile device.
10. The map files for SuperPad and SuperWebGIS are exchangeable.
11. The map file (*.spm) of SuperPad 2 is readable in SuperPad 3.
12. Legends of SuperGIS Desktop products and SuperPad 3 are exchangeable, which can improve the usability of graphic data.

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Blue Marble Geographics has announced the release of GeoCore, an all-in-one geospatial data translation toolkit that supports coordinate, geometry, vector, CAD, raster, and LIDAR data. GeoCore gives software developers the coordinate transformation and definition powers, plus the ability to handle all raster and vector file format and geometry needs with GeoTranslate and GeoTransform. GeoTranslate 5.0.1 and GeoTransform 6.0 are the vector and raster components of GeoCore.

Additionally coordinate definition and manipulation support in GeoCore comes from GeoCalc 6.4, the latest offering of our coordinate transformation "engine" that performs on-the-fly coordinate transformations as well as geodetic calculations. When used within any GPS, surveying, engineering, or mapping system, GeoCalc provides highly accurate and dependable geographic coordinate transformations and geodetic calculations.

Five-million dollars in grants and cooperative agreements are being awarded in 2009 for earthquake research to 84 recipients including universities, state geological surveys and private firms, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced. In addition, applications are being accepted for up to $7 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2010.

"These grants underscore once again the importance to our nation of the earth science work accomplished by the USGS," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. "Earthquakes are one of the most costly natural hazards faced by the nation, posing a risk to 75 million Americans in 39 states."

USGS supports research on earthquake hazards in at-risk regions nationwide, including effects from earthquake shaking and the physical conditions and processes that cause earthquakes. The research is helping to better understand how earthquake hazards change with time and to reduce losses through effective earthquake forecasts based on the best possible scientific information.

"These research grants help the government gain access to talented academic, state, and private-sector researchers whose investigations are critical to helping prevent earthquake hazards from becoming disasters," said David Applegate, USGS Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake & Geologic Hazards.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and European Space Imaging (EUSI), the company that owns and operates the European IKONOS ground station, entered into an agreement that gives ESA access to more than 15 million square kilometers of IKONOS satellite imagery.

Within its Third Party Mission scheme, ESA provides to earth observation (EO) users data from non-ESA missions to complement the data from ESA EO missions and to support and build up the scientific user community for those data in Europe.

IKONOS as a Third Party Mission is available to ESA and ESA-approved projects for scientific research, applications development, or research and development in preparation for operational use in future, the so-called Category-1 use.

Typical application areas are disaster management and mitigation, civil protection, humanitarian aid, agriculture and forestry.

The available IKONOS data can now be browsed and ordered online through ESA's EOLI system. A special link-up of EUSI’s Online User Services to ESA’s EOLI systems was developed by EOX IT Services GmbH. Archived products will be transferred on ESA’s request from EUSI’s production center to be stored at and disseminated from the Multi-Mission Facility Infrastructure of ESA which is located at the premises of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen.