GIS in Education

Greetings everyone:

My name is Pranoti Asher and I am the new Education and Public Outreach Manager at AGU. I am attaching some information about a family event at the upcoming AGU 2010 Fall meeting. Hope to see you there!

Who: You and your family should you happen to drag them to AGU! You can pre-register at: sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/epo/families/explore/registration.php

What: Join us at Exploration Station and see the science going on right now at AGU!

A FREE event where you can try tons of hands-on at the activities, meet colleagues involved in education and outreach, and load up on free stuff. For more information including a list of this year’s exhibitors please visit:

http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/epo/families/explore/explore.php

When: Sunday 12 December 2010
12:00 - 4:00 pm

Where: Moscone Center South
Gateway Ballroom
San Francisco, CA

Also Join us for the PUBLIC LECTURE THE MANY COLORS OF THE SUN
Dr. Dean Pesnell, Lead Project Scientist Solar Dynamics Observatory
Sunday, December 12, 2010, Noon- 1:00 PM in the Gateway Ballroom 102

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) launched in February 2010 for a 5-year mission to explore the Sun. Dr. Pesnell will talk about how SDO data will be used by Space Weather forecasters and solar physicists to explore the Sun, the solar magnetic field, and how the Sun affects us on Earth.

Pranoti Asher
Manager, Education and Public Outreach
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Avenue NW
Washington DC 20009-1277

The Republic of Brazil will defend the free distribution of satellite images and data during the Summit of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO, for its acronym in English) to be held next week in Beijing ( China), official sources said.

The Brazilian position at the meeting, to be held from 3 to 5 November, was announced Wednesday by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which is represented in China by its director, Gilberto Camara.

The INPE, pioneer in the distribution of satellite images, will defend in Beijing said the implementation of a comprehensive policy of free access to satellite data.

The GEO is an intergovernmental organization of 84 countries that are part and 56 international organizations like the European Commission.

"Brazil supports the free distribution of satellite data, known as the Data Democracy and Capaccitty Building program, which is being implemented by INPE" according to a note of this State to the Ministry of Science and Technology Agency reported Xinhua.

The Capaccity Building is an initiative that also seeks to provide satellite data free of charge, to build a common infrastructure with capacity to receive this information, interpret and transmit easily to the end user.

GEO Summit in China, at the ministerial level, will assess the implementation plan adopted in 2005, when the group was created, and to define the goals of the triennium 2011-2013.

The main objectives of the GEO is to improve the access of data from Earth observation and discuss their applications, and coordinate efforts to implement the Global Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).

Inpe began offering free beginning in June 2004, the satellite images Satellite Program Chinese Brazilian Remote Surveillance (CBERS) and soon after did the same with the U.S. Landsat satellite images to which he was entitled.

In the middle of last year, five years after it was implemented this policy, Brazil reached the one million mark satellite images distributed to businesses, organizations and countries that used for studies and environmental applications, agriculture and weather.

According to INPE, the success of this pioneering initiative led other countries, including the U.S., also provide the orbiting satellite images of medium resolution.

The countries benefiting from Brazilian politics are those of South America, who have access to images of their territories received by INPE's station in the city of Cuiabá.

The Institute also signed agreements to offer African countries Cbers images that reach the ground receiving stations of Hartebeeshoek (South Africa), Aswan (Egypt) and Maspaloms (Canary Island).

Gary A. Puckrein, Ph.D., CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum, and Gary Doern, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert in clinical microbiology and antimicrobial resistance, today launched the National MRSA Atlas (www.mapmrsa.org). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, causes significant infections throughout the U.S. with mortality rates of up to 20 percent in certain settings. Further, MRSA affects certain populations disproportionately. Because of its clinical significance and its antimicrobial resistance profile, MRSA has been referred to as the "super bug." The National MRSA Atlas graphically depicts the prevalence of this "super bug" across the United States.

"We believe the national MRSA Atlas will help those on the front lines of MRSA to more effectively calibrate prevention and treatment efforts through use of the MRSA map. Health care practitioners can use the MRSA map to pinpoint 'super bug' hot spots and thereby direct resources where they are most needed," stated Gary Puckrein, Atlas developer and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum.

Dr. Gary Doern, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, and fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Infectious Disease Society of America, noted that, "notwithstanding the clinical importance of MRSA, it has been a largely silent epidemic. Mapping the spread of MRSA is an important step in localizing MRSA, raising awareness in high impact areas and tailoring prevention and treatment efforts to that particular locale. Now that we know where the problem is, we can improve early diagnosis and treatment in the hardest hit communities."

The National MRSA Atlas is the most recent Internet-based disease map resource developed by the National Minority Quality Forum. Dr. Doern added that the MRSA Atlas will specifically, "help those on the front lines combating MRSA, to direct infection-control efforts to reduce the burden of the disease and prevent antimicrobial resistance among hospitalized patients." By logging onto the web site, www.mapmrsa.org, map users can examine data by age, gender, race and ethnicity and can also overlay federal and state legislative districts on top of county data. The MRSA Atlas shows that 90 percent of MRSA occurs in just five percent of the counties in the United States.

The National Minority Quality Forum is a non-profit healthcare research and educational organization dedicated to the elimination of health disparities. The Forum supports national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations. The Forum has introduced user-friendly, web-based disease atlases to provide a unique two-dimensional view of various diseases, including diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, by zip code. Users now have an unprecedented objective and reliable source of integrated data to validate the existence of health disparities.

National Minority Quality Forum
1200 New Hampshire Avenue - Suite 575
Washington DC 20036
www.nmqf.org
202.223.7560

SOURCE National Minority Quality Forum

Goldin-Rudahl Systems, Inc. (GRS) has announced that their new textbook, "Learning Remote Sensing Using Dragon/ips and OpenDragon", is now available from Amazon and other booksellers. "Learning Remote Sensing" provides a hands-on introduction to core concepts and operations in remote sensing image analysis and raster GIS. The book combines simple, clear explanations of RS/GIS principles with practical exercises that allow students to experiment with remotely sensed image data and to observe the results of various processing techniques. Although the book is valuable as a stand-alone text, it will be most effective when used in conjunction with the free OpenDragon system or the more powerful Dragon Professional Edition. Images and other files required for the hands-on exercises are available online.

"Learning Remote Sensing" is appropriate for undergraduate students in geography, geology, forestry, civil engineering, landscape design and other disciplines that utilize information derived from remote sensing. It will also be useful for teachers in secondary schools who want to introduce remote sensing to their classes.

For more information about "Learning Remote Sensing Using OpenDragon and Dragon/ips, visit http://www.createspace.com/3489254 or the Dragon website, dragon-ips.com. Kindle and other electronic formats will be available soon.

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Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), and Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya, COMSTE co-chair, today identified the priority projects of COMSTE for 2011 which include Telemedicine, Remote-Sensing for Agriculture, Electronic Vehicles and Green Transport and Disaster Science.

Recognizing the significance of information and communications technology (ICT), Angara and Abaya renewed its commitment to further revolutionize the delivery of basic health services to remote areas throughout the country through telemedicine which allows physicians to perform remote diagnosis of patients from far-flung areas underserved by traditional medical care.

He added that aside from improving basic health care services and delivery to remote areas, telemedicine will create the foundation for digital medical records. By collecting data from patients all over the country, transitioning to a digital medical record system will become easier.

Meanwhile, in his effort to improve the country's agriculture system, Angara is pushing for the implementation of Remote-Sensing for Agriculture Project, which utilizes ICT to provide farmers with the latest market data on agriculture.

"Competitive agriculture means efficiently growing high value crops, using remote sensing to anticipate heavy rains or drought, understanding the effects of climate change and pollution on productivity, and having an integrated view of the logistics of produce delivery to the market," he said during the weekly Kapihan sa Senado.

Another priority project of COMSTE is the Electronic Vehicles and Green Transport which will hugely benefit tourism, renewable energy, and electronics industries. "Electric vehicles are viewed as the vehicles technology of the future. Being one of the first to actually adopt the technology, this industry could open up a big export market for the country. Green transport solutions also take advantage of using waste-to-energy technologies to fuel e-vehicles," he said.

The Disaster Science Project, on the other hand, aims to upgrade the current capabilities of government to forecast weather, send out reliable warnings, and to ultimately prepare the country and the populace upon the onset of disastrous events, and to and rehabilitate on the aftermath of such events.

"The resilience of an entire country rests on the building of resilience and adaptability of each of its vulnerable areas, such as food and energy, and the sources of each, public health, infrastructure and communication systems."

StreetMapper GIS, a new version of the mobile laser mapping system with an integrated panoramic camera, has been launched by 3D Laser Mapping and IGI mbH. StreetMapper GIS is easy to mount on any type of vehicle and offers a cost effective solution for collection of street level asset information for use in geographical information systems (GIS) or other desktop software solutions.

Being offered as an entry-level version of the renowned StreetMapper 360, the system has a single vehicle-mounted laser enabling high precision mapping to a range of 300 metres, a capacity of 300,000 measurements per second and exceptional recorded accuracies. StreetMapper GIS also includes an integrated high-resolution digital camera to capture street level images along the survey route recording features that can be tagged directly to the GIS database.

3D Laser Mapping has also developed a suite of data management software specifically designed to maximise the potential of the StreetMapper GIS. A simple user interface facilitates the display of panoramic images and data can be viewed against a map backdrop, in 3D or as images overlaying surveyed point clouds. With a few clicks of the mouse features can be measured on screen and tagged for use directly in a linked GIS database. Attributes can also be extracted in a GIS ready form (ESRI Shapefile or ASCII) and existing GIS databases can be imported and viewed together with the captured data.

“StreetMapper GIS is designed to offer a cost effective solution for the capture of data about a wide range of street level assets such as road markings, street furniture and highways infrastructure,” commented Dr Graham Hunter, Managing Director of 3D Laser Mapping. “Capturing highly accurate measurements at normal traffic speeds the addition of panoramic imagery allows for additional information, such as condition and type, to be deduced.”

The StreetMapper range of mobile mapping systems has been developed by UK based 3D Laser Mapping in conjunction with German based guidance and navigation specialist IGI mbH. The systems employ the latest laser scanning technology for improved field performance and accuracy, precision navigation including a solution for reduced GPS coverage in urban areas, combined with a flexible, modular configuration and increased ease of use and deployment.

Visit 3D Laser Mapping Ltd: www.3dlasermapping.com.

Telmap, global leaders in mobile location solutions, today announced the availability of the first search, mapping and navigation solution for the new Windows Phone 7 operating system. The special edition of Telmap5 Mobile Location Companion for Windows Phone 7 will allow Telmap’s award-winning location-based services solution to be accessed on devices operating with this newly released operating system.

As part of Telmap’s strategy to enable a unified location-enabled experience on all major operating systems that can work in a cross-platform manner, the Windows Phone 7 edition follows successful launches on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Java, BREW, and of course the existing Windows Mobile platform, and will help users take advantage of the Windows Phone 7’s new user interface and capabilities.

The first launch of the special edition of Telmap5 Mobile Location Companion for Windows Phone 7 will be by SingTel in Singapore who will be showcasing their Telmap-based SingTel Xplorer application on the new Windows Phone 7. The application will provide users with real-time local service including:

- in-car turn-by-turn navigation with 3D moving maps, voice and text instructions announcing street names and Points of Interest such as gas stations and parking lots along the way, a dedicated pedestrian navigation, local search and content enhanced specifically for the Windows Phone 7
- Full Singapore and Malaysia maps
- Real-time traffic information
- Cell-ID function that enables you to check your location and plan a route even when indoors

“We are excited to be the first to launch a search, mapping and navigation solution for Windows Phone 7. Strategically, Telmap aims to support the main mobile platforms in order to provide a true cross-platform location experience, allowing our customers, mobile operators to provide location-based services on a wide range of devices to consumers worldwide.”, says Oren Nissim, CEO of Telmap. “Innovation and fast time to market are key pillars in Telmap’s approach, demonstrating our commitment to stay on top of planned releases of new and updated mobile operating systems so end users can enjoy Telmap’s solutions from day one”.

Telmap is working with all of its customers to bring the Telmap5 Mobile Location Companion for Windows Phone 7 to their subscribers and more operators are expected to launch in the near future.

Russia will put eight Glonass-M satellites into orbit in 2011-2013 to ensure the effective operation of its satellite navigation network, a Russian space industry official said, via report.

Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use.

The network requires 18 operational satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of Russia and at least 24 satellites to provide navigation services worldwide.

"After the Glonass network is complete by the end of 2010, we will have to maintain it by replacing the satellites whose service life has expired," said Nikolai Testoyedov, the head of the Information Satellite Systems (ISS) company, which manufactures satellites for the Glonass project.

"We are making eight more satellites to fulfill this task, and we will launch them in 2011-2013," Testoyedov said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda daily on Thursday.

Russia currently has a total of 26 Glonass satellites in orbit, but three of them are not operational. Three more Glonass-M satellites are scheduled for launch by the end of 2010, allowing Russia to operate a complete Glonass network and have 3-4 satellites in reserve.

Meanwhile, the ISS will continue testing new Glonass-K satellites, which have a lifetime of 10 to 12 years and a reduced weight of only 750 kg. These satellites will gradually replace Glonass-Ms in the network.

The Ashtech ProFlex 500 receiver has been selected to provide GNSS position data to the recently introduced Optimal Ranging Inc.’s FieldSens underwater utility mapping system.

FieldSens is a faster and more accurate means of locating underwater utilities than conventional methods because the FieldSens towed unit only needs to be in the general vicinity of the utility line to provide accurate 3-D mapping of the line. The FieldSens technology is based on the optimisation of data from many sensors, including ProFlex 500 GNSS data, a pressure sensor, 3-axis digital compass and pitch and roll, against a physical model of the magnetic field expected from the utility line. The FieldSens method eliminates the need to bring the measurement equipment to specific points along the utility cable or pipe in order to validate position.

The underwater towed FieldSens calculates position including bottom depth, utility depth and depth of cover measurements.

The towed rig, which can also be fixed-mounted to the vessel for shallow water applications, receives the ProFlex 500 positioning data stream via Bluetooth. Additional Bluetooth streamed data includes data from the vessel’s depth sounder and length of the automated tow cable.

[report] China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) today unveiled a state-sanctioned and produced online world map, called simply “Map World” that an official predicted will, “In the near future, Map World will grow to be a famous Chinese brand for online map services with proven reliability.”

The map, “features images of satellite remote sensing with a resolution of 500 meters but this is enhanced to 2.5 meters for the Chinese map and 0.6 meters for maps of more than 300 Chinese cities” and uses satellite imagery taken from 2006 to 2010, and took two years to build, according to an SBSM official quoted in the story.

The announcement of the official government mapping service, which a deputy director of the SBSM said that, “All the mapping information has been permitted by the SBSM and related national security departments,” comes after China required private online mapping providers to apply for what is seemingly a strict license that comes with restrictions.

“Around 70 to 80″ licenses have been given out so far since the new regulations were put into place, and as of last month, Google still had not apparently submitted an application to offer Google Maps or Google Earth in China. With Google now severing search results on the Mainland from Hong Kong since earlier this year (as if you hadn’t heard), it is certainly within the realm of possibility that the world’s most used online mapping service does not have a future in China.

Google’s absence from the China market had been seen as possibly a window for Baidu and others to gain a strong hold (and Baidu and Nokia in particular have received licenses), but if the government pours a lot of resources into this project – and continues to make it freely available – it could conceivably at least slow down any private service from taking hold of the market as Google has in many parts of the world.

As far as Map World itself is concerned, the tile-based map is live right now (and has two URLs – tianditu.cn & chinaonmap.cn – which both go to the same page at the moment, but which we’re guessing in the future the second might go to an English site) and has a number of features, including links to separate websites for each of China’s provinces.

Aesthetically, the map reminds us of OpenStreetMap, but as far as how information is most likely added (and subtracted) from Map World, it probably couldn’t be further than the crowdsourced OpenStreetMap. Oh, and you’re best off visiting the site in Internet Explorer – and if you want to view the 3D view you’ll have to download a plugin – just remember, that’s a download from a Chinese government website...

I just received an email from Dr. David P. Roy of South Dakota State University. Dr. Roy heads the Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD) project. You can read more about the project here.

***

Hi,

The latest version of WELD products is now available as custom GeoTiff subsets via a new interactive web ordering system and as tiled HDF products via FTP.

Please see http://landsat.usgs.gov/WELD.php and visit http://weld.cr.usgs.gov/

Thanks
David

***

Visit the links above for the free WELD dataset.

RhinoTerrain 1.8 has been announced last week at INTERGEO 2010 tradeshow.

RhinoTerrain is a plugin for Rhinoceros modeler that adds terrain and point cloud editing functions.

This is a major upgrade with the following new features:

- Advanced pointcloud processing on Airborne (Lidar) and terrestrial laser scanning
- Google Earth import with geographical coordinate management
- Geographical transformations
- Advanced terrain creation and editing functions
- Terrain analysis (visibility, gradient)
- Major import format (shapfile, dem, ArcGis, Geotif...)

Free trial is available on : http://www.rhinoterrain.com

Euromap GmbH, the exclusive supplier of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) data in Europe, has become the first Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Contributing Mission Entity (GCM) to provide data from optical missions to European Space Agency Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) through dedicated operational interfaces developed as part of the GMES Space Component Data Access (GSC-DA) project.

A corresponding GSC-DA contract, covering the development of interfaces and the supply of data from the IRS-P6 Resourcesat-1, IRS-P5 Cartosat-1, IRS-1C and IRS-1D missions, was signed in May 2009 between ESA and a Euromap-led consortium, with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) working as a sub-contractor.

The interface development was supported by the departments National Ground Segment and Information Technology of the DLR institute German Remote Sensing Data Centre (DFD). The DFD also operates the catalogue system providing access to quick looks and metadata relating to the IRS data received by Euromap in cooperation with the DFD at the ground station in Neustrelitz, Germany.

Frithjof Barner, Technical Director of Euromap, commented, “The software and interface development was a challenge for us as a small company, but by December 2009 we had started, through the respective interfaces of about 4000 ortho products from the Resourcesat-1 LISS-III sensor, contributing to the European wall-to-wall coverage Image2009. Having mastered this we feel well prepared for the operational phase and are looking forward to further cooperation with ESA.”

It has built up a massive global empire on the back of its high-tech credentials, but Google is enlisting the help of a small orange kite to capture some of the more remote regions featured on its popular Google Earth application.

A pair of sailors on a five-year odyssey around the world are taking the aerial images of coastal regions with their home-made kite on behalf of the technology giant, which has traditionally used satellite images on its maps.

As well as posting images to Google, husband and wife team Frank and Karen Taylor have also been plotting the progress of their journey on their Tahina Expedition website.
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“Before we left on our sailing adventures, I made arrangements to provide Google with aerial photography using the kite so they could put the imagery in Google Earth. So, after taking the photos, they are processed and made part of the base imagery you see in Google Earth,” writes Frank.

“My primary objective is to take straight-down photos just like you see in Google Earth.”

Frank, who has been blogging about Google Earth for several years, is taking images using a combination of kite aerial photography and remote controlled aircraft.

“I have a special rig that hangs from the kite string below the kite to hold the camera. There is also a remote control that lets me control the orientation of the camera,” he writes.

The most recent images to be added to Google Earth site are shots from the Manihi atol in French Polynesia. Kite images from BBQ Island, near Panama already feature in the application.

Getting kite strings entangled in palm trees and poles, and having images spoiled by sunsets are just some of the obstacles Frank has had to overcome, but he said he hoped many aspects of the Tahina's voyage around the world be chronicled within Google Earth and Maps.

The Taylors departed North Carolina on November 14 last year and headed to the Caribbean. They are currently in Tonga, and plan to spend six months in New Zealand, from November 2010 to avoid the cyclone season in the south Pacific.

“Then we want to return to see more Pacific islands before heading to Australia. We also currently plan to visit Indonesia and Singapore, and Thailand,” he writes.

Frank said his kite photography was inspired by a series of high resolution aerial images taken by National Geographic in Africa that have now become a permanent part of Google Earth.

[source]

GeoEye Inc. plans to move its headquarters from Loudoun County to Fairfax County and add 100 jobs over the next three years, according to the report.

GeoEye, an imagery expert in the geospatial industry, outgrew its offices in Loudoun and needed a building that could handle anticipated future growth. This year, Fortune magazine named GeoEye as one of its 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in the U.S.

The new headquarters will include the company’s 230 Virginia-based employees. The company will spend $10 million to move to the headquarters at the Dulles Corner Office Center, The move is expected to take place in early 2011.

“GeoEye has experienced tremendous growth over the past 13 years; our satellite imagery business helped fuel our 84-percent revenue growth from fiscal 2008 to 2009,” Matt O’Connell, GeoEye’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “This move reflects the continuing growth of our company, and it is an important strategic step toward reinforcing our position as a premier provider of satellite and aerial geospatial information technology and services.”

Virginia competed with Colorado and Maryland for the investment.

Gov. Bob McDonnell approved an $84,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to help Fairfax with the project.

A mapping exhibition, "Walk Map. Exploring key Latin America" (in Spanish, “Paseo en Mapa. Explorando las claves de América Latina”) is presently on in the National Library of Chile. It is part of the bicentennial activities of the Department of Library Archives and Museums (DIBAM), Chile.

The exhibition will remain open until 26 November, 2010. In parallel, discussions will be conducted by cartographers and historians, who will talk about maps, its importance in everyday life and appreciate the changes they have experienced throughout history. There will also be free guided tours for students and general public. A workshop has also been organised where they will make their own maps.

After a thorough investigation of more than three years, specialists from across the Latin American continent, identified unique maps preserved in the US, Spain, Mexico and Brazil; and displayed them along with valuable maps from the National Library and National Archives of Chile. For example, the first map of Chile by Claudio Gay in 1844 is on display.

The exhibition traces the history of the Latin American continent, from discovery to independence, taking the visitor through the intense political, social and economic problems.

These maps are also providing insight into the diversity of American territory and the way it has acquired its present appearance. That's why along with maps, armour, swords and weapons from the colonial period from the Museum of National History are also displayed.

The exhibition also features the work of a contemporary artist as a way of deepening the relationship of cartography and everyday life.
[via]

[report] Official New Zealand Topographic Maps is now available for free on www.nztopomaps.com. The online service allows users to quickly find, view and print topographic maps. Users can use it in planning recreational, business and research activities. The new website includes a place name search function and provides fast and simple access to the 'NZTopo' Topographic Map Series, which are traditionally purchased as printed paper maps.

The 'NZTopo' Topographic Map Series has been produced by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). The maps are also an essential tool for defence planning, location and routing services and land management.

The service is available on smartphones and makes use of their in-built GPS capabilities. Screen shots from an iPhone to demonstrate the use of nztopomaps.com on a smartphone are available on media resources page at http://www.nztopomaps.com/media/.

"It's great to see an initiative like this that leverages quality information and presents it in a different form to the wider community. LINZ has modernised its production systems to allow a wider range of digital map products to become available online and free. It is great to see them being endorsed in this way." Colin MacDonald - CEO, LINZ.

"LINZ topographical maps have guided New Zealand adventurers safely in and out of the most wild and remote corners of the archipelago for decades. The NZTopoMaps project brings the entire geographical catalogue to the fingertips," said James Frankham, Editor, New Zealand Geographic Magazine.

GeoEye, Inc. (Nasdaq: GEOY), a leading provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, announced today it has priced its underwritten offering ("Notes Offering") of $125 million in aggregate principal amount of 8.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2016 (the "Notes"). The Notes will be initially offered to the public at a price equal to 100% of their face value. The Notes Offering is expected to close on October 8, 2010, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions.

GeoEye intends to use the net proceeds of the Notes Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, future production and services expansion, contingent capital expenditures and other strategic opportunities.

The Notes Offering will be made pursuant to GeoEye's registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. No offer, solicitation, or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. will act as joint book-running managers for the Notes Offering. You may obtain a copy of the final prospectus for the Notes Offering from the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the underwriters will arrange to send you this document if you request them by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179, attention: Prospectus Library.

The Israeli rights group Peace Now and its sister organization in the United States, Americans for Peace Now have jointly launched a mapping application for smartphones. Its aim is to make the situation better between Israel and Palestine.

The Facts on the Ground application provides an easily accessible overview of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, with up-to-date data on new building and population numbers. Green dots mark government-approved settlements, while red ones show where settlers have established settlement outposts without government permission. Each settlement is identified by name and there are details of when it was established and whether its residents are secular, religious or nationalists.

The application, which is available for free download, is aimed not just at the layman but at “policy makers, shapers and students”, said Ori Nir, spokesman for Americans for Peace Now. Nir added, “Even people who think they know what they are talking about don’t necessarily have a clear idea of the extent of the spread of settlements.”

A quick glance at the map shows just how far and wide the settlements have grown in the area. There are about 500,000 Jewish settlers in occupied Palestinian territory, including 200,000 in East Jerusalem.

Source: TheNational