GIS in Education

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.

Participants are:
- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
- James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe

Media representatives may attend the conference or ask questions by phone or from participating NASA locations. To obtain dial-in information, journalists must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov or call 202-358-0918 by noon Dec. 2.

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA astrobiology activities, visit: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov

Google has just introduced the newest version of Google Earth, Google Earth 6.

This latest incarnation follows last June's Google Earth 5.2 and adds three major updates to the virtual geographical tool: integrated Street View, 3D trees, and an improved historical imagery system.

While Street View was first introduced in 2008, the newest version integrates the up-close, photographic imagery of the original with the maps, satellite images and computerized renderings that characterize the birds-eye view. Though toggling between the different perspectives used to be more unwieldy, 6.0 allows the user to see when Street View is available by highlighting roads blue when the Pegman icon is dragged over the image. Apart from the new method of entering Street View, the Street View layer itself has been streamlined to allow easier navigation around the layer with mouse or arrow keys.

Earlier versions of Google Earth already rendered buildings in 3D, but 6.0 also adds 3D trees to the landscape. Not content to populate the virtual globe with the generic lollipop variety, Google Earth 6.0 actually includes highly detailed models for dozens of species of trees. They've already 'planted' 80 million trees in Athens, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tokyo. Apart from helping the simulation's realism, Google is also working to model endangered forests in places like Brazil and Africa as a part of their Google Earth Outreach program.

The update to the historical imagery tool in Google Earth is minor, but helps draw attention to one of the program's most interesting features. Google Earth already had satellite and aerial imagery documenting recent disasters like the 2010 Haiti Earthquake before and after, as well as visions of London in 1945 and Warsaw in 1935, but the update makes it much easier to use the feature. Now, anytime a user is in an area where historical imagery is available, a pop-up appears in the bottom of the screen displaying the oldest possible date for the location.
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Assessing general relationships between aboveground biomass and vegetation structure parameters for improved carbon estimate from lidar remote sensing

Wenge Ni‐Meister,Shihyan Lee,Alan H. Strahler, Curtis E. Woodcock,Crystal Schaaf, Tian Yao, K. Jon Ranson, Guoqing Sun,and J. Bryan Blair

Lidar‐based aboveground biomass is derived based on the empirical relationship between lidar‐measured vegetation height and aboveground biomass, often leading to large uncertainties of aboveground biomass estimates at large scales. This study investigates whether the use of any additional lidar‐derived vegetation structure parameters besides height improves aboveground biomass estimation. The analysis uses data collected in the field and with the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS), and the Echidna® validation instrument (EVI), a ground‐based hemispherical‐scanning lidar data in New England in 2003 and 2007. Our field data analysis shows that using wood volume (approximated by the product of basal area and top 10% tree height) and vegetation type (conifer/softwood or deciduous/hardwood forests, providing wood density) has the potential to improve aboveground biomass estimates at large scales. This result is comparable to previous individual‐tree based analyses. Our LVIS data analysis indicates that structure parameters that combine height and gap fraction, such as RH100*cover and RH50*cover, are closely related to wood volume and thus biomass particularly for conifer forests. RH100*cover and RH50*cover perform similarly or even better than RH50, a good biomass predictor found in previous study. This study shows that the use of structure parameters that combine height and gap fraction (rather than height alone) improves the aboveground biomass estimate, and that the fusion of lidar and optical remote sensing (to provide vegetation type) will provide better aboveground biomass estimates than using lidar alone. Our ground lidar analysis shows that EVI provides good estimates of wood volume, and thus accurate estimates of aboveground biomass particularly at the stand level.

Citation: Ni‐Meister, W., S. Lee, A. H. Strahler, C. E. Woodcock, C. Schaaf, T. Yao, K. J. Ranson, G. Sun, and J. B. Blair (2010), Assessing general relationships between aboveground biomass and vegetation structure parameters for improved carbon estimate from lidar remote sensing, J. Geophys. Res., 115, G00E11, doi:10.1029/2009JG000936.

Free document in PDF.

Tejon Ranch Co. announced today that a review of a recently released study on individual condor movement in Southern California, conducted on behalf of the US Fish and Wildlife Service by the US Geological Survey, shows that condors continue to use Tejon Ranch as foraging habitat, reaffirming the decision by Tejon Ranch Co. to enter into a comprehensive, science-based Conservation and Land Use Agreement in which 90% of the Ranch’s 270,000 acres would ultimately be conserved.

“We welcome the USGS study,” said Robert A. Stine, President and CEO of Tejon Ranch Company. “The study shows the importance of conserving those areas of Tejon Ranch most used by the condor for foraging – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Last week, California’s Wildlife Conservation Board authorized the use of $15.8 million in funds, approved by California voters in 2006 for the acquisition of conservation habitat under Proposition 84, to purchase conservation easements on about 62,000 acres of Tejon Ranch. That was an important step in implementing the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement, which was reached in 2008 between Tejon Ranch Co., its development partner DMB Associates, and the country’s leading environmental conservation organizations, Audubon California, Endangered Habitats League, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Planning and Conservation League, and the Sierra Club. The 2008 Agreement is the largest and most significant private conservation agreement in California history.

The remaining balance of the property protected by conservation easements as defined within the landmark Agreement, approximately 178,000 acres, will be dedicated by Tejon Ranch Co. to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy over the next several decades as the Company achieves entitlement and ultimately develops the communities of Tejon Mountain Village, Centennial and the future 12,400 acre planning area at the base of the Grapevine.

The USGS study is available here.

As part of the procedure to realize European Space Agency’s (ESA) series of Earth Explorers, two new mission proposals have been selected for further development. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, now vying to be the eighth Earth Explorer, both address key climate and environmental change issues.

The selection follows ESA's Call for Earth Explorer Proposals that was released in October last year and ended in the Agency receiving 31 high-quality mission concepts. Subsequently, the proposals were carefully evaluated by leading Earth scientists in four peer review panels.

This evaluation process resulted in ESA's Earth Science Advisory Committee selecting two missions considered the most scientifically relevant, recommending that the Florescence Explorer (FLEX) and CarbonSat be presented to ESA's Programme Board for Earth Observation.

The CarbonSat mission would quantify and monitor the distribution of two most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, also released through human activity: carbon dioxide and methane. Data from the mission would lead to a better understanding of the sources and sinks of these two gases and how they are linked to climate change.

The FLEX mission aims to provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence, which can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity. The data would improve our understanding of how much carbon is stored in plants and their role in the carbon and water cycles.

The mission would work in combination with the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on Sentinel-3 to improve models of future atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

The next step in the development of these two mission concepts is to begin the definition studies in the second quarter of 2011.

There are three Earth Explorers in orbit: GOCE, SMOS and CryoSat; a further three being constructed: Swarm, ADM-Aeolus and EarthCARE; and three undergoing feasibility studies competing for selection as Earth Explorer-7: BIOMASS, PREMIER and CoReH2O.

The British space industry has grown by nearly eight per cent through the recession and is now worth over GBP7.5 billion, according to UK Space Agency report.

The report, ‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry,’ is the latest update of a biennial survey of British companies involved in the sector. It shows that space industry has grown by more than 10 per cent on an average over the last two years.

The report, produced for the UK Space Agency by Oxford Economics, surveyed 260 companies across both the upstream (companies which provide space technology) and the downstream (companies that utilise space technologies). Against the backdrop of difficult economic conditions, the space industry has maintained its momentum, as it recorded an average growth of more than 11 per cent in downstream companies and three per cent growth in upstream providers, compared to the national GDP growth of 0.3 per cent, according to UK Space Agency.

Science Minister David Willetts said, “The British space industry is worth over GBP7 billion to the economy. It is a sector that is growing as fast as the Chinese economy and a remarkable success story of high-tech innovation.”

Employment within the space sector has also strengthened by just over nine per cent to reach 24,900 in 2008/2009. Upstream and downstream industries have both grown at a rate of over 12 per cent, doubling the average annual employment growth rate of six per cent since 1999/2000.

Data sharing is a key imperative of NHS reform. With the transfer of funding from PCTs to GP Consortia, efficiency saving directives and the integration of health and social care funding, 2011 will mark a new era of shared services between healthcare professionals, Local Authorities, GP fund holders, partners and the third sector.

Health Portal is the definitive new data sharing system from data and information experts, Dotted Eyes. A secure and simple intranet solution to data sharing and analysis, it enables all stakeholders to share internal and partner data and view it on a map – such as hospital admissions, obesity levels and lifestyle data. It presents a valuable visualization of critical data at a local level, helping to support the seamless delivery of front line services during and beyond the period of NHS reform.

Dotted Eyes has created a compact, digestible introduction to Health Portal via a dedicated, 30-minute online tutorial, designed to be accessible to every level of user – from mid-wives to clinical directors and commissioners.

To register to attend the Data Sharing in the NHS webinar, from 10-10.30am on Thursday 25th November, please sign up here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/datasharing

For more information on Health Portal, visit: www.dottedeyes.com/healthportal, or call us on 01527 556920.

Visit our stand at HSJ Healthcare Informatics 2010 on 24th November at the Mayfair Conference Centre where Health Portal will be demonstrated: www.hsj-informatics.com\

For further press information, please contact:

Sophia Henri
PR Consultant, Dotted Eyes
Tel: +44 (0)7793 555403

GIS Tutorial for Humanitarian Assistance book uses real-world scenarios as a practical guide for responding to crises, disasters, and relief efforts around the world. New from Esri Press, the tutorial will benefit both professionals and students as they apply geographic information system (GIS) skills and analysis to humanitarian efforts in ways that can help save lives and make the most of limited resources.

GIS is an essential tool for situational awareness to improve the flow of goods and services to populations at risk. This tutorial focuses on the specific skills needed to support emergency relief efforts, with an emphasis on finding, importing, and managing spatial data in regions with poor infrastructures. The tutorial also works well as an academic textbook for intermediate and advanced college coursework or for self-study.

"This book provides the core skills necessary to realize the full potential of GIS in humanitarian assistance," says author Firoz Verjee. "It builds on recent experience of leading GIS practitioners from around the world and establishes some basic doctrines for the analytic applications of ArcGIS software during humanitarian operations."

Verjeeis a senior research associate at the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He also coordinates Aga Khan Development Network's Seismic Risk Management Initiative based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. For more than 16 years, Verjee has specialized in the application of remote sensing and GIS, primarily within the fields of disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance.

The book includes a 180-day trial of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3.1 software on DVD. A CD with data for the exercises is also provided.

GIS Tutorial for Humanitarian Assistance (ISBN: 978-1-58948-213-5, 380 pages, $79.95) is available at online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options, or visit esri.com/distributors to contact your local Esri distributor. Interested retailers can contact Esri Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.

Check out our list of GIS books here.

FARO Asia Pacific LAUNCHED FARO Laser Scanner Photon 120/20. is The scanner combined with the new FARO Scene 4.6 software offers fastest and longest range phase shift laser scanning solution in the market place, claims the company

Utilizing non-contact laser technology, FARO Photon generates highly detailed 3D replicas of complex environment and geometries in a matter of minutes. Photon recreates the real world and defines it within a virtual space. The resulting image is a collection of millions of 3D measurements, providing an accurate digital representation of as-built or as-is conditions. Capable of scanning at the blistering rate of 976,000 points-per-second and a maximum reach of 120m, the Photon 120 offers the most efficient method for documenting conditions in three dimensions, according to the company.

Some of its features include:
- Longest Range 3D Phase-Shift Laser Scanner: Produces virtual images comprising millions of 3D measurement points collected within an unprecedented range - up to 120m (395ft.).

- High Speed Survey and Inspection: Scans at rates of up to 976,000 points-per-second.

- Speed Control: Balance speed and scan quality according to application.

- Universal Quick Mount: For mounting on a surveyor tripod.

- High Accuracy: ± 2mm ranging error2 at 25 m

- Best-in-Class Field-of-View: 360º horizontal and 320º vertical - the largest field-of-view in the market.

- Wireless Operability: Independent web server; data recording on 80GB internal hard disk; control via iPod touch or most wireless PDAs.

McGill University researchers conducted a series of three studies which magnify the effects GPS systems have on the human brain, and found that avid GPS users have a higher risk of suffering from problems with memory and spatial orientation.

Veronique Bohbot, associate professor of psychiatry at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, along with a team of McGill researchers, found that those who use a GPS system to navigate often have a higher chance of damaging a region of the brain that controls memory.

Humans generally navigate using one of two methods. The first is a spatial navigation strategy where landmarks are used to build cognitive maps that help us figure out where we are without the use of a GPS. The second is a stimulus-response strategy where we drive in auto-pilot mode, making turns in certain places because repetition tells us that this is the best way to reach a specific destination. This second strategy is more closely related to the way GPS users navigate.

When functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or fMRI, was performed on those who navigate both spatially and through stimulus-response strategies, people who used a spacial navigation strategy had increased activity in an area of the brain involved with memory and navigation known as the hippocampus.

McGill researchers found that excessive use of a GPS unit may lead to atrophy of the hippocampus as we age, which puts the person at risk for cognitive problems such as Alzheimer's disease later in life. Alzheimer's disease affects the hippocampus first before any other part of the brain, which leads to problems with spatial orientation and memory.
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Present your work at SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications 2011. Gain important peer feedback on your research and make the interdisciplinary connections needed to advance your work. If you work in the fields below, you need to be at SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications Conference.

• Illumination Engineering
• Optomechanics and Optical Manufacturing
• Optical Design
• Advanced Metrology
• Optical Systems Engineering
• Astronomical Optics and Instrumentation
• Image and Signal Processing
• X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Particle Technologies
• Remote Sensing
• Atmospheric and Space Optical Systems

Conference details:
21 - 25 August 2011
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California, USA

Abstracts Due: 7 February 2011

Author Notification: 18 April 2011

Manuscripts Due for Optical Engineering + Applications: 27 July 2011

Abstracts are now accepted here.

LizardTech LiDAR Compressor enables you to turn giant point cloud data sets into efficient MrSID files that retain 100 percent of the raw data at just 25 percent or less of the original file size (lossless compression). If storage requirements are critical, you can reduce your LiDAR file sizes by 90 percent or more by choosing a higher compression ratio and letting LiDAR Compressor select the best way to reach a desired file size (lossy compression). Unlike raw LAS or ASCII data, LiDAR files compressed to MrSID are easily managed resources you can extract derivatives from over and over again.

With the trial version of LiDAR Compressor you can use the entire functionality of the product for a 30-day evaluation period. A full license for LiDAR Compressor can be purchased online at http://www.lizardtech.com/purchase/lidar.php or through any GeoExpress Reseller.

Download the trial software for free here.

GeoEye expects its GeoEye-2 high-resolution optical satellite will cost as much as USD 850 million after the investment in an improved ground network ordered by its US government customer is included in the bill, GeoEye officials said.

The new GeoEye-2 cost estimate is USD 50 million higher than previous forecasts and reflects an investment the company will make in ground infrastructure that will operate with GeoEye-2.

The cost of GeoEye-2, under construction by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and scheduled for launch on a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket, is indicative of the inflation that has swept through the entire aerospace sector in the past few years, GeoEye officials added.

Launch prices in particular, they said, have escalated substantially since the company contracted for the launch of the GeoEye-1 satellite, which was placed into orbit in September 2008 and entered operations in February 2009. GeoEye-1 cost about USD480 million.

In a conference call with investors, GeoEye Chief Financial Officer Joseph F. Greeves said the ground-infrastructure investment will be financed by the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

GeoEye Chief Executive Matthew O’Connell said NGA will continue to pay the equivalent of USD150 million per year — the same amount under EnhancedView’s predecessor programme — until GeoEye is launched in 2013. Once the new satellite is in service, and the ground infrastructure enhancements are complete, NGA payments will increase by USD174 million per year for the seven remaining years of the contract.

A second piece of the EnhancedView contract, valued at up to USD702 million, is for value-added products and services. GeoEye’s competitor, DigitalGlobe, which received a similar EnhancedView award, has said the value-added piece of the contract may be affected by the severe budget pressure on US government agencies.

GeoEye is also weighing whether the cost of maintaining OrbView-2 in operational status is still worth the effort. The satellite, which is past its designed retirement date, has had several malfunctions that have forced ground teams to place it into safe mode, resolve the issue and then return OrbView-2 to operations.

A new white paper by GfK GeoMarketing gives Oracle users guidelines on how to take full advantage of the spatial features of Oracle applications. The publication by the Oracle Silver partner emphasizes the key role played by digital postcode maps when carrying out spatial analyses.

Worldwide postcode maps for Oracle - GfK GeoMarketingThe growing spatial functionality of Oracle databases marks an evolutionary leap in information management. A recently released white paper by GfK GeoMarketing titled “Working with digital maps and geodata in Oracle applications” gives users of Oracle solutions guidelines for how to utilize these spatial features through the incorporation of high-quality digital maps.

The publication follows on the heels of the Oracle Silver Partner’s recent announcement that it is now offering its digital postcode and administrative maps in the Oracle data format. This allows Oracles users to take advantage of the company’s cartographic coverage of 240 countries.

“We wanted to give Oracle users access to GfK GeoMarketing’s unique worldwide collection of administrative and postcode maps,” explains Doris Hardt-Beischl, head of sales at GfK GeoMarketing. “Using our maps in conjunction with their own data, Oracle users can spot trends in their data that would otherwise go unnoticed. This leads to more transparency, more efficiency and more turnover.”

Linking data through a common geographic component
The white paper concentrates on the key role played by postcode maps in spatial analyses. One reason for this is the fact that eighty percent of a company’s data contains postcodes in the form of customer-, business location- and competitor addresses. Thanks to this common geographic component, this diverse data can be easily linked with digital postcode maps.

This is possible because postcode maps are not simply illustrative – they also function as data repositories. In the case of postcode maps, this corresponds to detailed information on postcode boundaries as well as the coordinates of each postcode’s center point for the region in question. This data is associated with the map via a table whose columns contain the numerical values for each geographic unit. Each map object has a unique identification code that corresponds to these values in the table. This integration of the visual aspects of the map with so-called “geodata” allows Oracle users to link their own data with the maps, analyze it and then visualize the results.

“Analyzing and displaying data on digital maps is a tremendously powerful tool for generating new insights,” explains Doris Hardt-Beischl. “Now that we offer our full digital map collection in the Oracle format, Oracle users can extract more value from their data and make better, more informed business decisions.”

Wide range of applications for digital maps in Oracle
The new white paper details some of the applications of postcode maps when used as a basis for spatial analyses in Oracle. These range from geocoding data on customers, turnover and branch locations to performing regionally filtered spatial queries that locate untapped potential or underserved areas of the market. The white paper also explains how the digital postcode maps can be used in Oracle to support sales territory planning and controlling activities.

Not all postcode maps are equal
The white paper also gives Oracle users tips on quality features of postcode maps. According to GfK GeoMarketing, five-digit postcodes comprise the best foundation for spatial analyses and subsequent planning. These boundaries often change from year to year, so it’s essential to acquire detailed maps that reflect the latest status.

Free map sample
GfK GeoMarketing offers a free Oracle-format map for downloading. The map features coverage of the postal systems used by countries around the globe. Download the free Oracle-format world map at www.gfk-geomarketing.com/oracle-sample.

Download the white paper “Working with digital maps and geodata in Oracle applications”
at www.gfk-geomarketing.com/oracle-paper.

Print-quality illustrations
can be found at www.gfk-geomarketing.com/maps_oracle2010. (approx. 2.8 MB)

Additional information
on GfK GeoMarketing’s maps and other products can be obtained from Thorsten Lauszus at +49 (0)7251 9295145.

About GfK GeoMarketing
GfK GeoMarketing is one of the largest providers of geomarketing services in Europe for customers and users from all branches of trade. Key business areas include:

* Consultancy
* Market data
* Digital maps
* Geomarketing software RegioGraph

GfK GeoMarketing is a subsidiary of the globally active GfK Group. Ranked fourth among the world's market research institutes, the GfK is represented in 100 countries with over 150 subsidiaries and approximately 10,000 employees. spacer

Contact:

Cornelia Lichtner
Public Relations
Tel. +49 (0)7251 9295 270
Fax +49 (0)7251 9295 290

Trimble opened its 5th international users conference on Monday with more than 2,900 registered attendees from 67 countries around the world. The Trimble Dimensions 2010 conference theme—Converge, Connect and Collaborate—provided insight into how the convergence of technologies can redefine the way professionals connect and collaborate to achieve success. The conference explored the use of technology in a wide range of applications including surveying, engineering, construction, mapping, GIS, geospatial, utilities and mobile resource management. Trimble Dimensions 2010 was held November 8-10 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

"We are extremely pleased with the continued and strong interest demonstrated in Trimble Dimensions," said Bryn Fosburgh, Trimble vice president. "It is truly a unique conference focused on how advanced technology solutions are transforming the way work is done."

Attendees had the opportunity to network with key industry leaders, build partnerships, develop new contacts, build partnerships, discuss opportunities and discover how to overcome obstacles in today?s competitive business environment. With more than 400 sessions across multiple specialty tracks, the conference focused on increasing productivity in the field and the office by revolutionizing work processes.

The conference included an off-site demonstration and training area plus a Partner Pavilion that showcased the complete suite of Trimble construction, survey, engineering, mining, aerial and mobile mapping, GIS, utilities, infrastructure, mobile computing, forestry and agriculture solutions, including products from Accubid, Applanix, Meridian Systems, Pacific Crest, QuickPen and Spectra Precision. Highlighted solutions and technologies included GNSS; total stations; field computing and data collection; 3D scanning; pre-design construction planning; 3D visualization; Building Information Modeling (BIM); construction project management; aerial mapping; wireless communications; data transfer; field and office software; and smart grid applications. Other technology providers who are Trimble partners also participated to extend the conference?s range of products and applications.

About Trimble
Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Investor Relations Contact: Willa McManmon of Trimble: 408-481-7838
Media Contact: LeaAnn McNabb of Trimble: 408-481-7808

The major industrial economies of Australia, India, China and USA have been rated as ‘high risk’ in a new study evaluating the vulnerability of 159 countries to water stress, whilst the regions of the Middle East and North Africa are highest overall risk.

The Water Stress Index is developed by global risks advisory firm Maplecroft to identify the risks to governments, populations and business. The index is calculated by evaluating the ratio of a country’s total water use, from domestic, industrial and agricultural use, to the renewable supply of water from precipitation, streams, rivers and groundwater. The index is accompanied by a sub-national map, which utilises GIS (Geographic Information System) technology to pinpoint global water stress down to 50km² worldwide.

At a national level, the Water Stress Index identifies the Middle East and North African countries of Egypt (1), Kuwait (2), UAE (3), Libya (4) and Saudi Arabia (5) as exposed to the most overall risk. Water stress in this region is not surprising as it only receives 1% of the world’s precipitation, of which 85% is lost, for example through evaporation. However, the key economies of Australia (19), India (29), China (40) and USA (51) have all been rated as ‘high risk’ due to massive ‘extreme risk’ areas of water stress, where demand is exceeding 80% of total renewable water resources.

According to Maplecroft, expanding populations, such as India’s, which grew 1.3% in 2009, together with rising global temperatures, indicate that water stress will continue to be a challenge for governments, business and society. Access to water is crucial to all livelihoods, but shortages are often felt most quickly by the poor due to their heavy dependence on agriculture. Business, on the other hand, depends more directly on water for processing, energy, cooling and cleaning, and these needs can directly compete with those of local communities. Both governments and business therefore have a responsibility to explore and develop new efficiencies to save water, prevent diversion away from local populations and their livelihoods and to ensure that prices do not rise.

Maplecroft’s water stress map identifies vast swathes of Australia as ‘extreme risk.’ The issue has particular resonance in the south, as it is subject to increasing climate variability characterised by declining rainfall. South Australia has nearly 1million km² at ‘extreme risk’ of water stress, which represents 12.8% of the total land area. Poor water governance in the past compounded the situation by over-allocating surface and ground water, which has negatively impacted many rivers and watersheds. Subsequently, there is competing user demand from the agricultural, domestic, industrial and mining sectors.

In India and China, high demand for water is driven by climbing populations and rising industrial and agricultural use. The latest available figures from the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation estimate the annual growth in industrial water withdrawal in India at 8.91%, whilst municipal water withdrawal in China is rising at 10.38%. In north and eastern China, which are home to the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, water supplies are being used at a higher rate than available supply. This has prompted the planning of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, a scheme to transfer water from the wet south to the dry north. The water stress issue in both India and China is especially important to business as many companies have crucial facets of their supply chains based there.

Across the USA there is a wide range of water stress diversity with the Great Plains and the southwest areas of the country suffering severely due to intensive farming and low precipitation, whilst the northwest and northeast states have high precipitation rates and low levels of water stress. In Texas 690,438 km² are subject to extreme water stress, equal to 7.27% of the state’s land mass. In western parts of the United States groundwater is being consumed faster than it is being replenished, and groundwater tables are steadily falling. The Colorado River in the western United States often runs dry before reaching the sea. The river now serves 30 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico, with 70 percent or more of its water siphoned off for irrigation.

“Water stress has implications for where and how companies should operate, as well as the sustainability of their activities,” said Principal Environmental Analyst at Maplecroft, Dr Matthew Bunce.

Alyson Warhurst, CEO of Maplecroft adds “Business requirements will increasingly compete with and have negative impacts upon local communities and their environments unless business takes the initiative to introduce integrated water management programmes and ensure the conservation of water for all. Some companies are doing this through a combination of education and technical initiatives such as well drilling and irrigation projects; and, we should learn from their examples. Governments, companies and investors need to be part of the solution as they face pressures from different stakeholders to ensure these are addressed, not least through the responsible management of supply chains that depend on significant water inputs.”

For more information and pricing details of the Water Stress Index and sub-national map contact info@maplecroft.com or call +44 (0)1225 420000
Source.

Satellite images could soon be used in South Africa to quantify veld production, estimate livestock carrying capacity and help farmers plan fodder flow, reports Roelof Bezuidenhout.

The technology used for satellite imagery is widely available and accurate, and farmers can benefit from it, say Tony Palmer and Alan Short of the Agricultural Research Council’s Animal Production Institute (ARC-API). Once the technique of converting satellite data into an accurate picture of plant growth (and so of grazing capacity) is refined, researchers can give farmers real-time plant-production estimates for their veld. This will be invaluable for fodder-flow planning in livestock areas. Regional maps will be available from the agriculture department’s Agricultural Geo-referenced Information System (AGIS) at www.agis.agric.za. These maps will help government support farmers during exceptional circumstances, such as droughts.

By measuring surface temperature and atmospheric and soil moisture, satellite-borne sensors can show when conditions are optimal for evapotranspiration (ET), and so for plant growth (see box: Plain speaking: ET & water-use efficiency). Launched in the late 1990s, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was designed to give improved ET estimates. The sensor collects data to calculate a normalised difference vegetation index, which is a daily estimate of plants’ active growth. Cloud-free images are then used to prepare an eight-day summary of the leaf-area index, which is the leaf area from which ET can occur.

Correlation between MODIS and ET
Working with researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney, Tony has shown that there’s a correlation between the MODIS leaf-area index and daily ET estimates from instruments that measure ET on the ground in Australia’s woodland and savannah systems. “In these summer rainfall ecosystems, ET is greatest in the warm wet season in spring, early summer and autumn, but declines in very hot conditions in mid-summer when plants close their stomata to conserve moisture,” he says. “There’s also very little actual ET taking place in the cool dry season as the soil store has been depleted.”

This relationship between MODIS leaf-area index and actual ET can also predict biomass production in the South African savannah. As South Africa also produces livestock on grassland, succulent Karoo, Nama-karoo and thicket biomes, the water-use efficiency of typical veld conditions in these biomes will be researched as part of a project funded by the ARC, the National Research Foundation and Red Meat Research Development South Africa.

In grassland ecosystems, ET patterns are simpler than in woodlands. To show the process, Tony and Alan plotted a graph of plant growth from Kokstad in the Highland Sourveld. Figure 1A shows seasonal trends in actual ET, with high values in the warm wet season (about 4mm/day), and a decline in ET in cool winter months (0,6mm/day). During the very wet weather in January 2006, ET dropped. So, although there was ample soil moisture, the lack of sunshine reduced the energy available to drive ET. This shows how MODIS adjusts for such changes and helps provide a realistic picture of actual ET and production efficiency. Figure 1B shows grass production for the same period, the ratio between production and ET being the water-use efficiency.

In the succulent Karoo (Richtersveld and Namaqualand) seen in Figures 2A and 2B, production is driven by cool wet season rainfall or fog. There’s abundant sunshine in summer, but no soil moisture. Active green growth occurs in the cool wet season and even in a very good rainfall year like 2007, production is far lower than in the grassland biome due to lower rainfall and lower water-use efficiency of the ecosystem’s succulent shrubs. The succulent karoo is less water efficient than the grassland biome – the norm is water-use efficiency values between 5kg to 6kg dry matter per millimetre of ET, as opposed to the 7kg to 8kg dry matter for grassland. Bearing in mind that these water use efficiency values are based on ET, they should not be confused with those based on annual rainfall which are used by some farmers.
The two extreme situations in Kokstad and Richtersveld are good examples of how carrying capacity predictions must be based on accurate estimates of plant production.

Contact Tony Palmer on 046 622 2638.

Sources: Palmer AR, Short A, and Yunusa IAM. 2010. Biomass production and water use efficiency of grassland in the Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. African Journal of Range and Forage Science. Submitted July 2010; Palmer AR, Konje MM, and Yunusa IAM. 2010. Biomass production and water use efficiency of arid rangelands in the Richtersveld, Northern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments. Submitted July 2010.

[Space Daily] GPS IIF continues the modernisation efforts to provide new space-based capabilities to ensure GPS remains the gold standard for positioning, navigation and timing.

Some of the key capabilities that the new GPS IIF satellites will provide include:

1) Greater accuracy through advanced atomic clock technology - The GPS IIF series leverages advanced atomic clock technology to greatly improve precision timing, which is the heart of GPS services. These clocks have frequency standards composed of cesium and rubidium technologies that can keep time within 8 nanoseconds (8 billionths of a second) a day.

2) Military signals more resistant to attempted jamming - Military equipment extensively uses GPS precision timing and navigation capabilities to perform missions safely and more effectively. Naturally, that makes them the targets of jamming attempts.

The military signal on the GPS IIF satellites is specially formatted to counter jammers better than current GPS satellites. GPS IIF also has a variable power capability that allows operators to increase signal power to break through jamming attempts.

3) New civilian signal - The GPS IIF satellites carry the first operational civilian signal, L-5, a protected, high-power, wide-bandwidth signal used to assist commercial aviation activities and safety-of-life applications. Aircraft will use the signal to improve positioning and navigation accuracy and boost safety, capacity and fuel efficiency.

Beyond transportation, L-5 will provide users worldwide with the most advanced civilian GPS signal that, when used with other civilian signals, can enable sub-meter accuracy and longer-range operations.

4) Longer design life for reduced operating costs - GPS IIF satellites are designed to last 12 years on-orbit, and longer operational life means lower operating costs. The IIF satellites will form the backbone of the constellation for the next 15 to 18 years.

Past system performance indicates that the satellites could likely last much longer. Approximately a dozen Boeing-built GPS IIA satellites are still in operation, some lasting two or three times longer than their original design lives.

The entire GPS constellation is controlled by the Operational Control System. OCS has had no interruptions of service or mission since activation in 2007. OCS has improved operations, increased efficiency and provided a foundation for new capabilities, such as the Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module, which provides security against fake satellite signals.

Trimble introduced today its Trimble MX100G GNSS+XPS Receiver, an integral part of the Trimble Terralite XPS System, which enables open pit mines to maximize operational efficiency by increasing positioning coverage in areas where satellite visibility is limited due to terrain. This unique receiver tracks GPS and now GLONASS constellations as well as Trimble's Terralite "ground satellites" for machine control and guidance applications used in mining operations that require high accuracy positioning with maximum availability.

The announcement was made today at Trimble Dimensions 2010.

The new Trimble MX100G GNSS+XPS Receiver is designed for high-precision guidance and control applications. The Trimble MX100G is typically installed on mining machinery such as blast hole drills, shovels and haul trucks. It plugs into standard automation software tools used by the mining industry and delivers high precision real time positioning information, helping ensure mines are fully utilizing their high-precision machine guidance systems to achieve the highest return on investment.

"Until now, mine operators had to choose between GNSS receivers tracking more satellites in the sky and augmented GPS + ground-based satellite systems," said Alex Cortez, business manager for Trimble Terralite Mining Solutions. "With the introduction of the new Trimble MX100G Receiver, our customers get the best of both worlds—more satellites in the sky with GPS plus GLONASS and ground-based Terralites to create a robust positioning solution for machine guidance and control applications in the most difficult open-pit mine environments."

Trimble's MX100G is available now. Contact the Trimble Terralite Mining Solutions Group at: mining_info@trimble.com for more information.

Join the 2011 GeoForm+ - the international industrial forum. The international specialized forum is focused on the latest technologies in the field of geodesy, cartography, geographic information systems, intelligent transport systems and satellite navigation, geology and geophysics, tunnel construction and underground utilities.

Date:
March 15 – 18, 2011

Venue:
EcoCentre Sokolniki, Moscow, Pavilion 2

Link to GeoForm site.

Defence Geospatial Intelligence
24-27 January, 2011
QEII Centre, London
www.DefenceGeospatial.com

Sponsored by:

Principle Sponsor - Esri
Associate Sponsor - DigitalGlobe

The EU is currently acting as the driving force for the so called "comprehensive approach". The Global Monitoring of Environment & Security worth €1.6 billion is designed to integrate defence, civilian, national security and anti-terrorist GIS intelligence capabilities. This will achieve better results for all parties involved, and most importantly will keep the costs in tight control. It is especially relevant to the GIS intelligence community, as every European government is cutting costs, tightening budgets and reduces spend.

The reduction of spend and the need for geospatial intelligence will be major themes at Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011, January 24-27 in London, where you will learn the latest geospatial strategies, find new ideas and solutions for your organisation. DGI is Europe’s largest gathering for the worlds geospatial intelligence community with over 600 geospatial professionals and over 45 MoD’s gathering together to network, benchmark and set the basis for geospatial strategies for the future.

BREAKING NEWS:
We are delighted to announce that Air Marshal Sir Stuart William Peach, KCB, CBE, BA, MPhil, DTech, DLitt, FRAeS, RAF, Chief of Joint Operations, UK MoD will be opening the 7th annual Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011 conference on the morning of the 25th.

Air Marshal Peach is responsible for the planning and execution of UK-led joint, combined and multi-national operations. Prior to that, he was the Director General Intelligence Collection in the Defence Intelligence Staff. In this role Air Marshal Peach was responsible for the organisation of what makes up the largest sub-element of Defence Intelligence. He was in charge of the collection of Signals, Geo-spatial, Imagery and Measurement and Signature Intelligence.

Air Marshal Peach will give a speech on the changing role of geospatial capabilities in intelligence collection, analysis and decision-making. Learn about the challenges and requirements of the commanding officers in intelligence.

Defence Geospatial Intelligence 2011 will have the most number of countries represented. Over 45 ministries of defence and governments are sending their senior officers and executives to join this geospatial intelligence community event.

Registration / requesting more information is simple:

1 – Online at www.DefenceGeospatial.com
2 – Email us on dgi@wbr.co.uk to request the latest agenda / find out more information
3 – Call us on +44 (0) 20 7368 9465

Mapping Solutions, LLC is proud to announce its newest product, MapperD, a low cost demographic report generator for MapInfo Professional 9.5 or newer. Reports are sold on a per report basis. You only pay for reports you actually need and generate, and not for data you may never use.

Most demographic reporting tools require signing license agreements, installing software discs, installing data discs…with MapperD you have none of that. With MapperD, we have removed these licensing and installation concerns by moving the report generation into the cloud.

Inside of MapInfo Professional, MapperD allows the user to select a point or region object on the map and generate a demographic report without the need to install data locally. MapperD can generate a report on any radius, drivetime, standard geography, or custom polygon. Users pay per report, with no payment required until a report is requested. MapperD can be used by any user of MapInfo Professional in an organization with no incremental licensing fees….its priced per report.

Reports are generated using MicroBuild data from the Gadberry Group. MicroBuild uses consumer data at the rooftop level to deliver household and population counts beginning at the census block level, and is updated quarterly. Demographic variables available include Population, Households, Seasonal Units, Household Income, Household Net Worth, Age Ranges, Gender, Economic Stability Index, Length of Residence, and Ethnicity. Reports include Current Year Estimates, 5 Year Projections, and 2000 Census figures.

Reports are priced at $59.00 for a Basic Report, $79.00 for a Detail Report and $99.00 for a Full Report. A full download with 2 free trial reports is available from http://www.mappingsolutions.com/MapperD.

Data sharing is a key imperative of NHS reform. With the transfer of funding from PCTs to GP Consortia, efficiency saving directives and the integration of health and social care funding, 2011 will mark a new era of shared services between healthcare professionals, Local Authorities, GP fund holders, partners and the third sector.

Health Portal is the definitive new data sharing system from data and information experts, Dotted Eyes. A secure and simple intranet solution to data sharing and analysis, it enables all stakeholders to share internal and partner data and view it on a map – such as hospital admissions, obesity levels and lifestyle data. It presents a valuable visualization of critical data at a local level, helping to support the seamless delivery of front line services during and beyond the period of NHS reform.

Dotted Eyes has created a compact, digestible introduction to Health Portal via a dedicated, 30-minute online tutorial, designed to be accessible to every level of user – from mid-wives to clinical directors and commissioners.

To register to attend the Data Sharing in the NHS webinar, from 10-10.30am on Thursday 25th November, please sign up here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/datasharing

For more information on Health Portal, visit: www.dottedeyes.com/healthportal, or call 01527 556920.

Air Force communications officials are warning Facebook users of a new application that may pose a security risk because it publicizes users' locations without their specific consent according to military.com.

The features called "Places I check in to," and "People Here Now" were added in August and use IP addresses and smartphone GPS capabilities to locate a user when logging onto Facebook. The app then publishes that information on the user's profile page, and the information could become public depending on the user's profile security settings.

The feature is automatically active and must be turned off by the user.

"Facebook users should properly configure this app's security settings immediately, for both DOD employees and our families, due to the inherent risks and privacy concerns," according to an e-mail notification from the 86th Communication Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

The e-mail is not forbidding Facebook users from using the locator feature, but is advising that they disable it.

The feature also publishes a map with a virtual push pin showing the users' exact location, which compromises operational security and removes much of the effort of electronic stalking, according to the squadron e-mail.

The new feature also allows friends to post each other's location without their consent unless deactivated.

A file containing instructions to deactivate the features is attached to the 86th e-mail. It contains screen shots of how the feature works and step-by-step instructions to deactivate it.

ERDAS announced its upcoming 2011 Software Release, with new versions of ERDAS IMAGINE, LPS, ERDAS Extensions for ArcGIS 10, ERDAS APOLLO and other leading desktop and server products. To promote this significant release, ERDAS is also launching a world tour with customer events worldwide.

The ERDAS 2011 Software Release includes new imagery analysis workflows, the ability to localise ERDAS products for a global audience, integrated support for Microsoft Bing Maps base imagery and map data, distributed processing throughout the desktop offerings, updated versions of ERDAS Extensions for ArcGIS (supporting version 10) and a new product, ERDAS Engine. ERDAS Engine is a simple, cost-effective solution that boosts processing power for ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS, leveraging existing hardware resources for increased production needs or situations requiring faster throughput.

“ERDAS 2011 Software provides easy to use enhancements driven by customer needs. We have honed a suite of recognisable, market-leading products and incorporated some exciting new technologies to increase productivity and transform the user’s experience. ERDAS 2011 Software enables users to produce projects faster easier, and more accurately and economically than was previously possible,” said Joel Campbell, President, ERDAS.

ERDAS IMAGINE 2011 features new tools and an enhanced interface designed for quick and easy creation of presentation products for the defence and intelligence community. The streamlined imagery analysis workflows include improved text editing, inset views, new templates with elements that automatically update based on metadata from inserted imagery, the ability to geolink to Google Earth, and export to Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, or JPEG with a single click. ERDAS IMAGINE 2011 also introduces Hyperspherical Color Space (HCS) pan sharpening, developed specifically for DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 data.

LPS 2011 is a powerful, workflow-oriented photogrammetry system for production mapping, including full analytical triangulation, the generation of digital terrain models, orthophoto production, mosaicking, and 3D feature extraction. A key theme for the LPS 2011 release is distributed processing, which enables users to leverage multi-core CPUs and multiple networked servers to increase production throughput and accelerate processes that have been extremely time-intensive until now. In addition, LPS 2011 enables generation of orthos for a specific area of imagery defined by a shape file or AOI. LPS eATE is an add-on product that enables users to generate high-resolution terrain information from stereo imagery, ensuring speed and accuracy, providing an unparalleled environment for processing terrain data.

ERDAS Extensions for ArcGIS 10 is a production suite of tools that enhance the recently released ArcGIS 10 platform with stereo visualisation.

NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program

NASA announces a call for graduate fellowship proposals to the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program for the 2011-2012 academic year. This call for fellowship proposals solicits applications from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of individuals pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines. The purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA?s scientific goals. Awards resulting from the competitive selection will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities.

The deadline for NEW applications is February 1, 2011, and the deadline for RENEWAL applications is March 15, 2011.

The NESSF call for proposals and submission instructions are located at the NESSF 11 solicitation index page at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ - click on "Solicitations" then click on "Open Solicitations" then select the "NESSF 11" announcement. Also refer to ?Proposal Submission Instructions? and ?Program Specific Questions? listed under ?Other Documents? on the NESSF 11 solicitation index page.

All proposals must be submitted in electronic format only through the NASA NSPIRES system. The advisor has an active role in the submission of the fellowship proposal. To use the NSPIRES system, the advisor, the student, and the university must all register. Extended instructions on how to submit an electronic proposal package are posted on the NESSF 11 solicitation index page listed above. You can register in NSPIRES at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/.

For further information contact Ming-Ying Wei, Program Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research, Telephone: (202) 358-0771, E-mail: mwei@nasa.gov or Dolores Holland, Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research, and Astrophysics Research, Telephone: (202) 358-0734, E-mail: hq-nessf-Space@nasa.gov.

Update: Here is a list of the successful applicants on Earth Science Research.