GPS World

Tag: digital imagery

  • LizardTech to launch GeoExpress 10 with expanded lidar functionality at GEOINT 2018

    LizardTech, a provider of software solutions for managing and distributing geospatial data, will launch Version 10 of its GeoExpress data manipulation and compression software at the 2018 GEOINT Symposium. GeoExpress 10 includes significantly expanded lidar data handling capabilities and improved interface communication.

    LizardTech will demonstrate GeoExpress 10 in booth #1245 at the GEOINT Symposium, which is being held April 22-25, 2018, at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.

    GeoExpress is LizardTech’s flagship software product originally created to enable geospatial professionals to manipulate digital satellite, aerial and UAV images and losslessly compress them to industry-standard MrSID or JPEG2000 files for more efficient use.

    The addition of lidar handling in 2015 and 2016 releases gave GeoExpress the ability to natively compress lidar data to MrSID and LAZ formats with no loss of data content, saving up to 75% on storage and processing time, as well as support for high-density BPF point clouds.

    “Users can do a lot more with their lidar data in GeoExpress 10,” said Toby Martin, LizardTech vice president, Development and Strategy.

    In past versions of the software, GeoExpress performed only basic compression and mosaicking of lidar point clouds. The new version enables users to reproject lidar files into different coordinate systems and crop the data to create smaller files.

    Individual files or single tiles within a mosaic may be cropped to a desired area of interest for easier and faster processing. Additionally, GeoExpress 10 allows the user to crop by elevation, adding a third dimension to spatial image management.

    “You can use the elevation cropping function to create point clouds of just the mountain peaks in an area, for example, if you are planning a high-elevation project,” said Martin.

    In GeoExpress 10, users will also find the overall experience of interacting with their data sets is more intuitive thanks to enhanced information and communication from the software. Users may now select the data sets they want to mosaic together, and the software presents a selection of processing options which may be applied to those files.

    Another general upgrade in the new version is the ability to pause and then re-start a processing task without losing any progress already achieved. In the past, a task could only be stopped and started again from the beginning once it had been initiated, which for extremely large processing jobs may take significant resources to complete.

    Other enhancements to GeoExpress 10 include:

    • compatibility with LZW compressed TIFF files commonly output from Pix4D software.
    • addition of Esri projections to the Reprojection Manager.
    • addition of rectangular cropping around a center point.
    • shape cropping using Google Earth KML files.

    In addition to GeoExpress 10, LizardTech will showcase its complete line of geospatial products at GEOINT 2018:

    • Express Server software for high-performance delivery and publication;
    • the recently updated GeoViewer software, which is the fastest way to view MrSID and JPEG 2000 imagery; and
    • the recently released Portfolio 2017 digital asset management solution, which makes it easy to organize, access and share geospatial imagery alongside associated graphic and digital files.

  • WorldView-4 satellite heads to Vandenberg for September launch

    Built by Lockheed Martin, the WorldView-4 satellite will expand DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high-accuracy, high-resolution satellites, and double the availability of 30-cm resolution imagery for commercial and government customers.
    Built by Lockheed Martin, the WorldView-4 satellite will expand DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high-accuracy, high-resolution satellites, and double the availability of 30-centimeter resolution imagery for commercial and government customers.

    Final preparations are underway at Lockheed Martin to ship DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 Earth imaging satellite to Vandenberg Air Force Base for a Sept. 15 launch.

    The Lockheed Martin team is completing final satellite testing and checkout before shipment. Testing includes calculating the weight and center of gravity of WorldView-4, completing a health check of major systems, and testing out image collection and downlinking capability.

    “The high-resolution and high-accuracy images taken by WorldView-4 will support DigitalGlobe’s worldwide customer base,” said Carl Marchetto, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space. “DigitalGlobe’s smart imagery serves hundreds of thousands of end-users charged with the safety and security of nations, and enables the maps and geospatial applications relied on by billions of consumers.”

    “Only the DigitalGlobe constellation, with the addition of WorldView-4, offers the highest quality, and most comprehensive global coverage of our changing planet through 2030, so our customers can be confident they will have the information to make critical decisions,” said Walter Scott, founder and chief technology officer, DigitalGlobe. “WorldView-4 will help us continue to transform the way we see the world, and advance our mission of keeping our planet and its people safe and secure.”

    Once launched, WorldView-4 will double DigitalGlobe’s coverage of the world’s highest resolution imagery and increase the rate at which it grows its 15-year library of time-lapse high-resolution imagery. WorldView-4 will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, traveling 17,000 miles per hour and capturing more 680,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface daily (19.5 terabytes) the equivalent of the land area of Texas.

    With an orbit approximately 400 miles from Earth, the satellite will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket provided by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services.

  • Pictometry to Capture Digital Terrain Data of Los Angeles County

    Pictometry International Corp. has secured an order from the Los Angeles Region – Imagery Acquisition Consortium (LARIAC) to provide digital terrain datasets through LiDAR capture of the 4,000+ square mile area that makes up Los Angeles County. Pictometry is a subsidiary of EagleView Technology, a provider of aerial imagery, data analytics and GIS solutions.

    The LiDAR project will allow consortium members access to the digital data and imagery for use in 3D modeling, floodplain and watershed mapping, disaster management, land-use planning, transportation planning, volumetric studies, solar modeling, vegetation analysis, sustainability planning, and more.  

    Slated to begin later this year, the project will capture and deliver LiDAR in accordance with USGS Quality Level 2 specifications. At two points per square meter, this will equate to more than 21 billion individual measurements of elevation across the county.

    Pictometry will also provide the consortium with a number of derivative digital terrain datasets, including a digital terrain model, digital elevation model, digital surface model as well as one and two foot contours of the project areas. “We are looking forward to the LiDAR capture which will be the final phase of the LARIAC4 imagery and mapping project,” said Mark Greninger, geographic information officer, County of Los Angeles. “The digital datasets when combined with Pictometry aerial imagery and our geographic data will provide powerful intelligence and information for all the members of LARIAC.”

    “The elevation data will provide the county and consortium members a core of authoritative, high quality data that will be critical for mapping, analysis and support of the county’s mission,” explained Greninger. “These datasets will be included in our enterprise GIS system, available both internally and externally to allow for more cost-efficient operations.”

    Robert Locke, Pictometry president of Government Solutions, said that the project represents a natural progression in the long-term business relationship that the company has with the consortium. “We are pleased that the County of Los Angeles recognizes Pictometry’s expertise and ability to provide LiDAR and digital models,” Locke said. “While known as the leader in aerial image capture, Pictometry is also extremely qualified and experienced in LiDAR capture and delivery.”

    Pictometry completed most of the LARIAC4 mapping and image acquisition project during 2014, with the remainder to be completed in 2015.