The Geospatial Professional Network (formerly URISA) is seeking respondents to its 2025 GIS Management Survey. The survey is part of a research project on geographic information system (GIS) management practices.
The survey is designed to gather information from organizations using GIS technology, to learn about how they organize and GIS, and provide services to their users.
All respondents will receive a report of survey results.
To conribute to the survey, go to GIS Management Survey 2025.
Blue Marble Geographics has released Global Mapper v.20.1, the latest version of its GIS software. According to the company, version 20.1 offers a wealth of new and updated geospatial tools, as well as performance improvements throughout the application.
Enhancements to version 20.1 include a new zooming function in the path profile window, a digitizer tool for automatically closing gaps between features and, for lidar module users, a point proximity query function.
Global Mapper’s path profile tool, which is used to create a cutaway view of a terrain layer or point cloud, now offers a simple way to zoom in the view for a close-in perspective of a specific area, the company said. It also now includes a new legend display that differentiates each individual layer when multiple overlapping surfaces are displayed.
The software’s digitizer now includes a simple tool for eliminating slivers or overlapping areas from adjacent features, ensuring the topological integrity of the data. In addition, users can now use an added option that allows the establishment of a default projection, with every imported layer automatically reprojected to adhere to this system.
Finally, version 20.1 release offers new and upgraded functionality in the lidar module. The module now features a proximity search function that highlights points of a particular classification within a certain distance of other point types or line features.
“The release of version 20.1 of Global Mapper provides a perfect illustration of Blue Marble’s unique, user-focused development philosophy,” said Blue Marble’s President Patrick Cunningham. “Each of the major new features and functions, including the new Path Profile tools and lidar proximity querying, is directly attributable to specific requests from our customers. We encourage all Global Mapper users to continue this line of communication to ensure that the software is meeting everyone’s needs.”
Esri
has published its latest book, “GIS for Surface Water: Using the National Hydrography Dataset,” by Jeff Simley, which details how to use geographic information system (GIS) technology to visualize and analyze data sets. Simley is an award-winning cartographer and the former lead of the Hydrography Program at the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The book examines the complexities of surface water systems and shows readers how to use the Esri ArcGIS software, the USGS’s National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s NHDPlus dataset to better study and manage the United States’ vast water system.
According to Esri, the book thoroughly examines the representation of water features and their attributes in a GIS and then turns its attention on how that data is structured in the NHD, WBD and NHDPlus datasets. In addition, after seeing how surface water hydrography can be modeled in a GIS, readers can then learn how to use these tools to solve real-world problems, such as protecting and restoring the fisheries habitat in Washington.
The book also offers instructions to guide readers to create surface water flow-volume maps that show how much water flows through any given river system.
“This book is unique in that it is the most comprehensive, authoritative source for the NHD,” said hydrologist David Maidment in the book’s foreword. “But it is more than that: It is a monument to the intellectual craft and dedicated effort of a generation of digital mapmakers who devoted their professional careers to the completion of this enormous task.”
A new book from Esri, “Tribal GIS: Supporting Native American Decision-Making,” tells the stories of how Native American tribes use geographic information system (GIS) technology to help manage and govern their sovereign nations.
According to Esri, the book, in its second edition, details how dozens of tribal governments have used GIS for a number of projects, including conserving and protecting the environment, monitoring and managing infrastructure and natural resources, preserving history and culture, studying health issues and planning how to use ancestral lands. Tribes have also used GIS to conduct road inventories, manage and protect archaeological sites, plan economic development projects, and analyze and visualize health data.
“GIS has become a common platform for problem solving by helping tribes organize and analyze data, as well as collaborate and communicate on countless issues,” said Esri President Jack Dangermond in the book’s foreword.
The book also contains a chapter on new applications of GIS, which describes how tribal governments are taking advantage of the latest geospatial technology, including Web GIS, 3D GIS, Esri Story Maps apps and ready-to-use field data collection apps.
Most of the stories are told by the Chickasaw Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Esri released a new book, “The ArcGIS Book: 10 Big Ideas about Applying The Science of Where,” as well as a companion website.
According to Esri, the book provides mapmakers with the know-how and hands-on experience to practice “The Science of Where.” In addition, the accompanying website offers information and interactive education resources needed to use web-based geographic information system (GIS) technology to create maps, work with apps, create and use authoritative data, conduct spatial analysis and more.
The book is available in print, as an interactive PDF and online. It explains how to use Esri’s ArcGIS platform to manage and analyze data and then visualize and share that information in maps to gain location-based insight, the company said. The book’s chapters cover web mapping, ready-to-use apps, story maps, 3-D GIS, spatial analysis, imagery and the Internet of Things, as well as curated content from Esri’s Living Atlas of the World.
In addition, the online and PDF versions of The ArcGIS Book are interactive with 10 Learn ArcGIS lessons and links to 250 online maps and apps from Esri and the worldwide ArcGIS community. According to Esri, it also includes a variety of electronic learning resources, including software downloads, videos, case studies, story maps, e-books, open data sites, the Living Atlas of the World and more.
“It’s a multimedia experience,” said Christian Harder, the writer at Esri who co-edited the book with Clint Brown, Esri director of product engineering. “Every graphic and image in the electronic versions of the book comes to life in the interactive versions. This makes it an excellent starting point for people to learn about GIS or communicate to their friends and colleagues what GIS is all about.”
The organizers of GEO Business 2016 have issued a call for abstracts for the 2016 conference, which will be held May 25–26 at the Business Design Centre in London, according to a news release.
The conference committee is seeking revolutionary and thought-provoking abstracts that “truly demonstrate the remarkable impact geospatial technologies and solutions are having on our global environment.” Over the two-day conference, expert presenters will explore how geospatial solutions have enabled projects to run more efficiently, ensuring that they are delivered on time, whilst saving money and reducing risk, organizers said.
Topics include:
Abstracts are due before Jan. 22, 2016. All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the technical conference committee, including Ian Bush, conference chairman.
“On behalf of my fellow committee members, it gives me great pleasure to welcome interested parties to submit an abstract for the GEO Business 2016 Call for Papers, Bush says. “We look forward to receiving thought provoking abstracts from all corners of the industry and formulating an exciting program that will educate, entertain and entice delegates from around the globe.”
Along with the conference will be an exhibition showcasing 200 of the most innovative international geospatial companies, GEO Business says, and a full schedule of workshop sessions.
The full conference program will be launched in March 2016.