NV5 Geospatial, powered by Quantum Spatial, has launched INSITE, a comprehensive cloud-based platform that enables users to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage their geospatial data, from acquisition to delivery.
With applications designed for electric utilities and telecommunications, as well as federal, state and local governments, INSITE provides tools to support the entire geospatial data lifecycle, including project tracking, data collection and delivery, quality control, on-demand reporting, analytics and enterprise integration, the company said.
Screenshot: NV5 Geospatial
INSITE also enables users to import, search, analyze, manage, integrate and export all types of geospatial data and multimedia. According to NV5 Geospatial, as a cloud-based platform, INSITE improves speed and efficiency, minimizes storage expenses and supports greater collaboration by eliminating the use of standalone hard drives or a dedicated computer.
“Location-based data is critical for business and governments when it comes to managing risk, lowering costs, forecasting work and maintaining compliance,” said Mark Abatto, president and COO of NV5 Geospatial. “Yet there are numerous technical and organizational barriers that prevent them from optimizing use of this information. INSITE was purpose-built to break down these barriers, creating a single source of truth for all geospatial data within an organization. Now, with INSITE, distributed teams can collaborate more effectively, visualize data with ease and gain real-time insights through powerful analytics.”
According to the company, the INSITE platform is the foundation of three primary categories of use: the INSITE Lifecycle, INSITE Core, and INSITE Facility and Pole Manager.INSITE Lifecycle provides visibility into project status through a web-based map with real-time tracking of data from acquisition through processing and delivery, while INSITE Core enables data visualization and interaction, including access to aerial imagery, lidar data, GIS layers, and more. Lastly, INSITE provides the basis for industry-specific applications, including INSITE Facility and INSITE Pole Manager. INSITE Facility provides configurable asset management, including planning, execution and tracking for inspections and maintenance on any asset and facility, and INSITE Pole Manager enables electric utilities to take advantage of automated pole modeling analytics that support joint use, clearance and integrity analysis programs.
NV5 Geospatial will host a live launch webinar on Feb. 18 to provide an overview of INSITE. Register for the webinar here.
The contract is expected to include data acquisition, data processing, quality control and data analytics. Quantum Spatial has bee providing topobathymetric lidar services to NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey Remote Sensing Division since 2013, the company said.
“This is the fourth consecutive contract awarded by NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey to Quantum Spatial covering more than 20 years in support of its mission,” said Kurt Allen, vice president for federal programs at Quantum Spatial. “A joint dedication by NOAA and Quantum Spatial for research and development and applying significant advancements in technology has allowed numerous stakeholders to utilize the near-shore bathymetric foundational data generated by the program.”
Quantum Spatial, an NV5 Global company, is a full-service geospatial solutions provider in North America.
A number of geospatial companies played a key role in the government’s response to the Kilauea Volcano eruption. The volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii began erupting May 3, and while quiet for more than a week, it could resume erupting at any time.
Mapping the flow. As a resident of Hawaii, Brennan O’Neill, Hawaiian branch manager of Frontier Precision, was in a unique position to offer support. Frontier Precision provided free access to technology and expertise to assist in mapping the lava flow.
“I had to help out,” O’Neill said. “It was tearing at my soul. For a geologist, it’s even more powerful than that. The lava flow is like a living mass that has a mind of its own, creeping, glowing — an upside-down conveyor belt surging forward and burning everything in its path.”
Through Frontier Precision, O’Neill offered high-tech mapping equipment, his own expertise, and the help of Nathan Stephenson, an applied geospatial engineer working in the company’s Denver office.
“We used a combination of Trimble R10s and Trimble R8s to gather accurate data points on the ground,” Stephenson said.
This thermal map shows the fissure system and lava flows as of 6 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. The thermal map was constructed by stitching many overlapping oblique thermal images collected by a handheld thermal camera during a helicopter overflight of the flow field. The base is a copyrighted color satellite image (used with permission) provided by Digital Globe. (Map: USGS)
The mapping team flew UAS drones over the flow to gather visual imagery data, matched it to the ground reference points, stitched the photos together and draped it over county maps. The process was repeated as often as needed — daily, and sometimes even hourly — to show the speed and direction of the flow.
Stephenson isn’t new to mapping lava flows. As a graduate student at the University of Hawaii – Hilo, he worked on collecting data on the Pahoa eruption in 2014, and he’s seen advances in technology in just a few years.
“One thing we have now that we didn’t have in 2014 was a thermal radiometric camera that helps us map more accurately at night and enables us to capture large heat signatures.”
The collected data helps Hawaii Civil Defense and other agencies keep the public informed and safe, and in the long term it also contributes to the store of scientific knowledge about eruptions and lava flow behavior.
Lidar image of the Hawaii dataset showing the Kilauea Calderand the Halena’uma’u Crater and within it. (Image: Quantum Spatial)
Airborne lidar insights. Another technology that aids in volcano response is lidar. High-resolution lidar surveys help first responders, scientists and government agencies monitor Kilauea conditions and predict future lava flows.
Independent geospatial data firm Quantum Spatial Inc. (QSI) has conducted high-resolution lidar surveys of areas surrounding the Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii.
The emergency response effort was part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Rapid Response Imagery Products (RRIP) in support of the Kilauea’s 2018 East Rift Zone – Remote Sensing Acquisition Requirement.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), along with emergency responders, government agencies and academics, will use the data to better understand the conditions and characteristics of the volcano, and help planners model potential lava flows, which may better predict and respond to future flows and enhance safety of residents.
The QSI team, which included GEO1 and Windward Aviation, deployed within days to acquire high-resolution lidar at point densities averaging from 40 to 80 ppsm, with up to 150 ppsm in select areas and 100-mp digital imagery using a Riegl dual VUX-1 LR sensor pod equipped with ABGPS/IMU mounted on a Hughes 500D helicopter.
The project required 11 missions over the course of six days, operating at times as low as 500 feet above the ground and above active flows and nearby erupting calderas. With a need for a quick turn around, QSI deployed an analyst with the flight crew to post process each mission within hours of collection.
The data was uploaded to the Geospatial Repository and Data Management System (GRiD) interface, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), where additional data products have been developed and provided to the response team that includes FEMA, Hawaii’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Hawaii County Civil Defense.
After data collection, QSI measured topographic shifts during the processing by comparing new data with a 2011 lidar collection from the same area. Survey specialists and USGS experts confirmed within hours of processing QSI’s lidar data that areas within the site had shifted up to 1.5 meters east, 2 meters to the north and 1 meter in elevation.
USGS scientists will continue to examine the new topographic data to better understand the nature of these shifts, and integrate it into lava flow models for more accurate predictive modeling.
The eruption in action. Using small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) together with air-quality sensors, advanced imaging tools and Esri’s spatial analytics and mapping, a team from the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) provided real-time aerial views of the eruption.
The five volunteers armed with drones, advanced sensor systems and GIS technologies joined the response effort May 14-19 at Kilauea Volcano Lower East Rift Zone to assist in tracking and predicting the ongoing volcanic eruption. The team supplemented the University of Hawaii Hilo’s (UHH) sUAS capabilities, allowing UHH sUAS operators to focus on geographical and volcanology.
The CRASAR team identified a new fissure not visible from the ground, projected the lava flow rate during the night when manned helicopters were not allowed to fly, and provided ongoing data collection from new thermal sensors technology.
During the six-day Leilani deployment, the CRASAR team flew 44 sUAS flights, including 16 at night, using DJI 200, 210, Inspire, and Mavic Pro drones. Esri’s Drone2Map for ArcGIS together with Hangar’s Enterprise Platform for 360-degree imaging enabled rapid 360-imaging for situational awareness.
DJI’s new XT2 thermal sensor provided unprecedented drone-based air-quality monitoring. Video and data were shared with local first responders using FirstNet, the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.
The CRASAR response marks the first known use of sUAS for emergency response to a volcanic eruption and first known use of sUAS for sampling air quality.
The GIS mapping and imaging technologies responders used on the scene at Kilauea Volcano Lower East Rift Zone are available here.
Looking southwest towards Leilani Estates with Fissure 8 erupting in the background. (Image: Ron Chapple/GEO 1)
High-resolution lidar surveys help first responders, scientists and government agencies monitor Kilauea conditions and predict future lava flows.
Independent geospatial data firm Quantum Spatial Inc. (QSI) has conducted high-resolution lidar surveys of areas surrounding the Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii.
The emergency response effort was part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Rapid Response Imagery Products (RRIP) in support of the Kilauea’s 2018 East Rift Zone – Remote Sensing Acquisition Requirement.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), along with emergency responders, government agencies and academics, will use the data to better understand the conditions and characteristics of the Kilauea volcano, which has been continually erupting since May 3.
Data also will assist planners in modeling potential lava flows, which may better predict and respond to future flows and enhance safety of residents.
The USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) selected QSI to perform the first of two planned surveys over the active volcanic area. The QSI team, which included GEO1 and Windward Aviation, deployed within days to acquire high-resolution lidar at point densities averaging from 40 to 80 ppsm, with up to 150 ppsm in select areas and 100-mp digital imagery using a Riegl dual VUX-1 LR sensor pod equipped with ABGPS/IMU mounted on a Hughes 500D helicopter.
Five distinct locations, covering an area of 57 square miles, were targeted:
Kīlauea Summit Caldera
Pu’u O’o Crater and flow
Chain of Craters Road / Kaoe
Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV)
Western Leilani Estates lava field.
The project required 11 missions over the course of six days, operating at times as low as 500 feet above the ground and above active flows and nearby erupting calderas. With a need for a quick turn around, QSI deployed an analyst with the flight crew to post process each mission within hours of collection.
The data was uploaded to the Geospatial Repository and Data Management System (GRiD) interface, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), where additional data products have been developed and provided to the response team that includes FEMA, Hawaii’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Hawaii County Civil Defense.
After data collection, QSI measured topographic shifts during the processing by comparing new data with a 2011 lidar collection from the same area. Survey specialists and USGS experts confirmed within hours of processing QSI’s lidar data that areas within the site had shifted up to 1.5 meters east, 2 meters to the north and 1 meter in elevation.
USGS scientists will continue to examine the new topographic data to better understand the nature of these shifts, and integrate it into lava flow models for more accurate predictive modeling.
“Airborne lidar and imagery remote sensing surveys are invaluable tools for understanding the effects of active volcanic eruptions, which change the topography as fissures emerge and lava flows extend to the ocean,” said Michael Shillenn, vice president at QSI. “We were honored to work with the USGS and others on this critical project. We believe that data and analysis provided by the QSI team will provide insights into future scenarios, enabling emergency responders to protect the surrounding community.”
Aero-Metric, Inc. has entered into definitive agreements to acquire two providers of geospatial services and solutions — Photo Science, Inc. (Photo Science) and Watershed Sciences, Inc. (WSI) — to form Quantum Spatial. Quantum Spatial bills itself as the largest provider of location-based tools, analytics and data in North America.
Quantum Spatial delivers professional services and solutions for clients across all industry verticals with specialized expertise in energy, transportation, utilities, environmental, mining, national security, federal agencies, state and local government, and commercial applications. Quantum Spatial plans to invest significantly to enhance its solutions, as well as expand its newly launched family of GeoApps, a suite of cloud-based, enterprise-wide, operational solutions.
As a result of this merger, Quantum Spatial’s domestic and international clients will benefit from enhanced capabilities and solutions, the company said, as well as accelerated research and development through significant investments to create new solutions that will address the evolving challenges faced by each end market. Clients will also have complete access to the creativity and knowledge of the firms’ expanded core capabilities and resources.
Additionally, Quantum Spatial has named Patrick Olson, the CEO of AeroMetric, the new Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Spatial. G. Michael Ritchie, president and CEO of Photo Science, will serve as the COO of Quantum Spatial. Matt Boyd and Russ Faux, former Co-CEO’s of WSI, will serve on the Executive Committee of Quantum Spatial and will lead the Solutions Applications effort across all industries.
“I am excited to be part of the creation of Quantum Spatial and the ability to provide unmatched solutions, knowledge and scale to our clients,” said Patrick Olson. “We look forward to continuing to expand our mission of providing on-target geospatial solutions, utilizing the in-depth knowledge and expertise of the industry’s largest professional and technical staff. The added capabilities and geographic reach created by this merger will better position us to address the critical needs and priorities of our clients’ ever changing requirements across all of our markets.”
Michael Ritchie noted, “Together, we are uniquely positioned to provide the market with the most comprehensive set of geospatial solutions available in the Americas and to greatly increase our unique tools and applications through collaboration and increased research and development. ”
“The increased societal use of spatial data is spawning disruptive new technologies, continual innovation, and altered competitive pressure,” said Matt Boyd, Co-CEO of WSI. “These factors combine to create radical change and new opportunities. Clients want advanced analytics and answers now. Quantum Spatial will lead and accelerate this transformation.”
Russ Faux added, ”This merger represents a strategic move that capitalizes on the collective resources, expertise, and experience of all three firms to advance the global geospatial market place. As Quantum Spatial, we are excited to expand upon our service offerings while continuing to maintain the personalized service and spirit of collaboration that our clients have come to expect and appreciate.”
The company’s consolidation will be seamless, the company said.
