Using live data from USGS and Waze, a new Esri interactive map visualizes active wildfire locations and traffic alerts for Northern California.
The map incorporates a new mapping technique to group traffic alerts at locations where there is a high density of alerts. This method enables faster and more effective visual analysis in areas where there are many alerts that would normally overlap.
Active fire data displays the locations of large fire incidents in Northern California. Data is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and The Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group, and is intended to give near real-time understanding of the situation on the ground.
Location and status of active fires is updated throughout the day as new information is gathered by first responders.
Data from Waze is reported by users of Waze and updated every two minutes. This data, provided by Waze through the Connected Citizens Program, contains filtered data for affected area including system-generated traffic jams and user-reported traffic incidents (including jams, accidents, hazards, construction, potholes, roadkill, stopped vehicles, objects on road, and missing signs).
DigitalGlobe releases images of Northern California wildfires
DigitalGlobe has released high-resolution satellite images of the wildfires burning in Northern California. These wildfires have killed at least 21 people, destroyed at least 3,500 structures, and burned more than 115,000 acres.
The Oct. 10 images were collected using the Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensor on DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite, which is uniquely able to pierce through the wildfire smoke to see where the fires are burning on the ground. For comparison, the ground and the fire line are completely obstructed by smoke in the natural color image of the same area (see the larger overview image on the first slide).
The Oct. 11 images were taken by DigitalGlobe’s GeoEye-1 satellite. Some of these are natural color, while others are shown in the Very Near Infrared (VNIR), where burned areas appear gray and black and healthy vegetation is red.
Additionally, DigitalGlobe has activated its Open Data Program, which provides imagery to support recovery efforts in the wake of large-scale natural disasters. Pre- and post-wildfire imagery of the affected areas are available to emergency responders on the Santa Rosa wildfires page.
Using live data from USGS and Waze, a new Esri interactive map visualizes active wildfire locations and traffic alerts for Northern California.
The map incorporates a new mapping technique to group traffic alerts at locations where there is a high density of alerts. This method enables faster and more effective visual analysis in areas where there are many alerts that would normally overlap. Zoom in on the map to reveal the latest individual traffic alerts.
Active fire data displays the locations of large fire incidents in Northern California. Data is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and The Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group, and is intended to give near real-time understanding of the situation on the ground.
Location and status of active fires is updated throughout the day as new information is gathered by first responders.
Data from Waze is reported by users of Waze and updated every 2 minutes. This data, provided by Waze through the Connected Citizens Program, contains filtered data for affected area including system-generated traffic jams and user-reported traffic incidents (including jams, accidents, hazards, construction, potholes, roadkill, stopped vehicles, objects on road, and missing signs).
As part of The National Map transition to cloud hosting, several of the National Map Orthoimagery Services will be provided under new URLs by early December.
One major change involves links to USDA National Aerial Imagery Program (NAIP) orthoimagery. These new URLs have been available and running in parallel for many months and most applications have already made the change to the new replacement services.
In addition, as part of this transition, USGS legacy Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) or Scanned Map service will also be retired.
Orthimage of Glenn Canyon Dam, Arizona, taken Oct. 31, 2016. (USGS)
The National Map uses NAIP imagery as a key component of its US Topo map products. As part of this service, it also provides imagery compressed files for download and imagery web map services for visualization in applications. These imagery services and data download provide an imagery base that supplements the associated US Topo GIS-based product: the Topo Map Vector Data Product.
The imagery web map services or imagery downloaded from TNM Downloader may both be used along with TNM vector products in the Topo TNM Style Template, providing GIS basemap layers and data in the cartographic style and layout of the US Topo maps.
These dynamic imagery services are designed to provide visualization from local to national scales for a variety of use cases. The replacement “Imagery – 1 meter (plus)” service will contain NAIP orthoimagery along with other High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) to fill in areas where NAIP is not flown.
Some of the services are scale-dependent, drawing only at the largest scales (below 18K scale), to facilitate zooming in past the levels currently supported in the faster USGS tile cached Imagery Basemap service. These capabilities are being maintained through the new URLs listed on the transition page.
In Northern Idaho, not only is the Silver Valley near Kellogg one of the richest silver mining areas ever, but it is also the focus of an extensive EPA Superfund cleanup. There are more than 600 mine and prospecting sites in Shoshone County alone. So how do we sort through them and figure out where buildings were, and what sites were actually developed?
Photo Credit: United States Forest Service, 1968
Using aerial photography and GIS technology, historians, archaeologists and environmental scientists are able to look into the past and determine what actually occurred at individual sites. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took aerial photographs of the entire area in 1937, 1948, 1965 and 1974. Other years, they partially photographed the area. Since then, aerial flyovers have been replaced by satellite imagery. All of this data tells environmental scientists where to look for waste materials.
It also tells archeologists where to look for old structures and other manmade features. Because before a mine site can be cleaned up, it’s history must be documented. Between historic imagery and modern satellite coverage, this task is made simpler.
Archaeologists all over the world are applying these same techniques, so it comes as no surprise that the 2016 TED Prize, awarded annually, went to space archaeologist Dr. Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, whose wish is to: “…discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By creating a 21st-century army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains humankind’s collective resilience and creativity,” she told the Alabama News Center.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Parcak first earned international attention by satellite mapping Egypt using infrared imagery, discovering “17 potential unknown pyramids, 1,000 tombs and 3,100 settlements.” At the heart of her program is an online, citizen scientist, interactive platform that will allow anyone to discover ancient sites from space. The same information and imagery gathered over time will allow her and her teams to monitor looting.
The program works simply: Once users take a quick tutorial, they are “dealt” a series of images from a deck with a general location like Northern Italy. The images are of a 50-meter-square area, and have already been processed to simplify the explorer’s search. The exact GPS location is encrypted similar to the way patient data privacy is preserved in Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to protect the exact location from potential looters and unethical archeological expeditions.
All potential discoveries, once vetted, will be passed along to authorities along with the GIS data, so they can then excavate or protect the sites. This enables archaeologists not only to detect sites, but to find and stop looters in a matter of days or weeks rather than months or years.
GIS can play a huge role in these and other archeological projects, and with the integration of virtual reality, the possibilities are even more exciting.
Georeferencing Maps and Historical Photos
While this is not possible with all sites, historical photos of some areas give archaeologists clues of where to start looking for more recent structures and human activity. Georeferencing ancient maps and photos or drawings where possible show what features have changed, what has remained the same, and what impact modern human activity has had on the site.
Photo Credit: YouTube
“Rebuilding” Structures
Once foundations and other evidence of structures have been found, 3D modeling software such as Esri CityEngine can be used in conjunction with photos to virtually reconstruct buildings, terrain and other features. This gives archeologists and scholars insight to how each site might have been used, and what other evidence to look for.
Virtual Reality
As 360-degree cameras have become more affordable and portable (with the release of several new models like the Nikon KeyMission 360), filming sites once they have been visited in this comprehensive way will allow archaeologists who are unable to physically reach the location to “look” for evidence, and offer advice and insight to those on location.
Explorers in Parcak’s programs who make new discoveries will be able to accompany archaeologists via Periscope, Skype, Google Hangouts and social media, all of which are headed toward 3D video capability, allowing for more immersive and meaningful visits.
Infrared photos from space allow us to see things on the ground not previously visible. Three dimensional modeling allows us to visualize structures no longer there, and 360-degree video and virtual reality allow us to visit these places from far away.
The way we discover new things about our world and the way we explore them is changing, and much of that change is possible due to the blend of GIS and virtual reality.
Troy Lambert is a freelance writer, editor and thriller author living in Boise Idaho. He became interested in using GIS for unique applications while at a museum, and now looks for and writes about unique ways GIS is used and can be used to change our world.
Esri and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service unveiled Engagement Portfolio, a gallery of maps and apps of U.S. forestry data open to the public.
Engagement Portfolio opens up the Forestry Inventory and Analysis database, a trove of detailed information on the nation’s forest ecosystems, which the Forest Service has maintained for nearly a century.
“The tools we’re releasing today demonstrate the best of what’s possible through private-public partnerships,” says Carlos Rodriguez-Franco, acting deputy chief, research and development, USDA Forest Service. “We’re opening up data for more than 800 million acres of U.S. forests and woodlands that provide clean water, clean air, wildlife and fish habitat, recreational opportunities and resources for economic development.”
Large-scale map and a chart-populated perspective of the nation’s forests are available, as well as story maps and other interactive tools.
“Interactive access to data helps everyone make better decisions about our fragile ecosystem,” says John Steffenson, director, global business development, natural resources, Esri. “The Forest Service’s new Engagement Portfolio transforms the agency’s wealth of data into information products that anyone can relate to and that powerfully convey the value of the nation’s forests.”
Intergraph Government Solutions (IGS) has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) U.S. Forest Service to provide image processing software across the U.S. Forest Service enterprise. IGS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intergraph Corporation, a Hexagon company serving the U.S. federal market.
IGS will provide capabilities for core image processing and photogrammetry through Hexagon Geospatial’s Power Portfolio, including ERDAS IMAGINE for remote sensing and IMAGINE Photogrammetry. Integration of these products into the organization allows the U.S. Forest Service to perform mission-critical image processing and analysis on nearly 200 million acres of land for objectives such as forest restoration and emergency response to wildfires.
“The U.S. Forest Service is a long-standing customer of IGS and Hexagon software. This purchase provides the agency with the most advanced geospatial technology for monitoring and managing national forest resources,” said Joe Fehrenbach, CEO and president of IGS.
The result of a competitive best-value procurement, the award includes a base contract period of one year and an additional four option years. As part of the selection process, the U.S. Forest Service required live demonstrations of the proposed workflow technologies with government-provided datasets and rigorous requirements related to multiple areas of need in their business mission.
CompassData, a provider of geospatial data and services, announced that its CompassTA elevation accuracy software has received OCIO-ITS certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Certification allows 40,000 USDA users the opportunity to utilize CompassTA software for elevation accuracy verification of LiDAR point clouds, digital elevation models (DEM), and other raster data sets.
“This certification provides assurance to our current and future USDA clients they are using a data verification tool that has been thoroughly scrutinized and tested by their own internal auditing process,” said Jeff Barker, CompassData product manager.
USDA certified the CompassTA software through the Office of the Chief Information Officer – Information Technology Services (OCIO-ITS) within the Device Deployment Services Branch.
Earlier this year, CompassData received DO-200A approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use its CompassAA software and ground control points (GCPs) to verify the accuracy of satellite and aerial imagery for the creation of certain aviation products.
CompassTA and CompassAA are software tools in CompassData’s CompassV&V line of Verification and Validation products. Based on the popular Topo Analyst and Accuracy Analyst software tools CompassData purchased from Spatial Information Solutions (SIS) in early 2014, the rebranded CompassV&V products include CompassAA, for orthorectified image verification, and CompassTA, for QA/QC of elevation data.
For 20 years, CompassData has performed custom GCP collection for clients in the geospatial profession and archived those points in a database for commercial sale to other end users. The CompassV&V tools are used extensively with custom and archived GCP to verify the accuracy of geospatial imagery, surface and elevation models and many other spatial products.
Used by numerous U.S. federal agencies under the SIS brand names, CompassV&V tools are content enhancement solutions that automate map accuracy verification and eliminate manual processing, ensuring consistent quality control of geospatial products backed up by standardized reporting procedures. Both tools establish automated workflows and generate standards-based documentation delivered along with end products.
“Since acquiring and rebranding the CompassV&V tools, we have made administrative upgrades to enhance the user experience,” said Barker. “Additional improvements are in the works.”
Leveraging the CompassV&V software tools, CompassData has expanded its custom Validation Service using GCPs. This service is offered for clients who prefer, or are required, to have an independent third-party perform quality assurance and supply verification reports, CompassData has licensed professionals on staff that perform Validation Services using high-quality GCPs along with the CompassV&V tools. The CompassData team can conduct this service faster and at lower cost than other firms that have to obtain their own GCPs.
