GPS World

Author: Tracy Cozzens

  • USGS completes triennial update to US Topo maps

    This graphic represents the planned US Topo map production schedule for the next three- year revision cycle. The US Topo project repackages data from national GIS (geographic Information system) databases as traditional maps, primarily for the benefit of non-GIS users. Unlike traditional topographic maps, US Topo maps are mass-produced from secondary sources, on a programmed refresh cycle, using the best available data at the time of production.
    This graphic represents the planned US Topo map production schedule for the next three- year revision cycle. The US Topo project repackages data from national GIS (geographic Information system) databases as traditional maps, primarily for the benefit of non-GIS users. Unlike traditional topographic maps, US Topo maps are mass-produced from secondary sources, on a programmed refresh cycle, using the best available data at the time of production.

    With the release of new US Topo maps for Illinois and South Dakota, the USGS has completed the second, three-year cycle of revising and updating electronic US Topo quadrangles. Since the project’s inception in late 2009, the USGS has updated nearly every map in the conterminous U.S. twice.

    “The USGS and NGP are proud of our history and legacy of topographic mapping in the U.S.,” said Mike Tischler, director of the USGS National Geospatial Program. “This latest cycle of US Topo production is a testament to the professionalism and capability of our staff and keeps that legacy alive. We’ve revised more than 110,000 maps in the last six years to include higher quality data across the country, and have been able to deliver those maps in an easy to use format to suit the diverse needs of our users. While reaching the end of the second cycle is an important achievement, we look forward to the next cycle of US Topo production, and investigating emerging technologies to better serve the needs of the country.”

    In the past year the production staff of the NGP has updated, revised and uploaded 18,767 US Topo quads covering 18 states, most recently for Illinois and South Dakota. Its staff created more than 635 new 1:24,000-scale maps for Alaska as part of the Alaska Mapping Initiative. All of the new US Topo maps are digital and offered for free download, as the USGS no longer prints topographic maps using traditional printing technologies.

    Other improvements to the state maps in the second cycle include the inclusion of National Scenic Trails, “crowdsourced” trail data from the International Mountain Bike Association, increased parcel land data (PLSS) and trail data from the U.S. Forest Service.

    The complete new map sets for Illinois and South Dakota join Maine, Alabama, Arizona, Nebraska, Nevada, Missouri, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wyoming and Florida as revised states for fiscal year 2015.

    All of these new US Topo maps replace the first edition US Topo maps and are available for download from The National Map, the USGS Map Locator & Downloader website and several other USGS applications.

    The first three-year production cycle ended in September 2012, and the second cycle ended in September 2015.

    To compare change over time scans of legacy USGS topo maps, some dating back to the late 1800s, can be downloaded from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.

  • Hexagon launches M.App Chest cloud app

    Hexagon Geospatial has officially launched M.App Chest, a cloud-based application associated with Hexagon Smart M.App.

    In September, Hexagon Geospatial introduced the M.App Chest Early Access Program, which provided an opportunity for users to test out the new cloud-based innovation for storing, managing and distributing large volumes of geospatial data.

    M.App Chest provides a means to quickly upload, organize and share imagery and point cloud data in the cloud. It also provides optional compression capabilities along with streaming and delivery via web services.

    “Since 2003, we have created the equivalent of five exabytes of data. Clearly, today’s organizations need the right tools for managing and leveraging high volumes of data,” said Mladen Stojic, President of Hexagon Geospatial. “M.App Chest provides a better experience for easily uploading, storing and sharing geospatial data in ways that can transform any organization.”

    Following are key features and benefits of M.App Chest:

    • View M.App Chest Data Online: The free M.App Reader allows users to view data online with interactive roam and zoom tools. Data from M.App Chest can also be consumed into other applications via web services.
    • Availability and Access: M.App Chest flexibly ingests a variety of data types and provides secure data access, even to teams who are dispersed across the globe.
    • Big Data Support: M.App Chest supports large files and provides advanced compression, helping to solve Big Data problems.
    • 360-Degree Geospatial Content Management: Manage data, including business data like documents, spreadsheets, and multimedia files, all in the same secure cloud-based system.
    • No Installation: No installation is required. Users can sign up, and pay as they go.

  • Mapillary creates 3D models with users’ photographs

    Mapillary has released a video showing 3D models of locations its users photograph. The company said this gives users “the power to virtually explore their own photos like never before.”

    According to a Mapillary blog, “Our users have taken over 40 million photos to date. Each of these are stitched together with computer vision – a type of artificial intelligence that extracts information from images. For every single photo uploaded, we can automatically match features to the ones in photos from the same geographic vicinity so that we can compute how the images relate to each other and how to navigate from one to the other. This is how users navigate between photos in the Mapillary app and web browser.

    “Taking it one step further, we can also recover a 3D model of every area photographed. What began as a means to improve positioning of each photo beyond the GPS accuracy given by smartphones turned out to be quite an magical viewing experience.

    “We couldn’t keep this to ourselves so now users can explore our underlying 3D data by simply clicking the ‘show point clouds’ option in the sidebar in your web browser. We’ve also added full support for panoramas, which enables users to move seamlessly between regular photos and panoramas in 3D, giving them a smooth and other-worldly viewing experience.”

    The video shows the 3D data collected from a user walking across the courtyard at the Alcazar Palace in Seville, Spain. The camera positions are shown as white rectangular frames.


    (Point clouds from Mapillary on Vimeo.)

  • CyberCity 3D interactive maps help cities visualize the future

    A 3D rendering of London. (Image: CyberCity 3D)_
    A 3D rendering of London. (Image: CyberCity 3D)_

    CyberCity 3D has developed a 3D Smart Cities mapping platform to help municipal authorities and planners visualize their towns and cities in 3D. Existing and future city plans, proposed developments and schemes, can all be visualized together with relevant data using a simple, out-of-the-box solution, with streaming to any web connected device.

    The CyberCity 3D Smart City maps can be used for a host of applications including planning, transport, environment and tourism. The models are fully interoperable and will perform on most proprietary software applications such as GIS and 3D design packages and can be streamed via the web. The live streaming uses Cesium open architecture, a cross-platform virtual globe designed for dynamic-data visualization, allowing the 3D models to be viewed on tablets, phones, desktops and laptops.

    CyberCity 3D employs patented 3D modeling process to generate high resolution building models from stereo imagery. The smart buildings automatically contain valuable measurement data, such as height and roof slope, with up to 12.5 cm accuracy. Cities across the world have employed CyberCity 3D technology to support work such as urban planning, economic development, flood risk assessment, transportation planning and line-of-sight studies.

    In the UK, CyberCity 3D has teamed up with aerial mapping company Bluesky, which provides a huge data library covering 150,000 sq km of digital aerial photography, allowing CyberCity 3D to gain access to urban centers across the UK for 3D modeling. CyberCity 3D also has access to Bluesky’s National Tree Map, a digital map detailing more than 300 million trees across the UK, which adds a useful dimension to the 3D Smart City projects, the company said.

    CyberCity 3D has a large smart 3D GIS building library, covering more than 80 cities around the world. Applications include master planning and proposed construction maps, stakeholder, management, engagement and communication, flood analysis visualization, leisure and tourism. CyberCity 3D data is also used in applications such as 3D gaming and augmented reality.

  • Abu Dhabi to host Esri Middle East and North Africa User Conference

    MENAUC-logo
    Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will host the Esri Middle East and North Africa User Conference (MENAUC) Nov. 17–19 to commemorate the emirate’s success and propagate the smart government model throughout the region. For nearly a decade, Abu Dhabi, has typified smart government — primarily due to its wide application of geographic information system (GIS) technology across the enterprise — according to a news release from Esri.

    “I am proud of how far the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data program has come since its inception in 2007, growing to more than 70 stakeholders who contribute to the development of the emirate,” said H. E. Rashed Al Mansouri, director general at Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre (ADSIC). “Here in Abu Dhabi, GIS has provided us [with] the tools to plan effectively and comprehensively, make informed decisions and carry out the results of those decisions in a coordinated and efficient way. Everyone who attends the MENAUC comes with the singular mindset of improving life for end users through GIS technology. It is an inspiring event that pushes all of us to think creatively and execute efficiently in the years ahead.”

    Keynote speaker and Esri’s president Jack Dangermond will open MENAUC by showing how GIS as a location platform underpins the planning, operations and management of smart communities, including transportation, social services, public safety, economic development and citizen engagement.

    “One of the most thrilling achievements of my career has been Esri’s collaboration with Abu Dhabi to create a spatial data infrastructure (SDI), which drives ADSIC’s vision to serve Abu Dhabi’s citizens with spatially enabled e-government services,” Dangermond said. “Government GIS expresses all that data in maps, connecting the divisions of government and engaging all participants for fully informed decision making. That’s what we call ‘future proofing’ and what makes organizations resilient to the inevitable flux of a dynamic world. Abu Dhabi perfectly exemplifies that integration model.”

    Examples of smart government initiatives in Abu Dhabi include the New Unified Addressing and Wayfinding System, or Onwani (“My Address”). Onwani is a smart addressing system that makes navigation and location finding easier than ever. Previously, a formal addressing system didn’t exist in Abu Dhabi, so Onwani was initiated based on international best practices. An example of smart technology is the QR Code that will be placed on every street sign pole and building and can then be scanned using smartphones to reveal details about the location. The Onwani system meets many key smart government objectives, such as improving emergency response times, reducing travel times and environmental impact and stimulating economic development.

    Another example of geospatial enablement is the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (ADDOT). ADDOT released a smart mobile app called Darb that provides real-time data through maps showing traffic jams and accidents. Darb allows motorists to choose alternative routes and navigate the city more easily, and it includes a feedback feature that engages citizens to report infrastructure problems, such as downed light poles. The app has already had a positive impact on transportation and quality of life in the emirate.

    Having a geospatially enabled government has had such a beneficial impact that GIS has become a required curriculum for all K–12 students in the Abu Dhabi school system.

    Dangermond’s address will highlight the above-mentioned examples and be followed by a presentation by Khawla Al Fahim, executive manager of ADSIC and the key figure who supervised and oversaw these geospatial advancements, Esri said. Fahim will detail the benefits of smart government and present the next step in Abu Dhabi’s journey to become a smarter and more resilient emirate.

    Many other users from around the region will also present at MENAUC about their transition to smarter government. As the stories of those successes are told, the number of local and national smart government models will multiply exponentially.

  • Bentley reality modeling helped with Pope’s Philadelphia visit

    Screenshot from EDM Productions documentary.
    Screenshot from EDM Productions documentary.

    When Philadelphia welcomed Pope Francis during his September visit, Bentley Systems’ 3D reality modeling tools helped the event company plan the multi-faceted event, including the anchor event of the Eighth World Meeting of Families Congress.

    In planning this massive and multi-faceted event, production company ESM Productions needed to coordinate with Philadelphia’s many public services, as well as the U.S. Secret Service, Pennsylvania state agencies, and the local Philadelphia Catholic Diocese. This coordination was made more effective through Bentley’s reality modeling technology, as well as services provided by a legion of Bentley colleague volunteers.

    ESM had witnessed firsthand Bentley’s new reality modeling capabilities at a Bentley event that they produced, and was struck by its significant potential to accelerate their planning of the pope’s visit to Philadelphia.

    Upon learning of this interest, Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley invited Bentley colleagues (and retirees) to donate their time and talent to a “pro bono” effort on the part of Bentley Systems to help assure its headquarters region’s successful hosting of the pope and the unprecedented number of expected visitors.

    Some 30 colleagues participated in exploring how reality modeling could expedite the design and engineering of substantial temporary facilities for this highly visible, fast-tracked project, while supporting the extreme security workflows required.

    “We wouldn’t be chosen to produce world-class events unless we did them well, and we do them well because we innovatively apply the appropriate and most effective technologies,” said Scott Mirkin, co-founder and executive producer of ESM Productions.”The minute we saw Bentley’s reality modeling in action, we knew it could provide breakthrough benefits — but given the exceptionally tight deadlines, we had limited time, in our own right, to experiment with it.”

    Bentley colleagues offered their support and applied Bentley’s reality modeling, enabling the event organizing team to ensure that one of the country’s largest public events was executed successfully.

    “In the end, we experienced dramatic risk reduction, better decision making, exceptional timeliness, and greater efficiency,” Mirkin said. “The goal we set with Bentley to test the applicability of reality modeling as a mission-critical event planning technology was completely validated, and we are now planning to offer this new value to our clients going forward.”

    ESM Productions was so impressed by the benefits of reality modeling, the company is creating a documentary highlighting its use and outcomes, Mirkin said. See a preview below.

    Bentley’s reality modeling process involved three steps:

    Capture reality. Bentley’s ContextCapture software was used to build a highly detailed, photo-textured 3D “reality mesh” model from 28,000 digital photographs, with unprecedented geometrical accuracy. Base imagery was provided by Pictometry, high-resolution aerial photography was taken by helicopter by AEROmetrex, and ground footage was captured by Bentley volunteers — including building facades, street views, and the inside of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

    Engineer in context. The highly precise 3D model was populated with 2D and 3D maps and designs, resulting in a 28 GB dataset. The dataset was used to communicate the details for the 56,400 temporary structures, main and secondary stages and event seating, 33 miles of security barricade perimeter, special U.S. Secret Service security requirements, impact of local road closures to pedestrian traffic flows, and more.

    Enliven the engineered environment. Bentley’s LumenRT software was used to add motion and additional content to simulate the expected operational experience, a great help to decision makers. The team added moving people in crowds, vehicles flowing in traffic, dynamic sunlight conditions, and seasonal trees and plants.

    “This was a highly public and complex project, with many stakeholders and an impossible timeline. We got involved right in the middle of it,” said Buddy Cleveland, a recently retired Bentley senior vice president who led the Bentley team. “The papal visit required effective planning for the construction and management of temporary facilities and utilities amidst a busy urban infrastructure.”

    Bentley created a comprehensive, highly detailed 3D model of Philadelphia that was visually realistic and dimensionally accurate, and then seamlessly integrated that model with engineering models produced by its tools. “Both ESM and Bentley are very grateful to our partners, Pictometry and AEROmetrex, who stepped up to provide the base imagery, aerial imagery, and processing with ContextCapture to create the initial reality mesh,” Cleveland said.

  • Autodesk partners with Skycatch on UAV data capture

    Autodesk is joining with Skycatch, an aerial data-capture company, to make it easier for designers, engineers, architects, BIM managers, owners and operators to capture and use aerial data. Autodesk is a design and engineering software company for the manufacturing, building, and media and entertainment industries.

    Autodesk and Skycatch will use high-resolution aerial data collected by Skycatch to transform the way industrial sites are surveyed. A Skywatch blog said this would mean “allowing companies to make smarter data-driven decisions, while saving time and drastically reducing costs, while Autodesk ReCap delivers an easy, cost-effective solution to process the collected data.”

    “Industry professionals using Autodesk software can leverage highly accurate visual intelligence captured and processed by Skycatch’s end-to-end UAV technology to provide invaluable insights into their projects and improve overall efficiency and collaboration across their teams.”

    Read more on the Skycatch website.

     

  • SimActive strengthens enterprise UAV offering with version 6.3

    Photogrammetry software developer SimActive has announced Correlator3D version 6.3 with an expanded UAV enterprise offering. A new floating licensing option allows computers on the same network to seamlessly borrow licenses from a pool, increasing transferability for enterprise requirements.

    Because of the worldwide client base of Correlator3D, SimActive has also introduced multi-language support with this version. Users can now operate the software in multiple languages, along with the default English option. Examples of the increased selection include Chinese, Japanese and French.

    “With users in over 50 countries, including many with enterprise requirements, we continue adding features to meet the immense industry demand for the product,” said Louis Simard, CTO of SimActive. “With processing speed at least 10 times faster than entry-level UAV software, Correlator3D is the only affordable global enterprise solution.”

    For a live demonstration at the Capturing Reality Forum (Nov. 23-25, Salzburg, Austria), visit booth 37 or send an email to [email protected].

  • FAA grants Sentera exemption for commercial UAV use

    Sentera LLC, a designer of sensors, software, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has been granted a Section 333 exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate multiple types of commercially available UAVs. Applications for these systems include crop survey, infrastructure inspection, geospatial mapping and other aerial imaging missions.

    “We are excited to receive the exemption,” said Sentera CEO, Eric Taipale. “While most exemption holders focus on providing revenue-generating flight services, Sentera flies primarily to demonstrate our products to customers and to gather and analyze aerial data which helps us enhance our OnTop Platform, a data management system designed specifically to support the thousands of images collected during a typical UAV flight.”

    Sentera’s exemption for both fixed-wing and quadcopter UAVs ensures the company can capture a wide range of data types that are relevant to customer applications, including very high-resolution visual, multispectral, and thermal imagery, as well as specialized non-image information. Customers use Sentera input data to perform many tasks, such as developing planting and crop management advice for growers, building 3D models of buildings, structures, and terrain for asset owners, and monitoring environmental regulatory compliance for public agencies.

    Comprehensive data management solutions are crucial to successful UAV inspections, asset audits, safety inspections, agriculture data collections, and point-cloud collection activities.

    “Clients use a myriad of UAV-captured data types to increase safety, assess crop health, and boost ROI (return on investment),” explained Taipale. “Sentera already provides some of the most precise sensors and leading UAV solutions in the industry. Our Section 333 exemption allows us advance our OnTop Platform more rapidly, which ultimately helps our customers manage all of this data most efficiently.”

    The FAA authorization allows Sentera to fly UAV platforms built by Lockheed Martin, DJI and Sentera.

  • USGS releases geo-referenced field photos to public

    landcover_USGS_screenshot

    The U.S. Geological Survey has made part of a huge national repository of geographically referenced USGS field photographs publicly available. USGS geographers developed a mapping portal called the Land Cover Trends Field Photo Map.

    The entire collection contains more than 33,000 geo-referenced field photos with associated keywords describing the land-use and land-cover change processes taking place. Initially, nearly 13,000 photos from across the continental U.S. will be available to the public, yet the online collection will grow as more processed photos become available.

    “This is a treasure trove of royalty and copyright-free photography collected using consistent procedures,” said Chris Soulard, project leader and USGS research geographer. “We envision that these photos will captivate general audiences and fulfill a myriad of scientific needs.”

    Sharing these field photos provides a resource for the scientific community with potential to develop future research, such as future repeat photography projects or applications where photos may validate remote sensing classifications.

    “The benefit of these photos being hosted by the USGS is equal access to all without copyright concerns and quality control,” said Jason Sherba, USGS geographer and project web developer.

    The photography was collected as part the USGS National Land Cover Trends Project, a research effort that spanned over ten years and represented one of USGS’ largest cross-center research efforts. The project employed Landsat imagery between 1973-2000 to derive rates, causes and consequences of contemporary land-use and land-cover change. Photos were collected between 1999 and 2007.

    The map viewer was developed to present photographs within a land use/land cover change mapping context, yet photos may also be found on the USGS Earth Explorer website.

  • USGS releases geo-referenced field photos to public

    landcover_USGS_screenshot

    The U.S. Geological Survey has made part of a huge national repository of geographically referenced USGS field photographs publicly available. USGS geographers developed a mapping portal called the Land Cover Trends Field Photo Map.

    The entire collection contains more than 33,000 geo-referenced field photos with associated keywords describing the land-use and land-cover change processes taking place. Initially, nearly 13,000 photos from across the continental U.S. will be available to the public, yet the online collection will grow as more processed photos become available.

    “This is a treasure trove of royalty and copyright-free photography collected using consistent procedures,” said Chris Soulard, project leader and USGS research geographer. “We envision that these photos will captivate general audiences and fulfill a myriad of scientific needs.”

    Sharing these field photos provides a resource for the scientific community with potential to develop future research, such as future repeat photography projects or applications where photos may validate remote sensing classifications.

    “The benefit of these photos being hosted by the USGS is equal access to all without copyright concerns and quality control,” said Jason Sherba, USGS geographer and project web developer.

    The photography was collected as part the USGS National Land Cover Trends Project, a research effort that spanned over ten years and represented one of USGS’ largest cross-center research efforts. The project employed Landsat imagery between 1973-2000 to derive rates, causes and consequences of contemporary land-use and land-cover change. Photos were collected between 1999 and 2007.

    The map viewer was developed to present photographs within a land use/land cover change mapping context, yet photos may also be found on the USGS Earth Explorer website.

  • DJI buys stake in camera manufacturer Hasselblad

     

    DJI Inspire Pro
    DJI Inspire Pro

    Hasselblad Group and DJI have announced a corporate partnership through DJI’s acquisition of a strategic minority stake in Hasselblad. DJI also joins Hasselblad’s board of directors.

    The partnership will allow opportunities and new ways of combining the technical knowledge and inventive spirit of the two industry leaders in their respective fields, according to a news release from the two companies.

    “We are honored to be partnering with DJI, the clear technology and market leader in its segment,” said Perry Oosting, Hasselblad’s CEO. “DJI and Hasselblad are equally enthusiastic about creativity and excellence, and we are looking forward to sharing technical expertise and paving the way for future innovations.”

    Hasselblad and DJI will each focus on their individual strategic directions and related growth opportunities, with marketing and branding platforms continuing to delineate the two companies. Hasselblad cameras and equipment will continue to be handmade in Sweden, and DJI will continue to make products in Shenzhen, China.

    “Hasselblad and DJI share a passion to provide creative people with cutting-edge, inventive technology to help them take visual storytelling to the next level,” said Frank Wang, DJI’s Founder and CEO. “With this partnership, we combine our strengths to further push the borders of what’s possible in imaging technology.”

    DJI recently launched the modular Zenmuse camera system, including the Zenmuse X5 Pro and the Zenmuse X5 Raw, a Micro-Four-Thirds camera optimized for moving in space.

    Hasselblad has a history of aerial photography — its technology was used in space on several NASA missions, including the first landing on the moon and several of the Apollo missions.