Category: Mapping

Sanborn gathers drone imagery of Denver golf courses

The City of Denver has contracted with the Sanborn Map Company Inc. to collect high-resolution, full-motion video imagery of the city’s seven public golf courses and its Aqua Golf facility.

Sanborn employs a commercial-grade unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from Denver-based Leptron Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The UAS is capable of producing unprecedented accuracy and resolution, including high-quality, engineering-grade digital terrain models exceeding 2-inch accuracy; multispectral frame imagery at sub-centimeter resolution; and crisp, vibration-free video. Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Sanborn a Section 333 Exemption, which permits the firm to offer commercial UAS services nationwide.

“We launched our new golf website earlier this year and now we look forward to adding the Sanborn imagery,” said Leslie Wright, Denver Golf director of marketing. “Our course locations range from densely populated urban areas to mountainous terrain with elevations above 7,000 feet. We also had a very tight window in which to perform the work. Considering these diverse challenges, Sanborn has approached the project with a high degree of professionalism and has been great to work with.”

The city will use the images for marketing, as well as to give golfers a bird’s-eye view of every hole with realistic fly-overs down each fairway from the tee box to the green. The city’s Overland Park Golf Course is the oldest operating course west of the Mississippi River, according to a news release from Sanborn.

“Sanborn’s UAS technology is a great fit for a host of customers,” said Sanchit Agarwal, director of mapping operations. “Among them are police and fire departments, agricultural operations, utilities, oil and gas concerns, emergency response managers, local government, mine operators and the media.”

Sanborn acquired this bird’s-eye view video of the 17th hole at Denver’s Evergreen Golf Course with its commercial-grade UAV.

November 9, 2015
Bentley Announces Winners of 2015 Be Inspired Awards

Bentley Systems, a global provider of software solutions for infrastructure, has announced the winners of the 2015 Be Inspired Awards at its Year in Infrastructure 2015 Conference. The awards honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world’s infrastructure.

At a ceremony and gala held Nov. 4 in London, 18 Be Inspired Awards winners and five Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards winners were presented. In addition, Bentley’s Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to J.P. (Peter) Blake, director, Project Delivery Group for Hatch. Blake was recognized for his exceptional vision, numerous career achievements, leadership, and effectiveness as a change agent, having tirelessly advocated throughout his career for improving infrastructure workflows through the better application of advanced technologies. Equally important, he was honored as a great friend and mentor to the infrastructure community at large.

The Year in Infrastructure Conference is a global gathering of executives in the world of infrastructure design, construction and operations. It features presentations and interactive sessions exploring the intersection of technology and business drivers, and how they are shaping the future of infrastructure delivery and investment returns. The 2015 event was also attended by more than 100 members of the media from publications around the globe who met with Bentley executives on Monday for the company’s annual Media Briefing. The agenda also included presentations by finalists in the Be Inspired Awards program, culminating in the selection of the winning projects.

This year, 10 independent panels of jurors, comprising distinguished industry experts, selected the 18 Be Inspired Awards winners from 54 project finalists. These finalists had been previously chosen from 360 submissions by organizations in 66 countries.

Candidates for Bentley’s Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards were selected by the jurors from the top finalist projects as well as other exemplary nominations. This selection was based on the projects’ uniquely innovative and visionary achievements that transcend the narrower focus of the standing Be Inspired Awards categories. The nominees were then reviewed by a panel of Bentley executives, who evaluated them based on the criteria established for each award.

“This has been a year of major achievements for Bentley Systems that include the introduction of our CONNECT Edition infrastructure engineering software, providing a common environment for comprehensive project delivery,” Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said. “But the achievements that my colleagues and I are most proud of are those of our users. For while our goal at Bentley is advancing infrastructure, we can only accomplish it through the vision, talent, and dedication of the architects, engineers, constructors, and operations professionals who creatively apply our technology in pursuit of effective strategies for achieving new levels of project and/or infrastructure asset performance.

“Such achievements are exemplified by the extraordinary Be Inspired Award-winning projects we celebrated last night. I heartily congratulate the organizations that were instrumental in the delivery or operations of these truly inspiring projects. Moreover, I applaud all of the project nominees in this year’s awards program for their contributions to improving quality of life around the globe.”

2015 Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards

Advancing Collaborative BIM

Morphosis Architects – Bill & Melinda Gates Hall – (Ithaca, New York, United States)

Advancing Comprehensive BIM “Playbooks”

Hatch Ltd – Keeyask Hydroelectric Generating Station Project – (Nelson River, Manitoba, Canada)

Advancing Construction Modeling

Jacobs – NAG Project – (Baytown, Texas, United States)

Advancing Information Mobility in Operations

Western Power Distribution – EMU for iPad – (Exeter, United Kingdom)

Advancing Integrated Projects

HDR – Union Station to Oak Cliff Streetcar TIGER Design-Build Project – (Dallas, Texas, United States)

2015 Be Inspired Awards

Innovation in Asset Performance Management

SA Water – Predictive and Operational Analytics Tools, Adelaide Metro Water Distribution Network – (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia)

Innovation in Bridges

LCW Consult – The Ceira River Bridge – (Coimbra, Coimbra District, Portugal)

Innovation in Building

Robin Partington and Partners – One Merchant Square – (London, United Kingdom)

Innovation in Construction

Vic’s Crane & Heavy Haul, Inc. – Unit 25 Project – (Rosemount, Minnesota, United States)

Innovation in Government

Singapore Land Authority – Mapping Singapore in 3D – (Singapore)

Innovation in Land Development

Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. – Detailed Design of Utility Infrastructure – (Dharampur, Gujarat, India)

Innovation in Megaprojects

AECOM – E4 Stockholm Bypass FSK02 Rock Tunnels Design Contract – (Stockholm, Sweden)

Innovation in Mining

Tetra Tech Proteus – Kvanefjeld Rare Earth: Uranium Project – (Narsaq, Kujalleq, Greenland)

Innovation in Offshore

Keystone Engineering Inc. – Block Island Wind Farm – (Block Island, Rhode Island, United States)

Innovation in Power Generation

MWH Global – Tyseley Resource Recovery Centre – (Birmingham, West Midland, United Kingdom)

Innovation in Process Manufacturing

Giprotyumenneftegaz – Preliminary Water Removal Unit: North Vankor Field – (Igarka, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Russia)

Innovation in Project Delivery

AECOM – Global Project Collaboration in a Design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) World – (Global)

Innovation in Rail and Transit

London Underground Ltd – Bond Street to Baker Street Tunnel Remediation Project – (London, United Kingdom)

Innovation in Roads

Grontmij – A6 to Manchester Relief Road – (Stockport, Manchester and Cheshire, United Kingdom)

Innovation in Structures

Stanley D. Lindsey and Associates, Ltd. – SkyHouse Apartments – (Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, Houston, and Dallas, Texas, United States)

Innovation in Utilities and Communications

Pacific Gas and Electric Company – Engineering Contractor Collaboration Solution Using ProjectWise and Bentley Substation – (San Ramon, California, United States)

Innovation in Water Network Analysis

Prolagos/Aegea – Water Master Plan for the Região dos Lagos – (Região dos Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Innovation in Water Treatment Plants

Aqua+ – Complex Scheduling and Automatic Water Quality Monitoring of Groundwater – (Khabarovsk, Far East Federal District, Russia)

Bentley Systems has posted highlights of this year’s winning projects on its website. It will include more detailed descriptions of all nominated projects in the print and digital versions of its 2015 Infrastructure Yearbook, which will be published after the first of the year. To review the past 11 editions of this publication, which together feature more than 2,500 world-class projects recognized in the Be Inspired Awards program since 2004, access Bentley’s Infrastructure Yearbooks.

November 5, 2015
A3 Edge maps wildlife in Africa

Elephants are highlighted in yellow.

VisionMap’s A3 Edge Digital Mapping System was recently used to map wildlife in an African national park. A3 Edge provides an efficient solution for detecting, tracking and estimating wildlife populations, according to maker VisionMap.

The A3 Edge camera surveyed the park from an altitude of 4,000 ft. above ground level (AGL), capturing 3.5 cm resolution imagery at a rate of 225 km²/ hour. A3 Edge uses a “sweep” capture technology that provides quick, high-resolution coverage of vast areas.

Among the animals identified in the images were antelopes, elephants, hippopotamuses and giraffes. The animals’ locations are clearly visible in the aerial images, and the automatic object recognition capability available with VisionMap systems makes it easy to calculate the number of animals in a particular area.

VisionMap’s LightSpeed processing system automatically processes VisionMap images, producing aerial triangulation, orthophoto, digital surface model (DSM), 3D models, and georeferenced vertical and oblique images. The system’s fast turnaround time makes it possible to regularly survey the area, and collect useful information about the animals’ behaviors and trends, VisionMap said.

Antelopes are highlighted in red.

Watch a video about the A3 Edge:

November 4, 2015
National Map Corps Updates Volunteer Badges

The National Map Corps has updated the recognition badges that it awards for participation in its crowdsourcing mapping project. Volunteer “citizen scientists” who collect manmade structure data such as police stations, schools, hospitals and cemeteries, to provide more precise spatial data for the USGS web-based mapping products can earn points and virtual badges.

Due to continuous project growth and popularity, TNMCorps has added more badge levels and revised the current awards. More than 160,000 points have been edited or verified to date.

The project started in 2012, and since that time, the increasing number of volunteers have verified, edited, deleted and created more than 160,000 structures points. In appreciation for the efforts of these “free” mappers, those who reach certain milestones are celebrated in the form of virtual badges.

The newly designed badges showcase the same classic surveying tools and aerial data collection methods, but have been colorfully updated and highlight a variety of amazing landscapes across the United States.

A second set of badges based on aerial data collection was introduced a year ago as some extra-energetic volunteers quickly surpassed the first set of badge levels. Currently, 11 possible badges can be earned beginning with the Order of the Surveyor’s Chain (25 points) and ending with the Squadron of Biplane Spectators (6000 + points).

As volunteer map editors attain each level, a congratulatory email is sent to the awardee with a description of the badge and encouragement to achieve the next level. With permission, volunteer accomplishments are highlighted on TNMCorps Recognition page, and The National Map Twitter (#TNMCorps).

October 30, 2015
MAPPS Selected for FAA Registration Task Force

MAPPS has accepted an invitation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be a member of the UAS Registration Task Force (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).

MAPPS is a national association of private-sector firms in the surveying, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States and a leader on the use of unmanned aircraft systems in the geospatial field.

The UAS RTF ARC was announced on Monday by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to help minimize potentially unsafe UAS operations and incidents. The task force will work to develop minimum requirements for a UAS registration process for safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace.

MAPPS has tapped John Perry, founder and CEO of Altavian based in Gainesville, Fla., to represent the association on the task force.

“We are pleased and honored that the FAA has invited MAPPS to participate in the UAS RTF ARC,” said MAPPS President Susan Marlow. “MAPPS has actively called on the FAA to move forward with UAS rulemaking, and we are thrilled to be a part of the process.”

MAPPS has been a voice for the commercial use of UAS for geospatial data acquisition. The association has been engaged with FAA on UAS issues since 2009 and testified before state legislatures and participated in Congressional roundtables. MAPPS Executive Director John Palatiello was appointed to serve on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) working group on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and the association serves on a committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to develop policy recommendations to the 50 state legislatures on UAS.

On Nov. 17-18, MAPPS will host sessions on geospatial activities at Drone World Expo, at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. The geospatial content will explore factors to consider when planning the start-up of a stand-alone UAS business, or a department in an existing surveying or mapping firm. It will kick off with a presentation on “What You Need to Know Before Starting Up Your Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Department,” as well as instruction on issues including system operating limitations, flight training, crew responsibilities, operator authority, client expectations, standards and licensing. Speakers at the policy conference will include Bryan Baker, UAS sales manager, Leica Geosystems; Jeff Lovin, senior vice president, director of Geospatial Services, Woolpert; Andy Nickerson of Aerovel Corp.; Mike Tully, president, Aerial Services, Inc.; and David Yoel, CEO, American Aerospace, Inc.

October 23, 2015
2015 Field Technology Conference Registration Opens
The Western Forestry and Conservation Association (WFCA) has announced that registration for the Fifth Annual Field Technology Conference (FTC) is open. FTC 2015 is hosted by WFCA, Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP) and StreamNet. The conference will be held Nov. 18-19 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Portland, Ore.

The Field Technology Conference offers attendees an insightful look at trends in field data collection hardware (smartphones, handheld/tablet computers, GPS receivers, laser rangefinders, and other data collection instruments), remote sensing (UAVs, photogrammetry, lidar) and mapping software (data collection, data processing, map building) along with outdoor demonstrations and a field trip.

“This will be our fifth conference. With the addition of the fisheries track and participation from the Civil GPS Interface Committee, we should have a significant attendance increase this year,” said moderator/co-organizer Eric Gakstatter. “We continue to attract speakers with strong expertise in their disciplines to present their work and thought leadership.”

The conference offers three tracks:
- Common field technology: Discussing field data collection technology used across all disciplines such as UAVs, GPS, and mobile devices.
- Forestry: Forestry-specific technology presentations.
- Fisheries: Fisheries-specific technology presentations.
In addition to the three technical tracks, there will be outdoor technology demonstrations as well as a fisheries field trip to a local slough for a live demonstration of field data collection technology (space limited).

On the second day of the two-day conference, there will be presentations from the Civil GPS Interface Service Committee (CGSIC). CGSIC is the only forum in which civilians have the opportunity to interact directly with US GPS authorities.

FTC 2014 attendees included representatives from Federal/State/Local government, Fortune 1000 companies, Native American tribes, higher education and natural resource consultancies.

The registration fee is $250 if registered by Nov. 5 and $295 if registered after that date. The government rate is $195 and $245 if registered after that date. Attendance to the CGSIC presentations on November 19 is free of charge and open to the public (lunch not included).

The registration fee includes lunch on both days as well as refreshments during breaks. The conference room rate is $99/night plus tax. After Oct. 27, the reduced rate will be subject to availability.

To register or learn more about the conference agenda, go to the conference website.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact Richard Zabel [email protected], 503/226-4562.
October 15, 2015
Mapillary Partners with Esri to Provide Real-Time Street Photos
Mapillary, a community-based mapping photo app, is partnering with Esri to help governments and businesses see their cities evolve in real-time through the ArcGIS platform integration.

Mapillary creates detailed maps that go beyond street view by instantly stitching together hundreds of thousands of crowd-sourced photos, giving cities the ability to gain insights immediately rather than weeks or months later. The ArcGIS integration provides governments and cities with a tool to help them manage inventory and city assets, monitor repairs, inspect pavement quality, assess sites for public transportation projects, and more.

With ArcGIS support, Mapillary users will be able to:
- Navigate photos in a web-based viewer
- Load any ArcGIS data layer or base map
- Use Mapillary street-level photos to edit and update their data
- Automatically sync edits back to ArcGIS Online.
Learn more at the Mapillary website.
October 14, 2015
Moving from 2D to 3D GIS Elevates Planning for Fayetteville

CyberCity 3D and Fayetteville, N.C., are moving the city from 2D to 3D GIS mapping, a transformation focused on interoperability, high scalability and wide reach. The result is a more engaging and detailed 3D streaming map that’s elevated the city’s planning and development capabilities.

The City of Fayetteville’s GIS Manager, Richard Tuinstra, spearheaded the plan to design a mapping system that used three-dimensional mapping and web-based architecture while getting a high rate of return on the investment. Tuinstra took an approach outside the traditional GIS “box,” seeking content that could run on scalable web architecture. He found CyberCity 3D, a geospatial city modeling company near Los Angeles.

“The City of Fayetteville has always understood the great benefits of using 3D GIS for its daily operations, from public safety, parks and recreation to urban design and planning, but has found it difficult to get a good start,” said Tuinstra. “Partnering with CyberCity has made our first steps in 3D GIS a quick and easy process. The result so far has been well received by our city manager’s office and the city staff members. Some of the great advantages of this mapping system are that it only requires a simple web browser and is very user friendly. We can’t wait to expand geographically and thematically on what we have achieved right now.”

According to the city’s information technology director, Dwayne Campbell, the plan had to include three requirements. “First, it had to avoid costly, time-consuming training and software licensing. Second, the solution needed to be delivered as a software service in an open environment capable of running on all mobile devices. Finally, the City needed a strategy that enabled it to continue to leverage our existing investment in Esri’s ArcGIS software.”

The city ultimately chose the combination of CyberCity 3D buildings for their accuracy and interoperability, while looking to CesiumJS.org for its open source 3D globe mapping. CyberCity 3D created more than 550 buildings for the project, from best-in-practices photogrammetry, to insure GIS integrity and flexibility. CyberCity 3D also provided imagery and street names via its streaming images services on the Cesium 3D Globe; as a government institution, the City of Fayetteville pays no streaming fees for the 3D Globe and image layers. In addition, the city requested a tree layer; the existing GIS zoning and district mapping data the city generated with Arc GIS software was also seamlessly included.

“The unique combination of CyberCity 3D’s buildings, the Cesium 3D Globe, and ArcGIS software create an unsurpassed mapping system for the City of Fayetteville,” said CyberCity 3D CEO Kevin DeVito. “This dynamic move to 3D will enable the city to best plan for its future while engaging its employees, stakeholders and the community at large in an immersive manner.”

As an early adopter, the City of Fayetteville has gone from using 2D PDF maps to owning cutting-edge 3D GIS content on a platform that reaches not only city employees and stakeholders, but every citizen. This dynamic solution vastly increases their understanding of the geospatial elements of the city. Its deployment also allows for the easy addition of other GIS layers such as business points of interest or FEMA poly-layers for environmental planning and sustainability, expanding the map’s usefulness, engagement and return on investment.

October 8, 2015
GeoDecisions Helps PennDOT Handle Millions of Traffic Records

The PennDOT TDS developed by GeoDecisions enables collection and processing of millions of data points.

GeoDecisions, an information technology company specializing in geospatial solutions, has developed a new traffic data system (TDS) that processes more than 20 million new records per month for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

Built on the Esri platform, the TDS helps PennDOT’s Bureau of Planning and Research better manage the download of traffic data from collection sites throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“Built to Federal Highway Administration standards, GeoDecisions’ redesign of our TDS provides us a method to seamlessly introduce new counting devices, more efficiently verify our raw traffic data, and speed up our process for creating yearly traffic volume maps,” said Andrea Bahoric, planning division manager with PennDOT.

The new TDS improves PennDOT supervision of 45,000 short-term or portable counters that classify vehicles, record traffic volume and weight, and determine driving speed. The system’s mobile Field Operations Module (FOM) also streamlines in-pavement counter inventory and maintenance activities.

“FOM enables PennDOT field technicians to use smartphones or tablets to perform site reviews and document issues,” said Greg Ulp, senior project manager with GeoDecisions. “Convenience and efficiency are critical factors when enhancing technology and managing assets.”

PennDOT’s predecessor traffic data management system contained nine applications with dated technology requiring manual intervention to collect and verify information. GeoDecisions’ TDS redesign features five modules streamlined for better performance and usability. The new automated system includes remote user access and cutting-edge GIS mapping, web service, database and coding technologies.

“Our transportation system solutions provide a proven business model for analytics, reporting, reliability, and technology workflow management,” said Tom Saltzer, vice president of government delivery with GeoDecisions. “PennDOT’s redesigned TDS is a long-term collection, verification, and geospatial solution that reflects their ongoing enterprise GIS investment strategy.”

October 8, 2015
Bluesky Completes Aerial Mapping Project for UK Utilities

Bluesky has completed a multi-million pound aerial mapping project to assess the impact of vegetation on the electricity network of East Anglia and the South East of England. Working on behalf of UK Power Networks, Bluesky undertook the largest ever combined laser mapping and aerial photography survey commissioned by an electricity distribution network operator in the UK — some 34,000 square kilometers.

The laser mapped (LiDAR) data and aerial photographs were then analyzed to assess the proximity of vegetation to the overhead power lines in order to create a proactive three-year vegetation management program. Bluesky worked in partnership with ADAS, an agricultural and environmental consultancy, to complete the project.

Dedicated survey planes equipped with a lidar mapping system and aerial survey equipment flew the whole of the South East and East of England. Capturing millions of individual laser mapped height measurements and approximately 310,000 aerial images in just over three months, Bluesky successfully completed the unprecedented data capture element of the project within tight project deadlines, in challenging weather conditions and in adherence with strict Air Traffic Control restrictions.

The 80 terabytes of raw data was then processed and analyzed to identify which overhead line spans had vegetation infringement; for example the length of vegetation infestation along each span and its location and distance from the overhead line.

This information has now been incorporated into a 3D web portal that can be viewed from the desktop, enabling UK Power Networks employees to carry out virtual patrols of the network, saving time and reducing the risk of foot patrols, sometimes across difficult terrain including physical barriers such as rivers, ditches, livestock and numerous other potential hazards.

“This innovative £2.5 million project is of immense benefit to our customers and to the company,” said Nigel Hall, head of service development at UK Power Networks. “The risk-based tree-cutting program will help reduce tree-related power cuts for customers, with the additional benefit that it could be carried out without any disturbance to local landowners because it was done from the air rather than on foot.

“As a company it will help us get best value from our £19 million annual tree cutting budget, and the web portal will mean staff can carry out ‘virtual patrols’ from their desk, saving them time and reducing the potential hazards if they had had to walk the lines themselves.”

“Prior to commissioning the LiDAR and aerial mapping project, UK Power Networks undertook regular manual surveys as part of its assessment of network resilience, but the capture of LiDAR and associated aerial photography for the entire catchment area allows for evidence based decision making and long term planning, and provides a proven solution for other network operators,” added Rachel Tidmarsh, managing director of Bluesky.

Roy Dyer, Head of Arboriculture in ADAS and manager of the ADAS contribution to this contract said, “This has been a ground breaking contract. The combination of Bluesky’s technical ability and ADAS’ consultancy experience in managing vegetation near overhead lines enabled us to successfully deliver this challenging contract and improve the management and resilience of the overhead lines owned by UK Power Networks.”

October 8, 2015
Esri and Trimble Offer R1 GNSS Receiver for Field GIS Workflows

The Trimble R1 GNSS receiver is now available for collecting professional-grade GPS data with Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS. The GNSS receiver is rugged certified MIL-STD-810, IP65 rated, compact, and lightweight and provides professional-grade positioning information to iOS, Android or Windows mobile handhelds, smartphones and tablets using Bluetooth connectivity for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) capabilities.

“We’re very pleased that Esri will distribute the R1 GNSS receiver to its customers,” said Ron Bisio, general manager of Surveying and Geospatial at Trimble. “Offering a complete, integrated solution that provides accurate data collection enables Esri and Trimble’s joint customers to build a better and more reliable asset inventory.”

Some users of Collector for ArcGIS on consumer-grade mobile devices might find their GPS to be less accurate than they need it to be. Now the locational precision of mobile devices can be enhanced via Bluetooth connected to the Trimble R1 GNSS receiver. The receiver is capable of supporting multiple global satellite constellation systems, including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou, and delivers GNSS positions in real time without the need for postprocessing.

“Collector for ArcGIS is used by organizations to collect and update GIS data in the field,” said Esri product manager Jeff Shaner. “Many of our customers like the ease of use of Collector for ArcGIS on consumer handheld devices. Paired with the Trimble R1 GNSS receiver, users can now capture GIS data on their smartphones and tablets that meets the more stringent spatial accuracy requirements of their organization.”

Designed for GIS professionals in a variety of organizations, the stand-alone Bluetooth Trimble R1 GNSS receiver enables users to collect high-accuracy location data with Collector for ArcGIS on an existing device — whether it’s a modern smart device, such as a mobile phone or tablet, or a traditional integrated data collection handheld or tablet. The receiver can be pole mounted, carried in a vest pocket, or attached to a belt using the optional belt pouch for ease of use.

The Trimble R1 GNSS receiver is available now through Esri. Learn more about Esri’s hardware solutions at esri.com/hardware.

October 6, 2015
Story Map: Mapping Liquid Water on Mars

With NASA’s announcement on Monday that liquid water has been discovered on Mars, Esri has put together an interactive story map showing the craters and canyons on Mars that show evidence of water.

Watch animations of the recurring slope lineae (water stains) across four different craters and explore satellite imagery and elevation data for the Red Planet.

Below is an animation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory showing seasonal flows in Hale Crater.

September 29, 2015