Category: Lidar

ArcGIS Earth: Google Earth, GIS style

For most GIS professionals, Esri’s new ArcGIS Earth will replace the soon-to-be-discontinued Google Earth Enterprise. I take a tour through the new software, which is much like Google Earth with a few added features. Plus: Q&A from our December UAV webinar.

In early 2015, Google announced that Google Earth Enterprise is being deprecated. In the software world, deprecated means the software is heading towards obsolescence and the vendor isn’t going to develop it further.

Google’s announcement stated that Google Earth Enterprise was being deprecated as of March 20, 2015, but will be supported through March 22, 2017. According to Esri, Google will continue to provide map and location services APIs as well as content.

Here comes Esri, introducing ArcGIS Earth.

At the Esri User Conference last summer, Jack Dangermond announced Esri is working on ArcGIS Earth. Last week, Esri announced the introduction of ArcGIS Earth 1.0. You can download ArcGIS Earth for free.

The opening screen looks a lot like Google Earth, but clearly with an Esri touch via the toolbar in the upper left corner.

You can connect to ArcGIS Online and access its library of data, or import SHP and KML data (no TIF/TFW import, though).

Here are the convenient editing and querying tools (measure).

I imported a KML file containing an orthophoto I created from a UAV flight. Sorry for the orthophoto offset (darned horizontal datum thing).

As it stands now, ArcGIS Earth 1.0 is much like Google Earth with a few added features. However, based on what I perceive Jack Dangermond’s mantra to be, ArcGIS Earth is going to evolve into a powerful mapping tool and platform for consumerizing feature-rich GIS data, much like Google Earth did in the past 10 years, but in a much more GIS way. I look forward to that.

December’s UAV webinar

Speaking of imagery, Google Earth and UAVs, in December I participated in a webinar entitled “Introduction to Using UAVs for Mapping” along with my colleagues from Applanix and C-ASTRAL. If you missed the webinar, you can still view it by signing up here.

It was a solid, 60-minute discussion about the basics of mapping using UAVs. We had a few questions that we didn’t have time to address during the webinar, so I provide answers below. Also, I added some questions that may have been answered, but deserve mention again.

How significant is the quality of GNSS sensors for UAV mapping performance?

In my experience so far, you need precision GNSS measurements either in the air or on the ground if you want high-accuracy results. If you want to use a consumer UAV that has a consumer GNSS receiver in it, you’ll need to use more ground-control points that are mapped with high-precision GNSS receivers. On a wide-open 150-acre site (think agriculture field), that means setting 10-15 ground-control targets. On the other hand, if your UAV has an RTK GNSS receiver in it, you can get by with very few ground-control points. The type of topography also has a significant impact. For example, heavy tree cover, water bodies and other homogenous terrain (such as snow) make it more difficult for image-processing software to process the images.

How accurate can volumes be obtained on stockpiles?

I plan on running some tests and compare volumes computed using terrestrial measurement techniques vs. volumes computed by low-cost UAV images. Based on my experience, I’m willing to wager that the results will be very close.

What are the reasonable accuracies achievable with UAV mapping these days?

With a low-cost UAV (12MP camera), I’m collecting images with a 2-cm/pixel resolution. Horizontal accuracy (with RTK ground control points) is 30 cm or better. Thirty centimeter (30 cm) elevation contours are achievable, and possibly better than that. I’m still exploring how far we can push low-cost UAVs.

Can we use a UAV with our own GPS-RTK base station?

The best use of your GPS-RTK base station is to use it to set RTK ground control for image processing. It’s likely not feasible that you can send corrections from your GPS-RTK base to the UAV unless the UAV is specifically designed to accept those corrections.

Can you tell us the benefits of fixed wing vs. rotary UAVs for mapping work (such as considerations of weather conditions and the benefits of a gimbal-based camera versus a non-gimbal camera typical in fixed-wing UAVs)?

A fixed-wing UAV can cover a much greater area per battery than a rotary UAV, but if you’re located in the U.S., you are restricted to line-of-sight operations. That severely limits the value of a fixed-wing UAV. Fixed-wing UAVs also require a much larger landing area and are trickier to land. It takes much more training to land a fixed-wing UAV than a rotary UAV. I can’t answer your question about gimbal vs. non-gimbal, except that the rotary UAV that I operate has a gimbal for dampening the effects of vibration. With it, vibration doesn’t seem to be an issue.

In forestry, one of the real challenges is stitching the photos together. Did I hear right that RTK will ensure stitching will be greatly improved?

In my limited experience with flying over heavy tree canopy, the best way to handle this scenario is to fly with a heavy overlap (such as 90 percent) or fly at a higher elevation. Since most commercial authorizations in the U.S. limit flight elevation to 200 feet, there’s not a choice to fly higher, so you must fly with a higher overlap.

Eric, could you change the camera to a near infrared camera?

Mine is a consumer UAV, so there’s little support for customization unless I want to really tear it apart myself. There is some after-market support for NDVI and NIR sensors on consumer UAVs, but I’m not knowledgeable about the quality of those. I think that after-market and manufacturer support of various sensors (cameras, NIR, NDVI, lidar) will become more popular on higher-end consumer UAVs.

Eric, the contours seem to capture the curbs in the upper right. Is that correct?

Correct, it’s pretty impressive for a consumer UAV. Granted, I set a dozen or so RTK ground-control points on a 5-acre site, but I’m pretty sure I could cut that in half and achieve the same result. By the way, I should smooth the elevation contours next time.

What software was used to create DEM?

I used Agisoft PhotoScan Pro.

Currently, the use of UAVs seems to be limited to a relatively small project area and required line of sight. Within the natural resource sector, what is the critical barrier at this point to expanding the project size and thus the range of flight — is it technology or air traffic regulations?

In the U.S., the limitation is a regulatory one. The FAA requires visual line-of-sight at all times when operating the UAV. The FAA is testing beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), and we hope that someday BVLOS rules will be issued for commercial operators. For now, you are correct in that UAVs are limited to relatively small areas.

How do the new FAA drone registration rules affect commercial mapping?

According to the FAA, you need to apply for a Section 333 Exemption and CoA (Certificate of Authorization or Waiver) from the FAA to fly UAVs for commercial purposes. This applies even if you want to fly above your own land or even if you don’t charge for flying. If you fly for any other purpose than as a hobby, it gets complicated very quickly.

Look for more content on UAVs in the near future. I’m pushing consumer UAVs to the maximum to see what we can reliably expect from them.

See you next month.

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January 28, 2016
ENVI 5.3 adds lidar analysis

The latest release of ENVI software, version 5.3, adds significant lidar point cloud analysis and visualization capabilities that previously were only available in the ENVI lidar software package. The Harris Corporation software offers users a single software interface to work with hyper-spectral, multi-spectral, panchromatic and lidar data.

The out-of-the-box functionality includes 3D point-cloud visualization, derived terrain product generation (such as digital elevation models) and lidar analytics such as viewshed line-of-sight calculation.

For users who need point-cloud or terrain products in an area where collecting lidar is not feasible or is too expensive, the ENVI Photogrammetry Module is able to generate synthetic 3D point clouds from stereo optical imagery to take advantage of existing imagery archives.

The dimension of time can be critical for a thorough geospatial analysis of an area, and the new ENVI release has added enhancements to the Spatio-Temporal analysis toolset. Spatio-Temporal analysis visualizes change and derives statistics from data over time, enabling users to observe events of the past to better predict upcoming activities.

New additions were also added to the ENVITask system, a relatively new method for performing discrete bits of image processing programmatically through the ENVI object-based API. This programmatic approach to image processing can save time because users can chain together multiple ENVITasks, allowing the output from one ENVITask to become the input to the next. There are now 138 ENVITasks available in the ENVI API.

January 13, 2016
Fugro awarded airborne lidar bathymetry deal in Canada

Mahon Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, is one of the many sites that Fugro will survey this winter.

Fugro has been awarded new task orders by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) to conduct airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB) surveys in Eastern and Central Canada, Fugro announced in a news release on Dec. 15. The task orders, which have been issued under a supply arrangement Fugro holds with the CHS, are in support of their nautical charting programs and involve the survey of multiple sites along the coasts of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Central Canada.

Fugro’s ALB systems will be used to acquire hydrographic survey data and seabed imagery in shallow coastal waters, where the acquisition of similar information by traditional vessel-based acoustic methods is inefficient, expensive and unsafe. The data will fill gaps in shallow water and junction with existing deeper water data that have been acquired previously by CHS vessels. All data will be acquired to International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Order 1B, an international standard for conducting hydrographic surveys, and will ultimately be used to update CHS’s nautical charts.

Fugro provides ALB products and services worldwide to public and private sector clients as a rapid and cost-effective solution to nearshore hydrographic survey needs where scale of the project, time constraints and user safety are of primary concern.

December 16, 2015
OGC standard to make environmental data easier for GIS

The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has approved the OGC CF-netCDF 3.0 encoding using GML Coverage Application Schema, an extension to the OGC CF-netCDF 3.0 encoding standard.

The OGC CF-netCDF 3.0 encoding standard has emerged as a widely used and well supported data model and encoding for domains such as atmospheric science, oceanography, climatology, meteorology and hydrology. It supports multi-dimensional data representing space and time-varying phenomena.

The new extension to the OGC CF-netCDF standards suite specifies how CF-netCDF datasets are encoded to conform to “OGC Implementation Schema for Coverages.” Coverages are data such as the output of weather and climate forecast models, weather station and ocean buoy observations, balloon soundings, ground-base radar, satellite imagery, digital elevation models and lidar point clouds. This extension specifies how these complex multi-dimensional CF-netCDF data are encoded as OGC coverages for use in GIS or other geospatial systems.

The documents for the OGC netCDF-GMLCOV Standard are available online.

The OGC is an international consortium of more than 515 companies, government agencies, research organizations and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGC standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled.

December 15, 2015
Patent awarded to PDF3D for 3D point cloud processing

Visual Technology Services, owner of the PDF3D brand, has received a patent for point cloud simplification, supporting large point cloud reduction and report generation implementations in the PDF3D software systems, the company announced in a news release. The Grant of Patent GB2521452 for Point Cloud Simplification was awarded by the United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office, and the technology is used for geospatial environmental survey, laser scanning and civil engineering.

“With the expanding use of terrestrial, UAV and airborne lidar, the volume of acquired 3D point cloud data is expanding rapidly,” said Ian Curington, CEO and co-author of the new patent. “Encoding point clouds into 3D PDF requires simplification to allow collaborative communication and email distribution. The granting of this critical patent strengthens our position as leader in 3D technical publishing technology using the 3D PDF standard.”

The patent covers methods used to reduce the number of samples in a large 3D point cloud, which results in optimum sample selection, minimizing distortions and preserving most feature relevant subsets of the original samples or by representative new point locations and attributes. The method achieves accuracy with computational expense compared to previous methods, the company said. The software implementation of this method is currently licensed to laser scanner manufacturers, 3D point cloud processing system vendors and to commercial survey companies.

“The company’s intellectual property strategy is very well aligned with commercial software license activities,” said Ian Bingham and Vicki Salmon, the founding partners of IP Asset LLP. “The IP strategy is closely following agile and responsive R&D as the 3D PDF use cases expand into new vertical markets. We look forward to further news of the growing PDF3D patent portfolio.”

December 14, 2015
Aerial mapping of UK rail network nears completion

NM Group is nearing completion on an aerial mapping project covering more than 16,000 kilometers of United Kingdom rail network.

In 2014, NM Group was engaged to map the rail assets with a mix of high-tech laser measurement and imaging equipment, as part of a project to improve asset maintenance, operational effectiveness, efficiency and safety.

The project used a mix of specially commissioned lidar and high-resolution multi-angle cameras mounted on helicopters, carrying out aerial operations and ground-control activities over a four-month period and completing it before winter. The survey information was rapidly transported to NM Group’s Technology Centre in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, where a team of specialists have been converting nearly a petabyte of raw data into a wide range of terrain, asset and imaging outputs.

“I am incredibly proud of the way our team has responded to this large and challenging project, completing the data capture within an unprecedented timescale and producing a high-quality output that will serve the rail network for years to come,” said NM Group’s CEO Kevin Jacobs.

NM Group’s contribution to the program provides the geospatial fabric on which other layers are overlaid, the basis for asset location mapping and the start point for the design of upgrades and modifications. Traditionally, this information would have been created by a visit to the site by a team of surveyors.

The new method will significantly reduce the need for future field work and trackside access. It will also facilitate more efficient maintenance, allowing crews to identify and access assets more safely and efficiently than in the past, via apps on a range of mobile devices, NM Group said.

NM Group is a specialist service provider of asset management, surveying and mapping solutions to sectors including energy transmission and distribution and road and rail transport. Applying a range of remote sensing and geospatial technologies, the company offers a full range of services from data acquisition through to analytics and web applications for wider access to information.

December 8, 2015
Sanborn Maps Glacier and Yellowstone Parks for Road Repair

Sanborn collected this high-resolution mobile lidar image of a corridor in Glacier National Park. (PRNewsFoto/The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.)

The Sanborn Map Company Inc. has completed mobile lidar data collection for two corridors in Glacier National Park and one corridor in Yellowstone National Park totaling 40 linear miles.

Sanborn was selected for the project to provide data that could be used to determine the level of effort and cost to resurface the roads, which are in dire need of repair. In Yellowstone alone, about 185 miles of main roads are in a structurally deficient state, with poor quality road bases failing under the weight, speed and volume of modern traffic, for which they were not designed. Harsh winter weather and short construction seasons in both parks provide additional challenges.

During the 2015 fall season, Sanborn acquired the lidar point clouds, which were particularly dense with 300-500 points per square meter, along with accompanying georeferenced imagery. The firm’s post-acquisition approach involved auto-filtering the point clouds in the ground and non-ground classes. The points in the ground class were used to derive road centerlines and edges of pavement, and the non-ground points were used to derive guardrails in vector format.

“This project was particularly rewarding because both of these parks truly are national treasures,” notes Arjan Mooij, Sanborn program manager. “There’s no doubt that the quality data we provided will help streamline the process for their much-needed road repairs.”

Sanborn’s mobile mapping system combines lidar with high-resolution video, delivering better than 5-centimeter accuracy and image resolution as fine as 1 centimeter with efficient data capture at vehicle speeds of up to 60 mph.

December 3, 2015
Field Technology Conference: The forest and the fish

PORTLAND, Ore. — Two weeks ago, I attended (and hosted) the Field Technology Conference here in Portland, Oregon. This is the fifth year of the conference. In years past, it’s had a forestry emphasis primary because the Western Forestry and Conservation Association has been a major partner in organizing it.

This year, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership joined the organizing committee. The result was a 50-percent increase in attendance and a more diverse audience.

Another newcomer to the conference was a Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) U.S. State and Local Government Subcommittee meeting, which was co-located with the Field Technology Conference, offering a direct connection between civil GPS users and U.S. government representatives who are involved in GPS.

The conference was a two-day event comprised of three technology tracks: a track for general field technology and two tracks for industry-specific (forestry and fisheries) subjects, hands-on technology demonstrations and a field trip. Although forestry and fisheries professionals were the featured user groups, nearly all of the subject matters — GPS, UAVs, smartphones, tablets, laser rangefinders, lidar, photogrammetry, and field data-collection software — is applicable for a wide range of natural resource users involved with GIS (geographic information systems) technology.

As one of the hosts of the conference, I started out moderating the general session with all of the attendees in one room. This year, my general session topics include geospatial awareness and growth, GPS/GNSS technology, mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and UAVs.

Something new I tried this year, which worked out really well, was using audience response “clickers.” These small handheld devices were given to each audience member and allowed them to answer multiple choice questions that I posed in my Powerpoint presentation. I’ve always been a fan of audience input, and started polling the audience during webinars I conducted many years ago. For this conference, I used an audience polling system from Turning Technologies. I’d like to share with you the questions I asked the audience and the responses that I received.

Question #1: Are you here?

Comment: This was a test question to see if the audience response system was working properly. I’m still not sure if the audience just had a great sense of humor or a technical problem. I think the former was true. ☺

Question #2: Have you attended this conference before?

Comment: This was great news that the conference is attracting new attendees. It’s an annual event held in November, so keep your eyes on it for next year!

Question #3: After a brief discussion about the availability of higher accuracy geospatial data (eg. GNSS, UAVs, etc.), I was curious about the level of accuracy the audience required in their typical tasks.

What geospatial data accuracy do your typical tasks require?

Comment: I wasn’t sure what to expect with this question, but since I’ve polled a fisheries audience before, I had a feeling accuracy requirements would vary, and they did. Previously, a fisheries audience had told me that they were satisfied with 5-meter accuracy.

Question #4: The last question leads to this one. I wondered if the audience accuracy requirement was driven by requirement or by availability.

Are you satisfied with the accuracy of the geospatial data you use?

Comment: The answer is clear that, generally speaking, the audience would use higher accuracy geospatial data if it was available.

Question #5: The next question was a pure technology one. In the day of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), I’ve been very interested in monitoring the trends in mobile devices. The question about operating systems is relevant because it determines which data collection software you can use. For example, if a specific data-collection software is written only for Windows, it will not run on an Android or Apple (iOS) device.

Which operating system do you use on your mobile device(s)?

Comment: These responses surprised me a bit. They certainly don’t match the global market share figures that I’ve read. Following are the latest mobile device operating system market share numbers reported by IDC and Statista.

Question #6: The next part of my presentation discussed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, also known as UAS or drone) technology. UAVs were a significant part of the conference this year. We had many presentations and some static demonstrations on UAV technology. On this subject, I had several questions for the audience.

Do you currently use a UAS?

Comment: These answers were not surprising. Flying UAVs commercially in the U.S. requires a special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). To date, the FAA has only issued about 2,000 such exemptions.

Question #7: Do you anticipate using a UAS?

Comment: These answers surprised me a bit. I had no idea the audience would be so interested in personally flying a UAV. This has me thinking about this the same way I think about GPS receivers — just another tool in the toolbox.

Question #8: How much are you willing to spend on a UAS?

Comment: These responses don’t surprise me, although I polled another audience at a different venue that was more engineering-oriented, and the answers were a bit different. The engineering-oriented audience was willing to spend more for a UAV.

Furthermore, in speaking with various attendees during the conference, there was quite a bit of interest in attaching different sensors to UAVs for various requirements. For example, lidar, multi-spectral and thermal (temperature) sensors were commonly mentioned as payloads they would like to see. The challenge is that the cost of a UAV rises sharply when these types of payloads are accommodated, and conflicts with the audience’s response about how much they are willing to pay for a UAV.

In next month’s column, I’ll post links to the papers presented at the Field Technology Conference as well as videos of papers presented by the CGSIC folks.

See you next month.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

Source: FTC

November 30, 2015
Blue Marble Offers Lidar Module Upgrade
Blue Marble’s Global Mapper V17‘s Lidar Module is an optional enhancement to its software that provides advanced lidar processing tools, including automatic point-cloud classification, feature extraction, cross-sectional viewing and editing, faster surface generation, and more. It is designed for anyone using or managing terrestrial or airborne lidar as well as other point cloud datasets.

The Lidar Module was first released with Global Mapper V15, and a host of new lidar tools have since been added. Building on the existing functionality for identifying ground, building and vegetation points in an unclassified point cloud, the latest release of the module includes a powerful new tool for detecting and automatically reclassifying above-ground utility lines.

After customizing the reclassification parameters, such as minimum height above ground and linear offset threshold, the points representing power lines are automatically attributed with the Wire – Conductor ASPRS lidar class. Analysis of linear patterns in these reclassified points can subsequently be used to create 3D vector lines.

Addressing a major concern among lidar users, the latest release of the Global Mapper Lidar Module provides an efficient and effective way to remove noise from point cloud data. This powerful filtering tool can reclassify or automatically delete any points that are beyond a prescribed elevation or height above ground threshold within a local area.

Other enhancements to the module include dramatically faster data rendering and processing as well as updated filtering tools for selecting and, if necessary, removing points based on class, return intensity, color range, and many other parameters.

Additional functionality offered in the Lidar Module includes:
- A convenient Lidar Toolbar for easy access to key editing and analysis functions
- Multiple gridding options for faster DSM or DTM generation
- Access to point cloud files containing a billion points or more
- Automatic point classification tools that automatically distinguish building, ground, vegetation and power lines and above-ground utility cables in unclassified layers
- Feature extraction functionality to automatically create 3D building footprints, trees and power lines
- Cross-sectional rendering using Global Mapper’s Path Profile tool for viewing and editing the point cloud in a vertical perspective
- Advanced filtering options to efficiently remove erroneous or unneeded points
- Detect and reclassify or delete noise points
- Lidar scripting commands for streamlining workflow
- Point colorization from underlying imagery offering photo-realistic point cloud rendering in Global Mapper’s 3D Viewer
- Support for reporting lidar statistics
- Support for importing and exporting most common lidar formats
- Support for NIR (near-infrared) data
October 22, 2015
Commercial UAV Expo: Seeking monetizable opportunity
Last month I wrote about the drone industry experiencing giddy enthusiasm. One of the points I mentioned was the upcoming Commercial UAV Expo, in which there were predicted to be 100+ exhibitors and 500-700 attendees — an exhibitor-to-attendee ratio of 1:5-7, an unusually low ratio for a conference. At INTERGEO in September, from where I wrote last month’s column, the ratio was 1:31.

Well, I attended the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas last week. The organizers reported ~1,500 attendees instead of the predicted 500-700. Apparently, attendance even surprised the organizers because they ran out of attendee bags by the time I picked up my badge the day before the conference began.

It was a very good conference because there were legitimate users and potential users of drone technology. During sessions, the audience was focused, more so than at most conferences I’ve attended. I think the reason is clear. The audience, consisting of drone users, potential users and manufacturers, wants to know where in the rapidly developing drone market is there a chance to make money?

One of the more interesting presenters was Commonwealth Edison, an electric utility based in Chicago with more than 5 million customers. ComEd discussed its experience and applications for drones from substation tower inspections to transmission line surveys. A representative from CNN, the news organization, spoke about how they are using drones to capture images and videos of breaking news events such as the recent refugee crisis in Europe. Chad Colby, a farmer who claims more than 3,500 drone flights and is active on the drone conference speaking circuit, showed the audience the value of drones in agriculture, which is one of the no-brainer markets for drones. Presentations such as these and a handful of others struck home with the audience because they present meaningful, that is to say monetizable content.

Commonwealth Edison’s use cases for drones.

CNN use case for drones.

Chad Colby/Nolan Berg describe the impact of drones in the ag market.

Moving from current uses to future uses, British Petroleum (BP) displayed its drone wish list — likely one that most drone dreamers would like to see:

Platforms (hardware/software):
- Interoperability
- Continuous operation
- Autonomous air, land, water
- Robots that can maneuver around a facility
- Non-military pricing
Regulations:
- Tech standards — iSafe, ANSI, HSAC
- Beyond line of sight
- Data exchange formats
- Certification programs
- Night operations
Payloads:
- Miniaturized
- Varied – full EM spectrum, acoustic, gas sensing
Several of the items on BP’s wish list were recurring themes at the conference, with the big elephant in the room being beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has largely not allowed BLOS operations even for 333 Exemption holders like me. Following is an excerpt from the CoA (Certificate of Waiver or Authorization) issued by the FAA:

d. The PIC is responsible to ensure visual observer(s) are:
– Able to see the UA and the surrounding airspace throughout the entire flight

The Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) requirement seriously inhibits the value of drones for commercial use. When you consider that a rotorcraft (helicopter) might be less than two feet in diameter, it doesn’t have to travel very far before it’s difficult to see (without the aid of binoculars or similar devices, which are prohibited). However, rotorcraft are very flexible in that they can be controlled in a small area. They can hover and they can land in very small or constrained areas relatively safely. Fixed-wing (airplane) drones are a different story. At 30-50 miles per hour, it doesn’t take long for a fixed-wing drone to be out of VLOS. So, practically speaking, a fixed-wing drone for production-oriented flying is very limited, unless the operator disregards the FAA VLOS rule.

The other challenge with fixed-wing drones is the take-off, and more importantly, the landing space required to bring a fixed-wing drone back to earth in one piece. One fixed-wing manufacturer said you’ll need several hundred feet to land their aircraft, and that’s assuming a full payload (maximum weight). One has to wonder how fixed-wing drones will be deployed. One can quickly see how impractical it may be to launch a fixed-wing drone in something less than a city park, high school sports field or a crop field.

Ignoring the FAA VLOS (and other) rules is clearly what is happening. There is seemingly no constraint for manufacturers to tell prospective buyers “go ahead and operate on your own property, no one will care.” Farms, mining operations and some construction sites might be so rural that there’s not a human being in sight. In those scenarios, it seems the “no harm, no foul” rule is in effect, or more likely “don’t ask, don’t tell.” It’s definitely happening, to the point that critics are arguing that the FAA rules are so restrictive that it promotes illegal operations. Even a former NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) member wrote an article entitled “Unreasonable UAS Rules Promote Culture of Non-Compliance”.

However, just when you think it’s a drone free-for-all to fly where you want, the FAA pulls one out of its hat like it did last week and proposed a $1.9M fine to a Chicago-based company, SkyPan International, for conducting 65 drone flights without authorization. Mind you, these weren’t flights in rural Iowa taking pictures of corn fields. According to the FAA, the company flew 43 missions in New York City’s restricted airspace without prior authorization. Well, now we know where the FAA’s tolerance lies.

Back to the Commercial UAV Expo. While the enthusiasm during the technical sessions showed some restraint, it knew no bounds in some areas of the exhibition area. Vendors, especially the venture capital-funded ones, were looking to book orders now. Prices ranged from sub-$1,000 for a “prosumer” drone for snapping high-resolution images to a $100,000+ for the drone equipped with lidar or other specialized payload.

The exhibit hall at the Commercial UAV Expo.

Please don’t take my message the wrong way. There’s a lot of opportunity for drones in the commercial market segments, from agriculture to utility inspection to photography — but the game is very early. While the technical hurdles can be conquered, the regulatory hurdles are substantial. The FAA is working on rules for BVLOS, but as the FAA chairman said, a solution for that is a few years from now.

Thanks, and see you next month.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric
October 15, 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
New Esri Book Guides Use of Lidar

A new book published by Esri teaches how to use GIS software to analyze and visualize lidar data. Lidar is an optical remote-sensing system that uses a laser to measure topography, vegetation, objects such as buildings, and the ocean floor at some depths. Data collected from lidar can be used to create highly accurate elevation and terrain models.

Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS and Lidar: A Workbook presents problems that need to be solved using lidar data and the geospatial analysis tools in Esri’s GIS software, ArcGIS for Desktop. The book contains 10 learning modules that focus on how to use lidar data with GIS to answer questions and make informed decisions about real-world situations. Exercises include determining how much land to excavate for an underground parking garage, locating cell-phone towers for maximum signal coverage, placing solar panels based on the amount of solar radiation in an area; analyzing how a coastline has changed after a major hurricane; and making flood insurance rate maps based on hurricane inundation zones.

The workbook covers basic lidar data analysis techniques, 2D and 3D modeling, volumetric analysis, shadow maps, forest vegetation height analysis, and other lidar-related analyses. The book is a college-level textbook for students and geospatial technology professionals and was written with the assumption that readers are familiar with lidar and have some experience using ArcGIS for Desktop software.

Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS and Lidar: A Workbook is the third book in the Making Spatial Decisions series written by Kathryn Keranen and Robert Kolvoord. Keranen is an instructor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Kolvoord is a professor of integrated science and technology at James Madison University. They wrote Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS and Remote Sensing: A Workbook and Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS: A Workbook, also published by Esri.

Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS and Lidar: A Workbook is available in print (ISBN: 9781589484290; 264 pages, $79.99 or as an e-book (ISBN: 9781589484344). The book is available at online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options, or visit esri.com/distributors to contact a local Esri distributor.

October 7, 2015