Mapping firm adds nearly 2.5 million images to inventory
The Sanborn Map Company has added 35 newly available oblique imagery datasets to its inventory. Sanborn specializes in acquisition and processing of high-resolution oblique aerial imagery.
In 2016, the firm collected more than 2.5 million new images, covering more than 12,000 square miles.
Sanborn offers its Oblique Imagery Solutions as a licensed product available with Sanborn Oblique Analyst 2.0 and the firm’s cloud service, allowing customers to securely store, analyze and access their data. This complete package provides an end-to-end solution. Sanborn’s data licensing policy offers additional value for customers.
The new 2016 data also is accessible on a pay-as-you-go basis through Sanborn’s new Mezurit.com subscription oblique imagery service.
“As our customers continue to recognize how oblique imagery can streamline workflows through greatly enhanced visualization and analysis of all types of infrastructure, Sanborn will have one of the nation’s most current and accurate oblique data sets ready for them,” said Jason Caldwell, Sanborn’s vice president of business development and sales.
Cesium is an open source, browser-based virtual globe, first developed by AGI in 2011 for the aerospace and defense communities.
HUB-Robeson Center at Penn State. (Image: Cesium Consortium)
Cesium’s performance in streaming very large datasets through a browser to desktops, tablets, and smart phones has enabled it to become the virtual globe of choice for geospatial viewing. The consortium will now enable AGI and Bentley to collaborate on the Cesium roadmap to better accelerate and support the requirements for building infrastructure modeling (BIM) and for owners of infrastructure assets.
In addition, the consortium will support feature development, priority bug fixes, expansion of outreach efforts, and the hosting of social coding events such as code sprints and bug bashes.
Beaver Stadium at Penn State. (Image: Cesium Consortium)
Bentley Systems is adopting Cesium to visualize and interact with highly detailed infrastructure engineering models set in the reality context of their surrounding environment. The digital engineering models are created with Bentley’s MicroStation and BIM applications, and the context is provided through reality meshes, created from digital photography and scanning devices using Bentley’s ContextCapture.
“We are thrilled to join the Cesium Consortium as a founding member,” said Keith Bentley, founder and CTO of Bentley Systems. “I commend AGI for their leadership and vision, not only for creating an open source solution for highly performant 3D web-based applications but, more importantly, for fostering an ecosystem to leverage it. I expect Bentley and our users will build Cesium-based Web clients for immersively viewing BIM models, reality context, asset databases, IoT streams, and myriad other geo 3D services. We look forward to working hand in hand with AGI and future members of the consortium to expand Cesium as an open standard.”
Bentley’s work to date illustrates the advantages that the infrastructure community can expect from Cesium. Data created with both MicroStation and ContextCapture can be exported to 3D Tiles, an open format developed by the Cesium team to stream massive geo-coordinated 3D datasets. Cesium will enable Bentley users to stream their digital engineering models over the Web to desktop and mobile devices with unprecedented performance and precision.
“We are very excited to collaborate with Bentley. Bentley shares our vision and technical approach and has already done some fantastic work with Cesium and 3D Tiles,” said Patrick Cozzi, Cesium founder. “Bentley’s support will be key within our submission team proposing 3D Tiles as an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Community Standard.”
For more information on how to join and accelerate the Cesium Consortium, contact [email protected].
Cesium is an open source, browser-based virtual globe, first developed by AGI in 2011 for the aerospace and defense communities.
HUB-Robeson Center at Penn State. (Image: Cesium Consortium)
Cesium’s performance in streaming very large datasets through a browser to desktops, tablets, and smart phones has enabled it to become the virtual globe of choice for geospatial viewing. The consortium will now enable AGI and Bentley to collaborate on the Cesium roadmap to better accelerate and support the requirements for building infrastructure modeling (BIM) and for owners of infrastructure assets.
In addition, the consortium will support feature development, priority bug fixes, expansion of outreach efforts, and the hosting of social coding events such as code sprints and bug bashes.
Beaver Stadium at Penn State. (Image: Cesium Consortium)
Bentley Systems is adopting Cesium to visualize and interact with highly detailed infrastructure engineering models set in the reality context of their surrounding environment. The digital engineering models are created with Bentley’s MicroStation and BIM applications, and the context is provided through reality meshes, created from digital photography and scanning devices using Bentley’s ContextCapture.
“We are thrilled to join the Cesium Consortium as a founding member,” said Keith Bentley, founder and CTO of Bentley Systems. “I commend AGI for their leadership and vision, not only for creating an open source solution for highly performant 3D web-based applications but, more importantly, for fostering an ecosystem to leverage it. I expect Bentley and our users will build Cesium-based Web clients for immersively viewing BIM models, reality context, asset databases, IoT streams, and myriad other geo 3D services. We look forward to working hand in hand with AGI and future members of the consortium to expand Cesium as an open standard.”
Bentley’s work to date illustrates the advantages that the infrastructure community can expect from Cesium. Data created with both MicroStation and ContextCapture can be exported to 3D Tiles, an open format developed by the Cesium team to stream massive geo-coordinated 3D datasets. Cesium will enable Bentley users to stream their digital engineering models over the Web to desktop and mobile devices with unprecedented performance and precision.
“We are very excited to collaborate with Bentley. Bentley shares our vision and technical approach and has already done some fantastic work with Cesium and 3D Tiles,” said Patrick Cozzi, Cesium founder. “Bentley’s support will be key within our submission team proposing 3D Tiles as an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Community Standard.”
For more information on how to join and accelerate the Cesium Consortium, contact [email protected].
At its second meeting on Jan. 31 in Reno, Nevada, the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) will continue to help the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prioritize its efforts to integrate unmanned aircraft systems — or drones — into the national airspace.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the creation of the DAC as a federal advisory committee in May 2016, and the DAC first met in September 2016.
DAC members represent a wide array of stakeholders, including unmanned aircraft manufacturers and operators, traditional aviation groups, labor organizations, radio and navigation equipment manufacturers, airport operators and state and local officials.
The DAC’s main objective during its second meeting will be to review and potentially approve three task groups.
The first task group will review issues related to the roles and responsibilities of federal, state and local governments in regulating and enforcing drone laws. Many state and local governments have begun to enact a variety of laws about operating UAS in low-altitude navigable airspace.
The second task group will consider technological and regulatory mechanisms that would allow drone operators to gain access to the airspace beyond what the agency currently permits under the Small UAS Rule (commonly known as Part 107).
The DAC will also discuss the formation of a third task group, which will consider ways to fund the expanded provision of services needed to support UAS integration.
The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellites show that the Millennium Tower skyscraper in San Francisco, California, is sinking by a few centimeters a year. Completed in 2009, the 58-story tower has been showing signs of sinking and tilting, possibly because the supporting piles aren’t firmly resting on bedrock.
Studying the city is helping scientists improve monitoring of urban ground movements, particularly for subsidence hotspots in Europe. Scientists combined multiple radar scans from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 twin satellites to detect subtle surface changes down to millimeters. The technique works well with buildings because they better reflect the radar beam. It is also useful for pinpointing displacement hotspots over large areas, thanks to Sentinel-1’s broad coverage and frequent visits.
Working with the European Space Agency, the team from Norut, PPO.labs and Geological Survey of Norway have also mapped areas in the wider San Francisco Bay Area that are moving. European cities experience similar subsidence to the Bay Area. For example, the area around Oslo’s train station in Norway is reclaimed land. Newer buildings, such as the nearby opera house, have proper foundation into bedrock, but the older parts of the station experience severe subsidence.
The open data policy and regular coverage plan of Copernicus promise cost-efficient and reliable deformation data. “The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission is, for the first time, making it possible to launch operational national deformation mapping services,” said Dag Anders Moldestad, Norwegian Space Centre.
The Sentinel-1 twins provide “radar vision” for Europe’s Copernicus environment monitoring program. In addition to watching land movements, they feed numerous other services for monitoring Arctic sea ice ;routine sea-ice mapping; surveillance of the marine environment; mapping for forest, water and soil management; and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations.
Spirent Communications is making available PT TestBench software, designed to help technology, system and application developers build more accurate positioning functions more quickly. The testing, analysis and reporting package automates testing of GPS and other GNSS receivers, so higher quality systems are brought to market faster and more reliably.
Photo: Spirent Communications
Until now, there have been no standards for GNSS receiver performance assessment, leaving developers to create test plans themselves from scratch. PT TestBench embodies more than 30 years of Spirent GNSS testing expertise, enabling all users to setup, run, iterate and interpret time-consuming tests with a single mouse click, the company said.
“PT TestBench will transform GPS/GNSS receiver testing, and will help developers to focus on delivering better end-user experience,” said Romain Zimmermann, Spirent product manager.”It can also assess receiver designs against real-world GPS jamming and spoofing signals.”
PT TestBench works with existing Spirent equipment including 6300M, 6700, 7000 and 9000 simulators. It enables users to:
Select the right GNSS tests: Pick from test suites covering fundamental GNSS tests and real-world vulnerabilities and threats.
Automatically run and repeat tests: Define test repeatability for faster testing and statistically meaningful results.
Save time on setup and interpretation: GNSS scenarios and test cases are built in, with pass/fail analytics based on user-defined or default standards.
Test for the latest GNSS challenges: Access Spirent’s constantly updated library of observed, real-world signal interference and threats, including solar weather, scintillation and spoofing.
By adding the GNSS Vulnerabilities and Threats test suite, PT TestBench users gain 12 months’ access to PT Cloud — a continuously updated cloud library of real-world GNSS threats. It offers multiple instances of captured real-world intentional interference waveforms, GNSS segment errors and receiver transitions, as well as jamming and spoofing events, plus the latest observed space weather and scintillation. Together, these instances provide an excellent means to build robust testing into a user’s GNSS simulations.
To complement PT TestBench, Spirent Professional Services are available to integrate devices under test in PT TestBench, and if a user’s particular application requires modified test cases, they can tailor solutions to match a specific need.
For more information on how to create a GPS/GNSS test plan, Spirent offers a free guide for engineers integrating positioning, navigation or timing features into new devices.
TRAK Microwave has added a GPS time and frequency clock to its product offerings. The 50-channel 8835 GPS reference clock serves satcom, defense and wireless applications.
The 8835 GPS clock has extreme power and interoperability options while maintaining GPS accuracy and reliability, TRAK Microwave said. While tracking GPS, the clock exhibits a frequency accuracy of <1 x 10-12 and a 1 PPS accuracy with <50 nanoseconds, RMS.
8835 GPS Clock by TRAK Microwave.
The proprietary oscillator steering discipline algorithm can enhance the RMS accuracy of either the double oven crystal oscillator or optional enhanced rubidium oscillator for greater depths of accuracy.
To increase interoperability, the 8835’s 10/100 base-T Ethernet interface can leverage a range of network protocols including NTP, SNMP, Telnet, SSH and FTP for status and control. The unit can also accept a variety of power sources including 24 VDC, 48 VDC or 100-240 VAC with an external AC/DC converter.
The highly compact and configurable device operates from -30oC to +60oC with a TNC GPS receiver port. A datasheet on the 8835 can be downloaded here.
EndRun Technologies, a provider of precision time and frequency solutions, today announced the availability of the Real-Time Ionospheric Corrections (RTIC) option for the Meridian II Precision TimeBase.
The RTIC option directly measures and removes the ionospheric delay to GPS signals within a single frequency L1 timing receiver. This new Meridian II option optimizes the stability and accuracy of the time and frequency outputs.
The largest contributor to GPS time-transfer error is the delay of the satellite signals as they pass through the ionosphere, a layer of ionized particles a few hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface. The RTIC option uses proprietary algorithms within EndRun’s L1 GPS timing receiver to remove ionospheric delays in real-time.
This unprecedented capability was previously only available with expensive dual frequency L1/L2 GPS receivers.
“National lab test results have confirmed that the ionospheric corrections performed in EndRun’s single frequency GPS receiver significantly improve upon the GPS ionospheric broadcast model, allowing our products to meet or exceed the timing performance of dual frequency L1/L2 solutions,” said Bruce Penrod, vice president of product development, EndRun Technologies. “We expect the performance improvement to be even greater during periods of high solar storm activity.”
Key Meridian II performance specifications with the RTIC option and an Ultra-Stable OCXO are:
Time accuracy of <10 nanoseconds RMS to UTC (USNO)
The global anti-drone market size is anticipated to reach $1.85 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc.
The increase in the adoption of UAVs (drones) has resulted in the commencement of another market that focuses on a solution for rogue drones, complete with net-firing bazookas, electromagnetic shields and anti-drone death rays.
U.S. anti-drone market, by destructive mitigation type, 2014-2024 (USD million).
The steep rise in the adoption of drones for commercial as well as recreational purposes has increased concerns regarding aerials attack and threats. Detection and identification of these unmanned aircraft systems have become a vital factor for the maintenance of the security. Various institutions across the world are increasingly deploying counter drone measures to address the ever-growing need for safety and security.
As UAVs become deadlier, stealthier, faster, agile, smaller, sleeker and cheaper, the nuisance and threats posed by them are expected to grow at numerous levels, ranging from personal/domestic privacy to national security. With that in mind, there is significant effort both in terms of money and technology being invested in the development of anti-drone technologies.
Various national security agencies across the world have started to precisely understand the potential threats from drones and increasingly considering commercial as well as consumer drones as the new major threat to the world. It is only a matter of time before redundant and reliable methods of countering drones become mainstream and widely available.
Several busy airports and hubs across the world are seeking defense measures and regulations to protect their airliners and harbored aircraft from drones straying into commercial airspace and posing innumerable threats of a collision. The detection of a range of drone types is expected to require multiple modalities, data fusion systems to effectively identify and detect target drones amongst a cluttered background.
The full research report with a table of contents is titled “Anti-Drone Market Analysis By Mitigation Type (Destructive, Non-Destructive), By Defense Type (Detection & Disruption, Detection), By End-Use (Military & Defense, Commercial, Government), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2014 – 2024.”
The GNSS market landscape is expanding due to the rapid growth of GNSS-enabled wearables and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) coupled with new innovation opportunities around low-cost precision GNSS, according to ABI Research’s latest GNSS IC vendor report.
In its latest GNSS IC vendor competitive analysis, ABI Research determines Broadcom and Qualcomm remain the two top IC vendors for the fourth year in a row with a mere two points separating MediaTek in third from u-blox in fourth.
New threats emerge to shake up the landscape in the years ahead, though, with CEC Huada and Samsung now companies to watch, the report said.
“MediaTek and u-blox once again swapped places,” said Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “U-blox had another stellar year financially and, along with Skytraq, led the way on low-cost precision GNSS with its NEO-M8P module. MediaTek, which showed significant success in wearables and smartphones, transitioned back to third place primarily due to growing market share.”
Broadcom and Qualcomm remain the two top GNSS IC vendors. Within the past year, Broadcom spurred more headlines with its wearables success and its initial work on L1/L5 dual-frequency receivers. Qualcomm continues to lead in total GNSS shipments, as well as innovative new technologies like LED/VLC and LTE Direct, according to the report. Its partnership with Baidu on its IZat platform is also notable and represents the beginning of the era of “always on, ubiquitous location technologies.”
But the incumbents are not the only players to watch in this evolving market. CEC Huada and Samsung sit poised to instill great change in the market landscape, as their innovation over the past 12 months serves to prove.
“CEC Huada developed single frequency RTK GPS, as well as BDS receivers and INS/MEMS receivers, which the company released to select customers in 2016,” Connolly said. “And it is now developing a dual frequency BDS receiver and a receiver for IRNSS. Samsung, meanwhile, launched its first embedded GNSS solution, the Exynos CPU chipset. Given its presence across so many GPS-enabled consumer electronic devices, the company looks set to be a major disruptor in the coming years.”
Artist’s rendering of an electrodynamic tether grabbing a piece of space junk. (from JAXA video)
Japanese space agency JAXA is testing a way to collect and destroy space junk. Space debris is becoming an increasingly large problem for space agencies and private companies.
A prototype system called the Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiments (KITE) arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Dec. 12 that will allow engineers to test the mechanisms that propel a tether-equipped spacecraft.
The spacecraft would deploy a 700-meter-long electrodynamic tether (EDT) and guide it towards a piece of space junk. Once the tether has identified its target, it will initially be directed towards the debris using GPS. As it gets closer, operators will use optical cameras to guide it.
The tether would latch onto the orbiting hunk of trash, which the spacecraft would then drag low enough to be incinerated in Earth’s atmosphere.
The EDT spacecraft will target large pieces of space junk, ranging in size from a few hundred kilograms to a few tons.
In 2013, more than 500,000 pieces of space debris were being tracked by various space agencies, according to NASA.
An illustration of the method is shown below in a JAXA video.
Datumate has launched a new version of DatuFly for iOS, a UAV app with industry-specific capabilities for surveying, construction and infrastructure companies.
The new version 1.1.1. includes:
DJI Inspire 1 Pro Support – Two new bundles were added to support DJI Inspire 1 Pro drones, one with the X5 camera and the other with the X3.
DJI Matrice 600 Support – A new bundle was added to support DJI Matrice 600 with X5 camera.
Speed Control for Vertical Missions – Control the drone speed when taking vertical images. This includes the option of taking images when the drone is hoovering.
Optional Automatic Takeoff and Landing – Application is set by default to “manual takeoff and landing” for safety purposes. The operator will need to turn it off to enable automatic takeoff and landing. With manual takeoff and landing option, the operator will be asked to manually elevate the drone to a certain height and then start the automatic mission. When the mission is completed the operator will be asked to manually bring the drone back.
More Flexible Control of Mission Altitude — The operator can flexibly set the mission altitude for both oblique and vertical missions.
Control the Camera Angle for Oblique Missions – The operator has the option to change the angle if needed for oblique mission.
Chinese language support – DatuFly has a Chinese user interface.
The Sanborn Map Company has added 35 newly available oblique imagery datasets to its inventory. Sanborn specializes in acquisition and processing of high-resolution oblique aerial imagery.
