Florida is home to more than 3.6 million women aged 15 to 44 years. With more than 400 Zika virus cases reported in Florida to date, the state has become a top focus in the public health battle to curb the spread of Zika infections in the U.S.
Gathering and mapping such data using GIS software from Esri is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s (ASPR) effort to combat this growing health risk domestically and internationally.
The health impacts of the Zika virus are greatest on developing fetuses. Drawing on U.S. Census data, Esri is showing experts at the ASPR and other agencies within HHS where best to target information and reach women of child-bearing age and their partners.
To plan for the domestic assistance that states may need, ASPR also is using Esri software to monitor the spread of the Zika virus across the U.S. and in 34 other countries where infections have been found.
Using Esri software, ASPR created a publicly available interactive map that shows the number of cases in each state. The information is automatically updated each week.
The Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bites of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes; however, the virus has also been found to be transmitted sexually. The virus can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults and children and can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly.
“Prevention is the first course of action in protecting public health, but people need information to make decisions about what preventive actions to take,” said Este Geraghty, chief medical officer and health solutions director, Esri. “Using GIS technology to locate the most vulnerable populations is a first step in educating people on the risks of the Zika virus and about actions that can protect health and curb the spread of disease.”
For more information on Esri and using GIS for vector-borne disease surveillance and control, visit go.esri.com/pr-zika.
Cityworks has released Cityworks 15.1, making the care of critical infrastructure, capital assets and property easier and more straightforward.
Cityworks 15.1—Platform 4.1 introduces Cityworks “apps” — functional applications that run parallel to the platform, providing faster updates for fixes and new functionality.
Cityworks 15.1—Platform 4.1 includes updates to Cityworks AMS and PLL, Web Services (APIs) and Storeroom, as well as the release of the Cityworks apps. As part of the enhancements to the core functionality, Cityworks AMS now provides more robust options and methodology for inspection data as well as a new design for comments to support extended functionality, formatting and preferences for end users.
GIS-centric functionality has also been furthered to support population of GIS data across fields on service requests, work orders and inspections.
New functions related to Respond 1.1 include a standardized layout and design for ease of use and responsiveness across multiple devices. This version improves upon the initial release of Respond and provides a superior UI and design, as well as added functionality. The extended functionality allows users to create and edit work orders and inspections, and to edit service requests.
“We’re really excited that the new model of Cityworks apps will allow us to more efficiently and effectively provide improvements to our clients,” said Becky Tamashasky, executive director of product roadmap. “With this change, individual apps are able to be upgraded on a release cycle independent of the platform. This important improvement allows Cityworks to be more effective as we constantly work to upgrade the existing suite of products and provide expanded functionality as our users’ needs continue to grow and evolve.”
Red Hen Systems has released isWhere 3.1.0, a media mapping add-on tool for viewing geotagged imagery on Google Earth.
isWhere 3.1.0 is for professionals and enthusiasts who want a quick, straightforward, affordable way to view, analyze, compare and organize geotagged videos and their corresponding track logs, the company said.
The decoding and capture speed of isWhere 3.1.0 has increased ten-fold. Its georeferencing capabilities have expanded to include text files and image files. Anyone with a camera and a GPX logger can view a video track on Google Earth using this tool.
Screenshot from isWhere 3.1.0 shows a video tracklog. The larger purple arrow (in the larger red circle) indicates where the video was collected and the video at the top is of that point. The timecodes within the red circles match. A white bubble on the right displays collected data. The window at lower left is used for selecting styles and customizing colors.
isWhere 3.1.0:
decodes geospatial enabled media 10X times faster than earlier versions
captures frames 10X faster than with previous versions
georeferences .doc, .docx, .pdf and all other text files
georeferences tagged image file format (.tiff)
displays videos with GPS Exchange Format(.gpx) overlay companion files for Garmin VIRB cameras.
“Our reasons for adding these significant features are twofold,” Director of Software Engineering Bogdan Besfamylnyy said. “We want to improve the user experience by accommodating more file formats and make decoding GEM videos and extracting frames faster.”
“We also want to put isWhere into the hands of those who want to use our tools with video taken with action cameras or cameras from manufacturers who output georeferenced companion files with captured video,” Besfamylnyy said.
Visit the Red Hen website for a video demonstration and to see more screenshots demonstrating isWhere’s capabilities.
During my tenure as the GIS manager for the Atlanta Regional Commission, I had the opportunity to work with many first responders, primarily police, fire and E911. I always promoted the capabilities of GIS to develop a common operational picture.
However, most first responders were not interested in becoming GIS experts, especially with traditional GIS software and ortho imagery. They just wanted easy and effective tools that would help them do their job better. Then Pictometry metric oblique imagery hit the scene. It was a game changer because it was easy to use and, most important, the oblique images provided a visual perspective that average users could grasp quickly. (See my 2008 column that explains why.)
Soon, 3D model creation and navigation became common. In my opinion, 3D models are just a more robust way of viewing oblique views. 3D models are becoming more commonplace, but generating those models is more time consuming and resource intensive.
A few of you may remember that four years ago, USSOCOM (U.S. Special Operations Command) had more than 20 — yes, 20 — different 3D model viewers. These were mostly proprietary systems from major contractors that required separate maintenance and support, and sometimes led to user confusion and delays, not to mention expense. USSOCOM appointed a team to evaluate and reduce the number of 3D viewers, and they got it down to two, with Skyline TerraExplorer being one of them.
Building on that 3D reputation, Skyline Software Systems recently developed a 3D model creation capability that puts easy and rapid model creation in everyone’s toolbox. PhotoMesh is Skyline’s new 3D model creation software designed to build photorealistic 3D models as a fully automated process using auto-triangulation (AT) of multiple aerial images. Skyline can provide 3D model creation as a service or provide the software so customers can do the model creation in-house.
Below is a screenshot of a sample model created using PhotoMesh from UAV video I shot. then geolocated by Remote GEO (see my February column). The below 3D model was processed locally by Skyline using a typical laptop, and the entire process was finished in under 35 minutes. However, if speed was critical, Skyline could generate the model in the cloud, with the whole process taking a minute or two.
Here is a quick overview video that will give you an idea of the system capability.
Live demo at GEOINT 2016
While I was at GEOINT 2016 this May, I had had the chance to talk to Steve Marks, the director of business development at Skyline. He gave me an excellent video overview of PhotoMesh.
Steve then provided additional detail in several aspects of PhotoMesh including:
Other developers have come up with similar capabilities, but the Skyline system is the most robust I’ve seen, especially with the flexibility for very rapid model creation through the cloud or local creation in a disconnected environment. Additionally, unlike many other 3D model systems, the Skyline models do include trees and shrubs so viewshed and line-of-site analysis is very realistic and accurate.
How would it be used?
In actual use, I can envision first responders arriving at a scene. They could use legacy imagery such as Pictometry oblique images to build a historic as-built model. They could then launch UAV or manned aircraft and capture current geo-located video, selecting and processing images in PhotoMesh and getting back a current 3D model in minutes via the Skyline Cloud service.
In a disconnected environment, the models could be generated locally but at a slower pace. The 3D models would permit horizontal, vertical and angular measurements. Other analyses could include: line-of-sight and viewshed, determination of blast zones and shielding, overhead hazards such as power lines.
ince the system is so robust and easy to use, I can see it supplementing ortho and oblique imagery while providing a very user friendly common operational picture as well as very capable analytic tools.
Retiring soon
At age 70, I’m looking at real retirement later this year so I’m also looking for a relief. If you have an interest or know someone interested in taking over this monthly column, let me know. The folks at Geospatial Solutions and North Coast Media have been a pleasure to work with so I don’t want to leave without a replacement. You can email me at [email protected]
Dean Angelides, director of International Operations, Esri (left), and Feng Xianquang, director for NGCC, signed the historic agreement to share data with users around the world.
Esri and the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) have signed an agreement providing access to NGCC’s mapping web services, starting this fall.
The historic agreement will allow more users outside of China to access the country’s authoritative cartographic and imagery data. Users of the Esri ArcGIS platform will have access to the maps for no additional charge.
NGCC is a government agency attached to National Administration of Surveying, Mapping (NASG) and Geoinformation of China. NGCC is responsible for national data that is used in surveying and mapping projects in China, as well as facilitating the scientific and technological communication between agencies in China, in the areas of sharing geographic data and services over the web.
“The cooperation between NGCC and Esri will enable a large number of ArcGIS online users to gain access to the rich regional online geodata of China,” said Zhigang Li, NASG chief engineer, on behalf of NASG. “The agreement will facilitate the scientific and technological communication between agencies by sharing geographic information and services over the web in the Asia Pacific Region. NGCC hopes this joint work is able to promote regional, even global, promotion of spatial data.”
“We are honored to work with the government of China to provide access to the most current and authoritative basemaps for the country,” said Jack Dangermond, president of Esri. “We look forward to continued collaboration.”
The web services will be available in the third quarter of 2016.
Hexagon AB has launched HxGN SMART Build, an enterprise construction management software solution designed to alleviate cost overruns and delays.
SMART Build facilitates the convergence of construction planning and execution through real-time clarity, accountability and management of the project lifecycle. This empowers construction executives with top-down visibility of progress and deviations and field crews with automation and real-time access to the relevant and up-to-date information they need every day on the job site, Hexagon said.
“General contractors face an almost impossible challenge with the number of variables they deal with every day,” said Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “SMART Build will deliver cost savings, improved workflows, increased productivity and countless other benefits to an industry seeking a better way to deliver projects on time and on budget. Hexagon has long been a leader in information technology software solutions for large scale construction in the process, power and marine industries and HxGN SMART Build is our next-generation offering, providing the AEC/BIM industries with a fully integrated solution that did not previously exist.”
Leveraging industry leading technologies from Hexagon’s Process, Power & Marine and Geosystems businesses, SMART Build is a fully integrated construction solution that brings all relevant project information together on a single platform — from design down to the smallest tasks — in a secure, cloud-based environment.
Participants at all levels can access data and information any time, from anywhere — from 2D drawings and 3D models, to work packages, detailed instructions, point clouds, and as-built measurements, to project progress and deviations from plan. This real-time visibility and transparency clarifies, connects and simplifies the construction management process, the company said.
Esri’s latest version of ArcGIS Full Motion Video (FMV) presents new capabilities to improve the way analysts and managers interact with videos.
ArcGIS FMV allows users to view, organize and analyze video from drones and other collection platforms.
The new release includes a performance boost in playback and panning, and in zooming the video during playback. It offers full support for JP2, and TIFF support for video mosaics including full image transformations for better accuracy. A new search tool makes it easier to find video segments based on location, time, and selected features.
“ArcGIS FMV expands the capabilities of ArcGIS as a complete, professional platform for managing, sharing, and extracting value from geospatial data,” said Gerald Kinn, Esri’s lead product engineer for imagery. “Imagery from video is one of the most important sources of data in ArcGIS.”
The previous version of ArcGIS FMV included a multiplexer tool that allowed users to transform non-MISB format videos, such as from UAVs or drones, into MISB-compliant videos compatible with the FMV add-in.
“ArcGIS FMV tools add a dimension to our remote sensing analysis not previously possible,” said Verne LaClair, general manager for Vertex Geo, an Esri partner that specializes in civilian, municipal, defense and intelligence initiatives. “The ability to map FMV content will play an important role in search-and-rescue operations, wildlife tracking and monitoring, and cinematography projects.”
For specific and technical details about this and the latest version, visit Esri.com/FMV.
SAP SE unveiled its SAP Geographical Enablement Framework, powered by SAP HANA, at the 2016 Esri User Conference, which is being held June 27 to July 1 in San Diego, California. SAP Geographical Enablement Framework helps organizations enrich business applications with geographic data from geographic information systems (GIS), such as Esri ArcGIS.
“In many asset-intensive industries such as energy, transportation and public sector, the ability to visualize business objects on maps is critical to improving efficiency and decision making,” says Irfan Khan, GM and global head, database and data management, SAP. “SAP Geographical Enablement Framework, powered by SAP HANA, can help organizations streamline the processing of both enterprise and spatial data for greater location awareness across business processes.”
To develop spatially enabled business applications, organizations can use the framework to:
Enable smooth integration and bidirectional navigation between SAP applications and Esri ArcGIS. Developers can use application programming interfaces published by GIS to fetch geospatial data. Also, business data augmented with geometric attributes can be published as a service, so that GIS users can access SAP business data from within their GIS tools.
Embed a responsive map user interface in a business application to display both business and spatial data simultaneously to provide greater insight.
Store the geometry of any SAP business object in the SAP HANA platform and accelerate spatial data processing in memory to deliver real-time insights, enriched with spatial context, to improve decision making.
Visualize, filter and search for business objects — such as functional location, equipment, linear assets, notifications or work orders — on a map from within a spatially enabled application. From a desktop or a tablet, users can also drill down through multiple map layers to gain better insight.
With continued collaboration between SAP and Esri, organizations can gain contextual insight from business and spatial data, enabling business and GIS users to work within the same multiuser access and editing environment, the company says.
“At EDF Renewable Energy, we have built a truly innovative enterprise business intelligence and data warehouse platform that combines Esri geospatial data along with asset sensor data and ERP transactional data in SAP HANA,” says Devang Shah, manager of database and business intelligence, EDF Renewable Energy. “This provides us with near real-time insights to help us operate more efficiently.”
As an open platform, SAP HANA is certified with the Open Geospatial Consortium, enabling organizations to easily consume spatial data from third-party spatial solutions that also adhere to the standard. SAP HANA also supports synchronous and asynchronous imports of data from any spatial reference system or coordinate reference system to ease access to local, regional or global geographic entities.
Native geocoding delivered by SAP HANA smart data quality helps rapidly convert addresses to latitude and longitude within SAP HANA, the company says.
“Munich Re is one of the leading reinsurance companies in the world,” says Andreas Siebert, head of geospatial solutions at Munich Re. “We use spatial data processing capabilities in SAP HANA, in conjunction with predictive analytics, to assess risk — such as to identify natural hazard profiles for millions of locations around the globe, to efficiently coordinate loss adjustors after a major catastrophe or to calculate how many hospitals, schools and roads may be impacted by an impending hurricane or flood.”
CoreLogic has expanded its location-based intelligence data with the addition of structure footprint information to its other parcel and property characteristics data offerings.
CoreLogic is a global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider. The company made the announcement at the 2016 Esri User Conference, being held in San Diego, California, June 27-July 1.
CoreLogic Structure Footprint enables accurate roof-top geocoding and identifies the location and outline of relevant structures on a parcel, including all known sub-addresses, to provide a more granular and precise property description.
Street, parcel and structure geocoding appear on a single map. (IMAGE: CoreLogic)
CoreLogic residential and commercial structure footprint data covers more than 35 million rural and urban parcels throughout the U.S, including two-thirds of the largest 50 metro areas. When combined with other CoreLogic proprietary property data, including business financial health, natural hazard risks, occupancy information and building characteristics, the added structure footprint data provides a more complete picture of a property than was previously available.
Accurate location data is a critically important factor for planning and operations in oil and gas, insurance, geo-commerce and other industries that need to understand what type of structures and building characteristics are associated with property addresses.
The addition of structure footprint data complements the existing CoreLogic property characteristic data, which details attributes in 150 distinct categories that provide location intelligence on everything from zoning and land use to details about roof type and number of bedrooms.
“The addition of this property data layer, which identifies individual structures within a single parcel, can improve efficiencies and risk segmentation for everything from geo-commerce to insurance,” said Steve Brewer, senior vice president of Insurance and Spatial Solutions at CoreLogic. “It’s exciting to see this level of granularity added to location intelligence that was previously not available — granularity that can be used in a variety of decision-making situations including natural hazard risk assessment, marketing, asset management and claims processing.
Septentrio will showcase its latest GNSS systems and software solutions for GIS professionals at the 2016 Esri User Conference in San Diego, June 28-30, with a special focus on the rapidly growing market for drone-based aerial survey.
At center stage will be Septentrio’s suite of products designed specifically for aerial surveys. They include the compact AsteRx-m UAS onboard GNSS receiver and GeoTagZ high-accuracy drone positioning software, which is optimized for automatic interface with Esri ARCGis and Drone2Map platforms.
“Demand for drone imagery is booming in the GIS marketplace as a fast and efficient alternative to ground-based surveys for applications such as mapping, photogrammetry, infrastructure inspection and natural disaster monitoring,” said Neil Vancans, vice president of Septentrio Americas. “To meet that demand, we are bringing to market a range of hardware and software solutions that will make it easier than ever for Esri users to capture, georeference, process and visualize drone-captured imagery.”
Septentrio is also introducing new firmware for its versatile NR2 GNSS receivers and the PinPoint-GIS utility software for terrestrial applications. NR2 V1.2.0 offers a host of new connectivity features, including direct dial-up, dynamic DNS, base-rover Wi-Fi point-to-point connection and other new features that will streamline field work. PinPoint-GIS has also been enhanced to provide seamless integration with Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS.
“Septentrio is pioneering the way by which Esri users collect data,” said Gustavo Lopez, product manager at Septentrio. “GeoTagZ and PinPoint-GIS bring more accuracy and flexibility into the field by combining the power of Septentrio’s GNSS products with the user-friendly interface of Collector for ArcGIS. From the air to your own device, you are guaranteed accuracy and reliability in your GNSS positioning by using GeoTagZ to georeference aerial photos and PinPoint-GIS to harness the power of GIS data.”
Esri User Conference attendees are invited to visit Booth 2633 for a first-hand look at Septentrio’s solutions for the full range of aerial and ground-based GNSS solutions for GIS, including the new-generation APS-3G multi-constellation RTK receiver, which was just introduced to the market.
Septentrio will showcase its latest GNSS systems and software solutions for GIS professionals at the 2016 Esri User Conference in San Diego, June 28-30, with a special focus on the rapidly growing market for drone-based aerial survey.
At center stage will be Septentrio’s suite of products designed specifically for aerial surveys. They include the compact AsteRx-m UAS onboard GNSS receiver and GeoTagZ high-accuracy drone positioning software, which is optimized for automatic interface with Esri ARCGis and Drone2Map platforms.
“Demand for drone imagery is booming in the GIS marketplace as a fast and efficient alternative to ground-based surveys for applications such as mapping, photogrammetry, infrastructure inspection and natural disaster monitoring,” said Neil Vancans, vice president of Septentrio Americas. “To meet that demand, we are bringing to market a range of hardware and software solutions that will make it easier than ever for Esri users to capture, georeference, process and visualize drone-captured imagery.”
Septentrio is also introducing new firmware for its versatile NR2 GNSS receivers and the PinPoint-GIS utility software for terrestrial applications. NR2 V1.2.0 offers a host of new connectivity features, including direct dial-up, dynamic DNS, base-rover Wi-Fi point-to-point connection and other new features that will streamline field work. PinPoint-GIS has also been enhanced to provide seamless integration with Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS.
“Septentrio is pioneering the way by which Esri users collect data,” said Gustavo Lopez, product manager at Septentrio. “GeoTagZ and PinPoint-GIS bring more accuracy and flexibility into the field by combining the power of Septentrio’s GNSS products with the user-friendly interface of Collector for ArcGIS. From the air to your own device, you are guaranteed accuracy and reliability in your GNSS positioning by using GeoTagZ to georeference aerial photos and PinPoint-GIS to harness the power of GIS data.”
Esri User Conference attendees are invited to visit Booth 2633 for a first-hand look at Septentrio’s solutions for the full range of aerial and ground-based GNSS solutions for GIS, including the new-generation APS-3G multi-constellation RTK receiver, which was just introduced to the market.
Icaros Inc., a provider of aerial imaging software, has released version 4.2.2 of OneButton. The release contains new features and improvements as well as a new flight planning software module. Here are the highlights:
Additional parameters have been added to enable users to create enhanced quality output products.
Users can now create their own parameter templates to run similar projects repeatedly with the same parameter set.
The image stitching algorithm has been enhanced to generate higher quality outputs for projects with high overlap.
Projects covering smaller areas can now be solved more accurately by utilizing a higher resolution terrain model of the area.
UgCS flight planning software is included free of charge with each installation.
Current users of OneButton software can download and install the latest version.
Icaros developed the OneButton family for geospatial end users to easily and automatically generate precise, fully orthorectified 2D maps and 3D models from frame-based aerial imaging systems. Originally engineered for manned aircraft sensors, the OneButton software has been modified to accommodate the unique collection conditions of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
OneButton creates a complete image processing workflow for aerial image data and can front-end both GIS and analytics workflows to enable customers to solve challenging problems related to everything from agriculture and forestry to utilities and city planning. It is highly customizable to meet the needs of specific vertical market applications.
OneButton automatically processes raw raster imagery with onboard GPS/IMU data to stich the individual scenes together into a seamless, color-balanced orthomosaic meeting photogrammetric standards. Outputs include digital elevation models (DEMs), true color 3D point clouds, and multispectral mosaics – all ready for ingest directly into GIS and analytics software environments.
OneButton is application platform and sensor agnostic, and processes raster image data from small-, medium-, and large-format frame sensors capable of capturing visible RBG, multispectral, near-infrared, and thermal infrared data.
“This version of OneButton comes with significant improvements, from a more intuitive user interface, to more robust processing and output options. I am very pleased with the update,” said Eric Andelin, president of VERTX.
The Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bites of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes; however, the virus has also been found to be transmitted sexually. The virus can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults and children and can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly.
