GPS World

Tag: GIS

  • Consumer-Grade GPS Receivers for GIS Data Collection

    Consumer-Grade GPS Receivers for GIS Data Collection

    I hereby proclaim June GPS/GIS month (at least for me). I’m dedicating the next three newsletter columns (early June, mid-June, and early July) and a webinar (June 30) to discussing using GPS receivers and technology for GIS (geographic information systems) data collection. Why, you may ask?

    First of all, I realize my domain is typically the high-precision survey/construction arena, but the boundary isn’t so clear cut any longer. Many surveyors, engineers and construction crews use less accurate GPS receivers for activities such as GIS data collection, recon, and navigating — so the topic is relevant.

    Secondly, ’tis the season. The ESRI User Conference is in mid-July this year — about six weeks from now. Although high-precision GPS has a firm place there and is growing, the ESRI UC is the largest conference in the world where non-survey GPS is near center stage. It is one of the primary data-gathering tools that fuels a GIS.

    There have been some really significant changes in the last 10 years. GPS data-collection tools for GIS have expanded. At that time, consumer receivers couldn’t be used because Selective Availability (SA), the intentional degradation of GPS accuracy by the Department of Defense, was still active. Also, “submeter” GPS mapping systems were backpack-based, contained a “rat’s nest” of cables, required camcorder batteries to run, and were generally bulky. Data collectors were based on DOS instead of Windows. Lastly, users were primarily using post-processing to differentially correct their GPS data or using Marine DGPS/NDGPS in select locations or commercial DGPS services like OmniSTAR for real-time DGPS.

    Fast forward to today. Three categories of GPS are being used to populate GIS databases: consumer-grade receivers, GPS receivers designed specifically for GIS data collection, and survey receivers used for GIS data collection. In this column, I’ll discuss using consumer-grade receivers for GIS data collection. In my mid-June column, I’ll discuss the class of GPS receivers designed specifically for GIS data collection.

    Consumer-Grade Receivers

    Overnight, when SA was turned off in May 2000, consumer-grade GPS receivers became a viable option for GIS data collection where accuracy is not of the highest priority. Today, due to improvements to the GPS itself as well as GPS receiver technology and along with the maturation of WAAS/SBAS, consumer-grade GPS accuracy is even better.

    Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of consumer-grade GPS receivers are being used to collect data used for GIS. They are easy to use and the price is attractive.

    Understanding the accuracy of a consumer-grade GPS receiver is not a simple task. In fact, if you’re not careful, you can be easily misled. For example, take a receiver out to the parking lot and wait for it to obtain enough satellites and a WAAS/SBAS correction. You may be impressed with its precision as it might be within a couple of meters or even better. There are two issues with this:

    • Repeatability…accuracy vs. precision. Precision is a group of points that are tightly clustered but not in the right place. For example, you may have a cluster of 10 points all within two meters of each other, but they are five meters from the true location. This is not necessarily desirable, but quite typical for consumer-grade GPS receivers. Some receivers offer an “EPE” (Estimated Positional Error) value on the display to provide you and indication of accuracy. Absolutely do not rely on this value in an attempt to estimate the position accuracy of the receiver. It is a rough guess at best.
    • Performance in less-than-desirable GPS conditions. Surprisingly, or not, users assume that performance in a grove of trees is going to be similar to performance in a parking lot with a wide open view of the sky. This is not the case.

    I’ll give you a real case study. Several years ago I was helping a company setup a GPS system to map utility poles. Their required accuracy was +/- 3 meters. A local survey equipment salesperson suggested they use a consumer-grade Compact Flash (CF) GPS receiver plugged into the top of a ruggedized PDA. The salesperson demonstrated the receiver in the client’s parking lot. The performance, in the client’s eyes, seemed like it would meet the +/- 3 meter requirement. The price was right at $250 per receiver and they need upwards of 15 receivers. There were a couple of alternative proposals that cost significantly higher per receiver ($2,000-$4,500 each). The price difference was too great for the client not to be tempted to try the $250 receiver so they purchased six of them. They ended up using them for only 60 days. The bottom line was that the receiver performed very poorly in the field in two areas. First, many of the utility poles were located in areas where there were many trees. The client found that the CF GPS receiver performed very poorly in that environment. Some positions were off by more than 50 meters. Secondly, the client found that the CF GPS receiver had a difficult time maintaining lock on the WAAS satellites used for corrections even in relatively wide open areas where this shouldn’t have been a problem.

    In this case, the lesson is to try the receiver in an environment where you will be using it. All GPS receivers will perform worse under tree canopy as compared to their performance in an open area. This is the Achilles heel of GPS. That being said, some GPS receivers perform better under tree canopy than others. The ones that do perform better under trees were designed to do so. Using a consumer-grade GPS in that environment is sort of like trying to compete in a Formula One race with a Volkswagen Beetle. The design criteria of the Beetle was fuel economy and low cost, not acceleration and cornering. The same applies to consumer GPS receivers. Accuracy is not one of the top criteria for consumer GPS receiver designers. They are much more concerned with low cost, low power consumption, small antenna size and fast satellite acquisition, as they should be. My wife, for example, really doesn’t care if it’s accurate to 15 meters vs. 1 meter as long as she arrives at the destination she plugs into the system. On the other hand, high-performance GPS receivers designed for GIS data collection sacrifice some features such as power consumption, antenna size, and small size in order to optimize accuracy.

    This is not to say that consumer GPS receivers have no place in GIS mapping. On the contrary, they have a very important place. My point is that your expectations should match reality when evaluating receivers to use for your project. The accuracy specifications on consumer GPS receiver datasheets are essentially meaningless. The only way to truly understand the performance of a particular receiver is to try it yourself.

    One final note on this. Many commercial (typically survey equipment dealers) and academic entities have published accuracy comparisons of different consumer GPS receivers. You really have to take these reports with a grain of salt. Sometimes the reports are intentionally biased and other times they are biased due to lack of knowledge or experience. They are also based on an environment that may not be similar to yours. “Heavy” tree canopy is a subjective term. Tree canopy in Oregon is different than tree canopy in Alberta and is different from tree canopy in Austria.

    The Final Analysis

    Upside:

    • Low cost
    • low power
    • user-friendly
    • small

    Downside:

    • Poor accuracy in challenging GPS conditions
    •  inconsistent accuracy in non-challenging GPS conditions
    • unable to post-process (with a few exceptions)
    • no on-board GIS data collection functionality

     

  • LizardTech Hosting Application Video Series

    Celartem Inc.’s LizardTech has launched a series of videos that focus on different LizardTech applications and will appear regularly on its corporate Web site.

    The series begins with a video showing Express Server in action with applications such as AutoCAD Map 3D and other programs to access imagery via WMS, according to the company. Additional videos will reportedly be posted in the weeks to come.

    “We’ve had many customers ask us which applications can integrate with Express Server, and now, by watching a video, they can see many of the different ways imagery can be efficiently served,” said Jon Skiffington, LizardTech senior product manager.” In this video, in addition to seeing our other integrations, we showcase our compatibly with AutoCAD Map 3D, which is exciting since the Autodesk University 2008 conference is taking place this week in Las Vegas. This way users can get a sneak peak of the applications working together on our website then come visit us in booth 417 for more information.”

    The LizardTech videos can be viewed here.

  • More Data Formats, LizardTech Support Among EarthWhere 4.3 Updates

    SPADAC has launched version 4.3 of EarthWhere, its spatial data management product that provides streamlined, enterprise-wide access to geospatial data, according to the company.

    Since SPADAC’s acquisition of EarthWhere in 2007 from SANZ, a former provider of data storage and data management solutions, SPADAC’s product development group has worked to enhance the product and provide technical support to its EarthWhere customers, reportedly resulting in a 79 percent growth in customer product implementations.

    “We work closely with customers to identify product enhancements and new functions that will improve their organization’s ability to more quickly and effectively ingest, catalog, explore, and provision data,” said Peter Borissow, SPADAC product manager for EarthWhere. “The added benefits now available to customers through EarthWhere 4.3 are a great example of this, and we’re already planning to make several more optional modules available over the next six months.”

    Updates in EarthWhere 4.3 include:

    • additional data formats, including Landsat TM/ETM+ in NLAPS format, FORMOSAT-2, and WorldView-1. Version 4.3 also adds more than 200 HARN projections to support customers using aerial-based imagery, according to the company.
    • ActiveIngest, a task-based ingestion engine, received a Java-based graphical user interface that provides enhanced reporting statistics, cross-platform support, and progress status.
    • an administrative option that facilitates the movement and relocation of source data files and a new tool that helps users find and delete duplicate data source entries.
    • a new one-click installer for free installations and upgrades through two packages that wrap all third party dependencies and the core base install.
    • an optional LizardTech module that provides the capability to output data products in MrSID (MG2/MG3) or JPEG 2000 format for an additional cost. The EarthWhere base product currently supports only reading and cataloging of MrSID (MG2/MG3) or JPEG 2000 format.

  • GE Oil & Gas PII Pipeline Solutions Releases PipeView SheetGen 5.0

    GE’s PII Pipeline Solutions business has launched a new version of PipeView SheetGen, a software tool for generating pipeline alignment sheets directly from maintained data sources. The latest release of SheetGen also supports direct editing of enterprise data, meaning that attributes can be edited right from the band view. SheetGen automatically generates alignment sheets directly from relational databases and geographic information systems.

    “SheetGen was the first alignment sheet generation product in the industry when it was developed in 1992,” said John Bucci, general manager of GE’s PII Pipeline Solutions business. “The SheetGen team has created a mixture of power, flexibility, and ease of use, providing improved features that operators will greatly appreciate.”

    With this release of SheetGen 5.0, users can generate ad hoc alignment sheets on demand simply by navigating to an area of interest on the map. SheetGen will then produce an alignment sheet using the map extents, allowing the ability to create alignment sheets where required in addition to the use of predefined sheet windows.
    Additionally, SheetGen provides on-demand previews for alignment sheet configurations. The sheet layout that the user sees on the screen is the sheet the user receives as hard copy.

    Another feature provided with SheetGen is a set of pre-defined templates that users can take advantage of immediately. Predefined templates contain preset bands that users can simply copy, save, and modify, or they can create new ones as needed.

  • Schlumberger Acquires Exclusive Distribution Rights to MetaCarta for Oil & Gas Sector

    Schlumberger has announced the acquisition of exclusive distribution rights to the oil and gas sector for MetaCarta‘s map-based geographic information search technologies. Schlumberger will acquire all existing contracts for MetaCarta in the oil and gas sector, resulting in a single source for sales and support of this technology in the industry.

    “MetaCarta is the perfect compliment to expand the Schlumberger industry leadership in information management. With the increasing amount of information held in unstructured form, such as documents, presentations and web content, MetaCarta’s geographically specific access to unstructured content brings new power to petrotechnical professionals,” said Olivier Le Peuch, president, Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS). “In combination with our geoscience and engineering information management solutions, now petrotechnical professionals will be able to rapidly incorporate all available information that is relevant to their prospect or field.”

    MetaCarta search technology combines map-driven geographic search, geographic referencing, temporal filtering and data visualization capabilities, for both structured and unstructured content, making that content “location-aware.” This enables geoscientists and engineers to find and display relevant data in the context of their area of interest.

    “The Schlumberger global sales and support organization will accelerate the expansion of MetaCarta solutions in the oil and gas industry,” said Ron Matros, president and chief executive officer, MetaCarta. “We look forward to bringing geographically relevant data search capabilities to a broader set of customers across the globe.”

  • USGIF Accepting 2007 Awards Program Nominations

    The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) is reminding colleagues in academia, industry, and the defense and intelligence communities that October 1 is the deadline to submit nominations for the 2007 USGIF Awards Program. Award nomination forms for the Academic Achievement Award, Research Achievement Award, Government Achievement Award, Industry Achievement Award, and Military Achievement Award are available to download on the USGIF Web site.

    Influential and innovative members of the geospatial intelligence community, as well as customers that have experienced exceptional services and solutions within the geospatial intelligence community, are asked to nominate deserving peers for the 2007 USGIF Awards Program. Those who have made outstanding contributions to the geospatial field will be recognized at the GEOINT 2007 Symposium Hall of Fame Dinner & Awards Banquet, held on the last night of the symposium, Wednesday, Oct. 24.

    “The USGIF Awards Program highlights the important contributions professionals, companies and government agencies are making in the geospatial intelligence discipline,” said Stu Shea, USGIF president and chairman. “We believe it is vital to celebrate the accomplishments of those who further advance and promote our tradecraft and hope to bring broad visibility to this impressive body of work.”

    The USGIF Awards Program includes three categories recognizing members of the geospatial intelligence community who have produced or participated in exceptional geospatial intelligence tradecraft activities. The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented, upon selection by the USGIF Board, to an influential member of the geospatial intelligence community for his or her extended commitment and dedication to the geospatial intelligence tradecraft. The Geospatial Academic Achievement Award commends the achievements of the top graduate of a nationally recognized geospatial intelligence academic program, as well as the organization or individual that demonstrates the top geospatial intelligence research program or project. The Geospatial Intelligence Achievement Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the tradecraft by an individual or team each from government, industry, and military sectors.

    Collectively, these programs recognize the substantive achievements of a variety of individuals and organizations, from promising students to high-achieving corporate, government and military teams, and individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime of leadership in the geospatial intelligence field.

  • MetaCarta to Provide the Oil and Gas Industry with Geographically Relevant Data

    MetaCarta, Inc., has announced an agreement with IHS Inc., a global provider of critical technical information, decision-support tools, and related services, to enhance MetaCarta’s Energy Geographic Data Module to provide information when searching for energy-related information specific to a location. Specifically, geologists and other E&P analysts using MetaCarta Geographic Text Search (GTS) and GTS geOdrive solutions will now be able to search for information such as blocks, licenses, oil fields, wells and basins found in IHS databases using the just-released MetaCarta IHS Global Oil & Gas GDM.

    IHS is a leading global provider of a broad range of aggregated, structured data used by the energy industry to study potential and existing oil and gas (O&G) reserves, as well as the transportation, contractual, competitive and other above-ground factors involved in bringing reserves to market. With the world’s most complete databases on wells, fields and other O&G entities, as well as geographic coordinates for these data types, IHS is the ideal choice to provide MetaCarta with a reference source to help guide smart-indexing of the vast amounts of unstructured data oil companies maintain and strive to fully leverage.

    MetaCarta GDMs are knowledge bases used to identify and disambiguate geographic references, assign latitude and longitude coordinates. GDMs contain natural language processing (NLP) logic, which is used to recognize the jargons and data types that represent geographic entities, disambiguate names, and establish greater geoconfidence and georelevance.

    “The alliance with IHS has allowed MetaCarta to develop an energy industry specific GDM utilizing the rich global knowledgebase of IHS,” said Ron Matros, president and CEO of MetaCarta. “Having the most accurate and comprehensive source of E&P information available with our search tools will allow our customers to more accurately pinpoint and collect location-specific information. Helping them get the information they need more quickly is critical to their business, particularly when they are making billion dollar decisions.”

    The Energy GDM is used with MetaCarta Geographic Text Search (GTS) as well as GTS geOdrive and contains thousands of place names, reference formats, and usage statistics particular to the energy industry. These include wells, blocks, MMS areas, oil and gas fields, basins, geologic provinces, and assorted other oil and gas features.

    “Energy companies face a tremendous knowledge-management challenge in order to take full advantage of the accumulated insights across their respective companies that relate to a particular geologic province, an individual well or other asset,” said Timothy Hopkins, vice president of Strategic Marketing at IHS. “With the MetaCarta offering, IHS customers will have the ability to search unstructured data, ranging from the proprietary archives of a retired, 30-year veteran geologist to the latest public press release on an emerging field, and choose from a list of geographically verified matching results. We think oil and gas companies will be delighted with this alliance and the added value it brings.”

  • Orion Partners with Sky-Shine

    Orion Technology Inc. has formed a partnership with Sky-Shine Corporation Sdn. Bhd., a firm specializing in GIS development and mapping services, surveying and mapping systems, and environmental and laboratory instrumentation in Malaysia.

    Sky-Shine offers a full range of geospatial information technology services, from data conversion to application development and implementation. It serves both public- and private-sector agencies, and provides services in GIS system development and implementation, digital mapping and data acquisition, data conversion, and remote sensing.

    Sky-Shine is the distributor of Digital Globe’s QuickBird high-resolution satellite imagery product and provides value-added services to the remote sensing industry in the region. In addition, Sky-Shine is also a distributor for GeoExpress from LizardTech, a geospatial software package for managing, distributing, and accessing complex geospatial imagery. As an ESRI business partner in Malaysia, Sky-Shine serves clients in various sectors including government, private, and educational institutions.

    “We are committed to exceeding customer expectations for quality and prompt delivery. Being a partner of Orion, our vision becomes more global, and more focused on system and data integration. Our ‘GeoWeb’ initiative, powered by OnPoint, will be the platform of geo services within Malaysia,” noted Zalizan Mohd Salleh, technical manager of Sky-Shine.

    By using Orion’s OnPoint Web-GIS solution, Sky-Shine will enhance its services pertaining to spatial data access and solution integration, for both their existing clients and new clients in the region. OnPoint comes with an administration tool, providing a simple user interface to create Configuration Files that define views. The user can easily change the appearance, functionality, data content, and security of OnPoint. OnPoint allows users to publish their GIS data quickly and securely over the Web and connect to any spatial and nonspatial data throughout their organization, turning their Web-GIS into a true enterprise solution.

    “OnPoint continues to gain further acceptance throughout the world as the standard for Web-GIS. Sky-Shine is a well-established firm that shares our commitment to delivering quality, leading edge solutions to clients. Sky-Shine has significant opportunities to leverage OnPoint in the Malaysian market, and we look forward to working with them in this regard,” commented Faizal Hasham, director of Sales and Marketing at Orion.

  • Brian Soliday Joins TerraGo Technologies

    TerraGo Technologies, provider of GeoPDF and the MAP2PDF family of products, announced that Brian Soliday has joined the company as vice-president of sales. Soliday will be responsible for expanding use of the company’s geospatial data distribution format known as GeoPDF.

    Prior to signing on with TerraGo, Soliday spent almost 20 years in various sales, consulting, and business development management roles with Space Imaging, Autodesk, LizardTech, and Trimble, as well as start-up geospatial technology vendors.

    “Brian has successfully grown and managed all kinds of sales organizations in other GIS solutions companies. We expect that his broad base of experience as well as his in-depth knowledge of the geospatial market will help us execute effectively while we’re experiencing rapid expansion of our customer base across multiple vertical markets,” said James Davis, TerraGo president and CEO.

    Adoption of TerraGo’s MAP2PDF products and GeoPDF technology has steadily increased in the last year. Unit sales of products are up almost 500 percent, while the TerraGo customer base has grown more than 300 percent. The company’s employee base has more than doubled.

    The MAP2PDF family of products allows customers to publish and collaborate on GeoPDF files that contain robust cartographic data and mapping capabilities, including layers and embedded feature attributes. GeoPDF files can be easily distributed and used in connected or disconnected modes. Because the product leverages Adobe Reader, most non-GIS pros already have viewing software installed and are familiar with how to use it.

    WithGeoPDF, users are able to view finished digital maps, turn layers on and off, query attributes, display coordinates, measure distances, and track locations via GPS without the need for specialized geospatial knowledge or training.

    “TerraGo has gained momentum quickly because the product set addresses problems that organizations have long struggled with,” said Soliday. “Being able to open up their GIS data to anyone in the enterprise anywhere in the world gives GIS professionals vast new capabilities and opportunities to create greater value while serving constituents more effectively. It’s a unique value proposition and the user community is already embracing the possibilities GeoPDF brings to this market space.”

    In addition to his professional experience in the GIS industry, Soliday is an active member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, serving as the Rocky Mountain Region President in 2004. Soliday also serves on the editorial advisory board of Geospatial Solutions magazine. A practicing conservationist, habitat partner and life member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), Soliday currently serves the RMEF as Colorado State Volunteer Chair. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Geography with specialties in GIS and Remote Sensing.

  • Geo-Enabling the IC with GeoPDF

    This week, TerraGo Technologies announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with In-Q-Tel – an independent venture capital fund tasked with identifying new technologies for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the larger intelligence community (IC) – to spark the development of new mapping solutions needed by such IC leaders as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

    For several years now, many government agencies (including the US Army Corps of Engineers, USACE), have relied on TerraGo’s innovative GeoPDF proprietary data-sharing format to exchange geospatial data between users of varying skills levels – from engineers on the scene of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina to soldiers in the field who can use Adobe Reader to manipulate maps. The agreement between TerraGo and In-Q-Tel is expected to advance the development of GeoPDF and related technologies to meet the operational demands of these organizations, as they continue tackling such challenges as the Global War on Terror and emergency response for major natural and manmade disasters.

    Since its first MAP2PDF for Adobe Acrobat product was introduced seven years ago, TerraGo has evolved the technology that allows for the creation and sharing of digital map display files in a user-friendly format. Today’s GeoPDF format allows users to convert raster and proprietary CAD and GIS mapping and database information to text-searchable, georeferenced PDF files. It also allows for the creation of both georegistered and GIS database-embedded PDF files – hence the term GeoPDF.

    With GeoPDF, users can send complex, georegistered maps as PDF files with layers and embedded feature attributes. A GeoPDF can be distributed and used in connected or disconnected modes with the free Adobe Reader and GeoPDF Toolbar software. Users can view finished digital maps, turn layers on and off, query attributes, display coordinates, measure distances, and track locations via GPS . . . all without the need for specialized geospatial knowledge or training.

    For an example of how USACE is using the GeoPDF file format, we can look to the corps’ Topographic Engineering Center (TEC). Currently, TEC is creating unclassified/for official use only digital map displays for regions of the world where the Global War on Terror is being fought. TEC has created DVDs for five countries in support of the war, and it has distributed these DVDs to the military. The project has included taking all of the NGA standard map sheets of Korea, having them scanned and converted to GeoPDFs, and packaging them with an index sheet. By the end of the year, TEC anticipates having created 30-plus country DVDs that consist of all NGA standard products in raster GeoPDF format. The center is also awaiting NGA’s delivery of vector-based GeoPDFs for inclusion in the country DVDs.

    It’s abundantly evident that TEC and NGA have bought into the GeoPDF concept in a big way. Whether TerraGo will be the only GeoPDF name in town remains to be seen, but I think it’s inevitable that the technology itself is here to stay, in both the private and the public sector. In the intelligence community, GeoPDF is clearly a smart way to share geospatial information quickly and easily, especially when the nation’s welfare – and American lives – might be on the line.

    Editor’s Note: Eric Gakstatter, a GPS/GIS consultant with Discovery Management Group LLC, and Ray Caputo, a geographer with the US Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Engineering Center, contributed to this editorial.

  • Blue Marble Offers Applied Geodesy Training in Houston After the GIS for Oil and Gas Show

    September 9, 2006 — Blue Marble Geographics will be offering applied geodesy training in their Geographic Calculator class after the GIS for Oil and Gas Conference on Friday, September 22, 2006. The day-long session is an in-depth training course using the Geographic Calculator, a flexible data-conversion application.

    The course also features education on the basics of geodesy and mapping. Blue Marble will also be exhibiting at the Geographic Information & Technology Association GIS for Oil and Gas Conference at booth number 502.

    The Geographic Calculator converts individual coordinates, point database files, and vector map files from virtually any coordinate system to any other. Users can transform between coordinate systems, calculate the distance and azimuth between two coordinates, and calculate new coordinates at a known distance and azimuth from known coordinates. The Geographic Calculator also automatically computes grid convergence, point scale factor, datum shifts, and grid shifts.

    Call toll free 800-616-2725 to reserve a spot in the class.

  • GITA 29 Models Future of Interoperability

    GITA (the Geospatial Information & Technology Association) held its Annual Conference 29 in Tampa, Florida, April 23-26. GITA President Susan Ancel called the conference, which included a poster session and a job fair for the first time, “the highlight of the year for the association.”

    This year’s theme — “No Barriers: Connected. Responsive. Prepared.” — was explored in an interoperability demonstration that captivated the Opening Session audience. Executive Director Bob Samborski told the attendees, “what you’re about to see this afternoon is what we envision GECCo would look like in many respects,” referring to GITA’s Geospatially Enabling Community Collaboration initiative.

    The premise for the demonstration — a scenario about Tampa’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games — may have been fictional, but the applications, data, and interoperability were real. To prepare a proposal that included analyses of emergency response, infrastructure, transportation, and other relevant capabilities, the would-be host city had to pull information from a host of dispersed datasets in a variety of formats. Tampa officials and geospatial vendors who collaborated in the live presentation succeeded at their task, proving that open standards-based software, data, and services can overcome data-sharing obstacles.

    During the opening session, GITA also honored winners of the 2006 Excellence, Innovator, and Distinguished Service awards, as well as what Samborski called “the highest award the association can bestow” — the Geospatial Industry Lifetime Achievement award, which went to C. Warren Ferguson. In regard to his long career in the industry, Ferguson said, “understanding the value of location, and being able to communicate it,
    is perhaps my greatest contribution to the geospatial community.”

    The theme of “No Barriers” carried through to the show floor, where improved data sharing, technology integration, and collaboration reigned. TerraGo Technologies has added a capability to its GeoPDF file format that enables full round-tripping of markups and redlines, transforming a viewing tool into a collaboration tool. Once GeoPDFs are created with TerraGo’s MAP2PDF for GIS, then geo-enabled for commenting with TerraGo’s MAP2PDF for Geo-Enabling software and Adobe Acrobat Professional, any user with Adobe Reader and TerraGo’s Geo-Enabled GeoPDF Toolbar can export shapefiles for round-tripping back to a GIS.

    CH2M HILL demonstrated several solutions that combine tracking technologies with Google Earth. The company’s GE Tracker plots the location of GPS-enabled devices (such as cell phones) in real time through the Google Earth interface. Example applications include recording the time a delivery driver spends at a particular location, routing the most conveniently located courier to a job, and keeping tabs on a child’s trip to a movie theater. As Vice-President of C&IS (Communications & Information Solutions) Nigel Nugent said, everyone wants to know “where’s my stuff, and what’s happening to it?”

    LizardTech announced its Spatial Express application, which enables users to store raster imagery in an Oracle database in its native MrSID and JPEG 2000 formats. Spatial Express uses Oracle’s GeoRaster application program interface and provides raster imagery compression of up to 95 percent, with no visible loss of quality. Selective decoding reduces the time needed to view imagery by decompressing only the relevant region of an image.

    FCSI unveiled IT3D for FME, a plug-in for Safe Software’s Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) that translates GIS data from more than 100 formats into high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) visualizations. IT3D includes 3D conversion software, a 3D viewer, a library of 3D models and textures, and communications interface software for GIS-to-viewer interaction. Visibility of individual features can be toggled on and off, meaning that a user can hide the surface of the ground to expose the locations of buried pipelines or cables.

    Outside the exhibit hall, the use of GIS in managing underground utilities data was the focus of educational sessions about locating buried lines and populating “call before you dig” services with up-to-date information. Rather than using outdated paper maps or relying on memory, utilities and other organizations are now turning to a combination of GPS, GIS, and facility location technologies to create accurate maps of underground lines. Other sessions explored the use of GIS in such areas as work and asset management, emergency response, system integration, and planning, design, and engineering.

    Throughout the event, the dynamic nature of the geospatial industry and its technology was apparent. Intergraph’s Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer Peter Batty discussed the changes brought about by rapidly evolving technology. Thanks to the increasing accuracy and availability of location-tracking technologies, he said, geospatial technologies once primarily limited to documentation and planning are now being used for dynamically scheduling and assigning work, and a host of other real-time applications.

    The 30th Annual Conference and Exhibition, titled “Mission Possible,” will be held in San Antonio, Texas, March 4-7, 2007. For more information, visit www.gita.org.