Nearmap has announced a national survey program providing true, high-resolution oblique imagery and derivative 3-D products.
Nearmap provides cloud-based subscription access to up-to-date 2-D orthomosaic aerial imagery. Using its patented HyperCamera2 technology, Nearmap is applying the same access model to the oblique aerial imagery market.
Because this new camera system provides a high degree of overlap from different angles, Nearmap can reconstruct the real world in stunning detail, producing not only high-resolution orthomosaic and oblique imagery, but also surface and terrain models, natural-color point clouds and textured 3-D meshes.
“This level of detail and scale of coverage of oblique imagery has never been available as a ready-to-use service for commercial and government needs until now,” said Patrick Quigley, senior vice president and general manager, U.S. of Nearmap. “The HyperCamera2 process maps reality, by capturing the tops, sides and view angles of locations, buildings and objects, providing specific details of what’s exactly on the ground.
Screen capture from a Nearmap 3D fly-through of Austin, Texas, rendered from Nearmap oblique Imagery.
Users will be able to immerse themselves in 3-D textured mesh models, improving analysis and design activities. They can see different elevations and line of sight using the 3-D information.
These features become important in many use cases, including airport or utility planning, or to determine the best location for a crane before a construction project. Other applications include wireless telecommunications network modeling, solar panel design, tactical resource deployment, real estate development promotion, property valuation, insurance underwriting and smart cities.
“3-D brings a whole new aspect of mapping reality to both commercial and government organizations,” said Rob Newman, CEO and managing director of Nearmap. “This new service will help industries plan, design, estimate, communicate and execute their plans — everything from major construction projects to solar installations on homes and businesses.”
Beginning in April, Nearmap has already surveyed oblique images in Las Vegas; Indianapolis; Austin, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Phoenix; Seattle; Denver; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago and New York, and continues to add new areas.
By the end of 2017, Nearmap plans to complete surveying the largest urban areas covering more than half of the U.S. population — about 150 million people.
Nearmap imagery will be refreshed up to three times per year in these coverage areas — with three orthomosaic captures incorporating one oblique capture. Nearmap’s orthomosaic imagery already covers nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population dating back to 2014. “This gives our customers the aerial imagery services they need for their businesses and projects,” Quigley said.
Nearmap’s oblique imagery can be accessed in the MapBrowser interface or integrated into a customer’s own web application using Nearmap’s industry-standard API. Digital surface modeling is also available for export into GIS / CAD tools, including Esri’s ArcGIS Pro. Nearmap will soon enable similar access to the 3-D products.
Orbit GT has released v17.1 of its UAS Mapping desktop product including the all-new Upload to the Cloud feature. It is available for download from the company website.
“This upgrade includes the capability to upload any UAS Mapping content directly to www.3dmapping.cloud, our SaaS based sharing and collaboration platform,” said Peter Bonne, CEO of Orbit GT. “It adds a great new feature for everyone collecting and creating drone based content.”
Upload to the Cloud allows for users to instantly bring their drone/UAS/UAV data online. The upload process is fluently integrated in the known workflows of the product, with the required checks and validations. Upload time depends on the internet connection.
Once uploaded, the data is immediately available for sharing on www.3dmapping.cloud. The new Catalog tool adds insight and overview of all data collection jobs done, indisspensible to manage large jobs.
The update is free for holders of a license with maintenance.
The Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science (CBI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has officially joined the United Nations-Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) Academic Network. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is one of three Universities in the nation, including Harvard University and the University of Maine, who are part of this network.
The primary goal of the UN-GGIM Academic Network is to make accurate, reliable geospatial information readily available in support of national, regional and global development. As a member of the UN-GGIM Academic Network, CBI will work alongside the United Nations to provide research and education expertise to international governments.
“Blucher’s inclusion in this prestigious academic network is a direct reflection of the quality of our researchers at A&M-Corpus Christi,” said Dr. Kelly Quintanilla, Interim President and CEO of A&M-Corpus Christi.
To be accepted to the UN-GGIM Academic Network, applicants must meet certain criteria. Requirements included an established track record in Geographic Information Science (GIS), a description of current programs and future GIS education and research plans. Most notably, the CBI was chosen based on their ability to positively impact the UN-GGIM Academic Network.
“Dr. Richard Smith, CBI Research Scientist, has already assisted the United Nations by providing online geospatial education to UN staff. We are now formally linked in with a worldwide network of academics and scientists to assist the UN take advantage of recent advances in geospatial technologies we are developing here in Corpus Christi,” said Gary Jeffress, R.P.L.S., CBI director and professor of geographic information science.
According to the Department of Labor, GIS, Geospatial Surveying and Engineering are the fastest growing fields in the United States. Researchers in this scientific discipline study data and computational techniques that are used to capture and analyze geographic information. For example, it’s with this information Google Earth and Bing Maps can function the way they do. Those who can use this system properly and find relationships within the data are in high demand.
With this in mind, experienced professors at A&M-Corpus Christi help Island University students get hands-on experience with the latest GIS technology. The CBI has been recognized for their Free Online Curriculum for GIS and Geospatial Surveying and has worked together with United Nations staff to expand UN operations involving GIS technology. The CBI offers a Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information Science, a Master of Science in Geospatial Surveying Engineering and a Doctoral Program in Geospatial Computing Sciences.
Pennsylvania State University assistant professor of geography Anthony Robinson discusses the university’s online geospatial program at the 2017 Esri User Conference, which took place July 10-14 in San Diego, California. The university added a graduate certificate in remote sensing and earth observation to its offerings.
Teledyne Optech Business Unit Manager Albert Iavarone talks about the features of the Polaris Terrestrial Laser Scanner Series. The unit, which has a touchscreen display, was showcased at the 2017 Esri User Conference, which took place July 10-14 in San Diego, California. Iavarone also touches on the Maverick mobile scanner.
Boundless, an open source geographic information systems (GIS) company, has announced a new partnership with Mapbox, a real-time location and mapping platform for developers.
The partnership enables developers to build applications that help people move through cities and understand their world better by giving Boundless users access to premium basemap content from Mapbox using Boundless Connect subscription service.
Additionally, Boundless has released a new version of its Desktop GIS software, which — along with Boundless Connect — was first introduced in November 2016. Boundless Desktop 1.1 includes increased support for PKI authentication, new options for styling, new image discovery and terrain analysis toolbars, in addition to Mapbox basemaps. Users can quickly search through an image library and discover image scenes based on location, cloud cover, acquisition date and more.
New Partnership
“This announcement signifies the massive growth and capabilities of Boundless Connect and accelerates the movement towards open GIS software and developer tools by expanding access to important content like Mapbox’s datasets and gorgeous maps,” said Andy Dearing, CEO of Boundless. “Partnering with Mapbox has been phenomenal and will only add value to our users. Making this data and content easily accessible through the Boundless ecosystem allows for significant productivity gains and unparalleled flexibility to our customers.”
Today, Boundless Desktop users can easily access this content through the Boundless Connect plugin. Mapbox content is also accessible through Boundless Suite and Exchange subscriptions. These basemaps include:
Mapbox Streets: A comprehensive, general-purpose basemap used for styling transit networks
Mapbox Outdoors: A basemap with curated tilesets and specialized styling tailored for adventurous use cases such as hiking or biking
Mapbox Light & Dark: A subtle, full-featured basemap that provides geographic context while highlighting data
Mapbox Satellite: A full global basemap, perfect as a blank canvas or overlay
Mapbox Satellite Streets: Combines Mapbox Satellite with vector data from Mapbox Streets, providing a comprehensive set of road, label and POI information; bringing greater clarity and context to the crisp detail in high-resolution satellite imagery
Additional premium services for routing, geocoding and more will be available in the near future.
“This partnership just makes sense. Mapbox and Boundless share a mission: helping developers build amazing applications that change the way people move and understand their world,” said Matt Irwin, head of strategic partnerships at Mapbox. “Boundless’s open, flexible platform pairs perfectly with Mapbox’s live-updating, customizable maps. The Boundless community now has tools and content, all in one place. We’re excited to see what they build!”
Boundless Desktop 1.1 Release
The Boundless Desktop 1.1. update includes increased support for PKI authentication, new options for styling, new image discovery and terrain analysis toolbars, and access to Mapbox basemaps.
Boundless Desktop is a cross-platform desktop GIS built upon proven open source software. Its ecosystem consists of more than 600 plugins that make working with geospatial data simpler.
The release of Boundless Desktop 1.1 signifies the company’s ongoing commitment to creating the world’s premier open GIS ecosystem. Boundless aims to continually provide customers with improvements and updates that make open GIS a viable and preferred alternative to proprietary GIS software.
Key features include:
Access to premium basemap content from Mapbox made possible through a new partnership with Mapbox.
Improved support for terrain analysis through a new toolbar that exposes common analysis techniques in a single location.
Increased support for imagery with a new image discovery plugin. This feature enables users to conduct a quick search through image libraries and discover image scenes based on location, cloud cover, acquisition date and more.
“Boundless continues to evolve its ecosystem of open GIS software with each release,” said Anthony Calamito, VP of product at Boundless. “Boundless Desktop 1.1 includes enhancements designed to make working with Desktop GIS easier for all. Access to premium basemaps, increased image capabilities and easy access to analysis tools were added in direct response to customer feedback. We encourage customers to submit their feedback to our Ideas Portal, so that we can continue to deliver software that meets the needs of our user base.”
Boundless offers a complete open GIS solution through a unique combination of technology, products and experts, to give enterprises deeper intelligence and insights into their location-based data. The Boundless platform is built upon open-source technology and open APIs that generate actionable location intelligence across third-party apps, content services and plugins for enterprise applications.
International Cartographic Conference much more than just cartography
I’ve always been a strong proponent of good cartography since my early days in geographic information systems (GIS) when I saw countless examples of very poor GIS map products. Regrettably, many early practitioners of GIS understood the software but lacked an appreciation and understanding of the good cartographic principals that are absolutely necessary to communicate spatial data well.
Consequently, the International Cartography Conference (ICC 2017) was an event I didn’t want to miss, especially since this was the first time in 39 years that this prestigious conference has been held in the United States.
The 28th annual International Cartographic Conference, ICC 2017, was held in Washington, D.C., July 2-7 with moe than 1,000 attendees from 80 countries representing government, academia and international companies.
Dr. Anderson was a research scientist and executive with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for 35 years and is now the executive director of CaGIS and a faculty member of the College of Charleston. Lynn Usery is a senior scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and director of the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science. ICC events have been key activities of the International Cartographic Association (ICA).
George Washington, First in the Arts of Mapmaking
In a keynote address, Director Robert Cardillo from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) explained the interesting history of NGA citing George Washington, surveyor and mapmaker, as NGA employee number one.
Washington also appointed the nation’s first geographer and father of military mapping, Robert Erskine, whose work helped win the American Revolutionary War.
He also spoke of the Civil War use of manned balloons with telegraph wires tethered to the ground, used to verbally aim indirect artillery defilade fire. He continued the history lesson up to modern times, leading to imagery and Big Data.
Other keynote speakers included: Tom Patterson, senior cartographer, U.S. National Park Service; Lee Schwartz, geographer, U.S. Department of State; and Mikel Maron, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap Foundation.
Among the many interesting presentations was one from Payam Tabrizian, Anna Petrasova and Vaclav Petras, all Ph.D. candidates at North Carolina State University and special guests of CaGIS. They demonstrated their unique physical 3D sandbox system using low-cost gaming scanners and GRASS GIS.
Imagine being able to hold a GIS in your hands: feel the shape of the earth, sculpt its topography, and direct the flow of water.
This open-source interface physically, interactively manifests geospatial data, making GIS more intuitive and accessible for beginners, and creating new opportunities for developers. It consists of a near real-time feedback cycle of interaction, 3D scanning, point-cloud processing, geospatial computation and projection.
Peer Review
Although the word cartography was dominant, the conference covered a much broader range of topics, with a heavy emphasis on GIS and the science of mapping spatial data.
Dr. Anderson reminded me that the conference is an outgrowth of the International Journal of Cartography, published on behalf of the ICA. The publication is a peer-reviewed journal, and much of the conference provides an opportunity for originators to present their work to a live audience.
The conference ran from July 3-7 with more than 600 presentations and sessions. There were also several days of pre-conference meetings and field trips in the D.C. area. My colleague, William Tewelow, who has taken over my monthly Geointelligence Insider column, and I were both overwhelmed with the number of presentations.
William was only able to attend part of the conference, but found a wealth of new material to digest and write about during the coming year.
To give you an idea of the scope, below is a list of ICC Commissions (special interest groups), with each holding dozens of break-out sessions:
Art and Cartography
Atlases
Cartographic Heritage into the Digital
Cartography and Children
Cartography in Early Warning and Crisis Management
Cognitive Issues in Geographic Information Visualization
Education and Training
Generalization and Multiple Representation
Geospatial Analysis and Modeling
GI for Sustainability
History of Cartography
Location Based Services
Map Design
Map Production and Geoinformation Management
Map Projections
Maps and Graphics for Blind and Partially Sighted People
Maps and the Internet
Mountain Cartography
Open Source Geospatial Technologies
Planetary Cartography
SDI and Standards
Sensor-driven Mapping
Topographic Mapping
Toponymy
Ubiquitous Mapping
Use, User and Usability Issues
Visual Analytics
You can read the session abstracts through the online schedule. Additionally, ICC smartphone apps permit the download of text and some PowerPoint presentations. Go to your app store and search for and install “ICC2017.”
Once you install the app, you can search for topics or presenters. You can view most presentation summaries, and even view or download some PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. (I’m not sure how long these will be available, so act soon).
Expo and Posters
The ICC featured several map/poster areas including a collection of maps created by children from around the world. Also included was an expo area with booths from organizations and businesses.
Since this was a more academic conference that fell between GEOINT and the Esri User Conference, geospatial businesses were lightly represented. Below are video clips of some of the exhibitors.
Jill Saligoe-Simmel of MapDiva demonstrates Ortelius map design software for the Mac:
Liu Xiang Ming and Tao Wang of Top MAProducts at Qingdao Geotechnical Investigation & Surveying Research Institute. The comprehensive geoscience research institute focuses on geotechnical investigation, surveying, GIS and map culture. Ming and Wang were displaying some unique gift items with mapping themes. If you know someone with a gift shop or need some unique trade show or conference gifts, email Top MAProducts at [email protected].
All in all, this was a very robust conference that I wish I could have seen more of. Lynn, Eric and the organizing committee did a superb job with such a complex effort.
Here there be dragons. That phrase (or a variation of it) was used by early mapmakers to designate the unknown — and alert sailors to the danger of traveling into uncharted waters.
I’ve always admired explorers who dared to push the boundaries of the known world. We’ve moved from the Age of Exploration to the Age of Information, but exploration continues on frontiers big and small.
Today, of course, most people think of the world as having been mapped. They can simply call up Google maps on their smartphone and see not only the world, but their town, their street and their house — in representational cartography (traditional map), satellite imagery, or even street-view imagery.
Professionals in geographic information systems (GIS) know better. The world is still a mystery in uncounted areas. For one thing, it’s not static: Volcanoes form new land masses, storms change coastlines, the sea-level is rising. For another, there’s more to exploration than a basic map.
That’s where the GIS professional takes center stage, assessing an area beyond what is already known, using a variety of tools to collect and analyze data. As Esri defines it, a GIS lets us “visualize, question, analyze and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns and trends. GIS benefits organizations of all sizes and in almost every industry.” A software-based profession, GIS experts use GPS, GNSS and inertial to gather data, which is where this magazine comes in.
At GPS World, we share GIS developments in our Mapping Market Watch, Mapping Launchpad and at geospatial-solutions.com.
Brandon Jarratt took plenary attendees behind the scenes of city creation in Zootopia, using Esri CityEngine. (Photo: Esri)Brandon Jarratt, Disney.
Brandon Jarratt took GIS professionals behind the scenes of animated city creation at the Esri User Conference, being held this week in San Diego.
Jarratt served as general technical director for Disney’s Zootopia, which won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Jarrett took the stage during the plenary session to describe how the Zootopia team used Esri CityEngine software to create the complex city that serves as the backdrop for the movie.
Jarratt said Disney animated features need three elements: compelling stories, appealing characters and believable worlds. That’s believable worlds, not realistic worlds.
Disney animated movie elements. (Photo: T. Cozzens)
In this case, the complex city of Zootopia had to be designed from the ground up as a complex city with various districts designed to accommodate the vast array of animal species.
In the world of Zootopia, humans don’t exist. Transportation systems, houses, streets and services need to accommodate animals as tall as giraffes and as small as a shrew. To meet these challenges, the designers turned to Esri CityEngine and its multi-scaling feature.
The Zootopia world also needed to incorporate various habitats, or in this case, districts. At the center a large complex city dominates.
The four burroughs of Zootopia. (Image: Disney)
CityEngine was used in the creation of the city in Big Hero 6 as well. In Big Hero 6, the base city geography used was San Francisco, upon which Japanese-style buildings were placed. In all, 80,000 buildings were incorporated into San Fransokyo.
San Fransokyo in Big Hero 6. (Image: Disney)
Zootopia, on the other hand, was built from scratch — including the terrain. The team started with research of various landscapes to create a basemap.
Zootopia concept map. (Photo: T. Cozzens)
At the city-building stage, CityEngine’s custom tool was used to lay down streets.
Buildings were designed for each district. The building styles couldn’t be repeated too often, or the city would look unrealistic, Jarratt said. The designers used carefully calibrated mix rules to keep the cities lively.
The desert area of Sahara Square is make of 61,000 parts, including buildings, wall segments and palm trees. (Image: Disney)
The ability in CityEngine to change the makeup of a city, adjusting the frequency of the various parts, made it easy for the illustration team to meet the art director’s requirements. When he wanted more skyscrapers, or buildings of a certain design, the team was able to provide new concept images the same day.
Zooptopia being built in Esri CityEngine. (Photo: T. Cozzens)
Esri’s CityEngine GIS technology is used by city planners to design our future smart cities. “It’s so similar to how city planners create real cities,” said Esri President Jack Dangermond. He then presented Jarratt with Esri’s first-ever Best Animated Feature Using GIS award.
Esri President Jack Dangermond describes the value of GIS at the plenary session of the Esri UC.
“Maps are alive,” declared Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president, on the plenary stage at the world’s largest GIS event. The 38th annual Esri User Conference is taking place July 10–14 at the San Diego Convention Center.
We are on the cusp of a data and information explosion, Dangermond explained while introducing the conference theme “The Science of Where.”
“We are about to launch in to a different scale,” he predicted. GIS is changing rapidly with numerous new information streams and advances in real-time data, and maps are central to understanding our changing world. GIS provides a platform for managing, analyzing and applying that data and information, he said.
His advice? “Share, collaborate. Communicate so we collectively can learn all bout world. Let’s take our work collectively to scale.”
GIS is vital to understanding developments in numerous areas: population growth, climate change, social changes, natural disasters and political polarization, to name a few. “We have to do everything we can to better understand and form collaborations to address these areas,” he said.
“Today’s businesses and governments require new ways of thinking,” said Dangermond. “Our users are leading the charge, using mapping and analytics to empower digital transformation, accelerate understanding of big data, and democratize technology. It is an inspiration to see how so many different organizations are applying the science of geography and the technology of GIS to gain insight into their data and reveal hidden patterns and spatial relationships.”
Dangermond presented numerous examples of organizations using GIS in new ways. For instance, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has created an “energyshed” map similar to a watershed map. An orchard is using GIS and GPS tracking to collect data on cherry picking. The Democratic Republic of Congo is making use of crowdsourcing to generate maps.
Story Maps are aiding what Dangermond calls “geo-journalism,” telling stories about new developments in virtually every field.
A screenshot of “Washington’s Ice Age Floods” story map from the Washington Geological Survey.
Dangermond also presented the following awards:
Ice Age Floods, by the Washington Geological Survey, won Best Story Map.
The GIS Digital Transformation Award went to Abu Dhabi, which “has taken GIS to new frontiers” in every government agency with every citizen, Dangermond said.
The Enterprise GIS Award went to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for maintaining the largest GIS database in the world, with daily updates and a user-friendly portal.
The President’s Award, chosen personally by Dangermond, was given to the United Parcel Service (UPS), which saves up to $400 million a year with its location-enabled Orion system. It puts the ability to update maps in the hands of supervisors, who constantly are optimizing routes. Now deployed in the U.S., the Orion system is going worldwide.
Other speakers and their topics at the first-day plenary included:
Renowned author and theoretical physicist Geoffrey West — His book Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies, explores dynamic growth and the challenges of achieving that growth sustainably.
Oakland County, Michigan — Making government services more cost-effective
Chesapeake Conservancy — Analyzing imagery and sensor data to protect watershed areas
Taylor Shellfish Farms — Transforming the family-run business by implementing cloud GIS solutions so staff can perform spatial data collection in the field
Severe Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS), Calgary, Canada — Powering real-time decision support systems to improve emergency services
Smart Dubai — Empowering one of the smart cities of the future with citizen engagement and smart growth
Walt Disney Animation Studios — Behind the scenes of Zootopia.
GIS provides the means for users to apply “the Science of Where” everywhere, according to Esri President Jack Dangermond. (Photo: Esri)
“Maps are alive,” declared Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president, on the plenary stage at the world’s largest GIS event. The 38th annual Esri User Conference is taking place July 10–14 at the San Diego Convention Center.
We are on the cusp of a data and information explosion, Dangermond explained while introducing the conference theme “The Science of Where.”
Esri President Jack Dangermond describes the value of GIS at the plenary session of the Esri UC. (Photo: GPS World)
“We are about to launch in to a different scale,” he predicted. GIS is changing rapidly with numerous new information streams and advances in real-time data, and maps are central to understanding our changing world. GIS provides a platform for managing, analyzing and applying that data and information, he said.
His advice? “Share, collaborate. Communicate so we collectively can learn all bout world. Let’s take our work collectively to scale.”
GIS is vital to understanding developments in numerous areas: population growth, climate change, social changes, natural disasters and political polarization, to name a few. “We have to do everything we can to better understand and form collaborations to address these areas,” he said.
“Today’s businesses and governments require new ways of thinking,” said Dangermond. “Our users are leading the charge, using mapping and analytics to empower digital transformation, accelerate understanding of big data, and democratize technology. It is an inspiration to see how so many different organizations are applying the science of geography and the technology of GIS to gain insight into their data and reveal hidden patterns and spatial relationships.”
Dangermond presented numerous examples of organizations using GIS in new ways. For instance, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has created an “energyshed” map similar to a watershed map. An orchard is using GIS and GPS tracking to collect data on cherry picking. The Democratic Republic of Congo is making use of crowdsourcing to generate maps.
Story Maps are aiding what Dangermond calls “geo-journalism,” telling stories about new developments in virtually every field.
A screenshot of “Washington’s Ice Age Floods” story map from the Washington Geological Survey.
Dangermond also presented the following awards:
Ice Age Floods, by the Washington Geological Survey, won Best Story Map.
The GIS Digital Transformation Award went to Abu Dhabi, which “has taken GIS to new frontiers” in every government agency with every citizen, Dangermond said.
The Enterprise GIS Award went to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for maintaining the largest GIS database in the world, with daily updates and a user-friendly portal.
The President’s Award, chosen personally by Dangermond, was given to the United Parcel Service (UPS), which saves up to $400 million a year with its location-enabled Orion system. It puts the ability to update maps in the hands of supervisors, who constantly are optimizing routes. Now deployed in the U.S., the Orion system is going worldwide.
UPS took home the President’s Award for innovative use of GIS. (Photo: Esri)
Other speakers and their topics at the first-day plenary included:
Renowned author and theoretical physicist Geoffrey West — His book Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies, explores dynamic growth and the challenges of achieving that growth sustainably.
Walt Disney Animation Studios — Behind the scenes of Zootopia. (Read more here.)
Oakland County, Michigan — Making government services more cost-effective
Chesapeake Conservancy — Analyzing imagery and sensor data to protect watershed areas
Taylor Shellfish Farms — Transforming the family-run business by implementing cloud GIS solutions so staff can perform spatial data collection in the field
Severe Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS), Calgary, Canada — Powering real-time decision support systems to improve emergency services
Smart Dubai — Empowering one of the smart cities of the future with citizen engagement and smart growth.
ArcGIS Pro 2.0, Esri’s next-generation desktop geographic information system (GIS), is now available. This latest version provides more highly requested workflows and features new innovations.
It is also more tightly integrated with the rest of the ArcGIS platform, so that users can complete more of their workflows solely in ArcGIS Pro.
Jack Dangermond, Esri president, introduced major features of the upgrade at the Esri User Conference plenary July 10. The Esri User Conference takes place in San Diego July 10-14. Several focused sessions at the conference will explore the updates to ArGIS Pro.
Highlights of ArcGIS Pro 2.0 include the following.
Workflows
The user’s favorite workflows are now easier and more powerful in ArcGIS Pro 2.0. Users can perform more complete workflows solely in ArcGIS Pro, such as map creation and data management.
Create more effective and meaningful maps with annotation and grids.
Getting started with new ArcGIS Pro projects has vastly improved with Favorites.
Modify topology properties directly in ArcGIS Pro.
Enhanced traverse tool improves COGO workflows.
Highly requested context menu options for importing and exporting data included in the Catalog pane.
Users of ArcGIS Pro can now create map notes in 3D in a scene.
Innovations
ArcGIS Pro 2.0 features the following innovations.
Explore 3D landscapes with new 3D navigation controls, and sync the views of 3D and 2D maps.
Layouts are more useful and powerful with embeddable dynamic interactive charts.
Improvements to 3D drawing including feature drawing by camera distance and enhanced lighting of 3D objects make 3D visualizations even better.
Analytics improvements with fill-missing-values tools and enhanced spacetime cubes.
Get more done with new geoprocessing tools.
ArcGIS Platform Integration
ArcGIS Pro 2.0 works better with the rest of the ArcGIS platform, including ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise and Esri’s library of ready-to-use apps. Cross-platform workflows are now easier and more powerful than ever.
Enhancements for editing and interacting with the geodatabase in the ArcGIS Pro 2.0 SDK.
Consume native OGC Web Feature Service (WFS) Services directly in ArcGIS Pro.
Sync with feature layers that reference data registered in Portal for ArcGIS 10.5.1.
Vertical coordinate systems are included when sharing web scenes and web scene layers.
Continue to work in ArcGIS Pro while packaging operations complete in the background.
Get the full details on what’s new in ArcGIS Pro 2.0.
Among the many interesting presentations was one from Payam Tabrizian, Anna 
